“It’s over.”
Hundreds of deaths and regressions.
I had been trapped in an endless hell. The moment I reached the 99th floor of the Tower after enduring endless despair and pain, I thought:
Hope.
The hope that I could finally escape this hell lingered.
SHRAAAK—!
Along with a dazzling flash, the sword cut through the monster’s neck and shot up to the very end of the sky.
Red blood poured down like a waterfall, and the massive body collapsed with a deafening roar.
[You have defeated the Primordial Elder Dragon Kraxus.]
[Top Contributor: Seo Kang-yul]
[A great achievement will be recorded in the world.]
SHING—
As I raised my sword high into the sky.
“Waaaaaah!!!”
The cheers of my comrades rang out.
Nine comrades, carefully selected through hundreds of regressions.
Nine of them, limbs cut off, barely clinging to their last breaths.
They had remained to the very last moment and were savoring this elation together.
“Guess we can finally catch our breath now.”
“Ilya, you’ve been slacking off this whole time, and now you get up after the boss is dead?”
“What nonsense! If it weren’t for me, you bastards would’ve all been knocked out long ago!”
“Kang-yul’s right. What’s the point of a main tank who goes flying after taking one hit? It throws the front line into disarray.”
“Even you, Natam?!”
“Haha—”
Hundreds of people had bled for this day to come.
Even so, in the end, we reached the 99th floor, and I could finally see hope of escaping this hellish regression.
“Ji-ho, you say something to this bastard Ilya too.”
“…….”
Kang Ji-ho.
My comrade and friend, whom I had never once left out through hundreds of runs.
The expression of the guy who had never lost his smile as we raced to the top of the Tower together looked somehow strange.
‘Did something happen?’
Just as I was about to open my mouth.
Flinch—
‘Killing intent?’
Sensing the sudden killing intent, I twisted my body.
SQUELCH—!
A cold blade pierced my chest.
Warm liquid surged up my throat, and my breathing cut off abruptly.
“Kheugh…!”
When I strained to raise my head.
“…Ji-ho? You….”
A deranged smile was spreading across his lips.
“Just now…, what did you do?”
Kang Ji-ho didn’t answer.
He slowly walked across the floor pooled with blood.
Fresh blood fell from the tip of his sword, drip, drip, staining the floor.
‘What’s going on right now?’
I couldn’t understand it.
Ji-ho had never betrayed me even once.
So why now, of all times?
“Kang Ji-ho!! What the hell are you doing?!”
THUD! THUD!
At the sudden turn of events, Ilya roared loudly and charged swiftly at Kang Ji-ho.
However.
Flinch—
In that instant, goosebumps rose all over my body.
“N…no….”
My instincts told me.
“Ilya! Run!!!”
That wasn’t Kang Ji-ho.
WHOOSH—!
A movement I couldn’t even follow with my eyes.
Kang Ji-ho appeared in front of Ilya in the blink of an eye.
He swung his sword horizontally just like that, and.
SHRAAAAK—!
Blood burst up like a fountain.
Ilya’s massive body was cut cleanly at the waist, and his upper and lower halves slammed into the ground.
Right before my eyes, my comrade’s eyes were frozen wide open, his expression not even registering the pain.
“You lunatic!”
Natam raised his voice and hurled a sharp dagger.
The blade flew in as if to pierce straight through its mark.
However.
FWIP—!
It vanished.
Ji-ho’s form evaporated like air.
“Kuh! Natam! Behind you!”
“Oh no—”
“Your poison is a real nuisance, you know.”
WHOOSH! SHRAAK!
Natam’s head flew up into the air, spraying blood.
His motion of turning his head was never completed.
His head and body separated, rolling to the floor.
“Damn it! What the hell are you doing?!!!”
Watching that, the rest of my comrades as well.
Charged at Kang Ji-ho to kill him.
“No… stop!!!”
SHRAAK!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The sound of flesh tearing, bones breaking, and organs scattering.
The comrades who had been cheering were torn to shreds without even being able to scream.
Before I knew it, the air was filled with hot, sticky blood.
THUP—
Using my sword as a cane, I barely managed to raise myself, but it was already too late.
“…Haa… haa….”
Unable to even breathe properly, I watched them fall one after another before my eyes.
“N…no….”
Each time the sword swung, one of them disappeared.
The mage’s outstretched hand flew off, and the screaming healer’s head rolled through the air.
Blood poured down like a torrential downpour, blocking my vision, and the floor was swiftly submerged in red.
“Ji-ho…?”
My comrades.
Those I had barely gathered after hundreds of regressions, those I believed I could reach the summit with as long as we were together.
All of them fell in mere seconds.
And the one standing in the middle of that blood.
Was Kang Ji-ho, soaked in blood from head to toe, smiling.
SHING—
I instinctively tried to grip my sword, but my strength had already drained away.
After facing the 99th-floor boss and even being ambushed, it was only natural.
“You really are something. I aimed for your heart, but you twisted your body and dodged at that very moment.”
The blade lodged in my abdomen trembled slightly.
The pain crushing my organs spread through my entire body as if stabbing it.
“……Why.”
Swallowing the blood rising up my throat, I barely managed to spit it out.
Hundreds of regressions.
I had been betrayed countless times until now, but this time was different.
Who would’ve thought I’d fall, stabbed by the sword I had given to the person I trusted most?
“Ji-ho…… why the hell are you doing this? We could’ve ended it now. Finally, the regr—.”
Blood filled my throat, and I couldn’t go on.
No one knew.
I was the only one who remembered these countless regressions.
It was a secret I couldn’t tell even those I called comrades, not even Ji-ho standing before me.
That was why I was all the more desperate.
This time, I absolutely wanted to end it.
I wanted to break the chain of regression.
“No need to force yourself up. You can’t even stand properly anyway.”
Step— Step—
Over the floor thick with the stench of blood, Kang Ji-ho slowly walked toward me.
A blood-soaked shadow fell over me.
SLIDE— THUD!
The sword slipped from my hand and fell.
The sound of steel scraping across the floor dragged on unusually long.
“I didn’t want to do this either. You should’ve done better, then.”
Kang Ji-ho raised his blood-soaked sword.
Having come right up to me, he looked down at me without the slightest hesitation.
“I’ll send you off without pain.”
SWISH—
The moment his sword was raised high.
FLASH—!
An unknown power seethed within my body.
And at the same time.
An explosive energy surged out of my body.
“What—”
“Aaaaaargh!!!”
[Out-of-Grade Skill ‘Fear of the Shackle’ activates.]
A roar as if space itself were being torn apart.
In that instant, Kang Ji-ho’s body stiffened rigidly.
A flicker of surprise passed through his eyes.
“Kuh…! Hah!”
SHRAAAK—
I grabbed the blade lodged in my abdomen.
Pain like a scream spread up my spinal cord, but I gritted my teeth and pulled it straight out.
CLACK—!
As the blade left my body, blood gushed out like a waterfall.
But I didn’t collapse.
“Haaaaaaah!!!”
I drew up every last bit of my remaining aura and loaded it into my sword.
The blade blazed with red aura, whirling around like a storm.
There was no need for fine control.
Because this would be my final attack.
RUMBLE—!
The air split apart, and a red flash exploded from my fingertips.
The sword went from top to bottom.
It traced a clean trajectory.
A single strike that poured out all my energy in an instant, like a comet splitting the sky.
KABOOOOOM——!!!
The trajectory of light fell like lightning, splitting the floor deeply.
The entire blood-soaked lobby was dyed red, and storm-like pressure engulfed Kang Ji-ho.
“……!”
His eyes wavered greatly for a moment.
However.
THUP—
Before the sword could fully complete its trajectory.
It was caught in Kang Ji-ho’s hand and stopped.
“How do you have that power?”
For the first time, surprise flashed across Kang Ji-ho’s face.
His brows furrowed, and he muttered in a low voice.
“That’s definitely….”
After a brief silence, his lips twisted again, and a smile spread.
“Heh heh… I see. So that’s how it was.”
The tip of his sword gleamed coldly.
He narrowed his eyes as if mocking me and whispered in a low voice.
“But even so, you can’t clear the 100th floor. You wouldn’t know. What lies up there.”
“……Khuk.”
WHOOSH—!
Along with a brilliant flash, a sharp wind grazed the nape of my neck.
SLIDE—
My vision grew faint.
My body could no longer hold out and crumbled.
Hope shattered to pieces.
The end I had desperately craved.
The ending I had dreamed of slipped through my fingers.
The one and only chance to break the chain of regression vanished before my eyes.
DING—
Once again, the hell repeats.
[You have died.]
[Unique Ability Curse of Repose denies the user eternal rest.]
[Regressing to the point of initial Awakening.]
The shitty System window appeared before my fading eyes.
‘Fuck….’
I want to end it now.
I want to close my eyes in this darkness forever.
As soon as possible.
I want to escape this curse.
***
DING—
[You have Awakened.]
A familiar ceiling.
And a disgustingly blue System window.
A revolting voice echoed in my head.
“So I’m back.”
I had returned again.
To my home from fifteen years ago.
[Unique Ability: Curse of Repose]
-Upon death, regress to the point of initial Awakening.
“This shitty ability’s still the same, too.”
-This ability disappears upon clearing the topmost floor of the Tower.
The topmost floor.
If I cleared the top of the Tower, this curse would be lifted.
It was essentially the only escape route from this hellish eternity.
Pfft—
A laugh came out naturally.
But it wasn’t a laugh born of joy.
It seemed to be nothing more than a hollow laugh at the sheer absurdity of it.
“Ha…, fuck….”
Besides the previous run, I’d been betrayed countless times.
But this was the first time Kang Ji-ho had betrayed me.
No, I’m not even sure that was Kang Ji-ho.
‘At the end, that definitely wasn’t Kang Ji-ho.’
Kang Ji-ho’s cynical face, so unlike his gentle and cheerful self, came to mind.
Then who the hell was that bastard?
Mind control? But I never even sensed any sign of that?
My head was getting muddled.
Above all, what bothered me most were his last words.
[You wouldn’t know. What lies up there.]
“Hoo- What would be up there? At best, some even more vicious monster bastard.”
Anyway, at this point, I didn’t even know where that bastard Kang Ji-ho was or what he was doing, so there was no way to dig into it.
“That bastard’s name might not even be real.”
DING—
[It has been confirmed that a total of 999 regressions have occurred so far.]
[A Regression Perk will be granted.]
“So in the end, you’re telling me to do that shit all over again? Damn it.”
Even so, I couldn’t rebel.
Refusing was shitty in its own way, and complying was shitty in its own way.
Even if I did nothing and just lived an ordinary life, in the end, I wouldn’t be granted the rest called death and would start over from here.
No matter what bonds I formed, even if I reached a happy ending.
‘It all vanishes like bubbles.’
I remember, but they don’t. I reminisce, but they can’t.
The world rejects me.
If I try to leave behind even a single speck of dust, it tenaciously erases it.
Infinite regression.
Unending death.
Among the punishments of hell, none could be crueler or more horrific than this.
‘One thing’s certain: I have to reach the end.’
The Tower appeared, and the System appeared.
This whole shitty situation, where the Awakened climb the Tower, has to disappear.
To do that, I have to reach the 100th floor. Only then can I get rid of the ruler, or whatever the bastard up there is, and return everything to the way it was.
‘Then my shitty regression will disappear too. After all, this is just one of the Awakening abilities.’
I decided not to assume anything beyond that.
Even if I collapsed the Tower, nothing might change. Or getting rid of the ruler itself might not bring about any change at all.
But I forced those thoughts away.
Otherwise, I would surely go mad right then and there.
[An item will be granted at random from the previous run’s inventory.]
“…Fine, let’s do this, fuck. So what is it this time?”
It was better not to expect anything from the perk.
It was supposedly random, but from experience, 900 out of 999 times it had been trash.
Even at best, it had been a Heroic Grade item.
“Still, I’d like it if it’s at least Heroic Grade or higher.”
I spread out the previous run’s inventory in my head.
If I was lucky, a Legendary Grade item.
If I was unlucky, Common Grade trash would come out.
[Starting random selection.]
In that instant, the System window before me shone intensely.
The light converged into a single point, then slowly took shape.
With a dull metallic sound, a greatsword stabbed into the floor.
The entire blade was a deep black, and its edges were engraved with patterns that seemed to burn red.
It was as though the darkness of the moment the sun was covered, along with its red rim, had been transferred onto it.
[Legendary Grade Weapon ‘Eclipse’ has been granted.]
“Eclipse? Of all things, it had to be this….”
Eclipse itself was on par with a Common Grade greatsword.
The blade was dull, and its performance varied depending on the monster type.
Nevertheless, the reason this weapon was Legendary Grade was precisely its unique skill.
[Eclipse ]
-Grade: Legendary
-Effect: Damage dealt to Undead-type monsters +100%
-Unique Skill: Authority of the Sun
-Upon activation, borrows the power of the Sun God to reach divinity for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 18 years)
“The weapon itself is conditional, and the cooldown is ridiculously long.”
Of course, there was a way.
The Temple of the Sun on the 20th floor.
With the holy relic stored there, Eclipse’s cooldown could be drastically reduced.
“Well, it’s better than getting trash. It’s still Legendary Grade.”
[You may select a starting item.]
Along with the notification, three categories appeared before my eyes.
Weapon, Armor, Miscellaneous.
One could choose whatever one wanted from the three categories and receive it.
“Normally, people would pick a weapon or armor, but….”
[Browsing the Miscellaneous category.]
When I selected Miscellaneous, countless items were listed.
And the listed items were nothing but trash.
-Orc’s Rotten Molar
-Putrid Goblin Blood
-Chunk of Meat Chewed and Spat Out by a Troll
-Half-Knapped Red Chipped Stone
Every single one was worthless junk.
Most of them were even things you could get in the early part of the Tower.
‘To everyone else, it’s all trash, but as long as I have that bastard’s recipe.’
Alchemist, Natam Raksaphon.
One of my comrades from the previous run and a genius of drugs and poisons, he had given me valuable information.
Even trash yields different results depending on who uses it.
“Putrid Goblin Blood.”
[You have selected the Common Grade item, Putrid Goblin Blood.]
‘First, one. And then—’
DING—
[You have selected an item from the Miscellaneous category.]
‘The System’s early-game gimmick. The System’s reward for a player who picks trash.’
[You may select one additional item from this category.]
If you picked something from Miscellaneous as your starting item, you could pick one more.
Plenty of people knew this.
But even knowing it, who would try to make use of it?
The Miscellaneous items were just far too trashy.
“Putrid Evil Herb Juice.”
[You have selected the Common Grade item, Putrid Evil Herb Juice.]
[The items will be granted.]
When I finished selecting, two glass bottles containing liquid dropped onto the floor of my room with a thunk.
‘No one would’ve guessed this would be included in the starting items.’
The Evil Herb was a plant that grew on the 20th floor.
A poisonous herb with the worst taste and smell, which caused headaches and stomachaches when drunk.
On top of that, it seemed to have been stored poorly, as it was badly putrefied.
“Even the color is hellish.”
The goblin blood was a murky brown,
and the Evil Herb juice a deep green with greenish mold growing in it.
Just looking at them made me feel like throwing up.
Rrrk—
I took a disposable paper cup out of the drawer.
Glug-glug-glug—
When I poured the two liquids at a 1:1 ratio, the mixture sizzled and boiled, and black bubbles burst.
The mixed liquid turned a color like bright red blood mixed with a rusty pipe.
“How did that bastard Natam even think of mixing crap like this?”
I picked up the paper cup.
The smell of blood, the smell of rotten grass, and….
An inexplicable sense of foreboding lingered.
GULP—
Swallowing dryly,
I tossed the contents of the paper cup into my mouth.
“Urp!!”
This….
This was a taste that should not exist in this world.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Nausea, as if forced up from deep in my guts, surged up as though to rip my throat apart.
My tongue went numb, and a vile stench of rotting corpses mixed with poisonous herbs reeked at the tip of my nose.
Just then, what Natam had said when he told me the recipe came to mind.
-Unless they’re a gourmet on your level, Seo Kang-yul, you bastard, very few people could ever drink this.
‘So that’s what he meant when he complimented me for once?!’
The feeling of something slimy scraping its way down my throat.
A taste as if every food in the world had been left to rot and then mixed together spread throughout my mouth.
“Kheugh!”
THUP—
I clamped my mouth shut with both hands.
‘If I spew it out now, it’s over!’
Evil Herb juice changes color if exposed to the air for a certain amount of time.
And with that, all its effects evaporate.
If I spat it out, it was over.
THUMP—
“Ugh!”
Twitch—
For a moment, goosebumps rose all over my body.
Then.
A pain rushed in as if thousands of needles were stabbing my heart at once.
FLOP—
“Kraaaagh!!!”
My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the floor.
My whole body convulsed, and the world turned upside down.
Something wriggled inside my chest.
THUMP… THUMP….
I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.
The vibration reached into my very bones.
“Th-this much….”
Pain?
It had been an everyday thing over dozens of lives.
I couldn’t give up over something this trivial.
“Aaaaaargh!!!”
[Conditions have been met.]
[The combined toxic substances trigger a new mutation.]
[Unique Grade Artifact ‘Golden Heart’ has been created.]
The heart that had been screaming for help,
calmed down.
The pain subsided, and my breathing grew rapid.
But.
“Ha— ha—. Not something I could do twice. Still.”
A player who hadn’t even climbed the Tower’s 1st floor yet.
Was starting out with Legendary and Unique Grade items.
“Whew—”
The 999th regression.
In other words, my 1000th life.
All the knowledge and experience I had accumulated so far.
All of it had melted into me.
“This time will truly be the last.”