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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The New Year's Eve Bell
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All humans have a desire to live.
Ryu Min was no different.
'If that weren't the case, I never would have made it this far.'
From Round 1 to Round 20.
He had clawed his way through, sacrificing 98 lives.
And now, in his 99th life.
He had finally reached the end of this damn survival game.
He had finally arrived at the boss room of the final 20th round.
As the last one standing, no less.
But things didn't go as planned.
[A minimum of five players are required to open the boss room.]
"What?"
The word escaped his lips in disbelief.
'A minimum of five players?'
Ryu Min was the only one who had made it to Round 20.
And yet, it required five.
Ryu Min's face went blank at the realization that the quest was impossible to clear alone from the start.
'What kind of bullshit is this... If you needed five people, you should have said so sooner!'
There had been no clues, not in the quest messages, nor before entering the boss room.
He felt like he'd been blindsided by the absurd condition, but that wasn't the end of it.
[One player has been confirmed approaching the boss room.]
[Due to failure to meet the conditions, the player will be annihilated.]
"Huh?"
There was no time to feel the futility.
His body was already disintegrating at a molecular level.
Right before he died, Ryu Min had only one last thing to say.
"Fuck."
[You have died.]
[The conditions for the 'Rune of Time Reversal' have been met.]
[Time will now reverse to before Round 1.]
[Opportunities Used: 100/100]
[All remaining opportunities have been used.]
[The engraved rune will now be automatically destroyed.]
Just as the shadow of death fell over him, Ryu Min was born again.
As a level 1 novice player.
[Commencing the 100th regression.]
* * *
December 31, 2021.
In front of Bosingak Pavilion in Jongno, Seoul, a large crowd of citizens and reporters had gathered.
They were there to hear the New Year's Eve bell.
"Many citizens have gathered for the bell-ringing ceremony to welcome a hopeful new year."
"This year's ceremony will be attended by Seoul Mayor Ma Dong-won and various prominent figures from all sectors of society..."
There, amidst the rolling broadcast cameras, Ryu Min came to his senses.
'I'm back. Back to before I was dragged into this damn game.'
Looking around, he saw countless people with excited faces, waiting for midnight.
Unaware that their anticipation would soon turn to despair.
'If only I could stop time.'
But time flows on.
Whether you're happy or bored, suffering or struggling, time flows on regardless.
No matter how much you kick and scream, it never stops.
'Though you can regress to the past.'
But this was the last time.
He had used up all his extra chances by dying.
'This is my last chance. I will kill the Round 20 boss and survive this insane game, no matter what.'
It was his only chance left, but 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 old plans.'
Until now, he hadn't given a damn about comrades; he'd only focused on his own survival.
Honestly, he hadn't had the mental capacity to consider anyone else.
It was a survival game where falling behind in the competition meant your own death.
As a result, he had reached Round 20 with unrivaled power, but...
'To think the final round required five people... how absurd. If I didn't have those extra lives, I would've been screwed just like that, wouldn't I?'
It turned out to be a game that couldn't be cleared alone.
To Ryu Min, it felt as though he'd been toyed with, caught in an intentional trap set by the gods.
'This is the end. I can't regress anymore.'
He hadn't had the luxury of looking out for others before, but now, things were different.
Unlike before, he had to lead four others besides himself to the final round.
'Of course, I'm not going to babysit them and hand everything over. It's hard enough just getting stronger myself.'
He would simply use them for the final round.
'Who should I team up with? Since it's the boss fight, it would be best to fill the roster with capable allies, right?'
He recalled a few of the big names who had died in Round 18.
Various plans began to form in his mind.
Since this was his last chance, he needed to plan more carefully and meticulously.
As he was mentally reviewing his plans and steeling his resolve,
"The time has finally come. Let's all count down together!"
With the host's voice, the countdown to death began.
"20! 19! 18!"
People began counting down from twenty, their faces filled with anticipation.
"...3, 2, 1!"
The mayor of Seoul and several other celebrities standing before the bell pushed the wooden beam, helping to ring it.
Dong— Dong— Dong—!
"The year 2022 has begun! Happy New Year, everyone!"
"Waaaaaah!"
Cheers erupted, and smiles blossomed on the faces of the crowd.
But it was only for a moment.
[Kekeke. Humans are amusing. Celebrating the new year without a clue about their own predicament.]
The voice that suddenly echoed in their minds wiped the smiles from their faces.
"What? What was that sound just now..."
"What did you just say?"
"I didn't say anything."
People looked around in confusion.
Some turned to each other, thinking the person next to them had spoken.
Others tilted their heads, wondering if they'd misheard.
Their reactions varied slightly, but the feeling was the same.
Bewilderment.
But among them, only one person, Ryu Min, was not bewildered.
Everything was proceeding exactly as he knew it would.
'I've been through this 99 times already. There's no way I'd be fazed.'
He waited with a calm gaze until the unpleasant laughter was heard again.
[Kyohohoho. Your flustered faces look just like monkeys in a cage. But that's fine. Humans are adaptable creatures, aren't you?]
"Wh-what? Where is that sound coming from?"
"Is this some kind of prank by the broadcast station?"
"Hey, does that make sense? A hidden camera prank during the bell-ringing ceremony?"
"Then what the hell is this voice?"
A cauldron of chaos.
A mere voice was enough to send people into a panic.
The celebrities forgot all about ringing the bell.
After all, they couldn't just dismiss the voice in their heads as a trick.
'That angel bastard should just show himself already. Enough with the games.'
He called it an angel, but its actions were that of a devil.
Ryu Min had learned that fact painfully well over his 99 regressions.
'Of course, this probably isn't the work of low-class wretches like angels.'
There was definitely someone else hosting this insane game.
The angels were merely NPCs meant to explain it.
'Though calling this a mere game is a serious understatement.'
A moment later, a brilliant light descended from the sky.
As a woman appeared with the light, everyone murmured in unison.
"An... angel?"
A pair of wings, skin as fair as jade, and beauty that would make celebrities jealous.
The woman who descended from the sky matched the popular image of an angel.
'But her personality is pure evil.'
Only Ryu Min was not deceived by the angel's appearance.
Everyone else would soon find out.
Just how much the angels looked down on humans.
[You trash-like humans. Looks like every one of you has fallen for my looks. I can tell by the stupid way you're all staring.]
"..."
[You'd best not get any funny ideas. I have no intention of associating with vermin like you.]
The angel's smile was beautiful, but the people couldn't bring themselves to smile back.
Who could smile after being cursed at like that?
[Seeing all your serious faces, it seems my voice is coming through loud and clear. Kekeke.]
It was then.
A brave young man shouted the question on everyone's mind.
"What are you? An angel? Are you the one talking to me?"
The angel's gaze fell upon the young man.
Ryu Min watched the scene with a look of pity.
'May he rest in peace.'
The young man who had provoked the angel was about to die.
[How irritating.]
Right now.
Splat—!
The young man's head exploded like a watermelon.
Blood splattered everywhere, and those nearby screamed in shock.
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Gasp!"
Only the angel's beautiful brow furrowed in annoyance.
[For a mere human to dare speak to a superior being like me so informally. How unpleasant.]
The man was already dead and couldn't hear her, but the angel continued to voice her displeasure.
[And who said you could ask questions? You humans have no right to question me. Don't you dare try to act like my equal. Unless you want your head to explode like his.]
"..."
At her icy voice, the tens of thousands of people held their breath in unison.
The fear that they too could have their heads explode for saying the wrong thing dominated the crowd.
'Which is exactly what the angel wants.'
The panicked people had no capacity for rational thought.
All except for Ryu Min.
[You must be wondering what's going on, right? You don't understand what I'm saying? Well, what would you inferior humans know? I'll explain it to you, step by step. That is my role, after all.]
The angel spoke with a condescending look in her eyes.
[On the 1st of every month, you humans will fall into a collective slumber. Your souls will then be forcibly transferred, and you will awaken in a new dimension.]
Soul transfer? A new dimension?
It was an absurd claim, but no one could refute it.
The very situation of an angel appearing was already unbelievable.
[There, you humans will have one task: to complete the given quest. If you complete the quest, you can return to reality. You'll even get a hefty reward.]
No one was happy to hear that they could return upon succeeding in the quest.
In other words, it meant that if they failed, they couldn't come back.
However, a few held onto a sliver of hope.
They didn't know what kind of quest it would be, but as long as they succeeded, they could survive, right?
If they took their time and strategized, they could surely make it out alive.
But the angel's next words mercilessly shattered that hope.
[Not everyone can survive just by completing the quest. I will only save the fastest half who clear it. So, you'd better not dawdle. Keke.]
"O-only half can survive..."
In other words, it was a competitive survival game with a fixed number of survivors.
[It will be held once every month on the 1st, for a total of 20 rounds. As I said before, only half will survive each round, and the quests will get progressively harder.]
"Th-that's..."
They had to survive not just once, but twenty times.
Despair clouded the faces of the people.
[Keke, but don't worry too much. I won't be taking all of you. Only humans between the ages of 15 and 29 at this current time will participate in the survival game.]
There was an age limit.
The impact of those words was significant.
'Phew... what a relief.'
'I guess I'm not included.'
While the adults who didn't fall into the specified age range breathed a sigh of relief,
"B-but I'm included, aren't I?"
"What do I do! My birthday is January 1st, so I just turned 15 this year!"
The teens and twenty-somethings who fell within the age range felt a despair as if the sky was falling.
'Well, I can't really complain.'
Ryu Min, whose birthday was January 1st, was now 19 years old.
An age he couldn't argue with.
'Though if you count it all, I'm already over 100 years old.'
He looked like a typical high school student, but he had lived through countless years over his 99 regressions.
The days filled with survival replayed in his mind as vividly as if they were yesterday.
'To think I'd get caught up in a fucked-up event like this on my birthday, of all days.'
He couldn't be unluckier if he tried.
It felt a little unfair.
[I see a few humans who look wronged, but there's no need for that. I'm not just taking the humans here, but all humans across the entire world.]
Looking at the keke-ing angel, no one thought she was beautiful anymore.
A devil.
At least, the angel they were seeing now was closer to a devil.
[Let's see... counting all humans between the ages of 15 and 29, the total number of participants will be 1,801,029,290. Well then, that's about it for the explanation. Shall we begin? Kyohohoho.]
As soon as she finished speaking, the world before them went dark, as if the lights had been turned off.
It was the moment that approximately 1.8 billion people came to participate in the deadly survival game.