Chapter 16: Third Playthrough (4)
You are dead.
[Load save/load]
[...]
【no】
*
Rei Furuya suddenly woke up from his dream.
He was in a daze for a few seconds before realizing that he was dreaming, and that he was not dying unconsciously in his sleep like Natsuki Subaru in one of his reincarnations, nor was he refusing to reload the save file.
"...Why would I have such a dream?" Furuya Rei was slightly uneasy. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't possibly refuse to reload a save file. So, was he subconsciously afraid that he wouldn't be able to reload? Was he afraid that his save file loading time would decrease at a terrifying rate, like that of Amagi Shinpei?
"Have you been under too much pressure lately?" The blond youth sighed softly, habitually brushing all his hair back. "This won't do. A healthy body is an important part of the battle plan. You need to pull yourself together, Furuya Rei."
After getting up, getting dressed, washing up, and tidying up her frizzy hair, Rei Furuya prepared to go out to find her childhood friend.
Today is June 1st, Children's Day holiday, and also a Sunday off.
They are going to participate in a joint activity with the class next door today.
The organizer was Kenji Hagiwara.
The young man with medium-length black hair clasped his hands together, winked at him with one eye, and said with a smile, "Furuya's here too! I promised everyone I'd bring a few handsome guys. Furuya's popularity is really high~"
"It's okay, it's okay, everyone can just treat it as a free meal, it's on me!"
Therefore, the class monitor, who has a girlfriend, also agreed to go out with everyone, just like a regular friends' get-together. Anyway, everyone knows he has a girlfriend and is just there to make up the numbers.
Rei Furuya hadn't paid much attention to the matchmaking event, but after having that dream, he suddenly felt uneasy.
A month has passed since the last robbery, and now it is the second month since Furuya Zero started his third playthrough.
During this month, nothing happened safely; the only added memories were of training, attending classes, and playing with my classmates.
However, not everyone is as successful as him.
The first person to get into trouble in the chat group was Shenping, an online agent.
The number next to the image of the black-haired boy with heterochromia suddenly changed from 5 to 6.
He died again.
[Shinpei Net: The worst guess has come true; the enemy has been reborn along with me.]
The group chat exploded instantly, with people asking him incredulously what had happened.
But no matter how unbelievable and terrifying it may seem, it has become a fait accompli and cannot be changed.
Every time Shinpei dies and reloads, the save point automatically moves forward a short distance. The fact that enemies know he will die and reload and mark him to respawn with him is now unchangeable.
Of course, there were also lucky ones. After Shinpei explained that he could revert to his previous state after death, his companions also remembered it and immediately believed him. They then worked together to summarize their experiences and find ways to deal with the enemy.
He didn't need to start from scratch again and again, explaining everything to his clueless companions and convincing them.
Therefore, although he was indeed desperate about the powerful, cunning, and terrifying enemy and the dwindling number of save points, the mutual trust and shared struggle with his companions gave him boundless courage and hope.
However, the situation for Homura Akemi, who followed, was not so optimistic.
She has also begun her third cycle of reincarnation.
[Homura Akemi: I feel so bad, so incredibly sad. I feel like I'm going crazy. Was all of this really meaningful? Am I just creating more and more tragedies, driving everyone to despair and madness? Is it my fault?]
[Homura Akemi: I've met Kaname again and again, and then watched her die before my eyes time and time again... This isn't the rebirth I wanted!]
Homura Akemi: ...Never mind, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm not human anymore anyway. My only remaining obsession is saving Madoka.
Homura Akemi: This time, I'm going to kill Kyubey directly and stop Madoka from becoming a magical girl.
It only took a month to go from being full of hope to almost collapsing in despair.
At first, Homura Akemi did follow the advice of everyone in the group and learned conversation techniques from Rei Furuya, successfully calming down her companions.
However, the other magical girls didn't entirely believe it.
After all, it's not impossible for them to come back from the future to predict danger; they're magical girls, so it's not entirely out of the question.
But how can anyone believe that witches are magical girls in disguise? That's absurd! How could that be? Are you kidding me?
So, when they finally saw the truth with their own eyes, when they watched helplessly as their companions turned into monsters that indiscriminately rampaged and slaughtered, the young girls were still unable to escape despair and collapse.
This makes it seem ridiculous that they, who signed contracts with adorable magical creatures with love and hope, and countless romantic fantasies, to become magical girls.
This truth is something that 14-year-old girls simply cannot bear.
If that's the case, then why not kill them before they turn into the witches they hate most and kill other innocent humans, even their own family and companions! Kill them before they completely succumb to the torment of madness and despair! Wouldn't that be better?
Therefore, the strongest magical girl among the five killed the others.
Just as Homura Akemi was about to be killed by that upperclassman, Madoka Kaname killed the upperclassman first, who was emotionally agitated and unprepared.
Homura Akemi and Madoka Kaname also failed and were on the verge of death in the final Witch's Night.
Homura Akemi was utterly desperate at that point. She cried and laughed, saying that they might as well all become witches and destroy the world. But Madoka Kaname saved her again, hoping she could live, and begging her, the only one with hope, to start the cycle again, reverse time, and go back to the past to save the incredibly foolish version of herself who had been deceived by Kyubey.
Thus, Homura Akemi began the cycle of reincarnation once again.
After reading her account, Furuya Rei was overwhelmed by the overwhelming despair and the malice of the world, feeling almost unable to breathe.
They were just five innocent 14-year-old girls. Their reason for becoming magical girls was to save others. They held onto the fairy tale of love and hope, but... it's really hard to imagine what they felt when they encountered something that ordinary people couldn't imagine or bear. How could an outsider possibly fully understand their despair?
Not only Homura Akemi and Shinpei Amishiro, but also Subaru Natsuki and Rei Furuya himself are the same.
This is a redemption story that teeters between hope and despair.
You can make mistakes, you can be knocked down, but you must never give up.
*
"It's really lively today," Date Wataru exclaimed. "Everyone, be careful not to get separated."
"So many kids, no wonder it's Children's Day." Morofushi Kagemitsu couldn't help but laugh. "Hagiwara choosing this day for the social event, isn't that one of his quirky habits?"
Matsuda Jinpei yawned: "Seriously, we're just here to make up the numbers anyway, it'll just end up being Hagi's solo show again."
Rei Furuya shook his head helplessly: "Fine, it's not bad for us to come out and celebrate Children's Day together."
Most of the time, five police academy students who are all excellent individually become childish when they get together. They can't be more than five years old, and they can easily celebrate Children's Day together.
After Furuya finished speaking, he turned around but found that his childhood friend was gone. His heart skipped a beat and he immediately turned back.
Morofushi Kagemitsu stood frozen in place, stiffly turning back to look at a little girl, his expression one of shock followed by growing panic.
"Hiro!" Furuya Rei immediately ran back and grabbed his shoulder.
"...Ah, sorry, I got distracted." Morofushi Kagemitsu snapped out of his nightmare and realized that he had just fallen into PTSD again.
He took one last look at the little girl holding her parents' hands. Although she did resemble the child who had died when he was young, she was not exactly the same.
That makes sense. It's impossible, it's just a coincidence that they look a bit alike.
Morofushi Kagemitsu quickly put the matter aside.
However, Rei Furuya's mind was disrupted. When no one was paying attention, he turned his head and looked around with a grim expression, unusually vigilant and nervous.
No, it shouldn't be at this time. How could Hiro have spotted the little girl beforehand?
The number of butterflies... has increased again.
*
"Hagi's so slow, why isn't he here yet? It's supposed to be a social gathering he's hosting." Matsuda Jinpei glanced at the time with deadpan eyes, showing absolutely no interest in the lively social gathering, nor was he as enthusiastic about eating as the other three.
After all, he had attended too many of these kinds of gatherings with social butterfly Kenji Hagiwara since he was a child, and he was tired of them.
Ida Ko, holding his bowl, laughed and replied, "I just called him, and he said he ran into a little trouble, but it's nothing, he'll be there soon."
Rei Furuya's eyes lit up, and he happily exclaimed to his childhood friend beside him, "Hiro, this side dish is delicious!"
Upon hearing this, Morofushi Kagemitsu immediately raised an eyebrow and smiled, "I could make it to this level too. I'll teach Zero next time, since Zero knows absolutely nothing about cooking."
The four of them completely ignored the other girls at the party and sat together chatting and laughing.
But as the saying goes, if the mountain won't come to me, then I'll go to the mountain.
The girls exchanged glances, then started smiling and initiated a conversation, creating a fairly harmonious and happy atmosphere.
However, Kenji Hagiwara, the organizer and someone everyone was eagerly waiting for, never arrived.
Rei Furuya glanced at the time for the fifth time, his unease gradually building up, just like the increasingly heavy despair and malice of the world piled up in the chat group.
He even wanted to call Kenji Hagiwara immediately to ask, or just run out to find him.
But in order to prevent even greater changes in the future, and to prevent the terrible butterfly effect from happening again, he endured it.
“Zero? What’s wrong? Is something urgent? Why are you constantly checking the time?” Morofushi Kagemitsu noticed something was wrong with him.
"No, it's nothing. I was just wondering why Hagi hasn't arrived yet." Rei Furuya immediately smiled.
This topic resonated with others, especially the girls who mostly came because of Kenji Hagiwara, and they immediately started talking about Kenji Hagiwara.
When Furuya Rei checked the time for the seventh time, he really couldn't hold back anymore.
Something's definitely wrong; Kenji Hagiwara's lateness has far exceeded the original schedule.
The future has changed!
Rei Furuya's unease reached its peak instantly, and he immediately took out his phone to call Kenji Hagiwara.
"Beep beep beep—"
I can't get through on the phone!
Rei Furuya suddenly stood up.
“Zero?” Morofushi Kagemitsu looked up at him in confusion.
"Hagi might be in trouble!" Rei Furuya said through gritted teeth, offering no further explanation before running out.
Something's not right!
The get-together was at 7 PM, and Hagi was supposed to leave early. Even if something happened on the way—helping an old man climb the stairs and going to the shrine to draw a fortune—he would still arrive around 7:20. But it's almost 7:30 now, he's nearly half an hour late! And he's not replying to any of the calls and messages that he usually takes seriously and would never miss…
This is absolutely abnormal!
Which butterfly flapped its wings?!
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