Somewhere in the fifth world, northern hemisphere...

Rachel

She stared at the man tied to a chair, choking with his blood.

"Between The Master and the marines, who join the time loop first?" She asked.

"I don't know, I swear," the man cried.

"I believe you," she said.

She put a hand on his head and he stopped moving. His eyes turned blank.

"I pray that you rest in peace despite your deeds," she murmured to herself and then shouted at the door. "Bring the next one."

The door opened and another man was brought in by two men.

"Don't even ask, I won't speak a word to you ever," the man said.

Rachel shrugged. "We'll see about that."

She took a step forward and placed a hand on his head. He stopped struggling immediately. After a couple of seconds, blood started dripping from his nose and ears.

"How long have you been in the time loop?" She asked.

"Five loop years and two loop days," he answered.

"Who invited you to join?"

"The Master."

"What was your mission?"

"I was asked to watch Loop Master Gardener of the marine headquarters."

"How many Loop Masters serve the marines besides Gardener?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know how the marines make a Loop Master?"

"No."

"What do you know about the parallel timeline?"

"Nothing."

"Have you ever seen The Master?"

"No."

"Between the Master and the marines, who join the time loop first?"

"I don't know."

Rachel sighed. It was time.

"I pray that you rest in peace despite your deeds. Bring the next one."

And the process went on and on.

Abbas

"Hey, what do you think of the slaves?" The stranger asked.

"Why are you asking about the slaves? Do you want to buy one?" He asked.

"No," the stranger said. "I just want to know how people feel about them."

Abbas looked around to make sure there was no one close before he shrugged. "You are probably not going to like what I'm about to say but I'm going to say it anyway. The slaves are no different from us. They are humans just like you and me."

"I agree with your assessment," the man said.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes." The man nodded. "But what about the slave trade?"

Abbas frowned. Another strange question again. "Why?"

"Just humor me," the man said.

Abbas frowned and without answering the question, he picked his books and left the weirdo there. He would make sure not to talk to him in the future.

"Hey, I'm Gaus by the way. Nice to meet you." He heard the man said as he stepped outside.

He came back to his apartment and went to bed. But just when he thought the day was over, he received another weird notification.

The world is about to end. In three hours, the world as you know it will end. There won't be tomorrow when you wake up. Instead, you will relive today. But the problem is you won't remember it.

I offer you the chance to retain your memories and remember everything that's happened today.

Accept Contract? Y/N?

A prank by his old friends. He could already guess a few that could pull something like this. But they were mistaken if they thought they would scare him by doing this.

He pressed yes. What was the worst that could happen?

Welcome to the time loop.

You are under the authority of Mr. Lake.

Tomorrow shall be a new day.

Abbas rolled his eyes at the name and looked away. He could see two people in his former team using such a fake name. He fell asleep thinking about how to retaliate with a prank of his own.

***

It was 6:00 am. His magiwatch rang in his ears. It was the worst alarm ever.

Urgh.

He woke up and went to the toilet. He brushed his teeth and went out for breakfast. The pilgrimage was over and activities would resume today.

As he stepped into the street, he saw the pilgrims parading. He always liked this part of the pilgrimage. It made everything feel complete.

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Wait...

The parade was only done on the day of the pilgrimage. Why were they parading today?

"Hey." He stopped a nearby person and pointed at the pilgrims. "What are they doing?"

"What do you mean 'what are they doing'? It's the holy day," the man said.

"No," Abbas said with a reassuring smile. "It's not."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it is not."

The man looked at him with concern. "Mister, are you fine?"

"Of course, I'm fine. Are you?" Abbas snapped.

Convinced he was right and the man was wrong, he asked two more people who also told him it was the pilgrimage day. He suddenly remembered that his alarm only rang on the pilgrimage day. It wasn't supposed to ring the day after. And then he remembered the prank about the day repeating itself.

He wasn't convinced, so he went back to his apartment to check things out. The cloth he wore yesterday was back in his drawer, ironed and ready to be worn again. This couldn't be happening. He checked his mana and realized it was full again. Now there was only one thing left to do.

He ran back to the library. The receptionist didn't come to work today, just like yesterday. He checked the record at the entrance and he was never there.

The weird man from yesterday came and asked him the same questions as yesterday.

"Do you remember having this conversation with me yesterday?" He asked the man desperately.

"No..." the man said. "Should I?"

"I... You know what? Forget it."

Abbas bolted out of the library. This couldn't be happening. It was as if yesterday never existed.

Coming back to his apartment, he laid on his bed and closed his eyes. He needed to think. What could be happening?

Now that you have experienced the time loop, would you like to continue? Y/N?

He quickly pressed no.

It's ok. You will have one week to contemplate. If you change your mind, come to Niama at nine o'clock in the morning and ask for Lilat.

"As if I would ever do that..."

Gaus

About recruiting Tyren. Gaus didn't trust or like the guy and quite possibly even recruiting him wouldn't stop him. Tyren would prefer the week-long loop to the twenty-four-hour loop especially since it cost him nothing. Recruiting him might even encourage him to take the Rewind. But still, there was some chance of ending the conflict if he recruited him. He could recruit him in exchange for the secrets of the soulbond and then set him up. But what if Tyren set him up instead?

Sigh.

He decided to maintain his regular schedule for the meantime. The academy was good. Nobody suspected anything. To them, he was still the initiate who had just joined the loop. Rachel continued to train him. He was slowly getting the hang of it. Yesterday, he accidentally stopped a lightning bolt by guessing the right vein. Also, Lilat was right about cleaning the dungeon. He got +3% for the guild every time he cleaned it up.

"You can expand me if you want more," Calif suggested. "There are dungeons nearby. You can conquer them and take over. There's a small dungeon just half a mile to the north. I can guide you there."

Gaus checked his timer. It was 6 am and he still had 4 hours before he must go to the academy. So he decided to spend a couple of hours in the dungeon. If not for anything he needed the experience.

Walking to the exit, the water field had created a light barrier that prevented the water from flooding the dungeon.

"You can't teleport through it," Calif warned. "You can swim to the shore but that will take about 15 minutes in which case you will need the barrier to breathe. It's all in the interface."

The barrier was a thin layer of invisible force that pushed the water away from him thereby creating a space between his skin and the water. It enabled him to breathe in the water and swam for 12 minutes to reach the shore.

Now looking at it from outside, the entire mountain was buried in water. It was like a small river.

"It will provide the needed protection, for now," Calif said. "Though I have to warn you the presence of water can attract attention. The vapor will help but I would advise giving immunity to your allies before it accumulates."

"In due time," Gaus said. "Let's go."

The said dungeon was half a mile away. On their way, Gaus learned that it used to be the home of a goblin tribe. A year ago, some wolves chased the goblins away and took over the dungeon. Like most dungeons, it had abundant nature energy which attracted beasts from all over the forest.

"How many wolves are we talking about?" Gaus asked.

"Not more than fifteen," Calif said.

Gaus asked him to turn invisible and scout. It turned out there was only one giant wolf. The rest had either been hunted down by adventurers or eaten by the remaining wolf.

Gaus activated his skills and went into the cave.

You have entered a dungeon.

It was dark and the floor was hard. At one point, the way bifurcated into two and the floor turned into rock.

"Right or left?" Gaus said.

"Right," Calif said. "There's another cave at the end. The wolf is there."

With all preparations made, Gaus walked into the last cave. He could hear the sound of movements as he got close. There was a faint glow that got brighter as he got closer. At one point, the glow transformed into the wolf.

Dire wolf

Lvl 18

Mana 0

Vitality: 170/170

He retrieved his recently-made bow from his inventory. Metalmancer was such a good skill.

Arrow double activated.

*

Arrow focus activated.

Arrow nocked, he took a couple of steps forward to bring the wolf into his range, and then he fired. The greenish light coming from the wolf's fur shone brighter. It sidestepped the arrow without even turning around.

His cover blown, the wolf lunged forward and attacked him. He blinked above it to avoid a swipe.

Sword mirage activated.

A blue sword materialized in his hands and he plunged it in its back. He fired two arrows before he blinked away. The wolf howled.

Your eardrum is bleeding.

-1% health per minute for the next 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, the wolf's health was down to 33/170. But it still had enough energy to launch another attack despite the arrows and the sword stuck in its torso. Gaus threw several explosives at the angry wolf and blinked out of the cave.

A minute later when the dust settled, the wolf was still standing. Health down to 11/170. It was no longer capable of dodging his arrows. Two more arrows in the head and he won.

Ordinary victory.

You have killed the boss of a D rank dungeon.

+16,903 experience.

Defeated boss has dropped a skill crystal. Claim? Y/N?

He had the urge to Rewind the whole fight so he could get a better victory but he decided against it. He needed his mana now more than ever.

He pressed yes. A small bracelet appeared in front of his face, floating in the air.

Hamsel bracelet allows the bearer to glow in dark places. It can be used as a lamp.

Put the bracelet on your wrist to activate the skill.

He didn't expect to get a lamp from killing a level 18 boss. Anyway, it was better than nothing. He stuffed it in his inventory.

Calif is asking for permission to join the D rank dungeon at the cost of 85 MP. Grant permission? Y/N?

He pressed yes.

Calif has joined another dungeon. An underground tunnel has been created to join the two dungeons.

By expanding your base, the guild has raised to 112%.

+2 global reputation.

Afterward, they trekked back to the dungeon. Gaus was startled when the river suddenly appeared in front of him. He couldn't see it until it was just 100m away.

"Can I take it?" Gaus asked.

"I won't advise it," Calif said. "You can drink from it but it won't quench your thirst. Who knows what other negative effects it will have?"

The sound of distant conversation caught their attention. Two people argued as they walked toward them.

"This is the place!" The woman said

"No, it is not," the young man said. "We would have found it otherwise."