← Third life, this time I kill the traitor first# The Beginning of a Third Life
The moment I opened my eyes, the ceiling was white.
An old ceiling. Peeling paint scattered across it like a map. Cain didn't move and simply stared at it. He deliberately breathed slowly. He needed to feel his heartbeat. He needed to confirm evidence that he was alive.
'I've lived again.'
In his first life, death came from behind. When the blade of the one closest to him pierced through his ribs, Cain realized how warm his own blood was. And how useless it was.
In his second life, he was more careful. He didn't trust. He controlled. But there were variables he couldn't control. A car accident. They called it a simple accident. But Cain knew. That too was betrayal.
And now.
Cain slowly raised his hand. His fingers didn't tremble. Good. His nervous system was normal. He opened his hand and then clenched it into a fist. Opened it again. His muscle response was adequate.
He got out of bed. His movements were efficient and quiet. The moment his feet touched the floor, the old wooden floorboards creaked. Cain remembered that sound. It had been there in his second life too.
The room was small. Dawn light seeped through the window. It was June. The day of the university entrance ceremony. Cain opened the closet. Black shirt, black pants. There was no choice. Or rather, he had already chosen.
He stood in front of the mirror.
Black eyes stared back at him from the glass. His face was still young. The face of an eighteen-year-old. Before the first death, after the second death, and now. He kept returning as eighteen.
'Time is not linear. Time is circular.'
Cain brushed his face with his hand. His jawline was sharp. The muscles trained in his previous lives still remained. Muscle memory existed. That was useful information.
He went to the kitchen.
His mother was already awake. Cain didn't look at her. Instead, he opened the cupboard and took out a rice bowl. He scooped rice from the rice cooker. He boiled an egg. Every movement was automatic.
"Oh, Cain. You're up?"
His mother's voice. Cain didn't answer. Instead, he put rice in the bowl, added the egg, and ladled soup. He sat down at the table.
"Are you nervous about the entrance ceremony? Study well at school... make good friends. Mom believes in you."
'Belief.'
Cain picked up his spoon. He drank the broth. It was warm. In his second life, his mother's soup tasted the same.
"Yes."
A single syllable answer. Cain ate the rice. He ate the egg. His mother continued talking. It must have been something important. But Cain didn't listen. Instead, he organized other things.
Memories from his first life.
Back then, Cain was pure. There was laughter, there was trust. He had many friends. There were those he called hyung, and those he could call hyung. They were all beautiful. And one of them picked up a knife.
'Why?'
The reason for the betrayal was still unclear. The reasons for betrayal were always vague.
Memories from his second life.
Back then, Cain was vigilant. He didn't trust. He limited all relationships to controllable boundaries. There were those he called friends, but they were all tools. Some were useful, some weren't. And nothing could prevent death.
'A car accident?'
It didn't make sense. Cain was a good driver. He knew the roads. There was no reason for an accident to happen. But it did. Multiple vehicles were involved. It must have been planned. But by whom? Why?
Cain ate the egg white. He left the yolk.
The plan for his third life.
What he learned in his first life: Purity is death.
What he learned in his second life: Control is also death.
Then what?
"Cain?"
His mother spoke again. Cain pushed the table away. He stood up.
"I should go."
"It's still early..."
Cain put on his shoes. He opened the front door. Dawn air rushed in. A June morning was already warm. Cain breathed in. He felt the temperature of the air. He measured the humidity. The direction of the wind too.
The street was quiet.
There were two routes to school. Cain didn't take the usual path. Instead, he took a detour. It looked like a path he'd never taken, but in fact every step was calculated. There were fewer people on this route. It was hard to follow. And it was easy to escape.
The school's main gate came into view.
Freshmen were crowded around. Parents were there too. Cameras too. Cain passed them. He was an invisible person. It was easy to become invisible.
He entered the auditorium.
The principal was speaking. It must have been something important. It was probably about welcoming them. There was probably anticipation about the future. Cain sat down. The very back row. Near the stairs. A position where he could see the entrance.
Someone sat next to him.
"My first entrance ceremony, so I'm nervous."
Cain didn't turn his head. It was a male student. A bright voice. A dangerous voice.
"I'm Kim Junho. You?"
'Someone who speaks to you is dangerous.'
Cain still looked ahead. The principal's lips moved.
"Well, it's okay if you don't talk. We can get to know each other later."
The boy continued to laugh. Cain heard his heartbeat. It was fast. He was nervous. Or excited. Both were dangerous.
'Don't get close to people like in your first life. Don't treat people as tools like in your second life.'
Then what remains?
Cain bent his fingers. Straightened them. Bent them again.
'What's needed is distance.'
Appropriate distance. Not too close, not too far. From that distance, Cain could observe. And if necessary, he could escape.
He looked at the auditorium's ceiling. The lights were bright. There were four emergency exits. The windows couldn't be opened. There would be another entrance behind the stage. The maximum time needed to escape from this room was four seconds.
'I won't die in this life.'
Cain's black eyes turned back to the principal. His lips moved. He was saying something. He was repeating words of welcome.
Cain didn't hear it as welcome.
He heard it as a provocation.
The principal's voice filled the auditorium. He was still smiling. No, he was smiling even wider.
"Now, I will announce the aptitude assessment results for each new student. It's a tradition of this academy. This is the moment that determines your futures."
The screen beside the stage turned on. Names and occupations appeared in blue text.
'Lee Si-woo - Swordmaster'
Cheers. Several students clapped.
'Park Min-jun - Strategist'
More cheers. Cain read the pattern. Applause erupted whenever a combat-related occupation appeared. It became clear what kind of place this academy was.
Kim Jun-ho leaned forward in the seat next to him. His fingers were trembling. Was it excitement or anxiety? Instead of analyzing it, Cain turned his gaze back to the screen.
There was no need to pay attention to the boy next to him anymore. Maintaining distance was the goal.
'Kim Jun-ho - Charger'
"Ooooh!" Kim Jun-ho exclaimed without thinking. Cain felt his elbow touch his arm. Contact. Distance violation. Cain reflexively leaned away.
"Sorry, sorry!" Kim Jun-ho quickly retreated. "I got excited. I really—"
Cain didn't respond.
The screen continued spewing out names.
'Aris Chloe - Paladin'
The entire auditorium erupted in applause that seemed to sweep everything away. Aris stood up expressionlessly and raised her hand. In that single movement, superiority was evident. Something innate. Something different.
Cain observed her. The angle of her shoulders. The length of her neck. The structure of her face. Everything was precise. Like a machine. No, more intricate than a machine.
'Not an opponent to underestimate.'
He needed to remember that.
Where was Iris Faye? Cain scanned the auditorium. Around the middle of the seating. A female student with black hair was fixing her gaze somewhere. She never looked at the screen.
'Someone who either already knows her result or thinks she doesn't need to know it.'
Cain's heartbeat quickened slightly. This female student was also someone to observe carefully.
The names on the screen were getting closer to him. The order of entrance ceremonies was usually alphabetical or by Korean syllable order. Then—
'Cain Red starts with C.'
Not much time left.
"Wow, so many combat occupations..." Kim Jun-ho muttered to himself. "There was more variety last year."
Cain didn't listen. But he heard.
'A year concentrated with combat occupations. If so, there's a high probability someone manipulated this intentionally.'
Vice Principal Mark Stone was writing something beside the stage. His expression was satisfied.
'A tool-like man. And that means there's a hand holding that tool.'
The screen flickered.
'Cain Red - Archivist'
Silence.
No, wait. It wasn't silence. It was laughter.
At first, the laughter started with one or two people. Then it spread in succession. Like a plague. The entire auditorium filled with laughter.
"Archivist?" A male student laughed loudly. "What kind of job is that?"
"Isn't that just organizing books?" Someone answered.
"ㅋㅋㅋㅋ The right person got picked."
Cain didn't move. His fingers curled again. Straightened. Curled again. That was his only reaction.
Kim Jun-ho turned his body. To look at Cain's face. But Cain was looking straight ahead. At the screen. At the screen with his name on it.
'Archivist'
What was that? Cain analyzed the word. One who manages archives. Information. Records. Past. History.
'A repository of useless things.'
That's what it meant in this academy.
"Hey, that guy really..." Aris Chloe said something to her friend next to her. Loud enough. For Cain to hear. "He was doomed from the start."
The laughter grew louder.
Cain still didn't move. His eyes remained fixed on the screen. But his attention was spread throughout the auditorium. The location of each laugh. The tone of each voice. The reaction of each person.
'I need to remember them.'
In his first life, he trusted and died. In his second life, he treated them like tools and died. And now in this third life, he...
'Will all those laughing at me now try to kill me?'
No. That was an overreaction. Cain calmed himself. Think realistically.
'They are not a threat yet. They are merely those who scorn me. And those who scorn can become tools.'
Tools. The word surfaced again. Cain bit his tongue. The difference between becoming a tool and treating someone as a tool.
'Maintain distance. Neither close nor far.'
The laughter in the auditorium continued. But Cain decided not to hear it anymore.
He looked at the screen.
The next name appeared.
'Iris Faye - Strategist'
The laughter in the auditorium stopped.
Iris stood up slowly. Without any expression. Without any reaction. As if the applause wasn't for her.
Her eyes brushed past Cain once.
And Cain understood.
'This female student is doing the same thing. Observation. Analysis. Distance maintenance.'
Two cold eyes met somewhere in the auditorium. One second. Half a second. Contact that was neither more nor less.
Then Iris moved toward the stage.
Cain looked forward again.
'I will not die in this life.'
The light from the auditorium reflected in his black pupils.
'No matter what price I have to pay.'