The watchman was preparing to enter Eungwang High when the worldly collisions happened.
Before the people could figure out what it was, the first otherworld spawned in Korea.
The emergence of otherworlds, enemies, energy, and players began.
Everyone struggled to regain their daily lives in the midst of the great chaos.
Rumors have circulated that those who awakened as players will gather to form an association to cope with the otherworlds, and that the Ministry of National Defense will organize a player army.
At that time, the watchman awakened as a player, but he lived like a student at Eungwang High.
‘I’m a player who can use light skill and skills. Will it be okay that I’m at school and not fighting?’
The world changed and the watchman gained a foreign power, but it didn’t feel real at all.
Enemies nor otherworlds didn’t appear inside Eungwang High, and the watchman, who didn’t have a family and lived in the dormitory, didn’t have much reason to go out.
No one noticed that he was a player, and no one taught him how to handle his power.
The government was overwhelmed trying to maintain security, let alone establish guidelines for fostering players.
It was difficult to demand countermeasures as it was already a miracle that the government could even function properly.
The teachers at Eungwang High emphasized that the students’ duty is to study.
‘I want to fight with this power when I become an adult. At least when I graduate.’
The watchman would think like that all the time when he went to school.
On the way, students who had always read morning newspapers would talk about incidents that happened outside the school.
As long as they were on school grounds, the students were safe.
“I think the school is a safe ground. Why is that?”
“There’s a boundary around Eungwang High.”
“Did the Chairman of the school make a contract with the people of royal lineage?”
Eungwang High was being observed as a result of the creation of the 12-point alliance, but the students did not know the details.
Still, they were aware of the existence of a boundary.
Some students who had their insight skills enlightened realized that Eungwang High; ‘s boundary was much stronger than that of government buildings.
One peaceful day, when they were taking their midterm exams, the watchman noticed a strange adult walking in the hallways.
‘Who is it? I’ve never seen them before.’
Other freshmen who saw the professor pass by thought that they were just someone they hadn’t seen before.
However, the watchman memorized the faces and names of teachers and students of Eungwang High and knew that that wasn’t the case.
The watchman observed the unfamiliar teacher and decided to greet him first.
“Hello, are you a new teacher, sir?”
The professor was flustered for a moment when the watchman talked to him, but the adult immediately introduced himself with a smile.
The man said that a teacher was attacked by an enemy and hospitalized so he was urgently selected and appointed as a professor.
The teacher was dressed in a neat overall appearance, and oddly one hair was long down.
It covered the teacher’s left eye.
After introducing himself, the teacher asked the watchman.
“Do you perhaps know how to use skills?”
“Huh?”
“I can feel energy waves from you. I guess you don’t know how to use it.”
The new teacher was a player and saw that the watchman could use skills.
He seemed to be concerned about the watchman who goes around with his energy waves flowing.
“Do you want me to teach you how to use it?”
***
I asked the watchman for a detailed explanation and he started to narrate from when the worldly collisions began.
I wondered if we needed to take it from there, but I decided to just listen because there might be some clues hidden.
I was also interested in the stories of that time.
‘It’s a precious opportunity to hear from a human who lived in the era right after the collisions, and he’s an Eungwang High student at that. I should listen carefully.’
The watchman, who was talking about life in Eungwang High, talked about a player teacher he met at school.
I knew right away who it was.
‘A kind new teacher covering his left eye. It’s Kim Shinrok.’
Kim Shinrok must’ve been appointed as a teacher at Eungwang High shortly after the collisions.
The watchman eagerly explained how he met Kim Shinrok and what he learned.
Other than him, Kim Shinrok gathered players after school and taught them how to handle energy waves.
“I was very surprised when a dragon professor suddenly appeared after him. At first, it was amazing to see the dragon in person, but afterward, he seemed to bother the new professor…”
So Yong Jegun bothered Kim Shinrok even then!
I knew that Yong Jegun became a teacher after Kim Shinrok, but listening to the watchman’s story, it seems like Yong Jegun entered Eungwang High just months, no, weeks after.
It’s been a hundred years, and my playable characters remain the same.
‘Kim Shinrok was popular with his students even then, and Yong Jegun is Yong Jegun.’
The watchman didn’t seem to have any hostility toward Yong Jegun, even though he found the dragon troublesome, but the other students were different.
Come to think of it, does the watchman know that Kim Shinrok is a descendant of the Tiger Clan?
My question was quickly answered.
“I didn’t know it then, but he’s the son of Jeokho-nim, right? If I get along well with my wife’s family, can I be treated like a part of it too?”
The watchman said embarrassedly, giddy at the thought that his respected teacher could be his family.
Even if the tigers accept the watchman, I don’t know how Kim Shinrok will react.
Will he be able to handle that his student, who passed away at a young age, turned out to be the son of Eunho, the first head of the Tiger Clan?
“Though I might be extinguished before I get recognized by my wife’s family, hahaha.”
Is that something to laugh about?
The watchman smiled lightly and talked excitedly again.
He talked about anxiety with energy waves and power, his relatively peaceful school life, he bragged about Kim Shinrok, and some stories during summer.
It was when the watchman was telling a story from his summer.
“It was during summer vacation when I died.”
The watchman calmly spoke of the moment when his life suddenly ended.
***
Before the summer vacation, the frequency of otherworlds spawning dropped sharply.
Unfounded speculation appeared on the front pages of newspapers that otherworlds would soon be completely extinguished, and those who refrained from going out walked the streets again.
In particular, the freshmen made a lot of travel plans because they didn’t get a taste of proper high school life before the collisions.
The watchman’s classmates decided to go to see the sea as a class.
And on the day they went on their journey, an otherworld gap appeared without any warning and spawned an enemy.
‘I’ve been taught by the professor how to use skills. I have to fight!’
There was no player satellite during this time and communication means weren’t very developed, so it was not possible to know when surrounding support would come.
Still, the watchman fought like a true player and got the kids to run away.
It was his first experience, but the watchman did very well.
It was almost a miracle that he subdued enemies without a weapon.
But his end came suddenly.
The watchman noticed an energy wave that did not belong to an enemy and looked back.
‘It’s not an enemy. Who is it? It’s a strange pattern…’
However, before he could judge, the energy waves emanating from the pattern struck the watchman.
Without another thought, the watchman died.
He was recorded as one of the numerous players who died fighting enemies.
‘I’m dead.’
When he walked and walked a long way, the watchman realized that he was dead.
The dead don’t usually recognize that they are.
It was common for the soul to be dragged according to the laws of the underworld.
However, the watchman was born with a strong spirit that ignored those laws.
His spirit was powerful enough not only to ignore those laws but also to take the right path.
The underworld was a mess during that time so all spirits were lost and wandering.
However, the watchman found the way by himself and reached the bridle of reincarnation.
[A soul arrived at the bridle of reincarnation!]
[Has the laws of the underworld been properly established finally?]
[It’s not. There’s no report of a new soul reaching the underworld.]
[This man is special. Even with the presence of numerous gods ahead, the spirit is not shaken.]
[Not only is he strong, but his soul is also clean and clear. It’s the first time since the child passed the ordeal of the underworld a long time ago did I've seen this kind of soul.]
The gods of death, the rulers of the underworld, and the masters of souls admired him.
Opinions were divided over who would manage the bridle of reincarnation, but they reached a consensus in an instant.
To appoint this spirit as the watchman.
“Yes, I will do it.”
The watchman readily complied with the gods’ request.
The gods decided to give him power before officially giving him the task of being the watchman.
No matter how clear and strong his soul was, it was difficult to show strength without a body, so he was given one first.
[I’ll give you an eye that can see through the darkness of the underworld.]
[Take this ear that can hear the dead’s voice anytime, anywhere.]
[I will give you a voice that can guide the dead.]
]I will give you legs that can cross this river.]
The watchman gained a new body from the bridle of reincarnation and began a new life.
Carrying the power and body given by the gods, the watchman was no longer a human.
And he was left with a significant obligation.
[However, keep this in mind. This strong power comes with a heavy duty.]
[Don’t forget that if you betray the law of the underworld, you can be extinguished.]
The boundary between life and death in a new form functioned with the presence of the watchman.
The watchman stood at the boundary and led the dead, watching countless souls pass by.
The watchman’s mission proceeded easily except when a strong spirit, which appears very occasionally, escapes the bridle of reincarnation.
Then, one day, a living person visited the bridle.
‘My voice that leads the dead doesn’t work. This person is living. How did they get here?’
Instead of walking the way the dead should go, the living walked straight toward the watchman.
As the distance got closer, the figure became clearly visible.
Their eyes met and the watchman felt suffocated.
The woman with a silver shadow had the most intense and beautiful light of all the sight the watchman had ever seen.
He almost literally lost his mind, but the watchman recalled his role and asked questions.
“You are not here according to the laws of death. What is your purpose?”
“To save.”
“Save what?”
Staring right at the watchman, the woman spoke.
“This world and you.”
