Chapter 2: Back to the Time I Could Never Forget! (1)

“Haaaah―!”

The moment he had died, engulfed in an explosion, Kang Inhyuk’s eyes snapped open.

At the same time, the air that had been blocked in his lungs burst out, and rough gasps escaped from his throat.

“Haaah…! Haaah…! Haaah…!”

Still dazed, Kang Inhyuk touched his face and head. There were no holes or bleeding anywhere.

Then, as he looked at his hands, he felt something strange.

“W-What’s wrong with my hands?”

They weren’t the rough, calloused hands that had endured countless battlefields under the blazing sun.

They were pale and soft—too much so. Moreover, their size was only about two-thirds that of an adult’s.

Looking down, even his height seemed to have shrunk.

“What… what’s going on?”

As he checked his own condition, his surroundings finally came into focus.

The bed and blankets shimmered in dazzling gold, bright enough to make his eyes squint. A luxurious chandelier hung from the ceiling.

The walls were lined with furniture just as opulent as the bed.

Then, he spotted a mirror standing to one side.

Kang Inhyuk slowly approached it and looked at his reflection.

Step. Step.

“H-How… can this be…?”

The sturdy, black-haired young man was gone. In his place stood a delicate boy with pale skin, crimson hair, and red eyes.

And within those eyes, faint traces of gold glimmered.

It was a face Kang Inhyuk knew all too well.

“This is… me when I was young!”

It wasn’t his life as Kang Inhyuk in 21st-century South Korea.

It was his previous life, Raion Canel’s appearance.

“What the hell happened? I clearly died. And yet, here I am…”

He couldn’t make sense of the situation.

Then, memories of Lewis’s constant chatter about fantasy novels came to mind—stories about reincarnating into another world or returning to the past.

Could it be… that he had returned to the time when he had lived as Raion Canel?

“Did I really come back? Then… how old am I now?”

Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be in his early tens.

Now back as Raion, Kang Inhyuk muttered to himself in confusion.

Just then, a knock came, and the door opened. A maid entered.

“Your Highness, I’ve come to wash—”

She spoke naturally but froze when she looked at the bed and saw it empty.

Startled, her eyes darted toward the mirror—where Raion stood.

“Y-Your Highness!”

The maid was Monica, who had served Raion faithfully since his childhood.

Of course, Raion remembered her face.

“…Monica?”

“Your Highness! You’re awake? Are you all right?”

Monica rushed to his side, unable to touch him but fidgeting with worry.

“Awake? All right? What do you mean? What happened to me?”

The words that flowed out of his mouth were in the common language of the Phalon Continent.

Even after living thirty-two years as a Korean, he hadn’t forgotten it.

“D-Don’t you remember?”

“Tell me quickly! What happened to me?”

“W-Well…”

Monica, flustered and trying to recall the details, hesitated before finally speaking.

“About fifteen days ago, you suddenly collapsed in the garden. You hadn’t woken up since.”

“Collapsed, suddenly?”

Hearing that, Raion immediately recognized the moment in time.

‘This must be when I was twelve—when I was poisoned by that unknown toxin and fell gravely ill.’

He had regained consciousness back then too, but his condition had been completely different.

At that age, everything had been terrifying.

“Are you really all right now, Your Highness? Should I call a priest or healer, just in case?”

Monica still looked deeply worried.

To reassure her, Raion gently patted her shoulder.

“I’m really fine. But if I’m awake now… then, what about Father? Where is he?”

As he began to piece his thoughts together, the image of the father he hadn’t seen for decades came to mind.

At his question, Monica thought carefully before replying.

“Y-Your Majesty, the King, is currently in the main palace, meeting with the nobles.”

“So… he’s really here.”

He had no plans to rush off and see him right away.

First, he needed to understand his current situation clearly.

After all, he had gone back decades—to his twelve-year-old self.

And this time, Raion was no longer the same Raion as before.

The experiences of Kang Inhyuk, who had lived in 21st-century Korea, now coexisted within him.

‘If I play this right… I might be able to change this world I’ve returned to.’

Still, one regret remained.

Raion wanted to see his mother—who had died shortly after giving birth to him—just once.

The only image he had of her came from an old portrait.

He had never truly seen her in person, except as a newborn, too young to remember.

While Raion grew quiet, Monica, worried, spoke up softly.

“U-Um… Your Highness? If you’re feeling better, shall I bring your meal?”

“Huh? Meal?”

Grrrrr—!

Come to think of it, Raion had been bedridden for fifteen days.

It wouldn’t have been strange if he had died from malnutrition alone.

“The priest has been helping with my recovery all this time, right?”

“H-How did you know? He’s scheduled to visit again after lunch today.”

The kingdom had been using the priest’s sacred arts to keep Raion alive and heal him.

“There’s no need to call him anymore. But I should fill my stomach.”

“Yes, Your Highness! I’ll have your meal prepared right away!”

While waiting for the food, Raion sat down on the sofa nearby.

“Haa… So I really came back… to the Phalon Continent… and to the past.”

He let out a sigh of relief and turned toward the window.

Sunlight poured in brightly.

He walked over and opened the window wide—revealing the capital of the Canel Kingdom, just as it had been when he was twelve.

And at that moment, a translucent window appeared before his eyes.

[You have faced reality. Status system activated.]

“…Huh?”

Startled, Raion tried to back away, but the translucent window followed him wherever he went.

“What… is this?”

As his confusion deepened, the translucent window changed again, displaying new text.

[If you speak or think the word “Status,” you can check your own abilities.]

Reading those words, Raion quietly repeated them.

“Sta… tus…?”

As soon as he spoke, the pale-blue translucent window expanded, revealing more information.

[Status Information]

Name: Raion Canel

Age: 12

Occupation: Third Prince of the Canel Kingdom / Regressor / Arcane Sorcerer

Abilities:

Synthesis (合成) – Level 1

Decomposition (分解) – Level 1

Extraction (抽出) – Level 1

Emission (放出) – Level 1

Engraving (刻印) – Level 1

Formation (形成) – Level 1

Analysis (分析) – Level 1

Tip:

1. You can combine abilities to create new techniques.

2. Tap an item to view detailed information.

The titles “Third Prince of the Canel Kingdom” and “Regressor” made sense to him, but “Arcane Sorcerer” did not.

The seven abilities listed beneath it were just as puzzling.

“Synthesis, Decomposition, Extraction, Emission, Engraving, Formation, Analysis? What kind of abilities are these?”

The text was written entirely in Korean—

and even included Chinese characters beside each word. That meant no one else in this world would be able to read it.

Following the instructions in the Tip, Raion began tapping each entry one by one.

[Arcane Sorcerer: Designate a target to use an ability upon.]

[Synthesis (合成): Combine two or more elements to create a new target.]

[Decomposition (分解): Break a target down into its constituent materials.]

[Extraction (抽出): Draw out a specific element from a target.]

[Emission (放出): Release a specific element outward.]

[Engraving (刻印): Imprint something onto a target.]

[Formation (形成): Shape a specific object or form.]

[Analysis (分析): Identify and examine a target’s information.]

After reading through the explanations, Raion began to grasp their meaning.

And the translucent window reminded him of something his junior soldiers or Lewis used to talk about—

video game screens.

“So this is what it’s like to gain game-like abilities? But… how do I use them?”

As that question crossed his mind, another window appeared.

[Tip: Speak an ability’s name to activate it on the designated area or target.]

“On a location or target, huh?”

After reading it, Raion turned his gaze toward a yellowish flower-patterned vase on the table in front of the sofa and decided to test it.

“Decomposition (分解)!”

He uttered the word in Korean, not in the common language of the Phalon Continent.

Immediately, a crosshair—like the ones used when aiming a gun—appeared in his vision, fixed on the vase.

[Do you wish to decompose the designated target?]

“Yes.”

He responded again in Korean.

At once, the yellow vase melted rapidly, breaking down into various substances of similar color that dispersed in all directions before gathering again like flowing liquid.

Just by looking at them, he couldn’t tell what those materials were.

Next, he decided to try the last ability listed.

“Analysis (分析)!”

[Would you like to identify all decomposed materials?]

“Yes!”

As soon as he replied, the ability activated once more.

[Decomposed Components of Brass Vase]

[Copper, Tin, Zinc, Nickel, plus 3 non-recyclable inorganic materials.]

“So it can identify them this precisely? Then… can I restore the vase through Synthesis?”

He thought it worth a try, since synthesis was the opposite of decomposition.

Fixing his eyes on the decomposed materials, Raion spoke again.

“Synthesis (合成)!”

[Only two items can currently be synthesized.]

[A total of 12 recyclable materials are available, excluding non-recyclable inorganics.]

It seemed synthesis could only occur between compatible materials, so restoration wasn’t possible.

“As I thought… it doesn’t work that way. Still, this could be incredibly useful.”

For now, mastering all his abilities and learning how to apply them effectively was his top priority.

But there was another pressing issue.

“Before anything else… I need to do something about this body.”

His body as Kang Inhyuk back in Korea had been several times stronger than this.

Even though he’d died in an explosion, he had prided himself on being unmatched in close combat.

But now, though this body looked like that of a handsome boy, it was frail—almost stick-like.

He felt the urgent need for physical training.

Knock, knock―!

Just then, a knock sounded, and the door opened.

Startled, Raion, who had still been studying the Status window, panicked.

“How do I turn this thing off?”

As before, an explanatory window appeared.

[Tip: To close the window, swipe it downward with your hand.]

Following the instruction, Raion slid his hand down, and the window vanished.

Once he finished, he turned toward the door.

But instead of the maid Monica bringing in food, it was the butler, Patrick.

“P-Patrick…?”