"Why... why is it like this... What on earth must I do to change this damned ending? Can anyone tell me..."
He gently picked up the girl in front of him, confusion and frustration clouding his mind.
He couldn't understand — after reliving this life hundreds, even thousands of times, he still couldn't save her.
Just as he was about to give up, a final possibility flashed through his mind.
He understood now... perhaps he had finally found a way.
Without hesitation, he plunged the sword into his own heart, choosing to be reborn once more.
Even if every rebirth brought excruciating pain, he never faltered.
All those lifetimes — just to change this ending.
This time... could he finally succeed?
"Ring..."
With the sound of the school bell, Lin Yi returned once again to that afternoon — the beginning of all the tragedy.
"Ah Yi! You're dozing off again. Did you finish the assignment the teacher gave you? If you don't turn it in this time, I won't cover for you anymore!"
The speaker was Lin Yi's childhood friend — Xiu Xiu.
Lin Yi quietly looked at her. Even though he had seen this scene countless times, he never grew tired of it.
Under his gaze, Xiu Xiu seemed a bit flustered and shy, and added,
"I know you're smart and don't need to study hard, but you still have to do your homework, okay?"
Realizing he was being a little odd, Lin Yi smiled and nodded.
"Got it, Class Rep Xiu Xiu~"
Xiu Xiu pouted and mumbled something under her breath before focusing back on the lesson.
Lin Yi, meanwhile, kept casting glances in her direction.
"Ring..."
The school bell for dismissal finally rang.
Students rushed to pack their things and head home — the long-awaited school break was about to begin.
Some were chatting excitedly about travel plans, others quietly packed up.
Only Lin Yi left in a hurry.
Xiu Xiu wanted to call out to him, but he was already gone.
She could only sigh and leave with her friends.
"Hey, Xiu Xiu, what's going on with you and Lin Yi? You haven't confessed yet? We've only got a year left before graduation. Are you sure you want to let this chance slip?"
The question came from Xiu Xiu's best friend — Ruo Lin.
Xiu Xiu rolled her eyes and snapped,
"You're no better. Don't act like you're any different."
"Zzz... Zzz..."
The streetlights outside buzzed intermittently.
Lin Yi opened the door to his empty home.
With a twitch of his lips, he spoke to the photo on the wall,
"Dad, Mom... I'm home."
His parents had died in an accident when he was 12.
He had been shuffled among relatives until he finally rented a place of his own at 17.
After all, being at others' mercy was not a life worth living.
Back in this familiar space, he felt oddly at peace.
After a quick wash-up, he fell into a deep sleep.
"Rumble..."
A towering spire appeared in the center of Yaojin City, reaching the skies — the beginning of the nightmare.
In a month's time, identical towers appeared all over the world.
Governments and military forces held countless meetings.
Some countries dispatched exploration teams — none returned.
Attempts to destroy the towers with force were futile.
Then that day came.
From one of the towers emerged a grotesque creature — vaguely human but horrifically deformed.
It reeked of decay, its massive head grotesquely disproportionate to its body, speaking in garbled, broken human language.
Attempts at communication ended in brutal slaughter.
Human weapons had no effect.
More creatures followed, each as terrifying as the first.
Humanity was soon overrun, herded like cattle.
"Ah Yi... save me..."
Lin Yi woke in cold sweat, troubled and heavy-hearted.
He glanced at his phone — August 10, 2045.
Half a month remained before the catastrophe.
"I've let my guard down... I came back with such resolve, and yet I still wasted time sleeping...
But... half a month should be enough.
This time, I have to change everything."
He sprang from his bed and walked quickly to the entrance.
Feeling around a certain spot on the wall, he pressed a hidden button.
"Click!"
A passage slowly revealed itself beside the shoe rack — dark and seemingly endless.
But Lin Yi entered without hesitation.
With a flashlight in hand, he followed the path down.
Soon, a small room appeared — damp, dim, and oppressive.
But he paid the discomfort no mind and walked straight to a table.
On it lay a pitch-black sword.
Nearby, shelves brimmed with ancient scrolls — though he had read them so many times they no longer mattered.
Only the sword did.
He picked it up, like reuniting with an old friend.
A strange glint shone in his eyes.
"Looks like I'll be counting on you again.
Will you help me one more time?"
As he drew the sword, it gleamed with radiant light — as if answering him.
Perhaps it was fate.
In his first life, Lin Yi had stumbled upon this place by accident.
Back then, he was ignorant — the sword was just some antique he hoped to sell.
The scrolls were glanced at and forgotten.
Until that day — when disaster struck.
He survived the first few months, but was eventually betrayed and killed by a companion during a supply run.
Just when all hope was lost, he was reborn.
At first, he thought it was a dream.
But when everything repeated exactly as before, he realized — it was all real.
He had no idea why or how, only that it was happening.
After countless rebirths, his mind began to fracture...
Until he remembered the basement.
The scrolls.
They held the truth — about the monsters, about everything.....