episode_0006

Episode 6. The Circumstances of a Crazy Woman.

Her frenzy stopped only after the 22nd repetition. As a hardcore fan who had watched her suicide show a whopping 20 times, I had one question.

‘From what age did she awaken that ability?’

At first, I thought she was someone who couldn’t feel pain.

To stab herself in the heart without any hesitation, that’s not something a person with normal pain perception would do.

‘She’s definitely feeling the pain. Her lips tremble slightly every time she stabs her heart, and her breathing gets rougher. She’s just enduring it.’

How many times do you have to die to get used to suicide? I’ve seen her commit suicide 20 times, and if you include the one where her head exploded, that makes 21.

She’s probably died much more in reality. That’s why she’s so skilled.

But…

‘Is that even possible? That there would be a situation where you have to die multiple times in reality?’

Death is only given to every human once. Some humans don’t die until they’re 100 years old, and some children die as soon as they’re born.

But most people preserve their lives until at least 60 years old.

Just look around you. There are overwhelmingly more people living ordinary lives than dead people.

In other words, the probability of that woman, who looks to be in her mid-20s at most, experiencing death while living is extremely low.

What kind of life has she lived? I felt a faint curiosity.

[The tutorial stage will begin soon.]

[Time remaining until start: 12min 22s]

***

‘What is it?’

Stab!

‘Why isn’t it going back? Why!’

Stab!

A woman wielding particularly dark hair, plunging a kitchen knife into her heart.

Sarah Kim was going crazy right now. No matter how much she committed suicide, she didn’t return to the time before arriving in the field.

When she first arrived in the field and tried to commit suicide, it was thwarted by a man who introduced himself as a police officer.

Eventually, the flow was broken. Since it had come to this, she decided to enjoy the situation appropriately and then return to the past.

It was quite interesting. She looked at something called a ‘status window,’ watched people showing off superpowers, and watched the spectacle of them killing people with those superpowers.

She didn’t feel much emotion. Because she had been familiar with the phenomenon of death since she was a child.

The orphanage where she lived until she was 8 years old. She saw a corpse there for the first time. She still remembers it vividly.

Squeak!

[Ranking of Eliminations]

[1st~50th place: Survival]

[51st~99th place: Death]

1st place: Seungin Cha (40 kills)

2nd place: Yohan Shin (12 kills)

3rd place: Cheol Kang (5 kills)

4th place: Yeodae Ahn (4 kills)

5th place: Yewha Shin (4 kills)

6th place: Shinwoo Kim (4 kills)

7th place: Hyunwoo Park (3 kills)

She just stood there blankly, watching people killing rabbits diligently.

If that message is true, I’ll probably die. I didn’t really care.

I was rather curious. How are they going to kill me? Dismemberment? Strangulation? Poisoning? Shooting? Explosion? Crushing? Arrow? Drowning?

I hope they’ll do it with a clean dismemberment. I’ve never experienced it before, but I felt like I’d be going back to the past soon.

For the record, the death I hated the most was burning to death. It’s not just that it’s painful, but it’s also the most disgusting feeling.

Especially the stench that comes from the muscles under the skin burning… Ugh, disgusting.

I like a good death. Like cardiac arrest. It’s the suicide method I use the most.

[Beep]

[48th, 49th, and 50th place do not exist.]

[According to the rules of the tower, 48th, 49th, and 50th place are also judged to be dead.]

[Execution of Judgment.]

Along with the message, the heads of the people around her began to explode. It’s finally starting.

Explosion wasn’t the first time, but it was the first time only the head exploded. She watched the approaching red dominoes with excitement.

It was quite fun. I should press no this time. A brief deviation is fun too, but she still preferred the convenience of modern civilization.

Since I didn’t catch a single rabbit, I’ll soon be going back to yesterday morning.

She wondered what to eat for breakfast. I had a fun experience, should I put in some effort to commemorate it? She also thought.

Thud!

Immediately after, a familiar sensation covered her. She had finally died. She slowly opened her eyes and thought.

‘Hmm, omelet rice as usual… Huh?’

It was the moment her suicide show began.

***

[The tutorial stage will begin soon.]

[Time remaining until start: 9min 3s]

Whoosh─

“Oh! Otherworld privilege!”

It was a familiar sight. Starting with Yeodae Ahn manifesting flames, the people in the field exhibited various superpowers.

This time again, I pretended to be drawn to the spectacle and peeked at her.

She had a blank look on her face. Things didn’t go as planned.

‘No matter how much she tries, she can’t go back to before entering the tower.’

I named her ability ‘Death Regression’. It was an intuitive and clear name.

Before long, she turned her gaze somewhere. She seemed to be looking at the status window. I kept watching her and spent my time casually.

[Time remaining until start: 4min 11s]

‘No one’s dying this time.’

In the first repetition, someone died at this time. It was an incident where a greatsword fell on a woman’s head.

But perhaps because she didn’t cause a suicide commotion, it didn’t happen this time.

Suddenly, she showed an interesting reaction. She, who had been standing still, began to move to one place.

‘Oh? Is she trying to catch a rabbit?’

She seems to be acting based on the memories of the first repetition.

Currently, people were forming a circle, but there was only one direction in which rabbits appeared. In other words, she was trying to secure a position.

She slowly approached me. It wasn’t a coincidence. I also deliberately took a spot on this side.

She’s not the only one who knows the summoning location of the rabbits.

Suddenly, I felt her gaze.

‘……’

I maintained the most peaceful expression possible and stared back at her in the same way. Avoiding eye contact would have been more suspicious.

“……”

She quickly averted her gaze. I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and thought.

‘It’s fierce. It’s fierce.’

Her seemingly empty eyes were eerie.

I didn’t know her secret, but now that I realized the truth, she made me uneasy.

The atmosphere she had developed by overcoming so many deaths was bizarre.

‘Should I talk to her once?’

I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head. I didn’t have anything to say in particular, and it wasn’t the right time yet.

‘She’s no ordinary crazy woman. Let’s watch a little longer.’

I was going to try to talk to her in the near future. Her superpower was very useful to me.

Going back to the past when you die, what a fraudulent ability. It will definitely be of great help in escaping this tower.

The best-case scenario I was thinking of was this.

Collect information about her and slowly build a friendship. When I feel like we’re somewhat close, I’ll tell her the truth then.

It’s a secret that will be revealed soon even if I don’t say it.

I will actively use her ability to gain profit. It’s virtually impossible to not leave any sense of discomfort in the process.

I’ll strike first before she finds out. That picture is prettier. If I try to hide it, she might have negative feelings.

“……”

If someone saw me, they would think I was the worst scum.

Because it’s no different from using other people’s emotions to gain profit. That’s right, that’s a valid point.

But I’m going to get out of this tower even if it means doing that. I touched the silver ring on my left ring finger and vowed.

‘Seonah. I’ll be back soon. Just wait a little longer.’

What good are good and evil? It’s all over when you die.

***

[Time remaining until start: 0min 0s]

[The tutorial stage will begin.]

Soon, a white swarm of light came down to the ground. Looking to the side, I see her running out immediately.

‘She’s firmly resolved.’

I smiled faintly. It was good for me.

I needed a reason to rush into the swarm of rabbits anyway, so thank you for creating a reason like this. I kicked off the ground with pleasure.

Dart!

Before taking a few steps, the swarm of light turned into rabbits. They screamed.

“Kieeeeeeeeee!”

There was still some distance between me and them. But the woman who had run out first had already arrived.

Thud! Stab!

She immediately grabbed the rabbit’s long ears with her left hand and mercilessly stabbed them. Somehow, the scene of her stabbing herself in the heart overlapped.

“Kieeee!”

The rabbits were the same as when they were delinquents. As if she had immediately drawn their aggro, they rushed towards her with violent gestures.

Dart!

She stepped back gracefully. It wasn’t as good as the delinquents, but her posture was quite good.

Swoosh, Thwack!

She used her left hand to pull out the rabbit’s corpse stabbed in the kitchen knife and threw it on the ground. Soon, her unilateral massacre began.

Stab!

“Kieeeeeee!”

I took my eyes off her, who was hunting rabbits with a blank face, and looked up at the sky.

[Ranking of Eliminations]

[1st~50th place: Survival]

[51st~100th place: Death]

1st place: Sarah Kim (2 kills)

2nd place: None

3rd place: None

4th place: None

5th place: None

.

.

.

.

100th place: None

‘Sarah Kim.’

It was the moment I obtained information about her identity, albeit insignificant.