Chapter 1: She returned

Under the blood-red sky, the world resembled Earth’s purgatory—a land scorched and broken, hollowed by chaos and war.

At the heart of the devastation stood a lone woman. Her name was Lee Serin, once one of Korea’s top hunters—a war goddess with eyes that never flinched, even in the face of extinction.

Her armour clung to her in tatters, broken steel and mana-leather fused with dried blood. She staggered forward, boots crunching across cracked stone, a trail of red behind her. Wounds lined her limbs like ink on paper—too many to count, and yet, she still stood.

Each breath scraped her throat like glass.

Just a little further, she thought. Just a little longer.

Ahead, the monsters poured endlessly from a yawning crypt—grotesque beasts of fang, shadow, and flame. For every one she struck down, two more rose.

“How can these rats be endless… despite being so weak?” Her voice was hoarse, tinged with bitterness. Not fear—never fear. Only disbelief and growing disgust.

Her fingers tightened on the hilt of her broken weapon. Blood dripped from her knuckles.

“They respawn like there’s no tomorrow.”

A hollow laugh escaped her lips, half-cough, half-mocking sigh. “I thought I could wipe them all out if I just held on. But if this keeps going… I’ll have to use my last resort.”

She forced the last of her energy into one final charge, body screaming in protest. Magic circled her—unstable, sparking, desperate. Her halberd glowed once more, a dying star flaring before collapse.

The monsters surged. She struck.

But it wasn’t enough.

Her blade shattered on the chest of the obsidian tyrant. Her knees hit the ground moments later. Her breath caught—then faltered.

Everything slowed.

In that breathless moment before the end, a memory surfaced. Not of glory. Not of hope.

A name.

Yoon Saejin.

Her rival. Her shadow. The man who had once been her equal… or so the world believed.

Cold. Brilliant. Silent. A man who never smiled but never missed a step. He haunted every battlefield she walked, as if drawn to her presence. As if obsessed.

He had challenged her. Mocked her. Pushed her limits in ways she hated.

And in the end—he died for her.

Serin’s lips parted in a rasp.

“Saejin… you bastard.” Her tone wasn’t angry. It was broken. Confused. Somewhere between hate and regret.

The darkness rose. She collapsed fully, her face against the bloodstained ground. Around her, the monsters howled their victory.

Then—

A chime echoed through the silence.

[SYSTEM WARNING: Dimensional Interference Detected]

[Authority Override: Constellation "Goddess of Silence" activating Regression Protocol…]

[UNCLASSIFIED MAGIC DETECTED: TIME REVERSAL EXECUTED]

[CAUTION: Current timeline data will be permanently overwritten.]

[Constellation "God of Learning" is confused.]

[Constellation "God of Silence" has chosen to ignore all consequences.]

A soft light filled Serin’s fading vision. Her consciousness began to dissolve—but a final voice called to her, not in words, but in soul.

“If only… I could have given you more time, my child.”

She couldn’t answer. But her soul heard it.

And something—someone—answered back.

And then—time shattered.

———

Earth, Year 1: Dungeon Emergence.

The sky split open.

Portals bloomed across continents like blooming scars—above oceans, within shadows, between breaths.

And in a quiet apartment tucked in a neon-lit Seoul district, a young girl awoke in her bed with a scream on her lips and fire in her lungs.

Her name… was still Lee Serin.

But everything else had changed.

[SYSTEM BOOT COMPLETE]

[WELCOME BACK, HUNTER #00001]

[REGRESSION: SUCCESSFUL]

Her fingers trembled as she reached for the status screen. Memories collided like waves—death, fire, betrayal… and Saejin.

Her voice trembled.

“This is… the beginning again.”

She started checking her surroundings, and she returned 10 years into the past. Her familiar desk where she studied in high school and the worn-out house where she stayed before.

Lee Serin stood still in the silence of dawn.

Sunlight filtered through the curtains of her bedroom window, casting a golden hue over the cluttered desk and dusty bookshelf. Her breath hitched as she slowly scanned the room—everything was just as she remembered it. The trembling ceiling fan. The stack of textbooks she once used to cram for entrance exams. The creaking closet door she'd meant to fix but never did.

She was home. But not truly.

Because Lee Serin was no longer a high school student.

She was a regressor—a woman who had seen the end of the world and returned.

Her eyes swept to the mirror. Her reflection was younger, softer, untouched by battle scars and war. Her hands—no longer bloodied, no calluses, no phantom pain where she’d once lost a finger.

But her eyes… they were still the eyes of a survivor.

[SYSTEM BOOT COMPLETE]

[WELCOME BACK, HUNTER #00001 - LEE SERIN]

[CURRENT DATE: YEAR 1 - MONTH 0 - DAY 1]

[STATUS: NOVICE PERIOD INITIATED]

"So it really worked..." she muttered in disbelief.

She fell onto the edge of the bed, pressing her palms into her face. Her thoughts spiraled—memories of comrades turning to ash, humanity’s cries fading into silence, Saejin’s blood staining her hands. And now... this.

She checked her status.

Attribute Overview:

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Constitution: 5

Perception: 5

Intelligence: 5

Charisma: 5

Talent

[Adaptive Transcendence (SSS-rank)]

Grants limitless adaptability to environment, energy, skills, and physical conditions.

Rapid learning and muscle memory retention — she never forgets any technique or knowledge.