Ep1 - 30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue

**"Ah, an unfamiliar ceiling..."** Kim Sunwoo murmured in a calm voice. Well, not entirely calm. His hands were trembling with excitement. How long had he waited for this moment? An unfamiliar ceiling, an unfamiliar world—yes, another world incarnation, transference, reincarnation, whatever you wish to call it! He had spent a remarkably long time preparing for this moment. The key element here is the 'preparation.' Any Korean citizen would likely be aware of the basic requirements for reincarnation in another world: completing a 5,700-character critique and thoroughly reading the work to its conclusion. Based on this, one might gain insight into Sunwoo's 'preparation process.' Every novel, webtoon, and game he enjoyed—anything he found worthy—practically had him submitting those 5,700-character critiques, hoping to be part of those worlds. Daily and consistently, with heartfelt gratitude, always delivering a fresh approach, meticulous and thorough. Since it was a world he'd want to inhabit, he meticulously memorized storylines, settings, potential hidden pieces or relics, and character relationships. Filling those 5,700 characters solely to win the creator's heart, until he could hear them say, "Then why don't you try it yourself?" Of course, in most cases, it ended with authors without tenacity giving up, or with him being ridiculed and blocked on various forums. But in the end, he succeeded. Finally, he'd been transferred to another world. Now all that remained was: which story is this? **"Status window!"** No colorful, augmented-reality blue display appeared. But that was fine. He wasn't disappointed. Many works in his list didn't feature a status window, after all. Rather, it offered him clues to narrow down the list. Moreover, residing in the body of a child seemingly around four or five years old, time and ability were practically on his side. The worn-out clothes and shabby ceiling were rather advantageous. "The genius of this caliber in such a place?! A true hero indeed!! We'll give you the throne and riches! Just spare us!" The portrayal of overcoming a difficult childhood to achieve greatness had been proven countless times by Earth's media. With a slight smile, Sunwoo sprang to his feet. First off, let's start simple, perhaps with 'soap making.' --- **Age 4: Week 1 of Transference** Kim Sunwoo realizes his new body is named "Ivan Petrovich." He is startled to discover his parents are peasant farmers, ignoring even the name of their own country, let alone being literate. After failing at soap making, he got sternly scolded for playing with lye. He soon learned that soap indeed already existed in this world. **Age 4: Week 6 of Transference** Finally, Sunwoo gains permission to run errands delivering eggs around the village. He starts sensing something odd upon seeing newspapers scattered around. "If they can print newspapers and distribute them to such rural areas, it's definitely not the Middle Ages, is it?" Most of his 'transference worklist' got axed that day. **Age 4: Week 15 of Transference** Sunwoo eventually learns his country's name. Hearing the vague term 'king', he rushes home and tosses his beloved 'transference worklist' into the hearth. The names of the country, ruler, and neighboring kingdoms were all foreign. What mattered now was not 'which story had he entered,' but 'what genre is this?' Please, anything but dark fantasy. The survival rate for a modern Korean incarnated as a peasant without perks like a status window typically converges below 5%. **Age 8: Year 4 of Transference** To his surprise, a demon king appears out of nowhere. Although the war was still a tale from distant lands, the extra editions delivered daily were filled with bleak news. The winter when Ivan was eight saw his father conscripted. Ivan's mother began doing day labor to support young Ivan. Here, Sunwoo's identity began to slightly shift. **Age 10: Year 6 of Transference** Sunwoo can now skillfully perform day labor following his mother. **Age 12: Year 8 of Transference** Sunwoo finally learned to read, a reward for sneaking eggs to the village chief's house for six years. **Age 14: Year 10 of Transference** The news of his father's death finally reached the village. The ironic part was that the message was from an official document issued two years ago. Handing a few coins as compensation for a life lost, he watched his weeping mother and thought of two things. First, that this world might be a strategy simulation. It all seemed too intricate. In an RPG, it was uncommon to feature so many nations. Typically, a game wouldn't implement backgrounds that a player couldn't experience. And it definitely wasn't a novel or webtoon. The setting was too nuanced for a typical other world story, with its simple firearms, steam engines, coexistence of knights and mages, demon kings, and various races. Writing a novel with such a premise would predictably lead to criticism and abandonment, ending as another free serial story that no one understood. Thus, he had to head for the front lines. Dying as a farmer in this remote village would mean never touching the main storyline. The typical ending for a strategy simulation often culminates in world conquest; he must avoid an ending where they're conquered by the demon king's army, knowing nothing. The second thought: "Don't worry, Mother." Gently brushing back his exhausted, sleeping mother's hair, he submitted his enlistment application to the recruitment officer. The salary was 15 coins from the East, all of which he had agreed to send to his mother. 'Ivan Petrovich' wished for the woman to no longer have calloused hands. This wasn't out of sudden filial piety, but rather sympathy for the great woman who dedicated her life to supporting a stranger—himself—and guilt for essentially killing her only blood relative by occupying the young boy 'Ivan’s' body. --- **Age 18: Year 14 of Transference, Year 4 of Service** Thanks to minor military achievements and small strokes of fortune, Ivan's status was upgraded from a conscript to a regular soldier. He discovered Ivan’s body was unexpectedly adept at fighting. **Age 22: Year 18 of Transference, Year 8 of Service** As the front lines collapsed fatally and half of the allied nations combusted, a hero appeared. It was then Ivan finally understood the genre of this world. This was a hero-centric story, a classic RPG. However, the hero was a distant tale, and the front where Ivan fought continued to suffer devastating setbacks. **Age 28: Year 24 of Transference, Year 14 of Service** The hero’s party turned the tide by ambushing demon generals. Ivan was now part of the "Reclamation and Hostile Force Extermination Unit." Simplified, it was known as: - The Annihilation Unit. This special operation unit deployed when the hero’s party crumbled the enemy lines in chaos after slaying their commander. For about a year, Ivan traveled with the hero’s party, sharing encampments. **Age 30: Year 26 of Transference, Year 16 of Service** The hero’s party defeated the demon king. Ivan waited for the ending, eager to escape this wearisome world. **Age 32: Year 28 of Transference** Even two years after the demon king’s fall, the ending hadn’t come. Meanwhile, the Annihilation Unit had dwindled to a fifth of its size. Realizing the higher-ups intended to disband them without replacement soldiers, Ivan considered this prolonged situation as an endless epilogue and applied for discharge. His mother had died a decade earlier, leaving him utterly alone. He established an orphanage near the capital, taking in war orphans. A small act of hypocrisy. **Age 34: Year 30 of Transference** Still, even now, the ending credits remain unseen. His suspicion that this might not be an RPG was confirmed by a visitor to the orphanage. "What the hell." "Pardon?" "What the hell? This was an academy story?" "Senior...?" The visitor awkwardly smiled at the sudden curse from the orphanage director—a war hero with 18 years of military service, a member of the Annihilation Unit, and acquainted with the hero’s party. Recalling the director's numerous titles like "The King's Executioner," "The Pulverizer," a man who slaughtered Seven Dragon Generals, the Immortal, and the Living Legend among conscripts, the guest sweated nervously. Faced with such a fiendish man ready to lash out with an axe at any slip of the tongue, the visitor held back a grin, quietly waiting for the director's rage to subside. **Author's Note** Thank you for your support!!