The world flowing backward abruptly stopped.
“Haaah……!”
Sang-hyeok sucked in a breath and opened his eyes.
As he hurriedly tried to sit up, he lost his balance and rolled off the bed.
THUD!
His left shoulder struck the floor.
Empty liquor bottles rolled noisily in every direction.
Still sprawled on the floor, Sang-hyeok looked around.
There was no Gigant Orc and no worksite covered in black stone dust.
All he saw was a room littered with an old bed and liquor bottles.
Sang-hyeok grabbed his left shoulder.
Instead of the wound the whip had torn open, his fingers touched smooth skin.
Even when he pressed on his chest, there was no pain from the ribs that had been broken.
Sang-hyeok slowly looked down at both hands.
The scabs and calluses were gone, leaving long, clean fingers.
There were no shackle marks around his wrists either.
Only then did the details of the room begin entering his eyes one by one.
Empty liquor bottles scattered across the floor.
Crumpled clothes on a chair.
A broken dumbbell shoved into the corner by the wall.
On the desk lay a half-opened diagnosis from the Awakening Research Institute.
[Manifestation Condition not met.]
The sentence stamped in the center of the diagnosis caught his eye.
Sang-hyeok remembered this room.
It was from the period when, exhausted from searching for his Manifestation Condition, he had finally let go of everything.
Back when he slept during the day and emptied liquor bottles at night.
At that moment, a new notification appeared in the center of his vision.
「Time has been reversed.」
Sang-hyeok’s gaze stopped on the notification.
It meant the reversal of time that had begun just before his death was over.
Sang-hyeok pushed himself up from the floor.
His younger self was reflected in the full-length mirror.
Flesh had returned to his sunken cheeks, and his gaunt shoulders were whole again.
The whip scars that had covered his back and chest were gone as well.
Sang-hyeok stared at his own eyes in the mirror for a moment.
‘I really…… came back.’
It was not something easy to believe.
And yet his mind was astonishingly calm.
Perhaps because he had already experienced death once, the things he needed to confirm came to mind before any confusion did.
Sang-hyeok immediately moved his will.
‘Status window.’
[Name] Kim Sang-hyeok
[Level] 0
[Trait Name] <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon>
[Unlocked Authorities] None
For the first time, a name had appeared where question marks had covered his Trait his entire life.
The <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon>, which had manifested just before his death, had not disappeared either.
Not only Sang-hyeok himself, but that power had returned to the past with him.
Bzzzz.
At that moment, the phone on the desk vibrated.
Sang-hyeok first checked the date displayed on the screen.
XXXX Year XX Month XX Day.
The fourth year since the Infinite Tower appeared.
It was before Korea collapsed.
Missed calls and messages were piled beneath the lock screen.
[3 missed calls / Kim Seo-yoon]
Sang-hyeok’s finger stopped.
He opened the most recent message.
[Kim Seo-yoon: Call me when you wake up.]
[Kim Seo-yoon: I’ll take the test records.]
[Kim Seo-yoon: And don’t drink today.]
Sang-hyeok slowly read the three lines again.
A voice breaking apart beneath explosions and static brushed past his ears.
— So don’t give up. Survive, no matter what happens.
Sang-hyeok checked the date at the top of the screen once more.
Kim Do-hyun.
Kim Sang-jun.
Kim Seo-yoon.
On this day, all three of them were still alive.
Sang-hyeok placed his thumb over the call button.
After hesitating for a moment, his finger moved down to the message field instead.
[Kim Sang-hyeok: Yeah. I’m awake.]
The sent mark appeared.
Only after sending that short reply did the tightness in his chest ease a little.
Then a notification pushed up near the top of the screen caught his eye.
[Ilseong Group enters player equipment business in earnest]
The article photo showed Ilseong Headquarters standing intact.
The Ilseong mark at the top of the building was shining brightly.
Before his return, that light had gone out for good amid the flames.
Sang-hyeok looked away from the photo and walked to the window.
When he opened the curtains, cars moved in lines along the road.
People on their way to work gathered before the crosswalk, and the windows of high-rise buildings reflected the morning sunlight.
There were no Rifts in the sky and no blood-red lightning.
Seoul was alive.
Sang-hyeok looked down at his phone again.
He opened the calendar and flipped through the dates until his finger stopped one year later.
The quarterly settlement day when the national deficit points would exceed 1,000,000.
The day Seoul’s sky had split open before his return.
Sang-hyeok had about one year left.
‘That isn’t much time.’
Sang-hyeok closed the calendar and opened Korea’s national achievement status.
[Republic of Korea overall rank] 64th
[Estimated deficit points this quarter] 150,000
[Estimated danger] Large Rift occurrence zone
Sang-hyeok’s gaze stayed on the number 150,000.
The 1,020,000-point deficit one year later had not appeared out of nowhere.
Each time a Rift opened, players and soldiers died.
As the number of people able to climb the Tower decreased, the national achievement points earned the following quarter fell with it.
Then larger Rifts opened, and even more people died.
Korea was already trapped in that vicious cycle.
If they failed to reduce the deficit starting this quarter, those 150,000 points would grow even larger at the next settlement.
The destruction-grade Rift from before his return waited at the end of that path.
‘I have to start reducing it this quarter.’
National achievement points could be earned through Tower climbing records and achievements.
Accomplishments such as first clears or surpassing existing records were worth far more points.
The more points a nation earned, the fewer Rifts opened in reality.
But 150,000 points was an amount Korea’s high-level players had failed to cover even after devoting an entire quarter to it.
The current Sang-hyeok was still only Lv.0.
His gaze shifted to another article still visible near the top of the screen.
[First Seat <Azure Sky> becomes first human to surpass Lv.80]
The man in the article photo wore a combat suit engraved with blue patterns.
Countless reporters surrounded him, but Azure Sky did not smile. He only looked straight ahead.
Azure Sky stood at the peak of the Sixteen Heavenly Seats and was the world’s number-one ranked player at the time.
Four years later, he would reach Lv.102.
He would lead the Sixteen Heavenly Seats and the elites of every nation as Earth’s representative in the Dimension League.
But with one swing of the enemy commander’s blade, the blue light covering the arena would split apart, along with Azure Sky’s sword and body.
Korea had one year left.
Humanity had four years.
Sang-hyeok put down his phone and opened his status window again.
[Level] 0
[Trait Name] <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon>
[Unlocked Authorities] None
Apocalyptic Demon Dragon.
Before his return, Sang-hyeok had known of one existence worthy of comparison with that name.
The Red Dragon that had descended in Africa.
With a single breath, it burned a vast territory.
Even the otherworldly races occupying Earth avoided the Red Dragon’s domain.
The <Gigant Orc> occupation army also chose to go around by the distant sea rather than cross Africa.
A single entity stronger than an entire legion.
Beings like that truly existed in other dimensions.
Sang-hyeok placed a hand over his chest.
If the <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon> contained power worthy of its name, then the ending from before his return could be changed.
But for now, the only thing he had confirmed was the name.
His level was 0, and he had no Authority unlocked.
Sang-hyeok had never even fought inside the Tower himself.
The knowledge he possessed from before his return had not been gained by clearing it personally either.
Rumors heard in refugee camps.
Records from fallen nations.
War stories picked up in the slave worksite.
He knew what events would happen and when.
But he had never once fought a monster with his own hands.
‘Then I’ll just check.’
Sang-hyeok picked up a liquor bottle rolling across the floor.
About half the alcohol remained inside.
He went into the bathroom and poured the rest down the sink.
Glug, glug, glug.
The harsh smell disappeared into the drain.
Sang-hyeok washed his face with cold water and changed into a shirt and trousers that were easy to move in.
Returning to the center of the room, he looked around.
His family was alive.
Ilseong and Korea had not fallen yet either.
This time, he had a chance to protect them.
To do that, he first had to understand the power he now possessed.
‘Infinite Tower.’
When Sang-hyeok sent out his will, a notification appeared before him.
「Enter the Infinite Tower?」
Sang-hyeok did not hesitate.
‘Enter.’
FLASH!
White light surged from beneath his feet and swallowed his body.
The messy room vanished beyond the light.
***
The light faded.
Sang-hyeok stood in the middle of a pure white space.
There was no visible boundary between the walls and ceiling.
A giant circular magic circle was drawn beneath his feet, and a jet-black stone gate stood directly ahead.
「You have entered the Initial Tutorial.」
「Commencing player registration.」
「Level increases as registration reward.」
[Level] 0 → 1
Light rising from the magic circle swept over Sang-hyeok’s body.
Heat beginning at the soles of his feet climbed through his calves and waist.
His body grew lighter, and his hazy vision sharpened.
Sang-hyeok clenched and opened his hand.
An unfamiliar power moved between his fingers.
Warm yet heavy energy slowly circulated through his blood vessels.
‘Is this mana?’
It was a power he had never felt even once before his return.
Players often compared mana to a second blood or a second heart.
Now that he felt it himself, the description did not seem exaggerated.
His body was clearly different from moments ago.
But this much was a change every player experienced upon reaching Level 1.
At least so far, there was nothing different about him from any other player.
Now it was time to open his first Authority and learn how to use it against a training entity.
That process would reveal the true nature of the <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon> as well.
Then the notification for the next step appeared.
「Checking player Trait.」
「Proceeding with Authority manifestation according to Trait.」
THUD.
Sang-hyeok’s heart rang heavily.
Black energy flowed down beneath his feet and stained the white floor.
THUD. THUD.
Each time his heart beat, the black energy spread farther.
Before long, the once-pure-white floor had been completely dyed black.
But the next notification did not appear for some time.
「Checking Trait……」
「Checking……」
「Unregistered Trait.」
Sang-hyeok’s eyes narrowed.
「Measuring Trait Tier……」
「Error. Target’s caliber exceeds measurement range.」
「Attempting remeasurement……」
「Error. Measurement range exceeded.」
「Failed to determine Trait Tier.」
「This Trait will be recorded as [Unmeasurable].」
[Trait Name] <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon>
[Trait Tier] Unmeasurable
Even the highest-tier Traits Sang-hyeok knew of still displayed a numerical value.
There had never been a case where the measurement itself failed.
‘A Trait even the Infinite Tower can’t measure?’
While Sang-hyeok stared down at the blackened floor, new notifications followed.
「Tier measurement failed, but Authority recognition is complete.」
「Opening condition fulfilled.」
「The first Authority of Trait <Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon> opens.」
THUD──!
This time, his heart beat fiercely.
Heat erupting from his chest rushed into his right arm, and black energy bloomed over his palm.
[Authority Opened]
[Authority Name] <Extinction Devouring>
[Authority Stage] Stage 1
Sang-hyeok raised the hand wreathed in black energy.
His gaze moved to the stone gate ahead.
It was a Tower structure separating sections of the Initial Tutorial.
Players who gained their first Authority often tested whether they could break that gate at least once.
But Sang-hyeok had never heard of anyone managing to leave even a scratch on it.
‘What about an Authority born from a Trait even the Tower couldn’t measure?’
Sang-hyeok walked up to the stone gate and placed his palm against it.
HISSSS.
Starting from where his palm touched, the solid stone gate turned into black sand.
CRUMBLE.
Black sand poured down, leaving a deep groove beneath his hand.
Only then did a system notification appear.
「Warning. Tutorial structure damaged.」