[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
Chapter 97 - Another Possibility (5)
The black mist covered the continent.
Gradually, the monsters tore down the walls, breached the defenses, and swallowed up desolate villages.
Screams echoed across the empire's streets, while in the center of the squares, countless hos were engulfed in a massive inferno.
Monsters sward, and diseases spread.
Children wailed for their lost parents, while decaying corpses, horrifically rotted, began to fill the streets.
Under the blackened sky, the empire sank deeper into utter despair.
When even the Imperial Palace—the sun of the empire—finally crumbled…
Isabel, Luna.
And.
rlin.
Without exception, all of them perished.
— Playback concluded.
And so, the world was destroyed.
The mont I realized that, I felt my breath catch in the overwhelming chaos.
Every possible future had been twisted beyond recognition.
The horrific change was beyond any comprehension.
Why rlin had suddenly started choosing death at so point.
Why she hadn’t chosen it this ti.
And…
“Why the black mist…”
Why the trigger for the world’s destruction had been pulled.
All these anomalies pointed toward one single possibility.
In that mont, sothing rlin had once whispered to flashed through my mind.
— As you know, this world is a constructed one.
— One day, I realized that horrible truth.
A constructed world.
She had found it utterly repulsive.
— Ah, I’m just a pawn on a set board.
She had called herself a pawn.
No matter how hard she tried to resist, she could only play out the predetermined fate laid out before her.
— So are born with the destiny of saving the world, while others, for no reason at all, bear the hatred of many. And still others are forced to relive their lives over and over, paying for failing to fulfill their assigned roles.
Then I understood.
Why each word rlin had spoken to struck a strange chord of familiarity.
The more we talked, the more I felt a deep, indescribable sense of kinship.
— Eventually, I just grew tired of it all.
— This world, and living a life surrounded by hatred.
rlin was suffering under a terrible curse.
Dying hundreds of tis, struggling for centuries in endless tornt, only to be thrown back into a nightmarish life, again and again.
“…Regression.”
Finally, everything made sense.
Why she chose to end her own life, and why, in the end, she chose to destroy the world.
How many tis had she gone through regression?
What had broken her so completely?
Before I had ti to dwell on it, a window appeared before in the air, asking the familiar question.
— Would you like to replay the mories?
I looked at it silently.
After a mont of hesitation, I nodded slowly.
****
When I opened my eyes, I was in Kyle Winfred’s room.
As soon as I collected my thoughts, I checked the date.
March 11.
Exactly when a new round began.
“…So it’s started again.”
It had started over.
Which ant the previous round had co to an end.
The black mist.
In the end, that terrible disaster had destroyed the world.
As soon as I gathered my wits, I imdiately summoned the old butler.
A new round had begun, so there was still work to be done.
“You called, Young Master?”
“I need you to investigate soone. Her na is rlin Trivia, female, location…”
Investigating rlin Trivia had beco sothing of a habit for .
Whenever a new round started, rlin was the only thing that ever changed.
“rlin Trivia, you say?”
The old butler tilted his head in confusion.
“What is it?”
“Oh, it’s just… that’s the sa na as the woman who has just co to see you.”
“The sa na?”
“Yes, her na is also rlin Trivia.”
rlin Trivia had co to see .
In all the countless rounds I’d observed, I’d never experienced anything like this.
“Where is she now?”
“She’s waiting at the mansion’s front gate.”
“Escort her to the reception room.”
“Understood, sir.”
She had co looking for —or rather, for Kyle.
For what purpose?
What could she want so urgently that, unlike in all the other rounds, she had refused to choose death and had co to find Kyle instead?
“Young Master, I’ll lead you to the reception room.”
The old butler returned to my room and led to the reception room.
As I entered, I saw a woman seated there.
rlin Trivia.
Her familiar appearance left montarily speechless.
“So, it’s you?”
The corners of rlin’s mouth curled up as she saw .
“Kyle Winfred. Known as the illegitimate child of the Winfred Dukedom, but in truth… originally of the imperial family’s collateral bloodline, aren’t you?”
Her sharp green eyes bored into .
“It struck as odd. A man like you, who has no connection to whatsoever, persistently sends people to investigate in every single round. Why?”
Her sudden question was unexpected.
Yet, rlin’s expression remained strangely blank.
“You know, don’t you?”
“Know what?”
“That I’m reliving my life over and over. You know, don’t you?”
For a mont, I was at a loss for words.
Her gaze was so confident that I couldn’t even attempt to deflect the question.
“At first, it was just a suspicion. But now I’m sure.”
She rose abruptly from her seat.
“You’re clearly human, yet there’s no stench of decay.”
One step.
Then another.
“What are you?”
rlin took slow steps toward .
“Why do you keep ddling?”
Sohow, the question felt familiar.
When we first t, she had asked the sa question.
“Answer .”
Her sharp gaze scrutinized from head to toe.
For a young woman’s face, she looked terribly exhausted.
“Are you here just to watch lose my mind? Are you curious to see how I’ll die this ti? Does it amuse you to see alone, struggling in a world that plays out the sa way every single ti?”
A torrent of resentnt poured from her.
Misplaced anger and reproach spilled forth.
“Ha.”
rlin laughed quietly, as if finding it all amusing.
But the laughter quickly faded from her face.
“You irritate .”
Her voice was low, brittle, like a sound that broke as it left her lips.
“It drives insane.”
Her dry tone was oddly hollow.
That wasn’t exactly what she’d said, but that’s how it sounded to .
At first, it was re curiosity.
As she’d said, rlin alone broke free from her assigned role in this world that ran the sa course every ti.
Then, at so point, as she kept choosing death, I began to feel a strange kinship with her.
I pitied her.
It was too wretched.
If I hadn’t had the hope of returning to my original world, if I were condemned to an endlessly repeating life, I would have made the sa choice as her.
Eventually, when she finally gave in to the world’s malice and chose to destroy it…
“….”
I had no words.
I wasn’t in a position to worry about anyone else; nothing in this world mattered to , aside from Diana.
And yet, sohow…
For so reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Maybe I was simply tired from viewing the mories on repeat.
I couldn’t be sure of the exact reason myself.
“I was just watching.”
I broke the silence in a calm voice.
“Watching?”
“Yes.”
“Why? For what reason?”
“Because your situation is similar to mine.”
I left out any words of sympathy.
I never had any intention of pitying her.
I had no intention of feeling sorry for her.
I simply couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
“Similar?”
“You could say they’re close enough.”
rlin paused at my words.
A faint tremor flickered in her eyes, then disappeared.
“…Are you regressing too?”
“No, not that.”
“Then what?”
“I’m not sure what to call it.”
“This isn’t the ti for gas.”
“I’m serious.”
At that, her face darkened.
I chuckled and continued.
“Are you planning to destroy the world again?”
“If I am, are you going to try to stop ?”
I understood.
She thought that if she completely ended the world, this cursed cycle would stop as well.
But it wasn’t a good idea.
All that would happen was the world would reset.
“I wouldn’t recomnd it.”
“…Explain.”
“When a person recovers from a major illness, they develop immunity to lesser ailnts. The world works the sa way. Even if you unleash black calamities or whatever, a hero will erge to counter it, and new solutions will appear.”
The world, bound by causality, has self-correcting chanisms.
In other words, no matter how much she twists things, the end result will always be the sa.
“….”
Her fingertips trembled slightly.
It was, without a doubt, the real rlin behind her strong facade.
“There’s no need to worry.”
Before I realized it, I found myself speaking words I hadn’t intended.
“One day, you’ll leave this place too.”
It was impulsive.
I couldn’t hold myself back.
“To a real world, one that wasn’t hastily constructed.”
At my words, rlin’s mouth fell open.
“Wait, what do you an by that?”
“Ah, I’m feeling drowsy.”
“What? Explain properly! You’re saying I can leave? ?”
I couldn’t give her a proper answer.
In truth, my mind was already growing hazy.
“Answer ! No, you have to answer . Please… I’ll do anything. Whatever you want…”
As my consciousness began to drift, rlin’s voice echoed in the distance.
Her tone was so desperate that I felt I might say sothing even more if I kept listening, so I closed my eyes halfway.
“…rlin.”
A completely muffled voice rose from deep within .
“March… 11th.”
March 11th.
The point where a new round begins if the mories are played back.
rlin’s voice echoed as if underwater.
Listening to that faint sound in my ears, I murmured softly, as if squeezing out my last bit of strength.
“Rember…”
With that final word…
“…it.”
Once more, I lost consciousness.
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Demon God]
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