In a pitch-black space where nothing can be seen.
Except for endless darkness, there's nothing. It's as if the darkness of oblivion has enveloped this place, and I stand alone.
How did I end up here? Where am I? What was I just doing?
Questions without answers arise in my head, but they soon evaporate. Just like this black void, my mind also gets engulfed in darkness.
"Kim Junho."
A hoarse voice calls me from behind. I turn around.
"...Choi Jiwon?"
Choi Jiwon. She's looking at me. With her black ponytail, jeans, and rolled-up white shirt, she looks like the Choi Jiwon I saw in the tutorial, not the one wearing leather armor on the 2nd or 3rd floor.
However, her lips were blue, her skin dry and shriveled, and her clothes were torn in places.
"Kim Junho."
Her voice, dry as a drained reservoir, her eyes as vacant as this black void.
"I curse you."
Choi Jiwon approaches, step by step.
"After you left, everyone in the tutorial starved to death. Of course, with all the goblins committing suicide and food running out, it was inevitable."
Choi Jiwon's cheeks become hollow, eyes sinking in. Her arms and legs are skeletal, and her hair starts to fall out.
"I, too, curse you for leaving this world and regressing alone."
She stares at me, her face now resembling a zombie's, eyes filled with despair, sorrow, and hatred.
"I also curse you."
This time it's a deep male voice.
"I despise you. I despise you for being the only survivor. We were all left to die, but you kept progressing, laughing."
Kangchan. He's glaring at me.
"In the world you left, we suffered endlessly and died."
Back in the tutorial, Baek Dahye is shedding tears. Ankyungjoon is tearing at his hair, and Dok Soohee is cutting herself with a dagger while laughing.
"I curse you."
"We curse you."
"We wish for your gruesome death."
Countless people whose names I can't even remember are cursing me.
In this black void, they all seem to despise only me.
And I, who is receiving all this malice...
"Go away."
I'm unfazed.
Crash!
Realizing that, the black void shatters, revealing a familiar stone room. The room that spouted nonsense about testing mental strength through fear.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Beside me, Dok Soohee is twisting in agony, shedding tears. She used to wake up either before me or at the same time, but it seems I regained consciousness much earlier than in previous loops.
"I did wrong..."
Fear is agonizing. Everyone wants to avoid it, and it's one of the hardest emotions to overcome.
But why am I so unaffected? Simply because I've experienced it multiple times? It seems too numb even for that.
When I think about it, even when I cleared the trap corridor earlier, I wasn't particularly happy. Dok Soohee and Ankyungjoon genuinely praised me, but their compliments didn't evoke any emotion in me.
"Damn it..."
The reason is simple.
I've regressed too many times.
The path to reach the arrow trap wasn't short. There were many variables.
Every time I regressed, I performed predetermined actions to get the desired outcome, and others reacted to me in a set manner.
If you put in the same input and get the same output, it's not a human, it's a robot. An NPC.
At some point, the people progressing with me on the 3rd floor didn't seem human. They looked more like inanimate objects.
It's not good. Not good at all.
Not seeing people as people and not valuing life is a primary symptom of "Regresser's Syndrome."
It may be a natural phenomenon after regressing dozens, hundreds of times. But it's not the ending I want for myself.
"...Wake up."
"Ah, uh... Thank you."
I must be consciously alert. People are people. Just because I've been given the ability to regress doesn't give me the right to look down on others.
Snap!
I slap my cheek and gather my thoughts.
But even if I consciously pull myself together, I can't deny the fact that a part of the regressor's mentality has taken root deep within me...
"Oh, you're here? We just arrived..." Walking down the path, I came across Ankyungjoon and Kangchan, brushing the dust off their bodies. Because I overcame the fear room quickly, it seems we arrived at the golem room simultaneously.
Unintentionally, my gaze landed on Kangchan's fist. My fate is tied to that fist. If Kangchan suddenly says, "Hmm... Why isn't this breaking?" here, then I'm completely screwed.
"...Wait a moment. I'll use my skill to assess what's ahead."
Of course, I can't let them catch on. In a monotonous tone, I gazed forward, narrowing my eyes naturally.
"It seems... there's a monster up ahead... its characteristics are..."
The lie, now all too familiar, smoothly rolled off my tongue, and the expressions of others gradually became tense.
Technically, the golem we're facing is an absurd monster. Being only on the 3rd floor, encountering such a formidable creature doesn't make sense.
"But it's okay. We have Kangchan."
But while the situation on their side doesn't make sense, we also have our own nonsensical monster. His name is Kangchan.
"If Kangchan can handle that monster...! He's our only hope...!"
All eyes turned to Kangchan. He seemed a bit taken aback but stood silently without showing it.
He thoughtfully closed his eyes for a moment and then gave a slight nod.
"Alright. I'll do it."
In the corridor that resembled a gangway.
Kangchan led the way, with the other three of us following behind.
Will it work? No, it has to.
"...That's the one."
As we silently walked, we quickly reached the golem. It currently lay scattered as pieces of metal, and the plan was for Ankyungjoon to throw his spear to wake it.
"...Hmm..."
Ankyungjoon, the strong man, pulled out an ornate wooden spear. Just as he was about to throw it, Dok Soohee blocked his way.
"Wait a minute!"
Hastily, she took out a piece of a wolf's heart. Just as in the previous loop, the heart fragment turned into a transparent flame in Dok Soohee's hand, and she placed the flame on the spear.
"One more!"
She took out another heart and placed the fiery chunk on Kangchan's leather armor.
"...What did you do?"
"I enchanted the armor! Can you feel the increased strength?"
"...Fascinating."
The scope of the 'enchant' seems broader than I thought. Just placing it was enough.
"...Now I'll really throw it."
Ankyungjoon shot a slightly annoyed glance at Dok Soohee and took a deep breath.
Swoosh! Crash! Boom!
The thrown spear met the golem's body.
Roar!
The impact was immediate. Metal pieces from all around began to form the golem, which then charged at Kangchan.
Whooooom!
The golem, with its arm-like metal masses, aimed a fast and heavy blow at Kangchan. If he gets hit by that, he'd end up just like in the previous loop - a bloody mess. The attack was terrifying to even watch from a distance.
Yet, Kangchan's expression remained calm. He didn't exude any fierce aura as before, nor did he awkwardly dodge.
He simply took a stance and stared down the golem.
Roar!
The fist glows. The metal giant charges. The fist moves. The metal is about to hit Kangchan.
"Ha!"
At the very last moment, Kangchan's fist disappeared.
Crash! Boom!
A deafening impact sound echoed.
Krrrrrr!
Blinding light, shaking ground, and a roar so loud it felt like it would deafen us. Most of our senses were paralyzed for a moment.
After a brief passage of time, when our senses returned,
"...The door ahead has opened. Let's go."
Kangchan turned to look at the three of us.
"...Wow."
Behind him, amidst scattered metal fragments,
"Heh, hehe..."
We succeeded. We finally did it. We finally defeated the golem. The joy is immeasurable. A warmth surged from deep within my chest. Indeed, I wasn't completely broken. Realizing that, my mood lifted even more. Perhaps the reason I didn't feel joy earlier was because I was weighed down by the worry of "What if I can't defeat the golem?" lingering in a corner of my heart.
However, this isn't the end. The passage continues, and there are still tasks to complete.
"...There's a door."
Lost in thought, I soon found myself facing a stone door. A familiar stone door, with four palm-shaped indentations.
We exchanged glances and, placing our palms on the stone door, it began to move with a rumble.
What would jump out at us? A monster? A trap? A puzzle?
But what revealed itself wasn't any threatening entity.
"This is..."
Torches hung on the walls, and in the center of the room, four large chests.
Four of us. Each person could take one chest. We don't know what's inside, but given the situation, it's likely something significant.
Yet, for some reason, all our gazes didn't linger on the chests.
"...What's that?"
On the opposite side of the room, there were two doors.
One was the familiar stone door design we've seen so far, with four palm-shaped indentations.
The issue was... the other stone door.
A blood-red stone door with only one palm indentation.