Chapter 3

Opening his eyes, Subaru awakened in the dark forest for the third time. There were still chills running down his spine from what happened during the last loop:Watching Emilia getting slaughtered in front of his own two eyes, and the sheer strength of the killer. And finally, getting brutally murdered himself.

Subaru clenched his chest in fear.

Subaru: "Damn. That guy is way too strong. I couldn't even lay one hit on him! What the hell am I supposed to do this time?"

Subaru thought about differences from his second loop and his first one.

"The first time, the killer hooked us, but the second time around, he just straight up massacred me and Emilia.. Not even bothering to carry us to those hooks. Weird. I'd assume that hooking us was for a purpose, but maybe he just wanted us to die right away. Anyways, I also met a new girl named Meg that I hadn't before. Well, you know what they say, three heads are better than one! Or was it two?"

With an extra person on their side, Subaru sighed with relief. There was finally some light at the end of the tunnel, he thought. Subaru figured that now it was three against one, they'd definitely have a really good chance to escape.

Without another second's thought, Subaru went on his way to find Emilia once again.

Subaru: "I'm going to save you Emilia. This time I promise. I swear it."

Subaru was able to make it to where he was last time with just minutes. After doing it a couple times already, Subaru knew his way around fairly well, and he didn't even need a light source.

As Subaru went along, he heard some crunching sounds in the wet grass. With those sudden movements, Subaru froze and stood his ground. He prayed to God that the killer hadn't found him yet.

However, the one making the crunching sounds was Meg, as she slowly came out of hiding and spotted Subaru, standing like a deer in headlights.

Meg: "Oh, hey… who are you?"

Subaru sighed with relief knowing that it was just Meg. He would've hated to run into the killer just minutes after restarting the world.

Subaru raised his finger to the sky.

Subaru: "My name is Natsuki Subaru. I got lost during a quick run, and I ended up here! Crazy right? Let me guess. Same as you?"

Meg: "Actually, yeah. You're right.. Weird."

Subaru: "If you're surprised I know, it's due to those athletic clothes you're wearing. As you can see, you and I have a good taste in clothes."

Subaru said as he flaunted his tracksuit to her.

Subaru: "Alright, let's cut to the chase. You probably already know this. There's a killer out here who is out for blood, out to kill us all right? He's set traps around the area, so be careful and make sure to watch your step, because those things are tough to get out of. Also, I'm in a hurry. I'm looking for a silver-haired maiden. Her name is Emilia. You know her, right?"

Meg: "Yeah, I just ran into her a few minutes ago. She should be close b-"

Without hesitation, Subaru went off in pursuit of Emilia.

Meg: "Wait, what are you doing?!"

Subaru: "I'm going to save Emilia. I expect you to come with me! We can help her and get ourselves out of here if we work together!"

Meg didn't like being the type to just run and hide, except when it was absolutely necessary. And so, without any more options, she decided to follow the strong-willed Subaru.

Subaru: "Emilia…"

Subaru, with Meg right behind him, searched the area for Emilia.

As they went in further, they saw another shack. This was a different shack from one that Subaru had seen earlier.

Subaru noticed sparks coming from inside the shack.

Subaru: "I'm going to check it out. Maybe Emilia is inside."

Walking into the shack, a figure immediately dashed away in fear.

Subaru: "Hey! Don't be scared, we come in peace! We aren't going to hurt you."

Coming out the corner was a scrawny man with short hair, glasses and business attire. He looked as if he just got off a hard day at the office.

?: "O-oh, thank God.. It's just… Ah! I don't want to run into that masked man again!"

Subaru: "Alright, man, just calm down. Everything's gonna be okay."

Subaru was surprised to see yet another person. He had hoped that it would've been Emilia, he was definitely not complaining to have another ally on his side.

?: "Right.. Sorry. I just got a little scared. I just.. Really want to get out of here."

Subaru: "Yeah, we all do. And I promise that we're gonna make it out alive. So, tell me, what's your name?"

?: "I'm.. Dwight. Dwight Fairfield to be exact."

Subaru: "Dwight, huh? So, how did you get here? Me and her, we just got lost while going on runs. What's your story?"

Dwight: "Well.. the other day, after a long day at the office, my co-workers decided to have a little fun in the woods. Well, we had moonshine. I took a drink.. And then, I was out cold. The next morning, I realized I was left behind. None of my co-workers were around. I was all alone. And then, I decided I had to get out of these woods, so I started a long hike out of here. By nightfall, though, I encountered him. The masked man. Thorns coming out of his shoulders. A b-bloody cleaver.. Ahhhh! I managed to escape from him.. But I know he's going to come for me again.. I know I need to get out of here, but.. All I want to do is run and hide!"

Subaru: "Damn, left behind by your co-workers, huh? What a bunch of scumbags. Leaving someone behind is the last thing I would do! But anyways, we were led in here by sparks. Do you have any idea where those sparks came from?"

Dwight: "Yeah, right here. While I was evading the masked man, I discovered something very important. A lead that will get us out of here. On opposite sides of this large forest, there are two exit gates. However, as much as I tried, I wasn't able to properly open the gates. And so, I looked around the place some more. I discovered these things. Generators."

Dwight showed the generators to Meg and Subaru.

Dwight: "These babies are our ticket to freedom. All we have to do is repair them, and then I'm sure the exit gates will be powered and we will make a sweet escape!"

Subaru: "Oh, that's it? Sounds easy enough."

Dwight sighed.
Dwight: "I wish it was that easy. The man is after us, and I'm not quite certain how many generators we need to fix as of yet, and also the time it takes to repair one can be lengthy. It won't be an easy task, unfortunately."

Subaru: "But still, it's four against one. We can do this!"

Dwight: "F-four against one? But there's only three of us here! Who's the fourth one?"

Subaru: "Her name is Emilia. Me and Meg were actually looking for her before we ran into you. You should get back to work on this generator, Dwight. We'll go ahead and find Emilia, and when we do, we can all reunite with each other and think of a plan to escape!"

Dwight was amazed by how confident Subaru was. It actually gave him a sense of relief.

Dwight: "R-right. I'll do my best to fix this one, alright? You go ahead, uh… what's your name?"

Subaru: "Natsuki Subaru. And don't worry Dwight, we'll be back as soon as we can, and with our fourth person.

With that, Subaru and Meg left the shack, leaving Dwight to work on the generator. Subaru was excited that he now had a proper lead on a few things. He now knew that there were exit gates, and the only way to get them open was to power them up by fixing these generators. Meeting Dwight made the situation a lot less stressful on him now.

Subaru and Meg finally found Emilia after a couple more minutes.

Subaru: "Emilia!"

Subaru ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Subaru noticed that she herself was working on one of the generators.

Emilia: "S-Subaru! What are you doing here?"

Subaru: "I could ask you the same thing."

In truth, Subaru had no idea how or why he and Emilia were there. Why was no one else Subaru knew brought here? Why was it just him and Emilia?

Emilia: "Well, anyways, Subaru. I discovered these odd looking boxes and I decided to take a closer look at them.."

Subaru: "Actually, Emilia, those "odd looking boxes" are actually generators. And you were absolutely right for taking a look at them. These things are actually going to help us get out of here!"

Emilia: "W-what do you mean?"

Subaru: "Well, you see, me and Meg found a man back there. He told us all about these generators and that we need to fix a certain number of them in order to escape. He's not sure how many generators we need to fix in order to power the exit gates, but my guess is anywhere between four or five. I'm just.. So glad I found you Emilia.."

Emilia: "So, there's exit gates? And the only way to power them is by fixing these.. Generators?"

Subaru: "Exactly. But we can come back to this one later, for now we m-"

The sounds of screams. And they were from a man.

Subaru: "Dwight.."

Meg: "Oh, shit, the killer found Dwight! What are we gonna do?!"

Subaru: "We're going to save him, of course! I refuse to leave anyone behind!"

Without hesitation, Subaru got on his feet and ran off in pursuit of Dwight.

Emilia: "Wait, Subaru!"

Meg sighed.

Meg: "No point in stopping him. I can tell he's the stubborn type. You know that, don't you?"

Emilia: "Well, of course I do.. I've known Subaru for a long time, after all."

With no other choice, Emilia and Meg went after Subaru.

Subaru followed the sounds of screams to one of the hooks. In front of him, was Dwight, bloodied and hooked.

Dwight: "Subaru.. Help.."

Subaru quickly grabbed the man and unhooked him.

Dwight, now severely injured, was not able to run very fast.

Subaru: Here, I'll carry you! Just hang on!"

Surprisingly, Subaru was strong enough to carry the injured man on his back without falling over.

As Subaru tried to rush Dwight to a safe place, he heard more screams.

Subaru: "Emilia… Meg!"

Subaru didn't want to leave Dwight by himself, but he had to find a way to protect Meg and Emilia as well. But what could he do? He was completely powerless. He couldn't do a thing against the monster of a man that killer was.

The only thing Subaru wanted to do was protect everyone. So Subaru, with Dwight still on his back, rushed in to find Meg and Emilia. Subaru let Dwight down gently behind a bush.

Subaru: "Just stay here, alright? I promise that I'll come back for you. I have to get Emilia and Meg out of there safely.

Subaru went into a sprint burst, and he dashed over to where Meg and Emilia were. Meg was hit in her shoulder by the killer's cleaver, but she managed to escape. The killer was now after both of them.

Subaru: "Damn it, you guys! Get the hell out of there!"

Because of him running way too fast, Subaru slept on the wet ground. Before he could get up, the killer stood there. Right in front of him. His menacing presence was as strong as ever. Subaru couldn't move. He couldn't utter a sound. Nothing.

The killer raised his cleaver once again.

Meg and Emilia: "SUBARU!"

They tried to run over to save him, but they couldn't make it in time. And then….

SMASH!

Dwight: "S-Subaru.. You saved.. Me.. I couldn't just.. let .. you.. D-die.."

Subaru looked in horror as the smash made the already seriously injured Dwight fall to the ground, lifeless.

The killer wiped the blood on his cleaver on his arm, and then smashed Dwight's head to pieces, right in front of Subaru.

Subaru was in shock. Dwight. The man who was already badly injured. The man he had told to stay behind and wait for him, took the fall for him. Subaru finally got the courage to get up. He was furious. Subaru clenched his fists.

Subaru: "Dwight.. Why did you.."

Subaru closed his eyes. He was going to accept what was coming.

Subaru: "I promise.. I'm going to make it so no one dies.. I swear.. Next time.. As many times as it takes.. Meg.. Dwight.. Emilia… I promise we're going to make it out of here alive!"

That was the last thing Subaru said before the killer's large cleaver destroyed his skull, bloodying him, and the blunt-force killing him on impact. For the third time, Natsuki Subaru lost his life.