Chapter 160 Fifty-Eight Weeks (8)
What?
I felt nothing in Furuya; it seemed like I had tinnitus.
What was Karasuma Renya saying? He seemed to have misheard.
"Why that expression? Are you still going to play dumb even now?" The robot released its grip, straightened up, and seemed to sigh.
Rei Furuya clenched his teeth and tried to close his mouth, feeling his body gradually recovering.
His identity is very special; he is both an undercover police officer and an intelligence agent for the organization, and therefore his physical condition is also very special.
Having received dual training from the police and the organization, ordinary interrogations are not very effective against him, and he can recover quickly even with truth serum and electric shocks.
Just a little bit more, just a little bit more to crush the fangs and reload the save... Reload to where? A minute ago? But that doesn't seem to make a difference. Things are almost settled now, what's the point of reloading back a minute? But continuing like this is also terrible; I have no idea what even more horrible things might happen next...
"This isn't a good place to talk. Let's find somewhere else." The robot took out a syringe and slowly injected the liquid inside into Furuya Rei's neck.
The drug worked quickly; within seconds, Furuya Rei felt dizzy and her consciousness gradually blurred.
"Don't worry, it's just an anesthetic." Karasuma Renya's voice gradually faded away. "You are my most precious treasure, how could I possibly damage you?"
At the moment he completely lost consciousness, Rei Furuya's last thought was:
If only this were just an April Fool's joke, if only it were just another nightmare like last time where I was prevented from loading my save file.
All of this happened so suddenly and without any logical connection that Rei Furuya didn't even want to admit it.
Even though he knew perfectly well that he wasn't dreaming.
*
When Rei Furuya woke up, all he saw was a blinding white, so white that he felt disoriented and thought he wasn't in reality.
White ceiling, white walls, white floor, white equipment.
It's easy to tell that this is an extremely white laboratory, spotless and coldly indifferent.
There was no one, no windows, and no clock.
The location and time are unknown.
There was only one robot staring straight at him.
Rei Furuya closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, stared into the robot's dark eyes for two seconds, and then closed them again.
It's not a dream, it's reality.
"You're awake? Bourbon, you're awake, open your eyes quickly." The robot spoke, expressionless, but its voice was chillingly fanatical, leaving no doubt that it would take action if Furuya Rei didn't comply.
Rei Furuya opened his eyes, moved his body slightly, and found that he was tightly bound to a place resembling an operating table, unable to move his hands and feet.
Even though his body was still somewhat out of control and weak, he noticed that the venomous fangs in his mouth were gone.
Moreover, the wound from removing the fangs was not very painful; the procedure must have been very gentle and careful, causing him almost no harm.
Think back to what Karasuma Renya said before he lost consciousness: that he was a precious treasure and she wouldn't damage him. Although it's disgusting, it seems to be true.
That's how it is, at least for now.
So, he might still have time and opportunity to test the waters.
While her thoughts were racing, only two seconds had passed outside, but Karasuma Renya was already eager to get straight to the point.
“Bourbon, good boy, tell me where your power comes from? Are you also one of the lucky ones chosen by God?” the robot asked, perched next to his head, its inorganic eyes staring intently at the expression on his face.
Rei Furuya found it somewhat amusing. A lucky one chosen by God? Did Renya Karasuma really think that way? It seemed he didn't understand much about reincarnation, or at least the system.
Despite these thoughts, his expression remained flawless as he frowned and asked, "God? Boss? What are you talking about? And what about resurrection and reincarnation... Is this another game like Rum's?"
Karasuma Renya remained silent for a few seconds, seemingly not expecting him to continue pretending.
“Bourbon, you seem to have misunderstood something.” The robot reached out and stroked his blond hair as if it were a beloved child, but because the robot wasn’t precise enough, it was a little rough. However, Karasuma Renya seemed completely oblivious to his frown and continued stroking him, saying, “I’m not the kind of person who needs evidence to act. Now that I’ve brought you here, it means you have nowhere to escape. But in order not to hurt you, I hope you’ll behave and cooperate with me. Good boy, I know you’re smart and understand what you should do now, right?”
The blond, dark-skinned, baby-faced youth sighed: "But I really don't know what you're talking about. Is this an April Fool's joke? If possible, even if it's a game, I'd like to know some of the background plot and rules, otherwise the game can't continue at all, right?"
After saying that, he raised his eyebrows and smiled obediently: "Of course I will be very obedient, sir."
The robot paused, seemingly pleased by his obedient attitude and the word "sir," and chuckled twice after lowering its hand.
“Very good, a good child deserves a reward.” Karasuma Renya said slowly. “Then let me explain it to you a little, so that you can dispel any wishful thinking you might have.”
Rei Furuya immediately adopted a serious expression as if he were listening attentively to the lesson.
“Actually, I’ve been suspicious of you for a while now,” he said first.
Rei Furuya's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't react.
“Look, you’re 28 years old this year, but you still look so young. You even look like a high school student. You haven’t changed at all over the years. It’s as if time has stopped for you.” He continued.
Jianggu Ling: "..."
Just because of this?
Rarely seeing the blond youth with such an expression, Karasuma Renya's originally serious voice instantly broke into a laugh, filled with lightness and joy.
"Just kidding, I'm in such a good mood right now that I just want to have some fun like a young person. It makes me feel young again," he said.
Rei Furuya smirked: "Yeah, that joke is really funny."
Karasuma Renya didn't care about his sarcastic remarks, and the robot reached out again to touch the face of the blond, dark-skinned youth on the operating table.
That attitude had an indescribable eeriness, as if caressing the world's most precious treasure and beloved toy, or as if touching one's own fervent desire and cherished existence through a layer of glass.
Rei Furuya got goosebumps all over his body.
"What a beautiful face, such an excellent body, and an exceptionally intelligent mind. Now, it has been chosen by the gods and granted the ability to live forever." The robot sighed softly, "Unfortunately, not my body."
Rei Furuya didn't just get goosebumps this time; he got goosebumps all over.
He knew that Karasuma Renya, who had lived for over a hundred years, was about to decay and die like a withered tree, so he had a morbidly fanatical pursuit of his own healthy and perfect body, and even the robots he created had a near-perfect appearance.
But when the other person actually targeted his body, he still felt disgusted and horrified.
The organization... shouldn't have any technology similar to possession, right?
"Alright, enough joking around. Let's finish explaining the rules and get down to business. I can't wait. It's only with you that I'm this patient," Karasuma Renya said in a loving voice.
Rei Furuya really felt like throwing up, but he held it in.
"I have indeed suspected you for a long time. After all, Bourbon has the title of 'Prophet' in the organization. There are also other reasons, but I haven't taken action because I'm not sure and I value your valuable talent."
He whispered, almost gently, "Bourbon, my good boy, I've been watching you."
"...That was just a joke. With enough hacking skills and intelligence, plus a smart brain, predicting the future is a very simple thing," Furuya Rei said.
“But what made me almost certain that you are a chosen one of reincarnations was my dream last night.” Karasuma Renya completely ignored his explanation and continued speaking on her own.
"A dream?" Rei Furuya raised an eyebrow. "To attack a codenamed member who has worked so hard for the organization for so many years just because of a dream, isn't that a bit too much of a premise?"
Damn it, it must have been done by the system.
No wonder, if it was a dream, then no matter how they investigated, they wouldn't be able to find anything wrong.
"It was a magical dream. I don't remember many things very clearly now, but I still remember the part about your death and reincarnation very clearly."
Karasuma Renya continued, his voice sometimes wavering and sometimes fervent.
"I dreamt that you encountered danger, immediately biting down on the poisonous fangs hidden in your mouth to commit suicide, and then the next second you reloaded your save file back to before that incident began, easily resolving your own death crisis. How incredible! Is this the true power of a reincarnator?! What a powerful miracle!!! With such an ability! Is there anything in this world you can't have?! Oh, no, that's not right, you've already obtained the best thing in the world, which is immortality, eternal youth, and the ability to reload your save file and start over whenever you're dissatisfied. You can create a perfect life for yourself, without any regrets, just like playing a video game..."
“Sir, if that were really the case, I couldn’t have fallen to this state.” Rei Furuya interrupted his madness. “The word ‘perfect’ has never existed in my life. If I had that kind of ability, how could I still be so often driven crazy by Gin, Scotsman, and Shuichi Akai?”
It seems that Karasuma Renya's dream did not reveal that he was an undercover agent, so there probably won't be any information about the main storyline, and it won't involve Hiro or the others.
Is it because even in a dream like this, the system cannot allow the BOSS to directly know the main storyline?
So, is the reason why the system is so eager to use the organization's BOSS to put him in a life-or-death predicament? Is it because it will be more difficult for them to intervene after the main storyline officially begins?
“Because even reincarnators aren’t omnipotent,” Karasuma Renya chuckled. “Just like that reincarnator from fifty years ago, didn’t he ultimately die at my hands? No matter how strong your abilities are, it depends on who controls them. That guy wasn’t as smart as you.”
Rei Furuya's mind went blank for a moment, his heart pounded wildly, and he almost lost control of his facial expression.
What? A reincarnated person from fifty years ago??
"Of course, I have reflected on my actions for fifty years. This time I will definitely cherish you even more, and I will absolutely not let you die this time." The robot lovingly stroked his soft, golden hair again.
However, the phrase "I will absolutely not let you die" was even more chilling to Rei Furuya than "I will definitely kill you."
"What? Are you surprised? Don't you know you have a senior?" The robot suddenly leaned closer to examine his expression, its voice rising several octaves, piercing straight through his head, "You didn't know?! Really?!"
He laughed maniacally for a while before continuing, "The game between God and the devil certainly didn't start with you. This game has been going on for who knows how long. At least fifty years ago, that reincarnator on the verge of madness reincarnated for at least five hundred years."
"Five hundred years! He reincarnated for five hundred years, he lived for five hundred years, how enviable! But he who achieved such a miracle was so weak and fragile. When I finally found him, he was already mentally unstable. I was very lucky to catch him, but unfortunately, before I could figure anything out, he completely broke down."
Karasuma Renya's voice was filled with regret and heartache.
"Because of his mental breakdown, he completely lost his value as a toy, so he was completely abandoned by God."
"What I don't understand is, what was the meaning of his last, unfinished sentence that led to his death? I've been investigating for fifty years and still don't understand. Perhaps you know what it means?"
The robot leaned close to his ear and whispered, "The protagonist of this world is Kudo—"
Rei Furuya's heart almost stopped. In those few seconds that he deliberately paused and lengthened, he had to exert all his strength to avoid revealing any weakness.
Karasuma Renya, who hadn't noticed the problem, sighed regretfully: "Speaking of which, he suddenly died of a heart attack. What about Kudo? Is Kudo a person's name? Is someone with the surname Kudo the protagonist of this world? Then what is this world? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any answers in the past fifty years. I can only be certain that the world is real, and there is no one with the surname Kudo who has the protagonist's privilege of immortality. Even if someone is outstanding, they are just an ordinary person."
Rei Furuya's suffocating feeling finally eased a little.
Fortunately, things haven't gotten to the worst point yet; at least Karasuma Renya doesn't know that much about the truth of the world.
Indeed, Shiho Miyano once said that the organization's conspiracy had been linked to Shinichi Kudo for half a century, but she was not very clear about the specific reasons and details. She never expected it to be because of this.
"I waited and waited, for fifty years, until I was almost in despair, and finally you have arrived! Hahahaha! I believe you will bring me a miraculous new life! Bourbon! Bourbon! Can you lend me five hundred years too?!" Karasuma Renya finally couldn't hold back and let out a maniacal laugh, then coughed violently as if he were choking, coughing as if he was about to die, and the sound of a respirator could be heard.
Rei Furuya's face was expressionless; he simply lowered his eyes and quickly processed all the information in his mind.
Although he didn't know the specifics of the operation, Karasuma Renya knew far more than he imagined. He could confirm that there were quite a few methods of using the power of reincarnation. Even if he wasn't sure before, now that the system had intervened and given him a dream to reload, it was enough to drive Karasuma Renya crazy.
No matter how he explains or denies it, nothing can stop him from doing what he's determined to do.
Three full minutes passed before Karasuma Renya's hoarse and weak voice finally came from the frozen robot's body, like the unwilling, resentful, and greedy cry of a dying crow.
“Come on, I don’t have much time left, let’s start now,” he said.
"Sir, what are you planning to do?" Furuya Rei looked up and calmly met the robot's gaze. "Don't you have any questions for me? I can explain."
“How can you listen to a liar?” The robot slowly untied the wide black straps binding his wrists. “I will go directly into the depths of your heart to see the truth for myself. This time I am fully prepared and will not repeat the mistakes of fifty years ago.”
Rei Furuya's expression changed: "Sir, do you intend to brainwash me like Rum did?"
Damn it, even though the restraints are off, he still can't move his body. He can only move a finger slightly. What kind of drug was injected into him?
“No, how could I do something so rough to you? You know I’ve been trying to stop Rum from brainwashing you, because that would cause you irreparable damage.” The tall robot removed all the restraints from his body and then easily moved him into a huge, complex machine, placing him in the seat in the very center of the egg-shaped silver machine.
"Sir, you can't do this to me." The blond youth's face was deathly pale, cold sweat soaking his blond hair. "I'm sorry, I confess, I did come from the future. But I don't really understand that power. I just... just because I came from a future where the organization was destroyed, just because of some pointless ambition, just because I thought no one would believe such an absurd thing, so I hid it from you, sir. I'm sorry, I know I was wrong now. I'll tell you everything you want to know, sir, but..."
Although the heart was beating rapidly, there were absolutely no signs of sudden death.
Rei Furuya's eyes narrowed as he watched the robot fasten the metal belt around his waist. He said sharply, "Kudo—"
But the robot, seemingly anticipating this, covered his mouth precisely without even raising its head, turning the syllables he uttered into incomprehensible whimpers.
"Sigh, disobedient children need to be punished." Karasuma Renya sighed helplessly, like an old man with a headache over his rebellious child.
At the same time, the black collar around Rei Furuya's neck fired a tranquilizer dart.
Not only that, the robot also took out a strangely colored purple syringe with its other hand and slowly injected it into his arm.
Faced with the blond youth who refused to close his eyes and was full of anger, Karasuma Renya kindly explained, "Don't worry, it's just something like hallucinogens and truth serums. It's very mild and won't harm your body. It will just give you a good dream."
"This isn't a brainwashing machine, nor is it a holographic game machine. It's just an ordinary device that lets me see what kind of dreams you're having. It won't cause you any harm," he said.
Rei Furuya's hands and feet almost trembled.
His...dream?
“Bourbon, once you fall asleep, you must not dream about the truth of reincarnation,” Karasuma Renya said.
Rei Furuya was stunned for a moment, and even his gradually fading consciousness instantly cleared up.
"Hahaha, surprised? But the human subconscious is such a rebellious thing. The more you tell yourself not to think about something, the more you try not to think about it, and now you'll be thinking about it more and more." Karasuma Renya was in a great mood, feeling as if he had really become a young man again.
He said cheerfully, "For example, I would say, 'You absolutely must not think about crows right now, absolutely must not think about crows, don't think about crows. What are you thinking about right now?'"
crow.
My mind is filled with images of all sorts of crows.
"Otherwise, why do you think I would tell you so much?" Karasuma Renya said with a smile.
Rei Furuya felt a wave of dizziness, his vision gradually blurred, and finally he saw the robot raise its hand and slowly close the transparent lid of the machine.
"Bourbon, never think about the truth of reincarnation, never think about the scene when you first obtained the miracle, and never recall how you obtained this power."
Don't think about it, don't recall it, quickly shift your attention, don't think about reincarnation, don't dream about reloading save files so the organization boss knows the whole truth, otherwise everything will truly be over...
Sweet dreams, my dear Bourbon.
*
I don't know how much time passed, but Furuya Rei woke up.
He felt as if he had been having an incredibly long dream, so long that it felt like he had spent hundreds of years in an endless cycle of darkness, leaving him feeling powerless, his mind heavy and confused.
The events from his dream and reality rushed back into his mind, chilling him to the bone, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
Reality... is even more terrifying than dreams.
He confirmed that he was still inside that egg-shaped machine and could sense that his physical condition was bad, but not that bad. Indeed, as Karasuma Renya had said, he had not suffered the damage of brainwashing.
As his vision and thoughts gradually cleared, Rei Furuya raised his head and looked out through the transparent window made of an unknown material.
The first thing that catches the eye is the projected image on the wall directly opposite.
The huge projection, as clear as a movie, was quickly rewound and watched, from the blond youth and the silver-haired man dying in the fire to the blond youth being reborn and returning to the cherry blossom tree in full bloom at the police academy, finally freezing in the pitch-black screen, with only familiar voices echoing throughout the quiet laboratory.
"Who are you?"
"Bourbon."
"Who are you?"
"Toru Amuro."
"Who are you?"
"Falling valley zero."
"You're going to die."
"I am already dead."
"Falling valley zero."
Do you want to be resurrected?
Do you want to turn back the tide of time?
Do you want to bring the dead back to life?
"Sign a contract with us, and all your wishes will be fulfilled."
Who are you? What do you want?
"We are both God and the devil, because we want to reverse the flow of time and bring the dead back to life."
"I don't believe you."
"I refuse."
"Refusal is ineffective; we are satisfied with your response."
"The contract is established."
"The game begins."
Rei Furuya stiffly turned his gaze slowly toward the person standing in front of the projector.
The robot is gone, replaced by an old man with a cane. Even though he has his back to you and you can't see his expression, you can easily tell that he is extremely excited.
It was Karasuma Renya himself who came.
When the jet-black raven perched on Karasuma Renya's shoulder suddenly turned its head and stared at him with its cold red eyes, Furuya Rei knew that everything was completely over.
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