The moment I died, I understood something important.
The world never rewarded effort.
It rewarded those who knew how to step on others.
The battlefield was already silent when I collapsed. Broken concrete, twisted steel, and monster corpses covered the ground. Smoke blurred the sky into a dull red haze. My fingers had gone numb long ago, but I still tried to grip my sword.
It slipped from my hand.
Footsteps approached—calm, unhurried.
"You're still breathing?"
I forced my eyes open.
Kang Min-Jae stood before me, clean and uninjured. His armor shone under the burning sky, untouched by the chaos that had swallowed the rest of us. Behind him, the remaining survivors gathered, exhausted but alive.
They were looking at him.
Their hero.
Not the one who had stayed behind.
Not the one who had held the line alone.
"You did enough," Min-Jae said, voice gentle, almost kind. "Someone had to make sure the monsters didn't follow us."
I laughed. It came out wet and broken.
"So… this is it?"
He crouched down, meeting my gaze. His eyes held no hatred. Only calculation.
"You should be proud," he said. "Your death will be remembered."
I wanted to scream. To curse him. To expose everything.
But my body wouldn't move.
The blade entered my chest smoothly, like it belonged there.
Pain exploded—then vanished.
[You have died.]
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then—
[Regression condition satisfied.]
I gasped and sat upright.
My heart hammered violently as air filled my lungs. The smell hit me first—cheap instant noodles, old books, dust. I stared around the room, my room, unchanged and painfully familiar.
A cracked wall.
A flickering light.
A phone buzzing on the desk.
I grabbed it with shaking hands.
March 3rd, 2026.
My breath caught.
This was before the Gates.
Before the monsters.
Before the world collapsed.
Before I was betrayed.
"…I'm back."
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
Then blue text appeared in front of my eyes, sharp and unmistakable.
[Hidden System Detected]
[Initializing: THE SIN LEDGER]
I froze.
"What… is this?"
[All sins committed against you have been recorded.]
[Total Recorded Sins: 127]
[Accumulated Karma Balance: 9,999,999]
Images flooded my mind—faces, voices, moments of quiet cruelty.
Orders that sent me to die.
Teammates who used me as bait.
Leaders who erased my contributions.
And the man who killed me.
My fingers curled slowly into a fist.
[Karma may be used to alter probability, strengthen the self, or enact punishment.]
[Warning: This system must remain hidden.]
[Exposure will result in erasure.]
I exhaled slowly.
"So that's how it is."
Outside the window, the city was alive. People laughed. Cars passed. The world was peaceful—ignorant of the disaster that would arrive in exactly seventy-two hours.
Last time, I tried to save everyone.
This time?
I stood up.
"I'll keep records," I whispered. "Every word. Every action."
I looked at my reflection in the dark window. My face was younger. Weaker.
But my eyes were different.
"I won't be a hero anymore."
The phone vibrated again.
A breaking news alert flashed across the screen.
Unusual atmospheric activity detected in the city center. Authorities advise calm.
I smiled.
The world was about to begin again.
And this time—
every sin would be paid in full.