Floor 75

Whoosh—!

"Ghk!"

A sword flash too fast to see sliced through the air and came flying at Kim Jun.

He dropped his body on instinct.

Drip—

The blade only grazed his cheek, but a thin red line opened there, blood slipping down his skin.

"As expected... this isn't easy."

Kim Jun drew a short breath.

The thing that had attacked him was a wraith soldier.

This place, the 75th floor, had once been more than a simple frontline. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been an important gateway supplying Drakenhart, the city on the 76th floor.

It was the key stronghold that had supported the hunters' vanguard, a road leading to a city that was as good as a capital.

But then Drakenhart on the 76th floor fell and became "monsterized."

The corruption spread downward without restraint, and the entire 75th floor was swallowed with it.

In other words, the current 75th floor was land occupied by Drakenhart.

It was the battlefield of a dead kingdom that had completely lost its original purpose, where wraith soldiers and wraith knights prowled everywhere.

The "common mob" of that place was the wraith soldier standing right in front of him.

But even so—

This little thing is supposed to be a common mob?

Just brushing against his flesh had been enough to leave a wound that felt deep and fatal.

"Master! What the hell is this situation?!"

Andras roared like a beast.

"I don't know. Only thing I'm sure of is that it's not a welcoming one."

Kim Jun muttered briefly, tightening his grip on his greatsword.

The situation was still at its worst.

His mana was recovering little by little, but it would take time before it was fully replenished.

And Andras, too, had already burned through a huge amount of energy after smashing through every gate on the 19th floor.

Then it happened.

Bwooooom—!

"Damn it."

A horn sounded, sharp and piercing.

Then came a wave of footsteps that made the ground shudder.

Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!

Boots striking in perfect rhythm, as if a single giant heart were pounding somewhere in the dark.

Not a single step out of sync.

What emerged from the fog was—

"Grrrr..."

"We must protect the kingdom..."

"Intruders..."

Dozens of wraith soldiers.

"This isn't looking easy," Kim Jun said with a low laugh.

"It isn't," Andras shot back in the same tone.

There were only a little over ten of them.

But the problem wasn't the number.

The problem was the quality.

They weren't ordinary monsters.

These had once been the residents and soldiers who lived here, only to be swallowed by Drakenhart and turned into wraiths.

In other words, they were intelligent monsters with strategy and thought.

They formed a ring and slowly, but surely, closed in to surround Kim Jun and Andras.

*

Crack—!

Kim Jun's greatsword swung, and the wraith soldier's upper body flew apart.

But the price was a deep gash ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠torn open along Kim Jun's arm.

"Kh...!"

To bring down even one, he had to alternate between Parry and Vital Strike, squeezing every last drop out of his stamina.

"Heh, heh, heh..."

Beside him, Andras let out a frenzy-ridden laugh and hacked apart two more.

But even Andras already had multiple deep wounds across his body.

His breathing, too, was growing rougher by the second.

After a struggle that lasted just over ten minutes—

Crash—!

The last wraith soldier was split clean in two and collapsed.

"At this rate, we can't keep going."

Kim Jun clenched his teeth.

Just a little while ago, he had been in the boss room on the 19th floor.

According to the memory he had from before the regression, the box that dropped there should have been the first-clear reward.

And inside it should have been El's Crown.

But the moment he'd opened the box—

Out of nowhere, he had been hit with a debuff called Manager's Brand EX, and forcibly transferred here, to the 75th floor.

"This never happened before."

Things were changing, little by little.

The course of events was clearly different from before his regression.

And the name of the "brand" made its source plain enough.

The Manager.

"I shouldn't be showing up yet."

"Then?"

"Before the regression, I first met them on the 50th floor. That was the whole of it."

Kim Jun pressed a hand to his forehead.

He still didn't truly know what these so-called Managers were.

In his memories, they had simply been detached observers who maintained neutrality.

"Master. Looks like you've been marked."

"Yeah. Marked good and proper."

The 75th floor.

Breaking through this place head-on was impossible, even for Kim Jun.

Just dealing with a few common mobs had already drained nearly all of his stamina and mana.

And even then, he was only able to handle about ten a day.

So I can't even level properly like this.

He thought.

And thought some more.

This was the first time he'd experienced something like this, but even before his regression there had been plenty of bizarre occurrences.

...Though none of them had been this blatant.

I need to find a way through somehow. There has to be a method...

But Kim Jun's reflections didn't last long.

Thudthudthudthud—!

Hoofbeats shook the earth.

"Shit."

"Can't I just kill them all?"

"Then we both die."

They were wraith knights.

Had they sensed the battle here?

Dozens of wraith knights were charging this way, spears and swords raised in unison.

From beyond the distant hills came the metallic clatter of armor.

At this rate, they would arrive within a minute.

"..."

And then—

Ping—!

The Thread of Ariadne, which had been pointing toward Fresentia and Petra, suddenly changed direction.

It snapped taut, pointing straight at Kim Jun's subspace pouch.

"Ah..."

And what Kim Jun took out was—

----

"So it turns back time..."

"Like the Reversing Clock Tower can?"

"Yeah."

Even if he went back fifteen minutes, there was no guarantee the same thing wouldn't happen again.

He had no idea when or under what condition the Manager's Brand had been applied.

And there was no certainty that the brand would disappear just because he regressed.

The safest option was honestly to die and use the Phoenix Feather after the fact.

But—

"I can't waste it here."

Using a single-use resurrection chance on a situation like this would be nothing short of foolish.

Kim Jun tightened his hand around the Scepter of Retrograde.

"Retrograde."

Swoosh—!

*

When he opened his eyes again, the sight before him was the Corrupted King, Béar.

The giant body was swaying precariously.

Its health was already at rock bottom.

A dying cry burst from its mouth.

"I can't... die like thi—"

"Don't worry."

Kim Jun raised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his greatsword high.

"This is the second time."

Slash—!

Blood erupted like a fountain.

Béar didn't even manage a proper scream before collapsing on the spot.

Crash—!

The giant body slammed into the floor, shaking the entire boss room.

...So this is where it returns me.

This was the point where Béar had 10 percent of his health left.

The instant when the fight in the boss room had already been pushed to its final stage.

"We're screwed."

"Looks that way."

"You're getting short with me."

"Seems so."

The exchange was pointless, but the conclusion was clear.

It wasn't returning him to the point Kim Jun actually wanted, before entering the boss room.

Kim Jun looked around again.

The boss room door was still tightly shut.

"It won't open..."

Even if he killed the boss, he couldn't leave the room until the box was opened.

However—

The familiar message appeared again.

A vein throbbed at Kim Jun's temple.

So... the moment I open the box, I get forcibly summoned.

In the end, he used the scepter again.

The second Retrograde.

Light flashed blindingly, and when he opened his eyes again, the Corrupted King Béar was staggering and coughing up blood.

Once more, it was the point where the boss had only 10 percent health left.

Once more, it was right before the fight ended.

"I go back, and I'm still stuck in the same place."

Kim Jun tightened his hand around the greatsword.

Now he knew for sure.

The scepter only ever returned him fifteen minutes into the past.

It didn't choose the exact moment he wanted, whether before the fight or before entering the room.

Which meant the current situation was essentially a prison.

He defeated the boss, and the box appeared before him.

He opened the box, and he was instantly forced back to the 75th floor.

An endless loop, over and over again.

"God, I'm sick of this kind of thing already."

"So am I."

Kim Jun twisted the corner of his mouth in a bitter smirk.

He had already been driven sick of this sort of repetition in the Reversing Clock Tower.

He'd never wanted to experience it again, and yet here it was, forcing itself back into his life.

The first thing he checked was Manager's Brand.

"Bloodline Awakening."

Fwoosh—!

He tried a skill that temporarily removed all abnormal statuses, just to test it.

"Still nothing."

Either it didn't count as a status ailment, or an S-grade skill was being blocked by an EX-grade one.

"Now what are you going to do, Master?"

"Haa..."

Defeat the boss, and a box appears.

But until the box is opened, he can't leave the boss room or enter the next floor.

The closed boss room door could only be opened from the outside, and anyone trapped inside had no means of escape.

On top of that, leaving the box alone wasn't safe, either.

After a certain amount of time, it would open automatically.

In the end, whether he opened the box or not—

The trigger would activate, and forced summoning was unavoidable.

"Andras."

"What is it, Master?"

"Might as well practice your parrying..."

"?!" ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

There was only one method.

Don't kill the boss. Keep deflecting its attacks and buy time.

As the debuff status window showed, the brand only activated in an isolated state.

Since Andras was a summon, the system still counted Kim Jun as "alone."

Meaning—

He couldn't kill the boss until other "people" arrived here.

"You take care of it."

"Parrying isn't fun, though..."

The only way to buy time without killing the boss was endless parrying.

And naturally, that annoying job would fall to Andras.

52

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