The Regressor's Life: Volume 1
By : Izumi
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Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
Ashur Valrath opened his eyes to a world that had already doomed itself once.
The cold air of Dawnspire smelled the same—damp stone, fresh bread from the bakeries, and the distant scent of forge-smoke. The sun had barely risen, casting long shadows across the cobblestone streets. People bustled around him, oblivious to the catastrophe that would unfold in just three years.
Three years until the fall of the Empire.
Three years until the System shattered.
Three years until everything burned.
Ashur clenched his fist. His body felt… younger. The scars he had once carried, reminders of a life spent fighting against fate, were gone. His muscles were weaker, lacking the experience and training that had once made him a warlord. But knowledge—true power—still coursed through his mind.
"I regressed," he muttered, half in disbelief, half in grim confirmation.
A familiar, cold voice echoed in his mind.
[Regression detected. System recalibrating...]
[Host: Ashur Valrath
Class: None (Formerly Warlord)
Level: 1 (Formerly 89)
Skills: Data corrupted
Achievements: Data corrupted]
Ashur exhaled slowly. The System recognized his past, but it had wiped his skills and levels clean. That was fine. He didn't need them yet. What mattered most was that he had time.
"This time," he whispered to himself, "I won't let it happen again."
He turned, his mind already racing through the sequence of events he had to change. The first priority? Strength. His past self had struggled, crawling up the ranks with blood and sweat. But now, he knew where to find power.
And he would take it.
Chapter 2: A Different Path
Ashur navigated the streets with ease. In his past life, he had been nothing more than a street rat at this point—scraping by, stealing from merchants, and fighting in back-alley brawls. But this time, he had knowledge.
There was a hidden dungeon beneath the old cathedral in the Slum District. It wasn't discovered until years later, when the war had already begun. By then, it had become a battleground, its artifacts stolen by the powerful.
This time, Ashur would claim them first.
He reached the cathedral's ruins before dawn. The massive stone building stood abandoned, its windows shattered, its halls empty. To the city, it was nothing more than an old relic. To Ashur, it was the key to changing fate.
[New Quest: Forsaken Relic]
Objective: Discover the hidden dungeon beneath the cathedral.
Reward: ???
Ashur smirked. Even the System had taken notice of his actions.
Without hesitation, he stepped into the darkness.
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Chapter 3: The Forsaken Relic
The cathedral's interior was eerily silent. Dust coated the shattered pews, and faded murals of long-forgotten saints lined the cracked stone walls. In the dim light filtering through the ruined stained glass, Ashur moved with practiced ease.
His memory guided him.
At the altar, he knelt and pressed his palm against the worn surface. In his past life, a group of adventurers had stumbled upon the mechanism by accident. Now, he would claim its secrets first.
The stone trembled beneath his touch. A soft click echoed through the empty cathedral.
[Hidden Path Unlocked.]
The altar groaned as it slid aside, revealing a dark stairway descending into the earth. A cold, damp breeze wafted up from below.
Ashur exhaled. He had no weapon, no armor, and no system-awarded skills to rely on. But he had something greater—knowledge of what lay ahead.
He stepped forward, into the abyss.
---
As he descended, faint runes flickered to life along the walls, casting an eerie blue glow. The air grew colder with each step, until finally, the tunnel opened into a vast underground chamber.
In the center of the cavern stood an obsidian pedestal, upon which rested a single object: a dagger.
Not just any dagger.
The Midnight Fang.
In his past life, this weapon had been wielded by an assassin known as the Shadow Serpent—a mercenary feared even among kings. It had granted him an unnatural speed and a deadly edge in combat. Now, it belonged to Ashur.
[Item Acquired: Midnight Fang]
Type: Dagger
Effect: ???
Ashur wrapped his fingers around the hilt. A pulse of energy surged through his arm, and a familiar voice whispered in his mind.
[Bound to Host.]
[Unlocking Effect: Phantom Strike (Dormant)]
A smirk tugged at his lips. Perfect.
But before he could savor the moment, the air shifted.
A deep growl rumbled from the shadows.
From the darkness, something stirred.
Chapter 4: The Guardian of Shadows
The growl deepened, reverberating through the underground chamber like a warning.
Ashur tightened his grip on the Midnight Fang, stepping back as crimson eyes flickered in the darkness. A hulking, wolf-like beast emerged from the shadows, its form twisted with streaks of black mist curling off its fur.
[Guardian Detected: Umbral Stalker]
Level: 15
Status: Hostile
Ashur's expression darkened. In his past life, he had only heard rumors of the dungeon's guardian. No one had ever bested it alone.
Yet here he stood, at Level 1, armed with nothing but a dagger and his knowledge of the future.
This is insane.
The Umbral Stalker lunged. Ashur rolled to the side, barely avoiding the monster's claws as they raked across the stone floor. Sparks flew where they struck. The beast was fast—far faster than anything a normal Level 1 could handle.
But Ashur wasn't normal.
His mind raced. He knew he couldn't overpower the beast, but he didn't need to.
He needed to outthink it.
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Chapter 5: A Killer's Instinct
The Umbral Stalker circled him, muscles tensed. Its intelligence was higher than most dungeon creatures—predatory, calculating. It wouldn't make reckless moves.
Neither would Ashur.
His eyes darted across the chamber. The runes on the walls… they weren't just for light. They were part of the dungeon's mechanism. In his past life, the group that discovered this place had triggered a trap that caused the ceiling to collapse.
That's my answer.
The Umbral Stalker lunged again, and this time, Ashur didn't dodge. Instead, he ran forward. The beast, momentarily caught off guard, swung its claws, grazing his shoulder. Blood sprayed, but Ashur didn't stop.
With a burst of speed, he leaped onto the pedestal. The beast skidded to a halt below him, growling in frustration.
"Come on, you monster," Ashur muttered. "Take the bait."
The Umbral Stalker roared and leaped after him.
Just as he expected.
At the last second, Ashur flipped backward, kicking off the beast's snout and sending himself soaring toward the far wall. He twisted in midair and drove the Midnight Fang into one of the glowing runes.
The effect was instant.
The runes flared red. The chamber shook. The ceiling cracked.
A massive chunk of stone collapsed—right on top of the Umbral Stalker.
The beast let out a final, furious howl before it was buried beneath the rubble. The chamber settled into silence.
Then, a system notification appeared.
[Boss Slain: Umbral Stalker]
[EXP Gained: 400]
[Level Up! → Level 4]
Ashur exhaled heavily, gripping his wounded shoulder. His plan had worked.
But this was only the beginning.
The dust settled over the collapsed remains of the Umbral Stalker, its once-menacing form buried beneath the weight of the dungeon itself. Ashur took a deep breath, wincing as the gash on his shoulder throbbed. His body was weak, far weaker than he was accustomed to, but the fight had proven one thing—he could still win. Even without overwhelming strength, his knowledge of the past gave him an edge no one else had.
[Level Up! → Level 5]
[Stat Points Available: 10]
He didn't hesitate. He funneled points into Agility and Vitality. Right now, he needed speed to survive and endurance to keep going. Strength could come later—when he actually had a weapon worthy of his past life.
The glow of the runes dimmed as the dungeon returned to silence. He scanned the chamber, stepping carefully over the rubble. There had to be something else here. The Midnight Fang was powerful, but it wasn't enough.
Then he saw it.
Behind the pedestal, half-hidden in the shadows, was an ancient stone chest. Dust coated its surface, but the intricate carvings along its edges suggested it was far more valuable than it appeared. Ashur knelt, brushing his fingers over the lid.
[System Recognition: Hidden Cache Detected]
[Do you wish to open it?]
A hidden cache? He had never heard of this being discovered before.
That meant whatever was inside belonged to him alone.
With a steady breath, he pushed the lid open. A soft click echoed through the chamber, followed by a faint golden glow. Inside, nestled on a velvet cloth, was a black leather-bound tome and a ring engraved with an unfamiliar crest.
[Item Acquired: Ancient Relic Ring]
[Effect: ???]
[Item Acquired: Forgotten Grimoire]
[Effect: Skill Acquisition]
A skill-granting tome. Now this was worth something.
Ashur wasted no time, flipping open the grimoire. As his fingers brushed against the pages, the text shimmered and vanished, the knowledge searing into his mind.
[New Skill Acquired: Phantom Step (Level 1)]
[Effect: Temporarily phase between reality, granting brief invulnerability and enhanced speed.]
He exhaled sharply.
This skill… he had seen it before. It belonged to one of the greatest assassins of the era, a man who had once eluded an entire kingdom's army. And now, it was his.
He flexed his fingers, feeling the faint pull of magic tingling at his nerves.
He had started weak, but now? Now, he had a dagger capable of slaying foes above his level. He had a skill that allowed him to avoid death. And he had an item whose potential he had yet to uncover.
This was only the first step.
The real battle had yet to begin.