My legs kept moving before my mind could catch up. Still dying.
Every time I died, the world reset— but I remembered everything.
My breath was uneven, but I didn't stop. The same thing kept happening again. No matter what I did, it ended the same way.
Damn it… keep running, Aron. You can do this. We have to escape from here.
"This isn't stopping… it's repeating."
The same outcome—every time. And not just that—
Mr. Zekai was still standing there… just like before. Completely unresponsive—like he wasn't even here.
I clenched my teeth.
"Come on… wake up, Mr. Zekai!"
Think, Aron. There has to be a way.
[ …CONDITION… ]
…Loop…Bound…
…Error…
[ WARNING ]
Outcome Fixation Detected
Suddenly, I heard a strange new sound in my ears, and a blue, transparent screen flickered in front of my eyes like a glitch.
After that, I couldn't see anything clearly. "What's wrong with my eyes?"
With each loop, I started noticing new things. No matter what strange things happened here—not this time.
It won't be me who runs. This time… the King Knight will.
I observed. A little ahead—there were many swords scattered on the ground.
"What is this…? So many swords. Did people like us come here before…?"
There was no other choice. My fingers closed around one of the fallen swords.
It felt heavy. Unfamiliar. I didn't know how to use a sword.
But I held it anyway. Somehow— I felt like I could fight with it.
Even if it was only until the end. So I held it tighter.
"If it's a fight… then I'll fight."
The sound came again. That same sharp distortion.
The King Knight appeared behind me.
The air sank with it. Not pressure—
something heavier. Like the ground itself acknowledged its presence before I could.
Blue—white armor. Silent. Waiting. But this time— it came a fraction later than before.
My body moved straight toward Mr. Zekai before fear could stop it.
Even now— the King Knight didn't move.
The same sound returned again, along with that glitching vision in my eyes.
[ RESPONSE SUGGESTED ]
— Escape (Failure Probability: High)
— Resistance (Outcome: Termination)
— FREEZE (Unknown)
I rubbed my eyes with my hand, trying to clear my vision. But now—there was no screen. Nothing. It was gone completely. For a moment, I wondered if it had all just been an illusion.
Maybe all these loops… all these repeated deaths… had finally started to mess with my head. My thoughts felt scattered, unstable. But none of that mattered right now. My only real problem was the next fight.
I didn't even know how to fight properly—but even so, I held onto a blind belief and forced myself forward, ready to try anyway.
"Fine…"
My foot pushed forward against the ground.
"This time… I won't run."
"Let's fight."
My hands trembled, but I forced them steady.
"Come."
The King Knight stood still. Each step it took carried weight—slow, deliberate.
Not speed. Certainty. Like every movement had already decided where it would land. Calm. Not moving.
I raised the sword in my hand. Trying to act fearless.
I shouted loudly. "At least I can fight too."
I tried to build myself up, tried to show no fear and stand my ground—but it didn't react at all, as if none of it mattered.
It stood right in front of me—completely still, like something frozen in place.
Anyways I charged forward.
The space around it felt wrong. Like stepping closer meant stepping into something already decided.
But if I step back now—nothing changes. So I stepped forward anyway.
But I didn't even see the moment the King Knight moved.
I didn't see the strike—only the result already happening.
Before I could even understand what happened—
The blade flashed—like I was already too late to react to something that had already happened. Air splitting before I even saw it move and The blade passed… and my arm was already gone. Removed completely.
Before I could even react, it closed the distance in an instant—like a flash—and appeared right behind me. Its leg moved without warning, driving a brutal side kick straight into my back with overwhelming force.
The impact shattered through my spine and slammed into my lungs all at once. My breath was ripped out completely—I couldn't inhale, couldn't even make a sound properly. My body folded under the force, nerves screaming as everything inside me felt crushed.
"—Ahhhhhh!"
The world flipped.
"—!"
It swung me like I weighed nothing—and threw me straight toward Zekai.
I hit him. My body crashed into him—and at the same moment—
Something followed. Cold.
A blade drove through me. And into him.
The blade pierced from my back—driving straight through my body—and continued forward into Zekai's chest.
For a second—Everything stopped. My breath caught.
"…Is there… no end to this…?"
No matter what I did—No matter how hard I tried—It always ended the same way.
Darkness crept in again.
—
I snapped back again.
"This thing is crushing me so easily…" I gritted my teeth, barely able to keep myself standing. "I can't even match it."
Even though I kept coming back alive every time, the exhaustion never reset. The fatigue, the strain, the weight in my body—it all carried over. It was stacking. Slowly breaking me down.
From the very beginning, I had been watching it carefully. Normally, everything has a pattern. Every attack, every movement—there's always something you can read.
But not this.
Nothing matched. Every time it killed me, it did it differently. No rhythm. No repetition. No predictable flow.
"…So I can't rely on patterns."
That realization settled in.
"If I try to match something that doesn't exist—I'll just keep dying."
I exhaled slowly, forcing my thoughts to stabilize.
"Then I fight without one."
No pattern. No expectation. Just observation… and reaction.
I was just a normal human. Something far beyond my understanding stood in front of me, and no matter what I did, I couldn't affect it.
"Damn it… what am I supposed to do like this?" The frustration built inside me. "Do I not even deserve a single chance?"
The King Knight slowly raised its sword.
But this time— it was different. The moment it moved—my body reacted. Not fully. Not fast enough—but different.
I tightened my grip on the sword and moved forward, trying to anticipate its attack. At the last second, I shifted slightly. The blade passed closer than before—so close it felt like it sliced the air off my face.
I didn't expect to dodge it… but somehow, I moved. For the first time—the outcome slipped.
"…I changed something."
My breath caught. It wasn't enough to survive. But it wasn't the same anymore.
End of Chapter 14 - The Kind One II