As a regressor, it was my seventh time in this place. Hope was scarce as I tried to save the world. Every time without fail, my plans would continue to fall apart in the end. There the Demon King would arise with his mixed army, and we would lose.

I tried over and over again, and at last, I found something that worked.

The fifth round had been my hope, where it was just the five great heroes, myself included and the Demon King.

In the sixth, I despaired and looked for some possible way to escape.

Now, in the seventh, I had to try again regardless of what I felt.

I had expected nothing from the introduction phase of these loops, but something caught my eye.

There was a slight difference this time. It was the person “Luke,” in all of my rounds so far this one child had dropped out in the first year every time. Although, for some unexplainable reason he was the only change from the usual.

It was the appearance of being on the floor and his blank expression when he saw my face. It was the first time I saw something new, yet he immediately dashed away as if embarrassed.

I saw him talking to a girl among the cohort on the way to the examination rooms. To which I was confused, that girl Julia would die without fail and had remained alone until the end. But… They were talking nonetheless.

Amongst the loops, it seemed something would finally change. I didn’t know what, but I'd have to see it for myself.

Unexpectedly by the time I handed in my papers, I had not been the first to finish this time. It had been Luke instead who left as soon as I made it. Common sense would dictate he gave up, however, his composure told otherwise.

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For whatever reason he was different.

Solely by instinct, I felt myself tailing his every move from the lobby.

He didn’t stop until we came to the very back of the academy. It seemed he even got the attention of Calvin Hughes. I planned to intervene but the man left before I could take action.

Instead, he teleported to me who was hiding. Where in my carelessness I had already de-cloaked myself.

“Is there a reason the daughter from the esteemed Rosemary family, is following a mere commoner?” His tone was not condescending nor insulting, it was just curiosity.

“…”

This man had an unknown ability to sense lies, so I did not speak. It would be fine to not do anything rather than act rashly.

“It doesn’t seem like you mean to cause trouble so it should be fine. Just don’t do something like this again, okay?”

By the time he left, Luke had already finished what he was doing in the graveyard and began to head back.

Just what was his goal? Was a question left unanswered.

Soon after, we arrived at the physical exams where I decided to simply stay in the top twenty. There was no additional benefit to putting in more effort than required, especially because my body had not developed any physical strength yet.

I had expected the boy to drop out immediately, but it turned out he would be among the five who always passed this test.

I watched on from the sidelines with a sense of wonder, after three hours his body could be seen and felt to be crumbling, but his eyes did not waver. I expected him to reach the four-hour mark but it ended abruptly.

“Huh…?”

An invisible force had enacted upon him as he flew across the grass. I wanted to act immediately, however it was dangerous if there was an entity already primed to attack.

Staff immediately called off the exam and passed the remaining five as they rushed to help save the boy. It was quite the sight, his arms and legs were twisted in ways that shouldn’t be possible.

I almost laughed, but that was too cruel.

It’s just that after thirty years of the same cycle, this boy materialises out of thin air and causes a large stir. I could finally see a glimpse of another path.

It was a chance, no matter how small.

“I need to see the anomaly myself.”

A chance for escape.