Kyle knows he only has three years before the Great Cataclysm. So the very next day, he gets to work. He starts training by summoning a mental image of the Demon Lord and charging in. But after a few swings and a couple of blocks, reality hits—his body is weak. Like, embarrassingly weak.
It makes sense. By this point in time, Kyle had been living the lazy life of a certified couch potato. His combat skills are trash. The one thing going for him? His magic stats seem to have carried over from the future. So he tries buffing himself with speed and strength enhancements… and still eats dirt. His body simply can’t keep up with his magic.
Conclusion? He needs to train—hard.
Meanwhile, Leila and Theron are spying on him from the bushes. From their point of view, Kyle has been running around, yelling at nothing, and falling over all morning. Concern levels? Rising.
Then Ila (his mom) shows up and asks what they’re doing. They explain that Kyle’s suddenly working out like a madman, which is weird considering just days ago he couldn’t care less about training. Leila thinks maybe he’s doing it for a girl.
This… crushes Leila’s hopes. If he hasn’t confessed to her, then it must be someone else. Fueled by jealousy, she storms in and shakes Kyle so hard he throws up. Realizing she may have gone a bit overboard, she makes it up to him by cooking his favorite lunch.
Though still a bit queasy, Kyle forgives her. Since everyone’s gathered, he brings up a question that’s been on his mind: “How do you force entire nations to take action?”
Everyone’s confused—kind of a weird topic for lunchtime.
After thinking it over, Ila lists a few ways: get the kings on his side, become a powerful priest, or rise to fame as a legendary hero. And if all else fails… grow a mustache and commit war crimes to get noticed.
Kyle thanks her for the… colorful options. But he needs to unite the nations in less than two years, and the only realistic path is to become a hero. So, he heads straight to his room and starts speed-reading every book he can find. Knowing what’s coming gives him an advantage—he knows which myths are real and which are garbage.
Theron walks in and is shocked to see Kyle voluntarily studying. He flops on the bed and asks, “Are you seriously trying to become a hero? You know that’s not a job you can just… apply for, right?”
Kyle nods—he knows. Normally, you become a hero by slaying a demon king or saving the world. But since he already did that once (and is technically prequel-era now), he needs to prepare ahead of time.
Step one? Strength. Step two? Cash.
Theron gives him a look. “Money? That’s not very heroic.”
But Kyle is dead serious. Heroes don’t accept payment for good deeds, but gear and travel aren’t free. So, yeah—he’s gonna need a stash of gold. On top of that, he plans to gain favor with important people to build his reputation. Basically… the hero version of networking.
To Theron, this is starting to sound less like “hero” and more like “politician.”
Kyle isn’t done. He also says he needs one more thing: luck. Because heroes always show up at the perfect time—and sometimes that requires a little behind-the-scenes manipulation.
Theron raises an eyebrow. “You’re not planning to create disasters just to save people, are you?”
Kyle quickly denies it—but admits he’s not above using some underhanded tricks to meet his goals.
“Yeah… I’m pretty sure heroes aren’t supposed to say that,” Theron mutters.
But then, more seriously, he asks the big question:
“Why do you want to become a hero anyway?”
Theron can tell that being a hero isn’t Kyle’s final goal—it’s just a stepping stone. Curious, he asks what Kyle’s real objective is. Kyle admits he does have a reason, but it’s not something he can share just yet. So for now, Theron just has to trust him.
The next morning, Kyle informs Ila that he’ll soon be heading off on an adventure. She supports the idea—exploring the world is important, after all. She asks if he told his mom, and he says yes, earlier that morning. However, he hasn’t told Leila yet. Since he’ll be gone for a while, Ila suggests he take Theron along. Kyle had planned to ask him anyway, so he thanks her—but it’s the first Theron’s hearing of any of this.
Later, Kyle finds Leila and tells her he’ll be leaving in two days. She’s clearly upset, but she doesn’t want to stop him from chasing his goal. When she asks where he’s headed, Kyle replies that his first stop is the royal capital—Mad. Once he gets what he needs there, the real work begins.
Leila says she has a favor to ask, but Kyle already knows what it is—she wants to come with him. He quickly shuts her down, saying he wants her to stay somewhere safe. She’s about to argue, insisting that she’s been training with the Oracle Warriors and won’t be a burden, but Kyle silences her with a kiss and promises she’ll be the first person he visits when he returns. Flustered beyond words, Leila gives in, asking only that he not do anything reckless. He agrees.
The next day, Kyle goes shopping for supplies and invites Leila to join him. While walking through town, Leila spots something unusual—an elf standing by one of the market stalls. Elves aren’t common in this region, so she’s curious. But Kyle? He’s shocked. That’s not just any elf—it’s Urza, someone who loved him deeply in the future and even told him her true name, Exis—a sacred secret among elves.
So stunned by her presence, Kyle accidentally blurts out “Exis,” which immediately puts Urza on high alert. In this timeline, she has no idea who Kyle is, and no random human should know her true name. She reaches for her sword, ready to attack.
Desperate to avoid a public elf-slaying, Kyle grabs her arm and tries to calm her down—but she’s not having it. With no choice left, he whispers her true name again, putting her to sleep through an ancient elven technique. Urza collapses into his arms.
Crisis averted? Not quite.
Leila saw the whole thing. And from her point of view, Kyle just casually knocked out a random elf girl in the middle of the market and is now possibly kidnapping her. Explaining this one is… gonna be rough.
Back at his house, Kyle tries to convince Urza she imagined him saying her name. Unsurprisingly, she’s not buying it. Only her parents know that name—so she demands to know how Kyle learned it. But there’s no easy way to say, “We dated in the future and you told me during a tearful, romantic moment.”
She threatens to kill him just to be safe, but Kyle pleads for time and promises to explain eventually. Urza, understandably, finds it hard to trust someone who casually drops her sacred name in public. So, Kyle makes an offer: he’ll form a binding contract with her.
This kind of contract is typically between humans and spirits, but in rare cases, it can bind two people. The terms? Kyle must never reveal or misuse Urza’s true name. If he does—instant painful death.
Urza is taken aback by how seriously Kyle takes it. She agrees, but says she can’t form a contract until the next full moon, which is three weeks away. So, until then, she’s sticking to Kyle like glue.
Problem is—Kyle is leaving tomorrow. So now, Urza is forced to tag along to keep an eye on him.
The next day, with bags packed, the team is ready to set off. Kyle says goodbye to his mom, and just as things are settling—
Liese shows up.
Turns out she’s coming too—not because she trusts Kyle, but because she doesn’t trust him to travel alone with Urza after that very… dramatic elf encounter.
The group finally sets off on their journey, and Theron almost immediately starts flirting with Urza, clearly taken aback by how pretty she is. But Urza shuts it down fast—she’s not part of the party. She’s just tagging along because she needs to stay near Kyle until they form a contract. Not that anyone is listening to her.
Since Urza is with them now, Kyle says there’s no need to go to the royal capital right away. Instead, they’re heading for the Sguard Mountains to find the Magic Queen’s Labyrinth. Theron isn’t thrilled—he thinks it’s a wild goose chase. The labyrinth is legendary, and supposedly so huge no one’s ever made it through to the treasure.
But Kyle reassures them. He’s got a detailed map—drawn from memory based on his future journey through the labyrinth. The others aren’t convinced. From their perspective, Kyle probably bought a fake map from some shady vendor. Feeling a little bad, Urza jumps in and claims the paper is made from thousand-year-old magic tree bark. Totally rare. Totally legit.
Of course, Kyle knows that’s complete nonsense—he pulled it out of some dusty library book—but everyone believes Urza, not him. Still, even with a map, getting through the labyrinth would take forever. So Kyle proposes a new strategy:
Dig a tunnel.
Yes. Dig. A. Tunnel.
They start right away. This way, they can avoid all the deadly sawblade traps scattered inside. With Urza summoning an Earth Spirit to reinforce the tunnel, things go pretty smoothly. She even seems unusually motivated, barking at Kyle and Theron to work harder.
After a long day of digging, they return to camp, where Leila has whipped up a feast. Everyone loves it. When Urza compliments her, she casually asks if Leila caught the bear they’re eating. Turns out—yeah. She did. With her bare fists. Completely normal for her.
After dinner, Urza uses spirit magic to create a hot spring in the mountain. She and Leila go for a relaxing soak, while Kyle has to physically restrain Theron from trying to peek over the wall.
The next day, work resumes. While the others take a break, Urza pulls Kyle aside and demands answers. Why does he want to be a hero so badly? She knows the others haven’t asked out of trust, but she doesn’t trust him—especially after he used her true name.
She’s watched Kyle work nonstop, wearing weight-enhancing rings that make his body nine times heavier than normal—yet he never complains. Clearly, there’s more to this than wanting fame or glory.
Just as Kyle is about to answer, his shovel hits something—a vault wall.
He cuts her off and tells her to get the others.
Once everyone gathers, Kyle kicks the wall down, revealing an enormous mountain of gold and treasure. Theron practically dives into the pile, convinced he’ll never have to work again. Meanwhile, Kyle quietly slips away.
There’s a different treasure he’s after—hidden deeper in the labyrinth.
He finds his way to a secret chamber where an ancient, legendary sword awaits. One that accompanied him through countless battles in the future.
As he steps closer, the sword’s avatar materializes before him…
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