Again.
And again.
And again.
Death.
After 167 deaths, his body hesitated to enter the gate. "What's happening?" he said. "My body… what's wrong with my body?" He shrugged it off.
They entered.
A DRAGON.
Death.
Alarm rings.
The TV was already on.
He adjusts his coat while watching.
"Another dungeon will be cleared today."
"Anything?" Kade said.
"No abnormalities."
"WE PROCEED."
A DRAGON.
"Something's off."
Death.
Again.
After 209 more deaths.
Alarm rings.
"Another dungeon will be cleared today."
He stares at the TV for… a bit longer.
"Anything?" Kade said.
"No abnormalities," he said.
"We proceed."
Jin, dead.
Mira, dead.
Kade, dead.
Their eyes meet. He's the last one left.
"Why is this…"
Its mouth opening. He doesn't need foresight to tell what is going to happen. He can see it—a glow, heat, heat so rampant… so violent, radiating from its mouth.
"I don't want to die," he thought.
He died.
"…So familiar."
35 more deaths.
He didn't get up.
He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at his hands. His body felt fine. His mind felt empty. But something was wrong. He knew this. He just didn't know why.
"I can't remember," he said.
What exactly could he not remember?
The TV turned on behind him.
"Another dungeon will be cleared today."
Death did not feel different the next time, or the time after that.
Alarm rings.
He's awake. He stays there…
…longer.
He dresses up, looks at the TV—the same reporter, in the same spot, saying the same line.
"Another dungeon will be cleared today."
"Anything?" Kade asked.
"No abnormalities…
…we…
…proceed," he says, muttering.
He doesn't know why he's muttering. He doesn't know why his body is slowing down in front of the gate.
"What's happening?" he said. "What's happening to my body?"
Sighs.
"Just another gate."
There it is.
A DRAGON.
It descends, and what follows is death.
His body is burned to a crisp. All his comrades have died. He is confused—not by his powerlessness,
but by this random sense of déjà vu.
"I don't want to die."
He dies.
Again.
He kept on dying, in the same way, in the same spot, at the same time.
But almost as if he was possessed, before every death he said the same thing.
"I don't want to die."
Death.
After 73 deaths.
A dragon descends.
His comrades die.
Their eyes meet. He's the last one left.
Its mouth opening. He doesn't need foresight to tell what is going to happen. He can see it—a glow, heat, heat so rampant… so violent, radiating from its mouth.
It unleashes a ball of condensed fire.
Dea—
He dodges.
His body moved out of the way instinctively. His foot slid back, his torso twisted. The heat brushed past his cheek instead of consuming him.
He froze—confusion.
He turned around, watching the flame that should have killed him.
"I dodged?" he says, before dying to the second shot.
Alarm rings.
He sits up. There's no difference, no sign to show he has died countless times. He doesn't even know he's died countless times, but he feels something resonate.
"I don't want to die," he mutters.
How does he know he'll die? He doesn't even know why he said it.
He dresses up.
"Another dungeon will be cleared today."
"We proceed."
He dodges.
I dodge—
Death.
The exact same death.
118 more deaths.
He dodges.
Twice. A second dodge. This isn't foresight—it's reflex. The realization startled him enough that he hesitated.
The dragon didn't.
Death.
Alarm rings.
"I don't want to die." His first words upon waking up. What a strange thing to say.
But there was no fear in his voice. It felt like he was holding onto the phrase itself, hoping for freedom from something. Maybe he had a nightmare.
"Anything?" Kade said.
"Nothing," he replied.
"We proceed."
Jin dies.
Mira dies.
Kade die—
No. He doesn't.
He shoves Kade out of his designated death path.
"What the hel—"
The ground crumbles underneath where he once stood.
It felt like he knew Kade would die—but this wasn't foresight. He heard it. The screams of his body telling him to move.
Futile.
Death.
Alarm rings.
"I saved him," he mutters.
Who did he save?
Didn't he just wake up?