Chapter 3
…Death Regression?
Gunther couldn’t help but be taken aback.
After all, “Death Regression” was a phrase he had never seen once in all his time playing the game.
“It’s a game where dying means instant game over…”
Forgotten God was infamous for its brutal difficulty — there was no such thing as “retry.”
No matter how long you’d spent building your save, one single mistake and it was gone forever.
But Death Regression?
That was the last thing that belonged in Forgotten God.
Still skeptical, Gunther forced himself to read the next notification.
Ding—!
[Calculating death records…]
[1 / 99]
[#1 Life of a Mortal Commoner]
[Gunter Schirche, your life was insignificant.]
The new alert opened with merciless mockery.
[You died as another corpse on the battlefield, leaving no impact on this world or its people.]
[You should’ve stayed in your hometown — you might’ve lived a few more years that way.]
The tone was unmistakably cynical, dripping with scorn.
But he couldn’t argue.
It wasn’t wrong — at least, not if one were to evaluate his previous life.
Yet the message didn’t end there.
[Regardless, we hope you’ll do better in the next opportunity.]
Next opportunity.
As the status window faded, Gunter found himself staring blankly, turning that phrase over in his head.
A next opportunity?
A concept completely foreign to him — one that had never existed in his life before.
“There’s… another chance?”
Caught between disbelief and yearning, he hesitated.
But the messages continued to pour in regardless.
[‘Karma System’ has been unlocked.]
[At the end of life, Karma is tallied.]
[Karma accumulates through all your actions and choices.
Good or evil, right or wrong — none of it matters.
Every step you take is recorded, and its weight forms your Karma.]
A dry tone followed.
[Karma for your first life: 100]
That jolted him awake.
He couldn’t just stand there — not when survival depended on understanding what was happening.
“Karma…”
Even as a veteran player, it was the first he’d heard of it.
It sounded like some kind of currency — perhaps something you “settled” upon death.
“If it’s currency… what can I spend it on?”
As if responding to his thoughts, another message appeared.
[Karma is the most favored offering of divine beings.]
[By offering Karma, you may earn their favor — and receive their rewards.]
“An offering? A reward?”
It didn’t clear up much.
Offerings and rewards were hallmarks of divine contracts.
But he was someone incapable of forming contracts with gods.
And yet, the system had one last thing to say—
[When enough Karma is accumulated, fate itself shall change.]
That short sentence struck him harder than any blade.
Change his fate?
Not just revival — could it mean altering the very limits that had defined his existence?
TSSHHHH—!
A radiant pillar of light burst forth in the distance.
[Returning to Save Point #1]
[10… 9… 8… 7…]
Darkness gave way to blinding light.
The rushing wave of brilliance surged toward him, devouring everything in its path.
In that instant—
He forgot everything.
“Ah…”
Something stirred deep within his chest — a spark that flared into roaring flame.
“I really… get to live again.”
His life had been nothing but pain.
He might fail again.
He might die again.
But none of that mattered now.
“Next opportunity.”
As long as he had that, he was ready for anything.
He dove into the light without hesitation.
Morning sunlight drenched the plains in gold.
“Gunter! Did you sleep well?”
The merchant’s daughter’s voice rang beside him.
He stared at her in silence.
“Um… was it that weird a question?”
He looked away.
“O-okay, not that I mind being stared at.”
But he didn’t answer.
He blinked again, flexing his hand.
The wind brushed through the fields.
He felt the solid ground beneath his boots.
He drew in a deep breath of crisp air.
“Haa…”
The sharp awareness of being alive spread through his body.
“I’m really… alive.”
The sensation of the blade that slit his throat — still vivid.
The abrupt silence that followed — unforgettable.
And yet, he had returned.
Returned to life — and to an absolute power the world would kill to possess.
“And it’s not even a one-time thing.”
He remembered clearly — 1 / 99.
That had to mean 98 chances remained.
“Why me…?”
He didn’t know, and there was no way to find out.
But the reason didn’t matter.
“What matters is that now… there’s a chance.”
Even with the protagonist missing, leaving the Earth-return plan in limbo,
a tiny ember of hope had sparked anew.
Regression. Knowledge. Possibility.
“Let’s do this.
Let’s see this doomed character through to the end of the main scenario.”
“Alright, first things first…”
Sensing movement nearby, Gunter sidestepped.
Whoosh—!
“Huh?”
Eddy, who’d just lunged toward him, stumbled and crashed headlong into Ryan.
“Uh?”
“Eh?”
Ryan, towering at over 190 cm, caught him squarely in the chest.
After a brief pause, Ryan smirked.
“Eddy, I must say — great taste in men.”
“Damn it!”
Eddy shoved him away, face red as a tomato.
Meanwhile, Gunter had already slipped out of sight.
He moved to the rear of the caravan, scanning the horizon.
The terrain was familiar.
A raid was imminent.
“Alright… how do I survive this time?”
Death Regression was a miracle — but not omnipotent.
He revived in the same condition as before; no bonus stats, no new powers.
“I don’t get stronger just by coming back.”
If he fought the Holy Army head-on, it’d be a repeat of last time — another meaningless death.
“I need a variable.”
Something that could turn the tide.
Then he remembered—
“Wait… Karma.”
The mysterious currency that could change fate.
Ding—!
[Three gods turn their gaze upon you.]
For the first time since his regression, the gods moved — at the perfect moment.
[The representative, the Knight King of Ninety-Nine Defeats, steps forth.]
[He wishes for you to offer Karma — to survive this battlefield.]
“…As I thought.”
That single message revealed far more than it seemed.
“You know what’s happening to me, don’t you?”
The gods remembered his previous life.
There were a thousand things he wanted to ask.
How did they know about his regression?
What caused it?
Why hadn’t they warned him before?
But time was not on his side.
RUMBLE—!
“Already?”
The thundering of hooves made the ground tremble.
A rising cloud of golden dust came into view — the Holy Army and their paladins.
“Ambush!”
“Defensive formation! Get the wagons back!”
“Protect the merchant lord!”
Chaos spread among his companions.
[The Knight King urges you to offer Karma immediately.]
Karma.
The mysterious currency that came with his regression.
[Karma is the most favored offering of divine beings.]
[Offer it to earn their favor — and their gifts.]
He knew the theory — but there was still one problem.
“I can’t form contracts.”
It was the fundamental rule of Forgotten God.
Even a deity could not bestow power on a mortal without a contract.
A proper divine pact required an elaborate ritual —
an altar, a declared offering, mutual negotiation, and consent.
And above all, one had to match the god’s tastes.
A war god demanded blood and spoils.
A god of wisdom craved lost tomes and secrets.
Fail to please them, and you earned wrath instead of blessing.
A divine contract was a carefully prepared treaty.
“So why would they…?”
The sound of charging horses swallowed the thought.
Thirty seconds until collision.
He made his decision.
“Fine. Let’s try it.”
Even a lesser god was once a hero who’d transcended mortality.
Perhaps the Knight King could grant him the edge he needed.
And besides, the Knight King had never once harmed him — one of the “good” gods.
[How much Karma will you offer?]
He hesitated.
“Five? Ten?”
He’d earned a total of 100 in three years — five or ten wasn’t cheap.
[…]
“Twenty?”
[…]
The silent pause felt like judgment.
“Alright, alright.”
[You offer 100 Karma to the Knight King of Ninety-Nine Defeats.]
The sound of coins clattering echoed faintly in his ears.
And then—
Nothing.
“…Huh?”
[…]
The gods were silent.
Gunter’s pupils trembled.
No way. Ghosted?
“Gunter! Watch out!”
“……”
“Look ahead!”
Ryan shoved him backward just in time—
CRACK—!
A burning pain shot across his wrist.
He tore off his glove instinctively.
“What the…”
There, on the inside of his wrist,
glowed a mark of interwoven silver and blue — shaped like a sword.
The curve of the blade.
The crest-like shield at its center.
It wasn’t just a symbol — it pulsed, alive.
And then—
ZAP—!
A vivid image seared across his mind:
A man born the untalented youngest of a proud knightly house…
tempered through countless defeats,
until at last he earned the respect of every knight alive.
“No way…”
Gunther’s heart pounded wildly.
He knew what this meant — and yet it was impossible.
A miracle that should never reach someone like him.
But it was happening.
[The Stigmata of the Knight King of Ninety-Nine Defeats has been engraved upon you.]
Stigmata.
The divine power — granted in exchange for Karma.
…Without a contract.
