He arrives with memories of his previous life, only to discover that he is on trial.
A ridiculous trial, ridiculous charges...
Because he offended the queen on the throne, he was stripped of everything and cast into the cursed lands at the kingdom's easternmost edge. There, at the border of war and foreign races, criminals and deserters find their final refuge. It is a place the kingdom calls “somehow making it out alive.”
On the third day of his exile, he encounters bandits.
As an arrow pierces his body, he hears the sound of his blood running dry.
Then darkness falls.
Deep in that boundless realm of death, a battered ancient book emerges from the void and lands in his palm. Golden inscriptions blaze across its pages: The Classic of Mountains and Seas Across Ten Thousand Worlds.
Each page holds the true name and innate talent of a race.
With every page he illuminates, he can draw upon that race's power.
He opens his eyes, gently touches the place on his chest that has healed, and slowly rises to his feet.
From then on, the land of exile is no longer the end of the road.
Elves, dwarves, beastfolk, monsters, demons sleeping beneath the abyss, and indescribable beings lurking in subspace: he travels across the continent, records the myriad races, and turns their powers into stepping stones, climbing higher and higher until he reaches heights even the gods dare not tread.
The gods rage from the heavens, seeking to enslave this world once more.
But he simply turns a page and says softly:
“I have already recorded this race.”
Exile is the beginning; the myriad races are his stepping stones.
A man who has died once will never lose again.
