Chapter 84
The Power of
the Mirror of Foresight
Translator : PolterGlast
"Like hell I can
do something like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Like hell I can do
that—can do that—can do that—can do that……
I didn't know at the
time that when my voice echoed far away, Lotus, who had been waiting, crossed
his arms and flinched slightly.
Anyway.
Even if I conceded
that Yuko had a reason for not leveling up, "just loop" was
ridiculous.
"D-d-d-do you
think I can, you idiooooooot!!!!"
I almost grabbed her
by the neck in my fury. This wasn't a game. Or was it a game? Was that what she
meant?
"Loop? There was
no such system in The Tale of the Land of Five Leaves, was there!? What in the
world are you talking about!?"
I was so confused that
my speech became a little more refined. I stretched myself up with all my might
and shook the collar of her robe violently. "W-w, w, w, wha! What are you
talking about!? Of course you can!" Our conversation was completely off.
"El-san, let's
cool down a bit," Ichi and the others said as they climbed onto my head
and cooled me down, so I managed to calm down a bit, but I was still panting
with both hands in front of me. It was like a Jiangshi pose.
"Y-you can, of
course...?"
Yuko was a girl with a
slightly higher tension than most people, but she didn't say wrong things when
it came to games. She was probably more faithful to the game than anyone. She
straightened the collar of her robe, which had been crumpled by my pulling, and
took a step back. "Like I said, a loop. If you go to a hidden route, you
can ask God to let you do it." "Ask God?" I thought.
"Asking God...
isn't that the permanent servant route...?"
God would grant one
wish to those who discovered him. It was also a salvation route when the
protagonist's level was low, so it was no wonder that name came up now. But it
was a salvation route in name only. In reality, you would become a slave,
managing the roots of the World Tree without being able to return to your
original world, so it wasn't a route you would want to choose willingly. That
being "loop" didn't quite make sense. When I tilted my head, Yuko
furrowed her brow. "Could it be, you..." Her voice was full of
suspicion.
"..........You
haven't played all the routes, have you?"
"Huh? I have.
Cloudy, Soleil, Leyshan, and Hail Land. I've covered the stories of all the
countries, and of course, the grand finale ending too."
"Not that. Have
you played all the normal and happy endings for all the characters?"
All the normal and
happy endings for all the characters. In other words, the friendship and
romance endings. I had only played the normal ending for Lotus's route. "I
haven't, but..." I looked up at Yuko, confused, wondering if something was
wrong. Yuko had the face of a demon.
A Hannya mask was
right there.
"Hiii, it's,
ONI!!"
"Why did you
pronounce it in English!? I mean, you're definitely a reincarnator, aren't
you!? No, that's not it!!"
My lack of English
skills had been exposed. While I was flustered and covering my mouth, Ichi and
the others had somehow formed a vertical dumpling mode and were trembling
behind me. Where did you guys go, who were boasting that no one could break
through your encirclement? She completely slipped through.
"What 'grand
finale'! That's just the normal ending where you don't end up with anyone! You
can't get the true ending unless you play all the routes! And the hidden
characters haven't even appeared yet!"
And then Yuko
explained. This game actually had a loop function.
The loop was the
prerogative of God. When you played all the routes, a new story would begin.
Yuko's lines in the main game were fixed, and you could only choose from about
two patterns of options at most. However, if you played all the routes, a new
option would appear in the God route, which was originally a measure when
Yuko's level was too low.
In other words, a new
route would appear.
"The current me
has nothing to do with choices. I can speak the words I like myself. So I don't
need to play all the routes and deliberately set flags. When you save on the
game's play screen, a leaf is pressed, right? That means you're using the World
Tree's prerogative. I tried loading, but it didn't work. I can't use the World
Tree branch right now, so I think even if I can save, I can't load."
"Oh yeah, the
game screen was like that," I said vaguely, and then, "Hey! Don't
make a face like a Daruma doll, are you listening properly!?" she said.
Daruma or demon, it wasn't the time to be slightly warmed by the Japanese-like
conversation.
"But the loop is
different. That has nothing to do with my abilities. It's because I use the
Mirror of Foresight."
"The Mirror of
Foresight...?"
"That's right! I
mean! You used the Mirror of Foresight before me, didn't you!? I thought it was
strange that it hasn't appeared at this timing yet!!"
"Hiekk."
I was completely
exposed. The current Yuko seemed to be in hyper mode. "And, the water that
came out, you haven't thrown it away, have you? The loop needs that, so hand it
over quickly!" Everything was new information. In other words, to
summarize, Yuko thought that even if things became hopelessly late, it would be
fine if she just looped. She came to this country because the loop needed the
Mirror of Foresight—the water that came out of the World Tree's leaf.
"But what's a
loop? How is it different from loading...?"
"It's just a
hidden route. With loading, you literally start over from there, but with a
loop, you can restart from the saved point while keeping your memories, meaning
your level and skills stay the same."
But even if it was in
the game, it was troublesome because you couldn't skip events in reality, so I
didn't plan on looping until the very last minute, Yuko sighed. I wondered what
had happened to her.
"I do have the
water from the Mirror of Foresight..."
I never knew there was
such a function, but since I could know Yuko's future with just the water, I
had stored it in a bottle just in case and packed it with my luggage in my
room. "Then, give it back quickly!" "...Well, it's not like I
care." I was aware that I had originally snatched it from her. But it
wasn't originally Yuko's to return, so it felt strange. Even so, I wasn't
particularly angry about it. And yet.
"I don't have it
with me right now..."
Even as I let the
words fall, a fierce frustration welled up in my chest. It was a strange
feeling. A simmering anger rose, as if I couldn't control my emotions.
"Seriously, you're not just a newbie. Why don't you have it...?"
"Why? Something that heavy? I don't usually carry it around. It's not a
plastic bottle, you know. Besides, 'newbie'..."
The surging emotions
were probably because of Yuko's words, I thought.
"Everyone enjoys
games in their own way! Of course, I also think that if I had known things
would turn out like this, I should have played every nook and cranny!"
I shouted with all my
might.
Letting it out made me
feel a little better, but what came next was a terribly pathetic feeling. Above
all, I was confused by the feeling of being out of control. I had probably just
taken my anger out on Yuko. The emotions that were slammed into someone were
something that the recipient could understand. She glared at me intently. For
her, who loved this game, it was probably unforgivable. We just glared at each
other in silence.
Perhaps this was a
parting of ways with her.
From the beginning, I
knew that a pair like a Saint and a demon wouldn't work out well. But I clicked
my tongue, regretting it. And yet, I couldn't say the words to stop her.
"Oh, whatever. I don't care. Eldorado! Either way! You're going to return
the water of foresight, right!?" Emphasizing each word, Yuko pointed her
index finger sharply at me and left.
A heavy sigh escaped
me.
Remembering Yuko's
vanished figure, I looked up blankly at the sky, alone, well, alone with three
others. I sighed at myself. I should have talked better. Maybe I had gotten
terribly angry at her for easily saying "just loop." Even if she
failed, she could just loop, so she could do whatever strange things she
wanted. Yuko probably thought, "Whatever." In other words, maybe for
her, this was like a trial run of "week one."
It was as if I wasn't
myself. I inhaled and exhaled. Ichi and the others walked over and approached
me in small steps. "Somehow, I was really useless, wasn't I..." If
looping was really possible, what would that be like? What would happen to our
memories? No matter how much I imagined, I still couldn't imagine it. Time
rewinding was something in the world of fantasy, but this was too much fantasy.
But.
But if time really
rewound to before I met Lotus.
Would Lotus and I
become just strangers? Would Ichi and the others disappear, and would our
entire journey so far vanish? Yuko said that the loop would return to the point
where she saved, so it probably wouldn't actually happen, but I muttered to
myself, "I really wouldn't like that," without thinking.
--It was then. The
lanterns above us simultaneously went out. Startled, I clasped my hands
together, and Ichi and the others clung tightly to me. It was exactly when the
date changed. In Kasei, they extinguished the lanterns all at once at the
moment the date changed to prevent the magic tools from overheating.
I knew it happened,
but experiencing it in person was a little scary. Before I knew it, the city
lights had also gone out, and I was in pitch darkness. I couldn't tell right
from left. But soon, one by one, lights began to turn on. It was a mysterious
sight. Before I knew it, a faint light was shining down from the sky. It was
then.
A man was standing in
front of me.
His silver hair,
reaching down to his waist, was an unusual color. I knew him. Actually, it was
the second time I had met this man.
The man was gazing
blankly outside the city. And then, with a very slow movement, he looked at me.
His usual bright red eyes, even though they were looking at me, didn't reflect
anything. They were like lifeless eyes.
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