Life Rebooted with Copy and Paste

At first, it was just one person—a man in a long, elegant robe strolling along. His footsteps echoed as he walked.

Soon, he noticed a land split wide open ahead. This was where Jecheon Seong had slashed his sword and where Nereid had fallen.

“How was it?” the man asked, seemingly speaking to the empty air.

However, someone answered him. The ground itself rose, morphing into the shape of a muscular man with brown skin.

“There were two. One was a human from the outside world, and the other was Vulcanus.”

“I see. He has finally done it.” The robed man let out a small chuckle.

Did Vulcanus hate Nereid that much? He did it while weakened too, hiding the true extent of his Heart of Flame.

Although Vulcanus did receive some help, it was still a remarkable feat. Among the beings tied to this world, only a few could stand against Nereid, let alone defeat him.

“Vulcanus didn’t play a huge role. It was a human who shattered the Core, and another who delivered the final blow.”

“Oh?” The robed man curiously raised an eyebrow. “The person who left this mark, you mean?”

“Yes. The one who broke Nereid's Core was a young man. The one who left these traces was an old man.”

Lacrit gave a detailed report, recounting the events as if he had witnessed them firsthand. In truth, he had only watched it from a distance, and only half of the battle.

For the first time in decades, Nereid had unleashed his full power only to be defeated and wiped from existence. How could Lacrit, a fellow Spirit King, not take interest?

“Why didn’t you save Nereid?” the robed man asked, his tone almost playful. “You could have done so.”

“No, I couldn't,” Lacrit replied firmly, pointing at the massive scar left on the earth by Jecheon Seong. “It was impossible. I was lucky to escape with my life. In fact, it could be called a miracle.”

“Hmm?”

For the first time, the robed man’s expression shifted, a flicker of interest in his eyes. Even if he was weaker than Nereid, Lacrit was still the Earth Spirit King. It was not like him to admit such weakness so casually.

And yet, Lacrit's demeanor remained steadfast—free of shame or embarrassment. To him, it was as natural as saying the sun rose in the East or water flowed downhill.

“A human like that exists in the outside world...?”

“Besides,” Lacrit continued, “I knew Nereid would ultimately be his own downfall. His goals were too absurd to begin with.”

Nereid's wish to break free from all constraints—from the very chains of existence—was plain ridiculous.

“If there were a being who could achieve that, it would have to be an all-powerful god. But—”

“But,” the robed man interrupted, “no such god exists in this universe, right?”

“Correct.”

The robed man smirked.

“Not quite the kind of thing I’d expect from you, Lacrit. Especially given how you let the elves worship the World Tree like a god.”

Lacrit remained unbothered by the robed man’s teasing. He knew the man’s nature all too well, so he wasn’t in any position to argue back.

“Well, for all we know,” Lacrit said calmly, “There could be such a being in places we haven’t seen.”

“Nereid certainly seemed to believe that with all his heart, but I find it hard to accept.”

Having seen enough, the robed man prepared to leave. Taking just one step forward, he vanished without a trace.

By force of habit, Lacrit searched the ground for any lingering presence. No one who set foot on land could escape the gaze of the Earth Spirit King. However, he found nothing, as if there was an impenetrable wall that cut off any traces of the man’s energy.

Lacrit knew this meant that the man was no longer in this Stem; he had probably returned to his own domain.

From the void where the robed man had disappeared, his voice echoed faintly, like a lingering whisper.

“Then why did you follow me? Don’t you, like Nereid, wish to ascend?”

Lacrit merely stared at the void.

***

The next day, Kim Do-Joon was up early, getting ready to leave.

Upon seeing him, Jecheon Seong asked, "Are you heading out to the shop?"

"Yeah. Since the Association President said he was coming by, I figured I should clean up beforehand. Are you heading somewhere too, sir?"

"I have a meeting," Jecheon Seong replied casually.

Kim Do-Joon noticed that Jecheon Seong was also dressing up, which was unusual for him. Who on earth could he be meeting with?

Now that Kim Do-Joon had thought about it, he didn’t know much about Jecheon Seong's connections here. He knew the man was friendly with the librarian, but not much beyond that.

Sensing Kim Do-Joon's curiosity, Jecheon Seong said, "I’ll tell you about it when I get back.”

"Oh, okay."

Jecheon Seong left the house ahead of Kim Do-Joon, who was still preparing.

***

Jecheon Seong's destination was the Academy grounds, where the recent incident had occurred. Since the students had just returned yesterday, the area was still bustling with attention. Curious onlookers were scattered about, and Association staff were busy controlling access to various areas. Having no business with them, he simply walked toward the grounds.

"Excuse me, sir. You can’t go past this point without—"

Recognizing Jecheon Seong, another staff member quickly stopped their colleague. "Hup! W-wait! Stop! Stop!"

"Why are you stopping me?" the junior staffer asked, confused.

"That’s him! The one from yesterday!"

"Who... wait, him?" The junior turned around, eyes wide in recognition.

There was no mistaking it. This was the same elderly man who had caused a stir by leaving a massive sword rift in the air yesterday!

"May I go in?" Jecheon Seong asked calmly.

"Of course, sir! Go right ahead!"

"Please, proceed!"

The staff members’ replies brimmed with respect.

Orders about offering full cooperation to this elderly man had been given out. Even without that, stopping him didn’t even cross their mind; the two B-rank Hunters knew that they were no match for him.

Jecheon Seong offered a customary word of encouragement before walking past them. "Thank you for your hard work."

Leaving the two awestruck staff members behind, he made his way toward the Academy building at the center, where several more staff members were conducting investigations.

Not wanting to interfere, he decided to leave the building and head into the nearby forest instead. Despite his leisurely pace, no one noticed his presence as he entered the woods—except for one spirit sitting quietly within.

"My name is Vulcanus," the being said.

"I’m Jecheon Seong," he replied.

The two stood face to face. Vulcanus, who had been sitting on a tree stump, slowly rose. Flames ignited around him, swirling like molten embers. The heat was so intense that the air shimmered with mirages, warping the space around him.

Unperturbed, Jecheon Seong drew his sword. Though he considered exchanging words first, a greater part of him wanted to skip the niceties and head straight into combat. His curiosity was certainly piqued, but more importantly, his warrior's spirit—his desire for a worthy opponent—burned stronger.

The fireball crept closer. The moment it was conjured, the outcome of their fight became dependent on whether or not Jecheon Seong could cut through it.

Dodging and cutting him down would be easy enough.

Unfortunately, that’d leave him open to the fireball. In fact, if he was aiming for a decisive victory, he should’ve struck Vulcanus down before it even appeared.

His competitiveness stopped him from doing so, however. After all, his opponent was the Fire Spirit King. More importantly, Vulcanus wielded fire in its purest form.

He needed to figure out how effective the Nine Yang Demon Art was against such an opponent. Testing that was a thrilling challenge in itself.

Seemingly having read Jecheon Seong’s mind, Vulcanus didn’t seem impatient either. The fireball multiplied, gathering into a massive orb of fire and radiating an even more intense heat. Even Jecheon Seong, who had faced many forms of energy, felt sweat bead on his forehead.

Whoosh.

With a subtle movement of his sleeve, Jecheon Seong unleashed a wave of energy. In the next moment, the giant orb of fire split into two, then collapsed in on itself like a black hole. It disappeared completely as if it had never existed in the first place.

Carefully observing the entire process, Vulcanus’ eyes widened in shock.

Just as expected...

This was the same man who had subdued Nereid's rampaging power and cut him down. Evidently, not even Vulcanus’ strongest attack could stop the man.

"So, why did you ask to meet me?" Jecheon Seong asked, sheathing his sword with a sly smile. "Was it just to test me? I wouldn’t mind if that’s all this was."

His grin was relaxed, almost playful. Still reeling from the display of power, Vulcanus kept a serious expression.

"There is a reason. I just wanted to confirm your strength again, but that's not the main issue," Vulcanus said, his tone more serious, as he sat back down on the tree stump.

His expression darkened as he continued, "I plan to search for the new Water Spirit King. If Lacrit gets to them first, we could be looking at another Nereid."

The new Water Spirit King would likely be very young and potentially not even aware that they had inherited such powers.

"But wandering around alone could be dangerous for me," Vulcanus added.

Jecheon Seong raised an eyebrow. "You're not asking me to be your bodyguard, are you?"

"No, nothing like that. I just need you to take care of an item for me," Vulcanus explained.

Jecheon Seong narrowed his eyes. "An item?"

He already had a guess about what it could be.

"Let’s hear it, then.”

***

That evening, Jecheon Seong didn’t return home.

— Where do you think he went?

Siwelin looked worried.

"I have no idea," Kim Do-Joon replied, sharing her worry.

It wasn’t like Jecheon Seong to stay out all night without saying anything. This was the first time it had happened, making them naturally concerned.

Well, he’s not exactly the type to get into trouble, Kim Do-Joon thought, trying to reassure himself. Given Jecheon Seong’s abilities and the fact that he had taken his sword with him, it was unlikely anything bad had happened. The man was wise and experienced, so he was not the sort to cause reckless problems.

"He said he’d tell us about what happened when he got back, so let’s wait a bit longer," Kim Do-Joon said.

— Alright.

Despite Siwelin’s agreement, concern remained etched on her face. Still, the two decided to wait for now.

***

The next day, Jecheon Seong was still nowhere to be found. Kim Do-Joon decided to focus on his own tasks instead of worrying.

[Tier 8 Labyrinth Key (Random)]

Since the seventh labyrinth turned out to be nothing more than a resting zone, Kim Do-Joon had been itching to explore the next one. Nereid’s incident had delayed him significantly, but now he was ready.

"Let’s do this," he muttered, opening the random key.

He wondered what kind of labyrinth it would be this time. He could only hope it wasn’t another one without any significant rewards, like the last.

Soon, a heavy key appeared in his hand.

[Labyrinth Key: Tier 8 Branch of Caldera]