Against The Returner

30 minutes earlier.

Sorath was reading his "Book of Prophecy" until the maid, Marie, told him that the head family would return in an hour. Hearing the news, Sorath closed his book and put it in his personal safe.

"Marie—"

"I have prepared it, Young Master."

Sorath blinked twice, looking both surprised and impressed by his maid's work ethic. Smiling, he promised her he would double— triple her pay this month.

The maid bowed as Sorath walked past her. "Thank you, Young Master."

Arriving at the bathroom, he undressed his clothes and threw them in the basket. He felt the breeze graze his unprotected skin for a moment before he got in the tub. And as soon as the warm water enveloped him, Sorath moaned.

"This feels amazing…"

He leaned back, savoring the moment after being trapped for 7 years inside the soul realm. Back then, he didn't need a bath because he didn't have a physical body. But as a living soul, the urge to experience the living's privilege was still there.

"If only I could feel not only the hardship but also the leisure she had experienced…"

With a sigh, he enjoyed the rest of his bath in silence as he recalled the memory of the Author when she lived as Sorath Shedever.

After finishing his bath, Sorath dressed up in a comfortable style.

"Marie, when did you say Father will return from the 49th-floor conquest?" Sorath asked as he put on his black and white overcoat over the turtleneck shirt.

"It was an hour, Young Master."

Sorath stood in front of the mirror, adjusting his overall look and combing his hair.

"So, around 40 minutes left?"

"Yes, Young Master."

Sorath turned around.

"Good."

The warm, long-sleeved turtleneck hugged him. On top of that, the overcoat added a layer of protection from the cold weather of the early winter. The black, fitted pants moved along seamlessly as he walked through the main hall.

Exiting the building, the cold wind greeted him. His black hair fluttered occasionally as strong winds hit him. He looked around and spotted a group of teenagers in the beautiful garden spread in his vision.

Smirking, he said.

"I want to take a walk in the garden for a while."

All kinds of plants, which some of them Sorath recognized, decorated the garden. Red flowers. Blue flowers. Everything. It was said that his mother loved flowers and plants, and so the head family built this garden for her wife.

'Mother…'

Suddenly, his phone vibrated.

Pulling it out of the coat pocket, his delicate fingers navigated through the screen and texted with someone. He received news that the assassin had found his target, but waiting for his order.

Without thinking it too much, Sorath sent the order immediately. When he did so, a familiar voice entered his ears. It was coming from one of the girls in the group he spotted earlier.

"Oh, that is…"

Shoving his phone inside his pocket, Sorath walked toward the group. Yet, only five steps in, and the world before him suddenly distorted. He tried to reach the group as his vision twisted, and then a completely different place welcomed him.

He stood in front of his room, eyes wide. After a moment, while still confused about what had happened, he looked left and right, finding the familiar corridor that connected the bedrooms to the living room.

"What?"

At the same time, a "Ding" noise sounded in his head, and a window message popped up in his vision. Unfortunately, due to his current situation, he unconsciously swiped the message away.

Turning around, the door of his own room came into his vision. Sorath entered his room and took in his surroundings. Everything looked the same as always. He found no oddities or traces of the supernatural going on in his room.

Well, that was what he thought before he finally walked in front of the mirror and caught the difference in his clothes.

Instead of the overcoat over his long-sleeved turtleneck, he wore the red sweatshirt hoodie from yesterday. The very sweatshirt he wore after the old writer returned to his office without his memories of three days in this mansion.

"What's happening?"

Sitting down on the chair, he wondered about this supernatural event. After some thinking, two things came up.

The assassin, and Julian.

"It must be that!"

He stomped the floor and slammed the table with a satisfying sound. Rummaging the pocket of his sweatshirt, he finally found his phone.

Turning it on, he found another piece of evidence that confirmed his guess. The date.

It was November 27th when he took a walk in the garden. But, the screen showed him November 26th instead, which was the day when the "Book of Prophecy" was completed. As for the time, previously, he had glanced at the time before turning off his phone, which was 3:07 p.m.

Since 3 minutes had passed from his initial return, meaning that now was 3:10 p.m.

With that, he had guessed it right. The return of time was caused by either Julian or the assassin. But between the two, Julian seemed likely the case.

Sorath frowned.

"But how…?"

***

The next day, he performed the same scenario before the event happened.

Wearing the same clothing, saying the same lines, walking the same path, texting the same messages, and even hearing the same noises from the group of girls.

However, this time, after the world distorted, after his vision twisted, and the view of the corridor in front of his room came into his line of sight. He noticed what previously he did not.

The "Ding" sound, and the window message.

[You have returned 24 hours into the past from "Rewind" Trace.]

Sorath grinned.

"This has turned into something interesting, Julian. Thanks to you, everything will be different."

In the two novels and the Author's second life as Sorath Shedever, that he read and witnessed, there had never been information about the Protagonist, Julian Vincent, possessing a Trace that could rewind time. Even his regression wasn't caused by a Trace but by an Architect who pitied him.

This could mean that the Architect who helped him previously had helped him again by bestowing him a Trace like the guardian did to Sorath.

"Or… due to some errors in the Guardian's technique, that guy luckily received a Trace by mistake."

As per Sorath's knowledge, only that Architect who pitied Julian and the Guardian of Time possessed the power over time. If not them, then who else?"

"It doesn't matter. I can always change my plan. For now, I want to abuse that power of his first."

Making up his mind, Sorath came up with a new plan in an instant.

That was to live his life in a loop.

He didn't do anything about the problem. He knew that Julian wouldn't be able to survive for more than 24 hours.

What made it even more amusing was the fact that no matter what Julian did to avoid his defined death, the assassin Sorath hired would kill him unnoticed. Right now, Julian was just an ordinary human. It didn't matter even if he had a ton of experience from his previous life.

All of that was, at the moment, useless against the assassin.

***

A dirty boy walked in the alleyway. His eyes relentlessly paid attention to every detail of the tall, ruined buildings, looking for a danger lurking in the shadow. His ears and stances were guarded up, ready to face or flee.

Even a small source of noise like…

Hiss!

Or

Squeak!

From the snake and rat far from his current position, the boy always reacted.

He could easily hear the smallest volume of any sound. And that was thanks to him getting killed a dozen times by something he couldn't identify because of how quick his death was.

Even so, that was not enough to prevent him from getting killed again.

Swoosh!

The world suddenly turned upside down. The moon shone brightly in the night sky. It was so beautiful. But that was not the case for the dirty boy. After his repeated life-and-death cycle in a short time, he had come to resent the moon for always appearing in his last moments.

"Ah… I can't take it anymore…"