Chapter 6: The God of Time Likes Golf:

“Goren?” I asked, baffled at how he ended up here.

“Oh, good, you made it.” He glanced up briefly to acknowledge me before returning to his task.

“A friend of yours?” Yana whispered.

I shook my head. “Not exactly. He was in my party when we cleared the chambers on the first level.” I then turned back to him. “How did you get here?”

“How did you get here?” he fired back calmly, still focusing on the rhythmic motion of sharpening his blade.

I exchanged a puzzled look with Yana before pointing back to where we had just come from. “Through the Grave Moles’ tunnels.”

“Then that’s how I got here as well.” he replied flatly.

His answer was vague, but since he wasn’t exactly chatty before, when things were going relatively well, I decided to ignore him. Besides, there were a lot of similar tunnels here in this chamber, so his answer was still plausible.

I was about to turn to Yana to discuss our next move when Goren spoke again, gesturing toward a dark corridor behind him. “Down there, deep inside, is where they’ve placed Gaelith’s body - the boss room, if you prefer.” He paused, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. “And most of the treasures. Some of them hadn’t even made it all the way to his chamber.”

A shiver ran down my spine. Had we really made our way to the lowest level of the tomb just by following those tunnels?

“And how would you know something like that?” the burly man asked, clearly skeptical of his knowledge.

Goren just shrugged and flashed a lazy smile. “Call it a hunch.”

“So, are you sharpening your sword to fight him? Gaelith?” Yana asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“Of course. That’s the only way to get out of here.” Goren nodded confidently as he finished honing the blade, eyeing it with satisfaction.

The burly man chuckled nervously at his words, likely unsure whether he was joking – or just insane. Me? I wasn’t sure what to think of him.

Before the conversation could go any further, a low hissing sound reverberated around us, echoing of the chamber walls.

Goren was the first to rise to his feet, holding his sword at the ready. “Need to deal with the snakes first.”

We all exchanged bewildered glances, usure of the meaning of his words, before giant snakes, named Razor Serpents, leveled at 85, slithered out of the tunnels, encircling us. Each was the size of a grown man, their scales, partly decaying, were jagged and visibly sharp, bristling like knives. If they coiled around you, you wouldn’t just be crushed – you’d be shredded.

“This shouldn’t be happening! Why are there so many of them?” Goren shouted, his voice tinged with panic. “I was so close!”

“Will you shut up and focus on the enemies?” The tall mage yelled at him as we all moved instinctively, standing back-to-back, surrounded by the writhing creatures.

Then, they struck.

***

Goren was a mystery.

I don’t know how he made our systems glitch, but he was definitely not a level 57 rogue.

While the rest of us struggled to just dodge the serpent’s attacks, barely inflicting damage to them – except for Yana, who seemed to hurt them the most - Goren moved with a speed and precision I’d never seen in my life. Using skills that I never even heard about, he tore through most of the monsters effortlessly.

But just as we thought that victory was ours, a new Razor Serpent lunged out from a nearby tunnel, coiling around Goren in an instant and yanking him inside before any of us could react. Then all of the tunnels collapsed instantly and there was nothing we could do to save him.

All Goren managed to do was scream two chilling words that made little sense: “Not again!”

Looks like we’ll never find out what it meant, or how he was so powerful despite his relatively low level.

Melissa didn’t make it either - squeezed and shredded to death by one of the serpents. What remained of her body was barely recognizable.

“Poor girl.” The burly man whispered.

But my main concern was Yana. During the fight, she had jumped in to protect my flank, and one of the serpents managed to graze her arm with its fangs. Now she was suffering from a Poisoned status ailment, and none of us had any antidote to give her. She sat with her back against the wall, clearly in pain, her breathing labored, barely able to move as I knelt beside here, whispering empty, comforting words.

Eventually the tall mage suggested a desperate idea, recalling what Goren had said earlier. If some of the treasures hadn’t made it all the way to Gaelith’s chamber, perhaps there was something useful hidden there – a cure, an antidote, anything that might help.

It was a stretch, and I knew it. But it was the only chance I had to save her.

Damn it, why am I so weak and useless?!

Reluctant to leave her behind, but knowing that she couldn’t come with us in her condition, I realized I had no other choice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find something that’ll help you.” I told her, then forced a smile as I tried to lighten the mood with a nervous joke. “Just promise you won’t die before I get back, okay?”

She huffed softly, a tiny smile on her lips as she placed a hand on my cheek and looked into my eyes. “I won’t. Just promise me you’ll come back, okay?”

I held her hand between my cheek and fingers, nodding. “I promise.”

But promises meant little in a place like this.

----------------------------------------

We ventured deeper.

Encountered Gaelith’s Darkness, Level 135.

I ran for my life. I confessed. She felt the same.

But her sacrifice was in vain.

I died.

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***

Then, surprisingly, I woke up.

I was laying on a lawn, the grass underneath me soft, and the sun shining brightly overhead.

My first instinct was to reach for my body, my crushed and stabbed body, but I had no injuries and felt no pain. Baffled, I sat up, expecting to see the wounds the monster left, but there was none.

I died, didn’t I? So how was I alive? Or…maybe I wasn’t alive. Was this the afterlife?

I tried to summon my system, but the interface didn’t appear. No familiar window or messages. I blinked, confused. Had I lost access to my system altogether?

Looking around, I saw a middle-aged man standing a short distance away. He had a neatly trimmed beard and wore the strangest clothing I’d ever seen: a bright red cap, a short-sleeved shirt, and absurdly plain trousers that cut off above the knees. He seemed completely at ease as he swung a slender club-like weapon at a small white ball on the ground.

The moment the club struck, the ball arced gracefully through the air before disappearing.

What kind of strange weapon was that? And why was he aiming it at this ball?

The ball suddenly retraced its arc and returned to the ground next to his foot, and he adjusted his stance before striking it again. The moment the strange club connected with the ball, his expression soured. “No. Not quite right.” He muttered under his breath, loud enough for me to hear.

I stood up and, seeing how he was the only person around, called out. “Hey, excuse me. Is this the afterlife?”

The man turned to face me, a wise and tired smile spreading across his face. “Oh, Aidan, it’s good to see you.”

My eyes widened. “You…you know me?”

“Of course. I know everything and everyone.” He replied as he clapped his hands, and suddenly, a small glass table with two matching white leather chairs appeared beside him. He settled into one of the seats and gestured to the empty one. “Come. Join me. Tea, perhaps?” he added, gesturing toward a teapot that materialized on the table.

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My mind spun with questions, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was indeed dead - this man wasn’t just a man, but likely the Creator himself.

Reluctantly, I took the offered chair, still uncertain.

“Tea?” he repeated.

“No, thank you.” I said, shaking my head. “So, I am dead, then?” I murmured in disbelief, my voice trailing off as I glanced around, still struggling to comprehend why the afterlife looked like this and where was everyone else. Where was Yana?

But his response made my confusion deepen. “Well, it depends on how you look at it. But generally speaking, no. You’re not quite dead yet. That’s why you’re here.”

“Where is here, exactly?” I asked, completely lost.

“Here is…here.” He replied, a mischievous grin on his lips. But as my confused expression remained, he sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. “Ugh, I can’t keep up this ‘wise old man’ act.” Then, he turned to me. “Excuse me for a moment.”

He clapped his hands, and his form instantly shifted before my eyes – he now looked much younger, with dark, messy hair, two piercings above his right eyebrow, and a rebellious gaze in his eyes. His attire remained the same, clashing awkwardly with his new appearance.

“That’s more like it.” He stretched out, putting his feet up on the table and crossing them casually.

“Damn it, Boss.” A feminine, disembodied high-pitched voice echoed around us. “I lost the bet against Balthor.”

“You should’ve known better, Pix.” A deep, disembodied masculine voice replied. “Master doesn’t enjoy acting.”

“Yeah, but Master can succeed at whatever he does, so I always believed in him.” Pix said, clearly frustrated.

The young man before me sighed, looking exasperated. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere, Pix. I’m still mad about your mishap.”

“But it was an honest mistake, Boss!” Pix’s voice pleaded, almost whining.

“It doesn’t matter.” The young man’s eyes flickered over to me. “Aidan here died a useless death because of you.”

Confused and overwhelmed by everything happening around me, I blurted out. “What?”

“I really do apologize, Aidan. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Pix is usually a lot more professional. But give her some tequila and she goes wild.” He said, shaking his head.

“Tequilla?” I repeated, unfamiliar with the word.

“Yeah…it’s a…it’s from a different…” he paused, seeming to think better of it. “On second thought, never mind. I shouldn’t tell you that.” He cleared his throat, then swung his feet off the table and leaned forward. “You see, you were supposed to appear here after your first death in that tomb. That’s the mishap I was referring to.”

“My first death?” I asked, my heart pounding. “What do you mean, my first death?” My voice tightened as I struggled to understand his words. “Who are you, exactly?”

He smiled at the question. “Me? I’m the Lord of Time, the Keeper of Eternities, the Watchful Eye, the Ageless Wisdom, and many more.” He said, each title making his smile widen even more. “But you can call me by my first name - Chronos.”

He snapped his fingers, and the sun above our heads sped through its arc, disappearing below the horizon and giving way to the moon. Then, he snapped again, and time itself seemed to stutter – the sun and moon cycling in opposite directions before everything came to a sudden, abrupt halt.

“Okay.” I replied simply, struggling to process the revelation.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions.” Chronos said with a casual wave of his hand. “But time is of the essence, and unfortunately, we don’t have much of it, so I’ll be brief: The evil force of darkness, Erebus, has returned, blah-blah-blah, wants to devour your world, blah-blah-blah, I need to stop it but can’t intervene directly, blah-blah-blah, and that’s where you come in.”

“What?” I blinked, completely bewildered.

Chronos rolled his eyes. “Where did I lose you?”

“Where?” I repeated, staring at him blankly. “I didn’t understand a word you just said!”

“I swear it never gets easier…” He sighed deeply, then turned his head and called out. “Balthor. Pix.”

The deep, masculine voice from before spoke. “Erebus is the embodiment of darkness itself. Once every millennium, he awakens from his slumber, attempting to consume worlds. Unfortunately for you, Aidan Dar, he chose yours this time - setting his early presence in the Tomb of Gaelith.”

The high-pitched, feminine voice continued immediately. “Master Chronos is charged with the task of stopping Erebus each time, but he cannot interfere directly for reasons your mere mortal mind can never comprehend. That’s why he selects a pawn – “ she stopped herself and quickly corrected. “Champion, I mean Champion - of his own, to act in his stead. Guiding and helping him along the way, of course.”

“Does it make more sense now?” Chronos leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and cradling his head in his hands.

“This…This is a lot to take in at once.” I admitted, feeling utterly overwhelmed. “How can I even do that? I mean, I’m dead. That creature killed me.”

“Except, as I said earlier, you aren’t quite dead yet.” Chronos replied, smiling weakly. “I’ve placed you in a time loop. Each time you’d die in that tomb, you’ll reawaken at the start of that day.”

“A time loop…” I muttered under my breath, struggling to comprehend what he was telling me. “Do I at least get some say in all of this?”

“No.” Balthor and Pix answered in unison.

“Sorry.” Chronos gave a weak smile. “You’re the best and only choice.”

“Me? What?” I asked, confused out of my mind. “I’m so weak. There’s no way I can do it. Why not someone like Lady Mikaela or Stephan Lorren?”

“They’re the obvious choices, aren’t they?” Chronos leaned back in the chair. “And that’s exactly why it can’t be them. I need a silent player to pull this off. In short, I need someone like you.”

“A silent player?” I echoed. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m weak. That monster inside…it was level 135! How can it level up beyond 100?”

“The simple answer to that would be Erebus.” Chronos replied with a shrug. “He enhances the strength of every monster in that tomb.”

I remained silent, images of all that had happened flashing before my eyes. “I barely held my own in there. Scratch that - I didn’t. I was saved all along, and then…then she died…because of me.”

My heart ached, the pain of Yana’s death still fresh. She could’ve survived if she had left with Lady Mikaela, but she stayed…she stayed for me and died because of it.

“Love is a beautiful thing.” Chronos’ voice softened, his smile turning melancholic. “Use it as motivation to succeed. Keep Yana alive.” Then he flicked his fingers, and a small orb of light shot from his hand and connected with my chest. “And of course, I’m not sending you back completely unprepared. Check your system now.”

I opened my system’s interface. Status Menu appeared as usual, listing the same stats I already knew I had. “I don’t see a difference.”

“Look closer.” Chronos prompted with a knowing smile.

Hesitating, I focused on the menu. A subtle arrow glimmered in the corner of the display, directing me to swipe left. I followed the prompt mentally, and a new window expanded before me.

[Déjà vu System: Level 1]

[Loop Count: 2]

[Experience Points (XP): 760 / 1000]

1. Déjà vu – Lvl.1 / 10

Passive skill. Triggers faint recollections of past loops, increasing awareness of events that have happened.

2. Afterimage – Lvl.0 / 10

Creates an afterimage of yourself, retracing your past selves’ movements for a brief duration.

3. Temporal Trace – Lvl.0 / 10

Allows vision of the Time Plane, and the ability to mark a specific location on it visible only to you, remains between loops unless removed.

4. Echo Sense – Lvl.0 / 10

Passive skill. Allows to hear echoes from past loops such as conversations and etcetera.

5. Checkpoint – Lvl.0 / 10

Sets a temporal anchor point, allowing you to revert to this moment upon death with memories of the current loop intact (single use per loop).

The skill list extended further, but every additional ability had its name hidden and locked, marked with a small, silver padlock icon. A notification blinked when I attempted to interact with one of them.

[Level up existing skills to unlock]

“Déjà vu?” I repeated, attempting a pronunciation of the unfamiliar word.

Chronos nodded approvingly. “Your pronunciation is close enough. It’s French for ‘already seen’.”

“French?” I echoed, now confused even more.

Chronos released a short laugh. “Yeah…It’s a language from a different world.” His expression shifted, growing more serious. “Anyway, you asked about your first death earlier, right? Let me explain: So far, you’ve already died twice. You should’ve appeared here after your first death, but because of Pix, you didn’t. So, you’ve repeated the exact same actions in both runs.”

“I already said I was sorry!” Pix echoed, the tone of her voice apologetical.

“The Loop Count!” I suddenly remembered the system’s message when I woke up today.

“Indeed.” Chronos nodded. “It’s just one of the many features in the Déjà vu system. It keeps track of how many times you’ve relived the loop.”

“But…I didn’t remember the first death.” I said, bewildered.

“That’s right. It’s designed that way on purpose.” Chronos replied.

“But if I’m unable to retain the memories of my previous deaths, how can I make any progress?” I asked, still not understanding.

“I can’t let you keep your memories directly without Erebus suspecting something and trying to kill you immediately. He is not entirely affected by the loop. If you progress too quickly, he’ll suspect you’re my champion.” Chronos replied. “We’ll need to do it slowly. You’ve read the descriptions of the skills in the Déjà vu system. They’ll help you retain memory in more subtle, unsuspecting ways. It’ll be tough, of course, but I chose you for a reason - and it wasn’t for your good looks.”

I nodded slowly, unsure of what in the world he meant, and went over the skills descriptions again.

“Granted, you only have one of them leveled up at the moment, and even this one is quite weak and limited for now.” Chronos continued. “But you’ve already felt it, didn’t you? The feeling that something was off?”

Me heart began to race. “So that what it was...Déjà vu.”

Chronos nodded. “As you farm more XP and invest points in the skills, they’ll improve significantly, making your life – and memory retention – much easier, without alerting Erebus to the fact that you’re my champion.”

“How do I level them up?” I asked.

“The same way you always did.” Chronos replied. “Just like you allocated points in your regular system to improve your base skills until you maxed out and stopped gaining XP, now you’ll start earning it again. Allocate it wisely, invest in the skills that’ll help you the most.”

“You also have the second inventory.” Pix chimed in.

“Oh, right! Almost forgot about that.” Chronos said with a hint of nervousness. “Your second inventory, which you already interacted with, is now fully operational. Items you store in Inventory #2 will remain there between loops. Use this concept wisely.”

I nodded again, finally understanding the purpose of the second inventory after it had driven me nuts back in the tomb.

“One last thing,” Chronos suddenly added. “You are to speak about your mission to no one.”

“But I’m sure – “ I tried to say but he interrupted me.

“Yana could help? Yes, she could.” He said, before his tone turned serious. “Erebus is no joke. He has ears in every nook and cranny in that tomb. If you tell anyone about your new powers, he’ll know and leave a mark, making your life a living hell with each loop. You’ll have to do it alone.”

I swallowed hard at his ominous words.

“When you wake up again, you’ll remember most of this conversation.” Chronos pointed out. “But, just like last time, you’ll forget everything that happened to you in the second loop.”

His tone shifted, becoming serious. “Well, are you ready to return?”

I coughed nervously. “Ah…not really?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Too bad.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” I blurted out frantically. “How do I even beat Erebus?”

Chronos sighed. “As you improve your skills and progress through the dungeon, we’ll have more meetings like this. Everything will become clear in due time. For now, focus on getting stronger and learning more about the tomb and Gaelith himself and why Erebus chosen him as his first vessel of destruction.”

Before I could say anything else, he snapped his fingers, and everything went black.