Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 2: The Swordsmanship Family, Kaladan

Was it a possession, or perhaps the delayed recovery of past life memories?

After making a contract with Kalanthatis, Ha-won awakened in a new world as a six-year-old boy named Harang Kaladan.

“Harang, huh. It’s similar to my original name. He even looks just like I did when I was young…”

At first, he couldn’t understand what was happening and was confused, but after a night’s sleep, his body’s memories began to flow in.

Over the past six years, he learned about his family history and how he had lived.

He learned what kind of place the Kaladan family was.

Upon regaining these memories, he realized once again that the new life given to him was tough and not easy.

“My previous life wasn’t a walk in the park either, living with a terminal illness…”

A child’s body of six years old was vulnerable to the cold and heat.

Yet, in this harsh family, they would shut the child in a cabin in the forest, cold in winter and hot in summer.

“So much for a prestigious family.”

What would it be like to be born into the bloodline of the Duke of Kaladan, one of the top three hero families on the continent?

The founding hero of the Herail Empire!

The descendants of the hero Kaladan, who sealed the worst guardian, the Black Dragon King, alongside the Dragon King Kalanthatis centuries ago!

The great hero family Kaladan.

This was the family Harang was born into and raised in, yet he wasn’t even treated as a legitimate member of the hero family.

Did he even exist to them?

The reason was that Harang was a ‘discarded child, a bastard.’

Discarded child, bastard. Either one was miserable enough, but he was both.

His father was born into the hero family, known especially as the ‘swordsmanship family’ Kaladan, but did not wield a sword.

In a family that despised weakness, his father was called ‘the discarded child of Kaladan.’

During this time, his father brought a woman, a former magician, into the palace, fell in love without permission, and had a child without even getting married. How could this be seen favorably?

His mother died giving birth to Harang, and his father passed away from an unknown illness.

It’s already been two years since the modest funeral of his parents.

There was no one left around him.

He could stay in the forest cabin without being completely expelled from the palace and live with the care of sympathetic attendants, thanks to the family’s last consideration.

“Having no family doesn’t matter much. I don’t remember their faces, nor do I think of them as my real parents…”

He sat quietly in the corner of the small single room cabin with his eyes closed. Not for any particular reason.

It was a habit from his past life, believing that lying down weakened one’s mental strength.

“In my previous life, I lived in a place like this during my childhood too.”

In his past life, young Harang also lived a wandering life without a proper home. A small container box was his house, and he had to use public restrooms to wash.

Thinking of those days, this place didn’t feel too unfamiliar.

Just a bit strange.

“Kalanthatis.”

As he sat in the corner, organizing his thoughts, Harang muttered the name of the silver dragon who had reincarnated him here.

No response.

“Kalanthatis?”

He called the name again to ask about the situation, but there was no answer.

Feeling frustrated, Harang called out his name one last time with a glimmer of hope.

“Kalanthatis!”

Suddenly, a translucent window appeared in midair, displaying a system message.

━━━[Main Quest]━━━

Prepare for the Coming Darkness

Content: The Dragon King of the Moon, Kalanthatis, has summoned you as a hero to protect the continent of Astera from darkness. However, Kalanthatis is sealed and cannot move.

Until he awakens, train diligently and prepare for the coming darkness…

Objective: ???

Reward: ???

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“A quest…?”

Harang read it calmly, surprised that the game system could be used even here.

“So, Kalanthatis, who left me here, was already sealed?”

The situation was more absurd than he had thought. Then how was he supposed to overcome this situation, barely surviving in such poor conditions with only the title of a swordsmanship family?

Kalanthatis had said when making the contract with Harang that he would be born as a descendant of the hero Kaladan and train in the most perfect environment to bloom his talents.

However, rather than a perfect environment, the conditions for proper training weren’t even provided.

He was indeed a descendant of Kaladan. But because of his father, who hadn’t learned swordsmanship properly, he couldn’t inherit the swordsmanship lineage, and the Kaladan family members were unaware of his existence.

“Sigh, I have to do it myself.”

Upon reflecting, Harang realized how great Kalanthatis was in this world.

The stories of him nearly annihilating the black dragon clan, which had ruled the world, single-handedly and tearing apart the gates to prevent the demon race from invading with his bare hands were very famous.

The Kaladan family itself was closely associated with Kalanthatis, showing an almost worshipful tendency towards him. But still, given his real achievements, it was no wonder such tales and biographies were born.

Having made a contract with such a great dragon, he couldn’t rely on him for everything.

“There is one thing I can do right now.”

As he recalled his memories, Harang thought of the first thing he could do and his eyes sparkled.

“Choosing the Raw Stone.”

All descendants of Kaladan, upon turning seven, had their talents tested by cutting the sacred tree with a real sword.

According to his memory, if he didn’t show talent here, he wouldn’t even be allowed to enter the training grounds.

Looking at the calendar, today was the day of the raw stone selection for a relative who was one year older than him. There was no way they’d give a bastard a separate opportunity, so today was his only chance to show his talent.

“Can I do it?”

He felt a bit anxious as he had never properly done anything with this body.

“No, I have to do it. Today is my only chance. If I miss it, there won’t be another.”

Harang clenched his fist.

Having reincarnated after making a contract with Kalanthatis, he couldn’t be foolish enough to doubt his own talent and give up before even starting.

“I will challenge it.”

Harang thought about where he should go to undergo the raw stone selection. Fortunately, this six-year-old hadn’t experienced much, so recalling memories wasn’t difficult.

“First, I need to go to the training grounds.”

Whatever this family did, instead of using a mansion, they openly used a palace. They called it the Kalambrynu Palace.

“Damn, a palace? It’s unnecessarily huge.”

Remembering the considerable distance to the training grounds, it seemed tight to reach there with a child’s body.

Quickly dressing and leaving the cabin, Harang kicked off the ground and dashed forward.

Thump! His body shot forward as if propelled by a rubber band.

“My body is light.”

It felt as if gravity was much weaker than on Earth, making his running speed much faster.

His jumping ability was a few meters, and his footwork was incredibly swift for a child.

“Is the human body inherently strong here? That doesn’t seem right…”

When had he ever run like this? The refreshing feeling of the wind brushing his cheeks was pleasant, but there was no time to enjoy it.

After running for over 30 minutes and feeling out of breath, he finally saw the training grounds in the distance.

The raw stone selection seemed to have already started, as many knights were already gathered and waiting there.

At the center stood Karik, a relative of his late father. Beside him was a short kid holding a real sword with a tense expression.

Today was the day of talent testing for the seven-year-old relative.

Harang walked confidently through the knights.

“Huh? Who is that…?”

Naturally, all eyes turned to the unfamiliar child, but Harang did not cower.

He had a way to prove himself.

“Excuse me, coming through.”

“What, what is this?!”

Karik, who noticed him late, frowned.

“Who is that child?”

“We’re not sure ourselves.”

“But you let him in here? Get him out immediately!”

Karik shouted, but Harang fished in his pocket and pulled out a medal signifying the pure bloodline of Kaladan.

“I’m a blood relative too, so there’s no problem with me being here, right?”

“That… Are you that fool Melize’s child?”

Despite the derogatory way Karik referred to his father, Harang merely nodded without reacting.

“Ha! I’ve heard that the useless Melize had a child and tucked him away in the corner of the family. So you really exist. I was wondering if you had died somewhere. Nice to see you’re still alive.”

Though Karik spoke sarcastically to the child, Harang remained calm.

“I’m glad you’re pleased.”

“….”

Feeling slightly ridiculed by a child, Karik felt a surge of anger but suppressed it. He had to maintain his dignity as a blood relative in front of the knights.

“What brings you here?”

“I’d like to participate in the selection too.”

“The Raw Stone Selection is for those who turn seven and can absorb mana into their bodies. How old are you?”

“I’m six.”

“Still too early.”

“No, can’t I do it now? Even when I turn seven, there’ll be no one to conduct the test for me, right?”

“…”

Karik’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

It wasn’t that Harang was being arrogant, but the fact that he remained overly calm and spoke quite maturely despite the number of people present.

Besides, Harang wasn’t wrong.

Who would prepare such an opportunity for Melize’s abandoned bastard?

‘What’s with this kid? Does he know this and came today on purpose? No way…’

Karik shook his head.

He must have just found out by chance while passing by.

“Who said you could take the test…”

“No! Let him take it.”

“…What?”

The person who opposed Karik’s words was a young woman who had been quietly watching the scene from behind. She approached Harang, kneeling down to meet his eyes, and smiled brightly.

“Look at this. These clear silver eyes… This is undoubtedly proof of pure Kaladan blood.”

One of the characteristics of the Kaladan family.

All blood relatives of the family had silver eyes. There was a superstition that the brighter those eyes shone, the greater the talent for swordsmanship.

Karik’s face contorted with displeasure.

“So what?”

“Anyway, it’s proof he has pure Kaladan blood. So he’s eligible to have his talent tested. Isn’t that right, brother?”

When the young woman looked back and asked, a man with similarly pink hair nodded quietly.

“It’s worth testing him. Hey, you over there, stop standing idle and bring another sacred tree and a real sword. The seventh training ground is sluggish.”

“Y-yes!”

As the man arbitrarily commanded the training ground, Karik’s face twisted even more.

“…Garaen. Who said you could proceed on your own?”

“Any blood relative with silver eyes of Kaladan is entitled to all privileges. It’s a principle set by the former head.”

At those words, Karik bit his lip in frustration but didn’t argue further.

“Hello?”

Meanwhile, the pink-haired woman continued to look into Harang’s eyes, her silver eyes sparkling.

“My name is Arihil Pol Kaladan. I’m a direct bloodline. And you are?”

“Harang.”

“What a pretty name! Here, this is a real sword. Do you know how to hold it? You don’t, right?”

Harang examined the real sword handed to him by Arihil, then grasped it with both hands.

“Oh?”

Arihil’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Harang’s stance was quite stable and proper for someone holding a sword for the first time.

“Do I just cut the sacred tree?”

A chuckle came from somewhere. Even if he was from Kaladan, there was no way a six-year-old could cut the sacred tree.

The sacred tree could only be cut by those who had trained in mana by the age of seven.

Without a sword imbued with mana, only a highly trained swordsman could possibly cut it.

Therefore, the sacred tree was traditionally used in Kaladan to test talent.

How far could one go with a sword that hadn’t absorbed mana?

“Well, just cut as much as you can.”

“Let’s get started without delay.”

As Garaen commanded with his hands behind his back, Karik frowned but did nothing.

Although Karik was higher in seniority, Garaen’s superior talent gave him more influence within the family.

“Begin, Myuran.”

“Yes…”

The boy called Myuran gritted his teeth and swung the real sword with all his might.

Thunk!

Indeed, being of Kaladan blood, the seven-year-old’s skill was impressive as he smoothly cut into the sacred tree.

Though the sword didn’t go all the way through and stopped halfway, Karik nodded in satisfaction and said,

“Well done, my son. Cutting that deeply into the sacred tree at your age is no easy feat.”

“Th-thank you.”

“Next.”

Contrary to Karik’s praise, Garaen spoke indifferently, causing Myuran to scowl.

‘That bastard…’

Garaen didn’t seem to expect much either. After all, it was Harang’s first time holding a sword.

Contrary to their expectations, Harang was surprised by how light the real sword felt.

‘This feeling…’

Was it simply because the sword was light?

No, it wasn’t that.

‘It feels familiar.’

It felt like he had held a sword for a long time.

Then he remembered.

Harang hadn’t held a real sword for the first time.

In his previous life as a pro gamer.

In virtual reality games… he had wielded countless swords.

Receiving the ‘blessing of the system.’

It felt exactly like those times.

As he swung the sword, it felt like he could do anything.

At that moment, a translucent window appeared, displaying a series of messages.

━━━[Sub Quest]━━━

Show Your Worth as a Hero

Content: Prove that you are a worthy successor of the hero Kaladan and the contractor of the guardian Kalanthatis.

Objective: Recall your skills from your previous life and perfectly cut the sacred tree

Reward: Inherit the System’s Blessing

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Harang was momentarily surprised by the sudden system message, but he quickly grasped the situation and smirked.

“This is just a tutorial quest.”

With determination in his eyes, Harang swung the real sword with all his might toward the sacred tree.

[Unleash the trait ‘World’s Greatest Champion’]

[When the conditions are met, recall the skills of your previous life as the greatest champion!]

Whoosh! The real sword was drawn to the sacred tree like a magnet.

[Skill ‘One Stroke’ acquired]

Slash-!

The sacred tree was split perfectly in two.

“What, what is this!”

“How is it possible to cut it without even training in mana!”

It was the first occurrence since the founding head of the Kaladan family.