If things had gone as planned, that day would have been the most special day of the entire tutorial period.

- The new moon is approaching in the human world. On that day, the ‘newborn chaos evil’ will personally come to light. Let’s welcome this world’s destruction with awe!

It was the very day that Carpeios had foretold the appearance of the chaos evil Reed. The corrupted Reed would tear space and time apart to invade this world, killing the protagonist and then killing him again, repeatedly rolling back the world to the day before, and a quiet great disaster was about to begin.

“I have something to do, Agnes.”

<Work? You said you were going to talk today.>

“It’s important. Let’s go.”

I can’t not see Reed off when he’s here.

I was waiting for Reed on the roof of Count Gillette’s mansion. With every breath I exhaled, the night air turned white and then dispersed.

I was planning to use Divine Descent right after Reed crossed over like a meteor. To check the gap between him and me in rank, and to let him know that I was in this timeline.

But there was a problem.

“What is it?”

<Why is that?>

“That’s right, who am I waiting for right now?”

<Yeah. But?>

“He’s not coming?”

No matter how long I waited, none of the stars in the sky showed any signs of falling to the ground. Naturally, there was no sign of a time-reversal disaster.

Reed, when are you coming... ...?

<Who are you waiting for?>

“I thought it would be hard to believe it, so I was going to tell you once you showed up.”

<I’ll believe you, so explain it step by step.>

“Um, yes. Slowly. That’s what I mean.......”

He solved the prophecy of Carpeios, Chaos Evil, the Return World, the Central Axis, the One-Week Disaster, etc.

When I explained one thing, Agnes asked deeper questions to verify the truth, so the conversation continued. The long-winded explanation naturally took a long time.

A very long time.

<Well, I understand. But, Aylet, the sun has risen just now?>

“Yes?!”

<The sun has risen this morning.>

“Oh, no, why is that rising? Reed hasn’t come yet? Reed needs to come?”

<I waited in the cold and got hit by the wind. Let’s go into the room first. I’m going to catch a cold.>

I returned to the room, half-dragged by the necklace, dumbfounded. When I came to, I was lying down under the blanket, but my eyes were wide open.

<Go to sleep.>

There was no way I could sleep. My head was in disarray.

What the. Why isn’t Reed coming?

No, it seems like I really want him to come, but that’s not true. It’s just a natural confusion that the guy who was supposed to come didn’t show up.

Someone, please answer what’s going on.

[‘World-building Word Spirit’ coughs in vain.]

‘Word Spirit!’

He suddenly raised his upper body. Judging from the fact that he showed up before I called him, he must have already figured out the situation.

[‘World-building Word Spirit’ warns that there will be some big changes from now on, so don’t be surprised.]

Is it related to the current situation?

“Change? Is it a good thing?”

[‘World-building Word Spirit’ explains that the future you sent a special gift to the present you, and that it’s the change that brought about.]

“The future me sent you a gift? Then it must be a good thing.”

As expected, the survival difficulty is S-class. No wonder the future me, who rolled over first, felt sorry for the past me and sent me a gift.

[I advise you to prepare your mind, as the ‘World-Building Word’ will soon be received.]

But why do I need to prepare my mind to receive a gift? As if what I’m receiving is not a wonderful gift, but a big piece of candy?

[<System> Urgent Alert! The round you’ll be assigned to after the tutorial will change due to the influence of the wish artifact ‘Creation of Heaven and Earth.’]

What? The round changed?

‘It’s not the 17th round, but a different round?’

I was surprised, but it wasn’t bad. They say it’s the 17th round, but it’s actually the 100th round.

Since the final black lead won’t come over, the difficulty of any of the other rounds will drop significantly.

‘Good! Let’s go re-draw the round! A round without a lead! A round without a lead! Please!’

The system responded to my earnest wish.

[<System> The timeline you will be assigned to is the original protagonist’s ‘101st episode’.]

“......Huh? Excuse me?”

The 101st episode? The original ‘Seguhoe’ only has 100 episodes?

I wanted to laugh, thinking it was ridiculous. However, my head figured out the situation and my mouth asked for confirmation.

“S, is this really the episode where Reed dies and starts over again after he regresses?”

[‘World-building Words’ nods awkwardly.]

Oh, no.

This is a perfect world outside of the original.

“......Can you refuse a gift?”

[<System> The probability of the wish artifact ‘Creation of Heaven and Earth’ gives you a quest.]

“Ah, no, refuse! Even if you refuse! I’ll refuse!”

The system ignored my screams.

“How can ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ this be, ugh!”

A light pressure pressed down on my temples. Starting with a tingling sensation, images unfolded in my head.

[‘The Eyes That Watch Over the Chaos of All Creation’ informs me that a cinematic video will now play when accepting a specific quest.]

As expected from a forced acceptance, the appreciation was also forced.

The location was a beautiful meadow that a painter who loved landscapes would covet. With a snow-capped mountain crowned with eternal ice as the background, a vast meadow full of wild flowers spread out.

There were two men and women resting on the green carpet. It was the man with long black hair bleeding from his chest and me holding him.

Even though his appearance had changed, I couldn’t have not recognized him. The man was the 100th Tesilid Argent, Reid.

He clearly had just finished a tough battle.

I knew it intuitively.

‘This is the future.’

This is a record of me reaching the end of the 17th, no, 100th timeline.

But did Reed and I fight? Why are we hugging after fighting? Did I win anyway?

I focused on the video with my mind filled with questions. Sadly, there was no sound.

I had a face that seemed to be emotionally drained as Reed, whose life was fading away, stood before me.

When I said something with an expression that was almost cold, the man who had swallowed blood looked up at me with his eyes filled with emotion.

The resentment and betrayal that clashed against me made me suffocate for a moment.

It was as if I had the power of life and death and was toying with him.

-Please.

Reed's lips were saying that. Even if I couldn't hear it, the earnestness of his voice was enough to make my heart ache. Even so, 'I' didn't listen to the plea.

In the end, Reed gave up on everything.

For some reason, the resentment was being taken away from him. He stretched out his hand, using his last strength. With the hand that could have strangled ‘me’, he chose to take the wound on his cheek.

It didn’t take long for the light in his eyes to go out. Death took the breath from his body, and his corruption too.

He had turned white. If he opened his eyes again, there would be a vast ocean in his pupils. But he would never open his eyes.

[<System> Cinematic video ‘Fragments of Memory (1) - End of the 100th episode (Memory synchronization rate: low)’ has ended.]

The system separated my consciousness from the video again. I took a breath that I had stopped breathing without realizing it due to over-immersion.

It was a complicated feeling that was not being sorted out.

The intense scene was jammed into my head, but it was too fragmentary to figure out everything. I couldn’t figure out the context of what exactly happened between him and me. I couldn’t even fathom the emotions that had piled up like layers of rock.

I'm just curious.

'Reed... ... .'

What kind of feelings did you have when you closed your eyes?

You weren't given much time to be lost in a feeling of longing.

Tiring!

[<Quest> 'Final Dark Curse Lead Stage 1 (Difficulty: Unknown)'

The future you who won the final battle gives the 100th Reed a chance to live properly and kills him.

So Reed returns with his power sealed and starts the 101st!

You threw it away, so you pick it up.

Success Reward: ???

Failure Penalty: World Destruction]

[<System> The quest was forcibly accepted!]

"What? I threw it away, so you're telling me to pick it up...?"

The longing from a moment ago has evaporated. The quest content is lively, so it seems like it'll be even more dazzling.

I realized.

What the future me sent to the present me.

The exact name of the ‘gift’ was Reed!

✠

Back to the present.

“This is a round-robin scam!”

Perseok!

A divine light flashed from his palm. The statue made by the devil turned to dust and melted into blue flames.

[‘The Scales of Justice’ snickers that the scammer is the future you.]

[‘The Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ nods his head, saying that it’s a kind of self-inflicted wound.]

[‘The Cynical Speech Adjuster of Balance’ offers a medicine, hoping to reach an amicable agreement with the future you.]

Oh, really.

There’s no way we’ll reach an amicable agreement. My fists tightened on their own. If I could meet the future me, I’d want to grab the collar and shake it.

[‘The Architect of the Skyscraper of Trials’ tells you to hold on because you’ll lose.]

That’s true. He beat Reed too.

Does the future me seem pretty amazing?