The text filling the entire space felt vicious despite being nothing more than words.
system: Stop.
System?
Was the text called a system?
system: This is enough.
At that moment, my vision went completely black.
The instant I regained consciousness, the first thing I saw was Selene. That explosive existence inside a human shell remained behind in a distorted form.
Looking at it, I slowly opened my mouth.
“God?”
Selene answered as though resonating directly through my mind.
—Yes.
“What’s the system?”
—It was never yours to begin with. It belongs to another child.
“Kwon Taehan?”
Selene silently affirmed it.
I stared at Selene’s form and thought to myself.
Had I really come this far just to see something like this? I had hoped I might actually be able to speak to a real “god,” but was this all there was?
—No.
“.......”
It certainly did seem to be a “god.”
Considering it could so easily read thoughts I had never spoken aloud.
—It is different from the “god” you imagined. I am closer to a messenger than that.
“Where is this place?”
—A refuge one arrives at before the mind is destroyed.
I had no idea what that meant, but if it was related to the mind, then it probably did not physically exist.
“Why did you bring me here?”
—Because your mind seemed close to breaking. And because there were things I needed to tell you.
Selene’s body took a large step forward. The thing drifting further and further from human form glowed darkly as its shape continuously changed.
I watched the sight briefly before asking,
“Things you needed to tell me?”
—Yes.
“.......”
—I may not be the exact god you desperately wished for, but I am still a god nonetheless. After all, I am the owner of the mythology you dismissed so lightly.
Dismissed?
I just never cared about it.
“So?”
—That is why I could easily see through your shallow little scheme.
“Shallow...?”
If that were true, then dragging me into some temporary space like this was proof of failure in itself, wasn’t it?
Unable to hold it back, I let out a mocking laugh at Selene’s words.
Even without a fixed form, Selene slowly swept its gaze over me.
It felt strangely like countless eyes spreading across every part of my body.
—God’s arrangement is not simply about saving one particular individual. Their objective is the primary ending of all these worlds, followed by the inevitable destruction necessary to move on to the next stage.
“Destruction?”
Several mythological apocalypses flashed through my mind.
—All destruction exists for the sake of beginning again. There is no need for you to stop it....
“Fuck, seriously....”
What the hell was this bastard even talking about?
For a moment, the absurdity made me laugh in disbelief.
But Selene continued speaking.
—Every destruction exists for the sake of a new beginning afterward.
“Why did you choose Kwon Taehan?”
—Who knows. Perhaps because his will is persistent?
“He’s not really that kind of person.”
—Then that is your misunderstanding.
The confidence with which it claimed to know Kwon Taehan better than I did was absurd.
But at the same time, a small doubt crept into my mind.
Did I really know Kwon Taehan at all?
After repeating all those lives, had I ever once expected him to collapse that badly simply because I left him?
Had I ever once imagined he would mistake affection so deeply that he would kiss me?
It was fucking disgusting.
Every single time, Kwon Taehan understood me effortlessly despite having no memories at all, while I failed to understand him even after controlling the same repeating variables countless times.
It was unbearably unfair.
“Fucking ridiculous.”
I muttered shortly.
Unrefined emotions churned violently inside me.
Faint ecstasy, exhilaration, fear—every emotion mixed together and threatened to spill out.
I clenched my fist tightly, trying to feel pain.
I needed something grounded in reality.
After a brief silence, I looked at Selene and spoke.
“I came up with a few theories while living through those deleted lives... for a very long time.”
—What kind?
“What is a god? I’m not talking about some abstract bullshit. I wanted to know what kind of existence could realistically plan all of this. Fuck, that’s what I was curious about.”
A sharp sting spread across my palm.
Clenching my fist should not have drawn blood, so I must have reopened the wound from earlier.
“Yeah, well.... Then I started wondering whether I even needed to know. Maybe I could just settle for this meaningless existence and repeat it forever without bothering to search for the source.”
—.......
“And for something as supposedly magnificent as a god, all it can do to express its will is flash a few blinking lines of text? Ah.... Fuck, seriously, that makes no sense.”
I stepped closer toward Selene.
Was this pathetic thing really a god?
“Why should I worship words? Why should I move according to the intentions of a few lines of text? Why?”
—Even if your will is otherwise, things will ultimately proceed that way anyway.
“Really?”
Something squirming near my feet crunched beneath my step.
A fragment of Selene, perhaps?
Without caring, I stepped on it and walked forward again.
“When this destruction ends, will Kwon Taehan become something like you too?”
—.......
“You said new beginnings are important. Yeah, I think I roughly understand now. Existences that cannot independently exist force themselves into various mythological gods and become ‘gods’ that way. Just like you.”
—.......
“As if you’re really Selene. Ha ha, you’re this incompetent and still calling yourself a god?”
Thunk.
Something grabbed my ankle.
I paused briefly, shook off the sensation pulling at me, and continued walking again.
“But you still remain inside mythology in the end, don’t you? Then... when that new beginning opens, will Kwon Taehan become a god like you too? Forcing himself into something resembling mythology?”
—If one lives infinitely, perhaps escaping humanity becomes inevitable.... Or perhaps you were like this from the beginning?
“Me? I’m human.”
What a ridiculous thing to say.
I narrowed my eyes and stared at Selene’s form.
The “god” that had tried so hard to imitate humanity could no longer maintain its shape and had begun melting apart.
As I gazed at that distant presence, I crooked the corner of my mouth upward.
“Yeah, I’m still... human.”
—No matter how disrespectfully you behave, humans can never imitate divine authority.
Selene’s voice dug directly into my mind.
Reflexively, I pressed a hand against my ear in an attempt to shake off the unpleasant sensation.
But the voice remained perfectly clear.
—No matter how confidently you pretend otherwise, you are merely one component.... And even that will ultimately flow according to the intended design.
The voice embedded in my mind felt as though it were violently scraping away part of it.
The threshold of discomfort had long since been surpassed.
—Still, the fact that you managed to anger me this much is worthy of praise. But I am also a merciful god....
Now it sounded like nails scraping across a chalkboard directly beside my ear.
—I shall fulfill my original duty.
“Ugh....”
—You will move on to the next stage. Your worn-down mind imitated divinity, but you will return to being human and temporarily regain your original self.
Selene’s voice kept growing louder.
Every time I roughly clawed at my ear with my fingernails, hot liquid ran down my hand.
Was it because of the wound on my palm from earlier?
—All these memories will disappear.
The moment those words ended, Selene’s form completely melted apart.
The darkness spreading across the floor writhed around my feet before slowly climbing up my body.
It felt disgustingly like insects crawling over my skin.
The darkness Selene created gradually covered my vision.
No matter how much I tried to shake it off, it clung tightly to me and refused to disappear.
The darkness filling my vision sank heavily like night itself.
Blink.
My eyes closed.
The instant I opened them again, I found Kwon Taehan collapsed on the floor.
And above him floated another line of text.
Name: Kwon Taehan
Age: 25
Rank: S
Title: -
Primary Skills: ■■ ■■(EX), Blazing Flames(S), Flame Storm(S), Physical Enhancement(S)
Growth Limit Rank: S
Primary Skills?
Then another popup appeared beyond the text displaying his information.
Conditions fulfilled.
Plausibility fulfillment complete.
Due to divine authority, ■■ ■■ is activated.
Censored text?
Before I could even guess what it was, the words slowly revealed themselves.
Infinite Regression(EX)
Name: Kwon Taehan
Age: 25
Rank: S
Title: -
Primary Skills: Infinite Regression(EX), Blazing Flames(S), Flame Storm(S), Physical Enhancement(S)
Growth Limit Rank: S
Regressor Kwon Taehan’s 0th life is ending.
Infinite Regression(EX) is activating.
All the text vanished instantly and transformed into a massive number.
30, 29, 28, 27....
The countdown rapidly decreased as though counting seconds.
Reflexively, I grabbed Kwon Taehan by the throat.
‘He’s alive.’
I could feel a pulse.
“Fuck!”
There was no time.
I could not afford to sit there processing everything.
Then what exactly could I do right now?
At that moment, Selene’s words resurfaced in my mind.
‘The memories will disappear?’
Then what about everything I had done until now?
I did not know whether it would be better to forget everything and start over, or continue living while remembering all of it.
But regardless, I still had to make a choice.
What was I supposed to do from now on?
Right.
The important thing was that no matter how much everything changed, Kwon Taehan would still continue to exist.
Then should I remember all of this?
There was no time to think carefully.
I searched through Kwon Taehan’s belongings and found an artifact.
The sharply honed dagger looked almost like ice itself.
A bastard who controlled fire carrying around a dagger like this.
I slowly ran my hand across the blade.
The timer floating overhead continued decreasing.
I could not hesitate any longer.
Without pause, I reversed my grip on the dagger and drove it into Kwon Taehan’s abdomen.
Stab!
The sound of flesh tearing echoed out.
Even unconscious, blood bubbled from the corner of his mouth.
“Cough....”
At that moment, Kwon Taehan’s eyes opened.
He looked back and forth between me and empty space in confusion before slowly opening his mouth as though trying to say something.
“Why....”
Kwon Taehan even looked dazed.
He was going to die soon anyway, but just like every other time, he did not know that and ended up hurt by it.
Pain and betrayal mixed together clouded his eyes.
“...Why.”
His mouth could barely force out even a single word before all that emerged was the wet sound of blood boiling in his throat.
I twisted the blade through his abdomen and made certain to end his life completely.
“Why...?”
Even with his final breath fading away, that was the only thing he asked.
Without even wiping the blood staining my hands, I lifted my gaze toward empty space.
Would you like to usurp <specific Skill> ■■ ■■?
And finally....
For the first time, I saw the “text” asking whether I wanted to usurp Kwon Taehan’s Skill.
Yeah, finally....
‘Should I answer?’
Kwon Taehan was dead.
His 0th life had also ended.
I had usurped his Skill, and I had even spoken to an existence standing somewhere near the level of a god....
For the first time in a very long while, this alone made the timeline worthwhile.
Using my hand, I wiped away the blood at the corner of Kwon Taehan’s mouth and gently closed his eyes one by one.
I did not know exactly what would happen from here, but something was definitely going to change now.
It was a temporary escape from a tedious life.
Or perhaps not temporary at all.
A new variable would appear.
“Ah....”
Regressor Kwon Taehan’s 0th life is ending.
From now on, a slightly more interesting life was probably waiting for me.
“I was trying to save you.”
The numbers continued decreasing.
I quietly watched them before lowering my gaze again.
Tears had gathered near Kwon Taehan’s eyes.
I brushed them away with the back of my hand before looking up once more.
2
1
0
■■ ■■(EX) is activating.