Chapter 01

How on earth did I end up in a situation like this?

‘Was logging into a game really such a terrible crime?’

It was unfair.

So unfair that anger surged through me.

All I did was launch a game I enjoyed because it had gotten a new patch, excited to check it out.

Was that really such a crime?!

“Life is seriously…”

Fuck.

The moment I muttered that final curse inwardly—

“You need not lament so much. You are not dying. You will simply continue living together with me.”

A horrifying old man chuckled as he spoke.

His skin wasn’t merely wrinkled—it had rotted away to the point where bone showed through in places.

Perhaps this was the appearance one should expect from a monster who had lived for over 500 years.

‘So this is my fate—dying after having my body stolen by that kind of monster.’

I refused to accept it.

This made no sense.

“Still, you’re calmer than I expected. I thought you’d cry and scream, saying there was no way your father could be a monster like this, that none of this could possibly be real.”

Father.

The monster before me was my father.

More accurately, the father of my current body.

“…I’m just too dumbfounded to say anything. I never imagined I’d die like this.”

The body I was moving right now wasn’t actually mine.

This body’s name was Jian.

A newly released playable character added with the latest update to the game I used to enjoy.

‘Damn it. Even thinking about it again is absurd. Why is the possession starting point this awful…?’

That’s right.

I was currently experiencing something straight out of a novel:

Being transmigrated into a game.

“You seem awfully composed for someone saying that. Did you know?”

“Know? Know what?”

The game I possessed into was called Saga of Heroes.

Abbreviated as Yeongsa, it was a single-player RPG.

I had played this game for five years.

My playtime was close to ten thousand hours.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I knew everything about this game.

The only thing I didn’t know was information about my current body, Jian, who had been added in the newest patch.

“My true identity.”

That was why I knew exactly who the monster standing before me was.

‘Jairaon.’

There was no way I wouldn’t know.

This old monster was the game’s final boss.

No matter which playable character you chose or how you progressed through the story—

The mastermind behind everything was always this monster:

Jairaon.

“Oh? So you really did know. Where, and how, did you learn it?”

In any game, final bosses are powerful.

But even among final bosses, Jairaon from Saga of Heroes was incomparably stronger than anything else.

The possibility of me defeating this monster and escaping on my own right now was effectively 0%.

“Answer me.”

Jairaon seized my throat, crimson light blazing from his eyes.

His gaze looked as though he intended to snap my neck immediately.

The old me would’ve fainted on the spot from that stare…

But—

“If you’re going to kill me, then kill me. Dying like this or dying after getting my body stolen—it’s all the same.”

The body I was using wasn’t that of an ordinary person.

It was a new vessel painstakingly cultivated by the final boss, Jairaon.

This body wasn’t intimidated by killing intent of this level.

“You’ve become a completely different person overnight. Was your childish behavior until now all an act?”

“Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. Which do you think?”

Jairaon couldn’t kill me anyway.

His goal was to take my body.

Who would damage a body that was soon to become their own?

“So? If you’re not going to kill me, how about letting go of my neck? It’s annoying while talking.”

“…Khkhkh.”

Jairaon laughed, clearly amused.

“So it truly was all an act. Pretending to be foolish. Pretending to be immature while gathering information on me and preparing your escape.”

I didn’t know what kind of person the original owner of this body had been.

Whether he’d really been acting immature while secretly preparing—

Or whether he’d genuinely been immature.

Jairaon removed his hand from my neck, smiling broadly.

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

I met his eyes and desperately bluffed.

My goal was simple:

Buy time.

‘If someone intentionally threw me into this game, there’s no way they designed it so I’d get a game over immediately.’

There had to be a way.

A method to escape this situation.

If there wasn’t, none of this made sense.

‘There’s definitely a way. There has to be.’

The person who shoved me here couldn’t be some psychopath who enjoyed watching transmigrators die pointlessly.

There had to be a breakthrough.

I needed to find it.

And to find that breakthrough—

I needed time.

“If you’re that curious, torture me and force me to talk. Though I doubt you can.”

“Heh heh.”

I had to pretend I was hiding some huge secret and delay him from stealing my body as long as possible.

This was desperate bluffing.

“You really do seem like another person. Are you truly the Jian I knew?”

Jairaon looked genuinely surprised.

As though he had become truly interested in me.

‘…Good.’

The more interested Jairaon became—

The longer I lived.

While maintaining eye contact, I desperately searched for a way out.

‘Thinking in terms of web novel clichés… there’s usually a hint right before possession.’

What had I done before transmigrating?

‘I saw the new patch notice… clicked Jian to create the new character…’

Then a message appeared:

[Difficulty has been set to “Lunatic” by default.]

Immediately afterward, my vision went black.

And when I opened my eyes—

I was here.

‘That’s not a hopeful clue. It’s just despair.’

Unlike typical transmigration stories, I hadn’t even customized the character.

I simply entered the character creation menu and clicked Jian.

That was all.

‘If you force the difficulty to Lunatic, shouldn’t you at least give rewards? Or if not rewards, at least time to customize the character!’

At minimum, let me distribute stat points.

Though admittedly…

Even stat distribution wouldn’t normally save me from this.

‘This is insane. Seriously. What the hell am I supposed to do…?’

Then—

A dark crimson light erupted beneath both Jairaon and me.

“Hm. It seems preparations are finally complete.”

The sensations in my body gradually faded.

As though paralysis were spreading.

Beginning from my fingertips and toes—

Slowly consuming me.

“Once I possess your body, I’ll naturally learn how you came to know me. There’s no need for you to speak.”

‘Damn it… He wasn’t delaying because I interested him. Preparations simply weren’t finished…?’

And apparently stealing a body also stole memories.

Meaning—

Everything I’d done had been pointless.

“At last… I can leave behind this decrepit body.”

Jairaon’s voice trembled with joy.

“It was long. Truly long. How long have I dreamed of this moment…”

My body no longer felt like mine.

I knew instinctively.

Soon—

I would disappear.

And this body would become Jairaon’s.

‘…No. This can’t be real.’

My vision dimmed alongside my fading senses.

‘What kind of transmigration starts… and ends immediately…?’

I bit my lip desperately, while sensation still remained.

Was this really it?

Without accomplishing anything?

Would I just die meaninglessly?

‘…This… seriously… sucks…’

At that final thought—

Just as my consciousness was about to vanish—

A voice echoed directly inside my mind.

—System synchronization complete.

—Beginning character creation.

—Please freely allocate points between “Status,” “Traits,” and “Skills.”

It felt strange.

The voice was clear.

Yet my thoughts were hazy.

Simple words—

But oddly difficult to understand.

Was this what dying brain cells felt like?

‘Character creation… allocation…?’

Maybe because my consciousness hadn’t vanished completely—

I finally understood.

In other words—

I was being told to create my character now?

—Lunatic difficulty bonus activated.

—Additional free points awarded based on achievements from previous play history.

—Total bonus points awarded: 73,320

—Please complete character setup using 73,320 points.

I barely processed the rest.

Clinging to my fading consciousness, I screamed internally:

‘All points… into Status… [Mental]… ALL IN…!’

The Mental stat granted resistance against mental domination and body possession.

‘If I dump all 70,000 points into Mental… I can raise it to EX rank.’

This was my only way out.

—Allocating all free points to Status [Mental].

This was truly my limit.

‘No… any more… and… my mind… is… fading…’

Just as consciousness slipped away—

Another message appeared.

—Mental stat has increased to maximum rank [EX].

Suddenly—

My mind became crystal clear.

“This is…!”

At the same time, Jairaon cried out in shock.

[Mental ability rank is at maximum.]

[Nullifying all abnormal status effects.]

My vision returned.

System messages appeared before me.

[Nullifying all mental interference.]

“I’m… being pushed back…?”

Feeling returned to my body.

The dark red mana invading me was repelled.

“This is impossible. Impossible…”

[Soul Reversal Technique has been completely neutralized.]

[Soul Reversal Technique is backfiring.]

Jairaon’s eyes blurred.

Like a man already dying.

“This cannot be… My wish… my dream… I… here… by a mere brat…!”

I realized instantly.

His soul couldn’t return to his original body.

He had already abandoned it—

And been rejected just before fully transferring into mine.

“N… no… My dream… I must…”

The light in Jairaon’s eyes faded.

Then vanished entirely.

“…Did he… die?”

Thud.

As if answering me—

His body collapsed.

The restraints binding me disappeared too.

I cautiously nudged his body with my foot.

No movement.

“He really died…”

The final boss of Saga of Heroes.

The mastermind behind everything.

Jairaon was dead.

“I… I survived…”

The tension left me instantly, and I collapsed to the floor.

“Haah…”

Just as I sighed in relief—

“Master.”

“…!”

A man’s voice came from directly behind me.

Cold.

As if darkness itself had spoken.

I slowly turned.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’

A man clothed entirely in black.

Only his eyes shone faintly with rainbow colors.

I knew exactly who he was.

‘One mountain crossed, another appears…’

One of Jairaon’s subordinates.

A mid-boss from Saga of Heroes.

‘I survived the final boss just to face a mid-boss now?’

Reaper.

A fanatic who lived for Jairaon and would die for Jairaon.

He stared at Jairaon’s corpse—

Then looked toward me.

‘So I die after all.’

There was no way this zealot would spare the person who killed Jairaon.

Just as I accepted death—

Thunk!

Suddenly, Reaper dropped to one knee.

“Congratulations.”

‘…Huh? Congratulations?’

Congratulations.

And that respectful attitude.

“How does your new body feel?”

Apparently—

Reaper believed I was Jairaon.

If that was the case…

“Ahem. Not bad.”

Then perhaps—

There was still hope.a