Surviving without God

“...Return After Death?”

Gunther was utterly bewildered. And it was no surprise—throughout all the time he had spent playing this game, he had never once encountered the term “Return After Death.”

“This game is designed to be an instant Game Over the moment you die...”

, true to its monstrous difficulty, had no concept of a retry. No matter how valuable a save was, a single mistake leading to death meant its deletion.

And yet—“Return After Death.”

It would have been hard to find a phrase less suited to the world of than that. With growing distrust, Gunther continued reading the notifications appearing before him.

Ding—!

[Death Record Count]

[1/99]

[#1 Life of a Commoner]

[Gunther Sirhe, your life was insignificant]

The new notification opened with blatant mockery.

[You became nothing more than another corpse on the battlefield, having exerted no influence whatsoever on the tragic fate of this world or its people]

[Perhaps you should have cowered in your hometown village? Then you might have lived a few more years]

...A cynical tone. The system was clearly ridiculing him, but he had no grounds to refute it. There was some truth in those words—at least when evaluating his “previous life.” However, the notifications did not end there.

[In any case, we hope you perform better next time]

Next time.

Staring at the fading status window, Gunther struggled to process those words. A foreign concept. An idea that had never existed in his life before.

“...I have another chance?”

He froze, suspended between the desire to believe and the inability to accept such a reality. But the messages continued to pour in, indifferent to his state of mind.

[The “Karma” system has been unlocked]

[At the end of each life, Karma is calculated]

[Karma accumulates through all of your actions and choices. Good and evil, right and wrong, do not matter. Your traces are recorded, and their weight forms Karma]

Beep—

A dry system sound rang out.

[Karma of the first life: 100]

Somewhere around then, Gunther snapped out of it. He couldn’t afford to stand frozen forever. Wherever he was and whatever had happened, survival required understanding the situation first. He immediately began organizing the information he had received.

“So, Karma.”

Even for a veteran player like him, this was something new. The first thing that came to mind was the literal meaning—“retribution.” Judging by the context, it seemed to be a kind of currency granted at the moment of death, but...

“If it’s a currency, what do you spend it on?”

As if reading his thoughts, the status window displayed another message.

[Karma is an offering most highly valued by sacred beings]

[By sacrificing Karma, you may gain their favor and receive a reward]

“An offering? A reward?”

Even after reading that, his doubts didn’t disappear. Offering sacrifices and receiving blessings were actions directly tied to contracts with gods—and he had been crippled in that regard from the very beginning. But the status window offered no further explanation. Instead, it presented one final line:

[If enough Karma accumulates, fate will change]

The sentence was short, but it stirred a storm inside Gunther’s mind. Fate would change? Did that mean he could do more than simply revive—could he alter the very conditions that had defined his limits until now?

Whoooosh—!

Soon, in the distance, a blinding pillar of light surged upward.

[Returning to Save Point #1]

[10, 9, 8, 7...]

Brilliant light began flooding the space beyond the impenetrable darkness. A wave of radiance approached, rapidly gaining speed. A pure white glow rolled forward, threatening to swallow everything in its path.

In that moment, Gunther forgot everything.

“Ah.”

Deep in his chest, something began to boil. At first it was a faint spark, but it gradually turned into heat capable of incinerating his entire body.

“I really... can live again.”

A life filled with pain. Perhaps he would fail again. Perhaps he would die suddenly once more. But right now, those fears didn’t matter.

“A next chance.”

If he had been given one, he was ready to give everything.

Step—

Without hesitation, Gunther threw himself into the torrent of light.

***

The bright morning sun painted the fields in shades of gold.

“Gunther! Did you sleep well?”

The voice sounded right beside him. It was the caravan master’s daughter. Gunther silently looked at her.

“Uh... does a question about how I slept really warrant that intense a stare?”

He turned his gaze away.

“I-I mean, it’s not that I mind...”

...He didn’t have time to answer. Gunther blinked again. Slowly, he clenched and unclenched his fist. Wind swept across the field. Solid earth beneath his feet. Clean air filling his lungs. He drew a deep breath.

“Haa...”

A sharp awareness that he was alive spread through his entire body.

“I really did come back.”

This wasn’t an illusion.

Even now, the sensations were vivid—the blade against his throat, the silence that followed instantly.

Yet in the end, he had returned to life. Possessing an absolute ability that anyone in this world would dream of.

“And this isn’t a one-time thing.”

Gunther clearly remembered the number 1/99 he had seen in that black space. That unmistakably meant the number of remaining chances.

He had been given a full ninety-eight more attempts.

“Why was this power given to me...?”

He didn’t know the exact reason. No matter how much he thought about it, there would be no answer. It was an exceptional situation, both in the real world and within the game. But right now, the reason wasn’t what mattered most.

“A possibility has appeared.”

In the plan to return to Earth—which had seemed hopeless after the protagonist failed to appear—a faint spark of hope flared to life. Regression, combined with the knowledge of an experienced player. There was definitely a chance.

It was worth trying.

Gunther would clear the main scenario to the end with this “trash” character.

“All right. Then first things first...”

Let’s avoid this.

Sensing the approach, Gunther shifted his body to the side.

Whoosh—

“...Huh?”

Eddie, who had charged forward with force, lost his balance and flailed his arms. Staggering, he flew past Gunther and crashed straight into the completely innocent Ryan...

“Huh?”

“What?”

He landed squarely in the arms of the giant Ryan, whose height exceeded 190 cm. Ryan froze for a moment, then let out a good-natured chuckle. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“Oh, Eddie... you’ve got great taste in men.”

“You bastard!”

Eddie shoved Ryan away, his face turning red like a ripe tomato—no doubt because the carriage window was still open. But the culprit of the incident, Gunther, was already gone.

Step, step—

Gunther moved toward the rear of the column. His eyes frantically scanned the surroundings. The terrain was familiar. The attack would begin soon.

“So, how do I survive this time?”

Return After Death was undoubtedly a miracle. But it wasn’t omnipotent. Only the state of his previous life carried over. It didn’t grant direct power or bonuses.

“Resurrection itself doesn’t make me stronger.”

If he faced the Holy Army now without any plan, he would simply repeat the futile death of his previous life.

“I need a variable.”

Something that would overturn this unfavorable situation. Gunther’s mind worked at full throttle. And then—he remembered something.

“Come to think of it...”

He hadn’t been given only Return After Death.

“...Karma.”

At the moment he recalled that currency capable of changing fate—

Ding—!

A message appeared in the air.

[Three gods are watching you simultaneously]

After the return. The three gods who had been unusually quiet revealed themselves at the perfect moment. Perhaps because of that—

[The King of Ninety-Nine Defeats acts as the representative]

Gunther instinctively sensed what he was going to say.

[He hopes you will sacrifice Karma and escape this battlefield alive]

Gunther’s gaze froze on the message.

“...I knew it.”

There was more information packed into that sentence than it seemed at first glance. He slowly exhaled and asked,

“You know about my situation.”

The gods remembered Gunther’s previous life.

***

Honestly, he had a mountain of questions.

How had they recognized the regression? By what principle did all of this operate? If they knew, why hadn’t they said anything earlier? Questions piled up one after another. But unfortunately, there was no time.

Dr-dr-dr-dr—!

“Already?”

Gunther reflexively turned his head toward the sound of hooves shaking the ground. A yellow-brown cloud of dust, rising higher than a human, filled his vision.

...The Holy Army and the paladin were already close.

The surroundings erupted into frantic movement.

“Attack!”

“Defensive positions! Carriages—pull back!”

“Protect the guild master!”

His comrades rushed about in a panic.

[The King of Ninety-Nine Defeats urges you to make a Karma offering, saying there is no time]

Karma. The mysterious currency granted to him alongside the awakening of Return After Death. Gunther quickly recalled its description.

[Karma is an offering most highly valued by sacred beings]

[By sacrificing Karma, you may gain their favor and receive a reward]

Yes, the purpose was clear. But doubts remained.

“I can’t form a contract.”

The law of . Even a god could not grant a human direct power without a contract. It was an immutable rule.

An official contract required a ritual. You had to build an altar before the god, declare exactly what would be offered, and precisely negotiate what authority would be granted in return—only then would the contract take effect. Appeasing the god’s tastes was also essential. A god of war demanded blood and trophies; a god of wisdom, ancient books and secrets. If favor wasn’t gained, the contract would either be annulled or provoke divine wrath.

In short, it was a pact requiring meticulous preparation.

“The gods should know this—so why...?”

Dr-dr-dr-dr—!

He didn’t understand. But his doubts were crushed beneath the thunder of hooves. About thirty seconds remained until first contact. Gunther made his decision.

“All right. Let’s try.”

No matter how “trash” this god might be, he had once been a hero of this world—someone who had performed great deeds and ascended to the heavens. Perhaps he would provide a key to escaping this desperate situation. Moreover, the King of Ninety-Nine Defeats was a “good god” who had never harmed him so far.

[Please specify the amount of Karma to offer]

Gunther hesitated for a moment.

“Five? Ten? How about that?”

Over three years, he had earned one hundred units. Five or ten should be plenty.

[...]

“Twenty?”

[...]

What was with the silent reproach? A vein bulged on Gunther’s forehead. Money and resources were always meant to be spent carefully...

“All right, all right. I get it.”

[You offer “100” units of Karma to the King of Ninety-Nine Defeats]

Gunther emptied everything he had.

Clink—

The sound of coins brushed past his ears, like a hallucination.

And then... and then...

“......?”

...Nothing changed.

A stunned Gunther blinked.

“What the hell?”

[...]

The gods fell silent, as if by prior agreement. Gunther’s pupils trembled. After the protagonist’s failure to appear, had he now been scammed out of his money too?

“Gunther! What are you doing?! Look ahead!”

“......”

“I’m telling you—it’s dangerous!”

It happened at the same moment Ryan roughly shoved him backward.

Sss—

Sudden, searing pain—like a burn—slashed across Gunther’s wrist. He snapped back to his senses and hastily tore off his glove.

“What is this...?”

On the inside of his wrist, a brightly glowing pattern shone—a sword design interwoven with silver and azure ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) light.

Sharp curves of the blade. A symbol at the center resembling a shield. It wasn’t just a drawing. It swayed, as if alive and breathing. And at the same time—

Psh—!

A brief yet powerful vision flashed through his mind.

It was a story.

The life of a man born as a talentless youngest son in a prestigious knightly family—hardened through countless defeats, and ultimately earning the respect of all knights.

“No, this is...”

Impossible.

Gunther’s heart pounded wildly. He knew this phenomenon. But it was something that should never, under any circumstances, touch someone like him.

And yet that miracle was happening right now.

[The Stigma of the King of Ninety-Nine Defeats has been bestowed upon you]

A Stigma.

The god’s power had been granted as a reward for the Karma offering.

...Even without a contract.