Reborn To Master Time

[08 April 3000 of the Draconic Calendar]

That was my first confirmed use of the [Regress] skill, which also happened to be the day I died to the Evil God, White. Using that logic, we can subsequently conclude that I received the [Time] Authority on that day and used the [Regress] skill to travel back ten years into the past.

Why ten years? I honestly had no idea.

During the time of my death, I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular, so I can’t say I was the one who chose that date. This led me to conclude that although I can freely use the [Regress] skill, I couldn’t choose how far back I wanted to go. This was also why I was reluctant to experiment and see where a second regression would take me. It was just too risky.

As these thoughts sprang into my mind, I looked ahead at a shirtless man with brown hair lunging toward me, his fist shooting toward my stomach. I continued to stare without moving a muscle, and the fist connected, knocking me to the ground as my vision blurred once again.

“Mmh. Time’s up, huh?” The Giant Killer said before his body began to glow white and break down into particles, disappearing from sight.

This makes twenty-six, I thought to myself while casting [Time Perception] with what little mana I had left, quickening my thoughts and giving myself time to think. No matter how many times I tried to either attack, defend, or simply run away, he still managed to catch me before his time ran out and knock me out each and every time.

Because of this, I came to two very important conclusions.

The first was Ten Tedious’s goal for this operation.

Among the world's criminal organizations, [Ten Tedious] was especially notorious for hiring sub-demons, which were basically humans who had made contracts with devils. Of course, they only saw them as powerful tools since even to date, none of the ten pillars—the leaders of the organization—had actually considered making a contract with a devil. But even so, they knew just how powerful a sub-demon could become, especially if the person was already very talented.

This meant that the objective of this operation was to knock out as many promising students as possible while completely breaking their spirit in the process, making them more vulnerable to temptations from the abyss and possibly forming a contract with a devil for more power. This was why the Giant Killer didn’t want to leave without knocking me out.

The same scene played out in front of me, and even when I displayed no intention of fighting back, the Giant Killer never let up, throwing an elbow across my jaw and knocking me down for the twenty-seventh time. As I lay there, I started to think about the second important point, which was related to my current predicament.

I had downplayed it at first, but after thinking it through, I started to understand why passing out in the dungeon could be very problematic.

The devils’ temptations were a kind of psychological attack that targeted an individual's past insecurities buried deep inside their memories. What I failed to consider was the possibility that the devils could somehow scan an individual's memories to find those insecurities. If this was done to someone like myself, it would mean giving the devils access to information about the future—something that could drastically distort said future. It was no secret that devils didn't like humans, so they would share that information with their contracted demons, who could then make premeditated moves against humanity, putting themselves at a huge advantage before the war even began.

I understood this part, but what I didn't understand was who or what was killing me.

As if answering my questions, a bluish-transparent screen suddenly popped up in front of me, with a message written on it:

[Sacrifice Unique Skill [Future Sight Lv. 1] to acquire [Memory Lock Lv. 3]]

[Memory Lock Lv. 3 – Allows the user to protect their mind against memory manipulation skills.]

[Do you accept?]

What the...?

Status interference? Is it the dungeon? No...

Maybe because I now understood what was going on, I was suddenly given some kind of offer. Is it the same person who keeps killing me off? As I lay there, losing consciousness, I managed to mutter,

“No~,” I said as my vision darkened. The scenery changed, taking me back to the same spot for the twenty-eighth time. It went without saying that [Future Sight] was one of the best skills in my arsenal, so abandoning it for some cheap one-time-use skill was out of the question.

“Kuh!” I clutched my stomach as I fell once again, and at that moment, another status window appeared.

[Sacrifice Unique Skill [Future Sight Lv. 1] to acquire Memory Erasure Lv. 2]

[Memory Erasure Lv. 2 – Allows the user to permanently erase a part of their memories.]

[Do you accept?]

Mmh?

A similar interface usually popped up whenever you cleared a dungeon and had to choose between multiple skills as a reward, but even so, I had never heard of sacrificing a skill to acquire another. Though there were instances where the dungeon could offer to upgrade one of your existing skills as a reward, so in a way, this was the opposite of that.

Memory Erasure?

This time, I was offered a different skill for the sacrifice of [Future Sight]. If you think about it, this would be the best counter to the situation. All I would need to do was to erase all my memories of my past life, and after waking up, I could simply use [Recall] to bring back all my memories. But...

My answer is still the same.

“No~,” I muttered softly, earning a quick side-eye from the Giant Killer before he shrugged and looked away.

“Mmh. Time’s up, huh?”

If I hear that one more time...

I thought to myself as I passed out. As the next regression played out, a status window immediately popped up.

[Why are you so obsessed with that useless skill? Just accept the offer.]

[Sacrifice Unique Skill [Future Sight Lv. 1] to acquire [Memory Erasure Lv. 1] and [Blink Lv. 2]]

[Blink Lv. 2 – Allows the user to teleport up to 2 seconds into the future or past. [Restriction] – Maximum of 5 uses per day.]

[Do you accept?]

There was no doubt the skills sounded very interesting, but I just couldn't see any skill that could replace [Future Sight]. Especially because I was so inexperienced in high-level combat, it was basically my lifeline. Whoever was offering me the skills seemed to have my best interest in mind, but I still couldn’t decide.

I'll just keep repeating until I escape.

A thousand? Maybe two thousand? How many tries would it take to fully get used to the Giant Killer's moves and escape from him? It might have been a different story if I got to restart from the very beginning of the floor, but because of this limitation, I had very little to work with. A small sigh escaped my mouth as I muttered in a low voice,

“No.”

[Sacrifice half your lifespan to acquire [Memory Erasure Lv. 4]]

What the hell? What would I even be left with?

[6 years, give or take.]

Wait, you can hear my thoughts? Also, no. I won’t be doing that.

It was unsettling that whoever was doing this could directly hear my thoughts. If I only had six years to live, I would barely make it to the start of the war, and killing off three gods in less than a year was practically impossible. Also, isn't my lifespan a bit short....

[Sacrifice Unique Skill Stupidity to acquire [Brain Lv. 1]]

Very funny, who the hell are you? I thought as I stared at the status window. Other than dungeons, which were primarily controlled by Devils, the only other beings that could directly manipulate a status window were gods, so in other words...

[I am…]

The words hovered in front of me before suddenly disappearing.

[Blocked]

[A dungeon overtake has suddenly occurred. Updating new information…]

[Golem’s Nest]

[Floors: 100]

[Recommended rank: S]

[Current: Floor 95]

[Difficulty: S+] (forced awakening, uncertainty rule activated)

[Objective: Accept the invitation to the Dialogue] (forced awakening, uncertainty rule activated)

[Estimated Time: 2 hours] (forced awakening, uncertainty rule activated)

What the hell is going on?

[You have been invited to a Dialogue. Do you accept?]

A devil?

I stared at the window in front of me, trying to make sense of the situation. This might be dangerous, but...

“I accept,” I muttered softly, and at the same time, a bright light assaulted my eyes, causing me to squint as the scenery in front of me changed. As I slowly opened my eyes, a familiar office-like room came into view. Mmh? I was seated at a table, and as I looked down, multiple documents littered across the table.

What the...?

I pushed my chair back and stood up, my body feeling slightly heavier than usual. I immediately turned around, facing the wall and looking at a calendar pasted there. I knew it was there because I was the one who put it there. I then strained my eyes, reading the date previously canceled out on it.

06 April. Meaning today is the 7th of April.

“Umh. Captain, someone’s here to see you.” A familiar voice reached my ears as the door opened, and I quickly turned around. A beautiful woman with pale skin and long, flowing red hair entered the room, wearing an army uniform.

“Eliana…” I muttered to myself as I stared at her in surprise. She frowned at this, squinted her eyes, and answered back,

“You know I’m way older than you, right?” she said while stepping toward me, causing me to take a step back as I corrected myself.

“R-right. Miss Bloodthorn, you said someone’s here to see me?” I said, trying to switch topics. As I spoke, I noticed that my voice was much deeper than before. Seeing my strange behavior, Eliana sighed and spoke up,

“Team Talon and Team Terry have just arrived at the campsite, so the team leaders will be coming to meet you soon. I think we might be able to move the operation up by a day, maybe even to tomorrow?” she explained with some enthusiasm in her tone, and I simply nodded back.

Right, I remember something like this happening.

“Attack tomorrow, huh,” I said as I turned around, looking back at my calendar to confirm tomorrow's date once again.

[08 April 3000 of the Draconic Calendar]

The day I died.