Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 8.2

The first time when I died saving the child, they revived me, so if my death saving Senes was properly acknowledged this time, there’s a high chance I’ll come back to life again.

‘Senes. I wonder if he returned safely.’

I don’t know why he said such things before I died, making people feel uneasy.

I knew he was a complicated person, but to think he’d confuse me at the very end.

‘What’s the use of thinking about it now.’

I died on Earth and was revived in another world. There’s no guarantee that the next place I revive will be the same.

I clicked on level expansion. With a ding-dong sound, the experience bar started to fill up.

This system window is leveling me up on its own without even telling me how to gain experience.

‘But what changes when you level up?’

With skills, when they leveled up from frequent use, the usage conditions would be relaxed or the cooldown would decrease.

Your level has been expanded!

Accumulated experience has been reflected in your level.

Lv.20 → Lv.25

Your reputation increases.

You have acquired a new reputation.

New reputation?

As I tilted my head in confusion, with a ping sound, the text in the system window changed.

Lonely Sacrifice Lv.25

Excellent! You are a righteous person (義人) who has saved the lives of others.

A new life has been granted to the righteous person who died before their natural lifespan ended.

There are people who praise your reputation for your heroic deeds as a righteous person.

Will you answer their call?

Yes / No

The text is different from what I saw when I first died.

Not only has the title changed from ‘Humble Sacrifice’ to ‘Lonely Sacrifice’, but what caught my attention was the explanation below.

Previously, it asked whether to accept the life compensation, but this time, life is automatically given and it asks whether to answer the ‘call’.

‘A reputation for acting as a righteous person…’

I haven’t done enough to build a reputation, but if there are people praising my reputation, it’s probably the villagers I saved.

Besides them, no one else knows me.

‘If I answer the call, will I be revived in that village again?’

Bill, who was injured because of me.

The elderly owner of the antique shop.

The older sister who worked at the inn.

And the faces of other villagers whose names I can’t remember flashed by.

And Callion and Senes too.

‘If I revive there, will I be able to meet them again?’

It was strange.

That I would miss this other world where I stayed for just over a month more than Earth where I lived for over twenty-six years.

I guess I felt more accomplished than I thought from saving people in small ways, even though I couldn’t do much, and them calling me a hero.

When I clicked the [Yes] button, a small popup appeared below the main window.

Beginner’s benefit has ended, and Skilled User’s benefit is now provided.

Come to think of it, I remember a similar window popping up when I died.

If the beginner’s benefit was 30 days of life and saving one person, the skilled user’s benefit should be at least better than that, right?

[Skilled User’s Benefit]

You will die after 60 days, having saved 3 people.

If you fail to clear 2 hidden quests, your soul will be annihilated upon death.

…The state of this benefit is strange.

It’s ridiculous that it’s only increased to 60 days, just 30 days more, but the lifespan has increased, and I wasn’t surprised that the system was being stingy with me as I had expected.

The increase to saving 3 people, well, as with games that level up, it’s understandable that the difficulty gradually increases.

But suddenly hidden quests?

And if I don’t clear them, my soul will be annihilated?

‘Does this mean there won’t be another chance?’

When I learned there was a benefit, I was a bit hopeful on one hand.

Even if the remaining lifespan of the skilled user’s benefit was short, I thought I could keep living by repeating the same method of saving someone before dying and being revived again.

‘But soul annihilation?’

If there are two hidden quests, shouldn’t they at least tell me what they are? Am I supposed to find and clear quests I don’t even know about in 60 days? Are they kidding?

“What kind of benefit is this! Stop joking and tell me what the hidden quests are! I need to know what they are to clear them, don’t I!”

Even though I angrily gestured at the system window, there was no response.

Thinking I had been given enough time to read the text, the window flickered and suddenly disappeared. At the same time, I felt my body being sucked in again.

“This is crazy…”

That damn system, I’ll change it someday.

I’ll have my revenge!

***

When I opened my eyes, light flickered. My body was filled with a cool sensation. But it was hard to move. As I tried to sigh due to the uncomfortable pressure, water filled my mouth and air bubbles escaped with a gurgle.

‘Water?’

Could it be, that I’m underwater?

“Mmph! Blub blub!”

As soon as I realized I was underwater, I felt suffocated and desperately flailed my arms and legs, then my feet touched the bottom. Swimming towards the surface on the opposite side, I heard the sound of bubbling air bubbles as outside air entered my nose and mouth.

“Puha!”

As I poked my face above the water’s surface, I saw a low wall under the blue sky. No, looking at the neatly arranged stones, it seemed more like an embankment built to prevent water overflow.

I didn’t notice because I was in a hurry to swim out after being summoned underwater, but the depth wasn’t as great as I thought. When I stood up with my feet on the bottom, I could easily stick my neck out.

‘I almost drowned in something like a kids’ pool.’

…As soon as I thought that, water poured over my head with a whoosh.

“Ugh, what’s this!”

I shook my head and swam to the edge. Grabbing onto a flat stone, I looked back to see a stone structure spewing water upside down.

“…A fountain?”

Strange. There wasn’t such a large fountain in the village I was in.

I placed my hands on the fountain and moved my body upwards. Using my elbow strength to pull up my waist and placing my knee, I could properly feel the sensation of my body, heavy with water.

After pulling out my feet, I jumped down from the fountain. The tiles under my feet were even.

‘Where is this place?’

The buildings were taller than the village I knew. I could see a clock tower in the distance, carriages rolling by, and people gathered in what seemed to be a neatly maintained square.

And all of them were staring at me, soaking wet from emerging from the fountain.

Where on earth is this? Surely it’s not another world again?

“Um…”

“Eek!”

I tried to speak to figure out where I was, but as I approached, people backed away in shock.

“A, a person came out of the fountain!”

“It’s an intruder!”

Intruder? No, I’m not. I’m a law-abiding citizen. I’m just an ordinary, useless person with a slightly short lifespan who won’t harm anyone, so please don’t be alarmed.

I wanted to say that, but I could only stand still as people fled from me with terrified expressions.

It would be nice if someone at least asked why I popped out of the fountain.

No, more than that, I’m a bit cold from being soaked. Could someone give me something to cover up with?

“Where is it?”

“O-over here!”

The crowd gathered in the square parted, and men in white uniforms walked through the gap.

‘Oh. That outfit!’

Tall and slender builds in white uniforms. It looked familiar. It was similar to the clothes of the investigator who came to my village and threw his weight around. Though this was a bit more formal, and they were carrying weapons…

The fact that they were carrying weapons was the problem. They looked like guards or sentries no matter how you looked at them.

“Don’t move!”

Sure enough, the knight or soldier who approached me pointed a spear at me.

I quickly raised both hands to show I was harmless.

“I-I’m not a suspicious person.”

Hmm. That probably sounds even more suspicious.

But what am I supposed to say in this situation? I bit my lip slightly and looked up at the soldier.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“She suddenly emerged from the square’s fountain!”

Before I could answer, someone from the crowd behind me shouted. I’m not sure if I should be grateful for the explanation or resent them for making me seem more suspicious.

“What are you looking around for!”

The soldier in white uniform brought his spear even closer to me.

‘Whoa. I’m going to get stabbed.’

Didn’t your parents teach you that blades shouldn’t be pointed at people? What kind of home education did you receive!

While I was cursing inwardly, the soldier asked me.

“You’re an outsider. How did you infiltrate the ‘castle’?”

Castle. So this is inside the castle that Callion couldn’t enter. No wonder there are uniformed men walking around.

As I couldn’t answer and rolled my eyes, the soldier asked again.

“Where are you from? What’s your name?”

“O-outside… from a village at the foot of the mountain. My name is Ju-in.”

There must be more than one village at the foot of the mountain, but since I don’t know the village’s name, I had no choice but to answer like this.

The soldier pointing the spear at me raised an eyebrow.

“Jun?”

“Ju-in.”

“Joan?”

The soldier next to him tilted his head and chimed in.

“I think she’s saying Jane?”

“……”

Not a single one of them understands correctly. Callion and Senes were special cases, it seems.

‘Maybe I should have just said Jin like I did in the village.’