Prologue: Again (2)

[ You failed to meet the viewer's expectation… ]

[ The Cursed by the Benevolent has been activated. ]

"Hm... I see. So that monster is immune to fire."

Elijah's voice was void of frustration, void of disappointment. Just another observation.

"I didn't know that. I never really went into much detail during the fight."

"I'll try again."

[ The viewer mocked you for having a slow start. ]

[ The Cursed by the Benevolent has been activated. ]

"There was a reaction when its eyes were hit…"

"I should take note of that."

"Let's try again."

[ Everyone died from the Poison Gas. ]

[ The Cursed by the Benevolent has been activated. ]

"Again."

[ The Cursed by the Benevolent has been activated. ]

"Again."

[ The Cursed by the… ]

"Again."

[…]

"Again…"

[…]

"Again...."

[…]

Elijah blinked. His vision blurred for a moment before refocusing on the familiar scene once again.

"Oh. I completely lost my mind, huh."

****

"Brother… is it just me, or did you change overnight?"

Aliyah's voice barely registered. She had been staring at him for a while now, but Elijah simply continued slashing through the undead wolves.

His short sword cut through rotting flesh, his dagger plunged into decomposing skulls without hesitation.

A sickening crunch followed every precise motion. The wet, sticky sensation of half-clotted blood coated his hands, but he didn't care. He had gutted hundreds of these things. Or even... Thousands, maybe.

"What do you mean?" he asked in a monotone.

"Well… it's like you gained muscles overnight?"

"Oh."

Elijah couldn't deny it.

After dying twenty-six times, his body had adjusted. His wounds healed every loop, leaving behind faint scars that no longer ached. The repeated battles had conditioned his muscles, his reflexes also sharpened in exchange.

"I did a secret training."

Dae-hyun, cleaning his blade nearby, scoffed. "Now that I think about it, your weapon choice is weird."

A dagger and a short sword. An odd combination.

At first, Elijah had picked the dagger because it was small, easy to maneuver. But daggers were a lie.

Those flashy twin-dagger users in movies? It's fake. 

Against long-reaching weapons—like the S+ rank nightmare whose razor-sharp limbs could cut through steel—a dagger was useless. You couldn't parry, couldn't counter fast enough.

So he picked up a sword.

Not because he wanted to.

But because he had to.

"Let's proceed."

They stood before the unbroken eggs.

Dae-hyun was about to say something—probably to suggest breaking them—when Elijah stopped him.

"Look up."

Dae-hyun and Aliyah followed his gaze.

A massive spider clung to the ceiling, nestled in layers of thick, pulsating webs. Its bloated body twitched with life, hundreds of eyes flickering in the dim dungeon light.

Dae-hyun's breath hitched. "I-It hatched?!"

"It can't hear well, but as long as it doesn't smell anything, we should be alri—" Elijah tried to warn in advance... but...

Crack.

Aliyah hiccupped. Her voice wavered.

"I… stepped on something…"

Elijah exhaled through his nose.

The sound of crushed eggshells echoed in the silent dungeron.

"I… I'm sorry…"

Crash.

The spider's limbs impaled Aliyah in an instant.

Blood splattered across the dungeon floor, steaming in the cold air. Her torso convulsed, her fingers twitching as webbing began crawling into her open wounds.

Filling her veins.

Stretching under her skin.

Her mouth opened, but no scream came. Only choked gasps as the silk poured into her throat, her stomach bloating as the webbing nested inside her.

She was being cocooned from the inside out.

"Ali!" Dae-hyun ran forward, but Elijah grabbed him.

"It's no use," Elijah said flatly.

Dae-hyun struggled. "Let me go! We have to save her!"

"She's already dead. Better to use this as a distraction and run."

"SHE'S YOUR SISTER! WHY DON'T YOU CARE?!"

Dae-hyun's voice cracked, but Elijah simply stared at him with his eyes dull.

Then, without hesitation, he grabbed Dae-hyun by the collar—

—and threw him aside.

Dae-hyun hit the ground with a grunt, dazed. "Huh…?"

From above, silk strands shot down like tendrils, wrapping around Dae-hyun's limbs. He thrashed, but the threads forced their way into his mouth, down his throat, filling his stomach like a nest.

His skin bulged and twitched.

His veins blackened as his insides were spun into silk.

His muffled screams grew weaker.

Elijah simply watched.

Unfeeling.

Unmoved.

Dae-hyun's wide, horror-stricken eyes locked onto him.

"I'm so tired of this," Elijah muttered.

Dae-hyun's pupils trembled. "W…why…?"

Elijah tilted his head, with a smile finally shown in his dull face.

"Just die so it will loop again."

And then, the all-too-familiar sound rang in his ears.

[ You finally lost it! How interesting! ]

[ But still not enough. ]

[ Do better, Author-nim. ]

[ The Cursed by the Benevolent has been activated. ]