A page made of a strange material—unlike anything Nigel had ever seen—flipped over. Between its smooth, pure white surface and Nigel, a bright blue screen suddenly emerged as if forcing its way in.
<system: user02 account accessing system data.>
The text on the screen was in an unfamiliar language. Yet Nigel had no trouble reading it: Observer’s Eye. Was it because of the skill bestowed upon him by Glarus?
And it wasn’t just one screen. Identical windows kept appearing over and over again, obsessively, until they flooded the entire space. The semi-transparent overlays stacked on top of one another until they became nearly opaque. Before he realized it, Nigel found himself surrounded, as if he were trapped inside a giant blue box. He stared blankly at the bizarre sight, his breath catching in his throat.
But only for a moment.
All at once, the blue screens shattered. But it wasn’t a relief. As if replacing them, a fresh wave of crimson-red screens began to rise.
<system: Unauthorized account access detected.>
<system: Access not â– â– ted for accâ– â– â– .>
<system: â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– â– >
Screens with short, glitchy phrases flashed up and vanished almost instantly. Like sand scattering in the wind, the letters fragmented. One last screen would appear and break, again and again, as if caught in a loop.
Only the first two screens contained coherent sentences. Nigel couldn’t make out the rest, but glimpses of words like access and account flashed by.
Was this something important?
Just like the blue screens before them, the red ones eventually vanished all at once. Then, slowly, almost leisurely, the blue returned.
As if daring him to look straight at it.
Would you like to access the save data?
â– â– â– â– will be unlocked.
YES
NO
This time, the window didn’t disappear. Unlike the previous glitched ones, this message was clear and steady, without any chaotic flickering. Yet Nigel still couldn’t fully comprehend it. The Observer’s Eye skill was supposed to decode all known languages and ciphers, and still…
What the hell is â– â– â– â– supposed to mean?
It was as if this information had never been meant for Nigel to see in the first place. The very word itself was scrubbed out, like a warning not to dig deeper.
He had no way of knowing what ■■■■was, but his hesitation didn’t last long. Closing the book now wouldn’t change anything anyway.
Nigel raised his hand and moved it toward the [ YES ] button.
The moment his fingers brushed the screen, massive ripples spread out from the contact point, like a meteor striking the surface of a calm lake. The screen shattered, and the shards, like glass, shot toward Nigel’s body.
“Aagh!”
They weren’t supposed to have substance—but the pain was real. Intense. It pierced into his body and tore through it like blades.
Flesh split open. Blood sprayed. The fragments were so fine and numerous that in seconds, his vision was dyed a vivid red. His fingertips trembled uncontrollably as he endured the relentless, horrifying pain. Though his hand hovered over the button, he hadn’t yet pressed it.
<Let go.>
A message spoke directly to him.
<It’ll be easier that way.>
The statement, made so matter-of-factly, sparked immediate rejection in Nigel.
Easier? This? Seeing strange hallucinations, being dragged around cluelessly, trembling in fear—this was easier?
<Yeah. That’d be better.>
Bullshit. If he were the kind of carefree idiot who could laugh without knowing anything, he wouldn’t have come this far in the first place.
Nigel gritted his teeth and forced strength into his hand. Now that he’d made up his mind, his previously paralyzed hand suddenly moved with ease.
Slowly, deliberately, he pressed the button.
And just like that, all the alien screens that had filled his surroundings disappeared in an instant. The open wounds sealed shut. The heavy stench of blood vanished without a trace. Nigel glanced around, then exhaled deeply.
“…It was a hallucination.”
He muttered the words, utterly drained. His body, tense from the ordeal, gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. Sitting there, he raised his empty hand. It was still shaking uncontrollably from the strain.
He glared at the new window that had floated above his head and drifted down to meet his gaze.
<system: Data access granted.>
<system: userâ– â– account â– â– ed.>
NOW LOADING……
0.1%
Completion: ???
More windows appeared in quick succession. Unlike before—when they seemed desperate to hide information—these stayed on-screen, letting him see every word. Nigel read each one, closed them, and continued watching.
He still couldn’t fully understand what the messages meant. But one thing was clear: that hallucination from before wasn’t just a scare tactic.
Something definitely changed the moment Nigel pressed [ YES ]. That NOW LOADING or whatever must’ve been triggered. Who knew how long it would take, but once everything loaded and applied, something would shift. Probably something significant.
His heart pounded uneasily. Just moments ago, he’d been certain—but now, a wave of regret hit him. What scared him most was that he had no idea what he’d just done.
[See? I told you you’d regret it.]
A voice whispered in his ear—exhausted, barely a breath. Nigel shook his head, trying to dismiss it as a hallucination.
Maybe he’d sacrificed something. But he had definitely gained something in return.
He took a deep breath. Then, with a steadier hand, he picked the fallen book back up.
[SAVE DATA]
Reading the title on the cover again, Nigel flipped it open. Unlike the dreams—or that surreal experience just moments ago—this time he could see the contents clearly.
[00000]—————
[00001] Kingdom Year 274, May 2
[00002] Kingdom Year 284, March 27
[00003] Kingdom Year 283, September 15
[00004] Kingdom Year 284, March 26
[00005] Kingdom Year 284, March 27
[00006] Kingdom Year 280, October 9
“What the hell…?”
All that was written inside were dates. That was it. After everything he’d gone through to open this book, he’d expected a trove of secrets. The disappointment hit hard. With a scowl, Nigel flipped the pages.
[00232] Kingdom Year 283, December 1
…
[00439] Kingdom Year 283, May 8
…
[00901] Kingdom Year 283, August 8
…
It was a thick book. But no matter how many pages he turned, all he saw were serial numbers and disjointed dates.
As he kept flipping without thinking much, his hand suddenly froze. The dates weren’t random—they followed a certain pattern.
His breathing, which had just begun to calm, started to falter again. Eyes locked onto the rising serial numbers, Nigel flipped through the pages faster and faster. Flip, flip—the numbers climbed ever higher.
Ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety…
Ninety-one thousand, ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine…
“…”
And then, finally—the last page.
[99995] 283, June 14
[99996] 283, May 8
[99997] 283, April 24
[99998] 284, March 27
[99999] 283, August 2
Nigel spotted familiar dates and chased his memories. He quickly scanned the years and days. The pages were densely filled with dates confined within a specific range, never exceeding certain boundaries.
From November 9, Kingdom Year 272—the day Nigel and Inas first met.Â
To March 27, Kingdom Year 284—the day this game reached its ending.
The last five entries clearly marked the days Nigel had regressed. And all the countless dates before… must’ve been records of Inas’s regressions. In other words…
This was Inas’s time loop log.
The weight of the book grew heavier in his hands. Despite containing nothing but dates, it took ages to flip through. Inas had regressed that many times. Nigel’s trembling fingers traced the final five lines. He himself had only regressed five times—now living his sixth life—and even that was exhausting.
As he let out a long sigh, strength suddenly surged into his hand. A realization struck him like lightning.
[99999] 283, August 2
The five-digit serial numbers had reached their end with the last regression. This life—Nigel’s current one—was the 100,000th iteration.
The book’s pages were finished. All that remained was the back cover, blank and unmarked.
If his hunch was right, then this was the one hundred thousandth loop. But the pages were gone. There were no more numbers left to record.
So then, if this loop ends…
What happens next?
