T7RFHE 01

Chapter 1….

[Congratulations on reaching the end of the world.]
[BAD ENDING]
[Collision of the Moon]

“Another bad ending….”

I went through elementary, middle, and high school, entered college, graduated, and found a job.
I paid off my student loans, got a house with a rental deposit loan, even got scammed once, but managed to survive it all somehow.
I thought once I settled down, I’d get married, have kids… live an ordinary life and die of old age.

But suddenly, the world changed drastically.

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

System messages and the appearance of monsters.
Things you’d only see in novels started happening all over the world at once, and people struggled desperately to survive.

It was the same for Jang Sunam, but thanks to comrades he met through countless connections, he managed to overcome hardships.

But—
Even friendship rusts in the face of endless trials and time.

‘The decisive moment… was that incident.’

When quests grew increasingly difficult and everyone was exhausted, they discovered hidden places containing treasures.

Thor’s Mjölnir, which could even knock down gods.
The Archangel’s Demon-Slaying Sword.
The Monkey King’s legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang.
Six weapons in total.

They were all replicas, yet each was strong enough to be called the most powerful weapon of the present.

But there weren’t enough to go around.

The result—

“That one’s mine!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s a weapon, so of course the damage dealer should—”
“Wait, calm down! Let’s just talk this through—”

The rusted bonds of friendship shattered under greed.

Those broken fragments became blades of betrayal aimed at former comrades.

Jang Sunam desperately tried to stop them, but those consumed by greed only turned their blades on him as well.

The bloody battle ended only after pools of blood formed.

And the one left standing—

Only Jang Sunam, who had lost all his comrades and fell into despair.

That incident gave him one clear realization.
A peaceful daily life, free of war and conflict.

‘I want that life back.’

He didn’t know how.
But he knew the world had to return to peace.

And then, the message of the system came to mind—

[Reach the ending of the world you desire.]

From that moment, “Happy Ending” became Jang Sunam’s goal in life.

Through long years, countless hardships and ordeals, he finally reached the end of the world.

But what awaited him was—

Cruelly, a “Bad Ending.”

Even worse, it didn’t end just once.

Because—

[GAME OVER]
[Would you like to restart?]

Anyone who reaches the end of the world is given another chance.

“Phew.”

Recalling the past, Jang Sunam glared at the system message.
It was like a devil’s temptation, yet he had no choice but to accept.

If he gave up here, the six regressions he had endured would all be for nothing.

Rumble—!

A sound like the sky collapsing roared.
Looking up at the approaching doomsday moon, memories of one past round flashed before his eyes.

In the 1st round, a mysterious zombie virus spread across the world.

Thanks to Jang Sunam’s efforts, a vaccine was discovered.
He provided it to the lab on the condition it would be distributed free of charge, thinking the problem was solved.

But—

‘Those bastards at the lab broke their promise and started selling the vaccine.’

Because of that, the golden time was lost, the virus spread worldwide, and the world was destroyed.

He remembered the misery of being the only one left to see the ending message in a world full of zombies.

The reason that first bad ending resurfaced in his mind now was clear.
That was the very first bad ending he had to prevent.

[GAME OVER]
[Would you like to restart?]
[Quest: Trial of God]
[Reach the ending of the world you desire.]

The choices appeared again, urging him to decide.

“As if I have a choice but regression.”

Jang Sunam raised his middle finger at the system and chose his seventh regression.

Rumble—!!

At that moment, the sound of the world collapsing echoed.
In the distance, the moon collided with Earth.
The sky disappeared, oceans evaporated, land turned to magma and erupted into space.

Soon this place would be destroyed too, but when he opened his eyes again, he would have regressed.

“Phew….”

Watching the world collapse, Jang Sunam thought:

With every regression, the harder he tried to protect peace, new dangers that had never existed before appeared.

As if someone out there wanted the bad ending.
As if someone was waiting for him to give up.

‘If that’s the case, then I’ll be bolder.’

He had the knowledge and strength gained over six regressions.

He would seize what no one else could obtain, take everything, and acquire the power to overcome any crisis or twist of fate.

And so—
This time, he would reach the Happy Ending.

“…….”

When he opened his eyes, he saw the city.

‘The first day of the seventh round.’

The time before the system appeared, before monsters emerged.
The peaceful days he once longed to restore—
Were about to be destroyed again.

“Huh?”
“Where are we?”

The first change.
Without warning, people were teleported into the streets.

“Wait, where’s my phone?”

The second change.
All belongings disappeared, and every facility, product, and means of transportation was sealed.

And the third change—

“Argh! What is that?!”

Monsters from games and novels appeared in reality, attacking people.

Chomp!!

“Kyaaaah!”

A slime-like creature spread its body and swallowed a person whole.
This transparent, liquid-like being was one of the monsters now called “Aberrations.”

Sizzle—!

The person consumed by the slime dissolved instantly, bones showing through.

People screamed, horrified, just as another system window appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[Quest: Trial of God]
[Reach the ending of the world you desire.]
[Tip: Hunters can trade items through NPCs’ ‘Fantasy Shops.’]
[Tip: Hunt Aberrations to earn Coins.]

“W-what does this mean?”
“What’s going on??”

Confused and panicked, people couldn’t understand the sudden messages.

At that moment—

The fourth change began.

Among the people, strange figures appeared.

“…Humans?”
“What’s with those clothes…?”

Some wore fantasy-like costumes, some had long pointed ears like elves, others were beastmen, and even gray-skinned aliens appeared.

“Could those be the NPCs they mentioned?”

People glanced between the system messages and the unfamiliar beings, wary after just witnessing someone die to a slime.

‘Time to move.’

Jang Sunam walked up to a nearby NPC.

“Give me an axe.”

Flinch.

The dwarf-like NPC glanced at him nervously, fear in its eyes.

Jang Sunam knew why.
And soon enough, everyone else would too.

Because these NPCs were remnants of destroyed worlds.

“…Here. 1 Coin.”

The NPC spoke in a strange tongue, yet he understood it clearly thanks to the universal Translation Skill everyone possessed.

“Alright.”

He opened his inventory, pulled out his only possession—a single Coin—and bought the axe.

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

People watching him realized they could also open their own inventories.
Each had the same: 1 Coin.

“What’s for sale? Show me the list.”
“I need a weapon to fight those things….”
“Do you do discounts?”

Seeing Jang Sunam trade successfully, the others rushed toward NPCs, desperate to arm themselves.

But where people gather, conflict follows.

Some began to argue when they discovered that 1 Coin could only buy the lowest-grade equipment.

“Hey, NPC. I’ve only got 1 Coin—can’t you take something as collateral?”
“No. Transactions require Coins.”
“Come on, this coat’s real leather, it’s expensive.”
“No.”

The tattooed man kept demanding equipment on credit, and the NPC kept refusing.

Finally, furious, the man grabbed the NPC by the collar.

“Damn it, I said I’ll pay later!”

‘He’ll regret that.’

The thought crossed Jang Sunam’s mind when—

KABOOM—!!

A lightning bolt struck down the tattooed man.

The NPC standing right in front of him was completely unharmed.
Only the man’s body was charred black as he collapsed.

“Kyaaaah!”
“Another person died!”

[Tip: Hunters who attack NPCs during the tutorial will receive penalties.]

‘To be exact, the penalty triggers the moment you try to attack.’

At last, people began to treat NPCs with fear and caution.

But then—

“U-ugh… am I… alive?”

The tattooed man, who had clearly been burned to death, suddenly returned to normal.

“H-he just came back to life!”
“What the hell is happening?”

While others panicked, Jang Sunam calmly opened his status window for the first time.

‘The life system is working fine.’

[Status]

• <Jang Sunam>

• <Hunter> (F)

• <♥ x3>

[Skills]

• <Translation> (A)

• <Regressor’s Journal> (SSS)

The heart icons represented the Hunter’s Life System.
Like arcade games, he could die up to three times and still revive.

‘Journal, open.’

It was a skill he had acquired during the first regression.

The book visible only to him recorded the information of past rounds.
It merely stored data, but after multiple regressions, no skill proved more useful.

Unless you were a genius, you couldn’t possibly remember every detail.

‘First priority is to gather Coins.’

Feeling the weight of the axe in his hand, Jang Sunam turned toward a nearby slime.

[<Slime> (F)]

Its grade was displayed—F, the lowest.
Which meant his F-grade weapon was enough.

Screech!

Noticing his gaze, the slime slid toward him.

He approached it casually, as if on a stroll.

And then, in passing—

Swish—Slice!

He swung his axe lightly, yet the slime burst apart in a single strike.

‘The core’s movement pattern hasn’t changed.’

The hardest part of slimes was that their cores constantly shifted inside their bodies.

But even that had a pattern.
And after six regressions, that pattern was etched into his mind and body.

Clink!

With its core destroyed, the slime melted into harmless water and died.

[You obtained 1 Coin.]

In this world where only skills, equipment, and experience could be relied on, 1 Coin was not insignificant.

“H-he killed the monster!”
“Let’s try too! Maybe we’ll get something!”
“Be careful! You could die like the others—”
“But didn’t they come back to life?”

Inspired by Jang Sunam, others grabbed weapons and charged the slimes.

None managed to kill them in one strike like he had.

At that moment—

[Warning. Balance collapse detected due to tutorial difficulty breach.]

A new system message appeared before Jang Sunam’s eyes.

[Identity check initiated.]
[Check complete: Regressor Jang Sunam.]
[Special privileges granted for clearing the world six times.]

“……!!”

His eyes widened.

It was the first privilege he’d received since the “Regressor’s Journal.”

[You have acquired Hidden Passive Skill <Polar Extremes> (EX).]

‘An EX-rank skill?!’

It was two ranks above his SSS Journal skill.