The First Incantation

After the girl left, I sat in the chapel clutching my throbbing head and thought.

The girl who called herself the Princess of the Black Tower, and the true nature of the Reality Recognition Value. I decided to set those aside for now.

What confused me most was… the status window. And the endings.

Until now, I had assumed every ending was a bad thing. Moving on to the next loop never seemed like a good outcome. The first loop proved it. Because I reached the Non-Human Ending in the first loop, the second loop brought Gehanak’s descent. That meant reaching an ending didn’t let you continue; it forced you into the next loop, and the difficulty spiked exponentially.

I had thought this whole “loop playthrough” was a penalty, a curse dragging me deeper into the mire.

Yet the second loop’s Missing Persons Ending left me completely lost… When the girl asked if I wanted to go to the Black Tower, the ending branch suddenly appeared. She even said that entering the Black Tower Ending required collecting the Ascendant and Devourer endings first. In other words, to see certain endings, I had to collect others.

This implied I needed to gather multiple endings.

“So maybe… it’s not about avoiding endings and being careful.”

I crossed my arms and muttered, organizing my thoughts.

“Maybe I actually need to collect them?”

An insane conclusion.

“Really?”

I had to do all sorts of things just to collect endings I didn’t even understand? I didn’t even know what triggered most of them in the first place.

“…”

There had to be more to it. Something I didn’t know yet.

The status window seemed to want me to collect endings. Was that the ultimate goal of my infinite regressions? Was I really supposed to stir up every corner of the world just to gather endings?

I kept thinking. Like hunting achievements in a game—did it want me to see every single ending that existed? Was that what the status window desired? And what would happen once I collected them all?

It didn’t make sense.

“Hmm.”

I formed a hypothesis.

First-loop ending: Non-Human. Second-loop ending: Missing Persons. If this was some kind of game system, both felt like bad endings—the kind you get by taking the wrong branch or making a critical mistake before reaching the true ending.

So, did bad endings carry penalties?

“Ah?”

Gehanak? Maybe reaching a bad ending raised the difficulty of the next loop as a penalty? Was that why Gehanak appeared?

If bad endings existed, then good endings or true endings probably did too. Maybe even normal endings…

Then was the second loop’s Missing Persons Ending treated as a normal ending rather than a bad one? That would explain why no special penalty appeared…

It was a workable theory, but I still lacked information. What happened if I reached a good ending? Would I gain benefits instead of penalties? And what about a true ending? Would everything finally end?

Regardless, one thing was certain: some endings required other endings to unlock. That meant I needed to collect them—good endings, true endings, whatever they were. I should probably avoid bad endings, though.

“Hmm… but that’s the problem. I can’t even tell the difference between them, and I have zero information about the endings themselves.”

Take the Ascendant Ending, for example. It sounded like a good ending. “Ascension” usually carried positive connotations. Yet even Gehanak, who became a vampire angel, only got the Non-Human Ending. How the hell was I supposed to achieve something as overwhelming as the Ascendant Ending?

And the Devourer Ending… just the name sounded terrifying. Was it an ending where I consumed something? Either way, it seemed I’d have to collect both before I could go to the Black Tower with the girl. I didn’t know yet, but gathering the Ascendant and Devourer endings might naturally reveal the truth about the Black Tower.

“Hoo.”

Anyway, what I needed to do right now was normalize my Reality Recognition Value. If I kept it this high, I had no idea what would happen. The worst-case scenario was reaching some bizarre bad ending because of the high value, looping again, and ending up even more screwed.

“The Pure White Shell, huh.”

She said finding it would lower my value. The girl—the Princess of the Black Tower—didn’t seem to be lying. She had been favorable toward me, at least. Even if it was hard to believe, I had no choice but to verify it myself.

“The difficulty’s pretty high, though.”

I had to find the Pure White Shell on a battlefield where the Bureau and the Fake Bureau were tearing each other apart. Could I even do it? I wasn’t a Bureau agent anymore… I might get shot by Jaaldi or Spandal. Jamtree would happily pull the trigger. If I really got shot and screamed, “Ah, shit! Headshot! Headshot! Director! Senior! Save me!” nobody would respond. I wasn’t their colleague anymore.

That meant the odds of getting caught in a hail of bullets in the middle of that insane battlefield and turning into delicious Kim Geun-hong jerky were pretty high. I’d just become a bloody rag.

“I miss them…”

Having colleagues really was reassuring. Only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now did I truly feel it.

“Let’s just move.”

For now, I had no choice but to push forward. I steadied my mind, checked my gear, and stood up.

* * *

As expected, the two Bureaus weren’t the only things I had to watch out for.

“Shit.”

There were way too many ‘Black Hounds’ around. They had clearly fled in terror when the girl appeared, but the moment she left, they came back. There were so many I couldn’t even figure out how to move. Should I just charge through on Damas? That was possible, but I needed to reach the battlefield where the two Bureaus were fighting. Riding Damas would get me spotted immediately.

That meant I had to take a detour… which was also a problem. Even if I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tried to go around, Bureau agents were probably spread all over the area. I could get discovered while moving.

The thought crossed my mind, but there was no other option right now. I decided to attempt a detour to find an entry route. If I ran into a Bureau agent… well, I’d deal with it then. I couldn’t just sit still because there was no perfect solution.

—Swish.

I slipped past the Black Hounds like that, playing at infiltration. There were too many of them. Maybe these Black Hounds existed all over the world, always right beside us. We simply hadn’t noticed them because of our Reality Recognition Values. They might have been next to me the entire time.

—Shiver.

The thought sent a chill down my spine.

Anyway, I kept moving, but I couldn’t find any detour route. Black Hounds infested every direction.

“No, there are way too many…”

When I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rode Damas up to the rest stop, there hadn’t been this many. They were really concentrated around here.

I returned to the church and reviewed my options. No detour existed.

“Then I guess there’s only one way.”

The grimoire. The girl had said it might contain a spell to drive away the Black Hounds. Honestly, I didn’t want to take it out. Using the spell was even less appealing. I had no idea what would happen, and if my Reality Recognition Value shot up again, I’d probably just sit down and sob. And there was no Spandal to comfort me this time. I really didn’t want to pull it out carelessly.

But.

“If there’s no other way, I have to take the risk.”

My goal was to break through the Black Hounds, reach the battlefield, and find the Pure White Shell. If I was stuck at the very beginning… I had to touch the grimoire, even if it was dangerous.

Resolved, I took the grimoire out of my inventory.

—Saaah.

Now I could sense it. A deeply ominous aura radiated from the book. No wonder it summoned Saladin the moment I took it out.

—Gulp.

I swallowed and forced myself to ignore the letters on the cover that tried to be read.

“Let’s go!”

I flipped the page.

“Hoo!”

I exhaled and quickly scanned the first page. I could read it. If I focused a little more, the content might even flow straight into my mind.

Dangerous. What would happen if I absorbed this knowledge? Physical wounds and death could be undone by regression. But knowledge in my head? Even if I died and came back, the memories would remain. It was knowledge that would cling permanently to my brain and soul, even after regressing.

“Hoo, hoo…!”

Cold sweat ran down my face. My Reality Recognition Value hadn’t risen yet. A drastic decision. I read the sentence written on the first page in my mind and accepted its meaning.

“Ah.”

Just as she said, it was a spell. I began to faintly see what would happen if I used it… and the phenomena that would result from it! The grimoire didn’t require training or anything else. If I could just read it, I could use it!

—Thud!

I closed the grimoire. Simply reading and interpreting it inwardly didn’t seem to carry any penalty. But actually using it? By ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠casting this spell, I would take one step closer to the concept of a mage. It was no different from truly entering the realm of the inhuman and the arcane.

I would accept it. Now was the time. Once I found the Pure White Shell and normalized my Reality Recognition Value, everything would be fine.

Grimoire in hand, I stepped outside.

—Shamble, shamble.

Black Hounds wandered about. They hadn’t noticed me yet. So this time, I revealed myself first.

“Black Hounds.”

At my words, the one in front turned, moved its two legs, and began approaching. Even though I had clearly taken out the grimoire, it acted as if it didn’t matter. I instinctively knew why. These beings were so low-level that they couldn’t recognize the grimoire.

Holding the open grimoire, I recited the spell from the first page.

“□□□□□□□”

An incomprehensible language flowed from my mouth. The meaning of the spell was obscure, but one word was clearly understandable.

Suture.

—Shaaaaak!

The Black Hound’s insides exploded, and multiple bundles of tentacles burst out like a sea urchin’s spines. The tips of those tentacles were needle-sharp. Then, disgusting thread-like strands crawled out like hundreds of silk worms. This was the second phase.

The Black Hound instantly became covered in tentacles. The tentacles moved quickly. Dozens of them wove the long threads together and pierced holes in the flesh. The motion was exactly like a skilled surgeon suturing a wound. The Black Hound began to be “sutured” in an instant.

“Iaaaaah!”

The Black Hound’s flower-bud-like maw split open with a grotesque scream. But the suturing was far too fast. The tentacles that had burst from inside began suturing and suturing again. They overlapped flesh, pierced holes with needles, and wove everything together with thread…

Thus, the Black Hound lost its original form and was sewn into a sphere made entirely of skin and flesh. The completely sutured lump of meat writhed for a moment, then stopped moving.

—Ding.