Chapter 1: The End and Beginning of All

Bigen Village is located in the northwest of the FadimaWangguo, the fifth largest human nation, bordering the Magic Forest that occupies half a continent's area, and was once a peaceful, tranquil village inhabited by over a hundred households.

At this very moment, Bigen Village is dying in fire and slaughter.

William awoke from his coma, still gripping the broken hilt of the Long Sword that had been knocked from his hand by a demon general.

He threw away the hilt, enduring the excruciating pain of several broken ribs, and with the last of his strength pushed aside the heavy wooden plank that had been the roof pressing on him, dragging his sole remaining broken leg inch by inch toward his wife's corpse not far away.

William crawled to his wife's corpse, propped himself up with his hands to sit, and held her tightly in his arms.

Feeling the icy touch of his wife's body, William burst into despairing wails.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Ah......"

Behind William stood a demon general over three meters tall, with two horns on his head, two massive bat wings on his back, a muscular, burly body, and his upper torso bare, watching him with interest.

On one hand, he was curious that such a weak human, after witnessing his power, still dared to swing a sword at him; on the other hand, the human's heart-rending wails gave him pleasure.

He even entertained the idea of capturing this human to keep as a pet, but the Demon King himself led his army nearby, watching; to avoid angering the Demon King, it was better to kill him.

Thinking this, the demon general walked up behind William, raised his hand bearing sharp claws, and swung it toward the back of William's neck.

Without a sound, a smooth female hand gently rested on the demon general's arm; compared to his thick arm, that hand looked incredibly slender and delicate.

Yet this slender, delicate hand held the demon general's arm suspended in midair, preventing it from advancing even a fraction.

The demon general could guess the hand's owner without turning; he immediately ceased his attempt to kill William, turned, and dropped to one knee before the person behind him.

"You, retreat."

The speaker was a succubus wearing dragon scale armor, with small black demon horns on her head, and a thin black demon tail behind her.

The succubus was extremely beautiful; her dragon armor gleamed with the characteristic dark luster of dragon scales, the armor design half-covered, half-exposed, revealing her smooth, slender waist and long, exposed legs and arms, making her figure exceedingly alluring.

Although the succubus spoke those three words in an icy tone, her voice remained very melodious.

"Yes, Your Grace Kusala·Pers."

The demon general answered with utmost respect, then without hesitation flew back into the ranks of the Demon Army.

Upon hearing the name Kusala·Pers, even William, who had sunk into grief and no longer cared for his own life, turned his head to glance at the succubus.

If William remembered correctly, the succubus named Kusala·Pers standing beside him should be one of the Seven Great Demon Kings of the demon race, the embodiment of Lust.

The succubus Kusala·Pers smiled at William and said, "Finally found you."

William's gaze was vacant, his face devoid of any expression.

"How do you feel? Do you hate me, hate me so much you want to kill me?" Kusala·Pers asked with a smile.

"Kill you? No, it no longer matters..." William muttered to himself, "Rather than saying I hate you, I might say I hate myself even more..."

This time, Kusala failed to understand William's meaning.

William Lewis Graham was originally a human teenager living on a place called Earth, who, due to a car accident, crossed over into this two-and-a-half-dimensional world of sword and magic that lies between game and reality.

After crossing over, William merely obtained a cheat skill called 【Appraisal】,

coupled with his abysmal magical talent awakening and lack of prestigious family background, he has remained a clumsy bronze-rank adventurer his whole life, his circumstances little better than on Earth.

Until he met his wife Alice.

Alice Lusterra, daughter of a count of the FadimaWangguo, not only possessed outstanding looks but also extraordinary magical talent, making her the goddess in the dreams of countless FadimaWangguo men.

After Alice and William fell in love, she defied her father's opposition, abandoned her noble, wealthy lifestyle, and also gave up the chance to study at the continent's top magic academy, moving with William to Bigen Village to live a simple farming life.

During the years they lived together, William's income as a clumsy adventurer was meager; he could not give Alice a better life, and sometimes even needed Alice to take odd jobs to supplement the household.

Even so, Alice remained loyal to William, and William for the first time felt an unprecedented happiness, thus feeling grateful that he had been able to cross over into this world.

But now, William lowered his head to gaze at the corpse of his wife Alice in his arms, his heart filled with sorrow and regret.

"If only Alice had not married me back then, at least she would have lived a noble life, become a powerful mage, and would not have followed me to die in this place without ever having a good day."

"If only I had tried a little harder back then, pushed myself a little more, perhaps the outcome would not be what it is now......"

"Damn... damn... ahhhhhhh!"

William, in the face of the Demon King, again screamed hysterically.

The succubus Kusala·Pers smiled stiffly, she looked at the corpse William held in his arms; after she clearly saw the corpse's face, her smile vanished completely, her expression turning icy.

"Tch, again this woman."

Kusala·Pers bent down, brought her face close to William's, reached out and pinched his chin, asking, "If I give you another chance, will you kill me?"

William did not understand what the Demon King Kusala·Pers meant; he only wished she would kill him quickly, so he could be freed.

Kusala·Pers seemed to have anticipated William's reaction, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, she said:

"This is our little secret between us; don't tell anyone, or you'll die. Also, I will come find you."

Having said that, before William could react, the Demon King Kusala·Pers's lips pressed against his, and a surge of magic flowed from her mouth into his body.

Immediately after, the Demon King Kusala·Pers's palm pierced through William's heart.

"Thud thud thud."

"Thud thud thud."

"William, are you inside? Please open the door."

William shot his eyes open, discovering he lay on a wooden bed.

He looked around, finding himself in a room both familiar and unfamiliar, momentarily filled with surprise and confusion.

He recalled his memories; the last fragment he remembered was being pierced through the chest by the Demon King Kusala·Pers; he hurriedly felt his chest, discovering no wound at all, and frowned, saying:

"I didn't die?"

William swung his legs off the bed; whether due to his body not yet adapting or a misjudgment of height difference, he actually fell straight onto the floor.

"Bang."

He got up from the floor, still puzzled as to what was happening, then saw himself in the mirror before him.

In the mirror, his height was only half that of an adult, his features like a child's—clearly the appearance he had as a child after crossing into this world.

William then recalled that the furnishings of this room were exactly the same as his childhood room, and an idea sprang into his mind.

"I... I must have been reborn?"

"Knock knock knock."

"Knock knock knock."

It sounded like someone heard movement inside, and the knocking outside grew urgent.

"William, are you alright? Can you open the door?"

"Oh... coming!"

William, not having time to be shocked, went to the door, unlocked it, and outside appeared two familiar faces—a man and a woman.

The man was sturdy, dressed in a swordsman's simple clothes, with a ruggedly handsome appearance; the woman wore a patched coarse linen dress, with a gentle, sweet look—indeed they were William's father David and mother Helena after he crossed into this world.

David saw his son open the door, and with a beaming smile he apologized, saying:

"Son, I'm sorry, it's all my fault—I shouldn't have forced you to train. From now on I won't force you anymore; please forgive Dad, okay?"

Helena saw her son staring blankly at the two of them without responding, and she also smiled and advised:

"Dad has promised you in front of Mom, so just forgive him."

"Dad... Mom..."

William's eyes gradually welled up, he lunged at the two of them, and tightly hugged their legs.

After crossing over, William's parents treated him very well, and he also loved this pair of parents, but because he retained the mature memories and personality from before his crossing, he had never acted especially close to them.

When William was ten, Bigen Village was attacked by goblins, and his parents both died in that assault, causing William afterward to have only vague memories of their appearance.

At this moment William saw his parents again, feeling both guilty and relieved, and his hands, tightly clasped around their legs, refused to let go.

David still thought his son felt wronged because he had been too strict, and for a moment he didn't know what to do with his hands and feet.

Helena, meanwhile, stroked William's head while comforting him.

After William's emotions had steadied a little, David knelt, looked into his son William's eyes, clasped his hands together, and pleaded: "William, it's Dad who's wrong—please forgive Dad."

William looked at the two people before him who had clearly done nothing wrong yet were apologizing to him, and said: "Dad."

David: "Huh?"

"Mom."

Helena: "What's wrong, William?"

"I like you both the most."

At this moment David only felt his heart warm, as if he had heard the most beautiful sound in the world.

Helena then laughed happily and said: "All right, Dad bought you a birthday cake—let's hurry downstairs and eat it together!"

"Mm!"

William nodded vigorously, wanting to act as childish as possible in front of his parents to make up for the regret of not being close to them in his previous life.

Just like that, the three of them happily went downstairs.

Mother Helena prepared a tableful of her specialty dishes to celebrate William's birthday; William sat at the table, waiting for his father and mother to bring out a cheap cake with nine candles while singing the birthday song, at which point William finally confirmed the time he was now in.

He should have been reborn on his ninth birthday.

William vaguely remembered that on this day, because he disliked his father forcing him to train, he had thrown a tantrum; to cheer him up, his father had taken out half a month's living expenses for the family and bought William a cheap cream cake.

Having seen all kinds of cakes before his crossing, William childishly smashed the cake his father had bought onto the floor; in short, that day in his previous life his family had a very unpleasant time.

After the birthday song, Father David said: "From today on, William is nine—blow out the candles and make a wish!"

William closed his eyes.

In his previous life, because he didn't train hard, he awakened very poor magical talent, causing him thereafter, no matter how hard he tried, to remain a clumsy silver-rank adventurer; thus he not only failed to give his lover the life she wanted, but also caused her to die alongside him.

And the time he awakened his magical talent in his previous life and the time his parents died in the goblin attack both occurred when he was ten; the moment of his crossing can thus be said to be both timely and urgent.

Although there was only one year's time, in this life he would absolutely not let the tragedy of his previous life repeat itself!

"In this life, I will save my parents, save my wife, and let those around me live a life of superior conditions!"

"In this life, I will become strong!"

William opened his eyes and blew out the candles.