Taesan did his best against the Apostle. He used Skills with his slightly recovered Mana and stalled for time using all his items. He strived to find even a sliver of a possibility.
But he was defeated.
“Damn it.”
Taesan spat out with a distorted face.
“In the end, it came to this.”
His appearance was wretched. Half of his lower body had melted away, and he couldn't feel anything inside, as if even his internal organs had dissolved. If he didn't have a pain nullification Skill, he would have been screaming at the top of his lungs.
“I lost.”
It was an opponent he couldn't guarantee victory against even at his peak condition. There was no way he could win in a half-dead state.
[Your Health has reached 0. Indomitable has been activated. You will be forced to survive for 1 minute.]
The System Window blocked his vision. Taesan swiped it away with an annoyed expression.
“Just let me go peacefully, you things.”
Indomitable was a postponement of death, not a recovery. With no means to recover, he would die on his own in one minute. The Apostle, as if knowing this, calmly watched from beside Lee Tae-yeon's corpse.
Taesan looked up at the sky. From the massive rift, Monsters were still pouring out endlessly.
“Useless bastards.”
Taesan furrowed his brow. What was the point of all that talk about Hard Mode, Alone Mode, or being the one and only Player in the world? All of them were weaker than Taesan of Easy Mode.
To put it bluntly, if there were just two of him, humanity could have lasted much longer.
“They were nothing but fools who were so obsessed with clearing that they failed to build up proper strength.”
But Taesan also had clear limits. A limit to how strong one could become existed for each difficulty, and he was an Easy Mode Player. He had grown as strong as he could within his given limits, but in the end, he could not overcome the limit of his Stats.
“Fucking hell. Seriously.”
Taesan ground his teeth. It was unfair. If only he hadn't chosen Easy Mode back then.
If he had at least chosen Normal Mode. He wouldn't have died like this. He could have even won against the Apostle.
A single choice had warped everything. Though he didn't show it, he was endlessly twisted and filled with rage on the inside. Why were you all so weak, even after choosing Normal Mode, Hard Mode?
Why did you progress through the Labyrinth so half-heartedly, gaining only such pitiful strength? If they had followed his path with even half his diligence, humanity could have won.
“... That’s enough.”
Taesan gave a bitter smile. It was all in the past anyway, and it was his own choice. Blaming others was pointless.
He reined in his emotions. This is the end for humanity. Players will continue to appear after this, but with not even a city left, there's nothing they can do.
It was no exaggeration to say that humanity had, in effect, fallen. Just as he was calmly accepting his death, something caught his eye.
“What's this?”
Lee Tae-yeon's right hand was clutching something. Her tightly clenched fist told him it was no ordinary thing. And the Apostle was beside Lee Tae-yeon's corpse.
As if it were protecting something.
“Nngh.”
Taesan crawled forward using his arms. As Taesan drew closer, the Apostle tried to kill him.
“Stay still.”
[You have activated Last Chance. You can use one Skill without any conditions. This Skill cannot be activated for one year.]
[You have activated Simple Time Stop. Time within a 100m radius centered on you stops for 2 minutes.]
Taesan crawled across the ground and reached Lee Tae-yeon's corpse. When he opened her right hand, a dark, murky stone was revealed.
“... Confirm.”
[Stomach Stone regurgitated by Ouroboros] [The stomach stone of a god that governs the circulation of all things.]
[Just once. Can turn back the time of one person.]
[Unused.]
“What?”
Turn back time. At those words, Taesan's mind went blank.
“No way... Turn back time?”
The question of why Lee Tae-yeon had this arose, but it quickly vanished. Taesan stared blankly at the stomach stone.
[Kuaaa!]
The sky splits open and a Monster emerges. The power felt from the Monster that enveloped the sky itself was greater than the Apostle's. Even if Taesan were at his peak, it would probably be difficult to win.
Heh.
Taesan smiled and clenched his fist.
“See you next time, you bastard.”
[Using item.]
[Time Interference.]
The world turns upside down. The dying world disappears. In its place is a shabby one-room apartment.
Taesan's pupils dilated.
“... This place.”
An old model computer. A stained blanket. The splatters of mosquito blood on the wall.
He remembered this place. Before everything collapsed, when the world was still the world we knew. A time when the Status Window was just a joke.
It was the one-room apartment he used to live in.
“Status Window.”
He utters the word he always used to say. But nothing appears. He looks at his body.
His body had been withered, but it was filled with muscle from head to toe. To survive in that horrific Labyrinth, he had no choice but to train. But his current body was weak and frail, the body of an ordinary man.
“Hah.”
Taesan let out a hollow laugh. It was certain. He had returned to the world of the past.
“Delivery!”
A delivery person shouts loudly from in front of the apartment door. A moment later, the door opens and a man appears.
“Thank you.”
“Uh, uh. Yes...”
The delivery person momentarily shivers. The man's eyes were incredibly calm. Like those of a great monk who had trained for a long time.
The man calmly asks the delivery person, who is staring at him blankly.
“Hasn't it already been paid for?”
“Ah, yes. That's right. Enjoy your meal.”
The delivery person comes to his senses and hastily leaves. The man brings the pizza box inside. As he opens the box, a smile forms on the man's lips.
“How long has it been since I've had pizza?”
He couldn't even remember. As he carefully took a slice and put it in his mouth, the rich flavor of cheese and toppings burst forth. The taste of civilization.
It was overwhelming. In a dying world, there was no time to make things like pizza. Since all he had eaten were Monster corpses and potatoes, this moment was incredibly precious.
The man.
Taesan chewed each and every piece thoroughly. After about four slices, he was starting to feel full.
“Hoo.”
His stomach was full. While waiting for the pizza, he had also finished grasping the situation.
‘To think there was an item that could turn back time.’
The Labyrinth truly had all sorts of things, but this was beyond his expectations. Considering that he, who had grasped everything in Easy Mode, didn't know about it, it must be an item exclusive to Alone Mode. Thinking about the equipment Lee Tae-yeon used, it wasn't that unbelievable.
Taesan had a puzzled expression.
“Why didn't she use it until the very end?”
She must have had something to say to him at the end because she had a measure like this. But he couldn't understand why she had saved it instead of using it, only to be killed by the Apostle. The her he knew would have run away long ago.
“Thanks to her, I got it, but...”
Consumable items become unbound the moment one dies. Thanks to that, Taesan was able to obtain her item after she died.
“I don't get it.”
But it was his now. Taesan quietly looked at the clock.
‘January 1st, 2020.’
The exact moment the new year began, the sky split open and a Monster appeared. And right now, it was December 31st, 2019.
11:30 PM.
In 30 minutes, the world will change. Taesan suddenly recalled the memory of that time. In the world where Monsters appeared, the System Window had said.
That the world would end. That Monsters would appear. But that it would give them a chance.
To build strength inside the Labyrinth, and save their world with their own hands. Amidst the chaos and fear, Easy, Normal, Hard. And Alone Mode appeared as choices.
Everyone, though panicked, chose an option. Because that was the only way to escape the dying world. Faced with a sudden choice, it would be extremely rare for someone to pick a difficult path.
Taesan had chosen Easy Mode. That, too, was his weakness.
‘You're a useless piece of trash.’
That's what his parents had told him since he was a child. Normally, parents are beings who believe in and nurture their children, but Taesan's were different. To Taesan's parents, he was nothing more than a way to relieve stress.
From a young age, he was the target of their violence. It was common for him to eat only one meal a day, and verbal abuse was a daily occurrence. If the merchants who pitied him hadn't helped, he really would have died.
He heard things like 'Why were you born?' and 'You're completely useless' almost every day. In such an environment, Taesan became withdrawn. He came to believe their words, that he was useless and had no value.
‘I didn't know my own talent.’
In the Labyrinth, a place where he risked his life, Taesan's talent blossomed. He was stronger than anyone. Despite being on Easy Mode, he surpassed Hard Mode Players, a truly miraculous existence.
It was Taesan who broke the basic concept that there were clear limits to one's ability based on difficulty. Taesan checked the clock.
58 minutes.
Two minutes left. He went outside. The night sky, with nothing but a single moon hanging loftily, was beautiful.
He had even lost the memory of seeing such a sky.
1 minute.
Right now, everyone in the world must be counting down the seconds. Praying for the new year, expecting that everything will turn out well.
30 seconds.
Unfortunately, the world will collapse at the same moment the new year begins.
15 seconds.
The first signs appear. A rift forms in the pitch-black sky. A small rift that one wouldn't notice unless they had extremely sharp eyes.
5 seconds. Craaack.
A great sound echoes throughout the world. The width of the rift grows large enough for them to notice. Murmurs can be heard from all around.
“Didn't you hear something?”
“Is someone setting off fireworks?”
And 1 second. The world collapses. Amidst the collapsing world, Taesan alone looked up at the sky.
CRACKLE.
The rift expands. Now, there is no one who hasn't noticed something is wrong. Everyone screams and looks up at the sky.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Grrrrrr…….
Beyond the rift, a Monster reveals itself. A black Monster places a reptilian hand on the rift and looks down upon the surface. Back then, he was just panicked, but now he knows.
That is a B-Class Monster. A weak Monster that a Normal Player could handle without much trouble. The people who don't know this begin to flee in terror.
But there is no safe place on the surface. And the place they were heading to was not a safe place either.
‘It should be about time.’
Taesan's prediction was correct, and a System Window blocked his vision.
[Hello.]
“Huh, huh?”
“What is this?”
Even those who were running away flinch at the window that suddenly appeared. As if their panic didn't matter, the System Window continued its message.
[Your world is being destroyed by invaders. The weapons you have worked so hard to create are of no use against them.]
Guns and even nuclear bombs didn't work on the Monsters. They were Monsters from another dimension. To attack them, we too had to obtain power from another dimension.
[But do not worry.]
[A merciful being who took pity on you wishes to give you a chance.]
Taesan scoffed.
‘Merciful, my ass.’
He still didn't know its true nature, but he had a rough idea. That was no merciful being. It was merely a being crazy for entertainment.
[We will give you a choice. Choose where you want to go! Enter the Labyrinth. Clear it and obtain power.]
[And then return, and save your world.]
Choices appear before Taesan.