Chapter 57, Eighteenth Cycle (1)
[Rei Furuya: At times like this, I'd rather see you revert to your old, chuunibyou self, shouting that neither the world nor fate matters, and that the mad scientist Kyouma Hououin will definitely overcome everything.]
[Okabe Rintaro: There's no such thing as Hououin Kyouma! Those are just settings, settings I created for Mayuri when I was a kid! Just a chuunibyou fantasy and performance! I'm just an ordinary college student, Okabe Rintaro! Isn't it because of my arrogance that all of this has happened?]
[Rei Furuya: Was this a setting created for Mayuri? Can you tell me about your childhood? You two grew up together, right? Actually, I also have a childhood friend. He's a very, very important person to me, a very gentle and perceptive person, so he often makes me a little worried.]
[Okabe Rintaro: Mayuri is also a very, very important person to me. She is a very gentle and kind girl, so I often worry about her, which is why I said things like "Mayuri is a hostage of this mad scientist, so I will not allow you to leave" during that incident...]
[Okabe Rintaro: The story begins with the death of Mayuri's grandmother, who raised her. Mayuri cherished her grandmother deeply, and after her grandmother's passing, she became very quiet. Rain or shine, she would stand alone at her grandmother's grave for a long, long time, silently thinking about things no one else knew.]
[Okabe Rintaro: For a full six months, Mayuri didn't say a single word. At that time, I even thought Mayuri had developed aphasia.]
Rei Furuya paused for a moment.
Childhood friend... the death of a close relative... aphasia... hiro...
[Okabe Rintaro: At that moment, I was anxious and scared, thinking I was going to lose her, so in a moment of impulse, I imitated the mad scientist I'd seen on TV, hugged her, and said things like she was my hostage, that she couldn't go anywhere without my permission, and that she couldn't hurt herself.]
[Okabe Rintaro: She laughed and cried at that moment, saying, "Well, there's nothing I can do about it," and then she returned to normal. And so, I became the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, and Mayuri became my hostage.]
[Okabe Rintaro: Hououin Kyouma was born and has existed ever since because of Mayuri; it's just a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) trope. That's why I find it even more unacceptable that Hououin Kyouma killed Mayuri.]
[Rei Furuya: I see, but I don't think so.]
[Rei Furuya: First of all, while Hououin Kyouma was born because of Mayuri, you met many other people later in life, didn't you? Hououin Kyouma is a part of you. You truly became an unprecedented mad scientist who developed a time machine. You are not an ordinary person; you have this talent and ability. Hououin Kyouma is also a beloved part of everyone who was drawn to you and became your companion. He is the side Mayuri liked the most, and that's where your charm lies. I don't think that's just a setting.]
[Rei Furuya: There's something even more important, Rintaro. Since Hououin Kyouma was able to save Mayuri the first time, he can definitely save her this time too. Or rather, it's necessary for Hououin Kyouma to save Mayuri now.]
[Okabe Rintaro: ...But I really don't know what to do. I've tried everything, but can humanity really overcome fate?]
After this outpouring of his thoughts and memories, Rintaro Okabe did indeed calm down and become more rational after the near-destruction of the time machine. His almost blank mind gradually cleared, but he still couldn't think of a solution.
[Rei Furuya: Yes, the method for success definitely exists; we just haven't found it yet, but it's far from time to give up.]
[Okabe Rintaro: I don't want to give up! I absolutely will not give up! Even if I fail a few times, dozens of times, hundreds of times, I will challenge myself thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of times to save Mayuri! Even if I fail countless times, I will continue to jump through time to save everyone in danger!]
[Rei Furuya: Very good. This unwavering determination to never give up, no matter what despair you face, is the most important thing.]
[Rei Furuya: And you're not alone. Besides everyone in the group, you also have real-life companions. It's not that they don't trust you, it's just that they can't fully process such a huge amount of information in a short time. They're just ordinary people too. But even so, no matter how many time jumps you experience, Mayuri will firmly believe in you and follow your plan without hesitation. And haven't the others always cared about you and wanted to help you?]
[Rei Furuya: You're not fighting alone. We're all working towards that happy ending.]
[Rei Furuya: More importantly, our failures were not meaningless; it was precisely those experiences and intelligence that gradually paved the way to success.]
[Rei Furuya: Remember what I just said? Only Hououin Kyouma can save Mayuri now, and I need Hououin Kyouma's help to resolve our current predicament.]
Rintaro Okabe paused for a moment.
[Okabe Rintaro: Can...I help Furuya-san too? What do I need to do? Has Furuya-san already thought of a solution?!]
[Rei Furuya: You've helped me a lot all this time, especially with scientific theories and research. It was because of professionals like you, and because I came into contact with your world where time machines could be developed, that I first formally began to understand world line convergence and many things related to time travel.]
[Rei Furuya: Don't underestimate the power of information.]
Rintaro Okabe chuckled to himself for a while.
His assistant, who had been watching him with concern, witnessed the entire change in his expression and was filled with huge question marks.
[Okabe Rintaro: Only someone as intelligent and calm as Mr. Furuya could make the most of this information and deduce the answer from countless details.]
Even if he says many things, he still can't grasp the key points.
Even if someone is a scientist and can do research, it doesn't mean they can reason.
It seems like Mr. Furuya's world is a detective game world, right? Then he must be an incredibly skilled detective!
[Okabe Rintaro: Thank you, Furuya-san. I'm completely back to my senses now! Please tell me what you need! I'll do everything I can to help!]
[Rei Furuya: I only have a few ideas for now, but we need to discuss them further before we can finalize them.]
The discussion went on for a very long time, while others who were not very familiar with these complex theories tacitly remained silent.
Rintaro Okabe, on the other hand, pulled his genius female assistant into the discussion.
The first thing that is completely certain is that the disasters they are currently facing can be roughly divided into two types.
One type is world line convergence, where the world line is forcibly converged for the sake of a predetermined future. This is something that has already been decided for the world. No matter how many different branches of world development have been generated before, they will eventually converge to the same endpoint.
That is, the deaths of Kenji Hagiwara and Mayuri Shiina.
One is the butterfly effect. Once a change is made that is different from the original development, it will inevitably cause a butterfly effect. Then, all the butterfly effects will be guided by fate to become a force for the convergence of world lines. Therefore, it is also called the convergence butterfly.
In other words, it's a lose-lose situation no matter what.
All the disasters they encountered were accidental, but that accident was also inevitable, determined from the very beginning by the will of the world.
In reality, although they always refer to these disasters as the malice of the world or the cruel tricks of fate, the world and fate themselves are devoid of emotion or even consciousness; it is all merely an invisible energy rule.
Just like the significance of a flood to ants.
Even the system is not as powerful as imagined. Neither world line convergence nor the butterfly effect has much to do with the system.
Systems cannot simply be observers, nor can they control too much; they are merely parasites attached to the world, or intruders, as one might say.
So, here we can temporarily put the system aside and focus on thinking about the rules of the world.
The butterfly effect is not absolutely certain; it represents "unpredictable change," where even the smallest difference can lead to astonishingly large changes.
Therefore, they can take advantage of the butterfly effect, which also has its benefits.
Rei Furuya divides them into two types of butterflies: red butterflies that lead to bad results and blue butterflies that have a better impact.
Ultimately, the operation to change the world line is simply using the butterfly effect to overcome the convergence of world lines.
Human power is limited, so we use rules to fight against rules.
What should I do if the game is so difficult that I can't complete it normally?
Let's try exploiting the bug in the world of cards.
Rintaro Okabe called this operation "Lorentz Butterfly VS Laplace's Demon".
The only thing that could defeat Laplace's demon is probably the Lorentz butterfly.
Laplace's demon and the Lorentz butterfly are two famous mythical creatures in the scientific community, but Schrödinger's cat is probably the most well-known to the general public.
Laplace's demon is a demon that knows the "past" and "future" of the universe. It represents that everything in the universe is fixed in the eyes of higher-dimensional beings. Both the past and the future are predetermined and cannot be changed, or even change is part of the predetermined process.
The Lorenz butterfly, also known as the butterfly effect, is a phenomenon where a slight flap of its wings can destroy a predetermined fate, and it is the only rule that humans can actually experience.
Although it's impossible to determine whether the butterfly they created was red or blue, or whether the hurricane it created could defeat Laplace's demon, it's worth a try.
...although they had tried several times before they figured it out.
However, the experience gained from the failure made their future plans clearer.
For example, their next plan is to explore the cause and effect of everything.
In this war, the most important thing is to find the cause and effect of everything.
Only by finding the root cause can we use the butterfly effect to change the final outcome of the convergence of world lines.
Only the Lorentz butterfly can defeat Laplace's demon.
Blindly trying things out won't work. Although the uncertainty of the butterfly effect makes this a matter of great luck, even the strongest will can't withstand repeated setbacks. We must find the right direction before trying again.
Rintaro Okabe quickly finalized his direction after discussion among the group, and his assistant, Kurisu Makise, also agreed with it.
It's not as simple as it sounds; what he needs to do is restore the world to its original state.
The world he now inhabits has been completely transformed by the butterfly effect, with all cause and effect distorted, making it difficult to find the cause and effect. So, he might as well restore everything to the original timeline.
In other words, he has to create new blue butterflies one after another to kill all the previous red butterflies.
Due to various limitations, this is difficult; it may take him a long time and many attempts to cancel all previous emails sent to the past, including those from the enemy.
But finally finding a method and a direction to work towards completely changed Okabe Rintaro's spirit.
[Okabe Rintaro: And what about Mr. Furuya?]
Rei Furuya was slightly taken aback.
[Okabe Rintaro: Mr. Furuya, you're so amazing, didn't you think of a way to change your world line?]
Rei Furuya remained silent for a few seconds.
[Rei Furuya: Yes, but I can't do that.]
He thought of many solutions, but couldn't implement them.
He cannot trample on everyone's wishes and beliefs; it is not enough for a person to merely exist.
He cannot harm the interests of the country and the people for his own selfish desires; he became a policeman precisely to protect all of this.
In any case, he will never forget these two original aspirations, nor will he ever tarnish them.
[Rei Furuya: It's okay, there are other ways. I'll try a few more times, and maybe I'll get lucky and encounter the blue butterfly one of those times.]
[Rei Furuya: Don't worry, I will definitely find the path to success that leads to happiness for everyone, it just might take a little longer.]
Looking at his reply, Okabe Rintaro had a very conflicted expression, feeling both disapproving and anxious, yet completely unable to help.
Rintaro Okabe certainly believed he would succeed; Rei Furuya was so powerful that no one else could help him.
But he cares about so many things, and he always likes to shoulder everything alone and work hard.
So, how much despair and pain will he have to endure before achieving a successful happy ending?
Is there no one who can help him?
He saved the world, but who will save him?
Anyone, please, please, someone help him...
*
October 1st.
Six o'clock in the morning.
Police academy dormitory.
Kenji Hagiwara, who had experienced five cycles of death in his dream, suddenly woke up.
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