Reincarnated Hero System

By the time Evan woke, the afternoon sun had already climbed high, its light dimmed behind a veil of clouds. One glance at the system clock and he was reminded of just how absurd the day had been.

Entering the volcano dungeon.

Nearly getting killed by a horde of Devils for reasons still unclear.

Blasted through space again.

Surviving a spatial storm.

Crash-landing into a mountain.

All that chaos, and it hadn’t even been 10 a.m. when he’d finally passed out.

Now it was around 2 p.m. He’d only slept for four hours.

As soon as he woke, Evan expanded his Detection Field to its maximum range, encompassing the entire mountain range.

Upon detecting no signs of life, he sighed and opened his inventory, pulling out a few ingredients to whip up a simple meal.

He didn’t even bother washing the dried blood on his hands as he gobbled the food down, exhaling a satisfied sigh when he finished.

He then conjured a block of ice with his Unique Skill, intending to melt it into water to wash his hands while considering his next mov—

“Wait. What?”

Multiple presences suddenly popped up in his detection field, coming from the west—his 3 o’clock.

It wasn’t their numbers that alarmed him, but the suddenness of their appearance.

‘Teleportation?’

Evan immediately suppressed his presence as much as possible, keeping a careful watch as the unknowns moved.

They didn’t appear to have noticed him. Instead, they were headed toward the devastation he’d caused when he crash-landed.

They were about several hundred metres away from his cave, far enough not to notice the trail of his footsteps or the dampened earth outside the cave.

A few minutes later, however, he felt their signatures start to approach his position.

Evan quickly looked himself over, then dismissed the chair he’d been resting in, sending it back into his inventory. He slumped onto the cave floor behind a small outcrop, adopting the appearance of someone gravely injured.

‘If they’re enemies, they might let their guard down if they think I’m badly injured. That’ll give me a chance to strike first.’

Such was the thought that ran through Evan’s mind as he played the part of a wounded survivor.

The group began checking nearby caves, slowly inching closer to the one Evan was in. After a few minutes, one of them spotted the damp earth and the faint footprints he’d left outside and called the others over, speaking in a foreign tongue.

Fortunately, Evan’s Language Comprehension skill recognized it. After a few words, he could understand the gist of what was said:

“There are signs someone’s been here.”

Soon after, more presences gathered, and a few of them began carefully entering the cave, holding glowing gems to light the dark interior.

Evan had positioned himself behind a rock and had been suppressing his presence, so it wasn’t until one of them got dangerously close that they finally sensed him.

But by then, it was far too late.

In a flash, Evan’s blade sliced through the air, stopping just under the stranger’s neck.

“Don’t… move!”

He barked the words with a pained groan, and the rest immediately spun toward him in alarm, their eyes widening at the sight of their companion held at swordpoint.

While they froze in shock, Evan silently analysed them.

They looked like ordinary, sentient humanoids, all dressed in weathered clothing. Some had hunting bows slung across their backs, others carried spears, and a few had swords at their waists.

As for their power… Evan gauged them to be around Level 300. At least, that’s how it appeared at first glance.

‘Are they hunters or something? Is there a settlement nearby? And this feeling they’re giving off…’

Narrowing his eyes, Evan muttered,

“…spirits?”

The one closest to him, aside from the man he held at swordpoint, nodded silently.

Just then, another of the group raised both hands and spoke.

“Wait. We come in peace.”

“And what makes you think I’ll believe that?” Evan shot back.

The man hesitated, then lowered his gaze and replied,

“…Your clothes. You’re like the other outsiders who arrived a few days ago.”

“Other outsiders?” Evan echoed, his mind quickly connecting the dots.

They were likely referring to the other cultivators who’d been scattered across the region when the ship exploded two days ago.

“Yes!” the man said, quickly nodding.

“A few of them showed up days ago, badly injured like you. We had a monster problem in our village, and they helped us deal with it. So we’ve been taking care of them and offering them refuge in return.”

The man gave quite a detailed explanation, but Evan’s narrowed eyes made it clear he wasn’t convinced.

“And where is this village of yours?”

“On the other side of the mountain range you’re in right now,” the man answered.

At that, Evan’s eyes widened slightly.

‘A village on the other side of this mountain? I expanded my Detection Field to cover the whole area and beyond, and still didn’t pick up anything.’

His suspicion deepened, and he didn’t bother to hide it.

Noticing Evan’s growing wariness, the man trying to calm the situation quickly spoke again.

“Wait, wait, wait! It’s true.

We only came because of the loud explosion earlier. We were checking to see if it was a threat. And judging by the state you’re in… you’re probably connected to it, right?”

Evan bit his lower lip at the man’s words, looking conflicted for a moment.

Just then, a loud voice echoed from outside the cave.

“What’s going on in there?!”

Another presence quickly approached.

The moment the man stepped into view, it took every ounce of self-control for Evan to maintain his expression.

He looked like a typical villager, with broad shoulders, sun-darkened skin, short-cropped dark hair, and plain, well-worn clothes stained with dust and sweat from the mountain path.

But the instant he saw Evan holding a blade to one of his companions’ throats, his eyes widened in alarm.

“…you…! you’re one of those people called Cultivators, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am?”

Evan neither confirmed nor denied it, but the man clearly took it as an affirmation.

“We’re not your enemies,” the man said, holding up his hands slightly. “Please, lower your weapon. There are other cultivators like you in our village. They were wounded too, though not as bad as you seem to be.

Why not come with us to our village to recuperate?”

When the man made the offer, Evan didn’t bother to hide the suspicion in his voice.

“…what’s the catch?”

At that, the man let out a short, dry chuckle before replying,

“My name is Zula. I’m the Village Chief.

The cultivators currently staying in our village helped us deal with some monsters our hunters couldn’t handle. But since they’re still recovering, there’s only so much they can do. They could use an extra hand.”

In other words, he wanted Evan to be that extra hand.

Hearing this, Time Difference activated, and in that stretched moment, Evan considered several possibilities before making his decision.

With a sigh, he lowered his sword, then suddenly coughed.

He lifted a hand to cover his mouth, and when he pulled it away, a dark stain of blood smeared his palm.

Of course, it was actually dried blood from earlier, but under the poor lighting in the cave, the others only caught a glimpse of the dark red. They didn’t notice that it had already dried.

And since they didn’t notice, Evan’s wounded survivor act became all the more convincing. After all, he still hadn’t changed out of the clothes torn and bloodied by the spatial storm, nor had he cleaned off the dust and debris from his crash into the mountain.

After a momentary silence, Evan finally lowered his sword, stabbing it into the ground and using it like a walking stick as he pushed himself to his feet with a stagger.

That too was part of the act. Evan had recovered enough to walk normally by now.

Still, he wasn’t at full strength. Not even close. His magic power also hadn’t recovered as much as he would’ve liked.

Seeing him stumble, Zula told some of the others to support him. And like that, the group began their exit from the cave.

As they walked, Evan kept his eyes on Zula’s back and silently activated Full Appraisal.

At the same time, he glanced down at his sword, clicked his tongue, and muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Tsk…still can’t use my skills.”

That was a lie. He could use all his skills just fine. He simply wanted them to believe the skill activation they sensed was a failed attempt.

While he silently compiled the appraisal results on each of them, Zula glanced back and asked,

“The mountain collapse… that was you, wasn’t it?”

“…I was attacked,” Evan replied.

Hearing that response, Zula echoed with a questioning tone, “Attacked?”

He then frowned. “Your attacker, are they still…?” He trailed off, then shook his head and muttered,

“No, we didn’t find anything earlier.”

With that, the man continued walking, Evan and the rest of the villagers following behind.

Some others went to check a few more caves before regrouping.

There were twenty villagers in total, including the chief. Once they had gathered, they began the journey back to their village.

Evan noticed one of them carrying a mage’s staff and immediately connected them to the earlier instance when the group had seemingly appeared in his perception all at once. It was likely this one had used some sort of teleportation or concealment spell.

However, they didn’t use that means to return to their village. Instead, the group moved over one of the smaller mountain peaks, one that rose to a modest elevation of about 1,000 meters.

They descended into a forest on the other side, and after walking along a winding path for a short while, Evan suddenly felt a strange sensation, like he’d just passed through an invisible curtain.

‘A barrier…!’

It was thin and nearly undetectable, but with Evan’s absurdly high energy sensitivity, he immediately noticed it.

Only after crossing that barrier did his Detection Field finally register the presence of the village they’d spoken of.

Evan immediately expanded it to cover the village, sensing several other villagers, children and elderly among them, as well as a cluster of strong auras gathered in one area, most likely the cultivators.

The settlement was nestled in a clearing below the forest, surrounded by towering trees whose leaves whispered softly in the gentle breeze.

As they entered, villagers, both young and old, paused their daily tasks, and some of the adults and elders approached Zula, seeking news.

At this, Zula gestured towards Evan and explained.

“Another outsider was attacked nearby. That’s what caused the loud explosion we heard.”

Some immediately voiced their concern, asking about the attacker and whether bringing Evan here might invite danger to their village.