“...I’m back.”
It was my hell, my twelve-square meter studio. The walls were covered in newspaper clippings, and my old television was playing the Fire Emperor’s live interview for the third time.
「Breaking news! The Black Dragon Guild confidently declared that they’d clear the Tower’s fortieth floor…」
I returned to yesterday.
Okay. The Skill is working.
Unlike the last time, I didn’t even spare a glance at the TV. I didn’t need to because all I had to know was that my Skill that rewinded me twenty-four hours worked. With this Skill, I would be able to kill the Fire Emperor.
[Your current Hunter Class is F.]
[You will not receive your Skill penalty.]
“I knew it,” I muttered to myself.
Returner’s Clockwork… The description said that a higher penalty would be given if my Hunter Class was high.
In other words, Class F Hunters like me wouldn’t receive one at all.
Now is my one and only chance to kill the Fire Emperor.
I pulled a dagger out of my backpack. It had been with me ever since I had started working as a Hunter. The dagger was now too dull to hunt monsters, but… it was sharp enough to kill a human.
How shall I kill The Fire Emperor?
I had been contemplating it.
The Saintess isn’t dead yet, so should I work with her? Maybe I can reveal my ability to the Black Dragon Guild. Then they might help me incarcerate the Fire Emperor forever. Or when the Fire Emperor kills the Saintess, I can secretly film the moment and send the footage to the media.
All of these methods were good, but they didn’t guarantee the Fire Emperor’s irreversible demise.
I don’t have any way to make the Saintess trust me.
I didn’t have any reputation.
The guild might just discard me when it’s done.
I didn’t have power.
Is it seriously possible for me to film the Fire Emperor without getting discovered?
I didn’t have confidence.
But… I go back twenty-four hours after I die.
I still had Returner’s Clockwork , the Skill I copied from the Fire Emperor.
Yeah, I have the Skill. Don’t worry, Kim Gong-Ja. You can do it.
I swallowed my saliva and stared at the clipping of the Fire Emperor’s magazine interview.
“Mr. Yoo Soo-Ha, how old were you when you Awakened?”
“I was twenty-one years old. It’s already been eleven years since that summer.”
“You must have very good memory to remember the season.”
“I never really thought I had a good memory, but the day I Awakened just happened to be my birthday, June 7th. That’s why I remember it.”
Eleven years ago. June 7th. Summer.
Yoo Soo-Ha, the Fire Emperor, hadn’t had the Skill that summer eleven years ago. If I counted back from today to that specific June 7th, it was…
4050 days.
Yes.
I die 4050 times.
It was the only way to kill the Fire Emperor.
Yoo Soo-Ha. If you won’t stay dead, you monster… I raised my dagger up high. … I’ll kill you before you become a monster!
And I stabbed myself in the neck to go back to the past, where I could kill the Fire Emperor!
“Urgh…!”
It was hot, and it hurt. As my heart raced, I could vividly feel every one of my nerves scream. After some time, I couldn’t see or feel anything, but I heard a voice.
[You have died.]
[Rewinding twenty-four hours.]
When I went back another day, I found myself lying on my bed. The TV was off, but the clippings were still all over the walls. Going back a day wasn’t enough to erase the Fire Emperor—no, that lunatic’s death. I glared at Yoo Soo-Ha’s photo.
A day, a week, a month, a year… I didn’t care how long it would take.
“Now…” I held up my dagger again. “...4049 days to go.”
And I stabbed myself again.
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