Howling winds whip through the desolate tundra, producing a haunting and relentless roar. 

"Huff huff huff...huff...huff..."

My irregular breath fights against the snow and ice particles carried by the deafening gust. 

I drag my legs across the thick snow, every step sinking into the landscape. The swirling blizzard obscures my vision and turns the world into a monochromatic nothingness of white and grey. 

*Thud* 

Something obstructs my leg. A purplish blue body with a sword protruding out. 

...

I squeeze through the snow to avoid the corpse. 

Yet the further I travel, the lingering sight of the dead increases. 

This is a battlefield. 

Wrapped in multiple layers of clothing and a large chunk of sword behind, I continue to trudge forward. Bandages surround my arm and forehead. 

"Huff huff huff...shit!" 

A sharp pain torments my left foot.

I fall back and inspect my leg to find a knife pierced. 

"No...no no no...damn it!"

Pulling out the knife let out a groan muffled by the blizzard. I sacrifice part of my coat to wrap my feet. 

"Ugh..." I pull the leather strap over me and abandon my sword. 

Operating on pure willpower, I continue to push myself ahead, attempting to reach salvation. 

There is a camp nearby. I just need to get to it. 

Suddenly, I can hear heavy crunches. The silhouettes of multiple horses appear faintly. 

"H-Help!...Help!" I attempt to scream against the icy wind but to no avail. They simply ride past me.

"Ah..." 

*Thud!* 

"W-What?..." 

My legs shut down without warning. I can't feel them. 

...

So this is how I die. 

How regretful...

I dig a hole with my last strength and throw myself in.

"Huff huff...huff..."

In the face of death, my life flashes. 

My name is Loi Krist, an ordinary man with average talent and abilities. I attended a sword academy at ten and graduated at eighteen. Afterwards, I applied for the army and took ten years to rise from a squire to a knight. Due to an incident, I was expelled from the army and had to work as a mercenary. But all of those don't matter as long as my family is well.

I have two younger brothers and one younger sister. A mischievous bunch but they are everything to me. My father died as a general when I was twenty and my mother is bedridden. 

...

Poverty struck when the war arrived...and I had to join the army as a mercenary. 

But to think I will die a dog's death because my employer betrayed me to "save costs". 

...

Perhaps this is Karma. I've killed, looted, stolen, and destroyed many lives in the war to survive. I did whatever I could to help my family.

...

It's warm and comfortable as if I am in my mother's embrace. I feel incredibly sleepy. 

...

...

No...

I can't die and leave my family behind...

But...

But I can't move. 

I...

*Tap tap tap* 

A shadow overwhelms my dying body. I glance at the stranger with my blurry vision. The best I can recognise is the outline of a young girl. 

"Who..." I mumble softly. 

And everything goes dark when my eyelids shut close. 

So this is death. 

I feel...nothing. 

======================================= 

*chirp chirp chirp chirp* 

Blasting chirps fills my eardrums, a nostalgic sensation. The bird chirps used to be my alarm when I was young...

...

It won't stop. 

The sound of a door creaks open. 

"Loi. Wake up." A familiar voice says before someone tugs my body. 

Shockingly, I can feel and hear. What's going on?

I try to open my eyes and see a mature woman with a chocolate brown ponytail and black eyes. Her wrinkles and posture exhibit poise aging and wisdom. 

My jaws drop as my young mother stands before me. 

She holds a bucket of clothes as she picks up my messy clothing remnants in my room. 

"Breakfast is ready, wash yourself and have a seat at the table."

"Mom?" I call out. 

"Yes?" 

...What's going on?

"Loi?"

I lean forward and touch my mother's face. She slaps my hand away. "What are you doing?"

"I..."

...

"It's nothing, I had a nightmare," I say and get off my bed. 

The very same room in my teenage days lies beyond my eyes. A window beside the bed, bookshelves beside a desk, and a messy wardrobe of convulsive disaster. 

The past me had a bad habit of fashion diarrhoea. 

Am I...in the past?

To further confirm my hypothesis, I walk out of my room and inspect the interior of the cabin. Everything is what I remember. The nature outside the windows brings a wave of nostalgia. I step outside the cabin. 

My brothers play with a ball on a patch of dirt behind the cabin as my sister reads her book beneath a tree. 

As a warm breeze blows by, laundry rattles against the poles and leaves dance in the sky. 

...

A warm and bittersweet blanket engulfs my existence. A swirling complex emotion wells up within me. 

"Ah...I'm back..."

I walk back into the cabin and glance in the mirror at the bathroom. 

In one eye, I see a thirty-six-year-old man with scars and damage all over his body. On another, I see my young healthy self, supposedly full of vigor.

But there is one similarity that my current self adapted from my future self. My eyes...are cold and dark, full of despair and trauma. 

...

I sigh and splash some water on my face. 

I heard about heroes' regression to the past and how they save the world. When I was young, I even wished I was the reincarnation of some godly warlord. 

To think it happened to me. 

I'm unsure of what to feel. Happiness? Hopeful? 

Because I know how dangerous such emotions are. In an instant, those emotions can plunge one into a state of neverending despair and suffering. 

My black hair and eyes are symbols of commoner. A curse of discrimination that runs in me and my siblings.

I ponder about my future actions, ignoring why I was regressed to avoid useless thoughts.

The current me should be seventeen and a war will erupt five years from now with outworlders, a name given to intruders from other dimensions or worlds. 

"Hah..." I sigh. 

I am no hero. I can't save the world. But at the very least, I will save my family. 

I leave the bathroom and join my family at breakfast. Despite blurry memories of the past, my muscle memory kicks in and aids me. For now, I decided to keep my regression a secret from everyone. Nothing good will derive from unwanted attention. 

The twin brothers, Mane and Lee, playfully continue their battle chomping down food.

"Big bro! Can you hand me a cup of water?" Mane asks. 

"*cough* *cough* " My sister Christina chokes on some food.

I nod and go to the kitchen to retrieve two cups of water for Mane and Christina. 

"Thank you!" Mane says. 

The moment our hand touches, a mysterious panel pops out of existence. 

!!

I jolt back instinctively, spilling the water on the table. 

"Loi? What's wrong?" My mother asks. 

"I...was shocked by a spider."

My mother sighs and wipes the water with a cloth. 

I continue to stare at the mysterious panel above Mane. 

----------------

Fate: 50

Role: Background Character 

Extract?

[Yes][No]

-----------------

What is "Fate"?

I attempt to touch the panel yet my hand goes through it. To play off my mysterious behaviour, my hand lands and pets Mane's head. 

"I'm sorry Mane."

"It's alright."

So this panel isn't physical...

I pet Christina and another panel materialises.

----------------

Fate: 120

Role: Background Character 

Talent:

-Magic Tier 2

Extract?

[Yes][No]

-----------------

...

No.

And the panel disappears. 

Out of curiosity, I walk to the mirror and touch my head. Nothing happens. However, when I think about the panel, it appears in my retina. 

----------------

Fate: 90

Role: Background Character 

Talent:

-Sword Tier 2[90/500]

----------------- 

What...is this?

...

I finish my breakfast and finish my morning routine before heading to the city to run some errands. I decided not to experiment on my family and investigate in the city. 

Our family lives in a cabin located near the majestic capital in the forest. A "grand" design divides the city into three distinct sections:

First, the Ground Section, the layer at the bottom, is the heart of the daily lives of commoners. Bustling and vibrant marketplaces feature mazes of narrow streets, where the aroma of street food and clamours of vendors fill the air. 

Above, the Merchant Quarter, separated from the Ground Section by a beautiful ornate gate, is a world of commerce and prosperity. Polished cobblestone streets are lined with maintained tall buildings adorned with decorative lamps and flowers. The more affluent live here. Goods traded here are more exotic and luxurious. 

And on the final realm, beyond a grand guarded palace gate, unfolds the Noble District. Imposing mansions, lush gardens, and wide boulevards characterise the forbidden district as a symbol of wealth and power. In the centre of the district lies a castle, the residence of the ruling monarch and the epicentre of political power. 

"Loi! Welcome. How are you and your family?" An uncle selling fruits asks me. 

"We are fine. The usual please." I reply.

"Alright!"

I know this uncle is close to me but I can't remember his name. I only remember his dead body among the pile of corpses burnt. 

When he hands me the fruits, a slight touch of our fingers brings up the panel.

----------------

Fate: 30

Role: Background Character 

Extract?

[Yes][No]

-----------------

Yes.

----------------

Fate: 90->120 

----------------- 

"Come again!" The uncle says. I nod politely and leave. 

I don't feel any different. 

Suddenly, I hear a scream from an alley. Surrounding pedestrians ignore the sound and mind their own business. As I walk past the alley, I take a glance. Several men attempt to pull a young girl into a door. 

...

The girl and I lock eye contact for one second before I continue on my way. 

"Ahhhh!!!"

...

It leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth but what can we do? Offending a gang without power is death. 

My next destination is a tailor. I stop before a storefront with large windows and fashion on display. 

*creaks* 

Inside, wall-mounted racks hold a variety of sewing supplies and folded materials. 

"Loi! You are here. Did your brothers tear their pants again?" a middle-aged man asks.

I nod. 

"I see. Wait here, I will bring out the pair."

The man goes to the back of the store. A small child peeks from the counter. She stares at me with curious eyes. 

I smile at her and the child smiles back, holding her arm out. 

I take it. 

----------------

Fate: 20

Role: Background Character 

Extract?

[Yes][No]

----------------- 

...

Yes.

----------------

Fate: 120->140

-----------------

The man comes back with a pair of trousers and places them on the counter. "Ah, Ruri, it's dangerous, don't climb on the seat." The man carries the young child down. 

"Anyways, it will be five bronze."

I place five bronze coins in his hand. 

----------------

Fate: 40

Role: Background Character 

Extract?

[Yes][No]

-----------------

Yes.

----------------

Fate: 140->180

-----------------

I continue my errands and attempt to extract as many "Fate" as possible, racking up to a total of five hundred and eighty before returning home.

My mother waves at me as she rests on the chair outside. 

I return the wave and enter the cabin, placing the items on a wooden table. 

"...What a strange hallucination," I mumble to myself as I collapse on a chair.

Nothing changed even after I collected 580 "Fate". 

A panel pops up when I think about it. 

----------------

Fate: 580

Role: Background Character 

Talent:

-Sword Tier 2[580/500](upgrade)

----------------- 

Upgrade?

---------------- 

Talent upgraded!

Sword Tier 2->3

----------------- 

!!!

A sudden yearning to hold a sword explodes within my body. Uncomfortable shivers tickle my fingertips. 

"Huff huff huff...what the...?"

I rush to my room to grab a wooden sword lying by the bed and head out.

"Loi? Where are you going?" My mother shouts. 

"I will be back later!" I reply and run into the forest. 

Finding a suitable tree, I get into a stance holding the sword. Lifting the sword, I step forward and transfer my momentum to my weapon, slashing a simple vertical cut at the wood. 

*BOOM!* 

Splinters of wood fly from the slit I cut in the tree. 

"This..." I mumble with my eyes wide open.

Still, it's not enough. The feeling won't go away.

I continue to slash at my surroundings, working on my footwork and swordsmanship.

Before I realised it, the evening sun had begun its descent, painting the sky in a warm hue of golden glow. 

"Huff huff huff..."

My sweat drips on the soil around me, marks of slashes and footsteps carved from my training. 

I stare at the sword and smile. I promised myself not to believe in hope but today...I shall indulge myself a little. 

...

But the hope is short-lived. 

The next morning I find out the terrifying consequences of using this mysterious power. Everyone that I've extracted the day before has died a horrible death in different manners. 

...

I stand before the tailor's ransacked shop. He and his daughter's body mutilated beyond recognition in the remnant. 

"How cruel...they attacked the shop at night and killed both the father and the daughter." A lady beside whispers to her friend. 

"The girl was barely three..."

...

----------------

You obtained 23 Karma.

-----------------