Chapter 1: Realizing the Genre After 20 Years

Everything began with a single comment from my close friend.

"Jin-ah hyung, you play a lot of games, right? Our company is working on a project, could you take a look at it? I'll send you the file by email."

I had no particular reason to refuse.

As he said, I did enjoy playing games regularly. And I was in the process of changing jobs to a different company, so I had plenty of free time on my hands.

It seemed like a great opportunity to enjoy a game while also helping out a close friend.

A few days later, an email arrived from my friend.

When I opened the game file, it started without any introduction, probably because it was still unfinished.

The gist of the game was this:

Use magic to defeat monsters and learn new spells. Then use those spells to defeat more monsters.

Looking at just the combat aspects, it was quite satisfying. The magic had diverse attributes and was visually impressive.

It was a bit disappointing that there was no story, but I figured that could be added gradually in the future.

I conveyed these opinions directly to my friend.

"That's great to hear. I'll let you know when it's officially released."

"Alright, keep up the good work."

Since it was quite fun in its own way, I looked forward to the day of its official release.

And so a day passed, then two. A month went by, and as it approached a year...

With no news despite the long wait, I called my friend. And I heard a shocking response.

"Oh right, that project was scrapped. The higher-ups said they really didn't like it."

What on earth...?

For the past year, I had played that unfinished game countless times while waiting for the official release. I could clear it with my eyes closed and using just my feet by now.

I couldn't believe that all that anticipation resulted in just this.

'It's not like I can demand they make the game...'

The cost of game development isn't just pocket change. It wasn't something I could insist on.

So what could I do? I just had to accept it.

That night, I planned to let go of my lingering attachment and get rid of the game. There was no need to hold onto an unfinished game that would never be officially released.

But then something strange happened.

'What's this...?'

The game file had changed into something else. The icon was different, and "ver2" was added to the name.

As if entranced, my mouse moved.

Finally, click-

The world went dark.

That was how I ended up being reincarnated into this world.

When I opened my eyes again, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted me.

And so began the life of Franz Gilbert (age 7), the youngest son of a baron's family!

* * * * *

Since I was fairly well-versed in subculture, I knew what to do in this situation.

"Status window!"

A semi-transparent display appearing as a miracle to help the protagonist overcome adversity was one of the common tropes.

But it seemed that even such a common setting wasn't attached to Franz.

"..."

Franz Gilbert (age 7) fell into deep disappointment!

But that was only for a moment.

Come to think of it, those with status windows usually started from damp streets, didn't they?

Instead of having a status window, being born as the youngest son of a baron's family and greeting the day from a soft bed didn't seem so bad.

In fact, bonus points for being able to eat well. More bonus points for being from a family that has practiced magic for generations, even if they were only barons.

In the end, the score graph in my mind climbed from the underground to a sunny spot.

Thus, Franz made a full recovery!

In fact, the score should have plummeted just from crossing over to another world, but this was a remarkable achievement made possible by Franz's miraculous mindset of not dwelling on things that had already happened.

Anyway, since the given situation wasn't bad, if things went wrong from here on out, it would be entirely my own fault.

So, well, in the end, I just had to live diligently.

Franz lived exactly as he thought.

At 7 years old.

He became the ace of the family by scoring 100 points on a dictation test.

He snuck into his father's study, wanting to learn magic, but got caught and scolded.

Apparently, his mana wasn't stable yet, so he had to wait until he was 10 to start learning.

At 8 years old.

He conquered multiplication, prompting his mother to declare, "This child will become a great magician."

As for what connection multiplication had with magic...

Well, what connection did it have?

It remained a mystery why his mother had become an advocate for great magicians.

At 10 years old.

He began learning 1st circle magic and realized his own talent.

Water, fire, wind, earth, light, darkness.

He had an aptitude for all attributes that existed in the world.

Moreover, magic was so fun that he quickly mastered 1st circle magic.

At 13 years old.

He started learning 3rd circle magic and reached the point of modifying the core and formulas of 1st circle magic.

The atmosphere was such that people around him were starting to believe his mother's claims about him becoming a great magician.

As a result, he received a lot of expectations, but it didn't particularly burden him.

He was the type to perform even better when pushed.

At 15 years old.

He began learning 5th circle magic, officially entering the ranks of intermediate magicians.

It caused a stir among the nobles that the youngest 5th circle magician had appeared.

His mother was promoted from 'advocate of great magicians' to 'mother of a future great magician'.

At 16 years old.

He finally set foot in the magic tower.

In truth, based on talent alone, he could have entered much earlier, but due to the age restriction at the magic tower, he was a bit delayed.

Around this time, he started to feel puzzled.

If this was truly the world of that game he had played so often, monsters should have appeared by now.

But the Demon King had been sealed 100 years ago, and monsters were nowhere to be found in the world.

So, since that day, 100 years have passed?

There was still so much he didn't know.

At 17 years old.

It finally happened.

The seal on the Demon King, which had maintained world peace for 100 years, was broken.

As a result, monsters appeared all over the world, causing a whirlwind of bloodshed.

The magic tower was in constant motion day and night. From missions to subjugate monsters to missions to aid civilians, they were truly busy without a moment's rest.

It was around this time that he realized that this wasn't 100 years after the game's timeline, but rather, it hadn't even started yet.

At 18 years old.

A Hero appeared to save the world, and a party formed around him.

Hero, Magician, Saint, Elven Archer.

Franz proudly took his place as the magician of the hero's party.

In truth, it wasn't something he had wished for. It was just those damn old men at the magic tower, jealous of young talent, pushing him into danger.

They praised him as the pride of the magic tower, making it impossible for him to refuse.

Clearly, just yesterday they had been complaining about how annoying it was that the young had talent.

So what could he do? The situation had already unfolded, and if he valued his life, the only option was to kill the Demon King first.

Hero, please be strong-!

It was the beginning of ‘prayer meta’.

At 20 years old.

Perhaps the gods had answered Franz's prayers.

Led by Yuna's (age 18, Hero) hidden strength, the hero's party continued its winning streak.

Every enemy they met was cut in half! They were truly an unstoppable monster-slicing machine.

If there was a problem, it was that the party members had somewhat nasty personalities, but hey, once they defeated the Demon King, they'd never have to see each other again, so what did it matter?

Oh right, in the meantime, he had mastered 7th circle magic. It seemed that facing hardships and adversities in the hero's party had been helpful.

At 22 years old.

They defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King.

In the process, the hero's arm was severed, but the saint grumblingly reattached it.

It was truly a miracle of the gods.

At 24 years old.

Once again, they defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

It felt like they had fought for nearly three days and nights.

At 26 years old.

The Demon King and two of the Four Heavenly Kings attacked at once.

It was a moment when the hero's party was in danger due to the enemy's joint attack.

Franz used a forbidden technique that drew upon life force.

Thus, he completed 10th circle magic.

It was a hidden magic said to be usable only by the progenitor of magic.

Thanks to this, the hero's party gained time to recover, and in the end, the war between humans and demons ended in humanity's victory.

Thanks to the saint's miracle, Franz was also fine.

Except for losing about 1 or 2 years of his lifespan.

After everything ended, Franz returned to the magic tower. And he proudly took the position of tower master.

The old men frowned as if their guts were twisted, but what could they do?

He had played an active role in the hero's party and was a living legend who had completed 10th circle magic.

This was where Franz, or rather Jin-ah's, knowledge ended.

Defeating monsters and strengthening magic, then defeating the final boss, the Demon King, and it's over.

So could he return to his original world now?

Or was there something else?

A year passed while pondering such concerns.

The world was still going through difficult times due to the remnants left by the Demon King, and the magic tower was also busy trying to save such a world.

Franz had now turned 27 years old.

It had been exactly 20 years since he was reincarnated into this world.

He lay down on his bed to sleep after finishing the busy work of the tower master.

'Huh?'

A strange thing appeared before his eyes.

A semi-transparent blue window.

It didn't appear when he looked for it, so why was it showing up now?

But, why is the content like this...?

『Save the world from the villainesses who will lead it to destruction!

Hero Yuna (0.00%)

Saint Yustia (0.00%)

Elven Archer Hera (0.00%)

If you fail, the world will be destroyed!』

"Shit..."

For the first time in a long while, a hearty curse escaped his lips.