Chapter 413: The Inept |
‘This is how I died in my first round.’
Ryu Min used the parallel world’s rewind function to return to the moment when his past self existed.
And he watched how his former self died.
Of course, he didn’t watch it up close.
He used Elsis’ omniscient skill to observe the parallel world from an omniscient perspective.
‘But this isn’t pleasant at all.’
Seeing myself massacred by goblins isn’t a pleasant experience.
‘Someone might say it’s pathetic, but at that time, I couldn’t do anything to avoid it.’
In his first run, Ryu Min knew nothing. He was just an ordinary person without any information.
‘Back then, I was very weak, both mentally and physically.’
People like Ma Gyeong-rok, An Sang-cheol, Min Juri, Seo Arin, and Christine endured without dying even once, while he wasted his first run helplessly.
You could say it was pure weakness.
‘Anyway, the test was successful. I really did absorb the energy.’
Could he absorb souls by going back in time and watching how he died? It turned out to be true.
Along with the power-up sensation he felt before, the amount of energy (Terra) slightly increased.
‘Now I’ll move to another run and repeat the process.’
Ryu Min’s body transferred to another parallel world.
—————
Talent was something Ryu Min did not possess.
In fact, one could say he was inept.
Even after one run, he couldn’t surpass the first round.
‘I understand that I come back when I die. But...’
Keieek!
Watching goblins charging at him with daggers, Ryu Min was horrified.
‘How am I supposed to kill those?’
The mission to capture one hundred goblins was more difficult than he thought. It was easier to run away in this situation.
‘Run away? Why didn’t I think of that?’
Ryu Min thought he might be able to get out of this place without capturing the goblins. He had already seen people trying to escape and bumping into walls.
‘But not the entire area has to be blocked, right?’
He ran toward the edge of the meadow to check. Although he was blocked by a translucent barrier, he kept moving along the sides.
‘There must be a gap somewhere. Somewhere.’
However, the barrier was completely sealed, and Ryu Min had to pay the price for choosing to flee instead of fighting the goblins.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
————–
In the second run, Ryu Min was different.
He realized it was pointless to run from the meadow, so he changed his mindset.
‘I have no choice but to kill them all.’
He decided to confront them, motivated by pride. There was nowhere to retreat.
Keeeeek! Kyaaa!
In the chaotic battle with the goblins, Ryu Min calmly took them down one by one. He didn’t face the goblins directly but instead helped those in danger to increase his count.
As a result, he finally passed the first round after two deaths.
‘What will the second round be? I’m scared...’
He slept with that feeling, but soon received shocking news.
-“Hello? Is this Ryu Won’s guardian? You need to come to the hospital immediately.”
While he was sleeping, his younger brother, who had gone out for some reason, returned blind after being beaten by Bang Tae-gyu.
The foolish and weak Ryu Min couldn’t protect his brother.
‘I’m sorry, Ryu Won. In the next run, I will definitely get revenge. I don’t know if I can get through the second round, but I’ll try.’
Although he was nervous, the second round turned out to be surprisingly easy. He only had to vote to pass.
But he didn’t know there were monsters in the forest and that the sub-mission was to change classes until the round was over.
‘It’s fine. I have rewinds. I’ll take it as experience.’
The third round involved protecting a relic. Despite fighting numerous monsters, Ryu Min, who had no talent for battle, eventually died.
——————-
Ryu Min encountered Hwang Yong-min’s group in his seventh run. It was the first time they met in the third round.
Hwang Yong-min had the same name and face, so it wasn’t hard to recognize him in the other world.
“Oh? Aren’t you Ryu Min?”
“Wow. We meet here. Haha, what a surprise.”
“Wow, what’s this? The New Year’s Eve guy is here?”
“Did you come to see the bell at Bosingak too?”
Seeing Hwang Yong-min and his friends, Ryu Min froze and couldn’t speak.
“Why aren’t you talking? Are you scared?”
“Haha, yeah, he’s scared.”
“Ryu Min, don’t just stand there, make sure to defend well. You know if the crystal breaks, we all die, right?”
“Isn’t this the guy who might betray us, taking advantage of the chaos for revenge?”
Hwang Yong-min’s expression turned menacing at his friend’s comment.
“If you’ve got guts, go ahead and try. You know I won’t go down without a fight. Wanna fight right now?”
“...”
Ryu Min couldn’t say anything, and his friends mocked him.
“Leave him. He looks like he’s going to cry.”
“Coward.”
“Let’s go. The next wave is starting.”
With the sound of the horn, monsters began to attack the village.
Despite the situation, Ryu Min stood still, gripping a goblin’s dagger.
Then, as if he had an idea, he moved.
Step by step, he approached Hwang Yong-min and stabbed the dagger into his neck.
“Ugh!”
Hwang Yong-min reflexively strangled Ryu Min.
Both fell to the ground as his friends rushed over.
“Yong-min!”
“This bastard did it!”
“Kill him, damn it!”
Ryu Min died at the hands of Hwang Yong-min’s friends.
But he was satisfied.
‘Anyway, I can go back.’
At least his revenge was assured.
—————–
After that, every time a new run started, Ryu Min would first seek out Hwang Yong-min. He knew he was coming to see the New Year’s bell.
‘There they are.’
He saw Hwang Yong-min’s group and observed them as he progressed through the round.
When the chaos of the third round came, he seized the opportunity.
‘It’s time.’
He ambushed them and killed them all. The revenge against the bullies who tormented him was always satisfying, though it eventually became boring.
‘Getting revenge in the same way all the time is boring.’
Ryu Min decided to focus on something else.
‘How can I clear this fifth round?’
The mission was to capture 300 orcs in 10 hours. Although it seemed easy, the orcs were on a completely different level than the goblins.
They were bigger and wielded weapons with unmatched skill.
Ryu Min failed to capture the 300 orcs and repeatedly vanished.
Sometimes he died, surrounded by orcs.
Even when he managed to capture the 300 orcs, he wasn’t among the first, so he vanished.
‘I need to capture them as fast as possible. Just reaching 300 isn’t enough.’
After four deaths in the fifth round, Ryu Min finally passed on his fifth attempt.
‘I’ve died quite a bit, but I still have plenty of chances.’
[Rune of Time Reversal]
[Remaining uses: 11/100]
Was that careless thought what caused the problems?
In the eleventh run, Ryu Min told his younger brother his secret.
“Hey, bro? What level are you?”
“12.”
“Really? Do you have a class?”
“Yeah. I’m a hunter.”
“Hunter?”
“And runes? Do you have any good ones?”
“Well... actually, I have a special rune.”
“A special rune?”
“It’s called the Rune of Time Reversal. It lets me go back in time, one hundred times.”
“What? No way.”
At first, Ryu Won didn’t believe him. But Ryu Min explained how he knew about Bang Tae-gyu, how he got revenge immediately after the first round, and what would happen to Ryu Won in the future.
“When you came back blind because of Bang Tae-gyu, I knew everything. Since then, in every run, I got revenge immediately after the first round.”
“No way. Are you serious, bro?”
“How do you think I knew the lottery numbers?”
After telling his secret, Ryu Min felt relieved. He had always kept his secret to himself, and now it felt like he had lifted a burden.
But he shouldn’t have done it.
Soon, he received a call from Jang Seok-hyun, a criminal with 12 prior convictions.
“Hello? Coward?”
-“Are you Ryu Min, Ryu Won’s brother?”
“Who are you? Why do you have Ryu Won’s phone?”
-“That doesn’t matter. Let’s talk, Mr. Reverser.”
‘He knows I’m a reverser?’
-“If you don’t come to the place I tell you, I’ll slit your brother’s throat.”
Immediately, Ryu Min went to the location Jang Seok-hyun indicated.
“Ryu Won!”
“So you came, Mr. Reverser.”
In a rundown warehouse, Ryu Won was tied up and blindfolded.
“You really are a reverser, huh?”
“Damn you...”
“Calm down. You should understand the situation. You don’t want to see scars on your brother’s face, right?”
Jang Seok-hyun skillfully threatened with a knife pointed at Ryu Won’s face.
“As a reverser, you must know what will happen in the next round, what moves the factions will make, and all the useful information you have. Spill it all. You know what’ll happen if you don’t, right?”
Ryu Min had no choice but to comply. Although he provided valuable information, he also mixed in false data to try to confuse Jang Seok-hyun.
But...
“You dare lie to me?”
Jang Seok-hyun saw through his deception.
“Don’t try anything funny. Killing your brother means nothing to me.”
There was no other choice.
Ryu Min knelt and begged for his brother’s life.
But Jang Seok-hyun was ruthless.
Slash!
“Ryu Won!”
“What kind of weak reverser are you? Thanks for the info.”
Even though Jang Seok-hyun left, Ryu Min couldn’t chase after him.
“No, Ryu Won. Blood... Call 911! Someone, call 911!”
While administering first aid, the ambulance finally arrived. Fortunately, Ryu Won didn’t die, but it left a deep trauma for Ryu Min.
‘My brother was put in danger because of me.’
How did that guy know he was a reverser? Ryu Min discovered the truth after an intense investigation.
‘He has a skill that reads thoughts.’
From the twelfth run onward, Ryu Min changed his appearance to look stronger and more intimidating.
He had experienced firsthand that being underestimated was dangerous.
‘From this run on, I will never reveal that I’m a reverser.’
But Ryu Min had to end the twelfth run prematurely.
An angel betrayed him before the first round even finished.