Day 1
10:27 AM
Time refuses to move forward. I struggle to believe this clock isn't broken. Not that I'm looking forward to the next class—far from it. However, for the time to return home to arrive, this break must also end soon.
As I wait, bored, for the break to end, I gaze out the classroom window and see the same thing as always: smiling girls and noisy boys radiating this boisterous aura of youth.
Nothing has changed. Day after day, I experience this; consequently, it's the umpteenth time I analyze my life in this way.
An abrupt impression resonates in my mind. A disturbance that exposes the hidden strangeness sustaining this scene.
Wait.
There's something very wrong with all of this. I'm not sure why, but this environment shouldn't exist anymore. How come? It's natural...
A strong feeling of dizziness overtakes my body. I'm about to lose my balance. I try to grab onto something to understand what's happening.
A déjà vu? No. It's something much more potent than that.
It's as if reality is collapsing. A trail of parallel realities forms around every object I fixate on, infinite worlds existing absurdly close.
What the hell is happening? Now that I've managed to steady myself, I'm sure I'm standing still, yet everything continues to move and distort within its own trail.
Amid all this dizziness and visual illusion, some memories begin to resonate in my mind; some I'd rather forget, while others are extremely valuable.
I've lived this before; I'm sure of it. How could I have forgotten? It's impossible not to remember so many emotions accumulated across infinite worlds.
Like an electric shock, my brain receives a flood of information every second, much more intense than the last time. However, just two words are enough to anchor my sanity: Ailiss and Mikoto.
Yes, they are my safe harbor. Just thinking about them makes me feel more stable. This way, I can clear my head and reason.
Now, I need to understand what happened here. Why couldn't I remember all this? There's no way I could forget what I feel for them and what I had to do to save them.
At this moment, another important question comes to mind.
But wait… why am I alive? I clearly remember all those projectiles tearing through my internal organs; even if they took me to a hospital, it would have been impossible to save me. Yes, definitely, Miyu killed me at the end of the game.
And why am I here in the first place? Did I fail and return to the starting point? Somehow, were the two of them not saved, and are those demons giving me a second chance?
Impossible. I planned everything meticulously. Nothing should have gone wrong after my suicide. Miyu killed me, so the game ended with both of them alive, and besides, with their grievances more than resolved. That must have been the result; I can't think of any subsequent problem.
Could one of them have pretended to become allies? No... I'm sure both were honest in their stances.
There are so many unanswered questions... I don't even know where to begin.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
The déjà vu itself is fading, but I'm getting even dizzier from the emotional impact of this information.
As I stagger and am about to fall, I hear the voice of a classmate.
"Johann-kun, are you okay? You look a bit pale."
Miyu? I didn't expect to see her talking to me again.
I see the girl and my other two classmates, Manabu and Shou, looking at me with some concern.
They're here too? Are they all alive? Of course... in this circumstance, I haven't killed them yet.
Killed them? How can I even entertain such a possibility regarding my friends? That shouldn't be spoken of, not even as a joke.
But that's what I did... how could I commit such an atrocity? What have I become? I didn't think I'd be haunted by my sins so soon. I believed that by dying, I would cease to exist and be free of this burden.
The dizziness, accompanied by a dreadful sense of nausea, overwhelms my body to the point where I collapse forward. On the floor, I cover my mouth with the palm of my hand and hold on with all my strength to avoid vomiting.
"Johann-kun?!" Miyu shouts as the three rush to help me.
"Hey, Johann. What's going on?" asks Shou, lifting me up.
"Say something," Miyu insists.
Don't help me! Stay away! What I did to you is unforgivable! Don't you remember what happened?!
I betrayed you and used you in the most despicable way possible!
And the worst part is that I'd do it all over again if necessary...
I'm a demon; stay away from me! As far away as possible!
Damn it... I don't have the strength to speak. Everything is spinning; I think I'm about to faint any moment now.
I had no choice, did I?
No... Who am I kidding?
If my mission failed, there's no way I can justify the actions I took, not even to myself.
All in vain... everything was in vain. All this suffering I caused had no meaning.
I killed, stabbed, poisoned, mutilated, machine-gunned... and all for nothing?! It can't be... why am I still here?! What kind of joke is this?!
I should be dead! Dead!
All I wanted was to save them; that's all I wanted...
"He's not responding; his condition is terrible. Let's get help!" says Manabu.
"Yes, Manabu-kun. Take him to the infirmary," Miyu replies.
"I... died..." I murmur.
"Hey, wait, he's trying to say something," Shou says.
"We'll see about that later; first, let's get him to the infirmary," Manabu responds.
"Right! Help me lift him a bit more."
Shou and Manabu grab me by the shoulders and drag me out of the classroom.
"Guys, I'll go ahead and inform the nurse in advance; maybe I can get a stretcher to carry him better," Miyu says.
I wish I could protest and be left here to die. However, it seems my mental state is so damaged that I can barely gather the strength to move. Let alone protest and go against their decision.
The only thing I can think about as I'm taken to the infirmary is why this is happening again. Why did I appear in a parallel timeline after my suicide? None of this makes sense.
As I lose consciousness, I only see everything around me gradually darkening.
1:07 PM
I open my eyes and notice a ceiling different from usual.
Where am I? What happened?
I look around and see other beds, curtains, and an entirely white environment. I try to sit up, but the dizziness is still extreme, so I fall back onto the bed.
"No moving. You need to stay lying down; you're still quite debilitated," a woman in a white uniform suddenly appears.
Oh, that's right. They brought me to the infirmary this morning, and I could barely react.
"The office tried calling your home, but apparently, there's a line issue. There's no phone signal, not even on my cell phone... how strange. But don't worry, someone has gone to check what happened."
"My father is on a trip, so no one will be there to answer the call anyway."
"There's no one responsible we can talk to?"
"Only by calling my mother's or father's cell phone, but both are abroad, and I think my father won't return until the end of the month," I reply.
"In that case, we'll turn to a hospital if your condition worsens, and when the phone signal is back, we'll inform one of them. Besides the nausea, you showed symptoms of fever and dehydration, so I left a bottle of water for you to drink during the afternoon. How are you feeling?"
"Better, thank you. But I must warn you that reaching them will be difficult; they're quite busy."
"You're still underage; someone needs to be responsible."
"By the way, what time is it?" I begin to feel exhausted again.
"One o'clock. You can sleep a little more; I'll bring something for you to eat later."
One o'clock? That means the game's announcement hasn't been made yet. Maybe I should do something about it, use this time to start putting plans into action in advance, and find a way to contact the entities.
I try to stay awake, but my eyes keep closing intermittently, and I feel like I could pass out at any moment.
"I think we're dealing with a virus. Although I haven't seen anything as severe as your case, some other students weren't feeling well this morning. Even I felt a little dizzy. That's why we're out of medication; I'll go buy more soon; I'll be back shortly," I hear her voice fading, followed by the sound of a door closing.
I suddenly remember what awaits her at the school gate. Likely, the other staff who confirmed communication problems with the outside world tried to leave and suffered the consequences.
I want to warn her about this, but no sound comes out.
Don't go! You'll die... damn it, everything is spinning again. An infinity of trails accompanies my vision.
I try to support myself on the bed to get up, but I can't muster the strength and simply black out.
…
I wake up again to the sound of speakers screeching.
The dizziness finally seems to have subsided, and with it, the feeling of anger begins to boil inside me. Still lying down, I clench my fists and glare at the speakers.
Then, the noise stops, and finally, a message is played.
"Hello everyone! From now on, we're going to play a game!"
They must be kidding me!
"Where are you?! Aren't you going to explain what's happening here?!"
My shouts at the speakers have no effect. Both ignore my calls and like a recording, the same message from the last time is played.
This damned game is starting again?! I did what you wanted, so why?!