Hey.
You.
Yeah, I’m talking to you.
Come on, take a seat for a minute.
We’ve been through quite a lot together, haven’t we?
Twenty-five chapters.
That’s how far we’ve come, and honestly, I could use a little rest.
Not that I expect this world to give me one, but a man can dream.
Anyway, there are a few things I want to talk about before we move on.
Some of you probably understand what’s happening already.
Others might still have a few questions.
That’s fine.
I have questions, too.
More than I’d like to admit.
Let’s start with the Aegis Grid.
You’ve probably heard that name enough times by now.
The government presents it as a system designed to protect people, prevent crime, and keep society under control.
Sounds good, right?
Who wouldn’t want to live somewhere safe?
The problem is that the Aegis Grid doesn’t know when to stop.
It watches people, tracks their movements, collects information, and monitors things most of us would rather keep private.
And when the people controlling it decide that someone is a threat, well…
things can get ugly.
Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that a system you’ve trusted your entire life has been watching you all along.
Imagine finding out that the people who promised to protect you have been using that same system to control you.
Would you still trust them?
I wouldn’t.
Actually, I think I’ve had enough of trusting the wrong people to last me several lifetimes.
And speaking of things I’d rather not encounter again, let’s talk about The Cleaner.
I really wish someone had given that thing a different name.
When you hear the word cleaner, you probably imagine someone carrying a bucket and a mop.
Maybe somebody cleaning an office after everyone has gone home.
Forget all that.
The Cleaner is a cybernetic assassin. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
It’s built to hunt people down and eliminate them.
Its body has been enhanced with technology, making it far more dangerous than an ordinary human being.
And no, you can’t just punch it in the face and hope for the best.
Trust me, when something like that is hunting you, you start appreciating the little things in life.
A locked door.
A dark corner.
A few extra seconds to run.
Funny how quickly your priorities change when you’re trying not to die.
Now, I know some of you might be wondering how I’ve managed to survive everything that’s happened so far.
That’s where the Death Log comes in.
I’ve lived through forty-six previous timelines.
Forty-six.
I wish I were exaggerating.
Every time I died, time reset, giving me another chance to do things differently.
I remember what happened in those previous lives, including the mistakes I made and the people I failed to save.
You’d think living through the same world over and over would make things easier.
Sometimes it does.
Knowing what’s coming can be useful.
But there’s a side to it that nobody really talks about.
Imagine remembering things that nobody else remembers.
Imagine carrying the weight of deaths that other people don’t even know happened.
Imagine meeting someone for the first time while you remember how they died in another timeline.
Tell me, how are you supposed to look that person in the eyes and act like everything is normal?
You can’t always explain it.
You just learn to live with it.
Or, at least, you try.
And now we’re in my forty-seventh regression.
My forty-seventh life.
I’ve made enough mistakes to know that I can’t keep doing things the way I’ve always done them.
For a long time, I believed that if I planned carefully enough, gathered enough information, and kept everyone at a distance, I could control the outcome.
I was wrong.
Some things can’t be solved by information alone.
Some battles aren’t won by one person, no matter how much he thinks he can handle.
I guess I’m still learning that lesson.
Which brings me to Han Sua. You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
Ah, Sua.
Where do I even begin with her?
When I first became involved with her, I knew there was something unusual about her past.
She was a clock repairer with missing memories, and the more we uncovered, the less sense her story made.
But I never expected her connection to the Aegis Grid to go back to 1998.
Sua isn’t just someone who happened to get caught up in this mess.
She’s connected to the very system we’re fighting against.
Her forgotten past holds answers that could change everything.
And the more we discover about her, the more complicated things become.
I’m not going to pretend I understand everything about her yet.
I don’t.
But I know this much: whatever happened to Sua, whatever was taken from her, and whatever secrets are still buried in her past, I want the truth.
She deserves that much.
We all do.
So, where does that leave us?
The Aegis Grid has taken a hit, but don’t celebrate just yet.
Director Baek is still out there, The Cleaner remains a serious threat, and we haven’t uncovered every secret hiding behind this system.
We’ve made it this far, but we’re nowhere near the end.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from forty-six failed timelines, it’s that things can always get worse.
Yeah, I know.
Not exactly the most comforting thing to hear.
Sorry about that.
For now, though, let’s take a breath.
You’ve stuck with me through everything that’s happened so far, and I appreciate that more than you might think.
I know I’m the one living through these events, but in a strange way, it feels good not to be the only one who knows the story.
So, thank you for listening.
And please, if you have any survival tips, now would be a wonderful time to share them.
I’m only half joking.
Anyway, we’ve rested long enough.
I’ve got a city to save, a system to bring down, and a very long list of things I’d like to survive.
Let’s see how that goes.
Your friend,
Ji-hoo.