The smell of disinfectant brushed past the tip of my nose. As my awareness slowly returned, I felt a hard pressure weighing down on my shoulder.
When I opened my eyes slowly, a dirty cement ceiling and a dimly glowing incandescent light came into view. I stared blankly at the bulb swaying on a single wire, then slowly raised my upper body.
“Urgh...”
Because I’d been lying on the cold, hard floor for a long time, even that simple movement sent a dull pain shooting through my body. I lifted my head and looked around.
Like the ceiling, the walls were made of rough, dirty concrete, and the door was solid metal. I scanned the room several times, trying to stay calm, but ended up biting my lip in confusion.
“This place...”
It was all too familiar. If my memory was correct, this was the solitary cell in the Awakener research facility where I’d been dragged against my will two years ago.
That made no sense. This place had been blown to pieces two years ago—the building itself had collapsed. So then... what the hell is this place? And why am I here?
As I sat there blinking, unable to accept what was happening—
《All data has been successfully modified, except for the error sections.》
《Please enter your name to access the system.》
“...!”
The same red letters I saw in my dream floated in the air.
I stared at them blankly for a while, struggling to believe they were real. The letters began to blink, urging me for a response.
《Please enter your name.》
My name? It’s asking for my name?
After hesitating for a moment, I opened my mouth.
“Cha Seohu.”
《Logging in as Cha Seohu.》
《Please wait. This process may take some time.》
《Loading......》
Just like in the dream, the familiar string of messages continued. I cautiously reached my hand toward the letters. But my hand passed right through them—they were still clearly visible, just not tangible.
Am I still dreaming? While I sat confused, the message began to change.
《Login complete. You may now use the system.》
“System...?”
That was the last of the text before it disappeared.
Even in my confusion, the word “system” lingered in my mind. Honestly, the contents of the message weren’t all that foreign to me.
I’d spent plenty of ~Nоvеlight~ time reading web novels, webtoons, and playing a fair share of games. Seeing system messages floating in midair wasn’t as strange as you might think.
I swallowed dryly and stared into the air. I’d come this far—there was no reason not to try. After some hesitation, I cautiously spoke.
“Status window.”
Ding!
User Info: Cha Seohu
Age: 26 (28)
Main Skill: Guardian’s Bond (B-rank)
Attack Power: F-rank
Attack Speed: F-rank
Movement Speed: F-rank
Agility: F-rank
Trait ▼
└ Soaked Cat (F-rank)
With a cheerful chime, the status window really did pop up in the air.
I cursed under my breath and instinctively flinched backward, but new letters suddenly appeared, blocking the view of my status window.
《System first-time use complete! You have received a reward.》
《Trait Acquired: Just Lie There (F-rank)》
《Hidden Quest unlocked!》
《Hidden Quest: I Can’t Let It End Like This (L-rank)》
《Hidden Quest: I Can’t Let It End Like This (L-rank) – Cleared!》
《Reward for clearing the Hidden Quest has been granted.》
《Hidden Skill Acquired: Silver Blessing (S-rank)》
“What... the hell.”
Messages flooded my vision, piling up so fast it was overwhelming.
Frowning, I slowly read through them one by one. One message in particular stood out, gnawing at the back of my mind.
“Hidden Quest...
I Can’t Let It End Like This
? What the...”
It was ridiculous that such a thing as a hidden quest even existed—but even more absurd that I’d cleared it already? A wave of indescribable unease crashed over me.
If what I was thinking was right... No, but... that’s impossible, isn’t it? Could something like that really happen? Just as I was questioning it—
Hidden Quest: I Can’t Let It End Like This (L-rank)
You turned back time at the moment of death.
Reward: Hidden Skill acquired
I hadn’t even said anything—just thought it—and the system brought up a new window with a detailed explanation.
“...It even explains things?”
I let out a short, hollow laugh.
Well, it wasn’t a bad thing. There were still a ton of questions left unanswered anyway. If everything comes with explanations like this, then I’ll be able to figure out what all the other messages mean, too.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
First, I focused on the hidden quest. I repeated the first sentence to myself:
“You turned back time at the moment of death.”
So all of this isn’t a dream. It’s real.
Given where I was, the time I’d gone back must be about two years and six months.
“I... actually became a regressor.”
I bowed my head, stunned.
I’d returned to two years ago—and yet, everything I’d experienced before dying was so vivid, so real.
The Catastrophe.
Just thinking of that being made me grit my teeth. The entity that devoured the world. Even S-rank Hunters couldn’t stop it. They died, one after another.
The Catastrophe wasn’t just a person. Like the name implied, it was a natural disaster in human skin—something that killed every living thing in its path.
When I recalled the excruciating pain that had wracked my body before I blacked out, my fists trembled violently. That fear, the raw terror I’d felt just remembering it, was proof of the Catastrophe’s power.
The people I cherished like family were wiped out in an instant by a single gesture from that thing. They were amazing people who led the fight to the very end—for the sake of the world. They never should’ve died that way.
I can’t... let them die like that again.
I remembered just how much I’d regretted it as I lay dying.
If I were given another chance—I swore I would do everything in my power to make sure those precious people didn’t die like that.
“...Yeah. I don’t know how or why this happened, but it’s an incredible opportunity.”
I have to stop the Catastrophe and save everyone. Whether it’s possible or not doesn’t matter. At the very least, this time, I want to die without regrets.
With new resolve, I calmly examined the system messages. The system was strikingly similar to the interfaces used in the games I usually played.
Words like “rank” and “skill” were common among Awakeners these days, but terms like “trait” and “quest” were things you only saw in games.
Given that I received a reward for clearing a hidden quest, it stood to reason that completing quests like this could give me even greater power.
And if I become stronger, I’ll have a better chance of stopping the Catastrophe.
In other words, if I make full use of this system and the status window, it’ll lead me straight to the path of protecting everyone. No, not a shortcut—more like... a guidebook.
I wasn’t about to blindly trust and follow it, but there was no reason to ignore something this valuable either. I decided to start by checking the rewards I’d just received.
《Trait Acquired: Just Lie There (F-rank)》
《Hidden Skill Acquired: Silver Blessing (S-rank)》
The first was for using the system for the first time. The second came from clearing the hidden quest.
“A hidden skill, huh?”
After the monsters appeared, people began Awakening into Hunters through special abilities.
I was one of them, too. The reason I’d even been kidnapped and locked up in this illegal lab in the first place was because of my Awakening skill.
My skill allowed me to replenish others’ stamina through physical contact. It consumed my own energy and strength, which were tied directly to my life force. In that sense, it wasn’t a bad skill.
But beyond that, I had nothing. That’s why I was always stuck at the very back—forced to just stand there and watch others fight.
But now...
“I actually got a new skill?”
My heart began to race. And again, just thinking that I wanted to know more brought up a system message.
Hidden Skill: Silver Blessing (S-rank)
You grow stronger under the moonlight.
The effect activates at night or in dark indoor areas.
└ Strength: Increased to S-rank
└ Attack Power: Increased to S-rank
└ Attack Speed: Increased to S-rank
└ Movement Speed: Increased to S-rank
└ Agility: Increased to S-rank
Reading the cascading description, I muttered blankly.
“All stats... boosted.”
I instinctively looked down at my hands. I clenched and unclenched my fists several times, but didn’t notice anything different.
Since the skill strengthened me under moonlight, maybe it didn’t work unless it was nighttime?
This was a solitary cell for test subjects. Surrounded by walls—I had no way to check what time it was.
Should I try punching a wall or something? Just as I bit my lip, trying to come up with a plan, I heard a cheerful chime.
Ding!
《Main Quest has arrived!》
《Main Quest: Meet the villain implanted with the ‘Seed of Catastrophe.’ (Time remaining: 1 hour 59 minutes)》

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