Chapter 1

[Congratulations on reaching the Ending of the World.]

[BAD ENDING]

[Collision of the Moon]

“Another bad ending… huh.”

I went through elementary, middle, and high school, got into college, graduated, and found a job.
Paid off my student loans, rented an apartment with yet another loan, even got scammed once—but somehow survived it all.

I thought I’d eventually settle down, get married, have kids, and live an ordinary life until old age.

But then, the world changed.

[Quest: Trial of the Gods]
[Reach the ending of the world you truly desire.]

System messages and monsters began appearing.
Things you’d only expect in a novel unfolded simultaneously across the globe, and humanity fought desperately to survive.

So did I—Jang Su-nam. Thanks to comrades I met along the way, I endured countless hardships.

But…

Friendship rusts over time, especially in the face of endless trials.

‘The decisive moment was… that incident.’

At the height of our exhaustion, we stumbled upon hidden pieces—legendary weapons buried in secret places.

Mjölnir, the hammer of Thor, said to topple gods.
The Archangel’s Demon-Slaying Sword.
The Ruyi Jingu Bang of the Monkey King.

Six weapons in total.

Even as replicas, each was unrivaled—peerless at the time.
But there weren’t enough for everyone.

And so—

“That’s mine!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the damage dealer, so naturally—”
“Wait! Calm down, we should talk this out—”

Our already-fraying bonds shattered under greed.

Those shards turned into blades of betrayal, striking comrades who once fought side by side.

I tried desperately to stop them. But those who had surrendered to desire stabbed even me without hesitation.

The bloody struggle only ended when a pool of gore formed at our feet.

When it was over, only I remained.

Everyone else… was gone.

That day gave me one truth:

What I wanted was not victory, nor power—
It was the peaceful, ordinary life I once had.

[Reach the ending of the world you truly desire.]

From then on, a “Happy Ending” became my sole goal.

I fought.
I endured.
And at last, I reached the Ending of the World.

But what awaited me was…

[BAD ENDING]

The cruelest part was this:
That despairing end didn’t come just once.

Because—

[GAME OVER]
[Would you like to start again?]

Anyone who reached the world’s ending was given a chance to try again.

“…Haa.”

I glared at the system window.

It was the devil’s own temptation.
But I had no choice but to accept.
If I gave up now, the six regressions I had already endured would all be for nothing.

Rumble…

The world shook.
The moon loomed closer, about to crash down.

My mind flickered back to my very first run.

Back then, an unknown zombie virus spread across the globe.
I struggled, but I managed to help discover a vaccine and gave it freely to a lab, under the condition it would be distributed for free.

But then—

‘Those bastards broke their promise. They sold the vaccine.’

Because of their greed, we lost the golden window.
The virus consumed the world.

And I stood alone at the end of a world filled with zombies.

I remember that miserable “Bad Ending” vividly.

Now I know—
That was the very first ending I need to prevent.

[GAME OVER]
[Would you like to start again?]
[Quest: Trial of the Gods]
[Reach the ending of the world you truly desire.]

The choices floated before my eyes again.

“…As if there’s any other option.”

I raised my middle finger at the system and chose my seventh regression.

BOOM!

The sound of worlds collapsing echoed as the moon crashed into the Earth.
The sky vanished, oceans boiled away, and the ground erupted in magma that shot into the heavens.

Soon this place would be gone.

But when I woke again, I would be back—

“Phew…”

Staring into the destruction, I thought:

The more I fought for peace, the more new threats appeared.

As though someone, somewhere, wanted me to fail.
As though someone was waiting for me to abandon this world.

‘Then fine. This time, I’ll be bolder.’

I had the knowledge and power gained across six regressions.
I would seize everything, crush every obstacle, and claim even greater strength.

This time—
I would reach the Happy Ending.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the city.

‘So this is the first day of the seventh run.’

The world was still peaceful.
The everyday life I longed to reclaim still stood intact.

But it wouldn’t last.

“W-what?”
“Where are we?”

The first change:
People were teleported into the streets without warning.

“My phone… where’s my phone?!”

The second change:
All belongings disappeared. Stores, transportation, every facility—sealed.

Then came the third.

“U-ugh! What is that!?”

Beasts from games and novels appeared in reality.

Chomp!

A slime—a translucent, gelatinous monster—engulfed a screaming woman whole.

Shhhh!

Her flesh melted in seconds, leaving only bone.

The crowd shrieked—only for another message to appear before their eyes.

[Quest: Trial of the Gods]
[Reach the ending of the world you truly desire.]
[Tip: Hunters may trade items through NPC “Illusion Shops.”]
[Tip: Hunt “Grotesques” to obtain coins.]

“W-what does that mean?”
“Seriously, what’s going on?!”

Panic spread.

Then came the fourth change.

Among the crowd appeared… strangers.

“…People?”
“Why do they look so weird?”

Elves with long ears.
Beastmen covered in fur.
Even aliens that looked like Greys.

“Could those… be the NPCs it mentioned?”

People froze, torn between confusion and fear.

Meanwhile, I moved.

“Give me an axe.”

The dwarf-like NPC flinched, fear in his eyes.

Of course he was afraid. I knew why.
Soon, the others would too.

‘Because these NPCs… are remnants of destroyed worlds.’

“…Here. One coin.”

He spoke in a strange tongue, but the translation skill everyone was granted made it clear.

I opened my inventory, took out my only coin, and paid.

[Equipped <Worn Axe> (F)]
[Your status reflects your main equipment.]

The others, watching me, quickly realized they also had inventories. Each had exactly 1 coin.

“What are you selling?”
“Can I buy something to fight those monsters?”
“Is there any discount?”

But disputes broke out fast.

A tattooed man tried to barter his coat instead of a coin.

“Come on, this is real leather!”
“Not accepted. Only coins.”

Finally, frustrated, he grabbed the NPC by the collar.

‘I warned you…’

CRACK!

A thunderbolt struck him down.

The NPC stood unharmed. The man’s body, charred black, collapsed to the ground.

Screams broke out.

[Tip: Hunters who attack NPCs during the Tutorial will be penalized.]

‘More precisely, the penalty triggers the moment you try to attack.’

People recoiled, terrified of the NPCs now.

Then—

“U-ugh… I-I’m alive?”

The man who’d been fried suddenly stood up, his body completely restored.

“What? He was dead!”
“H-how—?”

Ignoring the panic, I checked my own status window.

[Status]

• Name: Jang Su-nam

• Class: Hunter (F)

• ♥ x3

[Skills]

• Translation (A)

• Regressor’s Journal (SSS)

The heart icons.

Lives.
Just like in an arcade game—three chances before true death.

I flipped open my Journal, the skill I obtained during my first regression.

It recorded every detail from past runs.

Invaluable.

‘First, secure coins.’

I gripped my axe and turned toward the nearest slime.

[Slime (F)]

The perfect prey.

The slime slithered forward, shrieking.

I strode toward it, casual as if out for a walk.

And with a single, fluid swing—

Slash!

The slime burst apart in one blow.

‘Its core’s movement pattern is still the same.’

The hardest part about slimes is their shifting cores. But after six regressions, I knew the patterns by heart.

The core shattered. The slime dissolved into harmless water.

[You have obtained 1 coin.]

People gasped.

“He killed it!”
“Let’s try too! We might get something!”
“Be careful! You could die!”
“But he came back, didn’t he?”

As they rushed to fight, a new message appeared before my eyes—one I’d never seen before.

[Warning: Tutorial balance disruption detected.]
[Verifying identity…]
[Verification complete: Regressor Jang Su-nam.]
[As a player who has cleared the world six times, you are granted a privilege.]

“…!!”

My eyes widened.

The last time I received a privilege was when I got the “Regressor’s Journal.”

And now—

[You have obtained the hidden passive skill <Polarity> (EX).]

“EX rank…?!”

A skill two tiers higher than even my SSS-ranked Journal.

This… could change everything.