Chapter 123, Thirty-Third Cycle (1)
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"Zero, how did it go? Did it work?"
"...It failed."
Morofushi Kagemitsu was taken aback: "What?"
Rei Furuya suddenly rushed over and hugged him, his whole body trembling.
Even without speaking, the overwhelming despair and grief instantly filled the entire space, almost suffocating one in the heavy air.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was startled and quickly grabbed his head, patting his back with his other hand to comfort him, and patiently asked him in a soft voice and tone what had happened.
"It failed, it failed, it all failed."
Rei Furuya's tone was unstable, his mental state was terrible, and he seemed to be only a little bit away from a real breakdown.
"How can I stop the world from killing someone if it's determined to do so? It's so easy for the world to target and kill someone. How am I supposed to deal with earthquakes and tsunamis? How can I prevent all the accidents? How can I save Hiro? Do I really have to try that method of resurrection? No, no, I can't do that. I can't trust the system. The methods the system provides must hide an even greater despair..."
“Zero.” Morofushi Kagemitsu hugged him tightly, feeling extremely distressed. “Zero, don’t think about it anymore. Let’s take a break for a while, okay? We can continue to work hard after we’ve rested. You’re already very tired.”
Rei Furuya paused, and after a few seconds gently shook his head: "No, we can't rest. There are still many methods we can try. It's not time to give up yet."
“It’s not giving up.” Morofushi Kagemitsu leaned his head against his. “It’s just a temporary rest. Zero must not have had a proper rest in a long time, right? If your physical and mental state is not good, then the hope that could have been found will be ignored. So, this is for better efforts later. Can we take a proper rest now for a whole cycle?”
“But we can’t waste the time of the reincarnation…” Furuya Rei wavered a little, but still struggled.
“It’s not a waste.” Morofushi Kagemitsu pressed his shoulder to stand up, then leaned closer to touch his forehead and looked him in the eye seriously. “If it can restore Zero to normal, then that will be the greatest use of this loop.”
"I... am I not quite right now...?" Rei Furuya was a little stunned, wanting to explain, "Actually, I just temporarily couldn't control my emotions and wanted to vent a little in front of Hiro. I'm not truly desperate or broken down. I still have many other methods I want to try..."
“I know, and I believe Zero will find a way to succeed in the end,” Morofushi Kagemitsu interrupted him.
“But you’re too tired right now, you need to rest, Zero,” Morofushi Hiromitsu said firmly. “Leave the rest to us.”
Feeling the presence of his childhood friend up close, being gazed at so earnestly and made such a promise, Furuya Rei's nerves were gradually soothed, the chaotic buzzing in his mind slowly disappeared, and his mind gradually stabilized.
Although I'm still uneasy and haven't figured out a solution yet, it seems that as long as I see Hiro's determination and can work together with him, I have nothing to be afraid of.
Rei Furuya let out the last breath he had been holding on, collapsing against his childhood friend with a mixture of exhaustion and complete relaxation and trust.
“Okay,” he said.
*
Back at the safe house, it took Morofushi Kagemitsu a long time to finally coax his childhood friend, who was still unable to completely relieve his tension, to sleep.
He couldn't even leave his side for a moment, otherwise Rei Furuya wouldn't be able to relax.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was both helpless and extremely distressed, so he simply lay down and slept with him.
Just as Zero had accompanied him through countless nights plagued by nightmares before, this time it was his turn to accompany Zero in overcoming his nightmares.
Exhausted, his childhood friend quickly fell asleep beside him, but Morofushi Kagemitsu couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
He told himself to fall asleep quickly so he could retrieve his previous memories in his dreams, but the more nervous he became, the less he could fall asleep.
During his return, Zero briefly explained to him what had happened.
Matsuda has successfully completed the game, the fourth save point has appeared, and then comes his fatal challenge, which he has now failed thirteen times.
Morofushi Kagemitsu forced himself to sleep by closing his eyes tightly.
Zero said that including the previous cycle, he had died five times in a row, and might have even seen himself die five times in a row. This cycle would probably have the complete memories of five cycles, so he had to fall asleep quickly and get the memories from his dreams.
He needs to know exactly what Zero went through.
*
Rei Furuya didn't sleep for long either.
He really couldn't remember the last time he had relaxed and rested properly. If he could rest peacefully, he would probably sleep for three days and three nights straight.
But he couldn't relax yet, so he only slept for 90 minutes before waking up.
The current time is 2 PM on November 7th.
This was the first time since the endless, tense cycle from November 7th to December 7th that he had wasted so much time on the first day, doing nothing but sleeping. This caused Rei Furuya to be a little dazed when he woke up.
Nearly half a minute later, countless memories from before slowly flashed through my mind, and my emotions began to build up again.
However, after relaxing and resting for an hour and a half, and being comforted by his childhood friend, Furuya Rei's emotions have now completely stabilized and calmed down.
"Zero, you're awake? Won't you sleep a little longer?" Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was lying on his side next to him, put down his phone. "Or did I disturb Zero?"
"No." Rei Furuya sat up, rubbed his face, and tidied his messy, sticking-up blond hair, regaining his composure. "I'm rested enough to continue. Let's give it a try this time..."
“Let’s give it a try this time.” Morofushi Kagemitsu also sat up.
Jianggu Ling: "?"
Morobuchi Kagemitsu smiled and turned his phone over to show him.
[Mazda: What? The blond bastard's already awake? We'll be on our way right now!]
Jianggu Ling: "???"
"Wait, what are Matsuda and the others doing here?" Furuya Rei asked in shock. "Aren't they still conducting interviews and taking statements to handle the aftermath of the bombing?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu took back his phone and glanced at it: "Yeah, they escaped. They said they'd go back and fix it later."
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Rei Furuya sighed, rubbing his forehead: "They're not police academy students anymore, how come they're still acting like this? This isn't the same as skipping training at the police academy..."
“But those are nothing compared to Zero, aren’t they?” Morofushi Hiromitsu smiled. “Everyone is very worried about Zero’s mental state.”
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Rei Furuya turned his head, revealing only his slightly reddened ears beneath his blond hair.
"It doesn't have to be that bad... really..."
He suddenly realized something halfway through his sentence, his eyes widened, and he turned to look at his calm childhood friend.
"Wait, Hiro, did you tell everyone everything?" he asked. "So, you mean... you're planning to involve Squad Leader Hagi and Matsuda in this?"
Zhu Fujingguang nodded.
Rei Furuya immediately frowned and retorted, "No, they're not main characters. They don't have the protection of an immortal world's luck. Once they get involved, they'll not only be noticed and hunted down by the organization like in the [Caught in the Crossfire] loop, but they might also be implicated and killed by the world like the ordinary people who died in the earthquake and plane crash. Or they might become bait to lure you into a death trap, like Gao Ming..."
“How will you know if you don’t try?” Morofushi Kagemitsu interrupted him. “Being afraid to try things because of some possibilities is really not like Zero. You’re too protective of us, Zero.”
The descent of zero is stuck, and there's no way to refute it.
Because he was so worried about everyone's safety, because he had already lost them all once, because they had suffered terrible fates for participating in the organization's main storyline, and because he would rather die many more times himself than see anyone else die...
“If one person can’t do it, then two people work together. If two people can’t do it, then three, four, five people.” Morofushi Kagemitsu repeated what he had told him back in police academy, and said earnestly, “As long as everyone works together, there’s no difficulty that can’t be overcome. Isn’t that what we’ve always been saying?”
“Zero, you should trust us a little more. Every time we encountered insurmountable difficulties before, it was the five of us who worked together to overcome them, wasn’t it? This time, leave it to us and rely on us a little, okay?” he said.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m just too worried. I don’t want to see you get…” Furuya Rei explained.
“No,” Morofushi Kagemitsu said firmly. “We won’t die. Or rather, even if we fail a few times temporarily, no one will care at all, because we believe that we will eventually succeed.”
“Everyone can take responsibility for their own lives and actions now, Zero,” Morofushi Hiromitsu said solemnly. “Our desire to protect you is the same as your desire to protect us, Zero. Never forget that.”
“Zero’s only thought is how to save me while everyone else is safe, but he doesn’t care about his own situation at all.” Morofushi Hiromitsu lowered his eyes sadly. “So I’ve been thinking about how to save Zero, but no matter how I think about it, it’s not something I can do alone. And as the person who least wants to be kept in the dark by Zero, I can best understand the feeling of being kept in the dark and excluded from the plan, so I decided to tell everyone everything and choose the five of us to work together.”
Rei Furuya's mouth opened and closed, but he couldn't utter any words of rebuttal or explanation.
After all, he had failed so many times that he was almost at his wit's end, and he had no confidence that he could do it all by himself.
“When I told everyone everything, they were really angry. Matsuda even said he would punch you hard and knock out the denture where you hid the poison.” Morofushi Kagemitsu slightly curled the corners of his mouth. “Of course, I was very angry too.”
The valley is stagnant.
Morofushi Kagemitsu continued to smile: "Zero did not hide the details of the danger from me, but he did not mention his mental state at all. He was already almost at his limit but still insisted on holding on alone. I was just woken up from my dream by anger."
"Hiro...you really do have the memories of the previous five playthroughs?" Rei Furuya asked guiltily.
“Hmm.” The smile on Morofushi Kagemitsu’s face disappeared. He nodded slightly and then looked quietly at his childhood friend. “After I confessed, Hagiwara also confessed to us, saying that he also died five times in a row during his death ordeal and then gained the memories of five different cycles.”
Rei Furuya's face stiffened, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.
"So, Zero started hiding things from everyone from that time on." Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at him sharply. "Just how much did Zero hide from us? If Hagiwara and I hadn't been honest with each other and exchanged information, wouldn't everyone have thought that you didn't actually experience much of the painful save-load loop? Wouldn't everyone have been completely unaware of what you went through and unable to detect your abnormality in time until the very end?"
"Zero, do you know how we feel when we find out the truth? Have you ever thought about how we would feel if something happened to you and we only found out the truth belatedly?"
Rei Furuya's head drooped completely, and he whispered, "I'm sorry..."
Seeing him like this, Morofushi Kagemitsu could no longer maintain his tough stance and could only sigh as he pulled the drooping golden head into his arms.
“Zero, what we fear is not death, but the irreparable pain and regret,” he said. “You must understand your importance in our hearts, and know that our awareness is no less than yours.”
"So let's work together."
"Even if it's hell, it doesn't seem so scary if we all walk through it together, does it?"
Rei Furuya reached out and hugged his childhood friend's waist, burying his head in his chest. After a long while, he softly hummed in agreement.
His eyes stung and his nose tingled, but his heart felt incredibly warm and light.
Even without seeing hope, he remained full of hope as long as everyone was by his side.
*
After calming down a bit, the two put on their disguises and went to rejoin the others.
Rei Furuya's mood had been completely renewed, and his mental state had been refreshed and reshaped, becoming more determined and full of passion and power.
Morofushi Kagemitsu was driving, and Furuya Rei was sitting in the passenger seat, staring out the window for a while, lost in thought.
Then, he took out his phone and opened the Reincarnation Group Chat.
[1. Homura Akemi: From *Puella Magi Madoka Magica*, currently at episode 83, has died 0 times.]
2. Rintaro Okabe: From Steins;Gate, currently on his 57th playthrough, has died 0 times.
[3. Rei Furuya: From "Detective Conan," currently on his 33rd playthrough, and has died 33 times.]
[4. Subaru Natsuki: From *Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-*, currently on his 29th playthrough, and has died 29 times.]
[5. Shinpei Ami: From "Summer Revisited," currently on his 19th playthrough, has died 19 times.]
From the day the group chat time flow was synchronized, everyone in the group encountered extremely serious dangers and difficulties. The number of reincarnations increased wildly, but no matter what changes were made, they could not save the tragedy that had been fixed by fate.
Homura Akemi is forced to kill Madoka Kaname with her own hands time and time again, only to be reincarnated again to save her.
Rintaro Okabe is still struggling in a world line where he must choose between Mayuri and Kurisu to survive.
Shinpei and his companions enter a dangerous shadow world, but are unable to kill the enemy or return.
Natsuki Subaru lost the chance to go back to before Rem was injured to save her, and he was also unable to restore Rem to normal.
Despite trying everything, Furuya Rei was unable to save Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was destined to be killed by the world.
To this day, no one has succeeded.
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