EP.2 1. The 10th regression – 02

That evening, having come home feeling slightly tipsy from the alcohol, Seol Hajin was rolling on his bed staring at his phone.

[Ragnarök]

“…. Should I download it, or not download it.”

To be honest, he had thought about playing Ragnarök a while back.

It was because, as much as the game Ragnarök was currently receiving sensational popularity worldwide, his curiosity was also strongly affected. 

Just how fun was this game for there to be such an uproar about it from all sorts of places and for there to be advertisements everywhere? If he hadn’t become curious looking at such a scene, he would be lying.  

However, since he has a record of ignoring mobile games that received rave reviews, he couldn’t hastily start playing the game even if his pride got hurt. For a man to say one thing and then change the next minute is something rather embarrassing, isn’t it? 

Usually, he wouldn’t have downloaded the game due to his pride, however, right now the alcohol in his system was making his decision making a bit fuzzy. 

Anyway, it’s not like he intends to actually start playing the game, he’s just momentarily checking how the game is. As they say, know thy enemy, know thy self1, right?

That’s right, I’m not betraying my pride and selling out. If I were to compare it, this is more like doing reconnaissance, checking on the enemy’s condition before the war starts. And, at the same time gifting a junior 500 diamonds….

In the end, after all those trivial thoughts running through his head, Seol Hajin succeeded in rationalising and without any particular concerns, clicked the ‘install’ button.

And then-

“…Oh?”

There was no warning or anything like that. At the same time, he pressed the install button, Seol Hajin ended up losing consciousness into a darkness.

It was the start of a fucking nightmare.

***

A while back, while on a trip abroad with his parents, Seol Hajin had experienced losing his way. 

Although this was something that happened many years ago, he still remembered it clearly. 

Sights that were indistinguishable, strange foreigners who spoke a different language, the fear and despair of feeling like you are the only one left on earth. 

Although at that time, luckily, his parents who had quickly realised that he was missing, after frantically searching for him, found him in under an hour releasing him from being a missing child.  

Regrettably, it seemed who could not expect that kind of luck this time. 

That’s because, the place that Seol Hajin had gone missing was at most not another country, but another dimension.

The first day he had fallen here, he thought it was a dream. Or if not a dream, he had also suspected it to be a large-scale prank being filmed. 

However, that suspicion ended up being disposed of pretty quickly. That’s because no matter how developed someone’s skills of deception are there’s no way someone can conjure fire from their fingertips or bring down lightning.

He wasn’t sure what kind of world this was, but there was one thing he was sure of. This place was not earth, it was another world where magic and such was as natural as breathing. 

Luckily, amongst all the misery, he could at least understand other people speaking, although the situation he was in didn’t change much. That’s because, unfortunately being a 21st century liberal arts student who studied at a Korean university wouldn’t be all that helpful in a fantasy world. 

At first, he was busy just getting used to it. He had to get used to a living environment that had changed overnight and a culture that was way different to the one he had known till now. More than anything, he had to accept that he was useless in this world. 

Nevertheless, would having studied for 12 years in elementary, middle, and high school and being more useful in writing than other ignorant blockheads be an advantage? Working from that society’s lowest of the low, he put in all his effort doing whatever he could to tenaciously survive. 

Like that, 10 years passed by. At the end of all the hard work, he was able to somehow get along well with other people and more than anything, he was able to secure himself a house in the middle of the capital. It was a great accomplishment that he may possibly never have achieved even if he died and rose back up, if this was Korea. 

That’s right, there’s nothing great about a hometown anyway. No matter where it is, if you live there and feel a sense of attachment to that place then that is your hometown. Even living in this world for the past 10 years had become familiar.

Well, there were times when he couldn’t take missing the culture of 21st century Korea or wanting to see his parents but…

Those were just problems that could be solved with time. I mean, ultimately if he was in Korea, he wouldn’t have been able to acquire his own place in his 20s, would he?

He’ll probably die a normal death after living a less than spectacular life with nothing happening. Someday, he could even find a kind blind girl and possibly get married. 

That’s how, Seol Hajin, I mean Jin, was living a quiet life that cannot be compared to the last 10 years, however. 

One day, all that he had worked hard and achieved came crumbling down in an instant. 

Without as much as a warning, the apocalypse approached, and because of that the world collapsed. The house that he had worked so hard for also ended up being turned to dust along with it

And in the end-

“…AH?” 

Jin had gone back 10 years. To the very moment he had first arrived in this world.  

***

He wasn’t dead. No, to be more precise, right at the moment of his death, he regressed back to the past. It’s as if the world did not wish for Jin’s death.

At first, he thought that getting to live a second life was great, however, he didn’t realise it until quite later. How horrible not being able to die when he chose and instead being forced to live was. 

Jin even thought about where he should run away to as soon as he regressed. However, after he found out that the apocalypse destroyed the whole continent, he gave up on even running away. No, he had no choice but to give up. 

If he wanted to live and not die, confronting it face first and fighting was not a choice but a necessity. He refused to end up a monster’s meal after his body had been put through it as he did in his first life. 

He had regressed a total of nine times. Jin had met the apocalypse and also his end a total of nine time. 

There were times when he had met a low end without accomplishing anything. 

And the world had been destroyed due to the apocalypse. 

There were also times when all of humanity’s strength was gathered in one place to overcome the apocalypse. 

And the world was destroyed due to a second apocalypse. 

There were times when new ‘heroes’ were raised in order to leave hope for the future.

And the world was destroyed due to a third apocalypse. 

During his last nine lives, even though he had gone around this damned world like a dog and gone through a lot of things, there was a limit. 

Of course, he was not just recklessly starting from scratch or attacking and throwing his life away in vain. There were also things he got to know after dying like a common fly as many as nine times.

This world was not just a simple world, it was a world inside [Ragnarök].

The apocalypse was simply not the cause of the world’s destruction, rather, it was a part of the game’s scenario.  

And as much as the apocalypse was a part of the game’s scenario, the way to overcome the apocalypse must also exist somewhere within this world.

That’s because, if the developers of [Ragnarök] didn’t suddenly lose their minds and go nuts, one could easily assume that there was without a doubt an important role that could defeat the apocalypse.

However, apart from that, as he repeatedly regressed numerous times, Jin could feel parts of the things that formed him being worn away. 

‘I’m sick of it.’

In the beginning, the fact that his life could easily end like that of a fly was shitty but he had gotten used to even that. Even killing someone, and even dying all felt rather simple. 

He was sick of it. Just how long would he have to roam around inside this cage going through the same thing. Just how long would he have to spectate this infinitely repeating act. 

After spending as many as 100 years before meeting the third apocalypse, just how much would it take for him to overcome all the apocalypses and meet the end. 

And, would he maintain his sanity until then. How long could his extremely weak sanity take these never-ending repetitive regressions.  

Click, click, click-

Is it just a feeling? He could hear the sound of a clock being wound from somewhere. 

No, it can’t simply have been just a feeling. Because until now, he had heard that damned sound every time he died, which was nine times. 

‘Please just leave me alone. Just let me die.’

He was tired of it. Screw the apocalypse or whatever, he just wanted to rest. He just wanted to thoughtlessly die and give up.

However, with no consideration to what he wanted, his regression started. Reconstruction of the world from 10 years earlier began, the exact way it had been that day. 

His consciousness flew off somewhere. And when he opened his eyes everything had gone back to the way it was. 

“Shit.”

He was already standing in the kingdom’s capital, Ninea’s central city square. Typical of a place with the most traffic in the city, there was an energy nearby that was filled with noisiness from the people.  

Despite the nearby surroundings being engulfed in a sea of flames, even right until that damned lizard bitch had pierced his heart, right now, traces of that could not be seen anywhere. 

He was certain. He had once again come back to that day, that time, that place, where he had arrived in this world 10 years ago. 

Thus, having been through nine regressions, Jin’s 10th life began anew. Overcoming a miserable death caused by the apocalypse, he had the chance to change everything in the future. 

“…Fuck, I’m going to seriously lose it.”

Of course, this was not something Jin himself wanted to do. 1 T/N: full quote – “Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” – Sun Tzu, Art of war. It means: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.↩