New World

"What do you mean by it?" I asked, confusion etched on my face. "Can I just die anytime and start again, without any effect of death?"

Eunnyait, with a sly grin, responded, "Well, no. Your death will affect you, and that effect will be more frightening than actual death."

I frowned, a hint of fear in my voice. "What effect?"

He leaned back, his casual demeanour unchanged. "Nothing much, but with every regression, you will lose 'a very tiny part of your sanity, less than a percent."

"How much sanity do I have?" I questioned.

Eunnyait, almost nonchalant, replied, "Don't worry; there is no limit to your sanity. You have unlimited sanity."

My confusion deepened. If sanity was unlimited, why a tiny bit insanity be frightening? Eunnyait, with a mischievous smile, added, "Well, if you have unlimited sanity, the amount of insanity you can have been also unlimited, kekekekek."

The implication hit me like a ton of bricks – an endless cycle of death and increasing insanity. Why would I subject myself to this?

"No, I don't want this Regression thing. I don't want this endless cycle of going nowhere; death gives meaning to an existence. If there is no death, what's the point of life? My accomplishments would lose meaning; things I can do can be done by any person with enough time invested. Isn't life all about making the best use of our limited lifespan? I will have to respectfully decline, God Eunnyait." I have read enough stories of regressors to understand what a hellish trap this is.

"You know, a normal 16-year-old would have been worshiping me like a deity if I told them I will make them immortal, but you are not a normal 16-year-old, are you, Alex, the Genius of the century? Well, even if I wanted to, I could not give you immortality because your existence is not based on just one fabric of existence. Even if you have unlimited time, you need space to maintain your existence, so you will eventually die."

"So, you want me to wait till the planet collapses or till the galaxy dies? That's like a few trillion years." I will be a like vampire, sleeping endlessly in a coffin to pass time.

"Well, I can give you death whenever you want it. All you have to do is find me. Is it good enough?"

If its just to find him, isn't it doable? But he is a god or God-like, he could be anywhere on the planet, or heaven, no not heaven but anywhere in the galaxy, or maybe universe. This is a trap; this is impossible if he doesn't want to be found then there is almost no way to find him.

"Depends, how easy is it to find you? Are you liking a powerful god-like entity in the world I am going to?" Please just say you have a big palace or temple or something.

"No, I am a guy on his last breaths but don't worry, I have very large breaths, so you would have enough time to find me. And even if you can't find me, I am destined to die anyway. You can choose to remove this curse after my death, as my will to invoke this curse will be lost."

"I don't know; I am not really convinced. It could be a billion years or way more. Even if my body didn't die, I would be bored to death anyway. Can you not give me some hints to find you?" I don't want to waste this opportunity but this is suicide, wait suicide, will it give me permanent death?

"No and you already agreed to the contract, so I already have your confirmation. But for understanding's sake, tell me, would you want to go to this scary new world without any 'insurance' that you were hoping for? An you are not looking for handouts, are you? You have to pay the price if you want something, don't you agree?"

"I never agreed to any contract, and maybe I am going to a demon realm for all I know. I need the insurance to have the chance to actually enjoy it. And I don't want handouts, but this is overpriced."

"Well, did I tell you there are some people on this planet that are able to kill you, like permanent death, to be exact 7 people."

Why didn't he start with that, this is not hopeless yet.

"How will I find them? How do I know it's them? Tell me their identity, at least." If I know them, then I can have them kill me when its time.

"No handouts, kid. I already gave you what I could give you. And even if you can't find them, you have unlimited time. Try dying by every person out there, hihihihih."

There are 7 people and supposedly unlimited lifespan, I am bound to meet them.

"Never mind then. I may never meet you again, God Eunnyait. So, for this second chance and hopefully a better life, thank you in advance. I would try my best to repay you."

"Accepted. Now, usher into this new world, Alexander Sterling."

There was a look of worry on Eunnyait's face,"Keep yourself sane, kid," were his parting words before I was transferred to the "New World."

A blinding white light surrounded me, and as it faded, I could see a picturesque grassland, beautiful scenery, mountains, and... swish

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

(What was that? How did I die?)

I can see the same grassland, beautiful scenery, and... swish

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

(Why, how, and from where?)

I'm back; I can feel my body, but how did I die? swish

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

I can feel my neck torn apart with some sharp object; something is chopping my neck. swish

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

My head hurts, and everything is getting reddish. swish

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[YOU HAVE DIED]

I tried to move forward, run straight, take just one step, but each attempt ended in death.

I will sacrifice my hand; I just need to save my neck. Swish

Ahhhhhh! my hand, its completely chopped off, Ah ah but 'I'm alive,' looking back, I saw a green animal, green humanoid animal lying there with its head severed, and some people with shabby outfits and swords.

"It's a human!" A guy in the back shouted. "How did you spawn in the goblin respawning area?" one with sword smeared in my blood inquired.

A question that I want answer for too, but even I didn't know the answer. It dawned on me that he is one who is killing me again and again.

[User has been killed only once in every regression]

A mysterious message appeared. Despite being killed numerous times, the system acknowledged only one death. I cannot explain myself in this situation, and I am about to pass out because of the blood loss, I need information.

"Someone teleported me here, I don't know what's going on, please help me!!"

Shouldn't he teleport me to some safe place, of all the places in the world he teleported me in the midst of a fucking slaughter. I need to survive this, I need information.

Swish

FHOOM

"Fire, fire ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

I am burning, I am dying!"

"No human comes out of a monster respawn area"

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

I'm back, everything is the same as before...

Swish

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

(Yeah, completely same just my head hurts more every time)

Bend my body forward, simple. 'I'm alive, it was much easier this time. So, they were killing me thinking I was a goblin.' Can't say it was their fault. I wasn't angry, I just wanted to somehow start my second life, and at this point, this isn't even the second anymore. "Who are you?" "And how did you spawn in the goblin respawning area?" Familiar questions that I don't know the answers for but maybe my status window knows about it. But will the system work here? I called out, (Status window)

[Registering in system]

[User is already part of the system]

[Combining the systems data]

[All the past skills are being added to the local system]

Local system, how many systems are there?

[Status window is ready!]

<Buzz >

NAME: Alexander Sterling

RACE: HUMAN

AGE: 16

OCCUPATION: APOSTLE OF 'EUNNYAIT'

SKILLS

1. LEADERSHIP (B-)

- User has good leading skills. The skill has been stagnated for a long time because of the user's lack of knowledge in his subjects.

2. KNOWLEDGE SEEKER (B-)

- User has a very good amount of knowledge and constantly seeks more knowledge. This skill will develop according to the amount of knowledge of different dimensions.

3. BODY MASTER (C+)

- User has trained his body to a very good level. All physical activities will have very good outputs. This skill will develop according to the user's hard work.

4. REGRESSION (Authority)

- User can regress. There is no specified limit on the number of regressions. User's stats will be the same before the regression.

5. MIND CORRUPTION (Authority)

- User will lose a small amount of sanity (0.3%) with every regression. Amount of insanity accumulated: 3.9%

6. WISE INTERPRETER (A)

- User can interpret many languages and can also speak the interpreted language. This skill is being strengthened by 'KNOWLEDGE SEEKER.' The system will provide ideas and views in certain situations.

7. DEATH IS MY GIRLFRIEND (SSS+)

- With every death, the user will have minuscule increased strength in the body. With a slight increase in mana and physical body prowess. Power will increase with the number of deaths. Current death count: 13

Some new skills. Some great and some scary new skills, and some of my skills' levels increased too. Humans weren't able to have any skills higher than C in my past world, and it was just me who had two C-level skills. I was one in a billion hidden genius cause people can't see each other's status no matter what you do, and it's impossible to share the details verbally, via writing, or telepathically. So, you can only judge people's abilities via their action, and if you are able to hide well, then you can live a normal peaceful life, like I was doing. Now, some smartass will ask, how did they know no one had a higher skill level than C? Well, you can see that in system details because our world level was C, the system rating for my world was mostly peaceful. Every government had a declaration that anyone who had a skill level higher than D was a country genius and would be employed by the government itself, awarded with the best life for serving the country. And now, and now I have a sss+ skill. But why is this mind corruption? Is this the effect Eunnyait was talking about and the reason for my headache...*THUD* "It was a monster... maybe."

(Guess they won't let my inner monologue to end)

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

One step forward swish now I'm alive. Now let's try to keep being alive. 'I have to give them insurance that I'm not a monster' "Who are you?" "And why did you spawn in the goblin respawning area?" Same familiar questions that I still don't know the answers to, but I have to say something and soon. 'What do I say? 'He is swinging his sword'; "Wait, I'm not a monster!" He stopped, yes! He stopped. Now say something else, yes, introduce myself – swish

"Humans don't spawn in monster respawning area"

[YOU HAVE DIED]

[MENTAL CORRUPTION INCREASED BY 0.3%]

[YOU ARE BEING REGRESSED]

(Got it, humans don't spawn in this area, there is simply no way out, that fucking god!)