“Baeka?”

The chairman burst into laughter, loud and hearty, like he’d been waiting for this moment.

“Haha! Haein, you’ve got quite the eye for weapons!”

He welcomed me with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“That weapon was retrieved in a bloody battle with the monster dragon Aldebaran—by our very own founding headmaster himself!”

His shoulders rose with pride, voice booming as though praising my choice like it was some grand feat.

The reason he was this excited was simple: despite countless students and evaluators examining it over the years, the weapon had never shown a single sign of activity.

There was a reason it had been collecting dust in the farthest corner of the vault.

He looked incredibly pleased with himself.

I smiled faintly and asked,

“Is that so?”

Casually, I twirled the spear in my hand.

And then—

I closed my eyes and drew up all the mana I had.

The flow of energy surged through my blood vessels, concentrating into a single point. My body burned.

I poured my mana into the spear.

Then, I pulled from the Fragment as well, injecting it with everything I had. The green energy of demon-eradication slowly flowed into it.

My hand trembled. My head throbbed.

“Haein, what are you—?”

The chairman's voice echoed from behind me, but I didn’t have time to care.

Before anyone could react—change began.

The silver slowly ignited into red.

Then, that red darkened, turning to black.

It was no longer just a spear made of steel.

The once-silver weapon had transformed into a pitch-black form, gleaming like obsidian.

God, my head.

The surge of mana squeezed out of me brought a wave of nausea and sharp pain.

The weapon's transformation was clearly out of the ordinary. The chairman’s mouth dropped open.

He couldn’t even speak—just barely moved his lips.

Lifting what was once “Baeka,” now Catastrophe, I calmly said,

“I’ll put it to good use.”

And turned to leave.

At that moment—

『The power of Demon Eradication...?』

My head rang.

No—“rang” didn’t cut it. A voice struck my mind like a hammer blow.

As soon as I heard it, a resonance spread through my skull.

It felt like my very being was being rattled.

『...A newborn dares to awaken me.』

Pain split through my skull.

My body swayed.

『Curious. Why does the depth I sense in you stretch beyond even my comprehension?』

『You are neither tyrant nor saint... you are chaos incarnate.』

My vision tilted and swayed. The floor rushed up to meet me.

『...Defier of Heaven.』

My eyes began to close.

『Fixing the axis... to defy the laws? Hah! This is amusing.』

『Very well. For daring to wake me, I’ll tear your essence apart and inspect every inch.』

—Thud!

My body collapsed to the ground.

『What was the most despairing moment of your life?』

—Haein!!

A distant voice screamed out.

I could faintly see Yu Hana and Cheon Yeoul rushing toward me.

『Feel it. Remember it.』

But even that faded.

My vision went black.

And consciousness faded.

『Remember who you were.』

***

“Hello?”

I jumped out from the cargo hold.

The Vanquisher members jumped in shock.

“Jeong Haein!”

Seong Ara was the first to shout.

I looked around.

This was the base point near the assault zone.

The operation would begin shortly.

“How did you get here?”

Obviously, I snuck along.

If I’d asked to join, they definitely would’ve said no.

But I knew where this mission led—annihilation.

And I was certain I could stop it.

However, their response was ice cold.

“...Go back.”

The voice was firm.

Lee Dohyeon, with twin swords on his back, spoke quietly.

“This is not a place for you.”

His gaze was steely.

The other members watching me looked conflicted.

“Then just let me assist with comms. That much should be fine, right? I can’t go back anyway.”

I knew they wouldn’t approve of me joining.

So I offered a compromise they might accept.

Once the fight began, I could just run in.

I wasn’t just confident—I was convinced.

The Fragment had been successfully passed to Sung Siwoo.

The other characters were growing steadily.

Medusa had been taken down, even if it cost a few lives.

‘At this rate, maybe I’ll make it through without using Regression even once.’

I hadn’t died a single time so far.

It meant my 10-year plan had worked flawlessly.

This mission would be no different.

But then—

“Hey there.”

—Crunch!

My first death came far too quickly.

“Guh!!”

I woke up in the back of the truck.

It wasn’t even a real fight. Just two exchanges—

First strike: my guard shattered.

Second strike: my skull exploded.

“Yo! Haein, what are you doing back here?”

It was Park Gwangcheol.

He must’ve heard something and come to check.

I clutched my head and staggered to my feet.

Couldn’t think straight.

Outside, the Vanquisher members were looking at me.

I met their eyes—

And my skin crawled.

That death told me everything.

Something had begun.

Second death.

My body split in two.

Third death.

I barely avoided a crushed skull—only to have a spear impale my throat from behind.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Eleventh death.

“Bleaargh!!”

I fell to my knees, retching.

The cumulative psychological toll of dying again and again... it was unbearable.

It was around then that I began to doubt my plan.

‘Vanquisher was annihilated.’

A line I had written once, just to add weight to the narrative.

But that “annihilation”...

was beyond imagination.

“Haein!!”

And just before my twelfth death—

Park Gwangcheol leapt in front of me. His stomach was pierced clean through.

And in that moment, I died too.

Fifty-seventh death, maybe.

That’s when I could finally—barely—start withstanding a few of its attacks.

—Clang! Clang!!

“Not bad?”

The Apostle of the Evil God.

From the outside, he looked like any other ordinary man.

But that man—

Had killed me in just two moves, fifty-seven times in a row.

Each time, as Vanquisher’s members turned and ran toward me, they were too late. Always.

But this time—

It was different.

I had already survived three, four, more than that—exchanges I couldn’t even count.

Clashes with a power far beyond mine.

And those clashes were forcing me to grow.

“Jeong Haein!!”

Seong Ara and Park Gwangcheol finally reached me.

A development I had never witnessed before.

When they arrived, the man before me clicked his tongue and turned away.

Park Gwangcheol spoke calmly.

“You’re here now. So survive, Haein. You need to stay sharp.”

He didn’t say a word about me breaking my promise.

I clenched my teeth.

I had to land a counterattack—somehow.

‘Just one Apostle... I can handle it.’

But the sight before me crushed that hope instantly.

I had assumed there might not be an Apostle at all.

At most, one.

But standing here before me were—

Three.

I knew it, deep down.

This battle...

Would last far longer than I’d predicted.

152 deaths.

239 deaths.

399—no, probably the 400th.

I kept dying.

Over and over, without end.

And on the 401st life—

I couldn’t even get up from the back of the truck.

My body was too heavy.

Even breathing hurt.

Just give up.

That was the conclusion I’d come to.

Even if everyone else died,

As long as Sung Siwoo was alive—he could finish this.

This was the original story.

I was never meant to be here to begin with.

At that point, I was insane—

And far too weak.

Drunk on success.

I’d been so fixated on “raising Sung Siwoo” that I had completely neglected my own power.

My biggest weakness—stamina—was dragging me down.

I hadn’t even prepared any tools or techniques to counter the demonic forces.

I’d simply handed off the Fragment to Siwoo and assumed he’d handle it.

—Boom!!

Far off in the distance, the sound of battle erupted.

I covered my ears.

I’m sorry... I’m sorry...

This was beyond my power.

There were three Apostles.

And I was nothing.

I’d written the setting, assumed there’d be at most one.

Even one Apostle was supposed to require all of Vanquisher to take down—maybe.

I never imagined that before the Evil God’s resurrection, this many would show up.

My plan had been to quickly identify any Apostle’s weakness and spread the strategy around.

One Apostle? I could deal with that.

That was the plan I’d built.

But now I knew—

That was the fantasy of someone who had never once died on the battlefield.

I had the Regression ability—

And I’d never died before.

My first defeat was absurdly swift.

My first death was pathetically short.

I couldn’t do anything.

It wasn’t just dying—

It was crashing into a wall I could never scale, no matter {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} how much I struggled.

And that wall...

Was built by me.

With a single careless line of text.

Self-loathing overwhelmed me.

Even if I died and regressed 400 times, nothing changed.

I still died within a few exchanges.

Still couldn’t touch them.

Still changed nothing.

This wasn’t my fight.

It wasn’t something I had the right to interfere with.

So I gave up.

The explosions in the distance were starting to fade.

Even the trembling in my hands had calmed.

The end of the battle was approaching.

But then—

A thought brushed through my mind.

If I ran away here—

Could I really keep living with myself?

No matter how much I rationalized it,

No matter how many excuses I made—

If I turned my back on this battlefield and those people,

There was no way I could return and live like nothing happened.

This was my world.

I had written its fate.

And I had to take responsibility for changing it.

If I ran now,

I wouldn’t even have the right to look Sion in the eyes again.

I closed my eyes.

Took a breath.

My heart was still pounding like mad.

Even after 400 deaths, the fear hadn’t lessened one bit.

But even so—

I had to do it.

Because it was my fault.

“......”

I lowered my hands from my ears and opened my eyes.

Clarity swept through my clouded mind.

I had finally made my decision.

To accept death.

====

[Authority: Regression]

① Regression

—Upon death, you will always return. Memories will be preserved.

② ??? (Locked)

③ ??? (Locked)

The familiar system display.

The second slot, once marked as [Locked], shone brightly.

And then—

====

② Unyielding Soul

—A mind that will never submit.

I took a deep breath.

My whole body was still shaking.

But I couldn’t look away any longer.

I would use my deaths.

The one thing I had more of than them—was time.

I rose to my feet.

And walked toward the battlefield.

Vanquisher’s members were all down.

Except for one.

The old man.

Even with his arm severed, he stood.

Fighting to the bitter end.

And finally—he collapsed.

I didn’t miss a second of it.

I took it all in with my eyes.

Then—

In the distance, a shadow disappeared.

And at the same time—

A massive greatsword came flying toward me.

I felt death approaching again.

—Clang!

My straight lance clashed with the massive blade.

The lance...

Was slowly being cut through.

But—just one more time.

To burn their movements into my eyes.

I forced them wide open.

If they were strong—

Then I would learn.

No matter how long it took.

Because this—

Was only the beginning.