A mature looking man could be seen in an abandoned wasteland, fighting against a colossal being, he seemed sluggish...perhaps even tired, his eyes showed a dead expression.
*Clash!*
The man's sword would be knocked away and he would drop to his knees, defeated. How many times had it been? He could barely remember, thankfully he had his "best pal" in the whole wide world, the system to help him out...
[Regression System]
[Current Round : 998]
Looking at him crumpled on the ground was his "arch nemesis"-The Demon King, as the Demon King stared at his greatest adversary with a solemn expression, he would say to him:
"It seems I've won again. If what you say is true, and that you are infact a regressor, one destined to come and kill me. The only thing I wish for is that in your next life, you'll take a break from all of your suffering and try to live a normal life. I can't have my greatest foe be a depressed mess after all. Get some rest, will you?"
And with that, the Demon King would bring down his claw, instantaneously beheading the fallen hero.
[Regression system activating!]
[Current Round : 999, good luck!]
"Shut up, stupid system..."
This man, named Mark, was a regressor. Someone who could turn back time, summoned to another world with a single purpose. Slay the Demon King or die trying. Little did he know the die trying part was infact, a lie, as the first time he faced off against the Demon King and faced a gruesome death, he wound up right where it all began...this Forest. The place he initially transmigrated into all those years ago.
This would mark his 1000th life in this other world, an amount of time no intelligent living being should have to live through, as the wear and tear over the years slowly got to him. Leaving him as a depressed, lazy mess. Plagued with the guilt of his past.
Perhaps it was because he felt extremely burnt out, or maybe because of the fact it was his 1000th life in this world and that meant something special to him, he decided to listen to the Demon King's words this time and try to take a break.
He would get up and dust himself off, he knew this place like the back of his hand so he quickly found his way to a local village. Upon entering, he saw the village being raided by monsters. Goblins, orcs, ogres, you name it. All of the classic video game enemies were ransacking the village for all it was worth.
"Help! Save u-"
*Smash*
Mark however, was simply tired of it all, he just wanted some peace and relaxation for once. He had seen so much death and suffering, that he had become numb to it, so he ignored the raid on the village and simply stole their money from their treasury, to be used later on if need be.
Afterwards, he would head back to the forest and begin chopping down trees like some sort of video game. He would spend the next couple of days collecting materials and building a small hut in the forest.
------
1 Week later.
"Finally..."
Mark would lie down on his newly constructed bed, inside his cozy new home, without a responsibility or worry in sight, peace at last. He would decide to keep living a peaceful life, for a while, making the most out of this regression turn, atleast, he hoped so. To hopefully wipe away some of his mental scars.
When he actually tried falling asleep though, the screams of his past selves kept him awake, so he casted a sleep spell on himself so he could get some rest finally.
A few days later, Mark was sitting in his cottage, eating some deer he hunted and cooked, using expertise from his previous lives. When he started to reminisce on his past lives.
His 0th turn, when his hope for the future was still bright, when he was amazed by the world he was transported into.
"Naive fool."
In his 0th turn, he spent all sorts of time hanging around others and making friends, but when the actual Demon King arrived, he was powerless against it. That was because In this world, magic grows stronger the older your memories are. Meaning someone like him, a Regressor, was a perfect fit for the role of slaying the Demon King. What a "wonderful idea" Mark would think. The Demon King was over 100 million years old, and possessed a cheat skill that made it so if the opponents memory count exceeded his, then his power would rise to match theirs. Ensuring a fair fight no matter what.
In his 5th round, Mark became a archmage, devoting all of his time and effort into the study of magic, especially ancient magic and dark magic, the two most powerful facets of magic. Ancient magic required a large memory count to use, while Dark magic required you to sacrifice your own memories, at the time he only had a couple lifetimes worth of memories, not nearly enough to defeat the Demon King, who utilized ancient magic with high mastery, so he made a promise to himself, that when the day came when he possessed enough memories to defeat the Demon King, he would do it.
Which began his large and arduous journey, slaving away for countless years, knowing that in each of his lives, his attempts were futile, and the only way to win against the Demon King was to live atleast 1000 lives and sacrifice the memories of them all.
However, sitting in this cottage, Mark didn't know what kind of emotion to feel. Happiness, because this meant he could finally end this eternal suffering. But at the same time fear, because he didn't want to die forever. Quite hypocritical, a sense of urgency, to get this done quickly, not wanting to go to the next life but also not wanting to die anytime soon. In this moment, Mark would decide to live this life out to the fullest, then at the end, when he has grown older and lived a fulfilling life, he would slay the Demon King once and for all.