SSS-Class Revival Hunter.
A hunter receives a power that only works through death, turning the tower into a problem of knowledge and sacrifice.
Also known as: SSS-Class Suicide Hunter · SSS-Class Hunter Who Dies to Live
Why read it?
Choose this if you want the loop to change how characters relate to each other as well as how they fight.
Where to read
- Tapas ↗English digital · service scheduled to end in March 2027
Story, powers & world
Gongja Kim, called Confucius Kim in the Tapas edition, sees a celebrated Hunter’s actions at close range. Death gives him a skill that can carry information across a day. The opening turns a story about wanting power into a question about what he can do with something he remembers and nobody else has seen.
Catalog synopsis on MangaBaka ↗Synopsis credited to Tapas
Opening spoilers · Tapas comic chapters 1–3, through Skill Activation
Opening recap4 notes
- Envy earns a skill card
The protagonist watches an interview where a solo boss kill is part of the Flame Emperor’s public reputation. He wishes for the same kind of skill and receives a card, which looks like a chance to change his position in the Tower.
- A public hero becomes a witness problem
He witnesses a confrontation involving Saint Isabelle and the Flame Emperor. The Emperor questions him about what he saw and claims he can detect lies. The encounter ends with the Emperor killing the witness.
- The reward changes the rules of the loss
The copying skill activates and awards a second ability. Its card explains that death sends him back by a day, so the first defeat can reveal a route to act on knowledge of the encounter.
- An emergency looks different the second time
In the earlier branch he sees Hunters responding to a fire and hears the Flame Emperor ask what he would get in exchange for helping. The returned witness can interpret that public exchange using information from the fatal encounter.
Powers & world rules4 notes
- Tower reputation is an imperfect signal
Success inside the Tower produces celebrities and gives other Hunters a model to imitate. The first volume’s premise makes the leading Hunter the person who kills the protagonist, separating public prestige from what a newcomer can safely infer.
- The killer determines the possible reward
One skill card triggers when an enemy kills him and copies a random skill from that enemy. The card also limits repeat copying from the same killer. Choosing the encounter and choosing the result are separate things.
- The clock is fixed and knowledge persists
The second card triggers on death, sends the user back twenty-four hours, and preserves skills and memories. Its warning says penalties rise with skill rank. The warning does not state how to calculate the cost.
- Memory gives a lead, not a public record
The protagonist can use the previous day to recognize an event or suspect someone’s motives. The early fire scene makes that useful before it gives him any leverage with the other people there.
Later story notes4 notesLater comic spoilers · Ize Press volumes 2, 4 and 5, including the twentieth-floor result
- Knowing the technique is different from having the body for it
During practical training, Gongja forces aura to flow while fighting an orc. His mentor warns that using it without a proper passage through his body can do serious harm. The scene shows a bodily training limit alongside the abilities he acquires from deaths.
- Guild backing changes the cost of an attack
The Paladin intervenes when the Blade Saint seeks a private confrontation. She says Gongja joined the five great guilds and that the City Watch would treat an attack on him as an attack on all of them. This is a specific alliance claim in the scene, with its credibility dependent on the people standing behind it.
- A correct prediction can still fail a trust test
The Blade Saint judges Gongja through Detective’s Insight. Gongja uses repeated returns to anticipate his questions, but the Blade Saint considers rival explanations such as mind reading or sight through objects. A correct answer gives Gongja a way into the conversation without settling which explanation is true.
- The twentieth-floor victory leaves people in danger
The fifth volume begins after Gongja defeats the twentieth-floor boss. The synopsis presents a new threat from a crowd that wants to punish Esther and people associated with her, including innocents. Clearing the floor and preventing harm to its population are different outcomes.
Additional research notesOpening spoilers · English comic through Skill Activation
Plot and turning points
- 1. A wish with a cost
An ordinary Tower hunter wants the success of those above him. He receives a skill that copies an ability from the person who kills him. At first the price makes the reward seem useless.
Tapas English comic · Publisher synopsisIze Press comic vol. 1 · Publisher volumeTapas comic chapter 3 · Skill Activation · Comic panels
- 2. A death reveals two linked skills
The Flame Emperor kills him. The first skill activates and gives him a second ability that returns him to the past when he dies, letting him act on knowledge of the encounter.
Tapas English comic · Publisher synopsisTapas comic chapter 3 · Skill Activation · Comic panels
Characters and factions
- Gongja Kim / Confucius Kim
The Ize Press and Tapas English editions name the same protagonist differently. His envy of the strongest Hunters drives his opening wish, and witnessing the Flame Emperor changes what he wants from the climb.
Tapas English comic · Publisher synopsisIze Press comic vol. 1 · Publisher volume
- The Flame Emperor
A celebrated top Hunter who kills the protagonist. His hidden ability creates the connection between a fatal encounter and regression.
Tapas English comic · Publisher synopsisIze Press comic vol. 1 · Publisher volume
World and lore
- The Tower
A dungeon-like world with floors and a hierarchy of Hunters. Reputation makes powerful people worth watching and can hide what they do when the public is absent.
Tapas English comic · Publisher synopsisIze Press comic vol. 1 · Publisher volume
Powers, rules and limits
- Copy at death
The skill card grants a random skill from the person who killed him. The same opponent cannot supply repeated copies. Learning an enemy’s identity is therefore a different decision from choosing which ability to acquire.
- Rewind with retained state
The second card rewinds twenty-four hours after death and preserves memories and skills. The two abilities form a loop with a specific trigger, a fixed interval, and exceptions to what gets reset.
Find video recaps on YouTube ↗
Rank & reviews
A MangaUpdates rating hasn’t been matched for this title.
- MangaBaka popularity
- #28 overall
- Popularity in manhwa
- #5
- MangaBaka rating
- 83.8 / 100
MangaBaka record ↗ · Captured
See the source charts →Your private review
Saved on this device.
Source signals
Audience & ratings
- MangaDex Bayesian rating
- 9.23 / 10
- MangaDex follows
- 84,836
MangaDex record ↗ · Captured
Read next
Readers also like
MangaBaka reader overlap · Captured
- Pick Me Upmanhwa · 2022
- The Infinite Magemanhwa · 2022
- Omniscient Readermanhwa · 2020
- The Greatest Estate Developermanhwa · 2021
The Witness Before Dawn
Original game concept
A time-loop investigation in a single district. A witness retains what they learned when a day rewinds, but the district will act only on evidence they can obtain again.
Core loop
- Observe a suspect’s route and record one fact that could change how you spend the next day.
- If your investigation ends in defeat, rewind with that fact and one uncertain tool learned from the attacker.
- Use the new tool to find corroboration, then decide which person to trust with the record before the final event.
- What the player decides
- Risk an encounter with an untested suspect to gain a tool for the next loop, or use the remaining time to secure a statement from a witness who will otherwise leave.
- First playable test
- One district, two suspects, four timed events, and at most two loops. Include one fact that is enough to guide an investigation but insufficient for the final accusation. Test whether players find a second route to corroborate it.