5. A Eternal curse
"A familiar ceiling!"
Now, this ceiling and this cabin have become a habit of mine. Every time I regress, I return to this very spot on this very day. No change in that. But the dream... was it of my very first iteration? I don't remember.
"Now, how many times has it been?"
I got up from my bed and sat at the edge of the bed. I think my mind and feelings are going numb. Are these memories real, or are they just dreams? I went to the desk at the end of the cabin. In the drawer, I found some paper, a pen, and an ink bottle. It has become a habit; I don't know in which iteration I started to take note of what was happening and why I died. But this time again, I started to write the details of my last iteration and why I died in all those iterations.
I lost count of how many times I died after my 27th time. I thought there was no need to take note of the number. Instead, I started to note the deaths in my last ten iterations.
'Death,' the word that brought me despair at some point, is now a fact to me. Because no matter what I do, I am never able to change the end result. In this loop, I am stuck endlessly, all alone. I am quite surprised at how I am still not broken until now. In these countless iterations and countless deaths, the circle always repeats itself.
"Finished!"
Now, I have assimilated all the data with the game storyline as well. At some point, I started to even forget the world's development. But I don't feel like following any order now. The question of what and for whom I am fighting has started to arise.
But the most concerning part is!
"Status."
---------------(Stats)---------------
LVL -> 1
HP -> 95/95
Mana -> 15/15
Strength -> F Stamina -> F
Mana -> F Magic -> F
Defense -> F Attack -> F
Spirit Mag -> C Magic Def -> E
Skills -> Farming (lvl-2)
Active skills -> ########
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These are my stats, which never change. Each time I start, everything resets to the beginning: the time, the stats, the world, and the memories of people around me. What I carry in each iteration are the memories of the failure that always lead to a dead end.
"I could have been easier if I could also forget the iterations."
In each iteration, I never tried to interfere with the hero because I was always afraid that I already had a disadvantage. What if my interference would make me lose that single advantage I had over others? That advantage was knowledge of the future.
"Now, I don't care about anything; let's do what I want."
No matter what course of action i took the result was no different than any other past regressions. Anytime, every time i lost something or someone. Till now i followed the plot just for that single advantage which never gave me any fruitful outcome. A side character like me has a little impact on the world outcome. No matter how strong i became, just to protect what little i have. Everything gets changed just by a single action of Hero. His single move brings a groundbreaking change to world. As i already know the world resolves around him.
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Active Skill requirement met: -
Requirement: Experience 100 death
Difficulty: Impossible
Skill: Returner
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"What the hell? That scared the life out of me. What is this? Some kind of quest?"
Suddenly, this window appeared in front of me. I never accepted any quest regarding this, and what's this?
"Has it been 100 times already!"
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Active Skill -> Returner: -
Rating: SS
Description: All the past regression stats will accumulate into one.
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"What did it mean by all past regr..."
Suddenly, I felt a crushing sensation all over my body, as if all my muscles and bones were being crushed. I needed to bear this; this was nothing compared to all that I had faced until now.
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You gained experience: level up
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Many pop-up screens like these were flashing in front of my eyes, but I couldn't keep track of all of them as the pain was already crushing my heart.
----
After an hour of struggle, the pain slowly subsided. I was lying flat on the floor. A tar-like sticky substance was all over my body, and, above all, my body smelled terrible. I needed a quick bath. But, first of all, I needed to confirm something.
---------------(Stats)---------------
LVL -> NAN
HP -> 8459/9759
Mana -> 5335/5335
Strength -> S Stamina -> S
Mana -> SS Magic -> S
Defense -> S Attack -> SS
Spirit Mag -> C Magic Def -> S
Skills -> Farming (lvl-11), hunting (lvl- #), swordsman (lvl- #), Archery (lvl- #), cooking (lvl- #)
single-hand sword (lvl- #), Firebolt (lvl- #) ....(more)
Active skills -> Returner
message-> "😐"
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"What the hell is wrong with these numbers?"