Chapter 1
[Congratulations!]
[All of the Corrupted God’s Candles have been extinguished!]
[The Sun God Raspalara has regained His authority!]
[The darkness that blanketed the world has receded, and spring has co to the frozen land!]
[At this mont, the world has regained its light!]
It had been unbearably long.
Claude collapsed onto the floor with a dull thud.
The stone dust of the ruined temple stabbed painfully into his body, but he did not even have the strength to twitch a single finger.
[As the Corrupted God has been defeated, the weapon’s effects are upgraded!]
[Boss defeat reward acquired: ‘Spear That Pierced the Corrupted God’!]
The enemy that had tried to conceal the Sun God’s flas and devour the world—the final boss, the “Corrupted God.”
Living up to its epithet, the boss possessed a dark, grotesque form, and the mont its body was pierced, it spewed pure white blood and disintegrated.
Ding!
[A new skill has been unlocked as a boss defeat reward!]
[Stolen Divine Authority (Minor) new!
You can use a portion of the power of darkness.
— Engraved upon the soul, permanent.]
[Blessing of the Sun God: The blessing of Raspalara is always with you. Wound recovery is accelerated.
— Engraved upon the soul, permanent.
Effect increased when ‘Spear That Pierced the Corrupted God’ is equipped.]
The spear that had fallen from Claude’s hand emitted a faint glow.
Ding!
[You have obtained the title ‘Godslayer’!]
[Additional passives have been applied according to the title!]
[God Killing (Minor): ‘Not even gods are eternal.’ Existence interference, attack power increased.
— Engraved upon the soul, permanent.]
[Beware of Fanatics: (When ‘Spear That Pierced the Corrupted God’ is equipped)
You can sense the presence of life forms touched by divine influence. Existence interference, attack power increased.
— Engraved upon the soul, permanent.]
Perhaps because the final battle had been so difficult, the rewards were extraordinary.
Listening absentmindedly to the continued notifications, Claude closed all the reward windows and pulled up his basic information.
[Total number of deaths: 28]
How many dangers had an utterly ordinary man endured to cultivate power comparable to that of a hero?
When you die, everything resets.
In this world, “reset” does not an returning to the past and starting over from the beginning.
When you die, the system forcibly possesses a randomly selected person, and the next run begins imdiately.
If compared to a ga, it was like starting completely anew in a place where even the starting village and the playable character were entirely random.
‘What a lunatic system.’
To survive, he absorbed knowledge indiscriminately.
There were tis when he lived an ordinary life, but to progress the main scenario, he needed to grow stronger no matter what.
Repeating run after run, he lived many different lives.
At tis he lived as a hunter, at other tis as a rcenary, and at one point as a knight.
There had even been a ti when he made a na for himself as a great mage, and another when he was not even human, but an elf.
And thus, the twenty-ninth ti.
Only in this run had he finally defeated the final boss.
Claude stopped his thoughts and looked at the light seeping through the collapsed ceiling.
He could feel the circulation of mana gathering toward his heart.
It seed his strength was gradually returning.
“Claude.”
Claude shifted his gaze to look at the person who had called him.
Ark Batchel.
Black hair matted with blood and dust entered his vision first.
The clothes custom-made for long journeys, though not particularly flashy, were just as ruined, but between the strands of disheveled hair, the blue eyes that quietly asserted their presence still seed to hold a deep, tranquil lake.
The hero destined to save the world, and likely the protagonist of this world.
Ark Batchel was a man who had accomplished great feats across multiple runs, possessed abilities so exceptional that he was not swept away by his own fate—a perfect man.
Originally, the Corrupted God should have fallen by Arc’s hand, but thanks to him diverting the god’s attention, Claude had been able to deliver the final blow.
As Ark approached Claude, he staggered briefly, as if dizzy.
“Are you hurt? It looked like you passed out earlier.”
“…I was just a little dizzy. I am fine.”
Arc, who had been pressing his forehead, shook his head as if it were nothing.
However, Claude carefully examined Arc’s condition, just in case.
His face was obscured by long hair grown shaggy from their long journey.
Because of that, it was hard to see his expression clearly, but Arc’s voice was calm, as usual.
Although he was clutching an arm that was bleeding, aside from being dirtied by stone dust and debris from the ruins, there were no wounds that looked fatal.
Had he been hit by the ntal attack that demonkind was said to use just before death?
But if Ark had failed to withstand the attack, the quest would have ended in failure, and no such ssage had appeared.
While Claude was closely inspecting Arc, Ark spoke.
“So this is the end.”
A total of twenty-eight deaths.
Hearing the word “end” from Arc, who was surely the protagonist of this world, felt strangely new.
And as if to fulfill Claude’s expectations, a system window appeared.
[The main story is approaching its conclusion!]
[Calculating completion rewards for !]
[Reward calculation will take approximately 50 minutes!]
Claude trembled as he stared at the words “completion achieved.”
How long had he waited for this mont?
Fearing the words might disappear, Claude stared intently at the system window, but nothing like what he imagined happened.
“Claude?”
When no answer ca back, Ark called out in a puzzled voice.
Claude steadied his breathing and barely responded.
“…Yes. It is finally over.”
Once fifty minutes passed, everything would be over.
He would finally bid farewell to this damned world.
Having gone through countless resignations, Claude had thought that even reaching the ending would leave him unmoved.
But that was not the case.
Naless emotions churned chaotically within his heart.
Perhaps because he had long since abandoned any expectation of success and had been running chanically, the sensation filling his chest now felt unfamiliar.
“You look happier than ever before.”
“…Is it that obvious?”
“Very. Catching the Demon Dragon was hard too, but you were not this happy then. Well, I suppose it makes sense, since this is the last one.”
Ark gave a small chuckle and sat down beside him.
Since this was not the first ti they had slain the Demon Dragon in this run, the impact had been weaker, but Ark seed to rember that clearly.
Claude shrugged his shoulders with an indifferent expression.
A breeze slipped through the cracked gaps, gently fluttering the stone dust of the ruins, along with Arc’s hair and cloak.
Claude looked at Ark anew.
A man who never sought to be a hero, yet beca one by saving people.
Having lived a life where he had seen both the best and the worst of everything, Claude felt that when he looked at Arc, he might understand what goodness truly was.
‘When the reward calculation finishes, will that be farewell with Ark as well?’
After encountering Ark countless tis across repeated stories, Claude had resented him and grown tired of him as well.
Yet now that he faced parting from Arc, he could not deny the strange mix of relief and regret he felt.
They had been together for more than half of the runs, so he must have grown attached.
Ark would never learn that he was the protagonist.
Claude recalled the many runs he had shared with him.
There were many things he had kept inside, things he had never been able to say.
In one run, he had failed to hold back and spoken out, ruining their relationship beyond repair.
But.
[Final reward calculation in progress!]
Claude stared intently at the system window.
In his final monts, he hoped he could finally lay bare the story he had kept within.
So completely that it could not even be resented.
And he realized that this was his only chance.
“Hey.”
Claude called Ark first, then stared at the endlessly spinning indicator.
His voice ca a mont later.
“This is going to sound insane, but since it is the end anyway, just listen. Do not interrupt .”
For so reason, the tension felt even greater than when they had defeated the boss.
As if erasing his hesitation, Claude closed his eyes.
“I am not from this world. I was pushed on the stairs and fell, and the last thing I saw was a billboard advertising this ga. Sothing about an MMORPG based on a fantasy novel…. Anyway, the important part is that I ended up in this damn place.”
Claude slowly began to unearth the story he had buried.
“Even if I do not rember anything else, I rember my first death. The sensation of being stabbed by a robber was vivid, and then I woke up in a different body. It was not fascinating at all. It gave chills.”
“I lived so many different lives. Right now I am Claude, but you have no idea how many different faces I wore when I t you, other than Claude.”
“I used to have a lot of companions. But betrayal once or twice is one thing—those bastards betrayed every single ti. So I started taking out the ones with the highest probability first, and in the end, only you and I were left.”
“Do you know that this world is structured around you? If you die, the quest fails no matter where or when. Do you have any idea how hard I ran around to keep you alive…. You should at least thank .”
The more he spoke, the lighter Claude felt.
He adjusted his posture, lying back more comfortably, and let out a long breath.
The spear that had briefly touched him suddenly began to hum, scattering a faint light.
“Still, I think trusting you and coming this far was the right choice. We actually killed a god.”
Thanks to Arc, Claude had been able to endure while clinging to the hope that his vague, endless regression might finally end.
After finishing his final words, he carefully opened his eyes, feeling a wave of awkwardness wash over him.
Arc, who had listened silently without saying a word, was seen picking up the fallen spear.
He had told him not to interrupt, but to truly stay silent until the end.
Considering Arc’s usual personality, it was very much like him.
Even when Claude had first told this story to his companions in so run long ago, Ark alone had not treated him like a madman.
Claude let out a small laugh.
Feeling at ease, he lightly nudged Ark beside him.
It was because embarrassnt ca belatedly.
“Say sothing, at least.”
However, Ark remained seated with his back turned to Claude and showed no reaction until the end.
That was strange.
Despite having a gentle, clean face, his personality was just as mild, and he usually answered when spoken to. Normally, he would have said sothing like “Good work” or “That must have been hard,” yet he said nothing at all.
Had he been shocked?
‘…Well. No matter what, it must have sounded insane.’
For a mont, Claude regretted saying anything unnecessary.
If it ended like this, he would not even be able to say a proper farewell, and that was not what he wanted.
At the very least, he wanted to properly say goodbye to Ark before parting from this world forever.
Because it was the end.
Claude pushed himself up, intending to add more.
[Reward calculation will be completed within 5 minutes!]
And at that mont, along with the system window that appeared, a choking, acrid stench that felt like burning flesh stabbed into his nose, making him wonder how he had not realized it sooner.
A sharp silver flash flickered at the edge of his vision.
Thunk!
“…Huh?”
A searing pain flared in his chest.
Claude spat out a surge of blood and slowly lowered his head.
He saw a spear piercing through his chest.
The Spear That Pierced the Corrupted God. And the one holding that spear was… Arc.
“What….”
The hand gripping the spear burst into black flas.
Ding!
[Reward calculation in progress!]
[Within 5 minutes, rewa—]
[ca—]
[—]
[ ]
.
.
.
[ERROR!]
Warning windows surrounded him at a speed too fast to follow with his eyes.
The scattered warning sounds threw his mind into chaos.
It was a sight he had seen far too many tis.
The very warning window that appeared only just before death.
Claude desperately grabbed the spear that had pierced his chest.
[Passive activated due to ‘Spear That Pierced the Corrupted God’ equip effect!]
[!Beware of Fanatics!]
[A follower of the Corrupted God exists nearby!]
However, as the spear was violently pulled out, Claude could do nothing but roll on the ground in agony.
Blood gushed from his chest.
[Completion reward calculation has been interrupted!]
[The system is rebooting!]
[Loading!]
The sharp spearhead lunged toward his heart once more.
Before his vision turned black, the last thing he caught sight of was Arc’s hand, burning a dark crimson.
[Quest failed!]
[Ending 29 ‘Today’s Ally Is Tomorrow’s Enemy’ acquired!]
[Tip — Do not let your guard down until the very end!]
This fucking….
***
In darkness where not a single ray of light existed.
A rigid chanical voice declared, like the voice of a god announcing the beginning of the world.
[System restarting……]
[…Completed!]
[The blessing of a god is with you!]
Then, suddenly, light poured down as the world opened.
“Ghk!”
His eyes flew open along with the sensation of air being violently drawn into his lungs.
Claude instinctively groped at the spot where he had been pierced by the spear, but he could not feel any wound at all.
“What in the world….”
But his mind was too dizzy to continue the thought.
His throat and heart burned as if he had swallowed raging fire.
Unable to support himself, Claude collapsed straight down onto the floor.
A vivid red carpet that unsettled his vision, the soft texture against his palm.
Before he could even question it, sothing surged violently up from within.
Cough!
When he raised his hand to wipe his mouth, a sticky liquid sared across it.
It was blood.
Soone grabbed Claude’s arm.
The surroundings were in utter chaos.
[‘Blessing of the Sun God’ activated!]
[Status abnormality: Poison]
[Wounds heal slightly faster!]
The system window that appeared suddenly flickered before his eyes.
Warm energy gathered toward his heart.
Claude let out a sharp breath.
His heart and throat still burned with pain, but it felt more bearable than before.
Through his blurred vision, he could see glittering lights, murmuring crowds nearby, and people gathering around him.
The person in front of him shouted.
“Young master!”
And then burst into loud sobs while clutching Claude’s arm.
‘What kind of young master… ?’
And thus, once again.
He stood at the starting point of his thirtieth life.
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