Aiden woke up—again.
However something was amiss
The bed did not contain him.
Like the first morning, he was on the ground once again, lying on the cabin's chilly wooden floorboards. His neck had remained stiff. The same chill in the air. And when he turned his head—there it was. The DaneSword, hanging untouched on the wall.
The crossbow sat neatly alongside it. The quiver of arrows looked full and undisturbed, indicating that they had never been slung over his shoulder only moments before.
It seemed as though yesterday had never occurred.
It seemed as though the woods chase, the night hunt, the whispers outside the cabin, etc., had vanished.
Everything in the cabin washed pale gold as dawn poured weak light through the crevices. With a racing heart and confused thoughts, Aiden slowly sat up.
"Was it all... a dream?"
However discomfort in his legs and tiny mud marks on his clothing declared otherwise.
He got to his feet, stroked the dust off of his sweatshirt, then walked his way to the door. He opened it up as the bitter breeze struck him like a light slap.
Outside, the woods popped up identical to how it had yesterday, with leaves lightly fluttering in the breeze and the fog clinging to the modest grass.
"This is odd," he grumbled.
He made the decision to revisit the village.
The path leading there felt shorter this time. Perhaps he was being pushed, or perhaps it was just his nerves.
As he got there, his gaze swept across the scene. He was nauseous.
It was all the same.
The same food stalls. The same old man smoking beneath the same crooked tree. The same two women laughing at the same joke while conversing close to the well. At precisely the same moment as yesterday, the stray dog also let out a bark.
No variation.
It wasn't déjà vu.
It was a loop.
Aiden strolled further in, scanning every detail. The fruit stand still had that one rotten apple no one picked up. The children still played that clapping game. The birds even chirped in unison. At the same corner as before, two cats hissed at one another over territory.
He watched them go at it again—same feints, same movements. Like clockwork.
His brows furrowed more deeply the longer he stared. The same frame repeated itself on the tape that seemed to be reality. The only difference was him. He was still aware. Still progressing.
He walked slowly back to the cabin, unease dragging at his feet. He kept turning to look behind him, hoping for something new, something out of sync. However, nothing was present.
He reached the door this time lacking any doubt.
"If something's coming... then I should prepare too."
He stepped inside, grabbed his bag, and pulled out the thin, black-covered mana book he'd found during the third game.
Up until now, it had not been altered.
He opened the pages, blew off the dust, and started reading.
The instructions were strange but not complicated.
To unlock your mana channels, one must meditate. Focus inward. Search for the threads that flow within. Cleanse the impurities. Then guide the energy.
Aiden said, "Sounds simple enough," but he wasn't convinced for a moment.
With his hands on his knees and his legs crossed, he took a seat on the cabin floor. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and straightened his back.
The world darkened.
Then light again.
Aiden was floating—not through space, but within.
He hovered weightlessly inside his own body, drifting through the dark silhouette of his form. A faint, shimmering blue outlined everything. It was incredibly unnerving, stunning, and surreal.
He remembered the book's guidance.
Search for the mana channels.
He moved—no, thought—and drifted toward his chest. Then lower. Then into the arms. And then he saw them.
Under the surface, there are thin, string-like veins that glow dimly, like electric lines that are just waiting to ignite.
But it wasn't obvious that they were glowing.
They were blocked.
Thick, black sludge-like masses clogged the channels. The mana flow was choked at nearly every joint—elbows, wrists, spine, neck. The energy flickered weakly around them, trying to push through.
Aiden grit his teeth.
Time to unclog the pipes.
He reached toward the first blockage in his left forearm. As his focus narrowed on it, heat surged in his mind. The black mass trembled, resisting.
He pushed harder.
The dark waste sizzled, hissed, then burst into tiny wisps of smoke and vanished. Instantly, the mana line in that section lit up like a wire snapping to life.
Aiden smirked.
"One down."
He repeated the process—right shoulder, then spine, then legs. It took an hour, maybe more. Time felt strange here. Each purge left him mentally exhausted, but stronger. Clearer.
By the time he found the final blockage near his neck, his entire mana system hummed gently, glowing soft blue.
He reached out.
And with a sharp, controlled focus—cleansed the final point.
Everything went dark again.
Then light returned.
He gasped and his eyes opened up, sweat drip down his forehead and chest.
Still sitting.
But now, he could feel it.
A subtle current beneath his skin, like river water just beneath the surface.
Mana.
Flowing.
He smiled faintly.
Whatever this world had planned next, he was no longer just a sword and crossbow.
He had power now.
And he was ready to use it.
As the warmth settled in his chest, Aiden stood and walked toward the door once again. But this time, the birds didn't chirp. The cats were missing from their corner. And the wind had stopped. Something had changed.
He took a deep breath.
He opened the door~
And stepped outside into whatever waited beyond the loop.
"Hey isn't it supposed to be just dawn, did i really that long to finish?"
Something's not right.
Then ugh the smell its unberable.
Its coming from aiden's own body.
Aiden decided to go take a shower, but forgot he doesnt have one, so he went out to find a lake or a river to shower in.