The Tower didn't like her.
I could feel it.
The obsidian walls around Floor 11 pulsed erratically, runes flickering between existence and collapse, like the structure itself was uncertain whether it should obey her… or me.
The woman stood calmly amidst the distortion.
Black hair cascading down her back. Golden eyes that reflected timelines instead of light.
She smiled again.
"You're wondering why the system went quiet," she said.
She was right.
My system—normally loud, smug, and borderline annoying—had gone completely silent the moment she appeared.
No notifications.
No warnings.
No sarcastic remarks.
That alone made her dangerous.
[SYSTEM STATUS: OBSERVATION MODE ONLY]
[NOTE: DO NOT ENGAGE AUTONOMOUS FUNCTIONS]
"…You broke my UI," I said.
She laughed softly.
"Not me. You did."
She stepped closer, heels echoing against fractured stone.
"I am called Seo Eunha," she said.
"The First Regressor. The prototype. The failure that kept repeating."
[ENTITY RECORD UNLOCKED]
Seo Eunha – Regression Count: 42 (CONFIRMED)]
Cause of Death (Average): World Collapse]
"Forty-two lives," I muttered.
"Sounds exhausting."
"You have no idea."
She gestured, and the air between us shattered like glass.
Scenes appeared.
Cities burning.
Towers falling.
Hunters slaughtering each other over resources.
The same faces repeating—heroes turning tyrant, saviors becoming executioners.
"I tried everything," Eunha continued calmly.
"Power. Strategy. Kindness. Ruthlessness. Even becoming a villain."
The images shifted.
Her—older, bloodied, standing atop a mountain of corpses.
"And every time," she whispered,
"the world still ended."
The visions vanished.
Silence returned.
I tilted my head.
"So you built the Tower."
She nodded.
"A correction engine. A grinder. A way to force humanity to evolve faster than its own stupidity."
Her gaze sharpened.
"But even that failed."
[SYSTEM UPDATE – LIMITED]
REGRESSION TRUTH:
The world is not meant to be saved repeatedly.]
I smiled faintly.
"Sounds like a design flaw."
Eunha's lips twitched.
"That's what you are."
Why I Shouldn't Exist
She circled me slowly.
"In every timeline," she said,
"there are constants."
Her finger traced a glowing rune in the air.
"Park Jinhyuk becomes a hero, then a butcher."
"Guilds consolidate power."
"The strong exploit the weak."
"The Tower appears."
Another rune.
"And Kang Woojin…"
She stopped in front of me.
"…does not exist."
The Tower groaned.
Cracks spread along the walls.
[WARNING]
CAUSALITY INSTABILITY RISING]
"You weren't born from regression," she said.
"You weren't chosen by the system."
Her eyes narrowed.
"You're something else."
The system flickered back on.
Barely.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
USER CLASSIFICATION UPDATED]
TYPE: OUTSIDE CONTEXT PROBLEM]
"…That sounds bad," I said.
"It is," she replied honestly.
"For the world."
The Tower Tests Me
Without warning, the Tower attacked.
Floor 11 folded inward, transforming into a massive arena. Time-distorted enemies materialized—versions of top-ranked hunters from failed timelines.
S-Ranks.
SS-Ranks.
Some wore my academy's uniform.
Some had already died in other futures.
They all looked terrified.
[TOWER DIRECTIVE]
EVALUATE ANOMALY]
They charged.
Fast.
Coordinated.
Perfect teamwork forged through dozens of failed worlds.
I exhaled.
[SKILL: PROTAGONIST PRIVILEGE – LIMITED RELEASE (0.5%)]
Reality bent.
Their attacks slowed.
Mana flows unraveled.
One by one, they froze mid-motion—faces locked in expressions of desperation and relief.
I snapped my fingers.
They vanished.
No pain.
No death.
Just… removal.
[ENEMIES CLEARED]
METHOD: RETCON APPLIED]
The Tower screamed.
Eunha stared.
For the first time—
She looked shaken.
"…You didn't overpower them," she whispered.
"You erased the need for their existence."
I shrugged.
"They were in the way."
The System Evolves
My system exploded back to life.
Not gently.
[SYSTEM EMERGENCY EVOLUTION]
LIMITERS DAMAGED]
NEW AUTHORITY DETECTED]
Windows flooded my vision.
[NEW AUTHORITY UNLOCKED]
NAME: NARRATIVE OVERRIDE]
DESCRIPTION: The story bends to justify your actions]
"…That's cheating," I said.
[SYSTEM: THAT'S THE POINT.]
Eunha laughed.
A real laugh this time.
"Now I understand," she said.
"Why this timeline feels different."
She stepped closer again.
"So tell me, Kang Woojin."
Her golden eyes locked onto mine.
"Are you here to save the world?"
I thought about it.
About Lee Ara waiting outside the Tower.
About the academy.
About the people kneeling without realizing why.
I shook my head.
"No."
She smiled.
"Good."
A Queen Makes a Choice
Eunha knelt.
Not because she was forced.
Because she chose to.
The Tower went silent.
[MAJOR EVENT]
THE FIRST REGRESSOR ACKNOWLEDGES YOU]
"I've tried controlling the future," she said quietly.
"I've tried guiding it."
She looked up.
"Let me help you end it properly."
[HAREM SLOT UNLOCKED: SPECIAL]
Seo Eunha – Status: ALLY / OBSERVER / DANGEROUS AFFECTION]
"…This isn't a romance contract," I warned.
She smirked.
"Nothing about you is normal romance."
Fair.
Outside the Tower – Global Fallout
As we spoke, the world changed.
Governments received alerts they couldn't suppress.
Guild databases corrupted themselves.
Regression records vanished.
[GLOBAL SYSTEM NOTICE]
REGRESSION PRIVILEGES REVOKED (EXCEPT YOU)]
Somewhere, people who thought they were safe panicked.
Heroes felt their safety nets disappear.
Stock markets surged—then stabilized under my unseen influence.
NET WORTH UPDATE: ₩1.2 TRILLION]
And deep underground—
Something older than the Tower stirred.
[UNKNOWN OBSERVER DETECTED]
STATUS: WATCHING]
I stretched.
"This is getting interesting."
Eunha stood beside me, expression calm, eyes sharp.
"The world won't forgive you," she said.
I smiled.
"I'm not asking."
The Tower doors opened again.
Floor 12 awaited.
And for the first time—
The story wasn't repeating.
It was breaking.
End of Chapter 6