Past Life Returner

The body of the soldier in the Demon King Corps that he initially stole was not very strong. He would have preferred to get a stronger body as his first transfer target, but this was the best he could find as it was impossible to find a better one.

Although it was difficult to control the body due to the injuries left in the target, there was something he had to do. He needed to retrieve the sacred object of Lord Lacryma, the Soul Ring. It had originally been on the finger of his actual body.

His dead body lay at the feet of the body he transferred to, but he couldn’t afford to be immersed in emotions as the situation was urgent. He quickly retrieved the Soul Ring from his old body and collapsed. At the same time, the memories of the transferred target were flooding in like a torrent.

“Mr. Samuel, can you hear my voice?”

Samuel’s brow twitched. He could now understand the language of the Demon King Corps and knew who was talking to him through the memories. He naturally thought of the answer to the question in their language, and the terminology for the knights who fought alongside him on the battlefield before his actual self died also came to his mind in their language.

In their mainland, they called the knights, his old comrades, ‘invaders from outer space.’

Samuel asked, “What happened to the attackers? No one must have…survived.”

“That’s correct, sir.”

“Alright, I want to be alone now.”

“The situation with the TMC Group has become complicated due to the previous invasion. I have something important to tell you about that matter…”

“Later.”

“Yes, sir.”

As soon as the door closed, Samuel closed his eyes again and carefully went through the memories of the owner of the body. Astonishment began to appear vividly on his twitching brows.

The memories could be divided into three sections. The period before the Stage of Advent, the Stage of Advent, and moments after returning from the stage. In particular, the memories at the stage were full of incomprehensible facts. They were scenes of fighting with evil beings like Baclan and Declan for decades, but he couldn’t understand a thing.

Isn’t this the Doom Man’s dimension..?

However, Doom Man’s soldiers had been fighting against the soldiers of other Demon Kings in the Stage of Advent and periods decades before that. Even now, the owner of the body still considered the other Demon King’s soldiers, monsters like Declan and Baclan, as enemies that must be killed along with the creations of Lord Lacryma, his original self, and his loved ones.

Moreover, the day when the monsters attacked Doom Man’s dimension was called the ‘Day of Advent’ here. Just by looking at the memories, all kinds of circumstances were full of inconsistencies.

Meanwhile, the incident at the end of the Final Stage appeared to have impressed the owner of the body so much that his memory was incredibly vivid. Even with all the Awakened gathered, they couldn’t confront Odin.

Odin was the only Awakened who had reached the Ender section and had absorbed the malice of Doom Kaos into his own body. He ranked first in the hierarchy. Even the King of Hell, Jonathan Hunter, who held the majority of the wealth in the entire world, was considered lower than Odin.

Odin was indeed at the top of the World Awakened Association, which governed the Awakened. However, he was not notorious in the civilian world.

What kind of world is this..?

Samuel was utterly confused. The world of Doom Man seen outside the memories of the body was completely different from the world he had imagined. While he knew that the Demon Corps formed a civilization as a group, he thought their world would have been dominated by an absolute evil power.

If there were a lower-class group, then he imagined them as naked slaves engaged only in production and labor activities for the corps. Nonetheless, this was a world where the King of Hell Jonathan Hunter was standing in the trial himself, for a reason that didn’t even seem to be valid.

Samuel immediately searched for the remote control as soon as he opened his eyes. He turned on the television. As expected, it was noisy with the news of Jonathan Hunter standing in a trial. The news was also broadcasting countless images of the protestors on the streets.

None of the rulers in Greenwood Continent could be compared to Jonathan Hunter’s power, wealth, and the influence he exerted. However, such a person was standing trial for the lower-class citizens.

Prior to that, political ideologies such as democracy and communism had already emerged in the world, which focused on the lower-class citizens. However, with the return of the Awakened from the stage, it was expected to revert to absolutism.

Samuel couldn’t take his eyes off the television as he was shocked. The shock was tremendous enough to momentarily make him forget the main purpose of entering the mainland of Doom Man. He shook his head violently.

***

Eventually, Samuel came to one conclusion. The reason why this place hadn’t changed much before and after the Day of Advent was because of the unity in their command, as shown by the King of Hell in the hearing.

Odin and his close aides, the board members of the association, were creating the current world together. While they kept the lower-class, which filled the majority of the association, here, they sent trained agents to Saint Dragorin, the precious world that Lord Lacryma created.

The fact that Doom Man, who fought against the Demon King Corps, had joined their ranks was of lesser importance. As emphasized by the King of Hell during the hearing, what truly mattered was the present reality. The reality of the Awakened that were steadily flowing into Star Dragorin!

If Samuel could keep their ambitions focused on their mainland, rather than Star Dragorin… If he could plunge the entire mainland of Doom Man into civil war or disrupt the world’s order…

It would be the most significant blow that could defeat the Demon Corps. Thus, there was no need to choose an Awakened as the next transfer target because they were already excluded from the power structure of the world.

In fact, there were multiple cases where the power of those with money surpassed that of the Awakened. Many Awakened were operating under the name of capital forces, and the owner of the body was also tied to an agent.

Samuel obtained a laptop through his subordinate after thinking that far. It was time to search for the next transfer target. It would have been great if he could seize the body of the King of Hell, but that was simply a long-term goal for now.

***

Samuel came across a conspiracy theory during his search for a target. The idea had existed even before the Day of Advent. It was about a shadow government of elites that had gathered to rule the world, and its name was the Bilderberg Club.

Although it was treated as civilian gossip like UFOs, occult horror stories, or moon landing conspiracies, it was hard to say that it was false. On the days and places where the club meeting was held, protestors set up a camp in the front while famous capitalists and powerful officials secretly gathered at the venue.

Samuel became interested. If the Bilderberg Club actually existed, infiltrating it would be his short term goal. Even if the club ended up being just a conspiracy theory, he could take over the body of someone influential in this world to exert more power. After all, he would be chased by the Security Bureau as an unregistered Awakened committing acts of violence in a guerrilla-like violence in his current body.

Anyway, the people presumed to be members of the club had unbelievable influence. There were some like Jonathan Hunter and Joshua von Karjan who had become Awakened, but it would be easier to use the body of a non-Awakened to approach Sword Master-level individuals instead of directly using their bodies. Samuel stayed up all night to identify the next target.

On the next day, Samuel planned to change to a stronger physical form at least up to the diamond section to proceed with the plan as capitalists, politicians, and other influential people often had Awakened as bodyguards.

Also, it was easy to assess the Awakened strength as their rank was publicly accessible. Transferring to a much stronger target would inherently carry risks, so he had to move himself to the subject as if he was climbing up the stairs.

Samuel walked out of the hospital room. Someone called him from the back, but he maintained a fast pace until he reached the crowd. Another capitalist group’s headquarters was located not far away, and an Awakened who had a deep connection with the owner of the current body from the stage was waiting for the entry to outer space.

His level was only one digit higher than the current body, so he was a perfect fit for the next target.

“I came to see Mark. If you say Samuel is here, then he will know who I am.”

Samuel spoke to the receptionist in the lobby and waited on the couch. Large monitors were displaying today’s item prices and the latest news from the association in the center. The news was covering the damage to the TMC Group that he used to belong to.

As Samuel stared at them for a while, a bulky man appeared in the hallway. When he looked at Samuel’s face, surprise spread on his face.

“The TMC healers must be skilled. Can you walk around already?”

Samuel quipped, “Hey, you didn’t even visit me. How dare you! Haha.”

“Haha, I was busy. Anyway, what’s up?”

“I need an appraisal from a third perspective. As you know, the situation in my group is horrible.”

Samuel showed the Soul Ring on his finger.

“What is it?”

“A drop item. The leader of the attackers had it.”

“Elf? Dwarf? Or the Greenwood species?”

“...I need you. Follow me.”

Samuel stood up, and thought about the quiet places where people didn’t go from the body’s memory. There was a space between buildings where Manchester’s gangs used as escapades. Well…they all disappeared when the Awakened Group’s headquarters entered the street.

When they arrived there, Samuel showed his ring without a word again.

“I can be a dummy, but what am I getting from this?”

The man shrugged, and Samuel answered.

“I have prepared some compensation.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“You have gone through a lot at the Stage of Advent, Mark. It’s time for you to rest.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once your soul is extinguished, you probably won’t feel any pain.”

“What the hell…?”

A cold energy filled Samuel's eyes, and a sinister energy radiated simultaneously from the Soul Ring.

Then, the man who became Mark from Samuel went out to find another target. After all, the current body he had changed into was just a temporary vessel. His final goal was occupying the body of a member of the Bilderberg Club.