Whooops!
I woke up on the bed, only to find my body had become younger again.
I lifted my arm and wiped the cold sweat beading on my forehead with my sleeve. Phew, what a terrible nightmare.
…Was it really just a nightmare?
As this doubt surfaced in my mind, an unfamiliar mechanical voice echoed in my ears.
– Regression count consumed. Remaining regressions: 5.
– This situation is not fiction but non-fiction. Best of luck to you.
What?
Regression?
Ah, no wonder the experience felt too vivid to be just a dream.
Throwing myself into boiling water—even thinking about it now makes my whole body tremble.
It couldn’t have been just a dream, hahaha… haha.
“Damn it, let me out of here! What did I do wrong?”
I shouted in frustration, but the mechanical voice gave no response.
Regression counts?
Non-fiction?
What the hell are you talking about?
If I use up all the regressions, do I die or something?
There’s too little information.
My head is a mess.
I sighed deeply as I looked out the window.
Oblivious to my turmoil, time continued to flow mercilessly, and by the time I regained my composure, it was already late at night.
Well, what’s the point of agonizing over this all day?
I absolutely refuse to face such a horrific death again.
I got up from the bed and began to struggle once more to avoid death.
*
Regression, 2nd attempt:
Under the approval of the 1st Princess, I slightly reduced the length of the northern wall and funneled the saved resources into transforming the capital into a self-sufficient fortress.
The double defense strategy worked.
The barbarian tribes, having broken through the wall at great cost, were taken aback when they faced the towering, multi-layered walls of the capital.
‘You monsters in human skin, surrender now. If you don’t, we’ll make you suffer the same pain we endured.’
‘Would you open the gates if you were in our place? Did the cold of the north freeze your brains? Hehe.’
Even the imperial soldiers, emboldened by the fortress, mocked the barbarian girl who threatened them from the front lines.
The girl gnashed her teeth and stumbled back to her camp, while the soldiers laughed and jeered.
But their confidence was short-lived.
Catapults appeared on the battlefield, seemingly transported from somewhere.
At first, I was terrified, but upon closer inspection, the size and number of the catapults couldn’t possibly destroy the sturdy stone walls of the capital, so I felt relieved.
However, contrary to expectations, what they launched wasn’t stones but rotting, unidentified corpses.
Only then did I remember something.
Why did it take me so long to recall?
But it was already too late.
I couldn’t open the gates with them right outside.
The mysterious plague that spread rapidly from the corpses thrown into the city caused hallucinations that drove everyone inside the fortress, including me, into a violent frenzy.
One by one, people lost their minds and began attacking each other, and casualties mounted.
Even those who struggled to maintain their sanity eventually coughed up blood and collapsed.
The gates opened.
The imperial flag fell.
The sound of hooves from the barbarian cavalry echoed through the central square of the capital, accompanied by the familiar scent of jasmine flowers.
As I watched, bleeding out, I thought: Looking at this tragedy, I can’t tell who the real monsters in human skin are.
I wanted to throw those words back at that girl, but it was impossible.
I had already died and regressed.
Regression, 3rd attempt:
I tried to broker peace by sending diplomats.
But the diplomats returned with only their heads, for no apparent reason.
Enraged, the nobles mobilized the army to subjugate the north by force.
…As if that would work.
If it were possible, I wouldn’t be in this mess.
I tried to stop the deployment, but it was futile.
I ran without looking back.
I’m sorry, Princess.
I don’t know, this has nothing to do with me.
The outcome was predictable.
The northern expedition was annihilated, and soon after, news of the capital’s fall reached me.
I fled and hid in a remote fishing village in the southern part of the empire.
One day, I noticed a hawk soaring fiercely in the sky.
Sensing something was wrong, I tried to run, but somehow, the barbarian soldiers had already surrounded me.
‘The runaway royal, it’s definitely Kenneth.’
‘…Bury him.’
Bury?
What?
My head understood, but I refused to accept it.
What creative way would they kill me this time?
The soldiers began leveling the ground with shovels, and soon the pit they dug was deep enough.
‘You brought this upon yourselves. Don’t blame us. Now, we just need to find the 2nd Prince. Let’s go.’
Once again, with a cryptic remark from a young girl, I was thrown into the pit and buried alive.
“Ugh! Ptooey, ptooey!”
Ah, this is the kind of situation you only see in YouTube shorts.
Experiencing it firsthand is even more terrifying.
Buried alive.
A method of execution that slowly kills you through darkness, isolation, and suffocation.
The dirt piled up on my body, blocking my vision and clogging my nose.
I’d rather be thrown into boiling water.
At least that was quick.
I endured the pain and suffocation until I finally died.
Regression, 4th attempt:
According to the information, the northern barbarians also had factions.
The Shield Tribe was particularly known for their poor relationship with the Bow Tribe.
I thought of befriending them.
My goal was to sow discord, but the result was a betrayal ending.
The Shield Tribe swallowed the bribes I offered and then clammed up.
At least they had some conscience—this time, the Shield Tribe didn’t join the war against the empire.
But the problem was still the Bow Tribe.
Soon, the empire faced the Bow Tribe’s army, which invaded under the pretext of the empire’s attempt to sow discord among the tribes.
As the one who pushed for this plan, I was held responsible for giving the enemy a reason to invade.
Even the Princess couldn’t cover for me.
And so, before the barbarian army could breach the capital, I was beaten to death by the enraged nobles.
It was unfair, but what could I do?
I had to accept it.
Regression, 5th attempt:
I used all the information, experience, and connections I had accumulated through the regressions.
I surprised even myself with what I achieved: the creation of an international alliance.
Through a strategy of befriending the Saintess, I brought the Holy Kingdom into the fold.
I met with the Mage Tower Lord of the Magic Kingdom and loosened the empire’s restrictions to foster goodwill.
There were historical issues with the Kingdom, but through the mediation of a merchant, I returned some of the territories the empire had taken from them, paving the way for peace.
The Istian Republic was a bit shady due to their origins, but since they reached out first, I couldn’t refuse.
I was the one in a hurry, after all.
The alliance was established based on these improved relations.
Of course, internally, they were eyeing each other, looking for any weakness to exploit, but at least outwardly, they would stand together against the barbarian threat.
And the result?
It was better than before, but still insufficient.
While the allied nations sent support in response to the barbarian invasion, they dragged their feet, sending troops late or only a fraction of what was promised.
Especially the Istians—they didn’t send a single soldier.
Not that I expected much from them, so I wasn’t betrayed, but still.
The outcome was predictable.
The allied nations were trampled under the barbarians’ hooves, accused of being complicit in the empire’s schemes.
‘An alliance, huh? How laughable. You people continue to sin against us. Now, you’ll pay for those sins.’
Is there a pattern to death?
Once again, that blue-haired girl appeared only at the very end.
‘Pull. The entire army heads for Istian. …That thing is there.’
At her command, my limbs were tied with ropes, and I felt my joints tighten.
So this is dismemberment.
As the instigator of the alliance to oppose the barbarians, I was executed as a dissident.
Splat!
My body burst in all directions, spraying blood.
And so, I died once more.
“I’m not even angry anymore, heh.”
At some point, even the horrific deaths became numb, and my emotions dulled.
“Damn it! How am I supposed to clear this? God or whoever made this, you bastard! The balance is so broken, what do you expect me to do?”
As I shouted into the air, the maids hurriedly left the room.
I knew it would affect my reputation later, but I couldn’t control my anger.
Well, who cares about reputation?
I’m going to die anyway.
Honestly, it’s impossible.
The difference in strength is too great.
But even if I don’t want to fight, they’ll still come for me.
A sense of resignation began to take over my body.
And the final nail in the coffin was:
– All regression counts have been exhausted.
– This situation is not fiction but non-fiction. Death in the final regression means death in reality. Best of luck to you.
The mechanical voice that had haunted me every time I regressed.
Right, setting aside the possession, I never understood why I was given the ability to regress in the first place.
I unconsciously accepted it because the original game was ridiculously hard, but now I think I understand.
It wasn’t to give me time to oppose them, but to make me feel utterly, bone-deep helplessness.
The unknown terror of the final regression began to dominate my mind.
Knock knock.
“Sir Kenneth. It’s Yuria, the head maid. May I come in?”
A woman with neatly tied blue hair and glasses, exuding an intellectual aura, opened the door and entered.
“Oh my, Sir Kenneth. If you’re coughing, at least open the window! If you stand there with that rotten smile, even I’ll get scared.”
She opened the window and dusted off the surroundings, then stood in front of me, forcing a smile with her fingers.
Yuria.
The head maid of the 3rd Prince’s palace.
Unlike the other maids planted by the 1st Prince to spy on me, she was the only independent presence in this palace.
Unlike the maids who tried to betray me every quarter, she remained loyal to me.
She was one of the few people in this world I could relax around as a fellow human.
Only then did I realize I hadn’t been managing my expression.
I need to pull myself together.
I lightly slapped my cheeks and put on a lighter expression to tease her.
“Yuria, even if it’s you, calling a prince’s smile rotten? You might get arrested for disrespect.”
“Oh, come on, don’t be so formal with me.”
Her cheerful laugh helped ease some of my negative emotions.
Right, I can’t give up until the end.
“By the way, Yuria, were you always this tall?”
“Huh? What are you talking about? My growth spurt ended ages ago.”
Something feels different today.
Must be my imagination.
You’re acting stranger than usual today~
She hummed a tune as she began cleaning the room.
After our conversation, the distracting thoughts in my head became unavoidable.
Honestly, I just want to give up.
I stood by the window to get some fresh air.
But then,
‘Why is the perspective so low?’
Was the windowsill always this high?
The strange sensation in my body—
I hurried to the mirror.
The reflection showed that I had become noticeably younger.
– A special reward for the final regression has been granted. The regression point has been moved back by 2 years.
The mechanical voice, speaking words I hadn’t heard before, made me understand the entire situation.