CH 3

Chapter 3. The Good-For-Nothing Has Changed (1)

Translator: Aura

— The world is unfair and it sucks.

Krasue came to that conclusion when he was about eight years old. To be exact, it was the day he wielded a sword like his older siblings.

Krasue felt so clumsy wielding the sword that he realized the world had abandoned him.

It wasn’t like it was normal for an eight-year-old to have to wield a sword to begin with. But for the family where Krasue came from, average performance was not accepted.

Valheim was the most powerful family in the Staron Kingdom.

All the direct descendants born there were geniuses, and also arrogant.

Except one, the youngest of the family. Also known as the disgrace of the Valheim Family, Krasue.

Even so, he worked hard and managed to climb up to the Azure Sky Order.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was the betrayal by those who were supposed to have been his colleagues.

Someone who was only there to carry the curses.

— What a pitiful life!

That’s what Krasue thought until he opened his eyes today.

Flash.

His vision still blurred, Krasue saw a lighted place.

A cold sweat drenched his entire body.

At the same time, he saw his own hand stretched out in front of him. The hand he stretched out toward Arthur in a last-ditch effort.

Krasue, who was staring blankly at his hand, slowly began to come to his senses.

*Buzz*

The sound of cicadas reached his ears from beyond the window. The rays of light that bathed the place suggested that it was a summer day.

The oppressive heat unique to summer made beads of sweat form on his forehead.

It was just the opposite of the cold winter of the world that was about to perish.

His eyes turned once more to his hand.

“Huh?”

It was because the hand reflected in his eyes was intact and smaller.

Krasue was completely taken aback.

Along with that, he realized another fact. He could see clearly through the eye that he had lost his vision.

But that wasn’t all. His entire body felt extremely light unlike before.

When he looked around, he found this familiar place. It was the room where he had stayed during his time at the Valheim Estate.

‘What the hell is going on?’

He had activated the black hood on the hand he stretched out at the last moment. He had used his own skill in the vague hope that he could steal Arthur’s skill.

‘It can’t be. I stole Arthur’s regression.’

Krasue got goosebumps. At the same time, he looked down at his hand.

He really didn’t expect to be able to steal his skill.

Krasue clenched his hand into a fist.

The thrill of success in his only chance ran through his entire body.

‘Actually, I could have checked it out a long time ago.’

If he had the ability to steal even curses, it was no wonder he could steal skills.

But Krasue didn’t bother to try it.

Even if he did steal them, not only did he not have the confidence to properly use the skills that others had honed throughout his life, but when he thought about stealing skills, his body was already ruined by curses.

Furthermore, Black Hood obviously had a weak point.

‘It is not possible to determine with certainty the level of difficulty to steal.’

Even a random stone picked up from the ground can be extremely precious to someone. Seen that way, it was not easy to steal even a stone with Black Hood.

‘The conditions are reflected in the lock that appears when Black Hood is activated.’

Conditions vary widely. And only if the conditions are met can the lock be opened to obtain what is inside.

This is how Black Hood works.

‘That’s why skills should be even more difficult to steal.’

It’s normal to think that for anyone their skill is the most precious. Therefore, it would not be easy to meet the conditions to steal them.

‘But what happened in this case?’

At the time of stealing Arthur’s regression, Krasue did not see the lock.

By simply activating Black Hood, he stole Arthur’s regression.

How was that possible?

“Maybe…”

A thought crossed Krasue’s mind.

He had a sneaking suspicion that Arthur was suffering. In those last moments he had the impression that Arthur was exhausted and despondent at having to live through the same thing all over again.

The average mind couldn’t bear to repeat the same events over and over again.

Even more so in a world that no matter what is headed for destruction.

Arthur had gone back in time more than a few times.

‘That’s probably why Arthur even searched for a way to transfer the memories of those three.’

Maybe he wanted to at least have the people around him by his side. Apparently, Krasue wasn’t even considered a person…

‘In any case, Arthur deep down didn’t want to have the regression anymore.’

As a result, he was able to steal the regression so easily that the lock didn’t even appear.

‘Perhaps for Arthur the regression was like a curse.’

A curse he would like to be rid of.

“Wait.”

Suddenly, another thought crossed Krasue’s mind.

If he had stolen Arthur’s regression and gone back in time, then what happened to the Arthur he knew?

‘What Black Hood steals is not left to the owner.’

If it were still with the owner, it could not be said that it had been stolen.

Since he stole Arthur’s regression, there’s no doubt that he lost the way of going back in time.

Does that mean that the Arthur he knew was left on the world that was about to be completely destroyed under a meteor storm?

“Ha, haha, Hahahahaha.”

A laugh started to come out of Krasue’s mouth.

“You deserve it, Arthur.”