Eyes wide open, as if they saw the universe beyond the line. Blood reflected in his eyes as he was lost deep in thought, repeating perseverance again and again.
He almost zoned out, seeing how many times he had died. Again and again… He screamed perseverance even now…
But in reality, everything was just in his head. He had only paused, eyes wide open. He didn't turn around, yet he caught the knife. The funny part was that the goblin didn't move either. He knew something had changed.
The reason was simple. Although he was definitely regressing, regressing didn't actually rewind time. Time only rewound for him. He was the only one regressing to his original body from one minute ago.
If the goblin had an injury and Pathless regressed one minute back, that meant everything that had happened to Pathless stayed in his memory. On the other hand, the goblin's injury stayed exactly where it was.
Crazy as it sounded, even with the injuries of the enemy—just like the goblin—time didn't truly rewind. Time reset one minute back, but the physical consequences of the actions Pathless was involved in didn't rewind.
It was kind of a resurrection in a way. The goblin froze as soon as he saw the nuts Pathless holding the knife. Pathless sighed, not out of relief, but out of tiredness.
Pathless slowly turned around to see the goblin. Now that his mind was in shambles, but at least not worried about death, he took a deep look at the goblin's face.
Suddenly, he jumped right at the goblin's face. No matter how agile the goblin was… no matter how fast the goblin could react… it had a really big and long nose.
Pathless bit the goblin's nose at the tip. The goblin tried to react by pulling himself backward, but he was caught by the nose. It tried to stick its fingers into Pathless's eyes.
Pathless quickly noticed and caught the goblin's hands. The goblin jumped from the ground and tried to backflip while still being caught by both its hands and nose.
Luckily, the goblin escaped the teeth of Pathless and his ruthless hands. Unfortunately, half of its nose was left hanging in Pathless's mouth.
Pathless spat it out. He cleared the blood off his lips, even though his face was still covered in blood. Eventually, his eyes slowly turned sleepy. He raised his head and looked down at the goblin.
The goblin didn't scream, but kneeled on the ground, digging into the dirt in pain and despair. There was a reason for that. Pathless didn't ignore this subtle action—it might actually be a clue. Why would an animal-like creature mute itself while being full of pain?
Why wouldn't it go berserk?
There had to be a reason.
So Pathless tried to look around, but as soon as he swung his head, the goblin jumped at him, trying to get revenge by biting his nose.
But unlike the goblin, Pathless dropped back. The goblin's attack was aimed at midair, thinking that Pathless wouldn't move.
So when it jumped to attack, it only left itself open, since it would land in the worst possible way.
Pathless noticed that the goblin planned to step back as fast as it could the second it touched the ground. It was actually easier for Pathless to use his brain now. He picked up a stone and tossed it at the goblin. When it landed, the goblin stepped back fast, just as expected.
But in the end, the stone he threw was only a distraction. He had another perfectly good stone in his right hand. The goblin was surprised by the second stone and fell forward when it slammed into a tree. Pathless used that opportunity and kept digging into the nose, which now looked like a ruined mountain—an underground valley of flesh.
The goblin gave up almost immediately. Dizziness was one of the main factors that worked in Pathless's favor, since the goblin was completely unbalanced.
Pathless lay on the ground on his back, thinking,
"What the fuck changed? Ohhh… shit. I feel like I'm wasting time, but even if I don't want to waste time, I can't move. My legs are all wobbling."
Pathless took a quick reminder of his resurrect—or regress—ability.
He hummed softly, closing his eyes. The sun was setting, so he looked at it as his eyes shut.
Then he realized he was on a mountain cliff.
He stood up and moved like a trained soldier. He walked to the cliff's edge and looked down.
What he saw was very traumatizing, although he didn't show it. He now knew why the dark goblin didn't want to make a sound. He saw a rope hanging from the ground below the cliff.
He followed the rope and saw it tied to a tree next to the one the goblin had crashed into. This tree was closer to the edge, thicker, and sturdier.
He walked to the rope.
"What is this…? What the hell is this place? What am I doing here…? Huh… I don't know… I really don't want to know either."
He looked at the rope and slowly pulled it. It was about ten meters long. After checking its full length and thickness, he decided he would use it later—when he became stronger, gained allies, and could climb down safely.
But as he walked back into the forest to explore its deepest parts, he suddenly stopped.
He wanted to check the goblin.
He walked back and grabbed the goblin's body. Gripping its throat, he let out a small sigh.
"You're almost my size… wait, I have a body… no, this is not my body… what the hell??"
He gazed at his own body and slapped his cheek.
"Hey… hey, let's not get distracted."
He thought that even the goblin could be of use—as a meat shield. Even so, the body would rot quickly and start to stink, so he decided to use it soon.
How stupid would he feel if he carried a goblin's corpse on a mountain cliff that might collapse—even months later?
Sure, he might've done it as a goblin funeral if he could get food in return for it.
Such unfortunate timing, he thought.
Soon, his body started to feel weird—an itching sensation, as if his organs themselves were itching. He couldn't resist it. Feeling sorry for himself, he tried to fight it back.
His feelings were valid. The itch, the strange sensation that turned into a headache—it all pushed him toward the cliff.
What kind of maniac would jump off a cliff where there were over five thousand green goblins below?
Well, you found the right one.
It was him—Pathless.
No matter what he did, his Perseverance skill would never allow him to waste time trying to become perfect. No one was perfect from the start.
And now that he could jump off the cliff and never truly die, that meant only one thing.
He had to do it.
Pathless smiled faintly—an evil smile. He grabbed the goblin with his left hand and the middle of the rope with his right.
Then he jumped off the cliff, screaming:
"I'M NOT TARZAN—!!"
Then he thought,
Well, might as well die another million times… huh?
Not knowing what actually awaited him there.