It didnât have a name. It didnât have a figure. It couldâve been called a shadow. The day it was raining, it couldâve been called a shadow, and when it opened its eyes, it saw the first form of life.
-Ribbet.
It thought of what it was. There were a lot of things it didnât know. Just soundsâŠthe sound of rain. He continued to hear the sounds of frogs ribbiting.
There was a delicious scent from the rain.
Like a snake, although it didnât know what a snake was, it slithered towards the living thing in front of it. The living thing didnât know that something was approaching it.
There was a delicious scent from the living thing as well.
It was over in an instant. The adorably ribbiting thing was swallowed in the blink of an eye. Ribbet! The thing didnât have any teeth, so the living thingâs body wasnât shredded apart. It just melted. It fell in the thingâs stomach and slowly melted.
The rain poured.
When the life in his stomach was almost gone, it realized it had front legs. It also had back legs. Its legs stepped on the ground, but it wasnât able to step on the sky. Rain connected the sky and the ground. The world became a bit brighter.
Ah.
Feeling the touch of the rain through its skin. The feeling of life.
-Ribbet.
It opened its mouth to let out sounds of joy.
-Ribbet.
The rain poured.
It wanted to live a bit more.
4.
At first, it was an attack.
My eyes couldnât even follow the attack, even though I drank the elixir. I extended the second, but the Devil Kingâs attack was faster than my second.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
A day.
I drew a 1 on my hand with a permanent black marker. So I wouldnât forget about this later in the future. It was like a number that inmates in jail used to check off how much time had passed since they were in there.
-Zombie.
Yes.
-The sword technique of the guy isnât that amazing in itself.
This was like a jail. A jail of time.
-Itâs more like heâs just ridiculously strong. That itself is pretty scary. Since he can just break apart whatever it has with his strength. ButâŠ
âBut, if I know the direction of the attack, I can avoid it.â
-Right.
What would have happened if the quest continued like usual at this time?
How many warriors would have died in this war?
Every time a warrior died, they would die with at least 20 years more left to live their life. People who could live 20 more years would die futilely. If 10 died, that was 200 years. If 100 people died, that was 2000 years.
Thinking of that time, I didnât choose any role.
I just stood in front of the Devil King with my sword.
Then, this body.
[You have died.]
[You have regressed to 24 hours ago.]
Would have to get ready to fight forever.
-But the problem is that even if you know, itâll be hard for you to avoid it. You weak-ass! You zombie-like corpse bastard!
âUgh, quiet please.â
-Kekekeke.
[You have died.]
[You have regressed to 24 hours ago.]
When I returned to a day ago, the day repeated.
It didnât just repeat, but the fight of the past repeated.
I reviewed it.
-Youâre still not used to using Aura. Thatâs a big problem. You can just focus Aura on your feet and that would be enough.
âIf I move while Iâm focusing on my feet, my stance becomes messy.â
-So you have to make the Aura flow up to your thighs and shoulders. With balance.
âEasy for you to sayâŠâ
[You have died.]
[You have regressed to 24 hours ago.]
-You can just die if you canât do it.
âFuck.â
A day.
Another day passed.
-You dare.
How many times had I heard the Devil Kingâs furious voice by now?
-Take the right steps, warrior of the goddess. Coming here without choosing anything is rude. Only those whoâŠ
âAlright. One-shot!â
-What?
I was getting sick of talking to him now, so I just drank the elixir. In the period where time had slowed down, I ran at the Devil King. Regretfully, my attack was blocked by the Devil King.
-YouâŠ
âThe warrior cuts the Devil King.â
[You have died.]
âThe Devil King has cut the warrior.â
[You have died.]
âWhat else do you need to say?â
-âŠ
âCome. Devil King.â
[You have died.]
âI am the sword of the empire.â
-Fine!
[You have died.]
-Then prove it in front of me!
[You have died.]
-Prove it to me!
âSure.â
[You have died.]
âIâll show you.â
[You have regressed to 24 hours ago.]
The world stopped, and the only thing providing me with an indication of time in this paused time period, was my sword.
My sword was the only moving object.
For a time to flow in this world, a second of my sword had to flow.
It was only a second from my sword, but this world breathed again with a second.
I could only live for a second even though I wanted to live forever.
I lived my life.
âGood job, Kim Gong-ja!â
A day.
âGosh! It hasnât even been an hour and it looks like youâll clear the stage!â
Another day.
âLess than 40 hunters probably died!â
And, from some time ago.
âIt mightâve been less than thatâŠah! It canât get any better than this!â
The Witchâs words started to change little by little.
The 11th floor stage.
It was the quest where I teleported to the boss monster grabbing the hand of the Black Dragon Master. It was something I had to do to repeat my day. Living day by day, the 11th floorâs circumstances started to change little by little.
Slowly.
âGood job, Kim Gong-ja! Goodness! Weâre about to clear the stage in less than 50 seconds! Less than 30 hunters probably died!â
But surely.
âLess than 40 minutes! Less than 20 hunters have probably died!â
A little bit faster.
More efficiently.
Every time a day repeated, the Witchâs face became a bit more excited. Her voice was brighter. She looked happier when she said only 20 people died than the time she was saying 50 people died.
âAhâŠâ
I died day by day.
âUnbelievableâŠgood job Kim Gong-ja! Like you said, we confronted the golem after healing the knight called Joshua, but wow, less than 10 people probably diedâŠTo think this was possible. In this battlefield, mm. It wasâŠâ
I lived a day.
-You dare.
One day, the Devil King asked.
-Why are you doing that?
âWhat.â
-Iâm asking why youâre grinning.
I smiled.
âBecause Iâm happy.â
My heart was beating fast.
âIâm laughing because Iâm happy.â
The Devil King lifted his sword.
-Youâre happy even though youâre going to die?
âYou wonât understand. You canât.â
-How arrogant, warrior of the goddess.
âIâm just simple.â
I swung my sword.
-Poor thing.
The sword cut me.
[You have died.]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago.]
But I didnât give up.
There wasnât a reason to.
My sword was faster than yesterday.
Tomorrow, it would be even faster.
Because I was living.
Because I was alive.
â······.â
The day came to me without a sound.
The Witch grabbed my hand. She didnât know, but there were 100 black marks on my palm. They were like wrinkles to me. Wrinkles that told me how much time had flowed.
âJust nowâŠâ
The Witchâs voice trembled.
âI just checked. Kim Gong-ja. Not oneâŠâ
The Witchâs hand was trembling in mine.
âNot one died.â
Her trembling turned into crying.
âEven the Ten Thousand Temple was checked and thereâs noneâŠthere were some stupid fools who were hitwith arrows, butâŠbut. No one died.â
Black Dragon.
A guild that had been at the top ever since the beginning of the Tower.
Black Dragon was ruled by the Rank 2 hunter. The Black Witch challenged the 10th floor tens of times. Every time she did, she failed. She failed, but she always brought back the hunters safely.
She was such a person.
âThank youâŠâ
That kind of person leaned her head on me.
âReally, thank youâŠâ
The Witch was crying.
She was also laughing.
I wanted to live a bit more.
And so.
Time flowed.
It flowed in my heart.
-You dare!
The moment my heart thumped, I swung my sword.
-You dare to stop me yourself! Without any help from the empire!
âYes.â
It was a large field.
In the world where time was stopped.
I pointed my sword at my enemy with a thumping heart.
âI said a warrior fights alone.â
-You fool!
The Devil King roared in anger.
It didnât have a name. It didnât have a form. It couldâve been called a shadow. The shadow lifted a red sword as vibrant as blood. The air shook unstably and I was in the range of the sword.
It was blood.
-YouâŠ!
The next attack.
And the one after that.
-My shadow is the evil of all you humans!
That was when it changed.
The Devil King swung his red sword. At the fourth attack, the sound of a mirror breaking could also be heard. The light on the sword glinted.
â-Sorry, King Gong-ja.â
Someone lightly landed next to me.
The black hair waved in the wind.
âI wanted to stay in the reception like you said. But I couldnât take it anymore.â
The Master of Black Dragon.
The Witch lifted a corner of her mouth.
âI felt like I was going to die if I stayed in there any longer. So I came here wondering what you were sayingâŠhumph. You were playing fun games all by yourself?â
âThey were warrior games.â
âWas it fun?â
I smiled.
âFucking great.â
âI guess. Itâs a beast that seems worth hunting.â
5 mirrors came flying.
âI canât let you have all the fun to yourself. Let me join.â
âWow. I had it all. Youâre stealing it now?â
âYou didnât know? Taking someone elseâs prey is the tastiest.â
âI agree with that.â
-YouâŠ
The Devil King growled.
The being who couldnât be laughing right now was probably the Devil King.
âSorry. Hey-â
I lifted my sword.
âI wanted to take care of you myself. But I think itâs right for warriors to get the Devil King together. Itâs to brag about history and tradition, right?â
-How rude you are!
The wastewater on the Devil Kingâs body boiled.
-I wonât use this sword against you anymore!
Wastewater fell to the ground.
Like the source was limitless, the wastewater kept on pouring onto the ground, and turned the field black.
It was like a large shadow had covered the earth.
-Monsters, respond to my voice.
Brrr. Boil.
The shadow boiled and coughed up bubbles.
-Kirrrrk!
-Keeek, Kiiii!
In each of the bubblesâ shadows were monsters. Black water turned into forms.
Some bubbles became goblins, and some became orcs.
An orc stirred his head. When the bubbles flowed, thousands of monsters were surrounding us.
-Kwwwooooo!
The beasts cried out fiercely.
âThisâŠâ
The Witch frowned after looking around her.
âThis isnât something we can do ourselves. Sword Saint! What are you doing there staring blankly? Not even helping us.â
âI wanted to watch a bit more. It hasnât even been 30 seconds since that youngster began fighting. Who knew that wastewater would call for monsters.â
Sword Saint, who had been watching me for about 30 seconds, spoke.
âThatâs correct. I was wondering whether I should ask for help after a minute.â
I smiled, looking at his face that had been watching me for over 30 weeks.
âMenâŠanyway. Kim Gong-ja, hold my hand. We have to get out of here. Sword Saint! Come here too. Canât you see this?â