Pain, damn it!

I’m already back to square one!

What kind of maniac freezes people to death for looking at her while bathing in the middle of a forest? Wouldn’t it be her own fault for trying to take a bath in an open area without setting up any barriers or precautions to prevent being walked up on?

Ah, that’s right. Logic doesn’t make sense here. I should have known that after seeing over thirty tiny, little dwarf men overrun a group of humans nearly twice their size.

Sigh, I really do have nothing against you Mr. Dwarf. If only you didn’t try to kill me so quickly, I might have tried to get to know you and give you a chance to not kill me. After all, it would be only natural if I were to accidentally lodge a crossbow bolt with deadly precision into your heart if you come towards me like that.

Let’s get this over with.

One swift jump… Whoa!

What the hell?! Why did he change up his movements?!

He’s not supposed to follow up with a dash after I jump back!

Time freeze!

Okay, okay, calm down brain. Let’s analyze this situation.

The situation may be compromised because of that slight change in the dwarf’s movements but there should still be a logical way to get out of this scenario.

That scimitar of his is awfully close though. Given another second or two, it would likely slash straight through my upper chest to lower stomach without much resistance. Dodging in this scenario would be extremely difficult; it would be much more effective to block the attack with my crossbow.

Argh, was it the time it took for me to jump backwards that changed the reaction of the dwarf? Maybe I jumped back too quickly before he had a chance to shift his weight into his extended leg and gave him an opportunity to lunge towards me instead of stumbling forwards.

At the very least, I think I have an answer to some of my previous questions.

How do I use this ability? By dying.

Can I use it to defeat my enemies? Potentially, yes.

How far back can I traverse? All the way back to fighting this dwarf man.

Can I set checkpoints? It would appear that I cannot or at least do not know how to.

The final question of how many times I can die still remains a mystery. Although I probably shouldn’t be testing out this theorem of mine and end up actually dying, there is no reason to fear death when making a risky maneuver that might take my life.

Although, if I end up returning back here each time I die, does that mean I am immortal?

Will I just continue to live like this for the rest of eternity? If I find friends and companions to aid me along the way, will I have to reforge friendships and build the foundations of my life from scratch?

What happens if I live for another fifty years before dying? Will I have to relive another fifty years before being able to continue on with my life?

Even if I die of natural causes after my hair turns white, my back becomes brittle, and my skin becomes wrinkled, will I come all the way back to this point in time and be forced to live through it all over again?

…I should probably stop theorizing about such things. The more I think about it, the more depressed I’m starting to get.

Focus. Focus back onto the task on hand.

If I use my crossbow to block the dwarf’s sword, there is a very small chance that the sword might be able to break through the heavy wood; overall, however, I believe this is where my best chance lies at survival even if it means I have to discard the crossbow.

My crossbow holding arm is already raised at an optimal angle for quickly blocking the scimitar at a moment's notice. If I were to unfreeze time now, I could swing the piece of wood around and let it receive the blow from the dwarf’s sword without much effort.

Before I do so, I need to contemplate my next moves.

As experienced before, the strength of this body is nothing to be proud of. I think it’s already a miracle that I’m capable of holding the heavy crossbow in my hand without dropping it. If I were to receive the full force of that blade onto my arms, I would collapse without question.

Instead of taking the blow entirely, perhaps it would be better to try and parry the sword towards the ground and hope that the blade gets caught in the dirt.

Even if the sword doesn’t hit the ground, as long as the crossbow doesn’t break on first contact with the scimitar, I believe that I’ll be able to shoot the dwarf with a bolt after he loses his balance.

If the crossbow does break… well, there’s nothing else I can really do except running for my life into the forest and hoping the dwarf man doesn’t chase me.

Huuu… am I ready? I don’t think I’m ever truly ready for what life throws at me.

Time is beginning to thaw now, motion is returning to the world.

Quickly, move the crossbow into position and par-

*Twang~!*

Ah, shit.

I didn’t consider turning the crossbow so that the dwarf’s sword would avoid slicing the string. The bolt has probably flown off fifty or so meters away by now and is of no tactical use to me anymore. How the hell can I be so unlucky?

That still doesn’t change too much of my plan B, however. Now, body! Parry!

Side-step here, twist your waist there, and put force into your legs before jumping away!

Was I successful? I have no clue.

All I know is that the dwarf’s scimitar isn’t going to hit me and now I have a clear escape route towards the forest.

I’m already out of breath from that small bout, but there’s quite a distance of running that I’m going to need to go if I want to escape from this battlefield.

But who cares if I’m tired? When presented with a good chance at escaping, there is no living creature alive that wouldn’t take the chance if death was guaranteed otherwise.

Now, my body, run!