Episode 50: The Night Before (3)
“Baek-Ah (White Fang)? Hahaha! Student Haein, you’ve got quite the eye, haven’t you?”
The chairman greeted me with a hearty laugh, as if he had been waiting for this moment. His voice boomed loudly, and he seemed genuinely pleased.
“That weapon was acquired by the founding chairman himself after a fierce battle with the fearsome dragon Aldebaran!”
He shrugged his shoulders, his tone filled with pride, as if praising my choice. The reason he was so excited was simple: despite countless people trying, the weapon had never shown any special reaction before.
There was a reason it had been left abandoned in a corner of the warehouse. His expression was one of immense satisfaction.
I smiled faintly and asked briefly, “Is that so?”
I spun the spear in my hand casually, as if it were nothing special.
And then—
I closed my eyes and drew out all my mana.
The mana flowing through my veins concentrated in one place, and I felt my body grow hot.
I immediately began channeling the mana into the spear.
I gathered even the tiniest fragments of mana and poured everything I had into it. A greenish aura of demon-slaying energy slowly seeped into the weapon.
My hands trembled, and my head began to throb.
“Student Haein, what are you…?”
I heard the chairman’s voice, but I didn’t have the time to pay attention.
Before anyone could react, the transformation began.
The silver hue of the spear gradually turned red, and soon, even the red darkened into black.
It was no longer just a simple iron weapon.
The once silver spear had now transformed into a jet-black, obsidian-like form.
Ah, my head.
The massive amount of mana I had forced out caused a throbbing headache.
The extraordinary transformation of the weapon left the chairman speechless.
His mouth hung open, and he could barely move his lips.
I lifted Baek-Ah—no, “Catastrophe”—with one hand and said briefly,
“I’ll put it to good use.”
And with that, I turned to leave.
At that moment.
『The power of demon-slaying?』
My mind reeled.
No, “reeled” wasn’t enough to describe it.
A voice struck my mind like a hammer.
The moment the words echoed, a resonance spread through my head.
It felt as if my very existence was being shaken.
『…You wretched brat, you’ve disturbed my slumber.』
My head felt like it was splitting.
My body swayed unsteadily.
『But how curious… The depth of time I sense within you is beyond even my comprehension.』
『Neither the Path of Dominion nor the Path of Righteousness… What a complete mess.』
My tilted vision swayed slowly, and the ground suddenly felt closer.
『…Defying the heavens.』
My eyes began to close.
『Fixing the axis and overturning the natural order? Hahaha! This is getting interesting.』
『Very well. Since you dared to awaken me, I shall rip apart your very essence, down to its core.』
-Thud!
My body collapsed to the ground.
『Tell me—what was the most agonizing moment of your life?』
-…Haein!!
Someone shouted from afar.
I faintly saw Yu Hana and Cheon Yeoul rushing toward me in a panic.
『Feel it. And remember it.』
But even that soon faded as my vision darkened.
My consciousness… was cut off.
『Who you were.』
***
“Hello?”
I suddenly popped out from my hiding spot in the luggage compartment.
The Vanquisher members turned to me, utterly shocked by my abrupt appearance.
“Jung Haein!”
Sung Ara was the first to shout.
I looked around.
This was the base point near the training site.
The operation would begin soon, not far from here.
“How did you get here?”
Of course, I had secretly followed them.
I knew they wouldn’t let me join if I asked.
I knew this operation would lead to a massacre, and I was certain I could stop it.
But their reactions were cold.
“…Go back.”
It was a firm voice.
It was Lee Do-hyun. With twin swords strapped to his back, he spoke quietly.
“This isn’t a place for you.”
His gaze was cold.
The other members facing me also wore troubled expressions.
“Then I’ll just help with communications here. That should be fine, right? I can’t go back anyway.”
I already knew they wouldn’t allow it.
So, I proposed the next best thing they might accept.
Once the battle started, I could just run in and join them.
I was overflowing with confidence, bordering on certainty.
I had safely handed over the fragments to Sung Siwoo, and the characters’ growth was progressing smoothly.
Even Medusa, though there were some sacrifices, had been defeated in the end.
‘Am I going to get through this without even using a single death regression?’
I hadn’t died even once so far. That meant the 10-year plan I had devised was perfect.
This time would be no different.
However.
“Hi?”
-Crunch!
My first death was utterly meaningless.
“Gasp!!”
I opened my eyes in the back of the truck.
It wasn’t even a proper fight. Just two exchanges, that was all.
The first attack, my defense crumbled.
The second attack, my head was crushed.
“Hey! Haein, what are you doing here?”
It was Park Gwangchul.
He must have heard the noise and came to search the cargo hold.
I clutched my head and staggered to my feet.
I couldn’t gather my thoughts.
When I stepped outside, the members of Vanquisher were staring at me.
I made eye contact with them.
A chill ran down my spine.
I could feel it from the death I had just experienced.
Something had begun.
The second death.
My body was split in two.
The third death.
I barely avoided having my head smashed, but a spear from behind pierced my neck.
And the eleventh death.
“Ughhh!!”
I knelt on the ground and retched. The accumulated mental pain from the deaths after the first one was unbearable.
By then, I began to doubt the plan I had set.
‘Vanquisher was wiped out.’
I had described their deaths in a single line of text, merely to enhance the atmosphere of the story.
But their deaths were beyond anything I had imagined.
“Haein!”
And just before the twelfth death.
Park Gwangchul threw himself at me. His abdomen was pierced. At the same time, I died too.
Around the 57th death, perhaps.
That was when I finally managed to withstand more than a few exchanges, even if only barely, against that guy’s attacks.
-Clang! Clash!
“Not bad.”
‘The Apostle of the Evil God.’
The guy, who looked like an ordinary man, had killed me in just two exchanges at the start of every fight in all 57 attempts.
The members of Vanquisher would turn their heads and rush over, but they were always too late.
But—
This time was different. I had already exchanged three, four, even more blows.
The exchanges with an unfathomably strong opponent were forcing me to grow.
“Jung Haein!!”
Sung Ara and Park Gwangchul reached me. It was a development I hadn’t seen before. As they ran toward me, the man in front clicked his tongue and turned away.
Park Gwangchul spoke to me calmly.
“Since you’re here, survive. Haein. You need to pull yourself together.”
He didn’t scold me at all for breaking my promise.
I clenched my teeth. I had to succeed in counterattacking somehow.
‘If it’s just one Apostle….’
But the number of people spread out before me was enough to make me despair.
In reality, there was a high chance there would be no Apostles, or at most one.
Mocking my predictions, the number of Apostles standing here was…
Three in total.
I sensed it.
This fight…
Would last longer than expected.
The 152nd death.
The 239th death.
The 399th? No, perhaps the 400th death.
I died relentlessly.
And in the 401st life.
I couldn’t even get up from the trunk.
My whole body felt heavy. Even breathing was difficult.
‘Let’s give up.’
That was the conclusion I had reached.
Even if everyone died, as long as Sung Siwoo was there, we could overcome it.
That was the original flow of the story. I was just a variable that wasn’t supposed to be part of this flow.
At that point, I was insane and utterly weak.
I was intoxicated by success, and at some point, I had neglected to improve my own combat abilities under the pretext of nurturing Sung Siwoo.
My stamina, which had always been a weakness, held me back.
And I had relied on Sung Siwoo’s fragments to deal with demons, never preparing my own methods.
-Boom!!
A distant explosion signaled the start of the battle.
I covered my ears.
‘I’m sorry… I’m sorry…’
This wasn’t something I could handle.
There were three Apostles, and I was weak.
In the original setting, I had thought there would be at most one Apostle. The Apostles of the Evil God were so powerful that even the entire Vanquisher team could barely handle one. I hadn’t anticipated so many Apostles appearing before the Evil God’s resurrection.
I had planned to quickly spread the weaknesses of any Apostle to aid in the strategy.
I thought I could handle one Apostle somehow. That was the plan I had devised.
But now, I realize.
All of that was the delusion of someone who had never once died on the battlefield.
Until now, I had never died, even though I possessed the ability of [Death Regression].
The first defeat I faced was utterly meaningless, and the first death I experienced was miserably brief.
I couldn’t do anything.
It wasn’t just about dying; I was crushed in the face of an insurmountable wall, no matter how hard I struggled.
And that wall had been created by a single line of text I had written without much thought.
Self-loathing washed over me. Even after dying and regressing 400 times, nothing changed.
I still died in a few exchanges, I still couldn’t do anything against them,
And I still died without changing anything.
This fight wasn’t my domain.
It wasn’t a battle I could dare to intervene in.
So, I gave up.
The distant explosions began to fade.
The trembling in my hands, which had been covering my ears, also subsided as I felt the battle nearing its end.
But then.
A thought flashed through my mind.
If I ran away here, could I live with dignity from now on?
No matter how much I tried to rationalize it, I couldn’t imagine turning my back on this battlefield and them, and living a normal life.
This was the result of the world I had created.
I had to take responsibility and change it.
If I ran away now, I wouldn’t even be able to face Si-on again.
I closed my eyes.
I took a deep breath.
My heart was still pounding.
Even after 400 deaths, not a single ounce of fear had diminished.
But still, I had to do it.
This was my fault.
“……”
I removed my hands from my ears and opened my eyes.
A clear energy swirled within my muddled mind.
I had finally.
Decided to accept death.
====
[Authority: Death Regression (死亡回歸)]
① Regression
— Upon death, you will unconditionally regress. Memories are retained.
② ??? (Locked)
③ ??? (Locked)
====
The system before my eyes.
The second slot, which had been labeled as “Unlocked,” began to shine brightly. Soon after.
====
② Unyielding Soul (不屈之魂)
— A spirit that will never yield.
====
I took a deep breath.
My whole body was still trembling.
But I could no longer turn away.
I would use death to my advantage. The only thing I had more of than them was time.
I rose from my seat and headed toward the battlefield.
By then, every single member of the Vanquisher squad had fallen.
Except for one.
The old man.
He was still standing, missing an arm, fighting to the last.
But finally, he collapsed.
I didn’t look away—not for a single moment—as he fell. I burned the image into my mind.
Then, in the distance, a figure disappeared.
I sensed death.
I knew—I was about to die.
-Clang!
A spear thrust forward, clashing against the descending blade.
Slowly, the spear was sliced apart by the sword.
But even if it was just for one more moment—
Even if it was only to etch their movements into my mind—
I widened my eyes, refusing to blink.
If they were strong, then I would learn.
No matter how long it took.
Because now—this was truly the beginning.