Achylys's eyes slowly opened, and he groaned as he became aware of his surroundings. The cool forest floor was damp beneath him, and he could feel the cold dew on his skin. The air was thick with the scent of earth, and the rustling of leaves could be heard all around him. He felt disoriented, like he had been running in circles for hours.

He tried to stand, but his legs felt like jelly, and he stumbled before falling to the ground once again. This time, he wasn't so lucky. His arms took the brunt of the fall, scraping against the rough ground, tearing open the skin and causing it to ooze blood. Achylys, strangely, did not feel pain. Like, none at all.

The all so familiar translucent screen popped up in front of his eyes again. But this time, it was different. The red text that flashed across the screen seemed more alive, more excited, as if it had been waiting for this moment just as eagerly as Achylys had.

Congratulations, you've just had your first time reversal!

As he processed the message, the screen continued to display more information, its tone shifting from excitement to solemnity as it revealed the reason behind this supposed ‘reversal’.

The Forest King was the one who killed you. You tried to escape its domain.

Achylys's mind raced as he tried to make sense of the information. The king’s domain? So it only extended till the top of the trees? What was its domain, even? And wait, time reversal? Had he just regressed before his death…?

Before he could formulate a response, though, the screen went off on a tangent, its red text scrolling across the screen in a flurry of words. He couldn’t make out the majority of it besides bits and bobs because of how fast it was passing by and how much his head ached, but he could make out one line vividly because of how often it was being repeated.

The goddess truly loves loops! She naturally thinks her representative should have the ability to participate in a loop, so she appealed to the god, #####, to grant you this ability!

The system then paused for a second, cleared all the text, and stated in its formal bold format:

0.001% gained.

Random 1/8,000,000,000 chance of gaining has been acknowledged.

Your luck was not sufficient. Try again next time!

"Wait, hold on a second," Achylys said, raising his hand. "Did I just... did I just die and travel back in time?"

Yes.

“And this… this is a one off thing, I assume.”

No.

“You mean… no matter how many times I die, I’ll go through this ‘time reversal’?”

Yes.

Achylys took a deep breath and gulped, quite stunned by this. Was he just casually granted immortality? Just who was this goddess? What was happening here? However, in the end, those were all idle musings. The most important thing right now was to complete the tasks the goddess had set forward and meet Neveah.

He couldn’t just not do the tasks, not if it meant there was even a single shred of possibility of never meeting Neveah again.

“So, can you tell me some information about where this is, or am I just supposed to… explore?” Achylys asked. Before the time reversal, he’d just assumed he was on his own. But surely a goddess who granted him literal immortality wouldn’t be too stingy over some information—

Explore.

Apparently she would.

Either way, the main task he had was to kill the Forest King. Unlike last time, if he didn’t leave its domain, he could gain more information.

Achylys sighed and got up, ignoring his bleeding arms. The translucent screen changed into a minimap once more, and he began trudging through the never-ending monotony of the forest. His eyes roamed around, scanning the ground for any sign of variation or irregularity. He had hoped for a change in scenery, a hint of something different, but the forest remained as uniform and plain as before.

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He wanted to do this in a planned manner. First, he wanted to scour the area and gain as much information as possible, maybe native animals and plants for food, locations of rivers or streams to get water, and shelter. Then he wanted to begin exploring the other possibilities. He could probably break off the branches of the trees, but they were very sturdy—enough so that he could stand on them and not shake them in the slightest. It would take quite the effort on his part to do it with nothing but his bare hands.

A rock would probably be quite helpful. Right now, he knew nothing about the world. And he wanted to know everything. That was probably the only way to beat a creature known as the Forest King, especially with his weak body. To even consider victory in the task so he could see Maddie again, he’d need to try every single method he could think of.

Achylys trudged through muddy soil, his feet almost sinking in. 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 was beginning to give up on hoping for some different scenery and attributed it to a gag set up by the goddess. The thought that she’d be too aloof to his struggles didn’t even cross his mind, considering how she’d been in their few interactions so far.

This was the goddess who lazed on a cloud of worlds, could make him immortal by giving him the power of time reversal, and expected him to fight against something—and win—that had nuked him from gods knows where. Placing him in a forest where he had nothing to use except his bare hands was not something he’d put beyond the goddess. Or perhaps that was a requirement in this little ‘competition’?

But of course, expectations are meant to be defied.

Something caught his eye, a flash of color just ahead. Achylys' heart quickened in his chest, and he pushed his way through the trees, leaning on them so he would not be visible to a predator while scouting the entity out.

As he approached closer, his eyes widened in surprise. There, just a bit in front of him, shivering and wavering in place, was a blue creature. It was about the size of a small dog and had watery, slime-like skin that seemed to shimmer and ripple. It almost looked like a raindrop, though it had two large black lines drawn across what he could only assume to be its face, and they seemed to glow in the dappled light.

The creature was honestly quite odd. Unmoving yet moving, as if alive yet not quite real. It reminded him of a mirage, something that he might see out on the desert sands, shimmering in the heat.

However, the creature tilted ever so slightly towards him. The two black lines on its face, still unlike its quivering body till now, narrowed into two tiny spheres. And then it disappeared.

Without a moment's hesitation, Achylys leapt onto the trunk of the tree and began to climb it. The bark, despite its smoothness, scraped the skin of his palms due to his rapid pace, but he ignored the discomfort as he pulled himself up higher and higher. His instincts screamed at him and knew this was the only chance he had of escaping based on the creature’s speed.

As he climbed higher, swinging himself from side to side in an attempt to avoid any attacks the creature threw, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His breaths came in short, sharp gasps, and his muscles burned with exertion. But still, he kept going.

However, his efforts were futile. He felt something sticky on the back of his head. And before he knew it, he was dead… again.

*

Achylys swore up a storm as he blinked his eyes open again. The world he was growing familiar with came into focus as he took in his surroundings. Same, same. All the trees, the same. The grass and ground, same. Everything. If he didn’t know any better, he’d been sent back to the exact same location he’d woke up last time.

“Damn, what the hell was that?” he groaned and tried to sit up, but his head felt like it was filled with lead, just like always. He couldn’t get used to the sensation.

He sighed as he lay on the damp forest floor surrounded by towering trees that loomed overhead like silent sentinels. It took a few moments to remember how he’d died.This forest was complete and utter bonkers.

And then he saw it: the familiar blue screen that seemed to float in front of his eyes, its blood red 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 it had killed him with ease. The creature seemed so harmless, too.

As he pondered his options, his mind began to wander, thinking of methods he could use against the slime. He imagined himself digging a tunnel underground, carefully placing branches as a trap to kill the slime as soon as he opened the dirt above.

Or perhaps 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 was not willing to take unless he was truly desperate.

Then, he remembered the lightning as he stared up at the trees. A plan began to form in his mind. He could probably take the slime up to the lightning, but that was on the prerequisite it somehow didn’t see him.

The system’s sudden interruption brought him back to reality. He blinked twice as he read through the bold letters.

0.001% Slime Acid Resistance gained.

Random 1/1,000,000,000 chance of gaining acknowledged.

Your luck was not sufficient. Try again next time!

“One billion this time? That’s better odds, I suppose.” Just as Achylys was about to sigh at his bad luck, then the system changed its tone. Its odd sound became much more relaxed and congenial.

You should try all your strategies on the slime.

If you manage to kill it, you will gain +1 Experience.

Achylys was surprised at the sudden change. “And what will I do with this experience?”

Once you gain five Experience, you will level up, and some of your previous strength would be restored.

And you would also get the chance to roll a gacha to get a random skill.