As I approached the orcs, the past regressions suddenly flashed through my mind.
Across three lifetimes,
I had never once been reincarnated into a peaceful civilization.
This third regression was no different.
This current world, too, was rife with heroes, villains, gates, towers, and countless other phenomena.
If there was one improvement over my first life, it was that this third regression unfolded in a world where modern civilization still thrived.
Consequently, this third life proved to be the most agreeable world I had ever inhabited.
Save for one thing.
“Seriously, why are you all so ugly wherever I go?”
The existence of *them*.
“Hmph?”
The orc fully turned its head toward me.
It gripped the club in its hand tightly.
It had clearly recognized me as an enemy.
I had seen many orcs before.
In my previous lives, and the one before that.
Yet, this was my first encounter with an orc in this current life.
“How familiar.”
The characteristics and appearances of orcs varied slightly across different worlds.
However, the orc before me was strikingly familiar.
This was because I had seen them countless times in Rio World.
‘It truly isn’t a popular game for no reason.’
Why was Rio World a popular game?
Popular games usually have a reason for their popularity.
Surely, there couldn’t be an outcome without a cause in any cause-and-effect relationship.
The reason Rio World was so popular?
It was precisely its
realism.
Just as that thought solidified in my mind,
“GRAAAAH—!!!”
CRASH—!
The orc slammed its club onto the floor.
Marble fragments leapt into the air, scattering everywhere.
I deftly retreated a few steps.
As for the marble fragments, a few pieces wouldn’t matter much, as long as they weren’t too large.
To verify the advice I had given Yura,
I conjured the bare minimum of a magical barrier and mana output that a mage could employ.
Body Reinforcement.
It wasn’t my physical body I was reinforcing.
If I reinforced my body to beat down an orc, would that make me a Level 21 mage?
No, that would make me a Level 21 warrior.
Thus, the reinforcement I chose was kinetic vision.
Mages possess exceptional brains and eyes.
This meant that investing physical reinforcement into one’s reflexes yielded remarkable efficiency.
I dodged the fragments that seemed to drift slowly, as if in slow motion.
Though my own movements were also slow, dodging posed no problem.
With everything clearly visible to my eyes, I simply moved my body in sync with the orc’s movements, allowing me to evade perfectly.
‘That’s why those mage bastards were so good at dodging.’
– Hey, your body is trash, so how are you so good at dodging with fancy footwork?
– My eyes are good, that’s why. Want me to teach you too?
– Hmm… it’s tempting…
– I’ll tell you if you kneel and beg with your head bowed right now.
– I’m interested in your reflexes, not your footwork, so get lost, you punk.
– Tsk.
My momentary immersion in nostalgic memories was fleeting.
My head began to throb.
More precisely, my brain, pushed to its limits by kinetic vision, was struggling under the overload.
While beneficial in many ways, it suffered from one critical drawback: its short duration.
‘I need to finish this quickly.’
“Ice Age.”
‘Normally, I wouldn’t need to chant, but since I’m imitating a Level 21 mage, I suppose I should.’
****
Meanwhile.
At a location slightly detached from the orcs.
A small finger pointed towards a boy weaving through the orcs.
“Mom. Look over there.”
The boy Seo-a observed was somewhat peculiar.
The orcs kept their distance, yet were closely engaged with the boy.
It was the exact opposite of the situation just moments ago.
Despite the trembling mother and daughter nearby,
the orcs completely ignored their presence.
And the boy’s presence was just as strong.
Though he wasn’t much taller than she was,
the sheer presence emanating from his demeanor and actions was enough to make the orcs disregard everyone else in the supermarket and focus solely on him.
It wasn’t just the orcs.
Seo-a, too, found her gaze fixed on the boy as if spellbound.
CRACKLE!
The boy bound the orcs’ feet with frost magic.
As the foremost orc stumbled, the one standing behind it was fully revealed.
Though the orcs’ inherent strength meant their feet were only momentarily trapped by the ice,
the boy had already prepared his next attack.
“Fireball.”
Flames engulfed the orcs standing behind the one in front, leaping over its head.
Then,
he spun around and moved away from his position.
The boy repeated this sequence.
When the lead orc’s feet were ensnared by ice,
the orc behind it burst into flames.
One by one, they naturally collapsed.
The scent of roasted meat began to fill the supermarket.
بسيطهGazing down at the fallen orcs, the boy murmured.
“Perfectly roasted.”
Golden brown and crispy, the roasted orc was complete.
Today’s special:
Roasted orc, frozen then grilled over an open flame for unparalleled flavor.
“My advice truly never fails.”
The boy, who had been wearing a proud smile, suddenly furrowed his brow.
It seemed something unpleasant had crossed his mind.
“Seriously, why couldn’t they do this? Should I have given them more detailed advice?”
Seo-a took in the boy and the fallen orcs on the floor with a single glance.
To Seo-a, this wasn’t a fight.
Though it was her first time witnessing a monster battling a human,
Seo-a had seen boys fight many times.
Boys’ fights were always messy.
They would pull each other’s hair, cry, and make a huge fuss.
Right.
She had never seen a fight end so simply.
And so effortlessly.
It was as if….
a hunt.
The fear she had felt upon encountering the orcs had vanished as if washed away.
Instead, witnessing the boy’s magical prowess, Seo-a made a decision.
“Mom….”
‘I want to.’
“I want to attend the academy.”
‘I want to be like that.’
****
[Special Task Force!]
The commotion at the supermarket concluded swiftly.
Thanks to the swift arrival of hunters and heroes, there were zero casualties.
I quietly exited the supermarket.
After paying for my purchases, of course.
‘I fought while using perception-inhibiting magic, so it should be fine.’
Since few people possessed observation skills keen enough to bypass my perception-inhibiting magic, I could return home without worry.
The police wouldn’t come looking for me later.
After all, no one would remember that I was the one who had dealt with the orcs.
While it was a feat I didn’t necessarily need to conceal, revealing it would only lead to complications.
After all, I had single-handedly taken down three orcs.
And I, an eight-year-old by social standing.
This was prime material for the nine o’clock news.
The Eight Great Guilds and the government would undoubtedly rush to specially recruit me out of nowhere.
To preemptively avoid such inevitable hassles,
I cast perception-inhibiting magic.
And erased my tracks.
I returned home.
Upon arriving, I headed straight to the kitchen without resting.
‘I bought ingredients, so I should eat.’
‘Wasn’t that why I went to the supermarket in the first place?’
I prepared and cooked the freshly bought vegetables and meat, then casually arranged them on a plate.
Breakfast was served.
While eating, I, like most modern people,
picked up my phone and connected to the internet.
‘I wonder if there’s anything interesting…’
[Live: Orcs Spotted]
[Supermarket Orc Incident]
[What is this? Is this real?]
[Today’s Issue: Muscular Pig Orcs Appear in Supermarket LOL]
The internet was already flooded with news of the recent incident.
As someone directly involved in the situation, I casually browsed another site without much thought.
“Hmm?”
I found a peculiar post.
[Author: BroadcastRuleEnforcer]
[Title: Breaking) Yura Changes Stream Rules]
[Seems like it’s because of that backseat gamer this morning? Rules already updated]
– That guy who got banned?
– [BroadcastRuleEnforcer]: Yeah, probably because of him.
– LOL, it was about time for a change.
– Too bad, no more backseat gaming now.
What did this mean?
“Changed the rules?”
Upon seeing the post, I meticulously read through the stream’s rules.
Indeed, a new rule I hadn’t seen before had appeared in the middle.
[No Backseat Gaming: Excessive backseat gaming will result in a 24-hour ban. Three or more offenses will lead to a permanent ban.]
“This….”
And that wasn’t even the only change.
[No ‘Brain-Dead’ Donations (TL Note: 뇌절 후원 (noejeol huwon) refers to overly excessive, spammy, or nonsensical donations that disrupt the stream or are made for attention.)]
I was so flustered that words failed me.
“What in the… what could this possibly….”
That day, just as my world threatened to crumble,
“Oh?”
it narrowly recovered.
“Wait a minute.”
A detail I stumbled upon while rereading the rules.
“Could it be…”
My vibrant eyes, filled with hope, landed on a particular spot.
It was none other than a rule created by Capitalist Yura.
****
“Yoo-ha!”
The next day, Yura started her stream.
“How has everyone been doing?”
As viewers steadily flowed in and the count rapidly climbed, as usual,
Yura skillfully guided the broadcast.
“Today, I’ll be playing ranked PvP, just like yesterday. But before that, I have something to tell you all.”
– [Anonymous] donated 1,000 won! –
[100,000 won if you climb the tower]
The first donation of the day came through.
However, Yura did not welcome this initial donation.
It was from the same viewer who had made the ‘brain-dead’ donation yesterday.
“What a timely donation. Could everyone please reread the announcement, including the viewer who just donated?”
Yura informed her viewers that the stream rules had been slightly modified.
Just then,
another donation came in.
It was the same person as before.
– [Anonymous] donated 10,000 won! –
[Bail]
Indeed.
In Yura’s stream,
there existed a bail system, created by Money Yura (TL Note: A nickname for Yura, implying she is very focused on money), who received money transfusions instead of blood.
A system that read as ‘bail’
but functioned as ‘amnesty.’
– [Anonymous] donated 1,000 won! –
[100,000 won if you climb the tower]
