I waste no time and began descending the seemingly infinite rusty steps before me.
***
The once open steps had now become closed and I was hundreds of feet underground. The underground catacomb appeared like a tunnel and there were torches spread randomly across the straight path, dimly lighting the way. Next to one of these torches was a relatively small mirror which the guards used to check the alignment of the chainmail in their armor. I grabbed this off the wall and held it in one hand as I kept moving forward for 5 minutes.
In the distance, two guards wearing clad armor stood by protecting the entrance to the gate. I hid behind the corner of a wall in front of the guards, gently placed down the mirror and waited to make my move. Of course, I've done this hundreds of times, so I know the guards will be swapping duties momentarily and their post becomes compromised for but an instant. This is when I need to make my move.
Glancing at the side of the iron and chainmail clad guards, both of them are carrying identical keys to open the gate behind them, but I know better than that.
The truth is that the real key to the gate is actually inside the Holy Magnifying Glass (Uncommon) in my right hand. An interesting gimmick that could fool many intruders.
They, of course, had safe guards to prevent unwanted people from using this key, such as notifying high ranking members of the church upon its discovery, but I disabled those measures back at the altar. From the Church's perspective, the underground of the Church of Revelation hadn't even been opened - not to mention that the guards are far deep into the underground and could never hear the shifting stone caused by its opening.
Shortly after, I infused a small amount of mana into the Holy Magnifying Glass and a small brown key emerged out of thin air.
System Notification.
Item Acquired.
[Gate of Solace Entrance Key (Mythic)]
[Your mana has been reduced. Current mana: 5/10]
I stared at the key for a moment before putting it in my pocket. Then, the guards began to move toward me to leave the catacomb.
In the current shape of the catacomb and without any special skills or items, it would be impossible for me to hide from them should they come around the corner of this wall. The catacomb is too barren and since my surroundings are entirely made out of stone, I cannot dig a hiding spot. Thus, the only strategy to get to the gate is by distracting the guards.
By infusing trace amounts of mana into the Holy Magnifying Glass, it began to glow brighter and emitted a fine light from its apex. I quickly hid the light as to not alert the guards, but they are fast approaching.
I picked up the mirror with one hand and hid the magnifying glass with the other. Then, in an instant when the guard are only a foot away from the crossing the corner, I threw the mirror parallel to them. At almost the same time, I turned the Holy Magnifying Glass toward the mirror - Its beam bounced off the mirror and blinded the left guard's vision. In many previous regressions, I had to calculate the Angle of Incidence and use the Law of Reflection [1, 2] to find the right spot to aim the Holy Magnifying Glass at the mirror to create the best reflection to hit the guards, but I had since memorized the most accurate spot, so it doesn't matter anymore.
"Agh, what the fuck was that?"
I paid no attention to his pain and instantly adjusted the mirror to strike the right guard's eyes. Using Ashen Steps, I immediately ran past the guards and saw the gate in front of me. The ominous red aura exuding from the large, ovular portal is a familiar sight - The Gate of Solace. Interestingly, The Gate of Solace, and all other gates for that matter, have been around since the dawn of time in various worlds throughout the universe.
System Notification.
[The host of the Gate of Solace finds your performance amusing and invites you to challenge the hardest difficulty of the gate. Do you accept?]
[Yes | No]
I spared no hesitation and clicked "Yes." In the next moment, I was transported to another world and the entrance key became nothing but dust.
***
The world around me is a fallen world. No, more accurately, it was a fallen world.
System Notification.
[You are entering the 1st round's Judgement Day. You are not at the recommended level for this gate. Are you sure what you are doing is worth it?]
"Tch... so sentimental." I scoffed at the message slightly.
The Gate of Solace is a touchy subject for most who are aware of it. While it technically is another world, it is more accurate to say it's a dream world. It transforms into the worst day imaginable for the Players who enter it. Of course, for me, that day had already happened, and I just had to relive it.
"Judgement Day again, huh..." I said nonchalantly to myself.
My surroundings were that of a ruined world. I am in the heart of London where the 5th Trial of The Games took place [3].
Fortunately, time inside this dream world moved slower than in the real world, so one hour in this world is 4 hours in the real one. Since I have 30 minutes left before The Games start, I essentially only have 2 hours in here to complete the mission, but that doesn't bother me.
System Notification.
[Judgement Day occurs whenever a civilization fails a Trial within The Games and their home world becomes one with The Games.]
The Games system autogenerates messages like this, but I knew all too much about it. After all, I lived it 999 times now.
"I need a smoke..." I said as I rubbed on the back of my neck.
System Notification.
Clear Condition: Relive the 1st round's Judgement Day and then face the host of the Gate of Solace
Clear reward: Unknown/Variable
Item Acquisition Difficulty: Unknown/Variable
Everyone I knew and 'loved' was here. Right now, they are fighting for their lives in the 5th Trial across town inside the Storm of Eternity - a black cloud-like structure encasing the Trial.
I had already confirmed in other Trials that my 1st round self didn't exist in the Gate of Solace and instead, everyone would simply recognize me as my 1st round variant from a thousand years ago.
With my perfect memory, I know exactly how I acted from back then, should I run into any of them. However, I have since lost much of myself since the first round. Of course, I can recall how kindly I was to my friends and family and how I was quite optimistic about beating The Games. But, no matter how hard I try, there would simply be no possible way for me to pretend to act how I did back then. It is simply not in my nature anymore.
A moment later, I opened by status window.
Cindered Regressor Jason Mores [Hidden]
LEVEL 1
Sponsor(s): Uriel (Legendary) [Hidden] , ??? [Hidden]
Special Class: Regressor [Hidden]
Class: [None]
Unique Skills: Ashen Steps (Legendary) [Hidden]
Traits: View Item
Stats
Vitality - LVL 1
Mana - LVL 1
Strength - LVL 2
Agility - LVL 2
Perception - LVL 5
Special Stats
Intelligence - LVL MAX
Luck - LVL 5
Even though I knew I didn't retain my 1st round's enhanced status, I had to confirm. Naturally, the same status as I had when I woke up earlier in the Church of Revelation is the same status I have now. I'll certainly have to factor this as I approach this mission.
After closing the status window, I held the Holy Magnifying Glass up to my face to make certain of my appearance.
"Right..."
As expected, I don't look any different to when I woke up earlier. The same scar splitting my right eyebrow crept to my eye, pure green eyes and a middle parted, dark brown hair - my normal 22 year old self. Back when I was 22, I recalled how I always wore a white trench coat embroidered in emeralds with black jeans. Though, this color scheme doesn't suite my taste as much now. Naturally, my clothes and legs are also somewhat singed from using Ashen Steps earlier, but it was barely noticeable since I only activated the ability for 2 seconds. My skin is still singed, but these new clothes I am wearing are not.
I then put the mirror in my back pocket
Looking out into the distance of the city, people are screaming and buildings are on fire. Some are desperately looking for loved ones and others are trying to run away from the Storm of Eternity. In the sky sat one of the most important people in this gate.
"Jophiel." I called out to her from a far distance. However, I knew she could still hear me with her blessed senses as an Angel.
She looked down at me with interest. I detested her black wings and black halo, which used to shine bright white.
"Interesting... Human, how do you know my name?"
Though her words were filled with curiosity, her voice conveyed no such intention.
I began to walk toward her until we were face to face.
[1] If interested, Angle of Incidence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_incidence_(optics)
[2] If interested, Law of Reflection: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflection_(physics)
[3] "Levels" have now been changed to "Trials" for clarity.