Chapter 414

Being cared for as an infant, nearly a full day had already passed.

Through the window, he could see that night had fallen outside.

So...

Reincarnation really could break free from the curse of time.

What remained uncertain, however, was which spacetime continued after escaping the curse through this method.

Was it the original, normal timeline from before he first entered the Time Ruins?

Or was it a misaligned timeline that had already undergone multiple resets?

That was a new question.

But at the very least, he had confirmed one thing—

There truly was a way to escape the reset.

Kanzaki Rei could feel that the duration of [Future Simulation] was nearly exhausted. In just a few more minutes, the simulation would end.

Reincarnation was... remarkably fast.

After death, it barely took any time at all to be born back into the world.

He didn’t know whether this speed was unique to him—perhaps because he had inherited some form of reincarnation—or whether it was the same for everyone.

Wasn’t it said that after death, a person would pass by the Tree of Wisdom?

Or could it be...

Kanzaki Rei suddenly thought of something.

The reflection of the Tree of Wisdom existed within his own sea of consciousness.

Unfortunately—

As an infant, he was not a class-holder. In this state, he couldn’t introspect his sea of consciousness.

There were too many things he wanted to verify, yet no way to find answers.

He wanted to know whether he would still possess so many God-Tier talents...

Whether the Tree of Wisdom still remained within him...

Whether, alongside reincarnation, his spirituality would also carry over into his next life...

What a pity.

—Tap.

As the simulation ended, Kanzaki Rei returned to his original time.

The same dim, ancient room.

The same archive filled with fragmented scrolls.

Reincarnation was viable.

Which meant—

There truly was a way out.

Now that he had secured an escape route, leaving this cursed state no longer felt urgent.

In fact...

It wasn’t entirely a misfortune.

If anything, it could be further exploited.

If Future Simulation allowed him to preview possible futures—

Then this endlessly resetting spacetime was like a talent called "Past Reenactment."

It allowed him to replay unresolved moments from the past.

And there was something else Kanzaki Rei wanted to test—

Leveling up.

For some reason, after this reset, his level had not decreased. It still remained at the highest level he had ever achieved.

If, in future resets, his level never reverted with time—

Then within this infinite spacetime...

Could he raise his level even higher?

"...Mm."

The list of things to do had only grown longer.

Kanzaki Rei fell into thought.

Ansu, sensing the turbulence within his sea of consciousness, could tell that Kanzaki Rei’s thoughts were racing—but couldn’t discern what exactly he was thinking.

Still, faintly, it felt like a knot in his heart had been untangled.

Kanzaki Rei looked down at the book in his hand.

When [God-Tier · Hidden Origin] had activated, it had already marked the creator of this text.

[Creator: Mizer — Hidden Knowledge: Level 8 Summoner, capable of directly summoning ancient mythological creatures.]

As for the location—

It was incredibly distant.

Although he could glimpse the creator’s appearance through Hidden Origin, that person was most likely long reduced to dust by now.

Other methods of escaping the time curse still needed to be explored.

Reincarnation... was only a last resort.

But in the process of searching for a way out, he could also unravel several lingering mysteries.

There were questions in his heart...

Kanzaki Rei wanted to return and see.

If he could go back to the past, then perhaps he could find the real Pally—and uncover her true identity.

He might even be able to return to Earth before its mutation.

The transformation of people on Earth into monsters had only begun on January 28th of this year.

Which meant—

Before that date, it might still be possible to save them.

The source of the corruption within his body—

Why he had been corrupted in the first place—

These were questions that had long troubled him.

There were too many unknowns.

But in the past, time could not be retraced, and those moments could not be relived.

Now, with this opportunity—

Kanzaki Rei unconsciously clenched his hand against his chest.

Knowing the truth might not necessarily change anything.

But ignorance could lead him to make the wrong choices—even when he was on the right path.

He took a steady breath.

Calming himself, Kanzaki Rei began carefully turning through the ancient texts within the restricted chamber.

...

Two days passed in a blur.

From Luluwi, Kanzaki Rei obtained the book "Black Secret."

At this point in time, Luluwi had not yet begun reading it.

And without reading Black Secret, she showed no signs of madness or corruption on Moonfall Island.

Even when Kanzaki Rei observed her sea of consciousness, it remained clear and undisturbed.

It seemed—

The source of the corruption was Black Secret itself.

Using [God-Tier · Deepest Truth], Kanzaki Rei introspected his own sea of consciousness.

There were no foreign thoughts within his mind.

It appeared that as long as he did not come into contact with Lottie, no implanted thoughts would appear...

Lottie was far more dangerous than she seemed.

Her polite demeanor made it all too easy to be deceived.

At the same time—

Without exposure to the corrupted Luluwi, no malicious thoughts arose within him.

So the source of his corruption was either Luluwi...

Or directly from the Deep Earth.

Or perhaps—

The corruption had been personally implanted by Lottie herself.

The more he thought about it, the less trustworthy Lottie seemed.

...

May 18th.

This time, Kanzaki Rei did not take any additional actions.

Instead, he replayed the past twenty-plus days exactly as they had occurred...

Reliving the same life was unbearably dull.

And for Kanzaki Rei, those twenty-plus days had to be used fourfold.

Each day, through Future Simulation, he extended it into four additional days of experience.

Within the simulation, the moment he crossed the boundary of May 18th—

He would be forcibly ejected back into reality, returning to an earlier date.

In other words—

Even within the simulation, crossing that temporal threshold would still trigger the curse in reality.

The only way to avoid it...

Was reincarnation.

What should have been just over twenty days—

Kanzaki Rei stretched into more than one hundred and sixty days.

Mainly because, during simulation, he had accidentally triggered the curse and been sent back to April 25th—

Forcing everything to restart.

Finally...

Kanzaki Rei once again stood before the entrance to the Time Ruins, placing his hand upon the door.

[God-Tier · Extraction]

A radiant enchanted stone appeared in his hand.

[Enchantment: Time Seal — Objects imbued with this enchantment can seal the flow of time within a designated area.]

Sealing time...

Was not the same as stopping time.

It prevented any abnormal alterations caused by special temporal laws.

If compared to magical seals—

It essentially meant that time-based magic could not be used within that area.

Over these hundred-plus days, Kanzaki Rei had once again immersed himself in the study of time.

With [Second Forbidden Magic — Time], comprehending Temporal Studies had become far easier than before.

His understanding of time had deepened significantly.

In about five more minutes...

The reset would occur again.

—Tick.

The familiar sound of the clock rewinding echoed.

Time reset once more.

April 24th.

April 23rd.

April 22nd.

...

April 10th.

April 2nd.

April 1st.

Kanzaki Rei raised his gaze toward the chaotic sky.

April 1st.

The day when the influence of the Lunar Chronarch was at its peak.

The day the Secret Sea was destroyed.

To return to this day—

He had spent an immense amount of time within resetting spacetime.

Each reset required him to live through over a hundred days.

Now, a single full cycle—including Future Simulation—consumed more than half a year.

Though it seemed like only half a month had passed—

In reality, he had lived through more than a decade.

His understanding of magic was now far deeper than during his first reset.

And his comprehension of time—

Was on an entirely different level.

"Kanzaki Rei, what are you spacing out about?"

Snapping back to reality, Rhine stood beside him, smiling as she spoke.

Kanzaki Rei returned a faint smile.

"Nothing. Just thinking about something."

Finally...

He had returned to this place.

If nothing unexpected happened—

He would soon meet Egemissa again.

Ansu’s presence within his mind had vanished.

At this point in time, he had not yet encountered Ansu.

Without Ansu, it felt slightly... strange.

Though Ansu posed a potential threat, it had also provided immense help.

Without it, some obstacles might have been impossible to overcome.

Still—

Egemissa represented chaos.

If he encountered him again, would events unfold the same way as before?

Stepping into the ruins—

Kanzaki Rei mirrored his past actions perfectly.

He spoke with Rhine and the others, explored alongside Yelia—

Even along the way, when passing a corpse, he flipped it over and took the tag hanging from its waist.

"Romosi."

Back then, he had said he would help this man return home.

After walking a bit further—

A familiar voice rang out.

"Something’s ahead."

Rhine suddenly spoke.

Four portals materialized out of thin air before them.

Those doors...

Felt all too familiar.

...

Like performing a play, Kanzaki Rei reproduced every past action with absolute precision.

With his Memory Palace, recreating those events was effortless.

At last, he sent off the puppet master with the God-Tier talent—sending it toward its so-called eternal life.

Whether it could truly ascend that endless staircase... was doubtful.

Now—

Only Kanzaki Rei, Yelia, and Rhine remained.

After a staged discussion, they reached their decision—

And entered the path that had always been inevitable.

...

With everyone present, a blurred shadow appeared before them.

"Welcome."

"Welcome to Egemissa’s Carnival."

Rhine was granted two hundred million points...

The first stage: hunting Tier 6 monsters, competing for points.

Everything proceeded exactly as before.

During this stage, Kanzaki Rei still forcibly initiated the Ascension Ritual—

Though in truth, it was impossible.

At this point, he was already a Level 5 Death Priest.

Previously, Ansu had been drawn to him when he ascended from Level 4 to Level 5.

But that didn’t mean a Level 5 Death Priest couldn’t perform an ascension ritual.

Ascension could be canceled. It could fail.

What Kanzaki Rei needed—

Was the act of offering a sacrifice to the Origin of Death.

Enough souls...

To use as bait.

To lure Ansu.

Sorry, old thing.

For the sake of controlling variables, your presence is necessary.

When Ansu was drawn in—

It was utterly stunned.

It never imagined that such a seemingly weak child would deliberately set a trap to kill it.

Only when it was forced into a slave contract did it finally realize—

This had been a scheme from the very beginning.

The child had never intended to ascend.

It had all been a trap.

After that, the first stage concluded.

Kanzaki Rei even controlled his score with absolute precision—

Not a single point off.

Then, he received the Creator’s Unique Secret Scroll from Egemissa.

Although his class level did not reset with time—

All external items, including his storage bag, had been reset.

The only thing that remained unchanged—

Was his physical body.

Its strength continued to grow.

It was as if his entire being had physically traveled back in time—

Rather than just his consciousness returning to a past body.

The second stage—

Crushing the Golden Dragon and saving Yukinri—

Held no suspense.

Now, defeating the Golden Dragon required no prolonged stacking of Ascendant Perfection.

He could suppress it directly.

But for the sake of controlling variables—

To ensure he could reach the Secret Sea in the final stage—

Kanzaki Rei recreated everything exactly.

Finally...

After some were eliminated and others left—

They arrived at the third stage.

The scene before them suddenly became clear.

A calm sea stretched out before his eyes.

The Secret Sea...

He had returned.

Kanzaki Rei’s gaze swept across the waters, then lifted toward the sky.

[God-Tier · Deepest Truth]

—Boom!

A crushing pressure descended!

High above the clouds, countless unseen eyes gazed down upon the world.

The entire Secret Sea shimmered with multicolored light.

Perception spread like a web, weaving across the ocean in chaotic patterns.

And in the high heavens—

Kanzaki Rei saw two distinct figures.

One of them was extremely familiar.

That was Roya—

An 8th-tier Chaos Aberrant.

So he had already been positioned in the sky from the very beginning of the third stage.

And beside him—

Another figure stood in the air.

A being with radiant golden eyes—

And four blazing golden wings—

An angel.

Looking down toward the sea—

Kanzaki Rei saw countless whirlpools forming in the depths.

From within them seeped dark, corrupted energy from the abyss.

Then he glanced at the others around him.

Everyone who had arrived at the Secret Sea...

Was extraordinary.

Back then, he hadn’t noticed—

But now, none of them showed confusion in their eyes.

Each carried their own resolve.

Their own unwavering determination.

Returning to the Secret Sea—

It no longer looked the same.

It felt like replaying the same dungeon—

But on an entirely different difficulty.

The difference between normal mode...

And hell mode.