Chapter Nine: The Golden Touch and Returning Home (Please Save)

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The Chinese hold dearly to the saying, “A fox dies where it was born; fallen leaves return to their roots.” In his previous life, Kai was born into a traditional family that valued such beliefs deeply. Just like before, no matter what, he would return to his hometown every New Year, even though he no longer had many relatives there. If he failed to do so, he would always feel something was missing.

The same applied after arriving in this world. Kai was an adult with a fully formed worldview. Even though the parents and relatives in this life treated him very well, he was not truly a child to them, and so he could never fully let go. He feared that if he accepted this family completely, he might forget his loved ones from the other world. Though uncertain if that would truly happen, the thought was a persistent thorn in his heart.

Especially after his special ability awakened, his yearning to return home grew stronger. Speaking of this ability, Kai did not even know where it came from. It first manifested when he was ten, during his first hunting trip with King Uther. After independently killing a half-grown wild boar, his ability awakened.

Kai’s power was very unusual, even somewhat sinister. At first, he resisted it strongly.

His ability was simple: “Gain experience by killing.” He wasn’t sure if that was the best way to describe it.

But from the moment he killed that boar, he felt a surge of energy flow from the animal into his body. This energy made him stronger, more agile, sharper-minded, quicker in thought, and with enhanced memory.

At the same time, a status panel appeared in his mind—like those in online games. The panel was simple, showing only a few lines: three attributes—Strength, Agility, Spirit—and an energy bar. The three attributes were easy to understand; anyone who had played a bit of online games or read similar novels would know.

What truly unsettled Kai was the energy bar.

Every time he killed a living creature, the energy bar would increase slightly. When it filled completely, he would earn a point to allocate to one of the three attributes.

Moreover, the amount of energy he could absorb depended on the target. Generally, it was related to two factors: the intelligence of the target—the higher it was, the more energy Kai could seize—and the strength of the target, whether animal, monster, or human—the stronger they were, the more energy he could gain.

This made humans one of Kai’s best prey.

Additionally, his ability could sometimes absorb the skills or powers of the slain target. But this depended on chance, much like rare drops in games. The probability was low, and many abilities were useless to Kai or simply impossible to learn. He could choose some to claim and then use energy points to enhance them.

This special ability initially gave Kai a very bad feeling—it seemed to encourage killing.

However, he soon adjusted his mindset. Having been a soldier and later a policeman, his psychological resilience was strong. He realized that, at its core, this ability was just a weapon. Weapons themselves are neither good nor evil; only their users bear responsibility.

His past experiences gave him confidence to wield this "weapon" wisely.

With his mindset realigned, Kai began to view his power more calmly and saw hope in it—a hope of returning home. Having this ability meant he had the means to go back.

Thus, from the age of thirteen, he started planning his journey home.

His first choice was magic and sorcery. After all, his crossing into this world was clearly a supernatural event, so using supernatural power seemed the best approach.

Unfortunately, King Uther had been aggressively suppressing magic and witchcraft ever since Arthur’s birth, causing such practices to vanish entirely from Camelot. Even if Kai wanted to learn, there was nowhere to do so. He had no choice but to change plans—he had to leave Camelot.

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He trained hard to strengthen himself for leaving Camelot. Finally, at eighteen, he triumphed over knights from various countries in a tournament and became the champion knight. Having proven his ability, he took the opportunity during the investiture ceremony to request permission to travel.

Though King Uther was reluctant and placed Kai under house arrest, Kai shared a stubbornness much like the king’s. One night, while confined, he left a letter and slipped away.

In the letter, Kai did not mention his desire to return home. Instead, he claimed he wished to travel the world and comfortingly set a ten-year time limit.

Kai believed ten years would be enough to find answers. If he could return, this ten-year promise would be a courtesy, allowing Uther and others time to accept the fact that he might never come back.

If he could not return… well, ten years would definitely be sufficient.

Thus began Kai’s decade-long journey around the world.

During these ten years, he traveled extensively…

Though, to be precise, his travels were limited to Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa.

Yet, even in these regions, Kai encountered many strange and bizarre events. These experiences dealt him a heavy blow.

He became certain that the world he now inhabited was fundamentally different from his original one.

For example, in the North, he met the Asgardians. At first, he didn’t pay much attention, but after wandering through Asia Minor and returning to Asgard, he had a strong suspicion about the nature of the beings he encountered.

Or rather, gods…

Kai had never been well-versed in Norse mythology, but he had at least watched Marvel’s Thor movies and knew about Frost Giants, Fire Giants, dwarves, and Asgard—all elements from Norse myths! Combining this with his experiences in Asia Minor, the conclusion was clear.

Although he never met Odin or Thor, many clues confirmed Asgard was the prototype of Norse mythology. Later, it made sense to him why he hadn’t encountered Odin or Thor—it was probably before their era.

Kai had not yet found the Jewish people in the Middle East, indicating it was long before Jesus’ birth—definitely before the Common Era.

In that context, it was perfectly reasonable for Odin not to appear yet.

Speaking of which, there was an interesting anecdote. When Kai returned from Asia Minor to Asgard, he visited his friend, King Buri of Asgard.

Buri was absent, so his son Baldr received Kai. Kai accidentally slipped and asked if there was a child named Odin in Asgard.

Baldr earnestly searched but found no child by that name. Curious why Kai sought a child called Odin, Kai made up a story about hearing that a child named Odin would one day accomplish great things.

Baldr believed this and decided to name his firstborn Odin.

Thus, the future king of the gods was named.

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By then, Kai had grown somewhat numb and was not very excited.

Could he have told Baldr that not only had he encountered the Olympian gods in the East and unwittingly cuckolded Zeus, but also met Gilgamesh—the legendary first hero-king of humanity—in faraway Sumer, and fought alongside him against the gods of ancient Egypt?

In short, these strange and fantastic experiences made Kai fully realize that this world was completely different from the one he came from.

In his original world, the people he had met—Uther and Arthur—could be explained as historical misunderstandings. After all, whether Arthur truly existed was still debated; he might have been real.

But when mythological figures stood before him, the conclusion was unavoidable.

Kai had thought all he needed was to travel through time to return to the future. Now, he saw that not only must he travel through time, but perhaps he had to cross entire worlds.

Yet Kai never gave up. After finishing his journey through Asia Minor, he decided to head East, reasoning it was still the closest direction home.

But the next blow was even heavier.

Kai set out for the East with Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Only Kai and Gilgamesh returned; Enkidu and their warriors all perished.

The road East was fraught with countless monsters and terrifying disasters caused by mysterious forces. Their survival was pure luck.

The path home was irrevocably broken.

…

Lost in these thoughts, Kai unknowingly finished a whole jug of wine. As he turned to fetch another, a cloak was draped over his shoulders.

It was Morgana. She had not slept. That night, she was unusually happy, so excited she could not rest. Spotting Kai drinking alone on the terrace so late, she feared he might catch a cold and brought him her cloak.

Kai had been lost in his own world and hadn’t noticed her arrival.

“It’s so late; you shouldn’t be drinking… it’s bad for your health,” Morgana said shyly, despite the nearly explicit nature of their relationship that evening.

Kai looked at the beautiful Morgana and suddenly felt an absurd warmth. In his previous life, he had been just a lowly policeman—poor, overworked, and dangerous. Good women rarely took notice of him. Now, with such a beautiful woman devoted to him, what was there to hesitate about?

He smiled, burying his homesickness deep within.

Since he couldn’t return, he would live well here… or so he hoped.