Chapter 48: Ten Playthroughs of Save Files (19)
A month later, Morofushi Hiromitsu finally met Furuya Rei again and successfully resolved the incident that led to Hagiwara Kenji's inevitable death, but his expression was not good.
"I clearly caught another prisoner and took the bomb remote control, so why did the bomb timer still restart?" Morofushi Kagemitsu frowned, somewhat frightened. "Fortunately, Zero was prepared."
What's most disappointing is that even after rescuing Hagiwara, they didn't find the next save point, which means it's not over yet.
"I'm having someone investigate." Furuya Rei typed rapidly on his phone.
He grumbled in the email, and in real life he complained to his childhood friend, "Hiro, let me tell you, you have no idea how awful Hagi is! Oh, wait, he did wear a bomb suit this time, but I told him to wear one so he could throw himself and the suit as a shield when it explodes! I'm so angry!"
Morofushi Kagemitsu was taken aback, then couldn't help but chuckle: "That does sound like something Hagiwara would do."
Both of them were the same; although they were angry, they were also helpless, because either of them would probably have made the same choice in that situation.
Just like the other three, who were very aware of and angry about the dangerous work they were doing, but were also helpless.
Because they are all police officers.
“Zero…” Morofushi Kagemitsu looked at the blond youth in front of him, who was somewhat disheveled from the bomb blast, his eyes filled with worry.
Although they were very reluctant to part, they had to separate immediately.
To truly meet openly and honestly, we'll probably have to wait until we join the organization and become Scotland and Bourbon.
Fortunately, even if they can't meet in person, they can stay in touch online.
Since Zero started learning from the super hacker in the newbie world in the group chat, his computer and network skills have become much more advanced.
The reputation of [Sakura], the hacker and information broker, has grown even stronger.
Although Zero always humbly says that he only knows a little bit, if he can say that he knows "a little bit" of something, even if it is not at the top level, it is definitely one of the best.
It's probably because he always compares himself to the world's best, which is what Matsuda often complains about as "top-level cancer," so as long as he's not the strongest, he feels like he's only "a little bit" good.
But the more he pushed himself, the more worried Morofushi Kagemitsu became.
"Don't worry, it seems that the official world line convergence is not much different from before." Furuya Rei put away his phone, smiled and gave his childhood friend a hug. "Even the system cannot violate the rules of the world and make the timer start jumping again without any logic. There must be other reasons. I will tell you as soon as I find out."
"I'm prepared for the butterfly effect that's about to unfold, and I'll notify Hiro immediately if anything happens," he assured him earnestly. "It's a promise, we'll fight side by side, and I'll never abandon Hiro again. This time, it's all thanks to Hiro; otherwise, with my current position, I wouldn't be able to get the police to help me with anything. Luckily, Hiro was there."
“Yes, I believe in Zero.” Morofushi Kagemitsu took a deep breath and smiled. “After all, we’ve made it this far.”
They have now identified some patterns.
The most important aspect is to infer the progress of one's own world based on the progress of other people's worlds in the group chat.
Furuya Rei's guessing system is a unified live broadcast of the worlds of the five people in their group, so the flow of their worlds is very irregular. The only regularity is that something will happen at the same time.
This allows the despair of the five worlds to accumulate, suffocating and crushing the audience outside the screen layer by layer, thus enabling them to collectively gain immense energy from different worlds.
Therefore, reasoning from this point, we can immediately become vigilant when things happen in other worlds and deal with our own situation and emergencies.
This has been the case so far, with only two exceptions.
One is that Homura Akemi inevitably fails at the end of each month's Witch's Night.
One is that Rei Furuya has successfully overcome the world's malice several times, allowing the tenth playthrough to proceed to the present.
This seemed to pause after Furuya Rei cleared the second save point. It's unclear whether the system was curiously exploring the vast amount of hope and happiness energy it gained, or preparing for the next plan. In any case, no one in the group had any problems in the past month, and everyone was safe and sound.
Until the arrival of newcomer Rintaro Okabe, and until he unravels the conspiracy of that world-class dark organization, he suddenly realizes the crisis of the world's destruction.
When Rintaro Okabe declared himself the only savior and planned to continue developing the time machine to fight the dark organization, Rei Furuya knew that the moment had arrived.
Savior... Rei Furuya's expression at that moment even scared away his colleagues who wanted to build a good relationship with him.
As he expected, things did not go smoothly on November 7th. Despite all the preparations he had made, the bomb still exploded at the last minute.
Of course, he had taken this into account, so in the end, he got through it safely without any major incidents.
However, the other people in the group did not.
Subaru Natsuki died again, Homura Akemi reincarnated again, and Shinpei Amagi lost another comrade.
Rintaro Okabe used a time machine to change the past, causing huge changes to the present world. His former companions suddenly disappeared, and no one else had any memory of that person—their connection was erased from the beginning.
That's right, this is the butterfly effect, and it's also the biggest challenge he'll face next.
How big of a butterfly effect will this event, which saved Kenji Hagiwara from certain death on November 7th, have?
Rei Furuya doesn't know.
Although he has already completed ten playthroughs, this is the first time he has truly faced the convergence of world lines and the butterfly effect that changes fate.
*
"Ouch, it's so cold..."
Sleeping naked in winter, even with a 90% waking-up time, can be very difficult.
But that didn't stop him from getting up and facing the cold air, even though he felt reluctant and reluctant.
After washing up and getting dressed, he stood in front of the calendar on the wall.
Rei Furuya now pays great attention to the calendar. Even though he has already studied and memorized the calendar for the entire year ahead, he still stands in front of the calendar every morning after washing up to double-check the dates.
This is not only because he is no longer the staunch materialist he once was, but also because the system really likes to play tricks on this, like a perverse pleasure of knowing your death date in advance, but it does indeed serve as a warning.
Today is December 24th, nothing unusual, but...
【December 25
Suitable for: burial, encoffining, moving the coffin, and relocating the grave.
Taboo: Do not engage in other matters.
It's Christmas, but not a good day.
However, there seems to be no problem with Christmas Eve today.
Rei Furuya pinched the bridge of his nose.
There are actually many such unlucky days in a month, but not every unlucky day will lead to something bad. However, the day that does lead to something bad is usually not a good day. It's very mysterious.
Kenji Hagiwara, who has recently been encountering various dangers and narrowly escaping death on unlucky days, has been dragged to the shrine by Jinpei Matsuda several times.
In short, we need to prepare for tomorrow.
Fortunately, the police's zero-team was on holiday for the past two days, so he didn't have to think of any other way to sneak out.
Rei Furuya took out a thick coat and put it on. After going out, he pulled up the furry hood to cover his hair and half of his face, concealing most of his hair and skin color, which made him stand out in the crowd.
He wouldn't stand out at all walking in the crowd like that.
11:30 p.m.
"It's snowing?" Furuya Rei, who had just finished his work, paused, stood on the side of the street, looked up at the gray sky where fine snow was falling, and reached out to catch a snowflake.
Snowflakes usually have six petals, but the one he casually caught had five petals.
The snowflake with its five pure white petals landed on the palm of my hand, which had a dark, wheat-like skin, and melted instantly from the intense heat.
Rei Furuya wiped the melting water droplets from his palm with his index finger, put his hands in his pockets, and continued walking towards the center street.
The snow wasn't too heavy, so it didn't matter if I didn't bring an umbrella; it wouldn't take much time anyway.
The three of them had arranged to have dinner at an izakaya on Christmas Eve, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to secretly deliver a few apples.
[Peace apple, wishing you all peace and safety.] He whispered to himself.
It's perfectly normal to send a few "peace apples" on Christmas Eve; after all, you won't sign them and they won't be noticed.
After delivering the package, I'll take a day off tomorrow and then keep an eye on Hagi.
Unfortunately, Hiro was busy today too. But even though it was a holiday, they couldn't openly and happily join the crowds on the street to enjoy the holiday joy like before, so it didn't make a difference.
Rei Furuya took the wrapped red bag, glanced at the three exquisite Christmas trees and Santa Claus gift boxes inside, shook the apples inside slightly, smiled, paid, and left.
As he was about to walk towards the izakaya behind the main street to deliver apples to his three sworn friends, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a string of white things, which made him stop in his tracks.
A necklace of wolf fangs hung on a shop on the street, with six teeth strung together by a black cord, reminding Furuya Rei of the six false teeth that Matsuda Jinpei had knocked out by him.
This association made him burst out laughing.
Rei Furuya bought the wolf fang necklace.
Consider it an apology for not attending Matsuda's birthday party after he was invited.
Well, a belated birthday gift. This wild and unrestrained style actually suits Matsuda quite well.
Rei Furuya imagined a curly-haired young man in a black suit, wearing black sunglasses, smoking a cigarette, and with a string of wolf fangs around his neck, and couldn't help but laugh again.
11:40 p.m.
Rei Furuya arrived at the izakaya, but did not find the three police officers who should have been in the private room.
"They suddenly said they'd found a bomb or something and then hurriedly left," the person being questioned replied.
--bomb.
Rei Furuya's heart nearly stopped beating, but he calmed himself down, telling himself that they had encountered enough bombs in the past few months.
Several times, even when he didn't notice the crisis, it was resolved by the group of people who inexplicably became more involved.
They are all excellent police officers, definitely not ordinary people who need his constant protection, so there's no need to be so tense.
Rei Furuya immediately turned around and strode away, dialing Kenji Hagiwara's number without hesitation.
"What's up? I'm busy defusing bombs right now, I'll hang up if there's nothing else~"
The call was actually answered, and Kenji Hagiwara, who probably knew they were doing something like undercover work, didn't even call out his name.
Rei Furuya, whose heart had been pounding with anxiety, finally felt a sense of relief and immediately asked, "What bomb? What happened? Where are you now?"
To avoid making the other party feel strange or nervous, he smiled at the gift bag he had crumpled and said, "Didn't we agree to get together at an izakaya tonight? I was even planning to come over and give each of you a 'peace apple,' but no one is here."
Kenji Hagiwara laughed too: "Oh dear, this is really unexpected. I didn't expect you to actually come. Well then, I'll have to go all out to take down this bomb!"
Under Rei Furuya's insistence, Kenji Hagiwara had no choice but to simply recount the events.
Just now, a prisoner taunted the Metropolitan Police Department, claiming that he had planted bombs in both Twin Towers on Central Street.
Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda, who were living nearby and were known as the "Twin Stars of the Virginity Explosion Group," rushed over without hesitation after receiving the news. Each of them was responsible for a building and arrived at the scene before the main force from the Metropolitan Police Department.
Ida Ko was responsible for evacuating people from the two buildings and coordinating with the arriving Metropolitan Police Department forces.
Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji quickly deduced from the culprit's riddle that the bomb was located under the stage on the nineteenth floor of the venue where a business and political party was being held in the two buildings.
This was bound to alert others, so the two first identified themselves as bomb disposal police officers and asked everyone to remain calm and evacuate. They then successfully located the bomb and have now begun defusing it.
"Don't worry, don't worry, it's not a troublesome bomb. Jinpei said he can take care of it in three minutes." Hagiwara Kenji seemed to reply to Matsuda Jinpei through the earpiece, saying "[Taking it apart, taking it apart, not just chatting]" before continuing, "My side is a little more complicated, but it won't take more than ten minutes."
"Let's get together again once this is resolved. Don't run away again, okay?" He joked with a smile, but his earnestness and anticipation were undeniable.
"I won't run away. I even prepared a belated birthday present for Matsuda." Furuya Rei glanced at the Twin Towers in front of him, avoided the class monitor on that side, pulled down the brim of his hat, and quickly ran up the stairs on the other side. At the same time, as agreed, he summarized what had happened into an email and sent it to Hiro.
Sakura's intelligence network is also quickly investigating the situation.
"Wow! Really?!" Kenji Hagiwara exclaimed in surprise. "Jinpei, did you hear that? He prepared a birthday present for you!"
I don't know what was said on the other end, but Kenji Hagiwara suddenly burst out laughing on the phone: "Hahaha! Now Jinpei is really motivated too!"
Rei Furuya sighed, "Fine, since everything's alright, I'll hang up. You guys better focus on defusing the bomb, you bastards—"
"boom--"
The sudden explosion rang out in the middle of the valley.
His heart stopped, his hand trembled, and the bag in his arms fell to the ground.
The red apples burst through their packaging and rolled out one by one, falling into the dark abyss below the stairwell.
The white wolf tooth necklace was hanging precariously in mid-air.
Rei Furuya had no time to pay attention to them anymore. He was almost frozen in place, looking up at the place where the explosion sounded, his mind blank for a moment.
But amidst the screams and panic of the crowd, and in waves of suffocating despair, Rei Furuya did not hear the demon's voice announcing the end echoing in his mind.
"Furuya? Furuya?! You're here too? Why did I hear an explosion over there?!" Kenji Hagiwara raised his voice instantly on the phone, even calling him by name.
"I'm fine, I'm downstairs, it's okay, I'm safe!" Rei Furuya quickly regained his composure and sped up to continue rushing upstairs. "What was that explosion? Are you alright?!"
Kenji Hagiwara breathed a sigh of relief: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm really fine, don't worry. I didn't expect there to be other bombs that weren't written in the riddle."
"The perpetrator definitely did it on purpose. Those small bombs were placed at the door, elevator entrance, and stairwell. We're trapped on this floor."
After calming down, Kenji Hagiwara quickly observed and thought.
"Many people who were halfway through the evacuation are trapped on this floor. Is this a trap that was prepared in advance? Are we all hostages? What exactly do the prisoners want?"
"Ah, the squad leader said he didn't know either, and the prisoner hasn't sent any more messages."
"Great, Jinpei's side is fine, so only my side exploded? It seems my side is the prisoner's main target."
"Jiang... what are you doing? You didn't run up here, did you?!"
Rei Furuya breathed a sigh of relief, but he showed no sign of stopping.
"Brave officer, I must admire your courage..."
Rei Furuya's breathing became erratic instantly, his pupils constricted, and then he began to tremble.
He froze on the spot: "What...did you say?"
Kenji Hagiwara did not answer him, but continued reading in a serious tone completely different from his usual one: "Therefore, I will now give you two choices."
"First, we can either start escaping with the others or defuse the bomb directly."
"Second, if you're still here in the last six seconds, the bomb timer on the other building will stop."
"Brave officer, you have three minutes to hesitate."
"Should I choose to live a life of ignominy, or sacrifice myself for the people in another building?"
After reading it aloud, Kenji Hagiwara's tone softened a bit, and he gritted his teeth and said, "These are the words that just appeared on the bomb display screen on Jinpei's side. The countdown timer for both of our bombs has been shortened to only three minutes."
Rei Furuya struggled to crawl out of the collapsed rubble of the stairwell and finally reached the nineteenth floor, but the back door of the conference room lobby had been completely blocked by the explosion.
He stood in front of that door, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get in.
Kenji Hagiwara continued, "Yes, yes, I know that Jinpei can disarm the bomb in three minutes, but my situation is more complicated... Three minutes is impossible."
The air fell silent, with only countless panicked cries and curses coming from across the phone and the tightly closed door.
They all knew very well that Matsuda Jinpei didn't need to hesitate at all about making this choice.
Matsuda Jinpei will not defuse the bomb, nor will he run away.
Even if his important childhood friend wasn't on the other side of the scale, he would still choose to sacrifice himself for the public good for the sake of the hundreds of people trapped on that level.
Because he is a police officer.
The curly-haired youth sat down on the ground. Without even putting on his riot gear, he picked up the sunglasses clipped to his chest and put them back on, then chuckled and said, "Hey, hagi, ask that blond bastard what birthday present he got for me."
Kenji Hagiwara was gritting his teeth and trying to defuse the bomb as quickly as possible, even though he knew it was too late.
“It’s a wolf fang necklace.” Furuya Rei’s expression was unusually calm. He sat down by the door, looking down at his phone as he quickly gathered information, and answered, “Consider it an apology for knocking out his dentures on the first night he entered the school.”
I heard Matsuda Jinpei's laughing and cursing voice coming through the headset.
Kenji Hagiwara's hands had never trembled like this before.
He was prepared to sacrifice himself the day he decided to become a policeman, but when the moment actually came, he realized that he seemed to have only prepared himself to sacrifice himself...
He even thought of telling Xiaozhenping to defuse the bomb, that he could definitely defuse it immediately, right? It would only take three minutes, he could definitely handle it instantly, or that he should hurry up and leave, he could still run away, right?
But he couldn't say it; to say it would be an insult to that person.
One minute left.
As time drew ever closer, Rei Furuya finally gave up completely.
Even though the four people in the group are all safe and sound, there's nothing he can do about it.
Is he the "first" this time?
I hope the four children who saw this message can safely escape this disaster.
[Sorry, Hiro, it seems we'll have to fail again this time.]
[It's okay, it's just starting over. I'll definitely succeed next time.]
The moment I finished sending the email, an incoming call popped up on my phone screen.
The call ended at midnight.
30 seconds left.
Kenji Hagiwara had fallen completely silent; the phone was deathly quiet, and you could even faintly hear Jinpei Matsuda's voice, probably saying something comforting.
"Hagi, I'm sorry." Furuya Rei cleared his throat. "Let me tell you something amazing. I can actually reload my save file and start over, like in a light novel where you're reborn. The most perceptive Hagi should be able to tell from all the odd things that happened to me before that I'm telling the truth, right? You know I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. Trust me, Hagi, I'll definitely save Matsuda next time. I absolutely won't let him die."
20 seconds left.
“Kuriya…” Kenji Hagiwara’s voice was a little hoarse, “How many times have you started over?”
Rei Furuya paused for a few seconds, then sighed with a helpless smile: "As expected of Hagi."
10 seconds left.
"No matter how many times I have to start over, I will never give up. I will definitely find the path to success," Furuya Rei said firmly, but avoided answering his question.
Then he hung up on Morofushi Kagemitsu's call again.
Six seconds left.
"The timer has stopped," Kenji Hagiwara whispered.
Five seconds left.
"Ah, if that's really the case, then I'll definitely give that blond bastard a good beating when I get back." After hesitating for a long time, Matsuda Jinpei hung up the class president's phone again, but sent him the email he had typed. "They kept such an important thing from us for so long, it makes me so angry."
"Forget it, what if I run away now and the bomber who's monitoring us starts your timer again?" He smiled and refused his childhood friend's anxious request.
3 seconds left.
"Oh no! The timer has restarted! Everyone, get away!!!" Kenji Hagiwara's previously suppressed voice suddenly rose.
Two seconds left.
Matsuda Jinpei was stunned; his calm expression as he faced death was instantly replaced by shock and anger.
"Hagiwara——!!!"
One second left.
Rei Furuya closed his eyes.
After a 6-second countdown, the bomb timer restarted.
In the end, did everything still revert to its original ending?
Is this the true convergence of world lines?
He was still a bit careless; even Matsuda this time...
The clock struck midnight.
"boom--"
Beneath the two exploding twin towers, Date Wataru, who was anxiously evacuating the crowd, and Morofushi Kagemitsu, who had just gotten off the bus, froze completely.
Countless pedestrians stared in astonishment at the crimson flames bursting in the darkness, while the bustling central square nearby continued to play rousing and holy Christmas carols, which mingled with the screams of the crowd into a bizarre hymn sung by God and the devil.
"God grant you happiness, gentlemen."
Matsuda Jinpei is dead.
"Let everything be filled with hope, and let nothing frighten you."
[Side ending unlocked: The Butterfly Effect - The Death of Matsuda Jinpei]
"In memory of Jesus, our Lord, who was born on Christmas Day."
【Hagihara Kenji is dead】
"Deliver us from the city of Satan, and bring us comfort and joy when we go astray."
[Side ending achieved: Worldline convergence - Kenji Hagiwara's death]
“Don’t be afraid,” the angel said, “we have nothing to fear.”
You are dead.
"Today a savior is born, bathed in holy light."
[End of 10 playthroughs]
"He will deliver those who believe in him through the power of Satan, bestow the gospel, and bring happiness and joy."
[Resulting in a Bad Ending: An Unspeakable Change]
[Load save/load]
【yes】
[Loading save file...]
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