Evan had died twenty-six times.
He had learned something from each death—fragments, impressions, flashes of clarity—but not enough. Not nearly enough.
He sat on the training yard fence on the morning of Return #27, staring at the wooden weapons rack. The sun was still low. The air carried the crisp scent of dew. Recruits hadn't arrived yet.
Every sound was familiar.
Every cloud was in the same place.
Every moment had already happened twenty-six times.
For the first time since this nightmare began, Evan realized something important:
If everything resets… then nothing I do here has consequences.
Training injuries didn't matter.
Embarrassment didn't matter.
Overexertion didn't matter.
Failure absolutely didn't matter.
Because no matter what happened—
He'd wake up in his bed, four days before the battle.
He swung himself off the fence, grabbed a wooden sword, and walked to the far end of the yard.
He wasn't going to train like a recruit.
He was going to train like a man who had already died twenty-six times.
THE FIRST RESET TRAININGEvan had always been considered "above average" for a trainee. Not exceptional. Not weak. Just… somewhere in the middle.
But now he fought as though his life depended on it.
Because it did.
He practiced swings until his shoulders screamed, then until they went numb, then until he physically couldn't lift the blade anymore. He drilled footwork until his legs shook. He rehearsed dodging patterns based on the corrupted knight's movements—movements he remembered with painful clarity.
He struck dummies.
He struck posts.
He struck the air.
He practiced until his hands bled.
He practiced until he collapsed.
And then—
[RETURN COMPLETE]Return Count: 28 / 10,000
Exhaustion Level Exceeded. Body Failed.
He had passed out.
Which counted as a death, apparently.
He groaned as he woke in his bed again.
"Great. I can't even train myself to death."
But he kept going.
THE TRAINING LOOPReturn #30:He practiced swordsmanship for ten hours straight. Collapsed. "Died."
Return #33:He tried archery. Barely managed to shoot the target. Started training until his arms gave out.
Return #38:He snuck into the knights' barracks to study their real weapons. Was caught. Thrown out. Got better at sneaking on the next loop.
Return #41:He sparred with Roran. Got disarmed in three seconds. Tried again the next loop.
Return #45:He picked fights with bullies to learn brawling. Won some. Lost some. Learned a lot.
Return #50:He tried speed drills.
He learned to roll, tumble, leap.
He started developing instincts.
By Return #52 he could dodge Roran's strikes for a full six seconds.
By Return #54 he could counter once before being smashed into the dirt.
By Return #58…
He was different.
The world didn't notice yet.
But he knew.
He moved differently.
Thought differently.
Fought differently.
He was no longer a recruit trying to survive training.
He was a survivor trying to prepare for war.
THE FIRST SYSTEM SKILLIt happened on Return #63.
Evan was in the woods behind the village—somewhere quiet, hidden from others. He was practicing a sequence of rapid slashes, trying to replicate the corrupted knight's ferocity. His sword blurred, cutting through the air with a sharp hum.
His foot twisted on a root.
He fell.
The blade slipped.
He nearly cut his own arm—
A blue flare erupted in front of him.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED]Skill: SURVIVAL INSTINCT (Passive)
Tier: F
Effect: Reaction speed increased when facing lethal danger.
Source: Accumulated near-death experiences.
Evan blinked.
"What—what? I can get skills?!"
The panel shimmered, then another appeared.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]You have met a hidden requirement:
Experience through repeated death.
Skill recognition is now enabled.
He laughed.
He actually laughed out loud, which startled a squirrel and probably woke a bird somewhere.
"So I can level up. I just needed to die a ridiculous number of times first."
A tiny part of him felt pride.
A much larger part felt very concerned.
If this was the reward for sixty-three deaths…
What would the reward be when he hit one hundred?
Or a thousand?
Or—gods forbid—ten thousand?
He shook his head.
One thing at a time.
THE RETURN WHERE HE TRIED TO CHANGE ANOTHEROn Return #66, Evan made a risky decision.
Instead of training alone, he went to find Lira.
She was easy to spot, standing on a fruit cart arguing with the vendor while three apples mysteriously vanished into her pockets.
Evan approached her.
"Lira."
She turned, bright-eyed and mischievous as always. "Evan! You look like you're about to panic or confess a crime. Which is it?"
He hesitated.
"Can I… talk to you?"
Her eyes softened. "Sure. What's wrong?"
Evan considered telling her everything.
The loops.
The deaths.
The System.
The corrupted knight.
But the words stuck in his throat.
Would she think he was insane?
Would she ignore him like Roran had?
Would the System even let him tell her?
He took a deep breath.
"There's going to be an attack in four days."
Her face changed in an instant.
Not disbelief.
Not mockery.
But worry.
"Evan… how do you know that?"
"I've seen it."
"How?"
He couldn't answer.
Instead, he gave her the only truth that didn't break the rules.
"I trust you. And I need you to trust me."
She stared at him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
"Okay. What do we do?"
Evan froze.
He hadn't expected that answer.
He wasn't prepared for someone to actually believe him.
But the System did not approve.
A panel flashed violently.
[SYSTEM WARNING]Interference with Anchored Individuals Detected.
Loop Integrity Compromised.
"Anchored individuals?" Evan muttered.
The panel changed.
[LOOP FORCED RESET]Cause: Attempted external destabilization.
Penalty: Return Count +1
Light swallowed him.
He didn't even get a chance to say goodbye.
RETURN #67He woke up in his bed, gasping.
A migraine split his skull like lightning. His stomach churned. His ears rang with static.
And a new panel appeared.
[RESTRICTION UNLOCKED]Rule Revealed: Significant changes to major NPCs require System Approval.
Reason: Loop-stability risk.
Evan rubbed his eyes.
"So I can't recruit allies? I can't warn people? I can't change their fate?"
The panel didn't respond.
He pressed his fists to his forehead.
"Fine. I get it. I fight alone."
A bitter truth.
A heavy truth.
But he accepted it.
THE SEVENTY-FIVE LOOPS OF TRAININGFor the next several returns—seventy-five loops in total—Evan focused entirely on his own development.
Swordsmanship.
Footwork.
Endurance.
Timing.
Reading enemy movements.
Weapon throwing.
Dodging.
Rolling.
Climbing.
Navigating terrain.
Fighting in armor.
Fighting without armor.
Tracking.
Even cooking and first aid.
If it might help him survive the battle, he mastered it.
He trained until calluses thickened over his palms.
Until muscles he didn't know existed burned like fire.
Until he could anticipate Roran's attacks before they came.
He learned weaknesses in the corrupted knight's swings.
He learned how to avoid being trampled by warbeasts.
He learned where the safest positions on the battlefield were.
Every reset made him more dangerous.
Every death taught him something new.
THE SECOND SKILLIt came after Return #101, during a nighttime self-training session.
Evan was running footwork drills between lantern-lit trees. His feet moved so fast he barely felt the ground.
A sudden shift in the soil sent him stumbling—
And before he even thought about it, his body reacted.
His leg snapped forward.
His weight shifted.
His balance corrected perfectly.
A flare of blue light shimmered.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED]Skill: ADAPTIVE FOOTWORK (Passive)
Tier: E
Effect: Automatically stabilizes movement when off-balance.
Source: Repetitive failure under similar conditions.
Evan grinned.
"Yes. This is what I need."
He opened his system status screen for the first time.
[STATUS — HOST #2071: EVAN THORN]Level: N/A
Attributes:
Strength: Low
Agility: Low-Moderate
Endurance: Moderate
Focus: High
Will: High
Skills:
Survival Instinct (F)
Adaptive Footwork (E)
Return Count: 101 / 10,000
He exhaled slowly.
"I'm getting there."
He didn't know how strong the corrupted knight truly was.
He didn't know if two skills would be enough.
But he knew something else, something that grew clearer with every loop:
The System wasn't trying to kill him.
It was trying to shape him.
For what purpose?
He didn't know.
But he planned to find out.
THE DAY BEFORE THE BATTLEReturn #112.
Evan stood on a hill overlooking the village.
The same gentle wind as every loop.
The same distant mountains.
The same quiet before the storm.
Tomorrow would be the battle again.
Tomorrow he would put his training to the test.
He had died more than a hundred times.
He wouldn't run.
He wouldn't hide.
He wouldn't try to change others.
This time—
He would fight.
And maybe, just maybe…
He would survive long enough to learn something new.
Evan closed his eyes.
"Come on then," he whispered. "Let's see what Return #113 has waiting."
He didn't notice the shadow watching him from the treeline.
He didn't see the faint glimmer of gold eyes.
Someone—
something—
else knew about the System.
And it was waiting for him.