episode_0012

“So, right now… right now is Regina’s 999th life…is that correct…?”

With each pondering word from Regina, my heart grows heavier. The 999th cycle. And the 999th regression. The image of the girl who had lived through those discarded cycles for Risma, clinging to them with gritted teeth, comes to mind.

Therefore, I couldn’t bring myself to forcibly remove the pale hand clutching my arm tightly. If I were to forcefully pull it away, it felt like Regina would shatter. Even though it wasn’t intentional, ultimately, I was the one who caused this.

“Yes, yes! Actually, I’m a bearer of the mark too, see these marks here? The number below indicates the total number of lives experienced so far. If you don’t believe me, just wait, I can prove it myself…!”

Regina’s voice trembled even more than when we first met. Her stuttering voice desperately trying to make me believe her was so pitiful.

So, I couldn’t bring myself to speak thoughtlessly. I should have comforted the girl who was halfway into a panic state. But thinking that this was all because of the cycles I carelessly discarded left my mind blank.

As Regina tried to gauge my hesitation, her expression darkened. Clenching her fist, she concentrated magic at her fingertips.

“Xian, Miss. Do you know that the part where the mark is engraved can be dug out and regenerated…?”

“W-Wait…!”

Kiiing-

The clear activation sound of Aura echoed into the dark cave. A remarkable feat of applying Aura bare-handed instead of using a sword.

However, I didn’t have the luxury to be dumbfounded by such a sight. Right now, Regina was trying to dig out her own life with a clear mind.

Swiftly, I twisted Regina’s wrist. Unlike her overwhelming magical control ability to wield Aura at the age of seventeen, her frail body yielded too easily.

Regina, whose wrist I held, trembled as if having a seizure. Her unfocused crimson eyes locked onto me.

“Ugh…! Don’t stop me, please! You won’t believe me anyway! Everyone said that regression was nonsense, that there couldn’t possibly be such marks…! I had no one on my side, absolutely no one!”

Seemingly completely paralyzed by emotion, Regina just poured out her tangled thoughts. I pulled her close firmly.

I’ve never learned complex things like psychology. Therefore, I didn’t know about empathy or positivity towards clients taught in psychology.

Instinctively, it seemed necessary. If I left the girl like this, she might just break down completely.

“Eek?!”

“…I’m sorry.”

And so, until Regina’s fit subsided and her sobbing lessened, I held her quietly.

It took some time for Regina to calm down. The girl nestled against me sought warmth for a while, burying her face in my chest.

“Are you feeling a bit calmer now?”

“S-Sniff…sniff…sniff…I-I’m sorry. I didn’t want this, I really didn’t…but please, believe me…”

I gently patted Regina’s back as she calmed down. Whispering softly in her ear, hoping even a little that her heart would ease.

“Yes. I believe in Regina.”

“B-But…even if you say that, you won’t believe me, will you? I was deceived by someone who said the same thing, ended up locked in a mental hospital for 7 years…!”

However, the wounds etched in Regina Strellachia’s heart were too deep to be healed by a few sweet words.

Just when Regina seemed to calm down a bit, she started thrashing in my embrace once again.

…

Silently, I held Regina tight, without saying a word.

I didn’t intend to, but Regina was ruined because of my actions. Living obsessively through the discarded chapters without much thought.

I can’t just abandon Regina like that.

A delicate girl who has forgotten how to trust people yet longs for human warmth. I can’t just leave her to fall apart.

Muttering inwardly, I slowly revealed a secret I hadn’t told anyone since the possession.

“No. I’m different from those guys. Because I believe in the real Regina.”

“Why…”

“I, too, this life isn’t my first.”

“…?”

Sorting out the story quickly to tell Regina, receiving Regina’s skeptical gaze.

One must never mention that this world was inside a game. Realizing that 7,000 years of suffering were just someone’s entertainment would completely break Regina’s spirit.

“Um. This is my secret, but since Regina shared hers with me.”

I replied and slowly brought up the words.

“I was born in a country called South Korea. Lighting fires with science instead of magic, building huge cities, soaring through the sky. It’s a world quite different from the Arcana Continent.”

“What…?”

The urge to say “Don’t lie” rose to Regina’s throat, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak.

Having gone through 999 regressions, an instinct developed to distinguish lies from truths. Cyan, the girl, was shouting that she was only speaking the truth.

In Regina’s unfocused eyes, a spark of life returned after centuries. A strand of hope born in endlessly repeating time.

To remain faithful to that hope, I spoke with a confident voice.

“So. I believe in Regina. Considering the somewhat unrealistic events I’ve experienced, it’s hard to doubt Regina’s words as lies.”

“Are you really…?”

“Yes. Since you shared your secret with me, Regina is the only one I trust. In return, I’ll keep Regina’s secret, so please, keep mine too?”

Saying this, I raised my index finger to my lips.

“Yes, yes…! I’ll do that, so please, just like Cyan… don’t leave me…!”

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen. Even if the whole world denies Regina, I will believe in her. We share a special secret, after all.”

“Ah…”

With unknown sounds escaping, Regina buried her head in my chest. In her embrace, the girl’s tender voice could be heard.

“Just a little more, please hold me tighter…”

“If Regina wishes.”

“Thank you… thank you so much.”

With a complex heart, I gently stroked Regina’s hair. She looked like nothing more than an adorable younger sibling at that moment.

Promising to take care of Regina no matter what happens, I whispered in her ear.

“Thank you for everything, Regina.”

.

.

.

“So, Regina’s fate is to die this year?”

“Yes, yes… No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I run, I can’t escape this fate.”

A slightly calmer Regina slowly unraveled the events that had transpired.

Strangely, Regina couldn’t leave the academy.

Even when she tried to skip the academy’s entrance ceremony to avoid death, she found herself standing in front of the academy gates at some point, and whenever she tried to escape the academy, she ended up back in her dorm room. A series of strange occurrences.

After several repetitions of such events, Regina naturally came to realize something was off in this world. An inexplicable force was holding her captive within this academy.

“…So, I will probably… die after the end of the second semester final exams. Saving students from the devil worshippers who infiltrate the academy and dying… that’s my ‘role.’”

“…”

Faced with Regina’s indifferent tone, I couldn’t muster any response.

I knew why Regina was bound by that role. But there was no way to explain it to her.

Normally, when the game progressed to the next round, everyone would forget the memories of the previous round, except for Regina Strellachia with the mark of ‘regression.’

As Regina regressed, the original story began to distort little by little. Eventually, to prevent Regina from making impromptu actions, she was turned into a puppet at seventeen years old.

So, the Regina I had seen in the game until now… Was she supposed to force a smile? Pretend to be cheerful and bold?

“So, I will soon… die…”

The girl’s voice, feigning indifference, trailed off at the end. Her voice started trembling again unknowingly.

“Why, why is this happening…? It’s natural for me to die, it has to happen, but what if Cyan disappears in the next round…”

“Stop!”

Snap!

Interrupting the girl’s increasingly strange thoughts, I firmly grasped her trembling pale hand like a cedar tree.

“Regina, you won’t die in this life.”

“But, but that’s how it’s been all this time…”

“In the 998 lifetimes before, I wasn’t there. From the 999th life onwards, things have changed, haven’t they? Even the Dual Dungeon right now.”

“T-That’s true…?”

“So, don’t let yourself be bound by that fate this time.”

I held both of Regina’s hands tightly, and with determination, I slowly spoke up.

“If fate tries to kill you, I will twist fate somehow. I will always stand by you as your ally.”

The ‘original’ had already been distorted by my existence. Yerena Frost, who should have taken the top spot, yielded to me, causing various changes.

“So, trust me. Fate has already changed once because of me, so there’s no reason it can’t change again, right?”

With a confident voice, I reassured Regina and extended my hand to help her up from where she sat weakly on the floor.

“To do that, let’s start by escaping this damn dungeon. Get up, Regina.”

“Yes.”

Perhaps she felt embarrassed about crying too much. Regina’s cheeks blushed deeply as she took my hand.