Neo devoured another Shadow inside the fifteenth door.
It belonged to a 30-year-old adventurer charting unexplored jungles and documenting ancient ruins.
The adventurer awakened the memories of his previous fourteen lives long ago when he was a child.
Being a naturally curious person, he set out to travel the world, and he tried to visit the places in his memories.
[ Shadow ]
Awakening progress: 15/33 → 16/33
The next Shadows of Neo always gained the memories of their previous lives.
The sixteenth Shadow had the memories of the previous fifteen lives.
The twentieth Shadow had the memories of the previous nineteen lives.
In the beginning, those reincarnations of Neo lived peaceful lives.
Memories of past lives brought immense knowledge, experience, and wisdom.
It was good until the 23rd life.
The 23rd reincarnation couldn’t handle the burden of memories of 23 lives.
It was breaking him apart.
He told his family about his memories, expecting comfort from them.
But he ended up being burned at the stake after being labeled as a witch.
The 24th reincarnation met a similar fate.
The 25th reincarnation decided to not trust anyone anymore.
He closed his heart and lived alone until the day of his death.
In the 26th life, he lived alone and died alone again.
The same thing repeated in the 27th life, 28th life, and 29th life.
The loneliness was gnawing at his heart.
Centuries of loneliness made him thirst for the warmth of others.
He wanted friends, he wanted family, he wanted love.
But…
The betrayal and brutal deaths of his previous reincarnations wouldn’t let him trust anyone.
Alone.
He would live in loneliness and die in loneliness.
Again.
And again.
And again.
That was his Fate.
The reincarnations wouldn’t end.
He thought nothing would change.
But he was wrong again.
In his 30th life, he was a chef in the royal palace under King Arthur.
The royal kitchen bustled with servants shouting orders, the clang of copper pots echoing across stone walls. The aroma of roasted meat and freshly baked bread filled the air.
He would be daily visited by the young Princess Morgan.
To him, it was nothing unusual.
She liked his cooking. Nothing more, nothing less.
But it caused the rumors about him eyeing the young Princess Morgan to spread.
A meager servant looking at the princess with ulterior motives was nothing to think twice about.
He would be executed.
No one saw anything wrong with it, and since he had held off from making friends, no one came forward to appeal for him and protect him.
A meaningless life and a meaningless death.
He didn’t try to escape the execution or prove his innocence.
To him, it was how life was.
Sometimes unfair, sometimes unreasonable.
Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, Princess Morgan tried to stop the execution.
He never thought someone would want to protect him.
When King Arthur refused Princess Morgan, she led a revolt and beheaded King Arthur.
The 30th reincarnation was stunned.
The throne room had been turned into a scene of chaos—red carpets stained crimson, sunlight gleaming off the fallen king’s golden crown, which now lay discarded on the floor.
Princess Morgan stood with a blade in hand, her expression both determined and sorrowful.
‘Why did you save me?’
There were a thousand different answers he had expected to hear from her.
But the words she spoke stunned him.
‘Because you cook good food, O Reincarnator of 30 samsaras.’
‘What…?’
‘Is it perhaps because you have gained experience from 30 lives? The taste of your food is unmatched in these lands. It would be foolish to let someone like you die because of some stupid ingrates.’
‘Y-you killed King Arthur because of that? No, how did you even know I lived 30 lives?’
She never told him how she knew about his past reincarnations.
The time he spent with her made him understand one thing. King Morgan was special.
In times where only male rulers existed, she took control over the kingdom as easily as flipping a hand.
Stone halls that once echoed with Arthur’s authority now buzzed with the murmurs of an uncertain court.
Yet none dared challenge her.
He continued to demand answers from her.
But she always ignored him.
‘Do you really like my food that much?’
‘Eating is one of the joys of my life.’
As they continued to spend time with each other, the two became far closer than friends.
Perhaps they could’ve been something more.
but he never crossed the line of friendship.
Any closer, and the sweetness of his time with her would haunt him when he reincarnated again.
King Morgan was an eccentric person.
Her strength was unrivaled, and her knowledge was deeper than oceans.
Yet she held no interest in conquest.
If he had not seen her in battles, he would’ve thought she was a lazy cat who only knew how to ask for food.
Her royal chambers reflected her personality: half-luxurious, half-chaotic, with maps, tomes, and half-eaten dishes scattered about the room. empire
His time with her was happy.
But even someone as mighty as King Morgan couldn’t beat death.
She was poisoned.
That day, the castle corridors had been heavy with silence and despair.
Candles flickered, their light dimming as though mourning the inevitable.
At her death’s door, she allowed only him at her bedside.
‘N-Neo….’
Her trembling voice made his heart ache.
The once-invincible figure before him now looked frail. Her face pale was painful to look at.
‘You’ve served me faithfully. Ask m-me anything, and I shall grant your wish.’
His tears wouldn’t stop.
The pain of loving someone after centuries of loneliness was tearing him apart.
He didn’t want to lose her.
Was that why he made a stupid decision?
‘Please seal my memories. I don’t want to remember these lives anymore.’
‘Y-you think I can do something like that?’
‘I hope you can.’
King Morgan chuckled at his blind trust in her.
The faint sound of her laughter, brittle and soft, made his chest tighten.