The Fool spoke patiently into his mind.

“Your friend did not vanish. The entrance that you prepared for yourself is a special one. No one else can go through it, so naturally your friend could not either.“

“The entrance I prepared for myself?” Zack asked, bewildered. “What does that mean?”

“You may have realized by now that this is not your first time undergoing the dungeon. This world has undergone an assimilation once before, and it did not end well. However, all was not lost. A single human came across a primogenitor artefact in the deepest layer of the dungeon, the Obelisk of Renewal. That human was you. Activated with your sacrifice, the Obelisk allowed the world to regress to its current state, at a price.”

“I turned the world back?”

Yes, you did.

“Then how did I manage to live and die in so many lifetimes if the world was only turned back once?”

“That is related to the nature of the sacrifice you had to make, Zack Baker. You offered your body and soul to Tartarus, cursed to relive lifetime after lifetime of failure in purgatory under the watchful domain of myself, the Keeper of Time and the Eternal Fool. It is a curse that not even the strongest minded man can endure, and it is why there has never been a successful regression. That is, until you.”

“I put you through torment that no man is ever meant to experience. I broke you down and crushed your spirit. I turned your hopes into fears, and your fears into nightmares. And yet you kept getting back up, you kept persevering. You did what no one else ever could. That is the only reason why you are here today.”

“After several million lifetimes of failure, I finally decided to descend into Tartarus and meet you. Not as the administrator of your punishment, nor even as a god, but as an old friend. You may think of your current lifespan in decades, but you have lived hundreds of millions of years in Tartarus, each life haunted by the ghosts of the previous lives.”

“And on that fateful meeting, we struck a deal.”

“Now close your eyes, little one, as I will show you what transpired on that day.”

…

A powerful surge of images and visions washed over Zack. Flashes of swords and the jaws of demonic beasts. He caught glimpses and pieces, but they faded just as quickly as they emerged. Somehow, he knew that these visions were real, and yet they were not supposed to be given to him. The Fool could only show him these temporarily.

The visions retracted, leaving him only with feelings. He could not remember what the visions showed, but now he understood.

“I see.”

“You and I have made some very powerful enemies for this regression to transpire. The road ahead will not be easy. We must proceed with stealth and finesse, lest we alert our enemies.”

“The train approaches. Our time together is coming to an end. Good luck, and may fortune be on your side.”

Zack felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards the Fool, and now he knew that the stakes were unimaginably high for both of them.

Your [??] ability has evolved. [Stellar Memory Fragments] are revealed to be [Memories of Tartarus]. Uncover the truth to unlock more of this ability.

Ah. Things were beginning to make more sense now. That scarred version of himself that he saw before must have been one of his lifetimes spent in Tartarus.

Powerful enemies… he needed to get stronger, and fast. The train arrived right on time like usual, and Zack quickly boarded.

A passenger has boarded.

Welcome, passenger Zack Baker.

It looked clean and modern just like before, except it felt a bit more… spacious. Maybe he was just imagining things.

The train is now departing for Scenario Mission 1.

The train doors abruptly closed just as he realized that he was not heading back to Delver’s Alcove again. What was this about a scenario mission?

The black holographic television screen on the side of the subway car blinked to life. A block of scenario detail text appeared on the screen, and the information simultaneously popped up as a status screen in front of Zack.

Scenario Mission 1, [The Darkest Night].

Description: Survive the mysterious menace.

Type: Survival

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Time Limit: 2 days.

The two day limit surprised him. So if he stayed until the end of the time limit, he would get out on Sunday night. Zack resisted the urge to facepalm, realizing that he might not be able to make his very first class as a yoga instructor. Grace was definitely going to yell at him, and he just got on her good side as well…

That aside, the information granted for this scenario mission seemed to be a lot sparser than he was used to.

As if to answer his question, the robotic female voice overhead began to speak once more.

Please do not be alarmed, humans of the 174th universe. You have been chosen to participate in the marvelous grand opening stage of the assimilation of the 174th cycle! Additional details will be disseminated upon arrival at the scenario mission zone.

Until then, please enjoy your complimentary grand opening starter item boxes. To unlock your menu and access your loot boxes, say or think the word inventory in your head. Good luck, travelers!

Yep, that definitely answered his question. Unlike last time, where he got thrown into the heat of everything with barely any introduction and a lot of questionable dialogue about some kind of ongoing investigation, this time the process was a hell of a lot more streamlined and official.

This is probably what Oni meant when he said that the dungeon had opened earlier than normal last time, and this would be the actual official opening. Now, he’d get to meet other initiates and even get spoon fed with free item boxes rather than just get thrown straight in with the wolves…

If only he got babied this much last time, he thought slightly bitterly.

The robotic female announcer did not have anything else to say, so Zack decided to take a look at the new boxes that had just appeared in the newest section of his inventory.

Item obtained! Starter Item Box I.

Item obtained! Starter Item Box II.

Item obtained! Starter Item Box III.

Well, he wasn’t just going to let free loot sit in his inventory without opening it. He quickly popped out the first box from his inventory, the box appearing in his hand with a golden gleam. It was in the shape of a hexagonal cube, a slight glow coming from within.

Now this is fancy. Wonder if these spoiled brats got anything good.

By spoiled brats, he obviously meant the initiates in this current stage that actually got to start out with stuff to their name.

He tapped the hexagonal cube, which began to unfurl before his eyes while floating in front of him.

Starter Item Box I will grant you a starter weapon of your choice from a limited selection. This selection is influenced by your inherent preferred fighting style and disposition.

Can be activated after the welcoming ceremony.

Oh?

The cube suddenly stopped unfurling, coiling back up.

“Hm…”

He wondered what the other two contained. With practiced adeptness, he flicked open his inventory and took out the next box.

Starter Item Box II will grant you healing salves and ointments to keep you patched up during your first delve into the dungeon.

Hm. That was pretty much the same thing that he got the first time around, except it was healing salves instead of potions now. He wondered what the difference was.

Time to check the last box. Taking it out, he noticed that the color of the box’s glow seemed different. It emanated with a deep, vibrant magenta.

Starter Item Box III has been granted to Zack Baker. The third box in every starter pack is unique to each initiate. This box can contain anything, so beware the contents. Normally contains a small trinket or bauble.

Now that was interesting. Unlike the other two item boxes, this magenta colored box did not have a restriction on opening it.

Whatever was in this box, even if it was something dangerous like a bomb, he could deal with it now on the train. He still had a while before reaching the destination, since this trip was a lot longer than last time. He tapped the box, then selected open.

He jumped back in case it was dangerous, only to see a simple card lying within the hexagonal box. It was shaped kind of like a credit card, yet it was sleek and ivory colored, and made of a hard material that he’d never encountered before. Zack examined it, intrigued yet confused. There wasn’t a single mark on the card that could help him determine its use.

He decided to examine it using his inventory system’s identification feature.

[Anti-Law Card]

No further description was given. Anti-Law? He wondered what that meant.

He suddenly noticed that there was something tucked within the hexagonal box underneath the Anti-Law Card’s slot. It was a handwritten letter, and upon inspecting the handwriting, he realized that it was his own.

Dear my past self,

There is so much I want to tell you, but the laws of the universe forbid me from sharing anything that may alter your stellar destiny.

However, I paid a heavy price so that they could make an exception this one time, so listen carefully. On the fourth scenario mission, there is a room underneath the boss’s lair that contains a precious item.

The only way to obtain this item is through an Anti-Law card. These cards will become more accessible after the -redacted-, but before then, it is impossible to obtain one.

There is only one way to receive an Anti-Law card before that, but that method is strictly for apostles, which neither I nor you will ever be. Therefore, I’ve granted you the Anti-Law card through a magenta box.

You must not let the item contained within that room to fall into an Apostle’s hands. Destroy it if you must. However, if you do manage to recover it, the item will serve you well.

[??] demands an offering: Unknown

Reward: Memory fragment of Tartarus.

The train has arrived at Scenario Mission 1, [The Darkest Night].

Please watch your step as you exit onto the platform.

The doors to the subway car opened, and Zack peered out into blue skies and a grassy field. Are we outside? he wondered. No, this feels like a floor or level if anything.

Across the field, scattered among multiple rail tracks were other subway cars. Around those cars were humans– men and women, young and old, all gazing out at the impossible environment they were in with mixed looks of confusion, amazement, and fear.