How much time had passed? By the time Fafnir, who already had little time left, had exhausted much of his lifespanâ¦
At last, he found a way.
A singular path created through countless miracles and coincidences. Now, all that remained was the existence of an heir to walk that path in his place.
Having gained certainty, Fafnir decided to make his final gamble.
What was needed was a soul not bound by the fate of this world and the body of a special human.
With his objective clearly defined, he immediately took action.
First, he cultivated a part of his own body to create a chimera that was identical to a human.
Although he experienced a few trial-and-error moments, for Fafnir, who had already created dragons, creating a human wasnât particularly difficult.
It was simply a matter of transforming it here and there to take human form, but since the base was still a dragon, it naturally possessed a high level of talent.
The problem, however, was how to imbue that body with something specialâ¦
Surprisingly, Fafnir chose to dissolve his own body completely and absorb it into the chimera, thus granting it something no one else hadâa unique gift.
That gift was the system.
Of course, this was a plan that presupposed Fafnirâs death, but with little time left anyway, he had no hesitation.
After placing his body into a massive extraction device, Fafnir moved on to the next part of his planâtearing his own soul into multiple fragments.
He forsook the heaven promised by the gods, the final journey of the soul that no one knows, and chose his own demise.
Because of this, Fafnir was able to scatter his fragments across various worlds he had already marked.
The problem was that, unlike the successful body, this part had a much lower success rate.
Some of the soul fragments got lost and became eternal wanderers, others were devoured by monstrous creatures swimming in the gaps of space-time like the Evil Gods, and some arrived safely but were destroyed by the protectors of those worlds.
Except for one.
A world that lacked extraordinary powers, where even ominous monsters ignored it, and where the very existence of a guardian god or the godsâ reality was unclear.
Only the fragment sent to Earth arrived safely.
However, as just a small fragment of a soul, there wasnât much it could do. At best, it could whisper fleeting inspirations into the minds of capable individuals.
â¦And yet, that alone was enough to lead to the creation of a game called Hero and Academy.
Countless people played H&A, unknowingly learning about the future and the information of the Eurelia Continent.
The soul fragment, having successfully spread its knowledge, then moved on to its next taskâfinding a suitable candidate among the H&A players to send to the Eurelia Continent.
Years passed, and numerous hardcore players came and went⦠until it finally stopped in front of one man.
A man who was all too familiar. Of course, he was familiar because it was me, from my life on Earth.
I still donât know what the selection criteria were, but Fafnirâs soul fragment chose me as the suitable candidate.
Just as it had whispered to the creators of H&A, it began whispering into my unconscious mind.
Thatâs how, out of nowhere, I suddenly felt like playing as an archmage again, even though I had done it many times before, and created a new character⦠and from there, as you know, things progressed to the present.
When I came to my senses, I was standing in Fafnirâs lair.
A ruined lair with no overlapping images of the past. Yet, for some reason, everything in my view was stained in shades of gray, as if time had stopped.
I looked up at the only being that still had color.
A massive dragon with black scales like my hair, and violet pupils like my own eyes.
Fafnir was looking down at me.
[So youâve finally arrived. My heir.]
Most of Fafnirâs body had been processed and absorbed into mine, and his soul had been torn apart and scattered to other worlds.
Then, the dragon speaking to me nowâ¦
[You donât seem to believe it. Even with that poor saintess by your side.]
âClara? So⦠youâre saying youâre a remnant thought?â
[Thatâs right. A single strand of regret intentionally left behind by Fafnir at the end. The fragmented trace of the last, Mad Dragon. That is who I am before you.]
âLeft intentionally? Why?â
[You must have many questions. Since I dragged someone living peacefully into this mess, I figured I should at least take responsibility.]
ââ¦Itâs not because you were afraid I might go off in a direction that messes with your plan?â
At that, Fafnirâs vicious face twisted even more menacingly.
[I wonât deny that.]
â¦Was that a laugh?
To be honest, there had been many things that bothered me along the way.
Why the lies I made up on the spot always fit perfectly, who sent me here, and what exactly H&A was.
Solari had bestowed her blessing upon me, even possessed me directly for a confrontation, and recently even touched the boundary between my body and soul for healing.
Yet, despite all that, she had never realized I wasnât originally from this world or that I had transmigrated into a custom-made game characterâs body.
When I slyly asked about it later, she said I just had a somewhat unusual feeling.
She may act playfully around me, flipping over and showing her belly like a kitten, but Solari is, without a doubt, a genuine goddess.
So I assumed that some transcendent being had transmigrated me, one capable of deceiving even the Righteous Radiance.
There were moments when it all felt like part of some grand arrangement or manipulation.
From my perspective, having witnessed Fafnirâs final moments, most of my questions were answered⦠Yet, there was still one thing I didnât understand.
ââ¦Why was it me?â
What was the criterion for being a suitable candidate? Why did it have to be me? Even now, I have no clue.
There were people who had played longer than I had, people who played better than I did, and people who liked H&A more than I did.
I may have been an experienced player, but if you asked whether I knew and mastered everything in H&A⦠the answer would be no.
So why was I chosen over others and brought to the Eurelia Continent?
I had always been curious about that.
[â¦Youâre not going to ask how to return?]
âI think I have a rough idea.â
There are two ways for a fish to escape a net. One is to be small enough not to get caught in the first place, and the other is to break through with sheer force.
But the first option is virtually impossible. Even a crawling caterpillar canât wander into another world by accident.
In other words, no matter how insignificant you are, youâre still big enough that you canât just slip through the cracks of dimensions.
If you try to forcibly pass through, an unexpected disaster, like the descent of an outer Evil God, could occur.
The next option is to tear the net apart⦠but even the Evil Gods couldnât do that.
No Evil God had invaded the Eurelia Continent until dimensional cracks appeared, and that wasnât by coincidence.
Unless I somehow become far stronger than an Evil God, brute force wouldnât solve the problem.
Even so, if I really wanted to return⦠there was a way.
Itâs the same as when I came hereâdetach my soul and send it back to Earth.
But, just like with Fafnirâs soul fragments, it could get dangerous along the way, and even if my soul arrived safely, thereâs no guarantee Iâd be able to re-enter my original body. Thereâs no assurance Iâd survive intact, either.
Without the Evil Gods and cultists, this world is pretty livable, so thereâs no need to take such a risk.
More importantly, Iâve already made too many precious connections here. I donât want to abandon everything and run away now.
Fafnir nodded in response to my indifferent expression and answered my question.
[Itâs because you were the only one who played normally.]
ââ¦What?â
[Everyone else was using bugs, hacks, or mods.]
To be honest, no matter how great a game is, people eventually get bored of it.
At that point, they try to enjoy it in different ways, often resorting to elements that they wouldnât normally touch.
Like intentionally causing glitches to teleport across the map to break a speedrun record.
Or manipulating AI patterns to turn enemies into dumb punching bags.
Or installing nude mods, because reasons.
Since H&A wasnât an online competitive game but a single-player experience, people enjoyed it in all sorts of ways.
I could guarantee that there wasnât a single player who played H&A for over a year without using bugs or mods at least once.
Except for me.
Not for any special reason. I just believed that playing normally was the most fun way to enjoy the game.
Though I didnât expect that would lead to me being transmigrated!
âReally, not even one other personâ¦?â
[Thatâs correct, heir. Among those who played for a certain amount of time, you were the only one who navigated the simulation without any tricks.]
This is ridiculousâ¦.
But at least I can understand why Fafnir set that criterion.
He didnât have a second chance, so he wanted to minimize as many variables as possible.
If someone used hacks or bugs, their actual skill couldnât be properly assessed.
[Iâm glad I answered your question. Now, itâs time for the remnants of the past to disappear.]
Fafnirâs enormous body began to dissolve into tiny particles, as if he couldnât hold on any longer.
I hurriedly called out to him.
âW-Wait a second! Why are you telling me the truth behind everything? Even if you didnât, I wouldâve fought to survive anyway!â
Fafnir, who had quietly closed his eyes, reopened them and stared at me with those violet pupils.
Then, he curled his lips into an irritating smirk.
[Because thatâs how you complete the final piece.]
With those words, Fafnir fully dissolved into light and vanished.
For a brief moment, I watched as the scattered light dispersed in all directions. But then, for some reason, the particles that were supposed to disappear suddenly swirled together and rushed toward me.
âWhat theâ¦?â
It didnât hurt. It didnât feel harmful, either.
If anything, it was similar to the feeling I got when absorbing mana from the transfer gate.
A strange sense of nostalgia⦠like I had returned home.
After fully absorbing Fafnirâs last remnants into my bodyâ¦
The color returned to the gray-tinted world, and time began to flow again.
Right before the overlapping image of the past appeared, the notification sound finally rang out, revealing its message.
Ding!
[Trait Acquired: Return to Origin (S)!]
It was Fafnirâs final arrangement.