Chapter 0: Prologue

I look back to the very first time I opened my eyes in this place.  

“…Haa.”  

I remember the me who stumbled blindly through the dark, thrown into a cave without a clue, desperately searching for another soul.

I recall the first run—shaking with fear, wondering if I’d been kidnapped—only to have my skull smashed in by a goblin that appeared from behind.  

Second run.  

I thought the previous death had been a nightmare. 

I called out, hoping to find someone. 

The sound drew a creature that looked like a man-sized ant. 

I was torn apart alive. 

The pain was so vivid, so excruciating, that I could no longer believe this was a dream.  

Third run.  

Realizing the horror was real, I held my breath and searched for a way out. I found a trap instead—and lost my head to it.  

Fourth run.  

I barely defeated a lone goblin in a desperate struggle, earning a dagger for my efforts.

I used it to fight off the ant—but lost my limbs in the process and died from shock.  

Fifth run.  

This time I killed the goblin and kept the dagger.

I avoided combat as much as possible, moving cautiously.

That’s when I saw her—a woman being devoured by a pack of wolves.

Her upper and lower body had already been torn apart.

There was no way she could survive. But the moment she saw me, she screamed, begging for her life.  

Thanks to her, the wolves found me too.  

That bitch.  

Sixth run.  

Still… maybe I was too soft.

After dying five times, she was the first person I’d seen who looked like me.

I approached her quickly and made contact.

Somehow, we escaped the cave together.

That’s when I learned the truth: this world was a tower—and we’d just escaped the first floor.  

Fortunately, there was some form of civilization starting from the second floor.

I managed to survive, lived until old age, and eventually died of natural causes.  

Seventh run.  

Even death couldn’t release me.

I awoke once more at the bottom, despair hitting harder than ever.

I killed the first goblin I saw and slit my own throat with its dagger.  

Eighth run.  

Not even suicide could free me.

There was only one way out of this hellish loop: reach the top of the tower.

Using the swordsmanship I’d accidentally learned in the sixth run, I quickly cleared the first floor and began climbing in earnest.  

I reached the eighth floor—only to be betrayed by a companion.  

That cost me seven years.  

…  

Thirteenth run.  

At the fortieth floor, I hit a wall.

A man from the Daoist sect—a seemingly frail old sage—massacred my entire guild.

I fought him, prepared to die. But he toyed with me like a child playing with a doll… and tore my heart out.  

Fourteenth run.  

No more guilds.

I climbed alone to the fortieth floor and submitted myself to the old man.  

He was in his twilight years, and he accepted me as his disciple without hesitation.  

His name was Ryu Yeon.  

Once a man who sought to become an immortal, only to find himself transferred to this tower after failing.

A mendicant turned master.  

Under his guidance, I trained for 150 years.  

And died on the seventieth floor.  

Twentieth run.  

Just one floor away from reaching the hundredth floor—  

I was killed by the Evil God.  

Fucking hell.

That bastard.  

…40th Run.  

Killed again by the Evil God.

This time on the 99th floor.  

55th Run.  

That damn Evil God again.

That son of a bitch killed me again.  

70th Run.  

Finally—I killed the Evil God!  

But then I died too.  

FUCK!!!  

71st Run.  

The Evil God remembered his own death.  

72nd Run.  

Screw the tower, screw everything—I just lived however I wanted.  

Ten years later, a blade found its way into my back.  

Turns out it was the bastard who betrayed me back in the 8th run.  

80th Run.  

From the 73rd to the 80th run, I spent centuries tracking down talented and promising individuals.

And it paid off—I finally gathered reliable companions.  

The biggest surprise?  

The woman I’d seen back on the first floor had a natural gift for magic.  

Shame she was already dead.  

So, I killed myself just to go back and recruit her.  

81st Run.  

Her name was Yoo Hana.  

We hit it off right away—our personalities clicked.  

Maybe it was because we’d spent time face-to-face since the first floor, but some kind of bond started to form.  

With a solid crew and talented recruits, I was sure this time… this time we’d kill the Evil God and reach the hundredth floor.  

But she betrayed me.  

On the 60th floor, she turned on me and locked me away.  

Why?  

Because I was too nice to another woman.  

She had to be insane.  

In the end, we grew old together in that damned prison, and I died of natural causes.  

86th to 89th Runs.  

That’s when weird phenomena started appearing in the tower.  

Things that had never existed before—strange, dangerous anomalies.  

I died over and over again trying to figure them out, tanking hits just to learn how to deal with them.  

One thing was certain: the tower had changed.  

Was it the butterfly effect? I couldn’t tell.  

91st Run.  

I kept all my relationships strictly professional.  

Martial artists from Murim, warriors from fantasy realms, even people from Earth—I kept my distance.  

I reached the 99th floor like that.  

But the Evil God and his cult were far stronger than before, as if they’d been power-leveling between runs.  

It didn’t make sense.  

He should only remember the first time he died.  

But his preparations? Unreal.  

It was absurd.

The very definition of unfair.  

From then on, I wasted my 92nd through 95th runs drinking and doing drugs.  

What was the point?  

The tower was impossible.  

So I drank, died, woke up, and drank again.  

96th Run.  

I pulled myself together.  

Went on a spree, collecting every hidden legacy and opportunity I could find.  

But as I grew stronger, my companions grew weaker by comparison.  

The gap between us became too wide.  

We couldn’t fight together anymore.  

I realized this run was doomed.  

So I killed myself.  

97th Run.  

What if… I joined the Evil God’s cult?  

I enrolled.  

The high priest took one look at me and labeled me a heretic.  

Chopped my head off.  

The Evil God couldn’t even recognize his own follower.  

Senile bastard.  

98th Run.  

With only a few runs left before the hundredth, I figured—screw it.  

I lived quietly with Yoo Hana and let time pass.  

We died together, peacefully.  

99th Run.  

I opened a small inn.  

Rested up.  

Prepared for the final run.  

That’s when it finally hit me—I wasn’t sane anymore.  

Honestly, I’d probably gone mad long ago.  

It just took me this long to notice.  

But really, who could go through endless regression and not lose their mind?  

And then, at last—  

The 100th Run.  

“…Haa.”  

I took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar stench of the cave.  

The comforting aroma of vomit, feces, and monster musk filled my lungs.  

It felt like coming home.  

A strange sense of calm washed over me.  

This was it—the final run.  

The last ascent.  

“This time… I’ll climb all the way to the top.”  

Ninety-nine regressions.  

I’ve had enough.