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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Cyno
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Looking back, my regression cycles were full of twists and turns.
Times when I held hope, times when I lost it.
Times when emotions still lingered, and times when they had completely faded.
Still… I remember the early cycles—up to the 99th—being relatively bright.
Starting from my first regression after Yu So-eun’s death, I focused on saving people.
What I mean is—every time someone around me died, I would turn back time and try again.
Okhwa, the Divine Monk, the Invincible East, my comrades and friends…
Whenever they were killed by Blood Cultists, I swore that in the next cycle, I would never let them die, and I rewound time.
Because I was foolish back then—only looking at what was right in front of me.
Stupidly, I believed that if I just held on a little longer, light would come.
The change in my approach came around the 13th cycle.
When I saved someone from Event A, only to lose them in Event B immediately after.
That was when I realized—this wasn’t something that could be solved in one or two regressions.
From then on, I obsessively chased information.
Things I hadn’t known before—future knowledge I couldn’t grasp when I was too busy rewinding time to save those around me.
There were no spatial limits either. The world was vast, and the more I knew, the more useful it became.
Most importantly—time was infinite for me.
Even if a cycle failed, I could always look forward to the next one. It became routine to live until the very end, only to be killed by the Blood Demon.
Even the time I spent as her limbless slave—it was all a desperate struggle to extract as much information as possible about the Blood Cult.
My time wasn’t limited to the Central Plains either.
The northern steppes and deserts, the Northern Sea Ice Palace in the northeast, the island nation of Wa and the Sun-Moon Divine Cult in the east, the southern barbarian lands, the distant Western Heaven Kingdom and Lamaism beyond the Silk Road, the Holy Land years away to the northwest…
Always anticipating the next cycle, I gathered as much information as I could. And it truly helped me.
Even in this cycle, I used knowledge from past regressions—like the Ice Crystal of the Northern Sea Ice Palace—to steal it with Namgung So-so.
I mapped out the locations of rare elixirs scattered across the world and plotted the fastest path to growth.
Of course, no matter the cycle, the end was always death.
The Blood Demon’s evil grasp wasn’t limited to the Central Plains. In every cycle, I inevitably met my demise.
Even if I didn’t die… I would still rewind time for my family and the Central Plains.
The cycles piled up endlessly… but I could never defeat the Blood Demon.
More than anything else, the gap in martial prowess was too vast.
The barrier of the Transcendent Realm.
A level even above the Five Greats of the World—an absolute realm that refused to let me cross, no matter what I did.
Kneeling before that insurmountable wall for centuries, struggling in frustration…
At some point, I lost my mind.
Would breaking through even save anyone? Could I really bring salvation?
Doubt festered, and I fell into madness—killing myself over and over.
Suicide, rewind, suicide, rewind.
Even I grew sick of it, but I couldn’t give up—not when there were still people I had to protect.
Living became so exhausting that I’d throw myself into death, only to force myself back when I remembered their faces.
A horrific loop.
The change came after enduring it thirteen times.
I think that was the 98th cycle.
Enlightenment.
Something cruel and merciless—always out of reach when I sought it—
Came to me suddenly, in the depths of my madness.
To me, who had let go of everything, given up again and again.
Emptiness.
The ultimate pinnacle of nothingness.
Like emptying a cup to fill it anew, I grasped the profundity of void amidst endless death.
And in the 98th cycle, I finally crossed the barrier—entering the Transcendent Realm.
A completely different existence from before, I pooled all my knowledge, information, and experience into one final, desperate attempt at salvation.
Nothing else mattered. In the end, the only thing that counted was—could I defeat the Blood Demon or not?
To cut to the chase—I lost in the 98th cycle.
By the narrowest margin.
It was the first time.
Fighting her for a full month, pushing that indomitable woman to the brink of death—
And seeing hope—all of it was a completely new experience for me.
Then came the long-awaited 99th cycle.
Stronger than before, after a month-long life-and-death battle—I finally felled the Blood Demon.
The glorious moment when the long cycle of regression ended.
The historic moment when peace returned to the Central Plains, when the light of salvation bathed the world.
The best cycle—where my family and friends didn’t have to die.
The hardships of ninety-nine lifetimes flashed before my eyes, but at that moment, I was simply happy.
For exactly… three days.
Kim Tae-yang – The Reader
My name is Kim Tae-yang, age 34.
I don’t have much to boast about. At best, I graduated from a prestigious university and now make a living filming cheating videos for women, sending them to their boyfriends or lovers. Honestly, I’m a pretty worthless guy.
Still, I think my life is decent. After a grueling day, riding the bus home and scrolling through web novels on my phone—those moments are bliss.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with a recently completed novel called “99 Ways to Save a Doomed Martial World.”
As the title suggests, it’s a rare blend of wuxia and time-loop fiction.
It wasn’t a chart-topping hit, but the author had a solid fanbase. Enough to have its own fan cafe.
I’m one of those fans—having followed the author since their previous work.
Their last novel, “9 Ways to Save a Corrupt Martial World,” also featured a regressor protagonist saving the martial world.
Honestly, I read it more for the side character Jin Woo-yong than the main lead, who ended up committing suicide after saving everyone.
Regardless, the author’s signature bleak tone, hopeless worldbuilding, and dark fantasy realism (despite being a wuxia) hooked me.
So when I heard about the new release, I jumped right in.
……I shouldn’t have.
“99 Ways to Save a Doomed Martial World” is set 500 years after the previous work, following the protagonist’s struggle against the Blood Cult, a colossal calamity.
The protagonist gradually loses his humanity, growing stronger in martial arts but hating life itself. A perfect fit for my tastes.
The only downside was the pure love story between him and his wife, but the detailed worldbuilding and dystopian dark fantasy elements kept me hooked.
The climax—where the once-weak protagonist reaches the pinnacle of nothingness and defeats the Blood Demon—left a deep impression. It felt like all his suffering was finally rewarded.
The ending, however, was unusual.
After saving the martial world, three days later, an absurd entity called the “Heavenly Demon” descends from the Mountains of Ten Thousand Peaks, dooming the world.
The protagonist regresses again, starting a new loop—and the novel ends.
A rare ending for web novels, but not unheard of in time-loop stories.
Personally, I didn’t like it. I prefer happy endings, and the power inflation was extreme.
The Heavenly Demon wipes out everything—the Blood Demon, the Five Greats, all the previously invincible figures—like ants.
But whatever. It’s finished, so who cares?
I left a comment on the final chapter:
“Great work. Keep writing.”
Just as I was about to turn off my phone, savoring the aftertaste of the ending—a reply notification popped up.
“Huh?”
Maybe the author was sentimental about the finale and replied to thank me.
But when I opened it—
What I saw was completely unexpected.
“Just words?”
Before I could even process it—
I blacked out.
Namgung Bin – The Transmigrator
My name is Namgung Bin, age 20.
I’ve been transmigrated into the younger brother of a novel’s protagonist.
And not just any novel—a doomed martial world dystopia.
In short—I’m screwed.
No matter how hard I try to find hope, there is none.
Even if we defeat the Blood Cult, the Heavenly Demon will descend and end the world anyway.
Maybe it’s karma for the life I’ve lived, but I’m truly fucked.
But… something feels off.
“The Cheol-bin I know is slightly different…?”
My older brother, Namgung Cheol-bin—the protagonist I only knew through text.
We’ve interacted a few times now, and he’s nothing like the novel’s depiction.
More hollow, more inhuman.
Not just emotionally numb—as if emotions don’t exist at all.
And his actions are different too.
In the novel, even by the 99th cycle, he was still sweet with Yu So-eun. Those moments were the only healing parts, always making me smile like an idiot.
But now, Namgung Cheol-bin avoids her completely.
From this, I formed a hypothesis:
The cycle I’ve transmigrated into isn’t the novel’s 99th cycle.
But one after the Heavenly Demon’s appearance—where Namgung Cheol-bin has regressed countless more times to stop it.
That would explain why his humanity is completely erased.
And after spending a few days with him, I noticed something else.
He treats me like his real brother.
No matter how well I mimic the original Namgung Bin, I shouldn’t be perfect—yet he acts as if I’ve always been like this.
Which leads to another hypothesis:
“What if… this isn’t my first cycle either?”
I transmigrated at the regression point—when Cheol-bin saves Yu So-eun, Namgung Su-a, and his son from a Blood Cult attack.
Meaning… I might have already lived through his regressions countless times.
Since I wouldn’t remember after he rewinds time, this personality might just be how ‘Namgung Bin’ always was to him.
So… what should I do now?
How do I survive this doomed world?
The answer is clear.
“Help him.”
Help Cheol-bin.
He’s the only one who can save the world, so I’ll use everything from my transmigrator knowledge to aid him.
Even if this cycle fails, he’ll just rewind time again.
And if I keep helping, I’ll survive eventually.
Why?
Because Cheol-bin is destined to win.
Just like he defeated the Blood Demon, he’ll eventually stop the Heavenly Demon.
“Then… how can I help?”
Martially, I’m useless. Thanks to the “Namgung Bin is fat” setting, no amount of training changes this damn body.
Even my internal energy doesn’t grow. No matter how much I meditate, I’m stuck at the original’s peak master level.
So, I had no choice but to become his strategist.
The only thing different from the original Namgung Bin—my brain.
Luckily, this world is meticulously built.
I took all the fan theories, reader strategies, and “what if I were Cheol-bin?” discussions from the fan cafe and applied them where needed.
For the first time, my useless college-educated brain had a purpose.
Cheol-bin was the sword, and I was the mind wielding it.
The fact that he silently followed my plans—no matter how ruthlessly I used him—suggests that past versions of “me” did the same.
And so, one year, two years, three years, six years…
Until ten years later—
The final battle arrived.
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