Cold. That was the initial feeling Ryo Takashi experienced. A bone-chilling, numbing cold that encircled him like a merciless clasp.
His body plunged further into the dark lake's waters, his limbs not moving, his lungs gasping for the breath they so urgently needed. He tried to struggle, but the harder he fought, the more quickly his energy ebbed. His sight grew dim as the last of the air bubbles slipped from his mouth, floated up toward the surface.
Is this how I die?
A quiet unease came over him. In his receding awareness, memories flooded in—shattered, disordered, but all converging on this one instant.
He recalled the letter of acceptance.
He never once applied to Celestia Academy, yet somehow, he got an invite. His mom had been thrilled, shoving him through the grand entrance of the elite school. He never even asked himself how a regular guy like him ended up being accepted into an institution that did not even exist on any map.
Then the entrance ceremony. Dozens of students, each stranger than the last—horned devils, ethereal creatures with luminescent wings, vampire aristocrats with eyes like red gemstones. Ryo had stood there with them, standing out, bewildered, completely human.
Then the headmistress had pronounced his name.
"You… aren't supposed to be here."
The hallway was silent. Whispers hung in the air, ghostly students whispering in hushed tones of the Celestial Record, a holy tome that only saw the chosen.
And his name had been on it.
Even while the headmistress deliberated what to do with him, Ryo had sensed an ominous shadow hanging over him. He had not realized it at the time, but that was when all the pieces had begun falling into place for his demise.
A couple of days later, he had been attacked—pushed to this isolated lake by a group of students who didn't appreciate an 'unworthy human' among them. He recalled their jeering voices, their snickers. And then…
A shove.
A brutal push into the icy void.
His lungs protested. His mind went dark. His heart slowed down.
No… I don't want to die like this!
As his awareness faded, a robotic voice sounded in the recesses of his mind.
[System Activation: Limitless Regression Unlocked]
And then—nothing.
Ryo gasped.
Air filled his lungs as he bolted upright, his body no longer underwater. He was… standing? No, he was back—at the front gates of Celestia Academy.
The great golden gates towered ahead of him, the same students talking as they walked by, unaware of his existence. He jerked his head around. This was—this was where he had been when he entered this world for the first time.
A chilling realization hit him.
He had died.
And yet, here he was.
Alive.
Back at the start.
How?