Lee Taeseong asked in a flustered voice.
“The world ends? What do you mean by that?”
“It’s exactly what it sounds like. December 25, 2035. This world will end.”
…The end? As in, everything will be over?
If someone else had said this, he would’ve brushed it off as the rambling of a doomsday cultist. But because it was Lee Han, he couldn’t dismiss it so easily.
What kind of insane nonsense was this? He’d heard many things since arriving here, but this was by far the hardest to believe.
And yet, Lee Han’s face remained completely calm, even while talking about something that should be shaking the entire world to its core.
To him, it was no different than casually mentioning what he had for lunch yesterday.
After all, he had experienced the end of the world more than 900 times.
That’s why he believed without a shadow of a doubt that the world would end again this time. It wasn’t speculation—it was based on experience.
“I can’t believe this. You’re telling me the world ends, just like that?”
“Believe it or don’t—it’s up to you. But I’ve lived through 999 lives, and I’ve witnessed the end every single time. Of course, not in every cycle. There were rare times I died before the end came and moved on to the next cycle. But those were early missteps, nothing more.”
“…….”
“In every other cycle, without a single exception, the world ended on December 25, 2035. Then the loop began again.”
These were the words of a regressor who had relived his life 998 times. There was no reason for him to lie under these circumstances.
“That’s why I concluded that this curse of mine is tied to a fixed doomsday. If I want to escape this damned loop, I have to stop the destined end. But no matter what I tried, I’ve never been able to prevent it.”
In other words, even after repeating his life 999 times, Lee Han had never lived past December 25, 2035.
That day.
What in the world could possibly happen—so catastrophic that even someone as powerful as Lee Han couldn’t stop it?
He possessed an ability beyond the norm: regression.
With his knowledge of the future, he could snatch up countless fateful encounters and grow at a transcendent pace. And yet even he couldn’t prevent the end?
‘If what he’s saying is true… then what the hell was the Tree doing?’
His head swirled with questions. Rather than agonizing on his own, Taeseong chose to just ask.
“Even you, an Apostle, couldn’t stop it? I mean, wouldn’t the you from ten years in the future be unimaginably stronger than you are now?”
Lee Han nodded.
“The me in the 998th cycle was the strongest I’ve ever been. I stepped into a realm I’d never even heard of across hundreds of regressions. Even I was impressed with myself. I was sure—this time, I could stop the end.”
“And then?”
Of course, he already knew the answer.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“…….”
“It wasn’t enough. I used every scrap of information I had to grow stronger in record time, gathered forces, and raised countless talents. I prepared in every way I could to face the end. As ridiculous as it sounds, I truly believed I was perfect back then. It was a plan forged from 998 lifetimes of effort.”
“Then why did it fail?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“Yeah. I was already dead before I could do anything. The moment I saw it, the world ended. That’s all.”
Unbelievable. Was such a thing even possible?
“The Tree. What about the Tree? Don’t they have other Apostles? And I’ve heard of ‘Root,’ the top decision-making body. Were even they unable to stop the end?”
Lee Han nodded.
“In all the cycles I lived, I was never able to reach the lowest depths of the Tree. The best I could become was an Apostle. Not because of any physical limitation, but because there just wasn’t enough time. The span between the start of the regression and 2035 is too short. That’s why the Tree prepared in its own way, and I in mine. I’ve spent most of my lives as a member of the Tree’s management, and even now, I still don’t fully grasp its true power.”
He continued.
It had been a long time since he’d opened up about his regression to anyone.
He remembered mentioning it a few times in his early cycles, but eventually, he stopped. After all, those memories would vanish the moment the next cycle began.
“A traveler from a parallel universe once said to me, ‘Ah, so here you call it the “Tree”…’
In his world, the Tree was known as the SCP Foundation. Other names included Masonfree, Mitinaillu, Moon Corporation, Reverse Company… The names were different, but they were all the same entity.”
The name changed, but the organization remained. Even in parallel universes and other worlds, the Tree still existed.
“…….”
“Who knows. Maybe after my death, they survived and rebuilt the world. Or maybe thinking the world ended at all was just my mistake.
Since I died and couldn’t witness what happened afterward, I might’ve just assumed it was the end. But… even so, I’m convinced the world did end.”
“Why?”
“Even if the Tree has incredible power…I don’t think even they could deal with something that devoured an entire planet.”
Lee Taeseong asked, unable to hide his disbelief.
“Devoured the planet?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was just the planet. Maybe it was the whole planetary system. Maybe the galaxy itself. I can’t say for sure—only that it was beyond description in scale.”
“That’s insane. That’s not even close to reasonable.”
Not just a city, not a country—but a planet? And now he was bringing up entire star systems and galaxies? It sounded absurd beyond belief.
Upon hearing that, Lee Han curled his lips for the first time. No change in expression—just the corners of his mouth lifting, which only made it feel eerily unnatural.
“And you’re the one talking about what’s reasonable?”
Lee Taeseong admitted it without argument.
“……You’re right.”
At this point, what meaning did words like “common sense” even have? From the moment he set foot in this world, bringing up common sense had become the most meaningless thing one could do.
“What did it look like?”
Lee Han summoned its image in his mind.
“Its appearance… I’m not even sure it can be described as having one… but when I saw it, I thought of a wolf.”
“A wolf?”
“Yeah. A wolf of incomprehensible size, far beyond human perception. I can’t say for certain. I’m only describing what I felt.”
“During all your regressions, was it always that thing that brought the end?”
Lee Han shook his head.
“Most of the time, yes, it was that thing. But in a few cycles, it was other entities that brought about destruction. Still, the date of the world’s end never changed. And even those exceptions were rare.”
“So no matter what form it takes, December 25th, 2035—doomsday always comes.”
“That’s right.”
Could there be a more despairing truth?
He had only just returned and reunited with his only family, yet he was being told the world would end in ten years. To write it off as a mere twist of fate would be to severely understate how fucked up it all was.
It was starting to feel like some unknown entity had trapped him inside a tiny box just to watch him suffer.
“Now I understand… what you meant by ‘ten years.’”
“Get stronger. Strong enough to face the end. For me, this is just one cycle among many, but for you, it’s not.”
Taeseong could feel the weight of countless lifetimes packed into that single line.
“Yeah. I will. After everything, I’m not just gonna sit back and watch the world fall apart.”
He made a vow.
If a predetermined apocalypse was waiting, then he would be the one to consume it. Even if that meant going up against a being that could swallow entire planets.
Then, out of nowhere, Lee Han asked a question.
“Do you know the entity named ‘One Touched by the Abyss’?”
“‘One Tainted by the Abyss’… you mean Choi Woosik, the former manager?”
Lee Han nodded.
“Yes. Father of Choi Harin, and former administrator.”
“I know of him.”
“You’d do well to eliminate him as soon as possible.”
“Why?”
“Because soon, the ‘Dweller of the Abyss’ will begin to act in earnest. Once that happens, there’s no turning back. Choi Woosik will go berserk as an Alpha-ranked entity, and the Korea branch will suffer massive casualties.”
“Isn’t there any other way?”
“There is. You could enter the ‘Well of the Abyss’ and try to save him. It’ll take considerable effort, but if you succeed, he could become an Alpha-grade administrator in the future. Still, with your current abilities, it won’t be easy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
After those words, Taeseong stood up from his seat. Lee Han then removed a ring from his finger.
“……!”
A moment later, an overwhelming aura burst forth from Lee Han’s body—something Taeseong had never felt before. It was so intense, he nearly lost consciousness.
Lee Han tossed the ring toward him.
“Take it.”
Taeseong caught the ring and asked with difficulty.
“What is this…?”
“It will help you.”
“I’ll put it to good use.”
Lee Han nodded silently.
Moments later, a flood of information poured into Taeseong’s mind—a control report on the entity. Lee Han had directly implanted the data into him.
“The next time we meet, you’d better be stronger than you are now.”
The unspoken words that followed were clear: If you don’t want to die.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“……”
Snap!
With a flick of Lee Han’s finger, Taeseong’s form vanished.
Even after Taeseong disappeared, Lee Han continued to stare at the spot where he’d stood. Lost in thought.
How long passed?
Eventually, Lee Han slowly lifted his head and muttered under his breath.
“……Now I understand. Why things turned out that way.”
Entity Name: Apocalypse Simulation
Grade: Alpha
It was an entity Lee Han had used not long ago.
He had entered the name “Lee Taeseong” into the simulation, and it returned one possible outcome:
- If Administrator “Lee Sooah” or the entity known as “Pure Flame” dies for any reason,
- Then Administrator “Lee Taeseong” or entity ‘■■■ ■■’ has a 99.999999% chance of destroying the world.
So he managed to return 10 years earlier this one time somehow so the earth avoids eradication for now.