Chapter 2
Want to Die?
Since I was young, people often called me thick-headed.
That was because I made it a habit to teach annoying people a lesson—with my head.
And even now, nothing had really changed.
Thud—
The guy collapsed backward, twitching.
‘Did he die?’
No… just unconscious.
I took his dagger and cut the ropes tying my hands.
Bang! Bang!
—Hey! Don’t kill him! It’ll mess up the plan, so go easy!
Someone knocked on the warehouse door.
I got ready to rush out, but the guy didn’t come inside—probably too lazy.
‘Then…’
I ran my fingers along the unconscious man’s neck and sent magic into it.
At that moment, I felt a strange energy inside me, different from usual—but I ignored it for now and examined his vocal cords.
—Is he dead?! I’m busy, so answer!
As soon as I finished analyzing, I used magic to control my own vocal cords.
Crack—
The vocal cords are made of thin muscles.
Change their structure, and you can imitate someone else’s voice.
Like this—
“I beat him enough! The pretty boy kept talking nonsense about his face!”
A voice that wasn’t mine echoed through the warehouse.
I waited quietly.
—Tsk, they said he was a troublemaker, but he’s just an idiot who can’t read the situation.
The footsteps faded away.
Only then did I return my voice to normal.
“Ugh….”
The unconscious guy groaned.
I covered his mouth and stabbed his chest.
Stab!
“—!”
He tried to scream, but my hand muffled it.
His body twitched… then went still.
“Now that I’ve bought some time… let’s sort things out.”
I sat where the moonlight shined in.
“They kidnapped me to use me as bait… to draw attention away from my family.”
When knights or mercenaries came to rescue me, they planned to attack my family.
“Last time, I escaped after about a month… but it was already too late.”
Screams filled the land.
Corpses everywhere.
The mansion burned.
My parents stabbed to death.
My sibling gone.
I didn’t regret running away back then.
Even if I had stayed, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.
“But this time… it’s different.”
I could return a month earlier.
And I had all the experience from my previous life.
“This time… I can change everything.”
My family.
My past.
That hell.
“First… I need to get out of here.”
But there was still one enemy outside.
“If I was captured without injury… that means someone strong is here.”
In my past life, I barely managed to kill him.
One was weak—the one I just killed.
But the other… was strong.
“Still… before that, I need to confirm something.”
That strange energy inside me.
I closed my eyes and looked inward.
A bright energy flowed through my body, washing away darkness.
“This is….”
I was shocked.
“Divine power.”
Divine Power.
The power granted only to those chosen by Goddess Ella.
A force that blesses and destroys evil.
“If I have this now… does that mean Ella sent me back?”
There was no other being capable of this.
“Why me… and not Rudian?”
I didn’t know.
But I’d find out eventually.
I pulled the dagger from the corpse and wiped it clean.
Then I walked toward the door.
“Hmm?”
I saw my reflection in glass.
My black hair had grown long to my shoulders.
It looked similar to when I was the Sword Demon.
Rudian’s words came to mind.
“The Goddess doesn’t solve problems. She gives us strength to overcome them.”
“The result… is up to us.”
If this was truly a chance given by the Goddess—
“Then I’ll walk this path again.”
Slice—slice—
I trimmed my hair with the dagger.
I wasn’t changing my beliefs.
Just thinking more about life than before.
“This should be enough.”
I stepped outside.
“That smells good.”
Following the scent, I saw a man roasting sweet potatoes over a fire.
“Ah, you’re out. I roasted some—go eat.”
He didn’t even turn around.
‘He thinks I’m his partner?’
I picked up a sweet potato.
I was hungry anyway.
“These bastards… eating without me…”
I peeled it and took a bite.
“It’s good.”
Perfectly roasted.
“How’s he doing?” the man asked.
I swallowed and changed my voice.
“I beat him unconscious.”
“Good. Don’t kill him.”
“Yeah.”
“When do we move?”
“About a month, I think.”
So it matched my memory.
“Then we keep him alive that long?”
“Yeah. Starve him a bit too. Makes him weaker.”
“….”
“So that’s why they starved me…”
“And he’ll get uglier too,” the man laughed.
“I already made him ugly.”
“Haha, true.”
He laughed, tilting his head back.
I finished eating.
Now, only the dagger remained in my hand.
“Got any water?”
“Yeah, here—”
He turned.
Our eyes met.
“…What the hell?”
I swallowed and spoke in my own voice.
“Want to die?”
* * *
Silence filled the air.
The fire crackled.
“Your sweet potatoes are burning.”
“……”
He steadied himself.
His hand moved toward his sword.
I gripped my dagger.
“If you’re not cooking, give me water.”
He threw the bottle.
The moment I reached—
Slash!
His sword cut through the air.
I twisted my body, barely avoiding it.
“Getting a drink is hard.”
I shook the bottle.
“This is my win.”
I drank.
Burning liquid.
“Alcohol?”
“Even better.”
I drank again and stored it.
“…Who are you?”
“Kael.”
“You were hiding your strength?”
“You could say that.”
“You let yourself get caught… to find our plan?”
“You’re smart.”
“I heard you were thick-headed.”
“My head is hard. That’s why.”
“…I see.”
“Anyway, I’m impressed.”
“What?”
“You’re amazing at roasting sweet potatoes.”
“…Thanks?”
“From now on, your name is Gojang.”
His eyes turned sharp.
He rushed in.
Clang!
Our blades collided.
We exchanged dozens of blows.
“He’s not weak.”
But I had no injuries.
He was bleeding all over.
Thud!
I kicked the fire pit.
Sweet potatoes scattered.
“Gojang… your potatoes burned.”
“Shut up!”
He swung wildly.
Panting.
Bleeding.
Time to end it.
I enhanced my body with divine power and lunged.
Clang!
He blocked.
I threw my dagger.
Clang!
He deflected it.
Now I had no weapon.
But—
“I still have this.”
A hot sweet potato.
Whoosh!
It flew like a meteor.
Smack!
“Ah—hot! Damn it!”
As he grabbed his face—
I picked up the dagger and rushed in.
“Get lost!”
He swung blindly.
Too slow.
Slash!
I cut his wrist tendon.
“Argh!”
His sword fell.
I picked it up, sat on a chair, and stabbed it into the ground.
“Now… I’ll ask you questions.”
He looked up at me, trembling.
“If you don’t answer…”
“I’ll shove burning wood into your mouth next.”
His eyes shook.
(To be continued)
