The chaotic notification, loud even in text alone, finally came to an end. A tear, half-wiped and forgotten, slipped down from beneath Cha Eui-sung’s dazed eyes.
‘What the hell is this bullshit…?’
The heat boiling in his head suddenly cooled. He wiped away the remaining tears and slowly skimmed through the absurd text before him.
‘Demon King? Hero? Save the Earth?’
Cha Eui-sung closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If he was going to hallucinate, he’d rather it be a comfortable vision of retirement. He prayed that, when he opened his eyes again, this bizarre system window would be gone.
But no matter how many times he shut them tight, rubbed them, or slapped his cheeks until they stung, the mission window and Savior Gauge that had appeared refused to vanish.
Now, along with resentment, a sense of sheer absurdity began to rise within him. During his first regression—his second life—there had been no such strange, grotesque missions. Only a faint, empty gauge that occasionally flickered at the edge of his vision.
‘Now that I think about it… earlier, the system said it was “updated” after encountering the Demon King, didn’t it?’
‘Yeah. In the first round, I just lived like trash and died on my own terms.’
His mind quickly recalibrated, and he recalled the final moments of his second life once again. White hair billowing in the wind. Eyes glowing red. An emotionless, cold face. The scorched, broken land burning hot beneath it all. And a man floating nobly in the very center of the sky…
Right. Cha Eui-sung had seen the Demon King. A face so striking and beautiful it couldn’t belong to a human, yet so chilling it turned the blood cold. And the destruction of Earth that unfolded from that very man’s hand.
That’s when the system had updated. The system’s master—some being from another dimension or whatever—sought to prevent the world’s annihilation, declared the Demon King to be the cause of it all, and arranged for a Hero to eliminate him.
And that headache-inducing “talent donation” volunteer job… was dumped on Cha Eui-sung.
“…Hah.”
Smack!
He slapped his cheek, but the system window didn’t even wobble.
“So now I’m supposed to…”
Not only had all his blood, sweat, and tears been reset, now he had to save the world too—whether he was some so-called Hero or just another sucker?
Like some fairytale or video game hero, defeat the Demon King?
King: If you kill the [Demon King], it will grant the right for foreign gods to intervene.
King: You mustn’t give them that excuse, [Hero]. Use the conditions you’ve been given!
…He wasn’t even allowed to kill the Demon King?
There wasn’t a single game or novel he’d seen with a setup this ridiculous.
King: ░░Due to limitations in the law of cause and effect, this is as far as I can go.
King: Farewell, then.
♪Bbam bbam bbam♪
‘…….’
That really was the end. Even after the goshiwon manager stopped by, received a half-assed explanation, and left, Cha Eui-sung collapsed onto the floor and lay there, barely breathing for over five hours. From the moment of that stupid ♪bbam bbam bbam♪ jingle, not a single thing changed in the system.
‘If you want to enjoy a cushy S-rank life forever… then save the world?’
Just like that, Cha Eui-sung became a Hero. With the added condition that he couldn’t even kill the Demon King.
He looked down at his empty hands, his eyes still clouded with confusion.
“I don’t get it…”
Why had the system suddenly gone off the rails like this? Why him, of all people, to be chosen as the Hero? Why did his last ending have to be so damn pathetic?
All he had were questions he couldn’t accept. With a long groan, Cha Eui-sung threw an arm over his eyes.
The system, desperately trying to play the role of some game guide with its bizarre little roleplay, delivered a message that was far more grave and weighty than its light tone let on. Even the term foreign god had sent chills down his spine. What kind of Cthulhu-level nonsense was this supposed to be? The real issue, of course, was that it was him—he—who had to stop it.
A Hero? What kind of Hero? A war veteran? A legendary warrior? Earth’s last defender? And why was the system only now revealing something so important? This wasn’t even his first regression.
“Ah?”
Cha Eui-sung groaned as that thought hit him.
“Shit, don’t tell me…”
A chilling suspicion crept through his mind. Come to think of it, that weird gauge had occasionally appeared before too. His sudden S-rank reawakening, the regression, the empty gauge bar that kept flickering into view—there had always been these suspicious little signs even before the regression. But he’d been too consumed by the misery of life as an F-rank, too obsessed with success, to pay them any mind.
But what if those gauges had been signals? What if the system was only now able to reveal the truth because he’d finally met the Demon King upon dying?
What if there were certain conditions that had to be met—something that had to be recognized by the “world”—before the system could even involve itself in this whole Hero-vs-Demon King scenario…?!
“No wayyyyy…!”
If that were the case, then his regression had always been leading to this. But he’d wasted ten whole years practically living inside the Hunter Association, never even seeing the Demon King. Which meant the system had never had the chance to warn him about the impending destruction—and so, the world had ended.
‘This is way too extreme of a consequence!’
Cha Eui-sung lay flat on his back, screaming internally at the ridiculous turn of events he’d just unraveled. Sure, he’d been chasing personal success, but it wasn’t like he’d committed some grand crime. He’d just tried to live his life as best he could! Okay, maybe he’d done a few shady things for a promotion… but that still wasn’t enough to warrant having all his achievements erased and being thrown to the wolves.
This was seriously beyond absurd. His hands, once full of everything he’d worked for, now felt so empty it was pathetic. He’d spent hours piecing his mind back together, but the moment he thought about the Hunter Association Vice President position vanishing into thin air, he felt like screaming all over again.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears, loud enough to drown out thought. No matter how much he tried to make sense of it, his mind just kept spinning in circles between “What the fuck, seriously” and “No, but seriously, what the fuck.”
If the mind had a physical form, his felt like it had been beaten with a metal pipe until it was half-pulped.
‘Calm down… Calm down. Huff… Huff… I’m alive. I got hit by a goddamn meteor and I’m still alive.’
Looking on the bright side—at least he hadn’t been found flattened like a pancake after getting hit. He was alive, which meant he could still eat, still train, still do politics or whatever else it took to succeed. Starting over would be easier this time. It had to be.
But…
Just as he reached that conclusion, a crushing headache tore through his skull.
‘Just thinking about kissing those bastards’ asses again makes me want to puke.’
The brutal memories of his second life weighed down on him like shackles.
“Hah—!”
Now that he thought about it, he really had lost his mind back then. All the S-ranks had treated him like a lunatic. None of them had even taken him seriously.
“That’s slave mentality. You’re not even weak—why the hell are you sucking up to the unawakened like that?”
“Mr. Cha, let’s be real. Do the Association execs have something on you or what?”
“My sister says you’re a trash-collector type, so I shouldn’t hang out with you.”
Their jeers still echoed in his ears, making his vision blur with rage.
“You motherfuc—…”
Come to think of it, those socially challenged S-rank bastards were a huge part of the problem too. Did they think everyone was born naturally charming and just smiled through bullshit with ease?
If those selfish pricks had just cooperated a little, half the pain could’ve been avoided.
“No. No. Think rationally. Rationally…”
He had to stay calm. No matter what, he’d already done all this once. All he had to do was shut his eyes and start over from the beginning.
If he started again… if he just started again…
“Next time I’m starting over, I’m gonna kill those fucking old geezers!”
His second roar exploded. Thud!—another punch to the wall, but he didn’t even flinch.
When he hadn’t known better, he’d just powered through it all. But now that he’d seen the horrors up close, the thought of going back made him feel dizzy.
Clutching his chest, Cha Eui-sung staggered.
Just thinking about that insane cesspool of a system, he got the feeling that even if the world hadn’t ended, his life still would’ve been a disaster—even as Vice President.
And now, seeing the system run off after dumping the Demon King bombshell, only deepened his unease.
It was becoming painfully clear: no matter how hard he had worked, his entire path in that past life had been the wrong one. That’s why, even after all that suffering, the world had still ended.
‘Why the hell did I even try so hard?’
Behind his 80% indignation came a tidal wave of regret. If he ever got another shot, he’d bury all that promotion-hungry ambition and just leech off the S-rank perks to live the good life. No more playing nice. If he was pissed, he’d show it. He’d throw tantrums like a pro.
‘Wait.’
His ragged breathing came to an abrupt halt.
‘Another shot?’
‘……’
His unstable mind cut to the worst possible line of thought like a blade.
In this cramped room that felt more like a livestock pen than a living space, Cha Eui-sung, his eyes half-crazed, stared at the doorknob.
“Another chance…?”
One like this?
***
[Hello. I’m the person who lived in Unit 208. I broke some furniture and damaged the floor. I’ve transferred more than enough for repairs and cleaning to the usual rent account.]
Cha Eui-sung ran away.
He didn’t apply for re-evaluation. He abandoned any thought of rejoining the Hunter Association.
‘I’ll just find the Demon King and do something about him. After that, I’ll really live the S-rank dream life.’
Just like the S-ranks he’d seen before the regression— The ones who had no sense of decency, zero team spirit, and lived like absolute trash. The ones who barely ran dungeons, screwed around, and still had it all.
