Translator: HH Editor: ShaSha
The day it rained, it opened its eyes .
It didn’t have a name . It didn’t have a figure . It could’ve been called a shadow . The day it was raining, it could’ve 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 didn’t know . Just sounds…the 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 didn’t know what a snake was, it slithered towards the living thing in front of it . The living thing didn’t 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 didn’t have any teeth, so the living thing’s body wasn’t shredded apart . It just melted . It fell in the thing’s 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 wasn’t 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 couldn’t even follow the attack, even though I drank the elixir . I extended the second, but the Devil King’s 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 wouldn’t 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 isn’t that amazing in itself .
This was like a jail . A jail of time .
-It’s more like he’s just ridiculously strong . That itself is pretty scary . Since he can just break apart whatever it has with his strength . But…
“But, if I know the direction of the attack, I can avoid it . ”
-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 didn’t 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, it’ll be hard for you to avoid it . You weak-ass! You zombie-like corpse bastard!
“Ugh, quiet please . ”
-Kekekeke .
[You have died . ]
[You have regressed to 24 hours ago . ]
When I returned to a day ago, the day repeated .
It didn’t just repeat, but the fight of the past repeated .
I reviewed it .
-You’re still not used to using Aura . That’s a big problem . You can just focus Aura on your feet and that would be enough .
“If I move while I’m focusing on my feet, my stance becomes messy . ”
-So you have to make the Aura flow up to your thighs and shoulders . With balance .
“Easy for you to say…”
[You have died . ]
[You have regressed to 24 hours ago . ]
-You can just die if you can’t do it .
“Fuck . ”
A day .
Another day passed .
-You dare .
How many times had I heard the Devil King’s furious voice by now?
-Take the right steps, warrior of the goddess . Coming here without choosing anything is rude . Only those who…
“Alright . One-shot!”
-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 .
-You…
“The warrior cuts the Devil King . ”
[You have died . ]
“The Devil King has cut the warrior . ”
[You have died . ]
“What else do you need to say?”
-…
“Come . Devil King . ”
[You have died . ]
“I am the sword of the empire . ”
-Fine!
[You have died . ]
-Then prove it in front of me!
[You have died . ]
-Prove it to me!
“Sure . ”
[You have died . ]
“I’ll show you . ”
[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 .
“Good job, Kim Gong-ja!”
A day .
“Gosh! It hasn’t even been an hour and it looks like you’ll clear the stage!”
Another day .
“Less than 40 hunters probably died!”
And, from some time ago .
“It might’ve been less than that…ah! It can’t get any better than this!”
The Witch’s 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 floor’s circumstances started to change little by little .
Slowly .
“Good job, Kim Gong-ja! Goodness! We’re about to clear the stage in less than 50 seconds! Less than 30 hunters probably died!”
But surely .
“Less than 40 minutes! Less than 20 hunters have probably died!”
A little bit faster .
More efficiently .
Every time a day repeated, the Witch’s 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 .
“Ah…”
I died day by day .
“Unbelievable…good job Kim Gong-ja! Like you said, we confronted the golem after healing the knight called Joshua, but wow, less than 10 people probably died…To think this was possible . In this battlefield, mm . It was…”
I lived a day .
-You dare .
One day, the Devil King asked .
-Why are you doing that?
“What . ”
-I’m asking why you’re grinning .
I smiled .
“Because I’m happy . ”
My heart was beating fast .
“I’m laughing because I’m happy . ”
The Devil King lifted his sword .
-You’re happy even though you’re going to die?
“You won’t understand . You can’t . ”
-How arrogant, warrior of the goddess .
“I’m just simple . ”
I swung my sword .
-Poor thing .
The sword cut me .
[You have died . ]
[You are regressing to 24 hours ago . ]
But I didn’t give up .
There wasn’t a reason to .
My sword was faster than yesterday .
Tomorrow, it would be even faster .
Because I was living .
Because I was alive .
“······ . ”
The day came to me without a sound .
The Witch grabbed my hand . She didn’t 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 .
“Just now…”
The Witch’s voice trembled .
“I just checked . Kim Gong-ja . Not one…”
The Witch’s hand was trembling in mine .
“Not one died . ”
Her trembling turned into crying .
“Even the Ten Thousand Temple was checked and there’s none…there were some stupid fools who were hitwith arrows, but…but . No one died . ”
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 .
“Thank you…”
That kind of person leaned her head on me .
“Really, thank you…”
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!
“Yes . ”
It was a large field .
In the world where time was stopped .
I pointed my sword at my enemy with a thumping heart .
“I said a warrior fights alone . ”
-You fool!
The Devil King roared in anger .
It didn’t have a name . It didn’t have a form . It could’ve 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 .
-You…!
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 .
“-Sorry, King Gong-ja . ”
Someone lightly landed next to me .
The black hair waved in the wind .
“I wanted to stay in the reception like you said . But I couldn’t take it anymore . ”
The Master of Black Dragon .
The Witch lifted a corner of her mouth .
“I felt like I was going to die if I stayed in there any longer . So I came here wondering what you were saying…humph . You were playing fun games all by yourself?”
“They were warrior games . ”
“Was it fun?”
I smiled .
“Fucking great . ”
“I guess . It’s a beast that seems worth hunting . ”
5 mirrors came flying .
“I can’t let you have all the fun to yourself . Let me join . ”
“Wow . I had it all . You’re stealing it now?”
“You didn’t know? Taking someone else’s prey is the tastiest . ”
“I agree with that . ”
-You…
The Devil King growled .
The being who couldn’t be laughing right now was probably the Devil King .
“Sorry . Hey-”
I lifted my sword .
“I wanted to take care of you myself . But I think it’s right for warriors to get the Devil King together . It’s to brag about history and tradition, right?”
-How rude you are!
The wastewater on the Devil King’s body boiled .
-I won’t 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 bubbles’ 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 .
“This…”
The Witch frowned after looking around her .
“This isn’t something we can do ourselves . Sword Saint! What are you doing there staring blankly? Not even helping us . ”
“I wanted to watch a bit more . It hasn’t even been 30 seconds since that youngster began fighting . Who knew that wastewater would call for monsters . ”
Sword Saint, who had been watching me for about 30 seconds, spoke .
“That’s correct . I was wondering whether I should ask for help after a minute . ”
I smiled, looking at his face that had been watching me for over 30 weeks .
“Men…anyway . Kim Gong-ja, hold my hand . We have to get out of here . Sword Saint! Come here too . Can’t you see this?”
The Witch shouted and held out her hand to me .
“No . It’s okay . ”
But I didn’t grab her hand .
The Witch frowned, looking at me strangely .
Instead of answering her, I quietly murmured .
“Hundred Ghosts Summon . ”
Pause .
The Devil King was flustered for a moment .
-You . What did you just…?
My voice was faster than the Devil King’s .
[Your skill is being activated . ]
It was a voice that proved my qualification .
Soon, the entire field was flipped .