Death is normal.
[You have died.]
I've seen it countless times these past seven years.
[You have died.]
[Restarting...]
[899/1000]
A limited cycle of regression.
This is my powerful, useless ability, [Returner].
If you're like me, you'd probably think I would have learned something by now.
It's half true, I have. And yet, I can't prevent my own death, due to my incompetence.
The ability itself is on otherworldly levels of power.
Yet if that's all you have, then it's useless.
To be able to return and gain nothing from it, it's just a mental toll.
I can remember the day like yesterday, the day everything changed.
-[7 years ago...]
***
"No more milk?... The money from my dead-end job can hardly cover rent..."
A normal day.
Uneventful.
Average.
And yet, a sharp chill raced down my spine the moment my foot touched the outside. The air felt heavier, and though there were no clouds, the sky was darker than usual.
The ground shook, screams of terror and surprise piercing everyone's ears.
Chaos ensued, "An earthquake?!..." I exclaimed.
Yet nobody could have predicted this, not a single living soul.
The ground was ripping, bursting upward as if something was trying to grow from underneath it.
The ground tore open, the debris of the solid ground flying and killing civilians.
The sky is now a misty, blood crimson.
"W...What is that thing..?"
A tower of sorts, different from just some skyscraper, it was mystical.
It beamed into the sky past the eye's view, and the darkness of it cast a deep shadow.
Just hours later, reports of the same thing appearing over the entire world were announced.
--"A strange tower has grown from the earth, the world's officials are still investigating it, remain indoors until permitted."
Things grew out of control when the awakened appeared.
People who were said to gain a system of sorts, then obtained magical abilities.
Soon, nearly the entire world was awakened.
8 months since, the world grew accustomed to said abilites and the tower.
An official organization was formed to permit the awakened to explore.
I got it too.
[You have been chosen.]
[Select a card.]
A row of cards appeared, they were turned around, and extremely mysterious.
I could not see what they did, and neither could I determine what they looked like.
'Chance.'
That's all I had.
I grabbed a card, overturning it.
The remaining cards dissipated into the air.
[You have obtained the class: Returner.]
(SSS+)[Returner]
[Desc: Upon death, you will be sent back in time 12 hours before said death.]
I was overjoyed; the rank of the power would have made anybody overconfident.
By now, climbers were renowned.
The people of the world soon learned that the tower had requirements.
A floor must be cleared at least every 100 days, or else a punishment will be cast upon the earth.
Those punishments were called: Backlashes.
If a backlash were to happen, incomprehensible monsters would storm the cities, killing until they were stopped.
These monsters were powerful, at least of the C to B rank range.
They only got powerful as the floors cleared, increasing in strength and rank.
Humanity can tell you firsthand, because we failed to clear the floor in the first 100 days.
And now, powerful awakened and climbers are needed more than ever to clear a floor, making them well-rewarded heroes.
I wanted to be that, too.
I wanted the fame, and the money, and the power. I admit it.
Getting that class, I believed it was god blessing me.
I revealed my class to the ACA, "Awakened Climbers Association" for short, and I was instantly given a rank, and scouts swarmed me.
Yet, everything went downhill...and fast.
***
"I-I'm cut?... what do you mean!?" I exclaimed, anger and hurt straining my vocals.
"You heard me, you're cut. You're useless, your strength, and frankly, your talent, if it can be called that... is not needed here."
My guild, 'Sorcerer's Staff', was cutting me from their roster.
At first, I was an A-Class rank from my Class ability alone, but as I failed to show results... and a year, then two went by, my incompetence started to be seen.
It was then that I realized my ability was a curse.
Not only was I limited in uses, but it also hindered progress.
Muscle memory, physical training, everything was lost upon regression.
Meaning training my body, to raise my stats, was impossibly futile.
My rank fell.
I fell.
And my life was in shambles.
I tried, and tried the first floor of the tower on my own, and failed.
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have died.]
[You have di....]
[You have....]
[You...]
[...]
Before I knew it, 7 years had passed.
[998/1000]
And my uses for this useless ability were almost up.
[You have died.]
[999/1000]
I was moving with extreme caution.
This time, I hired a party.
I didn't know why I wanted to succeed in passing the first floor on my own; I couldn't tell you.
There is magic in the word "Adventure".
My name was called again and again.
With my party, we made it to the midway point of the first floor.
The first floor was more like a tutorial, yet still difficult.
Goblins, Fire Fist Orcs, and even a boss.
We rested before the boss.
In all honesty, I'll admit I was carried. But that's what I hired them to do.
While resting, I felt like I had to use the bathroom.
"I'm gonna go find a place to take a leak, if I don't return in at least 5 minutes, come find me."
They nodded, going back to conversing.
I walked away, their voices getting quieter by the second.
I found a turn around a corner, and there were no corpses of goblins, meaning we hadn't come this way.
"Was this little hallway in the dungeon always here?..."
Curious, I walked down it.
Windows aligned along the right wall, allowing me to peek into the outside, which was in the tower, yet not at the same time.
I was extremely confused. Yet it didn't bother me all that much.
My feet paused, stopping me before a red and arched door, aligned with a gleaming gold.
My eyes broadened, feet inching forward.
It was as if no fear consumed me, as it always would have.
I pushed open the doors.
It was a throne room, yet empty.
In the middle of the red carpet walkway to the throne, there was a podium.
There was a single, sharp, canine-like tooth resting on it.
The podium was surrounded by an ethereal glow.
[Come forward...]
A voice called.
I moved, as if in a trance.
As I got to the podium, my hand moved, reaching for the tooth.
Picking it up, the system inspection panel appeared.
(EX+)[?????'s Tooth]
[Desc: A being with no fill, eager to consume.]
"What...I've never seen a rank like that. 'EX'? The max is SSS..."
My name was called again, yet not by the mysterious voice, but by my comrades.
'I guess 5 minutes is up. I should go tell them I'm okay.'
"KAEL! Behind you!"
As I was already turning, my gaze moved to see a mist, dark and formless.
The mist grew jaws, opening up to reveal a vicious maw of cartoonishly sharp teeth.
-Chomp.
[You have died.]
[Restarting...]
[1000/1000]
[You have hit the cap of your ability.]
[Your ability is disappearing...]
'Ah... yeah, I forgot, I'm useless. Even though I found something so amazing, I couldn't help but die.'
[????? Is resisting the deletion of (Returner)]
'Huh?...'
[Returner has evolved.]
[Returner --> Regressor]
(SSS+)[Regressor]
[Desc: Upon death, you will return 12 hours in the past. Your limitation has been removed, growth with this abilty is now possible.]
"What?.."
I was now sitting on my bed, on the website: "Hire A Team".
This is when I was getting ready to hire some comrades for another floor traversal.
[????? Has injected itself into your system.]
"W-What's this?..."
[You now have 2 classes.]
[????? is revealing itself.]
[Class: (SSS+)Regressor, (EX+)Gluttony.]
(EX+)[Gluttony]
[Desc: A being with no fill, eager to consume. Drain your enemies of their power, and rise above.]
A distorted, yet mirthful smirk was on my face.
"2 classes... Gluttony...? This is incredible."
I said with a breathless chuckle.
.
.
[To Be Continued]