The Hell King, the most terrifying monster ever to threaten Earth, lood ever closer.
[The Ti Rabbit has paid causality to Earth. The ssage delivery thod has changed.]
"Hm?"
Kim Ki-Rok tilted his head and addressed the Ti Rabbit. "Should I use my skill again and make a save?"
[Ti Rabbit: No. Our kind moves between present, future, and past, observing and recording the beginnings and endings of dinsions.]
Kim Ki-Rok let out a low whistle at the ssage window that reminded him of a chat app. "A species that observes and records?" he murmured.
[Ti Rabbit: Yeah.]
"You don't have any other powers?"
[Ti Rabbit: None.]
"Got it. Ah, and—"
The Hell King slowly turned its head toward him.
Kim Ki-Rok slipped a hand into his subspace pocket, drawing a longsword and dagger. "Can we keep talking? I might lose my mind," he said.
[Ti Rabbit: What about the caras?]
"We can talk inside my head. Or is that not possible?"
[Ti Rabbit: No, it's possible.]
A grin flickered across Kim Ki-Rok's face as he stepped back. This wasn't his first eting with the Hell King. He dodged the first attack with practiced ease, still smiling. He didn't have perfect information, but he knew enough to survive a little longer.
As he lunged, his sword sliced through the air and dug into the Hell King with a wet sound. For a brief mont, the monster's eyes flashed with surprise. Then, with a glittering gaze, the Hell King partially unleashed its power. In the blink of an eye, it tore Kim Ki-Rok's heart from his chest.
***
2nd Attempt.
Kim Ki-Rok retreated, barely evading the Hell King's fast, sweeping fist, crossing both swords to shield his heart.
Clang!
[Ti Rabbit: Idiot. Why block head-on when you're so outmatched?]
Just testing how strong the Hell King is when it's at full power, not weakened, Kim Ki-Rok thought. Now that he'd confird, he would only try again once the monster was weakened.
3rd Attempt.
Oof. Is there anyone who can beat it at full strength? he wondered.
[Ti Rabbit: It’s called Hell's Gate and Hell King for a reason, you know.]
4th Attempt.
Wait, does that an Earth isn't the only dinsion Hell has invaded?
[Ti Rabbit: Countless dinsions have fallen to Hell's invasion.]
10th Attempt.
[Ti Rabbit: How's your mind holding up?]
Still good. Ten tis is nothing.
23rd Attempt.
Hmm... The order's wrong. Where did I ss up?
[Ti Rabbit: On the nineteenth attack, last ti you parried upward with Guardian. This ti you deflected downward.]
32nd Attempt.
How long did I last?
[Ti Rabbit: 30 seconds.]
Jeez! So to last an hour, I'd need to repeat this six hundred tis?
[Ti Rabbit: Not just that. Your expressions, your movents, the order of blocks, dodges, and attacks all need to match across regressions. But since you've used the Luggage before the Carrying Pouch, you might hit one hour before six hundred tries.]
67th Attempt.
Hmm, maybe I should change things up?
[Ti Rabbit: Change what? Where?]
From the beginning.
[Ti Rabbit: You really think you can hold out?]
I have to.
***
Kim Ki-Rok barely slipped past another attack. Trusting his instant teleportation skill, he released his full power from the start, mana spilling in all directions. Its glow reflected off the now-empty mana stones that lay scattered everywhere.
"Is that its weakened state?"
"He dodged again! And again!"
The clear team couldn't see the Hell King's approach or its strikes, yet Kim Ki-Rok never stopped evading them.
"Hey," one Hunter called to his colleague in the command center.
"What?"
"You think you could do that?"
"If I had foresight?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe. I think I could."
This Hunter was stronger than Kim Ki-Rok, with better physical abilities, sharper senses, and a larger mana reserve. He answered without hesitation.
"But not for long," he added. "Ten minutes tops. No, five."
Kim Ki-Rok wasn't just facing a weakened foe. Here, a single mistake ant certain death. With fear numbing the body and senses, even soone who could see the future or dodge attacks couldn't last long.
Kim Ki-Rok evaded the Hell King's attacks for ten seconds. Though every counter failed, perhaps his one-second foresight kept him alive.
"Does he not feel fear?" one Hunter muttered in awe.
"Doesn't look like it," another replied.
Kim Ki-Rok had once fought demons far beyond him in the Yuashiel Dinsion. In the Patera Dinsion, he had held off hundreds of chanical monsters alone, buying ti for top Hunters to defeat the Gate boss. Things hadn't changed. Kim Ki-Rok fought monsters beyond his ans, compensating for lack of power with artifacts or buffs and challenging beasts no one else dared to face. It was as if the fear of death simply didn't register.
"Let's gather intel," said the first Hunter. His words snapped his friend and the others out of their daze as they watched Kim Ki-Rok dodge and the Hell King attack on the monitor.
Kim Ki-Rok hadn't joined the Four Dukes subjugation team, choosing to stay at headquarters and level up for this fight. However, not only had the number of monsters diminished, but his growth also seed to have slowed down.
If the Gate team had allowed ti for monsters to breed and grow, Kim Ki-Rok's leveling pace might have continued, but that hadn't happened.
That's why everyone knew... one of the Hunters thought as he watched the fight on the screen.
Everyone knew Kim Ki-Rok wouldn't be able to fight in the Hell King subjugation. At first, they'd expected him to join, even if he was underleveled. But the subjugation of the Grand Duke, Hydra, reality set in.
The Hydra had been powerful. Without prepared mana stones, teleportation support, Kim Ki-Rok's Discernnt Skill, and sharp observation, the team would have been wiped out. The Grand Duke had been that strong.
Gate bosses were always at least twice, sotis four tis, as powerful as mid-bosses. At Kim Ki-Rok's level and with his physical limitations, it was obvious he couldn't dodge the Hell King's attacks. He shouldn't have survived this long.
His performance now was only possible due to his one-second foresight, along with the buff that ca with brutal side effects like headaches, nerve pain, and muscle aches. It didn't end there. As a side effect of the increase in physical ability and senses, he wouldn't be able to taste anything or feel anything on his skin for a year.
"He loses a sense every ten minutes, right?" asked a Hunter.
"Yeah, each sense goes numb for a year," answered another.
"And he's lost his sense of sll now?"
"Yup."
Kim Ki-Rok could still manage because his hearing, sight, and mana detection—his sixth sense—were intact.
He hadn't suffered fatal wounds yet, but flesh had been torn away and bone exposed. The blood from those wounds painted the floor red, while blood from his split forehead blinded his left eye, forcing him to rely on the other to track his foe.
"You think he'll make it?" a Hunter whispered.
"As long as Kim Ki-Rok doesn't feel fear, and the Hell King keeps smiling, he'll keep going."
People glanced at the speaker, who watched the screen intently.
"That foresight skill? Doesn't need his five senses. Not even the sixth."
"Ah!"
Even if Kim Ki-Rok lost all his senses and his ability to manipulate mana, he would endure. As long as he had his skill and neither fear nor the Hell King's boredom got in the way, he would survive.
***
138th Attempt.
"Wha...?"
Kim Ki-Rok lost an arm from a mistid move, but didn't scream. Instead, he frowned, glancing down at his torn shoulder.
297th Attempt.
"Oh! We got here faster than I thought."
Kim Ki-Rok had estimated each extra second against the Hell King would cost him another regression, but thanks to his experience regressing with the Ti Rabbit's Luggage before using the Carrying Pouch, he managed twelve minutes on this current Attempt.
[Ti Rabbit: Hey, blockhead. Focus!]
Kim Ki-Rok's severed head managed a smile at the Ti Rabbit's ssage before he was sent back.
682nd Attempt.
Talk to , he thought.
[Ti Rabbit: What?]
You know, the problem isn't that dying hurts... What's driving crazy is having to feel it over and over, again and again, in such a short span.
[Ti Rabbit: So what do you want to talk about?]
Tell about other worlds Hell invaded. Stories you saw and recorded.
[Ti Rabbit: Why?]
Because I think it'll help keep going.
[Ti Rabbit: Let's see. The first dinsion I saw Hell destroy was a place where only goblin-like creatures remained. They were similar to the ones in the Yuashiel Dinsion.]
753rd Attempt.
[Ti Rabbit: Maybe because it was a goblin-ruled world, maybe not, but it was underdeveloped, and there were hardly any mana users. The goblins' dinsion was wiped out. A few with the power to leap through spaceti escaped Hell's invasion.]
1376th Attempt.
[Ti Rabbit: Hey. Are you all righ— Hey, Crazy Bast...]
[Ti Rabbit: Are you... calling this... a trance...?]
[Ti Rabbit: Hey... hey...]
[Ti Rabbit: ...re—!]
[Ti Rabbit: ...treat!]
[Ti Rabbit: Retreat! Now! You idiot!]
***
He dodged. Again. And again.
"H-how long's it been?"
"Three hours."
His focus had reached its peak. He still radiated a trendous amount of mana, but its color had changed. His body glowed a deep azure, while the mana swirling around him was a pale blue.
Ti dragged on, and eventually, four hours had passed.
The wings of the Hell King fully unfurled as it soared high, glaring down at Kim Ki-Rok. The monster no longer smiled. Jaw clenched, it plunged toward the ground.
"Order retreat!"
When Kang Man-Ki shouted, the operator managing Kim Ki-Rok relayed the command at full volu. But perhaps Kim Ki-Rok was too focused on surviving, because he kept evading instead of retreating.
A massive explosion, like dozens of missiles striking at once, rocked the earth in a split second. Hunters stared, swallowing hard, while support staff with low physical stats like Kang Man-Ki snapped to attention. A flash of light, and the man on the screen reappeared before their eyes.
"Whoa... Holy shit..." As soon as he materialized, Kim Ki-Rok dropped to the floor, cursing, heedless of everyone watching. "That was way too close..."
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