Tanking wasn’t about standing there and getting pummeled like an idiot. The real skill lay in blocking and absorbing damage without shattering every bone in your body. A good tank didn’t just endure hits; they made it look effortless.

That was what Theresa had been practicing day and night, blocking, bracing, and taking hits until her arms felt like they were going to fall off. She had tossed aside her old days as a so-called romantic warrior swinging a two-handed hammer and was grinding to become a real, unshakable tank. After several brutal days of training, a message appeared on her phone.

Do-Jin: How’s the tank practice going?

Theresa replied that things were going fine. She was getting the hang of the shield and had been doing her best.

Do-Jin: Good. Then it’s time for some serious training.

She froze for a moment, already bracing herself. She’d been in a party with Do-Jin before, so she knew exactly what that meant.

Even if it kills me, I’ll grit my teeth and push through.

Having gone through it once already, Theresa thought she was mentally prepared this time. The moment she rejoined his party, however, she realized just how wrong she’d been. Do-Jin’s “training” was hell on earth. The hunts, dungeons, and fights all blurred into one long nightmare.

Wherever they went, Theresa ended up in the worst possible situations, and it wasn’t bad luck; Do-Jin chose every spot precisely because it was torture for a tank. She was still rough around the edges, more of a last-minute makeshift tank than a real one, yet he kept throwing her into brutal encounters and expected her to adapt on the fly. It was pure agony, and the only thing keeping her moving was sheer stubborn pride.

The feedback came in constantly. It was all solid advice, if only it didn’t come packaged with pain, bruises, and the occasional mental breakdown.

“Don’t just block with the shield. Use your shield skills. Knock the enemy’s timing off with a shield bash!”

“When the monsters charge the mage or healer, standing still isn’t an option. If the enemy’s got the front line pinned, reposition and block the path before the back line gets shredded!”

“You’re doing better, but what the hell happened there? You went flying from that boss hit because you took it straight on. You should’ve braced in a defensive stance and caught it at an angle. You can’t just tank everything head-on.”

“Move, move, move! The tank needs to block the entrance before the mobs flood out of the boss room! That’s how you make the fight easier!”

To put those lessons into practice, Theresa had to push past every limit, grinding until her bones felt like powder and her arms shook so badly she could barely keep her shield up. Soso, the team’s quiet healer, wasn’t having an easy time either. Keeping Theresa’s half-empty health bar from hitting zero was its own kind of hell.

Still, there was one silver lining to all of it. Even when Theresa screwed up, even when Soso was seconds from passing out from mana exhaustion, the party never actually came close to wiping. Do-Jin always kept an eye on their health and mana bars, and whenever things got truly dire, he stepped in and blew everything to hell with overwhelming firepower.

It felt like training under a sadistic guardian angel who never let them die but made sure they wished they could. Day after day, Theresa was dragged along by Do-Jin, run through a safe but soul-crushing regimen that was undeniably valuable and absolutely brutal on her mental health. By the time the end of January rolled around, she could barely tell if she was stronger or just too numb to care.

Then, the announcement finally came.

[A fragment of the Star of Ruin, Laves, will fall upon Lostania. The harbinger of calamity shall appear to carry out destiny’s blade.]

[On February 1st, 12 AM PST, the pre-event quest Unfinished Business will open in preparation for the first World Boss Raid. All players can participate. Levels will be equalized for fairness.]

[Progress in Unfinished Business will affect the difficulty of the upcoming World Boss Raid.]

[The first players to clear the quest will receive special privileges usable during the raid.]

***

Do-Jin read the new announcement with a frown. There was nothing like this in the previous timeline.

A pre-quest before a World Boss Raid wasn’t unusual in itself. There had been plenty of world events in the past where the devs tossed out a bit of setup before the main event. However, something felt off this time.

The first World Boss Raid started when a fragment of the Star of Ruin crashed into Lostania. There were no signs or warnings... The announcement didn’t even show up until days after the event was already underway.

That was all Do-Jin remembered. Back then, players didn’t have a single moment to prepare. They were thrown straight into chaos, and the result was a bloodbath.

If the system was giving out an early warning this time, the intent was obvious. It was trying to prevent that same disaster from happening again. The devs, or whatever force was controlling this world, were moving early to make sure the World Boss didn’t wipe out half the player base.

But this... this is more than just a warning. The timeline must be shifting.

The announcement had gone up over a month before the March event, along with a brand-new pre-quest that hadn’t existed before. The reason wasn’t hard to figure out. If anything in this world had diverged from the past, it was almost certainly because of him. He was the one who had come back from the dead. Every ripple, every unexpected twist traced back to that fact.

The most likely cause is the Tower of Trials. The last world event played out differently this time.

He had cleared the final floor of the Tower, something no one had done before. Because of that, the entire world had been under the blessing of the Star of Creation for weeks, maybe months. Player growth had exploded so much that the average level across the board had jumped by at least five, some by ten.

If world events aren’t tied to real time but to player strength, then it tracks. Faster growth probably pushed the next event forward. But this pre-quest still doesn’t make sense. I have no idea what it does or where it leads. I was counting on having another month, too...

Do-Jin tightened his grip on the mouse as frustration rose. Maybe the rewards from this quest would make up for the lost time, but there was no way to know until it began. Only one thing was certain. If the pre-quest went sideways, the raid was as good as failed. Every veteran player of LOST had one rule hammered into their skull: never, ever trust Möbius.

The so-called difficulty adjustment based on quest progress wasn’t a mercy system. It wasn’t the system’s way of saying, “If everyone works hard, we’ll make it easier for you.” It was more like, “Go ahead and screw it up. I dare you. I’ll show you what hell actually looks like.”

Suddenly, the sharp ringing of an alarm dragged him out of his thoughts. It was a three-minute warning until February 1st.

Do-Jin leaned forward in his chair and let out a short breath. “I guess I’ll see what’s changed for myself.” He stood up and walked toward the capsule, ready to dive in and see firsthand what the altered future had in store.

***

As soon as he logged in, a window popped up in front of him.

[Special Quest Unfinished Business is now available.]

[Unfinished Business can be entered from February 1st to February 10th. You may enter only once.]

[During this period, players can enter a dedicated instance dungeon to progress through the quest.]

So it really is an instance quest. I figured as much when they mentioned level adjustment and universal access, but seeing it confirmed still feels weird.

Once he confirmed that the quest system worked as expected, Do-Jin created the quest dungeon, and a few warning prompts appeared.

[Once you enter, re-entry is impossible.]

[If you die, you cannot retry.]

They keep hammering home the “One shot only!” message. That’s never a good sign...

Everything about it announced danger in capital letters. Whatever this quest was, it was going to have a massive impact on the upcoming World Boss Raid. It was a pain that his regression advantage was becoming harder to exploit, but there wasn’t a thing he could do about that now.

Fine. If the game wants to play hardball, I’ll just do it better.

Do-Jin stepped into the portal with quiet resolve, and the world began to shift around him. A boundless expanse of pure white stretched in every direction. It was eerily familiar. It was the same place he’d seen on the tenth floor of the Tower of Trials, or at least something that looked a lot like it.

“Wait... this place...”

Before he could make sense of it, a voice echoed through the emptiness. “Hello again, reckless human. Long time no see. I had more time to prepare, so I even remembered to make sound this time.”

The light appeared, the same one from before, flickering with countless shifting colors. It waved at him with an oddly humanlike hand made of shimmering light. Its movement was full of casual, almost cheerful energy.

“Of course it’s you...”

Seeing the familiar glow, Do-Jin felt his suspicions click into place. So it really was because the Tower of Trials had changed.

The light tilted its head curiously. “What do you mean by that?”

Do-Jin looked around, masking his thoughts with a neutral expression. “I figured you’d show up again when I saw this place. It looked too familiar.”

He couldn’t exactly go around saying that the unknown variable had appeared because he was a regressor.

The light, his old acquaintance from the tower, nodded. The gesture was oddly vivid despite its form. “I told you back then, didn’t I? Thanks to you, I might be able to return one day.”

“You called yourself the Warden of the Tower, right?”

The light shook its head gently. “That was only the role I held at the time. My true nature is closer to the other title I mentioned, the Helper. I exist to assist your kind, the Regenians, in overcoming their trials.”

“A helper, huh. That explains why you’re here. So if you were able to come back because of me, that means if I hadn’t opened the tenth floor of the Tower—”

“Then I wouldn’t have been able to return, let alone offer help in this way. Of course, you’re the only Regenian who can meet me directly.”

Do-Jin smirked faintly. “What an honor to have an exclusive audience with a mysterious glowing being. So, do you mind telling me why you went through the trouble of setting up this grand little meeting?”

The light’s colors rippled softly as it stared at him in silence for a moment. Despite having no face, it somehow felt like it was smiling.

“I wish I could offer more than honor, but that’s not why I’m here. I came to give a warning.”

“A warning?”

“Yes.” The light drifted closer. Its glow dimmed slightly as if it was growing more serious. “When you cleared the Tower of Trials and achieved the highest result, your people grew stronger, but the trial’s balance changed because of it. The hardships that await you have grown stronger too.”

Do-Jin clenched his jaw. So basically, the difficulty just got cranked up to hell mode...

“Ruin never gives up,” the light continued. “Whenever someone tries to alter the trajectory of fate, it resists, trying to force everything back to its original course.”

Fate’s power to change and Ruin’s power to undo were two forces locked in constant opposition.

“The flow has already shifted, even if only slightly. To restore the original trajectory, Ruin must now exert greater power. That imbalance has created resources, the very resources that we used to form this quest.” As it finished explaining, the light began to fade rapidly. Its edges blurred into the white void.

“It seems my time’s up.”

Do-Jin raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to leave me with anything before you go? A little advice maybe?”

“Unfortunately, direct advice isn’t possible. Every Regenian must have an equal chance. But maybe this much won’t break the rules.” The voice grew faint, echoing from somewhere far away now. “This story is already complete... a tale that reached its tragic end in a world that failed. The end—”

Do-Jin stood there, staring into the empty light. It wasn’t as if he expected any real answers, but missing the rest of that message still left a sour taste in his mouth. Still, there was no time to dwell on it.

[Special Quest Unfinished Business has begun.]

A chill ran down his spine as the message appeared. He tightened his fists and took a slow breath. This was a quest he’d never seen and a story he didn’t know.