Dark Fantasy Normalized-Chapter 78: System (1)

Something suddenly floated into the corner of my vision.

It was something that defied all concepts and phenomena of this world.

Even the erudite masters of the Magic Tower wouldn’t be much different.

If I asked Sir Meltas or Ms. Didoa about it, their response would probably be a puzzled tilt of the head.

In that sense, memories of my past life were a tremendous help.

They granted me ways of thinking, perspectives, and experiences that no one in this world could possibly have.

I recognized it at a glance.

"A... window?"

Something like a semi-transparent message board hanging in midair.

It was unmistakably a window, the kind you’d only ever see in a game.

In that instant, a million thoughts came to mind.

Under normal circumstances, I probably would’ve been lost in overwhelming speculation for days or even weeks.

And that wouldn’t have been strange at all—because something like this just suddenly showing up in your life? That’s how much it shakes you. freewёbnoνel.com

But—should I say fortunately?

Because the content the window displayed was so significant, I was able to brush those thoughts aside completely.

[43:05:21:54:55]

To be honest with you—

Me? I suck at numbers.

When I was a kid, I nearly reached enlightenment trying to memorize the multiplication tables,

and when weird letters started getting added into equations, I practically had to borrow borrowed life force just to understand it.

Through the lens of my pitiful mathematical knowledge,

this was a chaotic mess of numbers with no rules or formulas.

Under normal circumstances, I probably never would’ve figured it out.

However—

[43:05:21:54:52]

"Uh-oh..."

The numbers started to change.

[43:05:21:54:47]

No—

They started flowing.

[43:05:21:54:43]

Following a consistent, simple rule.

Even a dumbass with numbers like me could recognize it instantly.

This shifting sequence of numbers meant time.

Remaining time.

In other words, this window was a kind of countdown timer.

"Seconds... minutes... hours... days... and... weeks?"

According to the timer, I had about 43 weeks left until the time ran out.

And—

...that was it.

The window only told me how much time I had left.

It didn’t say what would happen once that time ran out.

And that was the part that drove you insane.

Because humans are creatures who instinctively read fear into limited time.

That anxiety led me to consider a certain possibility.

The most symbolic thing that a limited time could mean.

“...No way. That can’t be it.”

I tried to dismiss it.

But no other possibilities came to mind.

Lately, there’d been too many suspicious signs.

Sudden manifestation of abilities.

Rapid growth.

The accumulating strain and fatigue in my body.

That moment I took a big bite out of the afterlife during the last overload—

“...Don’t tell me this is my remaining lifespan?"

Yeah, no.

That’s ridiculous.

A window just pops up one day and tells me I’ve got less than a year left to live?

I shook my head with an expression that said "no fucking way."

A clear sign that the copium engine inside me was revving at full throttle.

And that engine—known as the Hope Circuit—was dangerously powerful.

It could completely ruin your life with baseless optimism.

"Just one more lane push, right?"

—Nope.

"I mean, what are the odds this ruins my life?"

—Ruined.

"I mean, what are the odds I die?"

—Dead.

This time, I was really counting on that engine.

Please, for the love of all that’s holy, save me from this terrifying possibility.

That it might really be a death timer.

So I distracted myself with all sorts of inane thoughts.

Trying to fight the panic.

And that’s when it happened.

***

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Please select an EXP distribution target.

[Self], [Faction]

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If no selection is made within the time limit, the target will be chosen automatically.

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Automatically distributing EXP.

Target: Self

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[LEVEL UP]

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■ Lisir

Level: 39 > 41

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[You have reached a specific level (6th tier)]

[A corresponding reward has been granted]

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EXP still remains. Please select a target for distribution.

[Self], [Faction]

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If no selection is made within the time limit, the target will be chosen automatically.

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***

"...!"

What the fuck.

Now of all times?

And it’s a big one.

Comparable to what happened during Gerhen—maybe even worse.

"Phff—!"

I could feel lukewarm liquid pouring out from every hole in my face.

It was probably blood.

Judging from my current state, every second counted.

But what did I do, in that moment?

I checked the damn window again.

[00:00:39:02:12:54:23]

There was no need to compare it to before to see how much time had dropped.

One of the biggest digits had just vanished.

"Ah, fuck me."

An intense headache slammed into me.

And I could say with confidence—it wasn’t from overload.

My body had been wrecked by the overload, sure.

But it was the timer’s reaction to that overload that really confirmed it.

That window—

was linked to my lifespan.

In other words,

I had less than a year left to live.

The brutally short timeframe made my head spin.

A paralyzing helplessness, like drowning in quicksand, spread through my entire body.

"Kuhak...!"

Still—

I had to pull myself together.

Because living one more year was still better than dropping dead right now.

I gathered the mana swirling in my body using blue breath.

"Kuh...! Huuuh... mmph...! Haaa..."

You’d think I’d have gotten better at this with practice—

but no, it wasn’t any easier.

At first, I thought this was just as bad as what happened with Gerhen,

but it was actually worse.

Back then, the overload was hard because I didn’t know what I was doing.

Now?

The sheer volume of the mana spike made it hard to handle, no matter how well I managed it.

Suddenly, I felt this raw, stupid sense of injustice.

Like—what the hell even triggered this?

All I did recently was stabilize a minor desert demon. That was it.

And that causes my mana to explode like this?

It didn’t make sense.

Normally I’d be like, "Hey, at least I got stronger!"

But now that I knew this shit was literally burning through my lifespan—

the only thing I felt was pure resentment.

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

How long had passed?

I finally finished reining in the mana.

What remained was my body, soaked in blood and sweat—

and the view outside the window, dyed in sunset.

I was supposed to finish moving out of the dorms today and say goodbye to the Tower folks.

That all went to shit.

And more than anything—

A whole day of my already-shortened life had just been wasted.

"Fuck..."

With that last bitter curse, I lost consciousness.

***

"Chuin-ni! Are you okay!? You can’t die! I’ll be sad!"

"...!"

I came to my senses at the sound of the chirping voice and immediately checked outside the window.

It was a crystal-clear morning, not a cloud in the sky.

But my insides were rapidly being swallowed by storm clouds.

"Wow, what a fantastic, absolutely restful nap... Great. Wasted a whole damn day..."

Was this really the reaction of someone who’d just gone through explosive growth and ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) greeted the morning after a well-earned rest?

I couldn’t help but feel utterly miserable.

Now, no matter how joyful the situation, I’d probably react like this.

The once-bright, optimistic end of my life had been painted over with pitch-black cynicism.

I think I finally understood why old folks tend to have such twisted personalities.

"Chuin-ni! Are you okay!? Are you hurt!? Are you bleeding!?"

The chirping voice came again from near my feet.

A little girl made of something like translucent sand was looking up at me with sparkling eyes.

Berbandes.

I patted her on the head.

"I’m fine. Just kinda bummed that I’ve got less than a year left to live."

"Really!? That’s good! As long as it’s nothing serious! Chuin-ni can’t be hurt! Hurting is bad!"

"...That’s oddly philosophical."

Just like how I’d realized earlier why old folks were cranky,

I think I understood now why they were also so weak to kids.

Watching this tiny sand girl chirping away like the world was sunshine and candy,

my own pessimism started to feel... misplaced.

"...Yeah."

I centered myself again.

Not much time left to live?

Then I had to keep optimism close and shove pessimism far away.

Because once it was all over, I wouldn’t even get the chance to regret anything.

"..."

For a moment, I felt something swelling inside me.

Could this be what they call enlightenment?

I understood now.

For humans, what matters isn’t how long you live.

It’s how you live.

That was where the real meaning lay.

I let everything go, yet embraced it all at once, and checked my remaining time again—

to start planning how to spend what was left of my life in the most meaningful way possible.

[51:01:55:42:15]

"...?"

Wait.

Why is the timer back?

No—why is it even longer than before?

"...I’ll take it."

I could feel the corner of my lips twitch.

Yeah.

Who cares how you live?

In the end, the real win is living longer.

That whole saying about rolling in shit being better than dying isn’t just for laughs.

I was feeling fired up now.

Forget "How to Spend the Rest of My Life Wisely"—

the far more exciting project was "How to Extend the Rest of My Life."

I sat down at my desk and started combing through my memory, jotting down the noteworthy events from the past few days.

***

[Title: WTF is this timer?]

Content: I cleared Kehllin and suddenly a timer popped up.

Don’t tell me my character has a bomb collar now.

-: Nah, it’s not that

-[OP]: Phew

-: Nah jk it is

-[OP]: ???

-: It’s literally a world-ending timer.

-: It’s not "sudden world-ending countdown"—the idea is, you got close enough to fate that you can now feel it.

-[OP]: I only have 30 weeks left, is there any way to increase it?

-: If there was, this game would actually have a happy ending.

-: Option A: Run out of time and get the dogshit ending.

Option B: Clear the final zone in time and get the slightly less dogshit ending.

-[OP]: Holy shit.

***

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Automatically distributing EXP.

Target: Self

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***

It worked.

I managed to discover what you could call the core mechanism of “How to Extend the Rest of My Life.”

I didn’t know exactly how, but the second magical overload that had hit me just in time had helped.

Another overload.

Another surge in magic power.

[53:01:55:42:15]

And another extension to my lifespan.

This confirmed it:

My remaining life was linked to my magic.

Unstable mana that triggered overload shortened my lifespan,

but refined mana—once assimilated into my body—actually extended it.

A very honest mechanic.

And also, a completely despair-inducing one.

Yesterday,

when I was still at the latter half of the 5th Tier, I had 43 weeks left.

And now,

thanks to repeated magic surges, I’d just stepped into the 6th Tier.

My lifespan had jumped to 53 weeks.

That wall—

the infamous wall of the 6th Tier—is something most people can’t climb even after devoting their whole lives to it.

I’d crossed it.

And all I got was 10 extra weeks?

Talk about inefficient.

...But.

Just like everyone around me keeps saying, I’m not exactly normal.

My magic swells every time I “normalize” evil energy or corrupt entities.

And for some unknown reason, I also have these random, spontaneous mana explosions.

I’m the kind of guy who’s come close to dying more times from too much mana, not too little.

So maybe—just maybe—it’s possible.

“Live long enough to shit myself in a wheelchair!”

Only 53 weeks left.

Barely over a year.

Still a long road ahead.

I’m not the type who’s satisfied without seeing not just grandkids, but great-grandkids before I die.

And if possible, I wanna see if I can wrangle something like eternal life out of mana too.

So yeah—I didn’t have time to sit around like this.

I shot up from my chair.

"Normalization... I need more normalization..."

I stepped out to search for more targets.

***

They say humans can’t feel gratitude for what they take for granted.

Now I understood what that meant.

“Where are you guys... my dear dark mages...”

Targets for normalization.

Evil bastards.

They used to come crawling to me on their own and dump their magic like it was nothing—

it always felt like more of a hassle than anything.

I thought I could just find more of them whenever I wanted, extend my life however long I liked.

Maybe that was arrogance.

For the past few days, I’d wandered all over Bondales looking for any “foreign energy.”

Nothing.

Not even a whiff.

In hindsight, it made sense.

If high-level assholes like dark mages were swarming the city, the world would’ve been ending already.

This world was peaceful.

Disgustingly so.

"Haa..."

Once again, I returned home with nothing to show for it.

"What day is it today..."

I checked the calendar—

two days left until the date I promised to leave the Tower.

This was bad.

I’d hoped to produce some kind of results before going back to my freelance life.

Now I was dreading the idea of balancing this grind with actual work.

‘...Now that I think about it, this really pisses me off.’

The resentment surged again.

I glared at that goddamn window.

I mean—let’s be real.

Back when I first recalled my past life, I wanted this kind of system window so bad.

I fantasized about getting a status window and dominating life, just like every reincarnated protagonist out there.

But in reality?

Nothing.

I even shouted it out loud, just in case—

and of course, nothing happened.

That’s when I gave up on having any kind of “system” in my life and just forgot about it.

And now, out of nowhere, this thing pops up to tell me I’ve got a death countdown and works me like a damn dog.

‘If you’re gonna be like this, at least throw in some extra features, damn it.’

I pouted, grumbling about how it was 100% responsibility with zero perks—

when suddenly, a memory surfaced.

“Status window...!?”

That was the first thing I shouted when I regained my past-life memories.

...Probably in the language of that past life.

"..."

No way.

Right?

One thought struck me like lightning.

I carefully put it into action.

“Status window...?”

I said it—in the language of this world—for the first time.

"A."

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■ Lisir

Level: 41

Race: Human

Class: ???

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"Are you kidding me?"

Turns out...

I just had the language setting wrong.

And then, amid the confusion—

"...Huh?"

Something caught my eye.

"...If someone’s level 53, what Tier would that even be?"

There was something weird about my party’s status...