Tanaka found himself in the living room, many questions crossed his mind.
'I don't recall waking up, how did I get here? Did they drag me here out of the bed?' He thought to himself. But the clues in front of him indicated that the answer is far more complicated.
He was standing up with the groceries bag on his hand and his backpack on his shoulder.
Not only that, The pack of soda which he supposedly gave to the kids in the village is still in the bag.
As his confusion kept growing, he reached out for his pocket.
"Its still working." Tanaka mumbled in a low voice. His phone which got busted yesterday after his rushed experiment.
Roswaal: "―What's the matter? Why'd you suddenly space out?"
His eyes shifted towards the voice, it was Roswaal with Ram standing up next to each other, the scene was familiar.
Tanaka :" Hey, didn't we have this conversation yesterday?" he asked, a tinge of uncertainty in his voice.
Roswaal and Ram exchanged puzzled glances, clearly taken aback by Tanaka's question. After a brief moment of silence, Roswaal spoke up," Um, Tanaka-Kun. We just met."
Tanaka's uncertainty grew as he listened to Roswaal's response. His mind was filled with a whirlwind of thoughts, questioning the validity of his memories and the reality of the events he believed had occurred. Were all the vivid recollections just figments of his imagination?
As Tanaka's troubled look became apparent, Roswaal, sensing his distress, called out to him again. "Tanaka-Kun, if you're feeling tired, there's no need to push yourself. You can still take my suggestion to rest,"
Breaking him from his stupor, Tanaka responded "Ah, no it's okay. It's just that I spaced out for a second,"
Roswaal: "Alright, if you insist. Then Ram, please fetch him an appropriate outfit after you show him a tour."
Ram nodded before turning to Tanaka. "Please follow me,"
He followed Rem as she led him.
The pattern of events was identical to his memories. As they walked, the mansion was just as spacious as he recalled.
Ram then started showing him the rooms one after the other, they were numerous which was to be expected for a place as big as this.
Ram: "This is the kitchen."
Ram: "This is the bathroom."
Ram: "This is the Washbasin."
Ram: "This is the Guest's Room."
Ram: "This is the Dining Room."
After each passing minute, Tanaka's kept getting dizzier and dizzier, the shape of each room, he recognized them all.
Ram: " And this is the storage room, It's where we store some old furniture. There are a lot of stuff that needs to get rid off."
As she was explaining, Tanaka held his hand to his head, feeling a headache. Ram looked at him and spoke up with an indifferent tone, "Is something wrong?"
Feeling the need to dismiss his discomfort, Tanaka removed his hand from his head, attempting to mask his discomfort with a forced smile. "Ah, I'm fin... Huh?" His words trailed off as he lifted his head to meet Ram's eyes, only to be met with a disorienting sight.
His surroundings seemed to blur and distort, like an otherworldly haze had enveloped his vision. The familiar space around him dissolved, and he found himself standing in an empty void—a place devoid of light and sound.
Tanaka: 'What's this place?'. Tanaka's voice caught in his throat as he attempted to speak, but no words escaped his lips.
'Its dark.' Darkness enveloped him entirely, rendering him unable to see anything.
'I can't hear anything' The absence of sound was equally unsettling. The air hung heavy with silence, devoid of any auditory cues. Even the faintest rustle or echo was absent, leaving him in an eerie stillness.
His entire body had become numb and unresponsive, or more like it doesn't exist anymore, he couldn't confirm the presence of limbs with any of his senses.
His legs, once supporting him, felt weightless and intangible. His hands, once capable of touch and manipulation, seemed to vanish into thin air. He attempted to blink, but his eyes no longer registered any movement or visual input.
a newfound terror seized him. He tried to draw in a breath, but to his horror, his lungs remained empty and unresponsive. Panic surged through his veins as the realization hit him.
—He couldn't breathe.
How? What? Why? Countless questions flooded his mind, each one a desperate plea for understanding.
Time seemed to warp within the void, distorting his perception of seconds into an agonizing eternity. Every passing moment felt drawn out, elongated, as if the fabric of time itself had twisted and contorted.
In those fleeting moments, which held the weight of an eternity, Tanaka's mind felt on the verge of unraveling. The absence of breath, the absence of sensation, and the absence of answers merged into an overwhelming sense of disconnection.
As his consciousness hung in the balance, the fragility of his sanity became ever more apparent.
But just as Tanaka's sanity teetered on the edge, the scene abruptly shifted, and he found himself back in the familiar confines of the living room. The abrupt transition only added to his disorientation, leaving him momentarily dazed and bewildered.
"I admire your spirit, Tanaka-Kun. If that's what you wish, then I won't stop you," it spoke, a hint of admiration lacing its words.
Tanaka: "Hah, what's going on."
Dizziness washed over him, weakening his legs until they could no longer support his weight. With a sudden lurch, he collapsed, falling unconscious.
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"What did you just do, you bastard!" A voice echoed with a mix of anger and astonishment.
In an instant, a punch launched towards him, connecting with unrelenting force. Tanaka stumbled backward, his body crashing against the ground, a jolt of pain shooting through his frame.
Before he could gather his bearings, his assailant pounced on him, raining down blow after blow.
His hands trembled, unable to push his attacker away. Fear coursed through him, his body shaking uncontrollably.
Weakly, he managed to utter, "I didn't mean to." But his feeble plea fell on deaf ears, drowned out by the relentless assault.
The world spun around him as he struggled to breathe, his lungs gasping for air, a suffocating grip tightening around his chest.
In the midst of this suffocating nightmare, a sudden sensation broke through the chaos. Tanaka felt a splash of water on his face, shocking him awake from his tormenting reverie.
His body shot up, jolting from the bed as Tanaka, his eyes eyes fluttered open. His chest heaved with rapid breaths
[???]: "Oh, he is awake, Sister."
[???]: "Ah, he is awake, Rem."
Upon waking up again with the voices of two girls with the same quality of voice, Tanaka then followed the source of the familiar voices. It was Rem and Rem, his sudden action surprised the girls, hand in hand with each other looking at him.
As he tried to gather his bearings, he suddenly became aware of a chilling sensation seeping through his clothes.
"What...?" he muttered, questioning how he had become so soaked, he then looked around seeing a backet of water near the twin, he then casted a skeptical gaze at them.
Rem: "Dear guest, no Tanaka-Kun. Please forgive sister, it seems that she accidently splashed you with water."
Ram: "Dear guest, no Tanuki. Please forgive Rem, you seemed thirsty so she gave you some water,"
Tanaka's eyebrows twitched as he observed the twins shamelessly deflecting blame onto each other. But his curiosity got the better of him, and he inquired about what had transpired.
Tanaka: "What happened?"
Rem responded first, explaining the events. "You collapsed two hours ago. Beatrice-Sama inspected you and said you were simply exhausted. So, Rem and sister brought you here to rest. However, you started moaning in your sleep, and the voices were unpleasant, so we woke you up."
Ram: "Just as Rem said, Tanuki collapsed pathetically while talking about how he can't take the first day off."
Tanaka couldn't help but shake his head at the duo's antics, a mixture of gratitude and amusement coloring his expression.
After a brief moment of silence Rem looked at Tanaka with a curious expression and asked, "What is Tanaka planning to do?"
Tanaka: "I'm going to take the boss's advice and go rest. Being stubborn won't do me any good."
Ram, unable to hide her annoyance, clicked her tongue audibly. Tanaka caught the sound and couldn't resist a playful retort. "Hey, try to prevent your true feelings of wanting to slack off from leaking out dear sister."
With that, the tension eased, and the twins after ensuring he had everything he needed to rest. As he settled in, he couldn't help but be grateful for the unexpected support and care he had found in this unfamiliar place.
After they left, he got up from his bed and took out his notebook out of his bag. He lit up a cigarette then started recalling his memories.
His first memories were him coming in front of this mansion, he then met with Ram and Roswaal. After confirming that he was no longer in Japan, the owner offered a job as a butler, then Ram took him for a tour around the mansion and then they started working after he got introduced to Ram.
Later he went with Ram to the village to get some supplies, and that's where he found kids playing with the Rare earth, after he traded the rocks for soda cans he got back to the mansion.
He later created a system which can generate electricity with rare earth using the electromagnetic induction. His experiment failed which busted his phone, he then went to sleep.
"Everything is still here," Tanaka murmured, glancing at the bag of groceries that he had brought back from the village. The bag of soda cans, a reminder of his encounter with the children and the trade he made, remained untouched. His phone, which he thought had been destroyed during the failed experiment, was miraculously functioning.
That's how the day ended, or how it was supposed to end.
After waking up, he found himself back in the living room,. How had he ended up back in the living room, standing instead of resting in his bed?
The fatigue that weighed on his body felt as if he hadn't slept at all. The conversations he had with Roswaal and Ram echoed in his mind, mirroring his earlier recollections.
Initially, Tanaka dismissed the notion that his memories from the first day were merely figments of his imagination. After all, he had been exhausted from working two part-time jobs for ten hours straight.
However, as he wandered through the mansion, each room appeared identical to his previous experiences. Yet, it was the encounter in the storage room that shook him to his core.
The sudden shift in scenery, the darkness engulfing him, and the sensation of his body vanishing—it all defied logic and reason. The few seconds he spend in that space made almost loose his mind.
What followed later was him opening his eyes and back facing Roswaal at the living room.
Tanaka: "It's like, I'm stuck in a loop.", the event in mind were definitely real and it seemed like every time he loops he goes back to the exact same point, where he is about to start working. He also relived the same day three times.
But the question that haunted him was, "Why?"
What triggered this time loop? He couldn't identify any noticeable event that could be responsible.
After pondering over it for a while, Tanaka decided to extinguish his cigarette, realizing that he had smoked through an entire pack. He had initially planned to conserve the two packs he had, but the stress and frustration had gotten the better of him.
With a sigh, he closed his notebook and lay down on the bed, feeling the weight of exhaustion wash over him. The recent events had taken their toll, and he soon drifted into a deep sleep.
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Roswaal :"I admire your spirit, Tanaka-Kun. If that's what you wish, then I won't stop you,"
Roswaal :"Just remember to take breaks when necessary."
Kazuki Tanaka looped again.