I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 1

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[001] Mythic-Grade Rune
A primordial cavern ablaze with ancient flames, where crimson magma pulsed and flowed in hypnotic waves.
In the suffocating depths of the Heart of the Volcano, where scorching heat constricted the very breath from one’s lungs, a violent battle raged.
“The Lava Drake unleashes its breath attack!!”
The reptilian maw yawned open, and viscous magma cascaded forth.
Standing alone against the beast, I seized the moment and launched myself upward, driving my blade down into its snout.
Crack—! With a sickening crunch, the Lava Drake’s colossal head plunged into the magma.
Lava erupted like blazing blood, and the entire cavern trembled with the creature’s death cry.
“Phew…”
I wiped the sweat from my brow and sheathed my sword.
“You have conquered the Hidden Piece: Heart of the Volcano!”
“As a reward, you have obtained a Legendary-grade item: [Ignis’s Crystal]!”
“A remarkable feat!! The Absolutes of Belheim take notice of your deeds!!”
“Log out.”
After securing the spoils with satisfaction, I spoke the command, and my vision shifted.
From the volcanic depths where flames had raged to a translucent glass ceiling.
The deafening roar of the volcano had already transformed into the mundane hum of a cooling fan.
Click—the capsule pod opened, and I emerged into the familiar sight of my studio apartment.
Sun-faded wallpaper and unwashed side dish containers scattered about—my modest living space, unremarkable as always.
Yet my fists still trembled with exhilaration and a sense of omnipotence.
“…This capsule really is incredibly realistic, isn’t it?”
The third-generation model had supposedly made massive improvements to immersion. It was worth the investment.
‘Sniff… I can still smell the burnt scent on my clothes.’
I collapsed onto my bed mattress.
“Right, I should shower before bed.”
Even as I said this, my fingers habitually scrolled through my phone, browsing the game community forums.
“Yo, the Lava Drake got defeated?”
“Stop spouting nonsense lol. That lizard bastard melts you in one breath attack even with full fire resistance gear.”
“Nah it’s legit, I’m telling you? And solo too, no joke;; The NPCs in Belheim are going crazy right now lol”
“Talk sense. …But if it’s real, how the hell did they even catch it? Hasn’t the Lava Drake gone undefeated for half a year?”
“Dunno? But if it’s solo, it’s gotta be that user.”
“Doran?”
‘I just pulled the nearby river water, and it worked.’
I chuckled softly and scrolled through the posts praising my achievement.
[Doran]
My in-game name, more familiar to me than my real one.
A monotonous existence—laundry and exercise by day, then immersion in gaming afterward.
I used to work part-time jobs, but once my gaming income exceeded daily wages, I quit.
A simple life: playing games I love, reading web novels, content with modest happiness.
Surely there are others in this world who live without grand ambitions, just as I do.
I suspect I’m no different from a student dozing on the bus ride home from school, or an office worker whose greatest pleasure is cracking open a beer can after returning to the Apartment. We’re all much the same.
A life that flows without incident, unmarred by major catastrophe.
An existence of compromise, of bowing to the world’s demands.
“Oh, right—I need to pay the utilities this month. What should I sell off? Wait, huh?”
Lying on my mattress, I suddenly caught wind of something strange.
The acrid stench of charred flesh clinging to my body from being scorched by the lava earth dragon—it wouldn’t fade.
On a hunch, I opened the front door—
“Ugh…! Cough! Cough!!”
Thick black smoke billowed in through the opening.
What had the fire alarm been doing all this time?
“This damned Apartment!!”
I rushed back into my room in panic.
Seeing no flames shooting past the window, I still had a chance if I evacuated now.
I hastily grabbed my wallet and phone, then bolted for the Emergency Stairwell.
I kicked open the metal door and was about to dash down the stairs when—
“P-please, someone help me!! The door won’t open! Th-there’s a child in here!”
The desperate cry seized me by the ankles.
I swallowed a harsh curse and tightened my grip on the door handle.
‘Ignore it. If you leave now, you’ll live.’
Reason rang out sharply in warning.
Save yourself first, then dismiss it as a hallucination.
Yet my feet remained rooted to the spot, immobile.
Because I knew with absolute certainty.
That if I turned away from this voice now, a sticky regret I could never wash away would torment me for the rest of my life.
“…Damn it all! Unit 601! Step away from the door!!”
If I were a character in a game, I wouldn’t have been frightened by a mere fire like this.
I seized a fire extinguisher and rushed forward, bringing it down with all my strength against the door lock.
* * *
[Death Confirmed]
｢Your physical body has been completely incinerated and has ceased functioning!｣
At first, I thought I was hallucinating.
‘I must have inhaled too much gas.’
When I woke up, I’d open my eyes in a hospital bed.
But no matter how many times I blinked, the blue window and the Goddess before me refused to disappear.
[Congratulations on your death!]
“…?”
[Don’t look at me like that. There’s a saying that every ending is another beginning, isn’t there? You’re going to be brought back to life very soon!]
“Brought back to life?”
Me, whose entire body burned away and was annihilated?
[Yes! A second life has been prepared for you! In a fantasy world, no less!]
It didn’t sound like a lie.
‘A second life….’
There was still so much I hadn’t accomplished.
I never got to say goodbye to my parents, never managed to show them proper filial devotion even once.
What expression would my family wear seeing my body charred to ash?
If only I’d known, I would have visited them more often.
My chest churned with vague dread about this second life, regret, and the faintest glimmer of anticipation—but before I could indulge in sentiment, a screen materialized before me with a crackling sound.
“Welcome to Belheim!”
The opening screen of the game I’d been playing just moments ago.
Belheim.
The moment that realization struck me, I fixed the Goddess with a sharp glare.
“…You’re sending me to that place for reincarnation?”
Belheim was infamous for its brutal difficulty—a medieval dark fantasy.
People died constantly, and periodically, civilization-ending catastrophes descended upon the world.
Even if I’d been a veteran player, I’d rather tend to a manor in some healing game than survive in that hellscape.
“Who exactly are you to make such a proposal?”
[Ah, I’m Agatha! You must have heard of me before! Ahem!]
“You’re Agatha? The Goddess of Healing who appears in Belheim…?”
[Yes, you recognize me. And don’t worry. I won’t send you there empty-handed.]
As the Goddess waved her hand, the text floating above the blue window began to shift.
“Possibility of returning to original world: 0%.”
“Beginning reincarnation process!”
“Analyzing the past deeds of the player [Doran], once hailed as a hero, to select an appropriate rune!”
Runes were the cornerstone items of Belheim.
Which rune I received would determine whether I’d live comfortably in that vicious world or struggle desperately through hell difficulty.
‘Analyzing my past?’
“You were a legendary existence in Belheim!
“A single word from you made kings and nobles tremble and halt their wars. Meanwhile, the false rumors you spread plunged major guilds into internal strife.”
“Your talent for [Eloquence] and [Deception] is exceptional!”
‘Well… I did cause some trouble here and there.’
Once you mastered a game, you inevitably devoted yourself to pointless antics.
“Wherever you went in Belheim, you brought turmoil and chaos in your wake.”
“Your innate quality for [Chaos] is outstanding!”
‘That wasn’t intentional.’
Being famous simply meant drawing aggro naturally.
“Before burning to death, you were consumed by an intense desire to become a character within the game itself.”
“Detected yearning for the [Disguise] ability!”
‘Disguise? Did such an ability exist in Belheim?’
“Now selecting the rune most suited to the player.”
“Error! The player’s level is too high!”
「Error occurred! Number of monsters hunted by player: 27,483,59….」
‘What…?’
I sensed something amiss.
The text before my eyes began flickering ominously, like an overloaded machine grinding to a halt.
Soon after, a trivial fanfare blared forth.
「Congratulations!! You have obtained the Mythic-grade item, [Antagon’s Rune]!」
「As a sacred relic of the Thief and Jester God, the rune becomes permanently bound to you due to its Mythic-grade properties!」
I let out an involuntary cry.
[Antagon’s Rune]
One of the gods existing in Belheim.
Once you hunt a monster, you can transform into it
or plunge your surroundings into chaos, which strengthens your stats—
it possesses various utility skills, but
lacks direct offensive capabilities, earning it a reputation as a dud.
Even the few skills it does have are flawed in some way.
Consequently, despite being a Mythic-grade rune—the highest tier—players mockingly call it the Jester’s Curse.
The Goddess, who had been watching my despair, quietly uttered something absurd before speaking in a benevolent tone as if bestowing charity.
[Hmm? That’s strange. That rune is actually cheap—its limit should only be Rare grade… Could it be because it was too powerful in your previous life?]
The Goddess spoke with a serene voice, as if offering consolation.
[Well then, as a bonus, I’ll share one of my pendants with you. It has no effect whatsoever, but someday it may prove useful.]
“…Thank you.”
Having steeled my resolve, I accepted the pendant from the Goddess.
If things had come to this, I would have to cling to everything I could obtain.
Only then would my chances of surviving that living hell increase, even if only slightly.
And before my reincarnation, I made one more firm vow.
“I will never sacrifice myself for others again…!”
I never want to experience that terrible agony of my entire body burning once more.
Playing the fool hero once was enough.
From the start, Belheim was not a world where one could survive with a half-hearted resolve.
[You adapt quickly—it’s impressive. Ah, and I’ll give you one special tip.]
“…A tip?”
An inexplicable sense of foreboding suddenly welled up within me.
True to my suspicion, the Goddess’s tone shifted as she spoke.
[Never let it be known that you are a reincarnator.]
“Pardon?”
[Don’t go spreading the fact that you’re a reincarnator.]
“Why? What happens if I’m discovered…?”
[Well… it wouldn’t be pleasant. You could be torn to pieces and used as livestock feed, or buried alive in agony.]
“Y-yes…? What do you mean by…?”
Her matter-of-fact tone carried an indefinable chill that pierced through me.
It felt like glimpsing a fragment of transcendence—a being who regarded humans as nothing more than ants.
[Your previous incarnation died in exactly that manner.]
[The one before that was thrown into the Goblin Cave as food and perished.]
[The one before that was hanged by rope.]
[…So please, take care to avoid exposing your identity while striving to achieve the “world’s clearance.”]
With a sensation like a candle being snuffed out, my body was pulled into the void.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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