〈 Chapter 51 〉 Second Trial (4）
*
‘Libero?’
For a moment, I thought I was seeing things.
But standing before me was definitely Libero.
‘Why is Libero here?’
For some reason, he approached me straight away.
Then he stopped at a certain distance.
I had learned swordsmanship from him; I knew.
That distance was where his sword could reach.
‘Why?’
Trying to ignore him as much as possible, I finally made eye contact with Libero.
His eyes were filled with curiosity.
He opened his mouth.
“Are you the one who killed the 71st Demon King?”
How did he know that?
He certainly wasn’t here outside the trial, and he had no way of knowing I killed the 71st Demon King.
“71st Demon King? What’s that?”
Cornered, I made an excuse first.
But I knew it wouldn’t work on Libero.
“That’s a lie. But your power feels incredibly weak…”
He sneered.
“Maybe you used some trickery. Or perhaps you have hidden strength.”
A crimson particle began to gather in his hand.
It seemed I had no way to stop him now.
“How did he know?”
Even so, it was essential to figure out how he learned I killed the Demon King.
This was something crucial even if I got out of the trial.
Just discovering this could be considered a success in the trial.
However, Libero’s response was shocking to me.
“A hero who visited that area testified to the Church. There was a suspicious boy in the village.”
My head felt numb as if I had been hit by something heavy.
‘Gwen?’
I couldn’t believe it.
But thinking back, it made enough sense.
To me in this instance, I was merely a deal for Gwen.
Gwen… basically has a personality that is thoroughly about business.
‘Damn it.’
What I thought was the best method turned out to be the worst.
But it was still too early to give up.
I took out the relic I was using instead of the Relic Gravitas Replicant from my inventory.
And I readied my stance.
“That stance…”
Libero’s eyes widened for a moment at my posture.
“Do you have some sort of connection with me?”
But it was only for a moment.
He raised his sword.
“I’d like to discuss further, but it seems I can’t afford to delay.”
A deadly aura began to emanate from him.
The sharpness of it seemed like it could kill an opponent just with its intent, and I struggled just to keep my wits together.
If only I had Absolute Obedience, but there was none here.
“Because the Demon King’s Meeting will find me bothersome.”
In that moment, I was able to see his back properly.
‘Demon King Libero.’
A Demon King who had honed his swordsmanship to the extreme and could hide his presence. Because of that, he was one of the very few Demon Kings who could freely roam within the barrier along with the 71st Demon King.
Moreover, according to the decisions of the Demon King’s Meeting, he was a Hero Killer who assassinated important heroes.
I was wary that the Church would discover the relationship between him and me because of that.
“I was looking forward to the news of killing the Demon King… but this is disappointing.”
In an instant, he slashed me and sheathed his sword.
His back was hideously ugly.
“…Demon King Libero.”
I said, bleeding from his sword.
Even if I spoke to this Libero here, the real one wouldn’t hear it anyway.
“Is this truly the justice you cherish?”
It wasn’t a probing question.
I was just curious.
The image I saw while being his disciple wasn’t like this.
“What is your true self?”
His current appearance was undoubtedly strange.
Dual-faced.
Full of contradictions.
Having given up on seeing the end of swordsmanship, he rushed over for an opponent who seemed strong.
He claimed there was no longer any reason to live, yet he continued to exist.
And…
‘Why is he, a Demon King, so fixated on justice?’
I noticed his pupils trembling at my question.
‘By the way, is the trial over now?’
My eyes closed.
*
[2/100］
*
“Haah…”
Once again, the inn room.
‘Are they giving me another chance?’
Then I remembered the number I saw while unconscious.
‘It changed from [1/100］ to [2/100］.’
That meant only one thing.
‘There are 100 chances.’
That was quite a lot of chances.
No, considering how many times I had died until now, it might not be that many after all.
Especially as long as I aimed for a perfect ending.
‘Damn it, things keep getting tangled up every time something changes.’
What on earth should I do?
I hadn’t acted due to freezing in front of Libero, but there was a method to escape that situation.
‘If only I had inherited the authority of the Leim Royal Family.’
Without Absolute Obedience, that was impossible.
If I had that, I could have somehow inherited even at that moment.
No matter how much Allen’s persona had grown, it was inevitable that he’d be intimidated in front of a Demon King like Libero.
‘If only I had inherited the authority of the Leim Royal Family before meeting him…’
I’m sure there would be other complications that would arise from that.
But still, if I just walked the path I took out of the trial, I began to doubt if that was truly the intention of the trial.
‘Having 100 chances makes a perfect ending seem closer.’
I had only died twice.
It was far too early to give up.
‘Let’s reevaluate the plan.’
Was there no other optimal route?
Perhaps there was a better path.
Thus, my 3rd playthrough began.
*
[3/100］
[4/100］
[5/100］
[6/100］
…
[12/100］
*
For the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even up to the 12th playthrough.
The reasons for failure varied.
From minor mistakes to unexpected events.
If you calculated it on real-time, I had spent roughly four years in this trial.
In fact, I didn’t care much about time.
The space here was, quite literally, tangled with the concept of time.
It was easy to understand when thinking about the first trial.
The first trial divided into a desert space and my memory’s space.
Time flowed honestly in the desert space, just like the time outside.
However, time didn’t flow at all in the wildly bouncing memory space.
This space was closer to the memory space than the desert.
After every death, you returned to a specific point in the past.
While it couldn’t be said that reality’s time didn’t flow at all, it definitely wouldn’t flow at the same rate.
But that was just speculation.
Yet, aside from the reality of time, I was growing weary.
Even with a hundred chances, going through the same thing repeatedly for six months was mentally exhausting.
What made it a trial was the difficulty. There must be a better reward. Even passing those limits has its ends.
Moreover, I discovered something starting from the 3rd playthrough.
Character behaviors of playable characters like Gwen and Elsie changed, unlike NPCs like Weiss or Finn.
Especially, Elsie often did not arrive even after waiting at Basilium.
Not to mention, there was one occasion when a different character, not Gwen, came to the inn.
It was about that time when I started wanting to compromise with my idea of a perfect ending.
In the 13th playthrough, I finally succeeded in reaching the point I wanted.
I revealed the location of the relic to Gwen.
I saved both Weiss and Finn.
I even let Elsie meet Libero.
I wasn’t there.
To save everyone, I had no room to intervene.
But I perfectly altered the past.
‘But what then?’
This is just a trial.
No matter what I change here, the past outside the trial won’t change.
There is no way to modify the past.
Suddenly, I recalled what the God of Regret had once said.
– Be careful; that guy has a personality as bad as mine…
Until that moment, I never thought those words would actually be true.
On the contrary, I was grateful that he had given me a chance to change the past.
However, as the playthroughs continued, I began to feel the sincerity in the words of the God of Regret, who pitied me.
It wasn’t until the 13th playthrough, where I succeeded in changing all the past, that I realized the true intention of the god hosting the trial.
‘It makes sense that the God of Regret couldn’t have an amicable relationship.’
This trial directly negates the God of Regret’s essence.
‘Regretting the past doesn’t mean you can change it.’
Looking back can certainly provide good motivation.
But you cannot move forward while exclusively looking back.
You can move forward but not reach the desired destination.
Initially, this trial itself was a trap.
In truth, the contents of the trial weren’t the important parts.
I spoke into the void.
“Correct. Reality is far more important than this illusionary past.”
At that moment.
A voice echoed from the void.
This time, it was a mature woman’s voice.
– Let’s just call it a correct answer for now.
Simultaneously, the space began to distort.
*
– Congratulations. You have passed my trial.
I found myself standing in front of the Great Tree.
Since I had passed the trial, rewards should fall from the tree.
But before that, I had something to ask.
“What’s your name?”
– I was just about to say it. I am the God of Reality.
The God of Reality, huh.
That fell within the realm of what I had anticipated.
I asked what I had longed to know.
“What’s the purpose behind designing this trial?”
This trial was strange in many ways.
Yes, normally, one would try to go back to the past and change their regrets.
But what if…
“What happens if the challenger doesn’t want to change the past?”
If they were someone who had already shaken off all their regrets?
Perhaps those individuals would use this trial to discover the future.
Finding out 100 futures by completing the 100 playthroughs.
– Then at that moment, they would pass the trial. But don’t worry.
Don’t worry, you say?
– The contents of my trial are not the same for everyone.
“Not the same for everyone? Then what about the others…”
– Yes, you were the only one who had to experience 100 playthroughs. I cannot divulge the details of the other trials.
“Why only me?”
– The essence of my trial goes beyond simply shaking off regrets. It goes further into confronting the ignored reality.
Confronting the ignored reality.
Thinking back, the God of Regret also had the trial’s goal of confronting the past one avoided.
But unlike that lingering regret, I couldn’t recall what reality I might have ignored.
– It’s natural that you can’t recall. That’s why I initially passed you.
My mind was struggling to keep up.
What was this being talking about?
– Didn’t you find it strange? This trial was almost identical to reality, but there was one distinct difference?
A difference from reality?
Based on the hint the god provided, I started to think.
The trial indeed felt different from actual reality.
“Is it the routes of playable characters like Gwen and Ershiarah?”
– That can be considered correct. However, there was a more fundamental difference. It’s also evidence that you have grown since you can’t sense it.
A fundamental difference from reality…
I began to line up memories from the first 13 playthroughs.
And the conclusion came surprisingly early.
It was something I became increasingly indifferent to as I progressed towards the later stages.
“Is it Absolute Obedience?”
*
