Eyes wide open as if they see the universe beyond the line. The blood reflecting in his eyes, he was lost deep in thought, repeating perseverance again and again.
He almost zoned out, seeing how many times he had died. Again and again… He screamed perseverance even now…
But in reality, everything was just in his head. He had simply paused, eyes wide open. He didn't turn around, yet he caught the knife. The funny part was that the goblin didn't move as well. He knew something had changed.
The reason was simple. Although he was definitely regressing, regressing doesn't actually rewind time. Time only rewinds for him. He is the only one regressing to his original body from one minute ago.
If the goblin had an injury and Pathless regressed one minute back, that means everything that happened to Pathless would stay as memory, while the goblin's injury stayed exactly where it was.
Crazy as it sounds, even with the injuries of the enemy, just like the goblin, time actually rewinds. Time resets one minute back, but the physical consequences of actions Pathless was involved in do not rewind.
It's kind of a resurrection in a way. The goblin froze as soon as he saw the nuts Pathless holding the knife. Pathless sighed, not out of relief but out of tiring.
Pathless slowly turned around to see the goblin. Now that his mind was in shambles but at least not worried about death, he took a deep look at the goblin's face.
Suddenly, he jumped right at the goblin's face. No matter how agile the goblin was… no matter how fast it could react… it had a really big and long nose.
Pathless bit the goblin's nose at its tip. The goblin tried to react by pulling itself backward, but it was caught by the nose. It tried to stick its finger into Pathless's eyes.
Pathless quickly noticed and caught the goblin's hands. The goblin jumped from the ground and tried to backflip while still being caught by both its hands and nose.
Luckily, the goblin escaped the teeth of Pathless and his ruthless hands. Unfortunately, half of its nose was hanging in Pathless's mouth.
Pathless spat it out. He cleared the blood off his lips. Even though his face was still covered in blood, his eyes slowly grew sleepy. He raised his head and looked down at the goblin.
The goblin didn't scream but kneeled on the ground, digging into the earth in pain and despair. There was a reason for this. Pathless didn't ignore this subtle action — it might actually be a clue. Why would an animal-like creature mute itself while in such pain?
Why wouldn't it go berserk? There had to be a reason.
So Pathless tried to look around. As soon as he swung his head, the goblin jumped at him, trying to get revenge by biting his nose.
But unlike the goblin, Pathless dropped back. The goblin's attack was aimed at midair, thinking Pathless wouldn't move.
So when it jumped to attack, it only left itself wide open, landing on the ground in the worst way possible.
Pathless noticed that the goblin planned to step back as soon as it touched the ground. It was easier for Pathless to use his brain. He picked up a stone and tossed it at the goblin. When it landed, the goblin stepped back as expected.
But in the end, the stone was only a distraction. Pathless had another perfectly good stone in his right hand. The goblin was surprised by the stone and fell forward when it slammed into a tree. Pathless used the opportunity and kept digging into the nose, now ruined like a collapsed mountain — an underground valley of flesh.
The goblin gave up right away. Dizziness played a major role; the goblin was completely unbalanced.
Pathless lay on his back, thinking, "What the fuck changed? Oh… shit. I feel like I'm wasting time, but even if I don't want to, I can't move. My legs are wobbling."
Pathless took a quick reminder of his resurrection—or regression—ability. He hummed softly, closing his eyes. The sun was setting, so he looked at it while his eyes closed.
Then he realized he was on a mountain cliff. He got up and moved like a trained soldier, walking to the cliff's edge and looking down.
What he saw was very traumatizing, though he showed no reaction. He understood why the dark goblin hadn't wanted to make a sound. He saw a rope hanging from the ground below the cliff.
He followed the rope and saw it tied to a tree near the one the goblin had crashed into. This one was closer to the edge, thicker, and sturdier.
He walked to the rope.
"What is this… What the hell is this place? What am I doing here…? Huh. I don't know… I really don't want to know either."
He looked at the rope and slowly pulled it. It was about ten meters long. After checking its length and thickness, he decided to use it later — when he became stronger and gained allies — to climb down.
But as he walked back toward the forest to explore its deeper parts, he stopped. He wanted to check on the goblin.
He walked back and grabbed the goblin's body. Gripping its throat, he let out a small sigh.
"You're almost my size. Wait… I have a body… No, this isn't my body… What the hell?"
He gazed at his body and slapped his cheek.
"Hey… hey, let's not get distracted."
He thought the goblin's body could still be useful as a meat shield. But it would soon rot and reek, so he decided to use it quickly.
He would feel stupid carrying a goblin corpse on a mountain cliff for months.
Sure, he might have buried it if he could get food in return. Such unfortunate timing, he thought.
Soon his body started to feel strange — an itching sensation deep inside. His organs felt irritated.
He couldn't resist it. Feeling sorry for himself, he tried to fight it back.
The sensation grew worse, like a headache, forcing him toward the cliff.
What kind of maniac would jump off a cliff with over five thousand green goblins below?
You found the right one — Pathless. No matter what he did, his Perseverance skill would never allow him to waste time trying to become perfect.
No one is perfect from the start. And now that he could jump off the cliff without truly dying, there was no reason not to do it.
Pathless smiled faintly — an evil smile. He grabbed the goblin with his left hand and the middle of the rope with his right.
Then he jumped off the cliff, screaming,
"I'M NOT TARZAN—!"
Then he thought,
'Well, might as well die another million times… huh?'
Not knowing what actually awaited him there.
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