Chapter 1:
[You have passed the final trial.]
I let my blood-soaked sword hang down. When I raised my head, a notification announcing completion was blinking before my eyes.
‘Is it over?’
[Congratulations on passing the trial.]
‘I see, it’s finally over.’
At the news that all trials had ended, fatigue came rushing in. I wanted to throw this heavy lump of metal to the ground, but the habit ingrained in my body over 10 years wouldn’t allow me to discard my sword.
[Player ‘Kang Min-jun’ who passed the trial will be granted the qualification to cross over to another world as promised.]
[Entering settlement for ‘Destruction Dragon Gallegos’.]
[Highest contributor among survivors: Kang Min-jun]
I silently watched the holograms that appeared one after another, updating before my eyes.
[The highest contributor ‘Kang Min-jun’ will be given the opportunity to make one wish as promised.]
A wish.
[What wish would you like to make?]
I looked up at the sky filled with dark clouds.
“This fucking sucks.”
That was the impression I quietly spat out at the end of the 10-year trial.
Kang Min-jun.
That’s my name. A common and ordinary name in some ways. I spent each and every day as ordinary and tediously as this ordinary name.
“Ugh, boring. When will this damn school end?”
From elementary school to high school, I was forced to stay trapped in school.
『★Military Manpower Administration Notice』
After graduation, I became an ordinary college student facing the crisis of being dragged to the military like everyone else.
“Hey, asshole. Where are you going?”
A life with nothing particularly special, sometimes getting caught and tormented by high school classmates. My daily routine disappeared one day due to an uninvited guest.
[We would like to make an announcement.]
No, everyone’s daily routine disappeared that day.
[As of this time, Earth’s lifespan has ended. Unfortunately, there is no recovery plan for Earth, and exactly 5 hours from now, Earth will undergo extinction procedures.]
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Which bastard is playing pranks!”
The strange hologram that appeared before my eyes. I still can’t forget that moment. Everyone walking through Seoul had stopped dead in their tracks and was staring blankly into the air.
‘Earth is going extinct?’
Was it because the notification method was too bizarre? Or because it was too sudden?
“What bullshit.”
People denied it and didn’t believe it.
“PFFT, what kind of dog shit is this?”
“I think I know what this is. It’s like those web novels where fiction becomes reality and apocalypse breaks out and stuff.”
“Stop talking nonsense. Those are just creative works where authors spilled their delusions. Please live in reality, won’t you?”
“Hey hey, instead of that, how about rock-paper-scissors? The loser takes responsibility and shouts ‘status window’ really loud. Kekeke.”
Among them, there were people who took it as a joke. Reality was too peaceful to seriously accept the fact that Earth would be destroyed in 2 hours.
[From now on, migration to another world becomes possible.]
But the march toward destruction was steadily progressing.
[However, residents who wish to migrate must undergo evaluation. Through a selection process, you must prove that you are a useful bug.]
Up until this point, no one actually took it seriously. But suddenly a brilliant light flashed in the sky.
WHOOOOOSH-
When darkness covered and then lifted while an unusual tremor shook the ground, people’s expressions began to change subtly.
RUMBLEEEEE.
[An asteroid has collided. Earth will be destroyed in 4 hours, 53 minutes, and 21 seconds.]
“…….”
Silence descended upon the city. There were countless people on the streets, but at that moment, time seemed to stop and no one was moving. What awakened the frozen world was again a notification.
DING.
[Would you like to participate in the selection process?]
“Wh-wh-what are you talking about!”
“Is it real? Is Earth really going to be destroyed?”
Everyone felt that the airflow stimulating their skin had changed. That it was too strange to dismiss as a joke. As time passed, that sense of déjà vu became concrete, and one piece of news spread quickly through communities.
-Communication with Africa, Middle East, and Europe has been cut off -Bullshit -Not a joke;;
The rather ominous news that all communication with certain regions had been completely cut off. Naturally, people’s attention focused on one place.
-Is there anyone who entered the selection? -I’m in right now, but it’s nothing special -Really? -Idiot, do you believe that? I saw someone entering and they just disappeared into thin air with a POOF;; Even if you go in wearing clothes, electronic devices don’t work, so only the smartphone dropped to the ground with a THUD
People began to accept reality. More than grand reasons like asteroids or communication blackouts, the sight of people disappearing one by one before their eyes proved that all of this was real.
[Would you like to participate in the selection process?]
The selection process, also called trials, began like that. A mad party where over 4 billion people struggled to survive by crossing over to another world.
And I was among them.
…I glared at the cloudy sky and slowly lowered my gaze to look at the hologram still floating in the air.
[What wish would you like to make?]
BLINK BLINK, the screen seemed to urge me to speak.
‘I cleared until the very end of the trial.’
I was the only one who survived. I was the only one who could cross over to the other world, Elysia.
‘Then what’s the point?’
What would I do going alone to a foreign land with no connections? What would I do alone in a place without a single person from my hometown? So the wish I wanted to make was just one.
“I will regress. I will return to 10 years ago with my memories and play this fucking game again from the beginning.”
[You wish to repeat that difficult journey again?]
“Yes.”
A grand journey spanning 10 years. I reached this place after crossing countless battlefields and hellish front lines. And if I regressed with this knowledge and experience, I was confident I could do better than now and save at least one more person.
[Excellent. I have heard your noble intention well. However, such an altruistic choice is absolutely not wise. How about just ending the trial here and starting a new life in a new land?]
“No.”
I’m not sacrificing myself to save more humans. I just hate being alone and hate going to a foreign land by myself.
If even one person. If even one Earthling besides me had survived, I wouldn’t have made this decision.
“I will return purely for myself.”
For my prosperous future.
“So I will regress to the past.”
[I understand what you mean. You are an infinitely selfish person! To satisfy that ugly desire, I will proceed with regression. I hope the trials you face again will be enjoyable.]
I’ve read novels where regressors cause chaos. How light are the footsteps of one who walks a future they’ve already walked once?
[Your wish has been fulfilled.]
[Error. Abnormal interference with the world has been attempted.]
[Checking for errors….]
[Confirmed as access from a higher dimension. Correcting errors to match the modified circumstances.]
Pure white light enveloped my vision. The light quickly subsided, but conversely, my body became heavy as if I had fallen into water. I frowned at the stuffiness and opened my eyes.
‘Where am I? Seeing how heavy my body is, it seems I’ve returned to the past.’
But the air is too warm to call this a tutorial area. When my vision recovered, I was somewhat bewildered.
‘University?’
The scene behind the university main building, now hazy in memory, came into view. Leaves and flowers blooming profusely in the full spring atmosphere.
‘Did I really come back? To 10 years ago?’
Bewildering. The moment I wanted to return to was the tutorial, not Earth. I soon realized I had made a critical mistake.
‘When I asked to be sent back 10 years, I didn’t think they’d actually send me exactly 10 years back.’
As soon as I grasped the situation, I moved my hand to find out the exact date. Was it because it had been 10 years since I looked for a smartphone? My hand movements were unnatural. The texture of the device I held for the first time in 10 years was also familiar yet unfamiliar.
『May 27th』
Wondering if I had seen it wrong, I repeatedly turned the screen off and on. The numbers remained unchanged.
‘Everything started on May 30th. Then I have 3 days left.’
My desired regression point was the tutorial, but this isn’t bad either. No, it’s actually better. It’s much more advantageous to prepare even a little before going in rather than charging in bare-handed.
‘I can prepare for 3 days. I’ll also make plans for what to do going forward.’
My heart raced. Honestly, I didn’t know if regressing with memories would be possible. It was half a tantrum-like demand.
But the wish became reality, and I could make a better start than I thought. So I was in a good mood and smiling when….
“Has this bastard gone crazy?”
THWACK.
“?”
Along with a sharp pain felt on the back of my head, I heard some woman’s voice. But the voice sounded strangely familiar.
“Asshole. Take out all the money you have in front of me before you get the shit beaten out of you.”
When I turned my head, a short-haired beauty was glaring at me with fierce eyes.
“…Shin Seo-yeon?”
“Are you really insane? Now you’re calling my name casually?”
Shin Seo-yeon. Same class in senior year of high school. A girl with such a bad relationship that we went to the same schools from elementary to university. We got along okay in elementary school, but from the third year of middle school, she went down a bad path and became a complete delinquent thug.
“Fuck, what are you staring at? Do you seriously need to get beaten up to be normalized?”
But the reason I was surprised to see her was actually different. I felt the throbbing back of my head and recalled a forgotten memory.
‘Come to think of it, Shin Seo-yeon at this time was a bitch who didn’t give a damn about image management.’
When I closed my eyes, the image of Shin Seo-yeon I had seen a few days ago immediately came to mind. Along with the voices talking about her.
-Look over there, it’s Shin Seo-yeon. -Her body is insane. How is someone with such thin wrists and ankles ranked 19th?
Witch of Crimson Flames, Shin Seo-yeon. Ranked 19th. At least among fire-wielding mages, there was no one who could rival her.
When I opened my eyes again, the beauty who would become an S-class mage in the future was standing askew, glaring with pretty eyes. Supporting her arms under her ample breasts, making them stand out prominently.
