The sound of steel clashing was deafening.
Swords rang against monster hide, fireballs crackled in the air, arrows whistled past. The 10th floor of the Ebon Tower was chaos incarnate, a battlefield where the weak were swallowed whole and only the strong could carve their names into history.
And me?
I was lying in the back, clutching a potion case like a pathetic pack mule.
"Seo-jin! Get your ass moving! Don't just stand there gawking!"
The voice of our guild master snapped at me, sharper than any blade. He was a towering man in gleaming armor, his sword wrapped in a faint glow—Sword Aura. The signature skill that marked him as one of the Tower's elite hunters.
"Yes, sir!" I shouted back, though my voice cracked like a child's. My legs trembled as I stumbled forward, carrying potions for the real fighters. My heart pounded in my throat.
Around us, monstrous wolves with black fur and glowing red eyes lunged in packs. Their fangs snapped at hunters who fought back with coordinated skill and overwhelming force.
I swung my pitiful iron sword once. The blade barely scratched a wolf's hide before another hunter shoved me aside.
"Useless idiot!" he spat. "Stay out of the way before you get us killed!"
The others laughed, jeering.
That was my life. Han Seo-jin, the D-rank nobody. The extra body in raids, the one shoved into the corner. The one they let join only because I was desperate enough to work for scraps, for the chance to see the Tower at all.
It was humiliating, yes—but what choice did I have? The Tower was the only path to escape poverty, to climb above the millions who lived like rats outside. I thought if I joined a guild, I'd have a chance.
Instead, I became their dog.
And today, their dog was about to die.
The wolves came harder, faster. Their numbers swelled until the floor was littered with corpses—both theirs and ours. Blood soaked the stone. The metallic stench choked the air.
Hunters roared spells, unleashed their skills. The guild master led the charge, his Sword Aura carving through beasts like paper. His blade sang, wrapped in deadly silver light.
And me?
I was still in the back, clutching potions, shaking like a leaf.
Then it happened.
A wolf slipped past the front line, faster than lightning. Its jaws clamped around my arm. I screamed as teeth tore through flesh, blood spraying across my chest.
"Seo-jin!" one hunter yelled, but not in concern—more in annoyance.
"Drop the damn potions and die somewhere else!" another spat.
I tried to fight it off. My sword clanged uselessly against its skull. My body shook with terror. I wasn't like them. I wasn't born with talent. My stats were garbage, my skills nonexistent.
I was just a man trying to survive.
The wolf would have ripped me apart then and there—if the guild master hadn't stepped in. His Sword Aura flared, slicing the wolf's head clean off.
For a second, I thought maybe he'd saved me. That maybe I meant something.
But the look he gave me…
Contempt.
"You're pathetic," he sneered. "Slowing us down for the hundredth time. Do you realize how much of a burden you are?"
My mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"You think you're one of us? You're not. You're nothing but cannon fodder."
The other hunters laughed. My ears burned. Shame, anger, humiliation—it all crushed down on me.
Then, before I could even react—
His blade stabbed through my stomach.
I gasped, eyes wide, as pain exploded through my body. The world tilted. My knees buckled as blood poured down my torso.
"Wh—why…?"
The guild master's expression was cold, casual, like he'd just stepped on an insect.
"You were dead weight," he said simply. "Better you die now than drag us all down later."
The hunters didn't argue. Some smirked. Some didn't even look.
My vision blurred. The floor swallowed me whole.
So this was it. This was how Han Seo-jin died—betrayed by the very people he had trusted.
Useless. Forgotten. Nothing.
And then—
[You have died.]
[Unique Skill activated: Regression.]
The world shattered.
It felt like my soul was being ripped apart, rewound, twisted through the eye of a needle. My chest compressed. My lungs burned. I screamed, but no sound came out.
Then—
I gasped. My eyes snapped open.
I was back.
Same battlefield. Same wolves. Same guild master in front of me, his Sword Aura glowing faintly.
I staggered, clutching my stomach—only to find it whole. The wound was gone. No blood, no pain.
My hand trembled on the hilt of my sword.
"What… what is this?"
[Regression complete.]
[You have acquired the skill of your killer: Sword Aura (C-rank).]
I froze. My breath caught.
Sword Aura. The guild master's skill.
I stared at my blade. Light flickered across its edge, faint but real. My heart pounded in my chest as I swung experimentally. Silver light trailed behind the strike, unstable but powerful.
It was his power. The same power that had killed me—now in my hands.
The guild master turned, frowning. "What are you grinning about, worm?"
Grinning?
I hadn't realized I was smiling. My lips curled wider, twisted.
"You killed me just now," I said softly.
He blinked. "What nonsense—"
"—and for that…" I raised my glowing blade, "…thanks."
The guild master's eyes widened. Too slow.
I swung.
The blade ripped through the air, wrapped in Sword Aura. The strike slammed into his chest, cutting through armor and flesh. His scream tore the battlefield.
He collapsed, blood pouring from the wound. His expression was frozen in shock, disbelief.
"You—how—?"
I leaned down, whispering into his ear.
"Die, like you made me die."
I twisted the blade. His body went limp.
[You have killed an enemy.]
[Would you like to regress?]
I stared at the glowing text, breathing heavily. My hands trembled.
"…I can… regress?" I whispered. "Every time I die… I come back?"
My laughter broke out, raw and unhinged.
It echoed across the battlefield, startling wolves and hunters alike.
I had been nothing. A failure. A dog at their feet.
But now?
Now every death would make me stronger. Every betrayal would feed me. Every cut, every wound, every life stolen from me would be mine to claim.
If dying was the only path forward… then I would die a thousand times. A million times.
Until the Tower itself bowed to me.
[You have acquired the title: SSS-Class Regression Necromancer.]
The notification burned into my eyes, searing itself into my soul.
And in that moment, Han Seo-jin—the pathetic D-rank—died forever.
What rose in his place… was a monster who would tear the Tower apart, one death at a time.