Achylys' eyes slowly opened and he groaned as he became aware of his surroundings. The cool forest floor beneath him was damp and he could feel the cold dew on his skin. The air was scented with the scent of the earth and the rustling of leaves could be heard all around him. He felt disoriented, like he'd been running in circles for hours.
He tried to get up, but his legs felt like jelly and he stumbled before falling to the ground again. He wasn't so lucky this time. His arms took the brunt of the fall, scraping the rough ground, tearing skin and oozing blood. Oddly enough, Achylys felt no pain. Like none at all.
The all-so-familiar translucent screen reappeared before his eyes. But this time it was different. The red text flashing across the screen seemed more alive, more excited, as if it had been waiting for this moment as long as Achylys had.
Congratulations, you just had your first time reversal!
As he processed the news, the screen displayed more information, his tone shifting from excitement to celebration as he revealed the reason for this alleged "reversal."
The forest king was the one who killed you. You tried to escape from his domain.
Achylys' mind raced as he tried to comprehend the information. The domain of the king? So it only extended to the tops of the trees? What was his domain anyway? And wait, time reversal? Had he just regressed before his death...?
Before he could formulate an answer, however, the screen went blank, his red text scrolling across the screen in a flood of words. Minor things aside, he couldn't make out most of it because it flew by so quickly and how much his head hurt, but he could make out one line clearly because it was repeated so many times.
The goddess loves bows! She naturally thinks that her deputy should have the ability to participate in a loop, so she appealed to the god, #####, to grant you that ability!
The system then paused for a second, erased all text, and said in its formal bold:
0.001% <Thunder Resistance> gained.
Acknowledged 1/8,000,000,000 random chance to gain <Thunder Affinity>.
Her luck wasn't enough. Try again next time!
"Wait, wait a moment," Achylys said, raising his hand. "Did I just...did I just die and go back in time?"
And.
"And that... that's a one-time thing, I suppose."
NO.
"You mean... no matter how many times I die, I'm going to go through this 'time reversal'?"
And.
Achylys took a deep breath and swallowed, rather taken aback. Was he only casually granted immortality? Who was this goddess? What was going on here? In the end, however, these were all idle musings. The most important thing at the moment was to complete the goddess' duties and meet Neveah.
He just couldn't fail to complete the tasks, not if there was even a remote possibility of never seeing Neveah again.
"So, can you give me some information on where that is, or should I just... explore?" asked Achylys. Before the time reversal, he had simply assumed he was on his own. But surely a goddess who granted him literal immortality wouldn't be too stingy with some information...
Explore.
Apparently she would.
Anyway, his main task was to kill the forest king. Unlike last time, he could get more information if he didn't leave his domain.
Achylys sighed and stood, ignoring his bleeding arms. The translucent screen turned back into a mini-map and he began trudging through the endless monotony of the forest. His eyes darted around, searching the ground for any sign of deviation or irregularity. He had hoped for a change in the landscape, a touch of something different, but the forest remained as uniform and flat as before.
He wanted to do this on schedule. First he wanted to comb the area and gather as much information as possible, perhaps native animals and plants for food, locations of rivers or streams to get water, and shelter. Then he wanted to start exploring the other possibilities. He could probably break off the branches of the trees, but they were very sturdy - enough that he could stand on them and not shake them at all. It would take a lot of effort for him to do it with nothing but his bare hands.
A rock would probably be quite helpful. At the moment he knew nothing about the world. And he wanted to knoweverything.That was probably the only way to defeat a creature known as the Forest King, especially with her weak body. To even think of winning the task so he could see Maddie again, he'd have to try every single method he could think of.
Achylys trudged through muddy ground, his feet almost sinking. He had been walking for hours, following the path that led him closer and closer to the Forest King. It was still miles away, but progress was progress.
He began to give up hope for any other scenery, attributing it to a gag by the goddess. The thought that she would be too aloof about his fights didn't even cross his mind given how she'd been acting in their few interactions so far.
This was the goddess lazing on a cloud of worlds, able to make him immortal by giving him the power of time reversal, and expecting him to fight - and win - something that had destroyed him from God knows where. Putting him in a forest with nothing to use but his bare hands was not something he would ask the goddess to do. Or was that perhaps a requirement in this little “competition”?
But of course expectations should be defied.
Something caught his eye, a flash of color right in front of him. Achylys's heartbeat quickened in his chest and he picked his way through the trees, leaning on them to keep a predator out of sight while he scouted the creature.
As he got closer, his eyes widened in surprise. There, just a little way in front of him, trembling and swaying in place, was a blue creature. About the size of a small dog, it had a watery, slimy skin that seemed to shimmer and ripple. It looked almost like a raindrop, although there were two large black lines drawn across what he could only assume was his face, and they seemed to glow in the dappled light.
The creature was quite odd, to be honest. Immobile and yet moving, how alive and yet not quite real. It reminded him of a mirage, something he might see out there on the desert sands, shimmering in the heat.
However, the creature leaned towards him ever so slightly. The two black lines on his face, as yet distinct from his trembling body, narrowed into two tiny spheres. And then it disappeared.
Without a moment's hesitation, Achylys jumped onto the trunk of the tree and began to climb it. The bark, despite its smoothness, scraped the skin of his palms from his fast pace, but he ignored the discomfort as he pulled himself higher and higher. His instincts were screaming at him, knowing that this was the only chance he had to escape given the creature's speed.
As he climbed higher, swinging from side to side to avoid the creature's attacks, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His breaths came in short, sharp gasps, and his muscles burned with the exertion. But he continued anyway.
However, his efforts were in vain. He felt something sticky on the back of his head. And before he knew it, he was dead... again.
*
Achylys swore a storm as he opened his eyes again. The world he was becoming familiar with came into focus as he took in his surroundings. Even. All trees the same. The grass and the ground, same. Everything. If he didn't know better, he'd been sent back to the exact same place he'd woken up last time.
"Damn it, what the hell was that?" He groaned and tried to sit up, but his head felt like it was filled with lead, just like it always did. He couldn't get used to the feeling.
He sighed as he lay on the damp forest floor, surrounded by towering trees that loomed over him like silent sentinels. It took me a few moments to remember how he died. This forest was completely and utterly insane.
And then he saw it: the familiar blue screen that seemed to float before his eyes, its crimson letters spelling out the words he was beginning to get used to.
Welcome back. This is your second time reversal.
As he lay there staring up at the massive tree in front of him, he couldn't help but sigh to himself. The slime had been too fast for his current body and had easily killed him. The creature also seemed so harmless.
As he considered his options, his mind began to wander, contemplating methods he could use against the slime. He imagined digging an underground tunnel, carefully placing tree branches as a trap to kill the slime once he opened the dirt above.
Or maybe he could climb to the top of the tree and jump down with a branch to impale the creature. But the thought of the impact made him wince in pain. It was a suicidal option, and one he wasn't willing to take unless he was really desperate.
Then he remembered the flash as he stared up at the trees. A plan began to form in his head. He could probably get the slime to flash, but that was assuming he somehow didn't see it.
The sudden disruption of the system brought him back to reality. He blinked twice as he read the bold letters.
Gained 0.001% mucous acid resistance.
1/1,000,000,000 random chance of obtaining <Mucic Acid> acknowledged.
Her luck wasn't enough. Try again next time!
"A billion this time? Better odds, I suppose.” Just as Achylys was about to sigh at his bad luck, the system changed tone. His odd sound became much more relaxed and personable.
You should try all your strategies on the slime.
If you manage to kill it, you will get +1 experience.
Achylys was surprised at the sudden change. "And what do I do with this experience?"
Once you gain five experience, you'll level up and some of your previous strength will be restored.
And you would also get a chance to roll a gacha to get a random ability.