A young man sat on the edge of a rooftop, legs dangling over the ledge like he'd forgotten what gravity was. Wind pressed against him, but he didn't move. His eyes were blank—more than tired. Emptied. Like something important had been torn out long ago and never grew back.
He stared at his open palm.
How much more broken could a person get?
"I did everything… so why?" he murmured.
He clenched his fist. Sighed. Closed his eyes.
The first run still haunted him. He'd been confident back then—hopeful. Thought this was some... Redemption.
But now...
Now...
He knew better now.
[Third Trial: What Could Have Been Done]
Objective: Change what needs to be changed.
Note: You have been given a chance to change the past.
But then…
can one really change the EXISTING?]
This was no test.
It was a cage with invisible walls, built for the amusement of malevolent beings. gods who watched mortals squirm for entertainment. She had been the centerpiece—his only task, his only weakness.
Quincy.
He still remembered her eyes when she said yes.
That smile.
The Guilt that had burned away.
But then... she died.
Fell from the rooftop. Neck snapped. Dead before she hit the ground.
He remembered the scream. Someone outside the school building. The panicked shuffle of students. Blood on concrete. The moment something inside him broke in half.
No one had answers.
She'd gone to the restroom. That's all. One minute she was there, the next—gone.
He tried again.
Retry #2: He didn't go to school. Stayed home. Kept his head down. Thought it would help.
She still died.
Same rooftop.
Retry #3: He avoided her altogether. Camped out on the rooftop. Waited.
He saw her.
Crying. Running. Broken.
He called out. She jumped anyway.
He didn't even get close.
Retry #4: This time, he caught her. Pulled her back from the ledge. She collapsed into him, sobbing. Wouldn't say a word. Just shook, panicked, like being near him hurt.
He took her home. Stayed with her all night.
Next morning, she slit her wrists.
Retry #5: He shadowed her all day. Watched her like a ghost. Followed her to the restroom. Saw Becky's crew walk in. Ten minutes later, they left.
Then Quincy came out—crying. Broken. Headed straight for the roof.
That's when he thought he had it.
"It was Becky," he muttered, laughing dryly.
So in Retry #6, he removed Becky from the picture. Clean and simple.
Quincy didn't go to the roof.
But later that day, a car with failed brakes mounted the sidewalk.
She died anyway.
Retry #7: Random bullet.
Retry #8: Took her to his house. Locked the windows.
She still fell—from the second floor. No one could explain how.
Retry #9: She screamed that he didn't love her. Then drove a kitchen knife through her stomach.
Every time, a different ending.
Every time, the same result.
She died.
He tried again.
She still died.
He tried again.
Dead.
Sometimes it was instant. Sometimes it dragged out. Sometimes it was a subtle shift, a missed cue, a second too late.
By the thirtieth retry, he'd stopped keeping count.By the sixtieth, he'd lost the ability to scream.
Retry #63: He tied her up. Basement. No exits. No threats.
A shelf collapsed. Split her skull.
Retry #64: A scorpion got in.
It took five whole retries just to kill the bastard.
Didn't matter.
She still died.
Retry #80
Retry #189
Retry #270
Retry #380
Retry #545
He kept going until the numbers didn't matter anymore. Until his soul felt threadbare, worn like paper in the rain.
And now…
Here he was.
A random rooftop.
He didn't even try this time.
Just started at the city.
Suddenly...
Tears burned in his eyes.
[FAILED]
Again.
But he didn't cry out. Didn't punch the ground or beg.
He just… stared.
And then, quietly, as if speaking to the sky:
"I have your answer."
The world seemed to pause.
[And what is that?]
He wasn't surprised.
He'd figured it out.
"This was never about saving her," he said. "It was about breaking me."
He smiled. Not with joy. With clarity.
"Nothing can be changed."
The objective had always been a riddle.
And this… this was the answer.
[DING!]
[YOU HAVE PASSED THE THIRD TRIAL]
The rooftop fractured.
Light cracked through the concrete like lightning in reverse.
He looked up. A breath caught in his throat.
Then he smiled, one last time.
And the world went dark.