Chapter 122, Twenty-Eighth Cycle (1)
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"Zero, how did it go? Did it work?"
Rei Furuya recovered from his failure in the previous playthrough and immediately regained his composure in the new playthrough.
Then, facing his childhood friend's worried gaze, the blond youth blinked a little guiltily: "...It failed, but I have tested the range within which the world line can be changed, so this time it should be successful."
Morofushi Kagemitsu immediately understood, put down his sniper rifle, and looked at him helplessly with one hand on his hip: "Seriously, Zero, you've messed things up again, haven't you?"
Furuya Rei gave a pleading smile.
Morofushi Kagemitsu sighed and walked over to sit next to him: "So, what happened? Zero will tell me everything, right? You have to tell me everything, okay? I promise I won't be angry."
Rei Furuya hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and gestured to him, saying, "This is the eighth playthrough since Hiro's Death Tribulation began, including the follow-up to the playthrough where Matsuda cleared the game. We've failed a total of eight times."
Morobuchi Kagemitsu was taken aback by this number.
He was mainly shocked that Zero seemed to be doing quite well after failing eight times.
He understood after a moment's thought, and immediately frowned and said seriously, "Zero, were these eight deaths basically all due to you hiding them from me and trying various methods alone, only to fail and die?"
If he had died seven or eight times in front of Zero, Zero certainly wouldn't be in such a relaxed state now.
The reason he was able to maintain a good mindset was not only because he had found hope, but also because he believed that death was nothing to worry about.
"No! I didn't hide it from Hiro!" Furuya Rei immediately denied.
"So you really did die many times by yourself." Morofushi Kagemitsu affirmed, his face displeased. "What exactly am I doing?"
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Rei Furuya immediately lowered her eyes, looking aggrieved: "You clearly said you wouldn't be angry."
Morofushi Kagemitsu: "..."
Morofushi Kagemitsu's expression immediately softened: "I'm not angry with Zero, I'm just angry with myself."
"Then you should still be angry with me," Furuya Rei said.
Morobuchi Kagemitsu was left speechless, both amused and exasperated by his antics.
The atmosphere eased somewhat, and the two of them recovered considerably, so they immediately began discussing serious matters.
"Therefore, the lack of information sharing is also an important part of the game's plot development. It's probably to wait for the protagonist, Conan, to solve this problem. This is an absolutely unbreakable rule," Furuya Rei said. "Therefore, I can't tell Shuichi Akai my identity, nor can I openly cooperate with him."
He paused for a moment, then lowered his eyes and said, "Perhaps, my confrontation with him is one of the important settings of the game, and we should be careful not to affect this in the future."
"Also, after trying a few times, I have basically confirmed what kind of situation would make the world directly kill me to restart the world, instead of slowly converging the world lines to let someone else kill me to restart the world."
Morofushi Kagemitsu, who had been pondering his relationship with Akai Shuichi, was instantly thrown aside and looked at him with utmost seriousness: "What is it?"
“As I said before, unlike the system, the world itself has no consciousness,” Furuya Rei said. “You can think of it as a program with pre-written rules, while the system is a virus that has infiltrated.”
"Therefore, if we treat this game as an exam in life, then directly revealing the final answer to others would be a serious violation of the rules and cheating. The world program malfunctioned, and under the influence of the system virus, it simply killed me and restarted the world to run again."
At this point, he even chuckled jokingly and winked, saying, "It's like how most people would simply restart their computer after it crashes."
Morofushi Kagemitsu couldn't laugh at all.
Rei Furuya coughed and continued, "So, although Shuichi Akai knew my true identity, the fact that the organization discovered it because of the convergence of world lines wouldn't cause me to die immediately. But if I told Shuichi Akai directly, I would die immediately and the world would restart."
"But there's not much difference between the two; both will lead to Zero's death. One slowly forces you to your death, while the other directly kills you suddenly." Morofushi Kagemitsu's expression was extremely grim.
“However, once we understand this, we have more room to maneuver. We can try to resolve this malfunction before the world lines converge on me, thus allowing the world program to continue operating normally.” Rei Furuya reassured him and changed the subject. “So the key now is how to guide others to take appropriate actions without causing the world program to malfunction and restart, presenting a situation where they have solved the problem.”
"Furthermore, the answer cannot deviate from the corresponding process of the main timeline development. For example, it can lead Shuichi Akai to know that I am an undercover agent, but he probably cannot find out my real name right now." Rei Furuya summarized, "The cooperation is also mainly based on Hiro. Rei Furuya, Sakura, and even the Public Security Bureau cannot interfere too much."
Morofushi Kagemitsu frowned: "Generally speaking, that's true, but I'm worried that 'Morofushi Kagemitsu is alive' is a fundamentally wrong answer that's been programmed into the system. So no matter how others answer it, as long as they write this answer, it will cause the world program to malfunction, then the world lines will converge, affecting the person who wrote this wrong answer, and then killing Zero and restarting the world..."
“No way!” Furuya Rei interrupted him, repeating the emphasis again. “No way.”
“Morobushi Kagemitsu will definitely survive,” he said firmly. “I will definitely make sure Hiro survives.”
*
November 7th, 9 PM.
Morofushi Kagemitsu successfully reached a cooperation agreement with Akai Shuichi.
This time, he didn't reveal his close relationship with Sakura, nor did he involve the police. It was simply a private collaboration between him and Shuichi Akai. He just asked Shuichi Akai to help him put on a show when he faked his death.
He explained that he knew his identity because he met Sera Masumi at the event last month, felt something was off, and investigated and found out that Akai Shuichi was the real person.
As for why Sakura helped Shuichi Akai quickly complete his mission and return from abroad, it was because Hiromitsu Morofushi sought help from the Public Security Bureau, who then asked Sakura for assistance. That's all.
Shuichi Akai couldn't find anything wrong with the logic, and since things had come to this point, he naturally wouldn't refuse the cooperation. He also thanked Hiromitsu Morofushi for helping to conceal his identity and for preventing the Public Security Bureau from interfering with his family's normal life in Japan.
He didn't feel too threatened, and after Morofushi Hiromitsu showed him his identification and begged him not to let the FBI investigate his identity and his brother's safety, Shuichi Akai agreed.
Rei Furuya initially didn't quite believe him, but after making targeted observations, he confirmed that no FBI agents had gone to investigate Hiromitsu Morofushi, which put his mind at ease, and he reluctantly increased his favorability towards Shuichi Akai by 0.1.
December 7th.
[Morokushō Takami is dead.]
[Win the Bad Ending Side Story: The Butterfly Effect - The Death of Morofushi Takaaki]
"Zero, I'm sorry..."
[Morokushō Kagemitsu has died.]
[Achieve the Bad Ending: World Line Convergence - Death of Morofushi Kagemitsu]
The phone in Rei Furuya's hand was now just a cold busy tone. It slowly slipped from his palm and finally fell to the ground with a thud, the screen shattering.
The blond youth stood beneath the exploded building, his head tilted back, lost in a long, dazed state, unable to perceive the passage of time.
They had almost succeeded this time. Hiro successfully faked his death, the squad leader, Hagi, and Matsuda were safely away from the organization, and Gao Ming had been on high alert since being explained to. Hiro had been staying in the Public Security Bureau's underground shelter and had not come out before. He had also encrypted his information and that of his childhood friend in layers of encryption.
Then, thanks to Akai's involvement, Hiro's faked death was not exposed.
But he was still killed by the organization.
Because of an accident.
Yes, it was an accident.
Morofushi Takaaki was unexpectedly drawn into the organization's mission and faced imminent mortal danger. Morofushi Kagemitsu, who had been keeping an eye on his brother, immediately rushed out to save him.
Then, in the explosion, both men died.
The organization did not discover Scotland's feigned death, and Shuichi Akai remained safe, but Hiromitsu Morofushi still died at the organization's hands.
They also added the name "Zhufu Gaoming".
After regaining his senses, Furuya Rei ignored Akai Shuichi beside him and immediately pulled out a gun, pointing it at his own head.
Things were getting worse, but he still refused to believe it.
He was unwilling to accept it.
"Wait? Bourbon, you—"
"Bang--"
You are dead.
[End of 28th playthrough]
[Resulting in a Bad Ending: Boiling Water to Make Ice]
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This time, Furuya Rei successfully persuaded Morofushi Takaaki to use his power in the Public Security Bureau to temporarily give him a month's leave, where he would stay in the basement with Morofushi Kagemitsu.
December 7th.
Another international terrorist organization that had a grudge against the Black Organization unexpectedly discovered that the small island nation of Japan was actually the Black Organization's headquarters. As a result, they mobilized almost all their members to attack the organization, leading to a fierce conflict.
Their final battle took place right above that shelter. As the fighting progressed, they realized something was amiss and discovered a heavily guarded basement below.
The Black Organization members failed to find Morofushi Kagemitsu in the basement because another member of the organization, driven to the brink, used a bomb.
The bomb was extremely powerful; everyone in the basement died, including Morofushi Kagemitsu and Morofushi Takaaki.
[Thirtieth cycle]
Rei Furuya finally gave up.
He persuaded Morofushi Hiromitsu and Akai Shuichi to cooperate, then faked his death, left the country, changed his name, and went abroad to live and avoid the limelight.
Then, on Christmas Day, December 25th, I received news of Morofushi Kagemitsu's death.
Riots and violent suppression occurred in the United States, with panicked crowds firing wildly with guns.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was hit by a stray bullet. Before he died, he made a phone call to his childhood friend, giving him information that he suspected the chaos was caused by members of the organization, and then apologized.
“Zero, I’m sorry…” he said.
[Thirty-first playthrough]
Rei Furuya investigated all safe countries abroad that allowed immediate entry, and carefully selected a small Nordic country with excellent public security and no organized crime.
Despite his strong urging, Morofushi Kagemitsu went anyway.
He died in a plane crash the following night.
The reason is that a man was driven to the brink of collapse by the organization, and thus chose to take everyone on the plane with him to their deaths.
[Thirty-second cycle]
Rei Furuya has completely given up.
He persuaded Hiromitsu Morofushi, Shuichi Akai, and the FBI behind him to cooperate in the FBI's witness protection program, to live under the protection of the FBI in the United States and become FBI assistants.
In that case, Morofushi Kagemitsu would truly be dead in the eyes of the Japanese Public Security Bureau. If he fails the investigation later, he may no longer be able to become a Japanese policeman wearing the cherry blossom badge.
Morofushi Kagemitsu protested vehemently.
Rei Furuya's explanation could allow him to resume his normal police identity after the incident, since the organization is a huge headache for various countries, and if handled well, it shouldn't be a big problem.
“It’s not just this problem.” Morofushi Hiromitsu sighed. “Zero, I’m worried that if our relationship is exposed in the future, the FBI will use me as a hostage to threaten you into doing things for them. Given your position in the police force, you absolutely cannot do things for them, otherwise the consequences will be very serious, you know?”
"..." Furuya Rei grasped his hand, almost pleading, "There will definitely be other solutions by then. I also have a lot of leverage over the FBI, so I won't let them act recklessly. But there's no other way now, and how will we know if we don't try? Let's try, Hiro, okay?"
How could Morofushi Kagemitsu refuse Furuya Rei like this?
He eventually reluctantly agreed, but his attitude remained firm and unyielding throughout the cooperation with the FBI, indicating that it was merely a temporary collaboration.
Ever since he went with the FBI and was taken into custody, Rei Furuya has been constantly worried that his childhood friend might be bullied by those bastard FBI agents. He has been in a state of severe anxiety, and his blood pressure would rise even higher when he saw Shuichi Akai.
Shuichi Akai thought that Bourbon was still holding a grudge against him for stealing Scotland's head and was always picking fights with him, which gave him a slight headache. He even complained to the fake-dead Kagemitsu Morofushi.
And so, December 7th arrived.
Bourbon and Ray, along with Gin, Vodka, Cohen, and Chianti, went to the United States on a mission.
Rum said his undercover agent in the FBI had sent intelligence that he had discovered a few fearless FBI moles, and ordered them to go and kill the two traitors directly.
Shortly after killing the two FBI agents, at midnight, Rei Furuya received a call from Hiromitsu Morofushi.
“Zero, I’m sorry…” he said.
The FBI suspected that Hiromitsu Morofushi had leaked information, attracting the organization's attention. They went to great lengths to arrest him and interrogate him, which alerted a traitor within the organization who had infiltrated the FBI.
Morofushi Hiromitsu knew the man was an undercover agent. He sensed something was wrong when he saw the man take out his phone and immediately shot the FBI agent.
The other FBI agents around him mistakenly thought he was going to fight to the death and believed that he was indeed a trap set by the organization for the FBI, so they instinctively opened fire on him as well.
"Bang! Bang bang bang!!!"
The gunshots were deafening.
[Morokushō Kagemitsu has died.]
[Achieve the Bad Ending: World Line Convergence - Death of Morofushi Kagemitsu]
Rei Furuya stood there, holding his phone, his mind blank, almost unable to think of anything.
Zhu Fujingguang died.
Who killed Morofushi Kagemitsu?
It was the world that killed Morofushi Kagemitsu.
Rei Furuya felt a genuine sense of despair.
Even Shuichi Akai couldn't save Kagemitsu Morofushi.
No one can save Zhu Fujingguang.
You are dead.
[End of 32nd playthrough]
[A Bad Ending: A Mantis Trying to Stop a Chariot]
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