I Was the Strongest Sword God in My Past Life

part 1

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Synopsis

Jien, a perennial underachiever, inherits the memories of Evan, his previous life as the mightiest sword deity!

——

The remnants of the dream linger heavily.

This marks the hundredth time for the same dream.

Although the content of the dream always varies, there is one commonality.

A stranger appears and speaks incomprehensible words.

“Ugh, Evan? Who is that…”

Jien silently surveys his surroundings.

Arcana’s D4 dormitory.

The room assigned to students with low grades is old and in poor condition. The only furniture is a desk and a bed, and the room is so small that stretching out is a struggle.

“…Sigh.”

It’s a sad state of affairs. I thought I could do it, but I was wrong. My current rank is 162nd out of 162, dead last with no talent whatsoever.

Even the swordsmanship I was somewhat confident in has been ruined after becoming crippled by residual mana.

“Evan… Evan.”

The name swirls around in my mouth. It’s not my name, but it’s definitely a character I’ve seen in a book.

Thump-thump!

I run without knowing why. My flesh-laden body is already out of breath, but I can’t stop.

“Heave… I found it.”

[The Chronicles of Evan Crow]

Why didn’t I think of this? If I don’t know who it is, I should look it up. Especially if it’s someone famous enough to have a chronicle…

The book contains about 800 pages of epic narrative. Drawn to the library by an inexplicable pull. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to read even a few pages of such uninteresting content, but…

“…Ah.”

About 5 hours. Jien has devoured the book from where he sat. Was it because the book was interesting? Absolutely not.

[The Conquest of Rank 8 Gate Demoniac Fortress.]

[Thus, Evan gained the opportunity to become the disciple of the Sword Deity (劍神) at the 3rd District Gate.]

[An unparalleled achievement.]

As Ji-en delved deeper into the book, a clear truth emerged.

“It wasn’t wrong to say.”

The character desperately sought in dreams was Evan Crow.

A century ago. Evan Crow, with a team of five, shattered an unprecedented record by conquering Rank 8…

Though his life ended in the final battle with the Demon King,

He became a legend, an epic hero adorned with the honorary title of ‘Hero’.

That hero was…

“Why am I thinking of this now?”

Ji-en.

It was his past life.

Ji-en closed the biography of Evan Crow and slowly savored the last sentence.

[With the final attack launched by Demon King Belial, he lost his life, and his swordsmanship and knowledge, known as the Sword Deity, did not carry on to future generations. However, the spirit he held for humanity will endure forever.]

“It’s similar, but the order is wrong.”

Rank 8 Gate.

In human history, there were only two Rank 8s, but their difficulty was beyond imagination.

The first Rank 8 was the gate ‘Serpent that Devours the World’, with 400 participants.

The second was this ‘Demoniac Castle of the Demon King’.

Born for slaughter, the Demon King lived immortally. His demonic energy flooded the palace, and his strike tore through space.

Even Evan, praised as the greatest, couldn’t defeat the Demon King without sacrifice.

So, he resorted to the mutual destruction technique taught by the Sword Deity.

The ultimate salvation technique, infusing his life into the sword.

[Moon Blade]

The light, filled with genuine energy, surged towards the Demon King. Light merged with darkness. They entwined, twisted, and then faded.

And that was the end.

[Light cannot always be noble. Light begets shadow. Remember. As long as humanity exists, the demonic will be eternal.]

The Demon King, fitting for the final boss of a Rank 8 gate, uttered a stylish ending line,

And Evan… no.

“That’s how I died.”

He was 27 years old then.

In terms of swordsmanship, he was the man who reached the highest pinnacle in the history of Sabers.

Evan Crow.

Certainly, his life was befitting a hero, yet as a human, it left something to be desired.

‘Yet, I have no regrets… It was such an era.’

According to the biographies, Evan’s swordsmanship and knowledge did not pass on to his successors. But now, the story has changed.

The memories of a hero who once reached the pinnacle of human history have returned to Zien, the worst failing student.

Now, with the memories of his past life reclaimed.

Zien was someone in between Evan and Zien.

The power that Zien desperately wished for was with Evan, and the life (生) that Evan desperately wanted in his last moments was with Zien.

Here in this library, the failing student and the hero.

A new opportunity has been given to each other.

* * *

The first words Zien uttered upon returning to the dormitory were, “This is dreadful.”

Even a Savior, tasked with saving humanity, could become so unsightly.

“Fat.”

To be precise, the reflection in the mirror was swollen. Yet, for students at the academy, where hard training is a way of life, to have such a body?

Zien closed his eyes and focused on the condition of his body.

Zien, who had learned to circulate mana through his blood vessels with the breathing techniques taught by the Sword God, clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, residual mana.”

Residual mana meant that mana was clumped and blocked in the blood vessels.

Mana, like muscles, needs to be used to its limit to grow, so ordinary students would never suffer from residual mana.

But Zien, who had no talent in mana manipulation, focused solely on swordsmanship. And this was the result.

Scrape.

Zien pulled out the report card that lay inside the desk.

‘Is there anywhere lower to go from here?’

F.

F.

F.

F.

F.

Perhaps if someone had properly guided and led Zien, it wouldn’t have come to this, but no professor cared for a lackluster bottom-dweller.

“Still, it’s a relief.”

The pattern on the back of his hand had changed.

From Jian’s stigmata, which couldn’t even summon magical tools, to the heroic Evan’s stigmata.

It was clear evidence that Jian had inherited Evan’s past life.

“My stigmata. To think I’d recover the Black Fragrance—I never imagined.”

At a glance, it seemed no more than a tattoo, but the stigmata was the source of the Saber’s power.

“Still, you never know. Shall I check first?”

Jian turned on the test app on his phone and pressed the scan button. Then, a red flash burst from the phone.

Beep—

Like scanning a barcode, the stigmata on the back of his hand was read, and various information was displayed on the app.

——

Stigmata: Black Fragrance

Registration Code: A-96N

Magical Tool: Sword of Corruption (Black Fragrance)

Magic Device: Anti-Magic, …

Assimilation Rate: 96%

Skills (4/5)

1- Sensory Amplification

*Accelerates your thoughts.

2- ■Sword -Error

3- ■■■■■ -Error

4- ■■■■■ -Error

5-

——

A glitch in the latest app.

Looking at the mosaic of skills, it seemed the stigmata’s powers hadn’t fully transferred.

“Is it because the stigmata and the body’s owner are different?”

All skills except for the first were unusable.

“Should I erase it? No… Seeing that the first one is intact.”

Unlike magic devices, which are innate talents, skills are acquired later.

It was a rare case for a first-year student who couldn’t participate in the ‘real’ gate to possess a skill.

‘I can’t just erase it… I’m sure I can retrieve it.’

As Gian was lost in thought looking at the app, suddenly his phone rang.

Ding!

Gian’s expression hardened as he checked the message.

[Come to the principal’s office immediately. -Selfis-]

“I can’t complain even if I’m marked.”

His body was caught in residual mana, and his grades were at the bottom. Gian was bearing the brunt of the principal’s dislike.

* * *

The principal’s office was filled with luxury, from the massive wooden table to the giant TV screen, and even the exquisite scented candles.

“Was this our second meeting?”

Principal Selfis scanned Gian from head to toe before handing over some documents.

“What’s this?”

Disbelief was evident in Gian’s voice as he read the documents.

“It’s a request for the return of government subsidies.”

“Isn’t subsidy repayment a sanction given to expelled students?”

“More precisely, it’s a measure for students who are about to be expelled. Frankly, I don’t even know how you got admitted. I’m tempted to summon the personnel in charge and investigate.”

Selfis continued in a condescending and irritated tone.

“From Stigmata Studies, History, Acting, Potion-making, to Mana Application and even Magic Studies. Is there a single subject among the dozen courses where you didn’t receive an F? Even now, you’ve got an F in dueling. Swordsmanship was supposed to be your specialty. You’re a disgrace to our Arcana.”

Selfis opened the window.

The grounds of Arcana were bathed in the hot sun, and a symbolic statue stood there.

“Our Arcana is a prestigious academy that graduated the great hero Evan. It has always been at the top of the academy world, and that hasn’t changed. We have an image to maintain outside. The image of the elite!”

‘Great hero, how embarrassing.’

The hero whose autobiography was even placed in the library. Gian had graduated from the academy in his past life too.

‘Of course, back then the academy’s name was Arpia.’

Gian looked at Selfis confidently.

“So you’re saying I’m a student who doesn’t fit in at Arc… Arcana?”

“Ahem, now you’re getting it. If a failure like you wears Arcana’s badge… even I, as the principal, would lose face.”

Lose face.

The person who just praised the great hero was me.

Having regained the memories of his past life, Jian faced the situation with a newfound composure unlike his previous panic.