Avinash says, "How will the Kurokami Organization react if they find out that Raidan, the traitor of Kurokami, is dead?"


    The answer he receives is, "They''ll want to confirm it. And the only person who can provide that confirmation is me."


    Avinash had planned everything carefully, but he made one mistake.


    One of the ninjas steps forward and says, "When we heard the news of Raiden''s death, we couldn''t believe it. But seeing you here with our own eyes, we''re convinced. Raiden wouldn''t be taken down so easily."


    "Right, my friend? Because your death is destined to be at the hands of the Sedo—me," he adds.


    Saying this, the ninja crushes the unconscious bodies lying on the ground as he moves forward with his sword, ready to attack.


    Seeing this, Avinash thinks to himself, This wasn''t part of the plan. According to the plan, they were supposed to take me to the organization, not kill me.


    Avinash takes a deep breath and says, "Alright then, it looks like it''s time for some action."


    But before he can finish saying "this," he stumbles, barely avoiding a fall. He notices a poisoned needle stuck in his hand.


    He realizes there''s no way out now. It''s game over. But deep down, he still refuses to accept it.


    His eyes grow heavy, and just then, Avinash softly mutters, "Options."


    Suddenly, a set of options appears before him:


    Settings


    Resume


    Sound


    Music


    Exit


    Avinash feels a strange sensation. Though he was losing his consciousness moments ago, he suddenly feels perfectly fine. Distracting himself from his current condition, he looks around and notices everything is frozen, as if time itself has stopped. Even his own body is immobilized. He tries to move, but it''s no use.


    "So, let''s take a look at the options," Avinash says to himself. "Sound and music are useless. Exit isn''t a good choice either; I can''t leave after putting in so much time and effort."


    "Resume is also pointless right now because as soon as the game resumes, the assassins will definitely kill me. And on top of that, I''m poisoned."


    "Strange, but I haven''t checked Settings yet," he murmurs. Avinash tries to click on the Settings option but fails because his body is frozen.


    Using a voice command, he opens the Settings menu.


    Save Progress


    Load Progress


    Pain Sensitivity: 100%/10%


    Difficulty: Normal


    Control: Voice Command


    Back


    Avinash carefully examines the options and then shouts, "What the hell does this mean? I''ve been enduring so much pain, and it was only 10%? Why didn''t I open this earlier? I''m such an idiot! A complete moron, imbecile, fool!"


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    At this moment, he wishes he could slap himself hard. If only he had checked this option earlier, he wouldn''t have gone through so much trouble.


    After scolding himself for a while, Avinash tries to lower the Pain Sensitivity further, but it doesn''t work because it''s already at the minimum. And based on the Normal Difficulty setting, he can''t reduce it any further.


    And Avinash silently hoped that the game had automatic saves.


    But when he selected "Load Progress" in the history menu, no save file appeared.


    Avinash muttered under his breath, "B.C." (a curse word).


    After thinking for a long while, an idea struck his mind. If my chances of survival are even 0.01%, that''s still enough. But now I''m really going to lose my mind.


    After saving, Avinash said, "Resume."


    The figure standing before him, Sedo, rushed forward to kill him and attacked with his sword. Before Avinash could react, blood splattered all around.


    With a sword piercing his heart, Avinash endured the pain and said, "Looks like I''ll be losing my mind and feeling a lot of pain."


    Options


    Settings


    Load Progress


    The scene repeated itself. Sedo rushed forward with his sword to attack Avinash. This time, Avinash redirected the sword with his hands, saving his heart.


    But the very next moment, an arrow pierced his chest. Before dying,


    Options


    Settings


    Load Progress


    After countless attempts, Avinash''s mind began to unravel. He repeated the same scene over and over, only to die each time. But now he was close—close to breaking free from this loop.


    He said, "Resume."


    As usual, Sedo charged at him with his sword. But this time, Avinash used his hands to deflect the attack, barely saving his heart. His injured hand caused immense pain, set at 100%, but it was enough to keep him conscious for a few moments.


    He used Dash and slammed into the opposite wall. The arrow struck the wall instead of him. Knowing that someone would attack him with a poisoned needle next, Avinash tilted his neck slightly, dodging the needle with precision.


    He also anticipated the next attack—shuriken. All the ninjas would launch a coordinated attack with shurikens, which had been the most frustrating part of this loop. After struggling for a long time, he found the solution: the Substitute Skill, which allowed him to change his physical form.


    Using the skill, Avinash dodged all the attacks. He immediately canceled the substitution and used Dash, which had just cooled down, aiming directly at the ceiling.


    Within moments, he was close to the roof, knowing exactly what to do next. He commanded, "Options," freezing everything around him. Then, through the Settings menu, he changed the Control option to Touchscreen.


    After 25 attempts, he realized it was impossible to counter shuriken attacks using voice commands alone in his current state.


    With this adjustment, he thought, Now it''s time to show my finger speed.


    As time resumed, everything around him started moving again. All the ninjas began climbing toward the roof. A screen appeared before Avinash, and he unleashed a flurry of shuriken attacks.


    Although the attacks were less frequent compared to voice commands, they were enough to distract the enemies momentarily.


    Taking advantage of the confusion, Avinash landed among the ninjas—a precarious position to be in.


    The first ninja, Sedo, who had charged to attack earlier, paused mid-way and said, "Your skills have greatly improved, Raiden, my friend."


    "We were just testing you. Won''t you hug your old friend?" Sedo said with a sly grin.


    Avinash smirked and replied, "Why not?" as he stepped forward to embrace him.


    With a cruel smile of his own, Avinash hugged Sedo.


    Just as Sedo prepared to plunge his venomous claws into Avinash''s back, Avinash used a sudden, powerful Dash, slamming the ninja into the wall.


    The impact left Sedo, who had been mere moments away from stabbing Avinash, disoriented and struggling to understand what had happened.


    No one had time to react except for Avinash, who, though still trying to steady himself from the shock, knew exactly what needed to be done—or rather, his body did.


    Avinash immediately used Substitute, transforming into a stone that fell to the ground. This move allowed him to dodge the poisonous arrows, needles, and shurikens aimed at him.


    The attacks redirected, piercing Sedo''s chest instead. And just like that, one enemy was eliminated.


    But Avinash''s vision began to blur again as the poison resumed its effect. Quickly, he pulled out a pill and swallowed it—a pill he had stealthily stolen from Sedo during their brief embrace.


    The medicine wouldn''t work instantly, though. Avinash had no idea how many times he''d repeated this sequence—it was enough that he had stopped counting after a thousand attempts. Nor did he know how much time had passed since he''d been stuck in this endless loop.


    A ninja, drenched in sweat, thought to himself, So this is Raiden, the other name for death.


    By now, every ninja present understood one thing: if the man standing before them survived, none of them would.


    One of them pulled out a bomb and instructed his comrades, "Cover me!" But just as he finished speaking, a shuriken pierced his eye.


    After countless failed attempts, Avinash''s aim had finally hit its mark.


    The ninja screamed in agony. "Aahhhhhh!"


    The sight sent a shiver down the spines of the remaining ninjas. They couldn''t fathom what kind of monster they were up against. Even after being poisoned, how could someone still be this dangerous—especially without his full arsenal or being in his best condition?


    The thought filled their hearts with dread. If he was this lethal in his current state, what would he be like if fully equipped and healthy?


    Fear gripped their bodies.


    Avinash, still in poor condition and barely able to move, knew he couldn''t let his enemies sense his weakness. If they did, his death would be inevitable.


    He taunted, "Don''t aim for the heart—go for the head, Mr. Samurai."


    The ninjas were confused, unsure what Raiden was trying to say.


    Takeshi Hayato, wielding his sword, decapitated one of the ninjas in a single swift motion. As the others turned around in shock, they realized who the message was meant for.


    Avinash explained, "That man inhaled the least smoke and regained consciousness the fastest. He was also the one who killed me in several previous attempts."


    The remaining ninjas would still need 5–10 minutes to regain full awareness. Only three remained—or rather, two, as the one with the shuriken in his eye collapsed to the ground, the poison finally taking effect.


    Unbeknownst to him, Avinash had subtly injected the poison-tipped needle into his leg—just as he hadn''t noticed when it was done to him.


    Takeshi Hayato advanced toward the remaining two with his sword, but before he could strike, two shurikens flew straight into their necks, severing critical arteries. The attack was more than enough to finish them.


    Takeshi Hayato stood alone in front, slowly stepping forward. "So, you''re Raiden..." he said.


    As soon as he uttered those words, he collapsed to the ground.


    Avinash began moving forward slowly. His mind was utterly exhausted, but he felt a sense of relief knowing he was so close to freedom.


    However, darkness started to cloud his vision. Avinash couldn''t understand what mistake he had made. He had taken the antidote correctly, and the poison''s effects were almost gone.


    Then why was this happening? Wait, wait. I can''t pass out just from exhaustion. That meant...he hadn''t eaten in a long time. And what he had just done had drained whatever energy he had left.


    Darkness consumed Avinash''s eyes. He was so close to freedom, but hunger and fatigue crushed all his hopes. Tears rolled down his face, and then everything fell silent.