In the far north of the continent, where icy winds never cease, lies one of the world's three great forbidden regions—the Dragon Valley.
Legend says a dragon's roar can rend the sky itself, and its breath can freeze all creation.
And yet, more than sixty miles away from that perilous land, there exists a small village—so insignificant that the world has nearly forgotten it.
Afternoon sunlight filtered through thin clouds, carrying a rare hint of warmth.
At the village entrance stood a towering tree, its dense branches casting mottled shadows across the ground.
Beneath it lay a boy with white hair and blue eyes, a blade of grass between his lips, eyes half-lidded in utter boredom.
Eight years…
The boy muttered inwardly, his gaze fixed on a translucent blue interface floating before him. A loading bar crawled across the screen—so slowly it might as well have been frozen.
"Hey. System," he thought irritably.
"Are you actually functional? Or are you some bargain-bin excuse for a cheat ability?"
The boy's name was Faen.
To him, this world felt both familiar and alien.
Eight years ago, he had still been living in another world, struggling just to survive—an overworked office drone pulling endless overtime. One night, on his way home, he met a speeding truck head-on.
He lost.
The truck's record went up by one.
And then he reincarnated.
When he came in this new world, he had reverted to infancy—barely one or two years old. His body had changed completely, down to his hair and eye color.
Like any reincarnator, he came with a the classic cheat.
A system known as [Entwined Fate], which claimed that once fully charged, it could summon figures from his memories—people, weapons, even abilities born of imagination.
In practice, however, it was spectacularly unreliable.
In eight years, it had successfully activated only once. And even then, due to an unknown error, the summoned individual had been cast into an entirely different time and place.
According to the system's minimal feedback, that person had been sent far into the past—reborn in the Heavenly Realm. (Tenkai)
The Heavenly Realm…
Faen rolled the words over in his mind, a bitter smile forming.
He knew exactly what that meant.
This was a world where gods, bored of eternity, descended to the Mortal World (Genkai) to live among mortals and form Familias.
In other words—
This was the stage of Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?.
He was certain of it because of the person who had found him eight years ago, abandoned in the wilderness.
Even now, he remembered the hazy moment when consciousness returned—cool hands lifting him gently.
He had forced his eyes open and seen a face of distant, icy beauty.
Long silver hair stirred in the wind.
Eyes perpetually closed, as though she had no interest in witnessing the world.
She wore an elaborate black gothic dress, her bearing so noble it felt kind of unreal.
Her name was Alfia.
Eight years was more than enough time for Faen to align memory with reality.
The adventurers' holy land—Orario.
The massive cliff wall beyond the village, sealing off the Dragon Valley.
All of it confirmed his conclusion.
As for Alfia—she was exactly who he remembered.
The "monster of talent," once hailed by the gods.
A member of the Hera Familia.
A Level 7 adventurer known as The Silent.
And when he added the presence of a boisterous middle-aged man in the village—always polishing a massive greatsword, named Zald—
Faen gave up all remaining denial.
He truly had arrived in this dangerous, merciless—and opportunity-filled world.
The lazy moment beneath the tree soon came to an end.
Faen spat out the blade of grass, sat up, and brushed dirt and leaves from his trousers.
Sunlight danced across him through the leaves, pleasantly warm.
"Time to head back," he muttered.
There was an unconscious familiarity in his voice.
"If I don't cook soon, that woman's going to lose her temper again."
Alfia's temperament was literally colder than the eternal ice deep within the Dragon Valley.
She never went easy on him just because he was ten years old.
Those slender looking hands carried terrifying force when they struck—each blow felt like it could shatter a damn bone.
And yet, Faen had to admit—
Through her merciless "discipline," he learned how to evade, how to observe, how to find openings even through agony.
Now, among the village children his age, even beastfolk renowned for physical strength—not a single one could stand against him.
Still, he wasn't a masochist.
If he could eat peacefully, why would he choose to get beaten senseless?
Sometimes, especially on nights when the pain kept him awake—a fire of frustration would burn in his chest.
He would clench his fists and swear silently:
Just wait, Alfia.
When I grow up.
When I become an adventurer.
One day, I'll defeat you—fair and square.
His greatest wish was to stand before her as an equal, to overcome her with his own strength.
He longed to see shock crack that eternally emotionless face.
She was his savior.
The one who raised him.
That debt weighed as heavily as a mountain.
Yet his desire to challenge her seems to heat up like a wildfire.
Reality, however, was cruel as it can get.
"Damn system…"
Faen let out a sigh.
Some unseen rule bound him—preventing him from receiving any god's Blessing.
A Blessing—or Falna, was this world's cornerstone.
Through divine blood, a god engraves sacred script upon a mortal's back, awakening dormant potential.
Only those who receive a Blessing can become adventurers—fighting monsters in the Dungeon, earning experience, leveling up, and climbing toward heights beyond imagination.
After surviving eight years of Alfia's hellish training, Faen's physical abilities already surpassed his peers by a wide margin.
Any god seeking to strengthen their Familia would find him dazzling.
And indeed, over the years, several traveling gods had taken interest in him.
They praised him endlessly, calling him a natural-born adventurer.
Yet every time their fingers traced his back, attempting to inscribe a Falna—
The divine blood slid away like water off a leaf.
No matter what they tried, it would not take.
It was as though an invisible barrier surrounded his body, rejecting the most fundamental law of the world.
After repeated failures, the gods could only retreat in regret.
Gradually, Faen became known throughout the region as the boy who cannot receive a Blessing.
No god came for him anymore.
He suspected the cause lay with his fucking useless [Entwined Fate] system.
Perhaps only when it awakened again would he finally be able to walk the path he dreamed of.
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