Eren Thorne sat frozen at the wooden table inside the Adventurer Guild of Drakenridge, his fingers trembling slightly as they rested on the surface of the table. Around him the guild was as loud and chaotic as always. Tankards clashed together, adventurers roared with laughter, and someone near the entrance was loudly bragging about killing a giant wolf. The smell of ale, roasted meat, and steel filled the hall. Everything looked exactly the same as it had before.
But Eren's mind was spinning.
Slowly, almost carefully, he raised a hand and pressed it against his chest. His fingers searched the spot where the goblin's dagger had pierced his heart. There was nothing there. No wound. No blood. No pain. Yet the memory was vivid in his mind. He remembered the goblins surrounding him, their twisted laughter echoing through the forest. He remembered the cold steel sliding into his chest and the warmth of his blood soaking the dirt beneath him. He remembered the moment his vision faded and darkness swallowed everything.
"I died…" he whispered under his breath.
The words felt unreal even as he spoke them.
Suddenly a loud voice broke through his thoughts.
"Well look who's still breathing," someone shouted from across the room.
Eren slowly lifted his head.
At a nearby table sat the same group of adventurers as before. A broad-shouldered man with a scar across his jaw leaned back in his chair and raised his mug toward Eren with a mocking grin.
"Careful everyone," the man said loudly. "The legendary hero Eren Thorne might take a quest today."
The table exploded into laughter.
Another adventurer shook his head with a smirk. "Don't push him too hard. If he swings a sword too fast he might hurt himself."
The laughter continued, echoing across the guild hall.
Eren stared at them in silence.
They were saying the exact same things.
The same words.
The same laughter.
His heart began beating faster as a terrible realization crept into his mind. Slowly he turned his head toward the quest board across the room.
The Goblin Elimination quest was still hanging there.
Untouched.
Eren stood up slowly, his chair scraping softly across the wooden floor. Every step he took toward the quest board felt strange, as if he were walking through a memory that had already happened.
"This… can't be real," he muttered.
When he reached the board, he grabbed the same piece of paper and pulled it free.
The words were identical.
Quest: Goblin Elimination — Blackthorn Forest — Reward: 5 Silver.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
"You're taking that quest?" a familiar voice asked.
Eren turned around slowly.
Bram Calder stood there with his arms crossed, exactly like before. The large adventurer raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the paper in Eren's hand.
"You're going to hunt goblins?" Bram asked.
Eren stared at him carefully, studying his face.
"Say that again," Eren said quietly.
Bram frowned. "Say what again?"
"What you just said."
"I asked if you're going to hunt goblins."
Eren's stomach tightened.
"You didn't say anything before that?"
Bram looked confused. "No. I just walked over here."
Eren turned away without another word and walked toward the reception counter.
Lyra Daven stood behind the desk sorting through several papers. She looked up when Eren approached and offered a small polite smile.
"Another quest?" she asked.
Eren placed the paper on the counter but didn't remove his hand from it.
"Before you stamp that," he said slowly, "I want to ask something strange."
Lyra tilted her head slightly. "Go ahead."
"If someone died," Eren said carefully, "and then suddenly woke up one hour earlier… what would that mean?"
Lyra blinked once, clearly confused by the question.
"That would mean you're imagining things," she replied. "Or dreaming."
Eren gave a weak laugh.
"Yeah… that makes sense."
She stamped the paper and handed it back to him.
"Try not to die out there," she said.
Eren froze for half a second.
The same words.
Exactly the same.
He took the quest paper and slowly walked toward the guild doors.
If this was some kind of dream, there was only one way to know for sure.
He had to repeat what happened.
The path to Blackthorn Forest felt strangely familiar, as if he had already walked it earlier that day. The sun was beginning to lower toward the horizon, casting long shadows across the ground. The twisted trees of the forest stood like dark giants, their branches stretching across the sky.
Eren stepped deeper into the forest, gripping his sword tightly.
"Alright," he whispered. "Let's see if this happens again."
A bush rustled nearby.
Eren stopped moving.
Moments later, a goblin stepped out from behind a tree.
Large ears. Yellow eyes. Crooked teeth.
The exact same goblin.
Eren slowly exhaled.
"…this is really happening."
The goblin opened its mouth and screeched loudly.
Within seconds, the forest exploded with movement. More goblins jumped from the branches above. Others crawled out of the bushes and surrounded him.
Seven goblins.
Exactly the same as before.
But this time Eren didn't freeze.
He turned and ran.
The goblins screamed and chased him through the forest. Their feet pounded against the dirt as they rushed after him, blades flashing in the fading sunlight. Eren ran as fast as he could, but the creatures were faster.
One goblin leaped forward and slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground.
Eren hit the dirt hard.
"Damn it!"
A blade slashed across his leg before he could stand. Another goblin stabbed him in the shoulder, sending a wave of pain through his body.
"This still hurts!" he shouted through clenched teeth.
The goblins laughed as they surrounded him again.
One of them stepped forward and raised its dagger slowly.
Eren looked up at it with wide eyes.
"…I guess this answers my question."
The dagger plunged into his chest.
Pain exploded through his body as darkness swallowed the forest.
Eren's eyes snapped open.
He was sitting in the guild hall again.
The same chair.
The same noise.
The same laughter.
For a long moment he simply sat there in silence.
Then he slowly leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.
"So it's real…"
Across the room the scarred adventurer shouted again.
"Hey Thorne! Still alive?"
This time Eren smiled.
"Yeah," he said quietly.
"I am."
Then he looked toward the quest board where the Goblin Elimination quest still hung, waiting.
His smile slowly grew wider.
"If dying sends me back in time…"
He stood up and walked toward the board again.
"…then I guess I have unlimited chances to get stronger."