"For now, you may call me Zero. I'm more comfortable when someone uses my nickname over my real name, especially in weird situations like this."
By the way, I had Motoyasu kill me once more.
There were absolutely no way that I was going to move on with that scenario and give my potential enemies a reason to not like me even more. I mean, they already hated me for being the Shield Hero, but if the news that the Shield Hero couldn't even remember his own name spread, it wouldn't paint me in a decent light in the slightest.
I just wished that Motoyasu hesitated for a second. The moment I realized it was going south, I turned to him and made that request. He proceeded to do so without hearing the reasons why.
For the sake of sanity, I made myself believe that Motoyasu already knew why I wanted to get another reset into the fray, but honesty is speaking for itself. It dictated that Motoyasu still despises me and if the opportunity ever arose, he would certainly end my life. The scowl that temporarily took his expression after in this loop said everything about that.
For my name, I didn't have a clue what I should have called myself. I could worry about my lack of memories later, but if I didn't have any way to introduce myself, I was in hot water. I only had to pretend that I knew what I was talking about, so I thought about taking Naofumi's name for the moment.
Motoyasu killed me for that.
He really didn't appreciate me taking Naofumi's name.
How many times has Motoyasu killed me so far? Six or seven times? Possibly eight? At this point, I think it's best if I stopped counting or else I'm going to tire myself out with that mental trauma. I'm surprised that dying hadn't shock me more than it has.
Man, it's like I was already used to this.
And so, I was forced to come up with my own original name. The reasons I introduced myself as Zero was rather rudimentary when it boiled down to it. Since the legends of the waves foretold that the Four Cardinal Heroes would come to save them, it was immediately obvious to me that I wasn't part of the original four. I was the inexplicable factor in the equation that threw everything out the window due to a mysterious appearance here.
And so, I just counted downwards to zero and called it a day. Of course, I don't think anyone would name their child as a number, so I excused it by saying it was a nickname and I would prefer to be called as such. Little did everyone else know, except for Motoyasu, that it's completely bullshit.
Like the situation I found myself in right now. Utterly bullshit.
The meeting with the king went exactly as I recalled from the events of "The Rising of the Shield Hero". The king ended up ignoring me after the introductions and with how bothered I was by the bigger picture, I ended up not correcting him. Motoyasu was probably going to find another reason to kill me by the end of it anyways, so it wasn't worth wasting that energ—
—oh my god, I just skipped right to the end of the five stages of grief.
Why am I already accepting it as a truth?
We proceeded by receiving the briefing of the waves of destruction and a quick rundown of Status Magic. A banquet was to be held later at night for us, giving us the chance to unwind in some rooms that the castle staff had prepared for us. The moment I came into the room the heroes were to share, I collapsed onto the bed and let out a giant sigh.
"Is something wrong?" Itsuki asked, seeming concerned for his ally.
"So many things, but I'll manage." My words came out slightly muffled as I was already buried into the cushions. "I guess all of this summoning thing is a bit weird to me."
"Not everyone is cut out for situations like this, I suppose," Ren commented.
I sincerely wanted to jump up and challenge Ren to die a few times in the span of ten minutes, only to move on like nothing happened. On the bright side, you can get used to it, but on the flip side, you get used to it. You shouldn't be used to dying in the first place!
Now that I think about it, Ren and Itsuki didn't show any signs of remembering anything that happened in the previous lives. Everytime, they acted as expected and in line with what I remember from the light novels. They never even addressed the fact that they saw Motoyasu killing me, so it was entirely possible that they weren't affected by this ordeal in the slightest.
So that leaves the question.
Why does Motoyasu remember?
Why do I remember?
Asking those questions to myself, I had to pause for a moment. Something about the first question felt natural to ask, as if there truly was a verifiable answer to it. The one that concerned me, on the other hand, felt more empty, as if that question wasn't supposed to exist in the first place.
As Ren and Itsuki sat down and made their way through their Status Magic to figure out the basics of what's going on, I noticed Motoyasu simply lounging around. He was acting as if he already knew all about the Status Magic, but that probably shouldn't be the case yet. They all got summoned here for the first time, so there's no reason for Motoyasu to be this relaxed.
Okay, I say relaxed in the vaguest term possible because everytime I stare at him, he always gives me a stink eye. Trust me, man! I may have thought this would have been fun, but that was before my first death here! I just want to go home now!
Though, I'm not sure what my home looked like exactly. Something about that dreary feeling made me want to dig into the bed even deeper now. If I could go to sleep right now and wake up back at home with all my memories intact, I would be a happy man.
Who's to say I wouldn't wake up in a hospital? Maybe I got myself into some freak accident and all of this is just a dream I'm having in a coma. Honestly, that would have been the most likely answer, but it would probably be the most unsatisfying conclusion to a story ever.
That's probably not the case anyways. Everything felt too real for me to be dreaming.
"Hey." Itsuki called out to us. "This is just like a game, don't you think?"
"It does seem like a game, but it's not quite—"
"It's right out of a console game."
"What? No, it's a VRMMO."
"VRMMO? As in virtual reality? That sounds like something that came out from the future."
"What are you talking about? Have you been living under a rock or something?"
As Itsuki and Ren went about with each other, I tried to recall their main topic as a memory exercise. I obviously knew what the concept of a video game was, but even if I tried to remember anything about them, nothing showed up as hard examples I could reference. It's extremely offsetting to be in those shoes, but with a status screen like this, I could definitely say that it's very game-like.
However, I raised my eyebrow when I finally looked at it for the first time.
Zero
[Š̷͓͎́̿h̴̭̒ị̴̉e̵̼͕̣͗͗l̷̛̼̻̺̳̽̄̊d̷͔͂̉̊ ̵̹̃͊͜Ĥ̷̳́̓̊ë̷̡́̈́͘r̶̢͕̻̤̀̉̔̿ó̵̳̥̊] LV 1
First, the status magic managed to capture the name I gave to everyone and recorded it into my menu. I almost forgot that I could have checked my name using this feature, but I suppose it's not everyday that you would be looking for your own name on a status screen.
Wait a minute. Don't tell me it contained my real name before I overwrote it with the fake nickname?
… Damn it. I'm dumb.
Though, that wasn't the important part.
Second, there was that job title I had. If there were any doubts that I wasn't supposed to be here right now, there was some supporting evidence in front of me. My job title, as Shield Hero, was all glitched. I could barely read through all of the jumbled text, but even if I waited a few seconds, it didn't show any signs of disappearing.
I wondered if having a glitched Shield Hero title would allow me to reap the benefits of the class while being able to attack. I almost laughed to myself, knowing something like that wouldn't be true. It's likely a visual bug, due to the replacement I was provided onto Naofumi.
"Wait, there's no need to argue here!" Motoyasu stood out with his firm voice, turning to the other heroes. "Listen carefully! It appears that we come from different versions of Japan!"
Hold up.
D-Do I look japanese? Maybe remotely asian!? I haven't had a chance to look in a mirror yet, so I instinctively touched my face to check. Only then did I realize, I probably didn't have the knowledge to figure out my own nationality. My skin is pretty beige, so I'm definitely not black.
Oh, you know this is going to be a wild ride when I can't even remember my own face. Erhm, race. Actually, both of those work.
"Huh? Really?"
"Of course! If I remember correctly, Itsuki's world is…"
Motoyasu suddenly went with a blank. I was wondering where all that braverdo went from him, but what I ended up was sheer surprise. I knew something was off about this whole problem concerning Motoyasu, but I couldn't have put it into words until now.
"My world is… what?"
"I can't remember."
"Seriously? You already seem knowledgeable about all of this. What's your deal?"
"I told you! I come from the future!"
My eyes widened as I looked over to Motoyasu. It seems like Motoyasu already told Ren and Itsuki as they gave expressions that said that they were a bit tired of that gag. They brushed it off like it was dust on their shoulders but I must have not heard it in the throne room. You know, being distracted with my own dilemmas at the moment.
However, I should have realized it when I spoke about Filo. Rather, it was more accurate to say I pleaded in Filo's name.
How was it that a man, who hasn't been summoned into this world, knows about a monster girl that hasn't been born as of yet? It should have been painfully obvious, but when Motoyasu revealed his state of being as of the moment, those small details started to click.
If Motoyasu truly came from the future, in which that means this is a further iteration of the hero instead of the one that the story starts with, the story of the light novels may not line up anymore. I'm not the only contributing factor to what may change the outcome of the story here.
With minimal interaction coming from myself, the rest of the day went on rather uneventful. Because of how Motoyasu handled it, we didn't have that entire gimmick where everyone said details about their own world for us to make sure that everything was different. I would have been absolutely screwed and the chance that my amnesia would leak out would be significantly greater.
It gave me some time to mull my thoughts around what might be happening.
"Heroes, the banquet has finished its preparation."
A castle staff came to pick us up for our meals and after filling up my stomach, we went back to see that the sun was starting to fall. I was about to return to our room alongside Ren and Itsuki until Motoyasu grabbed my shoulder from behind.
"Ren, Itsuki. Please go on ahead, I say. I have a few things I wish to speak about with this man."
Why do I hear boss music?
"Yeah, sure. Do whatever you want."
"Don't do anything crazy though."
Ren, Itsuki. Please don't sentence me to another death here, I say. The few things he'll speak to me about might include a sharp spear and another [Brionac X] to the face.
Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly express the fact I was being taken hostage by a merciless spearman. I had to smile and nod that this was the case, prompting the other two heroes to believe that this might have been a planned discussion between us when, in fact, it was not.
We continued on a stroll around the castle, trying to find a private place to talk until we settled on a balcony off one of the corridors. If this gave him the chance to push me off and kill me that way, I'd rather tank another [Brionac X] than fall on my neck.
At least the wind felt nice.
"I am going to ask one more time, I say!" His finger pointed straight to me. I instinctively flinched since it held the same vigor as pointing a spear to me. "What did you do with Father!? The man known as Naofumi Iwatani!?"
I bitterly grunted, worried about choosing my words carefully.
"I told you already. I don't know what happened to Naofumi. Honestly, I wish I had the answer to tell you, but as the circumstances stand, I can't give you an answer for something I only have questions for."
"Though, I must say that your introduction to that trash king, it's certainly fake! Was it not!?"
"It's not." I have a feeling Motoyasu is going to be difficult to reason with if he's doubting a lot of what I'm saying and doing. "I sincerely don't know who I am. I've been struggling to figure that out this entire time. I swear! That's all I know!"
That, and the fact I have vague memories that this world and its narrative is a fictional light novel series. Though, I have a feeling I needed to restrain that little detail to myself.
Motoyasu's anger doesn't appear quelled, but his finger-pointing ended its streak. He still gripped onto his spear tightly and with any sudden movements I make, I could possibly be looking at another death.
"Say that I do believe you, which I don't. What do you plan on doing, now that you're here?"
I figured that he wouldn't like my answers, not that his attitude would have changed over the span of half a day. At the very least, he was respectfully listening to me right now, but he must have realized that it was utterly meaningless to try and kill me again. I would simply return to the summoning ritual alongside him, with no Naofumi in sight.
"I thought I was being given a chance to live out an adventure here in this new world, but it seems I'm not supposed to be here right now. Someone by the name of Naofumi Iwatani was supposed to be taking my place as the Shield Hero."
"You mean, you're stealing Father's place as the Shield Hero."
I literally don't have the brain cells to argue with him anymore.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever makes you happy."
"Having you disappear and return Father to my side will make me happy, I say!"
"T-That's not…" Weary of how roundabout this conversation may lead, I shook my head and tried to steer the topic back on track. "Never mind. Anyways, I don't think I have to explain to you as to how unnatural this entire experience is feeling right now. Every fiber of my body is telling me that I'm not supposed to be here, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still here."
"And? What do you want to do?"
So much for trying to become a hero and rise up to greatness. Why couldn't I be given an adventure that kept things simple? I would have been extremely satisfied with even railroading my version of the series' events. Even then, I was promised greatness, even if my journey lacked any originality.
"I want to figure this all out and crack this mystery wide open." I found myself clenching my fist, but whether it was out of resolution or bitterness, I couldn't even tell myself. "Why am I here? Who exactly am I? This couldn't be a coincidence or some unlucky set of circumstances. If we can figure that out, we should probably be able to find where Naofumi ended up."
If I was by myself, I wouldn't be able to fill in the blanks. All those questions would be swept underneath the rug like it was nothing, forcing myself to go on my merry way without batting an eye. However, there was a different set of circumstances surrounding Motoyasu himself. If he was from the future, perhaps there was a hint somewhere there that caused all of this to happen.
"You want to know the same thing. You want to know where Naofumi ended up if he's not the one holding this shield right now."
That changed everything as to how we could approach this.
"I say that we work together. I'm obviously willing to cooperate as much as I can to get to the bottom of this, but knowing your attitude towards me, I expect you to be less inclined to—"
"If it's for Father's sake, there's nothing I won't do! Even if it's to team up with a dastardly fellow like you, I say! It gives me the perfect opportunity to keep an eye on you, just in case you try and pull anything suspicious!"
That was much easier than I expected and granted, having Motoyasu come up with his own reasons was more beneficial to me. If it's no quarter off my back, I'll be fine with—
"Wait, what do you mean that you'll keep an eye on me?"
"It means what it means, I say! I can't allow a suspicious person like you to do whatever you want using Father's shield!"
"Motoyasu! Don't you remember what was said in the throne room!? We can't get stronger if we're stuck together at the waist! We have to go our separate ways in order to get more levels and considering how this probably won't be solved in a day, we're going to have to act properly as the Cardinal Heroes!"
He gave him a profound blank expression and raised his spear, as if to show something.
"I don't need experience."
"Yes, I know you're from the future and you know how to fight, but without any levels, you won't be able to hurt any… one…"
The rapid slideshow of Motoyasu killing me in one single shot started to play in my mind, slowing down the words I spoke and accelerating the rate that I was registering what I was about to say. I didn't know what I assumed Motoyasu was on the same playing field as us, especially considering what happened and as I dragged to a halt, a party notification leapt into my sights.
Motoyasu wants me to join his party.
And so, I accepted and immediately glanced at his level.
"... How in the—?"
"I'm not terribly sure either, but it appears that I've kept my level from when I time travelled back to the past, I say! I no longer have the need to gain any experience since I'm already strong enough to tackle anything that's in my way to help Father and have Filo-tan by my side!"
"W-Wait… What about me? I need levels too, you know."
"I'll take care of that! Do not worry, I say!"
Did I say that I didn't want Motoyasu to be my enemy?
Let me reiterate that fact again.
I, under any pretense, do not want this man to be my enemy!
He had enough power to plow down an entire army and then still have enough energy to tackle a giant dragon. Regardless if that was true or not, if someone told me that while I looked at his level, I would be inclined to believe them! Isn't this, like, overpowered or something!?
And the way that he told me to not worry about my levels, while it may seem helpful, it does not sound very reassuring! Frankly, the fact that I'm fearing what he might have in stock for me either says a lot of me or a lot about him! I honestly can't decide on which!
All that exasperation was making me tired and the audible sigh turned Motoyasu to me.
"It is getting late, I say. We should focus on returning to our room, so that Ren and Itsuki don't get suspicious of what we're doing."
"Yeah, I hear you."
"I still have much to ask you about. For example, I think the most important thing I should know is why you're able to remember these time loops. With my [Minute Hand of the Dragon], I should be the only one that remembers what happened."
"[Minute Hand of the Dragon]? Time loops?"
I shook my head. This was making more questions between the two of us before getting anything else finished up. It was better for us to meet back up once we had the time to settle down on our own time and think about things thoroughly as to what might be going on here.
"I'm still not sure what you're going on about. Sorry."
"That's fine, Not Father. I can just kill you later if I find your answer and your actions don't align, I say."
It is frightening how casually Motoyasu can say that with a smile, but as the sun was passing its horizon, Motoyasu was still right. We should probably wrap things up and call it a day for now.
"Wait, what did you just call me?"
"You're Not Father."
I blanklessly stared at him.
"I gave myself a name, you know."
"It doesn't change the fact that you're Not Father."
"Did you not bother to remember my name? It's Zero."
"Whatever you say, Not Father!"
I will never win against him. Why do I even bother?
As I followed Motoyasu off the balcony, I called out to him once more.
"Look. I'm sorry that Naofumi isn't here right now."
"You should be."
I'm trying to be serious, Motoyasu. Please let me finish my thoughts.
"Anyways, I still have a lot of things I need to ask you as well, considering you're from the future. And in turn, I'm sure you have much more to ask me, but we should probably take things one step at a time." I instinctively held my head with a bothered eye being closed. "I'm not sure how much of this I can process in a single day."
"As long as we can find out where Father went!"
"So, I take it we have an alliance?"
"As I said! Whatever it takes to bring back Father!"
I sluggishly scratched my back with a small smile.
Even if he's fearsome in his power, Motoyasu certainly was an eccentric guy. There was the fact that I was scared of the guy, sure, but I couldn't exactly dislike him. If I was in his position, seeing that a person I was familiar with disappeared and was replaced with a stranger, I'd be heavily concerned as well. I mean, I wouldn't be on his level of dedication, but there's something to his passion that was fun to watch.
I just hope that our enemies would be on the end of his spear more than I would be; so far, that really isn't the case, but I'm hoping longevity would change that.
With that out of the way, we walked back to our room as I admired the sights outside of the window. There were even some nice paintings, statues, and artifacts left out in the corridors like it was some type of museum, but I saw up ahead that there was a mirror acting like a painting.
I thought it would be a good time to check out what I actually looked like.
Speeding up to pass Motoyasu, I turned to the mirror and—
[...]
[...]
k̸̨͓̥̪̯̹̘̩͖̮͉̻̀̀ͅv̵̧͖̺́͑̄̽͆̿̾͗́̇͘͠ ̶̨̧̰̼̘̺̲̹̹̺̋͗̈̽̏͜f̸̬̮̤͖̻͈̫̝̰̞͉͉͗̉͜v̷̢̠̯̯̫̩͕͇̯̤̳͎̘̦̑̋̀̈́̿̃̿̓͑̓̉͝b̴̧͖̬̩͔̳̲̫̫̜̯͕̀̾̎̋̊̉͋͋̓̈̋͛͝ͅ ̴̢͚̲̲̰̲̥͌́d̷̖͊͝h̶̛̤̗̟̹̞̒̊̄͐ű̷̡̠̙̩̙͖͈͈̗͇̦̤̠̜ą̶̱͖̘̜̞́̃̋͂͒̊̇͛̅̀̀͘͝ ̶̛̠̩̙̠̝̲̙͊̈̑̈̈́͌̒̈́͝͠͝ͅh̶̭̮̜̺͖̺̪̼͖̤͇͖̔̄̏̅̈́̒͑̌͒͐͠ũ̴͙̟̱̭͎̯̳͈̝̱̐̈́̌̈́̄̂̿͘͝ͅv̴̡̛̬̠̙̰̫̔̑͛́̊͒͆̄͂͠͠ą̴̖̟̱̙̹͇̦͚̣̦̜̹̹̼̾̆̀̑́̎̊͗͝ǫ̸͈̮͔̬̻̝̰̲̟̈́ͅͅl̶̢̡͎͇̱̲͓̭̩̼͕̥̹̭̂͌́͋̈̎ͅẙ̶̺̟̪̙̜̪̓̾̏̉̓̎̇ ̵̹͎͖̖͇̱̂̈̍́̀͛̔͝͠v̶͈́̌̅́́͂̈̒͊͛̉͛̕w̷͓̗͎̙͕̗̺͉̒͊̉̽́̽͆͊͐̑͜͠w̸͇̯̘̦̘͎̩̰̹͊͌̈́̑̉͋̉̌̚̕v̶̧̢̯͇͈̳͖̲̬͓̪̠̟́́͐̈́̅̕ẏ̷͈̣͇̘͖͉̪̖̼̄̐̾̃̎̔̀͌̀̚a̶̢̱̭̥̙̽͊͛̚͠b̷͇̬͑́û̴̠̘͚̥̙̦̰́̓̽͝͝ͅp̸̞͙̣̠͚̽̀͊͂̈̑̎̚ą̵̭̥̬̜̰̩̩̙͈̯͚͉̞̪͆̽̏̎̐͠f̵̡̛̥̺̞̾͗̅̊͐̓͊̈́͛̕ ̶̢̼̖̜̜̺̲̖̭̫͓̩̽̊͌a̵̧͖̾̇̑̃̉͋̌̊̉͐v̴̧̢̮̝͔̣̭͎͎̖̻̫̼̾̈̓̋͝ ̷̢̨̮̹͎̞̱̘͇̫̋̀̅̀́̾̑͒̕s̵̛͈̆͗͒̈̑͗̅͑̋̂̆̍͘̕ͅl̸̡̩͖̹̮̙̣͖̮͗̋h̷̡̨͍̼͔͔̫̤̗̟̜̳̑k̴̨̡̘̗̥̣̜̝̩̺̪̩͍͐̍́́ͅ ̵̱̭̗̙͈̯͚́͗̈́̾̍̅̓͘͜͝h̷̡̡̢̨̢̲̺͓̝̳͓͚̫̐̒̄̐̉̈̀̀͛̆̈́͊̋̈͘ ̵̞̬̝̻̰̘͍̭̪̥͎͎͕̙͗̉̚͝s̷̡̺̬̖̼̱͍̳̤͎̩̫̰͓̥͒̅̔͂͐͑̒͛̓̊͘̚͘͝ṕ̶̰̞͔̲͌̽͒̂̊̃̂̉̋̅̋̚̕m̷͔̘̰͍͕̦͇͎͇͛̀̚͜ͅl̵̢̼̭͗͂̅͛̽̀̈́͋͆̕ ̴̢͉͖̼͚̫̰͋̏̍͐͜ǎ̵̧̟̖̼͎̺õ̸̤͕̭̜̎̄̍̔͋̽̈́̂̃̽̌͘̕h̷̘̺̲̲̳̦̉̈́̌̉̆͗͋̕̚͝a̶̼͙͖̣͉͈̗͔̪͉̝̒̄́̈́̃ ̷̢̡̡͈͕͓̜̦̖̠̣̭̻̞̙̍̎̓̂̇̐̒̚͘̕͝f̶̹͗̓ͅv̵̥͍̖͇̭̖̦͘b̴͚̻̤̒̓̇͋̎̇̂̈́ ̸̨̙͔͐͌̉̓͑k̶̞̹̐̍l̴̨̨̹͚͈̼̬̤̾̽͜z̶̭̦̜̟͓͓̞̙̙̩̮̃͑̐͂͊̍͘l̷̰̼͔̂̌̇̓̿̓̐͋́̕̕͝y̷͙͙̲͆͋̅̃̓͂͠c̷̡̦͚̙̗̺̳͉͓̰̤̦̍͂̓ͅͅĺ̴̝̍̿̍͌̅̃̉̓̿͆̄͗̽k̵͓̹̼̩̺̮̖̘̪̤̊̏́̂
̵̨͎̠͇̖̟̫̜͌͛̏̇̓̉̃͂̂̿̿̏͘͝
̵̨̧̡̡̲̣̟̫̞̩͇̞̝̌̕͝͝t̴̡̨̠̞͉͈͖̲̰̖̪͂̀̽̿̉́̃̾̓̈́̕̚͠ȇ̶̫̟̘̟̱̥̤̳̮̯̺͜l̴̙̠̝̗͍͍̲͔̝͈̺̍͒̀̌͜ͅͅl̷̡̡̛̪̣̘̙̘̟̣̺̞̈̑ ̵̙̭̬̃́́̏̍m̸̨̳͇̺̙̙͒͂̓̔é̷͍̂͒͌̏̽̚
̴̡͓͈̻̳͉͕͆͗̀̿͛͗͂̎͊͗͘w̶͔̤̼͚͕̘̖̙̑͑̏̍͌̋̅̉̉͆͌ͅo̵̡̲̮̜̙͔̞͇̲̻͍̱̳̽̄̇ư̴̢̡͉̣̰̄̀̆͌̑̅̄̄̇ͅl̷͔͙͈̲̺̪̞̰̬͉̈́͂͒́̐͂̓̀͝d̵̢̡̨̨̨̫̯̹͔͙͚̩̘̹͋̈͒͑̄͌́̈́̈́̊̆͐̆̿͝ ̵̡̢͖̹̼̟͖̱͉͙̺̤͔̀̃̋̓̅̈́̔͂ỳ̶̟͒̐̀̏́́̄̾̔̾͘ǫ̵̥̠̬̙̹͖̠̪͊̓͌̿͘u̸̱̥͓͔̞̙̖̱̲͓̍͛͂̇̊̆̋͋̎͑͐̔̕͠͝ͅͅ ̷̞̙̽̋̀̚ẅ̴͙̲̪̦͖͉̞̱̜́̒̉̽̀͠ͅͅă̵̫̩̱̫͍̭̭͖̤͖͕̒̊̈̉̃̽͑͗͠ǹ̸̢̪̙͍̪̳͙͓̠̺͖̖̦̦̾͂̕̕̕t̵̹͛̔͗̔́̕ ̸͔̈̿̚͝͠ṱ̵̡̹̮͓̽͊̓̿̿͌̈̑̈̈́̚̚͠ō̷̡̡̹̫͖̭͈͉̦̖̐͠ ̵̨̢̺͔̳̙̜̦̼̜̉̑͜b̷̧̛̛͕̺͚̦̥͎͖̞̭̬͉̞̑̊̓̎̃͒̋̅͐̈͘̚̕é̷̢̡̩̤̬̮͇̻̲͖͗̾͛̄͗̾̿̕͝ ̴̜̍́̎̂͋̐͋̒̈́̔̾͘ͅ
[...]
[...]
Besides from the jacket I was already wearing, its aesthetics were matching my short black hair and brown eyes. My cheeks were pretty average and there weren't any visible marks on my face. Actually, it looked pretty generic of someone from an asian descent. I suppose Motoyasu proclaiming that we were all from Japan wasn't such a shot in the dark after all. I'm probably not from there exactly, but it was probably a good guess. Maybe.
"What are you doing, I say?"
"Huh? I'm looking at the mirror. Just checking out what I look like. What else does it look like?"
"It seems like you're doing more than just that, Not Father."
When I stopped thinking about what I looked like, I turned back to my body.
I… suddenly threw my fist at the mirror.
It didn't hurt me and since I was the Shield Hero, my strength wasn't enough to even shatter the glass. Despite that, my hand had already been thrown at the surface without my conscious consent.
Why did I do that?
I slowly pulled my fist from the mirror and silently looked at my open palm. Without thinking, my arm started trembling when I simply started wondering. Like a mouse going through a maze, I kept slamming into more questions than answers and I found myself breathing heavily in cold sweat. A familiar voice started calling for me, but I didn't know who it was.
And then—
—a deafening screech.
"Fuck! Damn it! Grah!"
Everything left like it was spinning and my balance was suddenly swept underneath its gravity. My head felt like it was starting to explode, but I grabbed onto it in a dramatic fashion in order to keep it closed; as if that would have done anything. Motoyasu, despite probably despising me, even came to my side.
"W-What's going on!? You have better not be tricking me, I say!"
Every single felt like it could have been my last and I turned to him in desperation. I couldn't control my head anymore, merely giving me a glance out of the corner of my eyes. My mouth moved by itself, requesting such a mundane thing.
"M-Motoyasu…! K-Kill me again! Please!"
For some reason, my body thought that was the only way that would fix this problem of mine and with my words reaching my companion in a grumbling mess, he leapt up on his feet and pointed the spear at me. I looked right at the glowing skill.
"With pleasure!"
Damn it, Motoyasu.
Again, he was doing it without any remorse of hesitation. He could at least care for my well-being, but I suppose some of that hatred is rather warranted.
"[Brionac X]!"
With that, my world turned to dark once again.
"Ah, the summoning ritual has been a success!"
I found myself breathless, out of air.
However, my head wasn't hurting anymore. That was a significant plus, but it was still covered in sweat. The other guys were looking at me a bit weird, but that was for granted. There wasn't much I could do about that and I tried to recollect myself as quickly as possible and play it off as a "I just got killed" them of situation.
I'm not wrong.
With a quick look to Motoyasu, he gave me a nod to indicate that he was the same time-looping guy I've met before, but my mind was still spinning from what happened. I couldn't come to terms as to what built up that caused such a turn of events, so I tried to let myself process what just happened.
I found the mirror.
I walked up to it to see what I looked like.
And then…
… Wait a minute.
Why can't I remember past that?
Huh. One step closer to the mystery, but that opens up more questions than answers.
This is painful and annoying. Ugh.
Author's Notes : Some of the dialogue here is ripped from the Reprise Light Novel, mainly because they already cover the events in a relatively short span of writing. It would have been more jarring if I skipped over this, since Zero needs to take his unique situation step-by-step.
Compared to my main story I'm working on right now, I would like to keep chapters shorter than my typically length. I'm trying to run a digestible amount of tension and mystery for each chapter that I somehow manage to churn out. I want to keep the tense mystery element in the spotlight, but I don't want to forego the evident comedic values that I could have here. Hopefully, the two genres play off one another instead of clashing against each other, so it's definitely an experiment I'm testing out.