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 1. New Year's Eve Bell

Every human has a desire to live.

The same goes for Ryumin.

'Otherwise, I wouldn't have come this far.'

From Round 1 to Round 20.

He barely survived, sacrificing 98 lives.

And now, on the 99th attempt.

He finally reached the end of this damned survival game.

At last, he arrived at the boss room of the final 20th round.

And as the last survivor, no less.

But things didn't go as planned.

[A minimum of five players are required to open the boss room.]

"What?"

The words escaped his mouth in disbelief.

'At least five are needed?'

Ryumin was the only one who made it to Round 20.

Yet now they say five are needed.

Faced with a quest that was impossible to clear alone from the start, Ryumin's expression turned blank.

'What kind of bullshit is this... If five were needed, they should have said so earlier!'

There were no clues in the quest messages or before entering the boss room.

He felt blindsided by this absurd condition, but that wasn't the end of it.

[One player confirmed approaching the boss room.]

[Due to insufficient conditions, the player will be eliminated.]

"Huh?"

There wasn't even time to feel the futility.

His body was already disintegrating at the molecular level.

The last words Ryumin left before dying were:

"F*ck."

[You have died.]

[Conditions for 'Time Reversal Rune' have been met.]

[Rewinding time to before Round 1.]

[Chances used: 100/100]

[All remaining chances have been used.]

[The engraved rune will automatically disappear.]

As the shadow of death fell before his eyes, Ryumin was reborn.

As a level 1 novice player.

[Starting the 100th regression.]

* * *

December 31, 2021.

Many citizens and reporters had gathered in front of Bosingak Pavilion in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

They were there to hear the New Year's Eve bell.

"Many citizens are waiting for the bell-ringing ceremony to welcome a hopeful new year."

"This year's bell-ringing will be attended by Seoul Mayor Ma Dong-won and various figures from different sectors of society..."

Amidst the broadcasting cameras rolling, Ryumin came to his senses.

'I'm back. To before getting caught up in this cursed game.'

Looking around, he saw countless people waiting excitedly for midnight, their faces lit up.

Not knowing their expectations would soon turn to despair.

'If only I could stop time.'

But time flows on.

Whether happy or tedious, painful or difficult, time flows regardless.

It never stops, no matter how much one rages against it.

'Even if I can regress to the past.'

But this is the last time.

He used up all his extra chances by dying.

'This is my last chance. I must kill the boss of Round 20 and survive this insane game.'

Though it was his final opportunity, there was hope.

Now that he knew the entry condition for the boss room was five people, he could plan accordingly.

'I'll have to completely revise my previous plans.'

Until now, he focused solely on his own survival, disregarding companions.

Honestly, he didn't have the mental capacity to consider others.

It was a survival game where falling behind in the competition meant death.

As a result, he reached Round 20 with unrivaled power, but...

'Ridiculously, five people were needed for the final round... If I didn't have extra lives, I would have been done for.'

It turned out to be a game that couldn't be cleared alone.

Ryumin felt like he had been tricked by an intentional trap set by God.

'This is the last time. I can't regress anymore.'

Until now, he had no time to look around, but that's no longer the case.

Unlike before, he now needs to lead four others besides himself to the final round.

'Of course, I don't plan to baby them. It's hard enough to strengthen myself.'

He just intends to use them for the last round.

'Who should I team up with? I guess it's best to fill the team with capable allies for the boss battle?'

He recalled some named characters who died in Round 18.

Various plans formed in his mind.

Being the last chance, he needed to plan more carefully and meticulously.

As he was mentally checking his plans and making resolutions...

"The time has finally come. Let's count down together!"

With the host's voice, the countdown to death began.

"20! 19! 18!"

People started counting from 20 with expectant faces.

"...3, 2, 1!"

The Seoul Mayor and various celebrities in front of the New Year's Eve bell pushed the log to ring it.

Dong- Dong- Dong-!

"The new year of 2022 has dawned! Happy New Year, everyone!"

"Woooooo!"

Smiles bloomed on everyone's faces as they cheered.

But that was only for a moment.

[Kekeke. Humans are interesting. Celebrating the new year without knowing their situation.]

At the sudden voice in their heads, the smiles disappeared from people's faces.

"What? What was that sound just now..."

"What did you just say?"

"I didn't say anything?"

People looked around in confusion.

Some looked at each other, thinking their neighbors had spoken.

Others tilted their heads, wondering if they had misheard.

While reactions varied slightly, the emotion felt was the same.

Confusion.

But among them, only one person, Ryumin, was not confused.

Everything was proceeding exactly as he knew it would.

'I've experienced this situation 99 times already. I can't be confused.'

After calmly waiting, he heard the unpleasant laughter again.

[Kyohohoho. You look just like monkeys trapped in a cage. It doesn't matter. Humans are adaptable creatures, aren't they?]

"Wh-what? Where is this voice coming from?"

"Is the broadcasting station playing a prank?"

"Hey, does that make sense? A hidden camera prank during the bell-ringing ceremony?"

"Then what is this voice?"

A cauldron of confusion.

With just a voice, people fell into panic.

The celebrities even forgot about ringing the bell.

Indeed, they couldn't dismiss the voice in their heads as a trick.

'That angel brat should hurry up and show itself. Enough with the games.'

Though called an angel, its actions were devilish.

Through 99 regressions, Ryumin had painfully realized this fact.

'Of course, this isn't the doing of low-level beings like angels.'

Clearly, there was a separate host behind this insane game.

The angels were merely NPCs to explain the game.

'Though it's too serious a situation to simply compare to a game.'

Shortly after, a brilliant light descended from the sky.

People unanimously murmured at the woman who appeared with the light.

"An... angel?"

A pair of wings, skin like white jade, beauty that would make celebrities jealous.

The woman who descended from the sky matched the image of angels people knew.

'Though her personality is that of a devil.'

Only Ryumin was not captivated by the angel's outward appearance.

Others would soon learn as well.

How much the angel despised humans.

[Trash-like humans. It seems you're all captivated by my appearance. Looking at you all staring stupidly.]

"..."

[It's best not to harbor foolish thoughts. I have no intention of associating with worm-like humans.]

The angel's smile was beautiful, but people couldn't simply smile back.

How could they smile after being insulted?

[Seeing you all turn serious, it seems my voice is being conveyed properly. Kekeke.]

It was then.

A brave young man loudly asked the question everyone was curious about.

"Who are you? An angel? Are you the one talking to me?"

The angel's gaze fell on the young man.

Ryumin looked at him with pitying eyes.

'May the deceased rest in peace.'

The young man who offended the angel would soon die.

[How annoying.]

Right now.

Splat-!

The young man's head burst like a watermelon.

As blood splattered everywhere, nearby people screamed in shock.

"Kyaaaa!"

"Huk!"

Only the angel furrowed her beautiful brow in irritation.

[How dare a lowly human speak informally to me, a superior being. How unpleasant.]

Though he was already dead and couldn't hear, the angel continued to express her displeasure.

[And who said you could ask questions? You humans have no right to question me. Don't try to act on my level. Unless you want your head to explode like that human.]

"..."

At the frosty voice, tens of thousands of people held their breath in unison.

Fear gripped the crowd that they too might have their heads explode if they said the wrong thing.

'That's exactly what the angel wants.'

People in panic had no room for rational judgment.

Except for Ryumin.

[You must be wondering what's going on? Don't understand what I'm saying? Well, what would inferior humans know? I'll explain it simply, one by one. That's my role after all.]

The angel spoke with a contemptuous look.

[On the 1st of every month, you humans will fall into a collective sleep. Then your souls will be forcibly transferred to awaken in a new dimension.]

Soul transfer? New dimension?

It was nonsense, but no one could refute it.

The current situation with an angel appearing was already unbelievable.

[There's only one thing for you humans to do there. Complete the given quests. If you complete the quests, you can return to reality. With hefty rewards too.]

No one was happy to hear they could return if they succeeded in the quests.

In other words, it meant they couldn't return if they failed.

But some harbored expectations.

Whatever the quest was, they could survive if they succeeded, right?

If they took their time and progressed slowly, surely they could survive.

However, the angel's next words shattered such hopes mercilessly.

[Not everyone who completes the quests can survive. Only the fastest half to pass the quests will be spared. So it's best not to dawdle. Kekeke.]

"On-only half can survive..."

In other words, it was a competitive survival game with a fixed quota.

[We'll conduct a total of 20 rounds, once on the 1st of every month. As I said before, only half can survive each round, and the quests will get progressively harder.]

"Th-that..."

They had to go through not just once, but twenty times to survive.

Despair fell over people's faces.

[Kekeke, don't worry too much though. We won't take everyone. Only humans between the ages of 15 and 29 as of now will participate in the survival game.]

There was an age limit.

The impact of those words was considerable.

'Phew... Thank goodness.'

'I guess I won't be included.'

While adults not in the mentioned age range inwardly felt relieved.

"But, but I'm included?"

"What do I do! My birthday is January 1st, so I turn 15 this year!"

Those in their teens and twenties who fell within the age range felt the sky was falling.

'Well, I have nothing to complain about.'

Ryumin, whose birthday was January 1st, was 19 years old this year.

An age he couldn't argue against.

'Though I've actually lived over 100 years if you count.'

While his outward appearance was that of a high school student, he had lived countless years through 99 regressions.

Days filled with survival were as vivid as yesterday.

'To think I'd get caught up in this f*cking event on my birthday of all days.'

Talk about bad luck.

It felt a bit unfair too.

[I see some humans looking upset, but there's no need. We'll be taking humans from all over the world, not just those here.]

No one thought the angel laughing "kekeke" was beautiful anymore.

Devil.

At least the angel they saw now was closer to a devil.

[Let's see... Counting humans aged 15 to 29, the number of participants would be 1,801,029,290. Well, that's about it for the explanation, shall we go? Kyohohoho.]

As soon as those words ended, everything went dark as if the lights had been turned off.

It was the moment when about 1.8 billion people would participate in a deadly survival game.