SWNOVELXO Chapter 0 - Prologue
Prologue
The world was entirely red.
Black ash flew around, and corpses littered the ground. The thick smell of blood permeating the air made me nauseous.
Cold sweat trickled down my cheek and dripped to the floor. I forced my trembling lips to move, calling out to the person in my arms.
“…Brother.”
But there was no answer. If it weren’t for the blood soaking his abdomen, his face with tightly closed eyes would have looked as if he were sleeping.
I raised my head and called out to another person lying fallen in front of me.
“Guild Master…”
Again, there was no response.
The precious people I trusted and followed more than anyone else were all dead. Wherever I turned my eyes, I could only see their corpses.
I clenched my fist tightly, gathering my trembling fingertips. I turned my gaze to look straight ahead.
At a distance where a human form was barely discernible, a man stood.
The man, wearing worn-out clothes, had long hair past his waist that fluttered wildly in the wind. His green eyes gleamed ominously through his unkempt hair.
He was a murderer who had killed countless people since he first appeared, and now he was no longer human but a catastrophe that had ended the world.
Even at this distance, I couldn’t properly meet his eyes. The terrifying aura emanating from the catastrophe filled my body with fear. He was not an entity that I, a mere B-rank, could handle.
“Now!”
At that moment.
Other hunters rushed past me as I sat helplessly.
The determination of those risking their lives was palpable in their backs as they ran towards the man, each wielding their weapons. I couldn’t take my eyes off the hunters who dove in without hesitation to stop the catastrophe.
Seeing the survivors rushing towards him, the catastrophe swung the huge scythe he was holding. A black light burst forth, engulfing everything around it.
Unable to withstand the terrible pain that enveloped my entire body, I closed my eyes.
* * *
The world sank into darkness.
All senses became faint, and a chilling cold crept up. I was… dying.
It was a fate sealed from the moment I encountered the catastrophe. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t afraid.
I recalled the numerous corpses I had seen just before closing my eyes. Would I become like them too?
‘No, at least they died fighting.’
They were far more remarkable people than me, who had been protected by my brother and the Guild Master until the very end. In comparison, how pathetic and futile was my end.
I felt regretful.
Even though I was just a B-rank and a supporter who couldn’t directly engage in combat… if I had acted more proactively, perhaps there could have been a different outcome. Even if it was impossible to save everyone, I could have at least tried to protect the people dear to me.
In my fading consciousness, I thought absent-mindedly.
‘I want to live.’
If I were given just one more chance, I wouldn’t live so stupidly. So just once more, if I could live…
At that moment of thought.
《Do you want to try again? ▷YES ▷NO》
Suddenly, text appeared in the empty space filled with nothing but darkness. While I was bewildered by the message that appeared before my eyes, its content changed.
《Automatically selected due to time out. ▶YES》
《All data will be changed to the save point. This process will take time.》
《Loading…》
《Error detected.》
《Skipping the error part and proceeding with the process.》
《Loading…》
《Process completed. The used save will be deleted.》
With that, the text crackled and broke. Soon after, a bright white light that appeared on the opposite side rapidly grew in size.
I lost consciousness, feeling a chilling sensation as if I were falling.