<390 - The Greatest Enemy is Oneself>
Dobi changed direction and approached.
“Why are you so obsessed with one-hit kills? You could have been strong enough without those ridiculous restrictions, and there would have been plenty you could build on that strength.”
“Of course, it’s to see the ending branch quickly.”
“Ending branch…?”
“The way a world ends. The moment you witness becoming the last survivor victor, the world gives the player a reward. To enjoy the next game more powerfully and favorably.”
“The next game, just for that…?”
In this ruined world, where could there be a ‘next’?
After civilization has been rebuilt and humanity has risen again?
If that’s the case, how many thousands of years into the future would that ‘next’ be!
Scary.
This cruel dragon is scary.
The human heart.
The human time.
The human life that cannot understand.
An incomprehensible existence is terrifying.
“Something is off. The world and you.”
“This new DLC character is really infuriating. Did they input one-dimensional personality data?”
The enormous eyes of the Strength Marine above glinted like those of a reptile.
_Kaaang!_
The sword shattered.
Someone blocked me.
It was only after the wind howled that I realized this fact.
“Uh, did you…?”
“Surely, anyone who remembers Dorothy would understand what righteousness is. Even if it’s foolish to challenge a Marine, if you informed me that this path is not righteous, I’d follow that path.”
The man with a severed lower body, Rockbell, left a dying message.
“Ha. This is absurd. I raised their obedience to 100 just to exploit these NPCs who don’t raise favorability? This is crazy.”
The Imperial Emperor Yayoi shouted at the Strength Marine, who crushed one of the party members in one blow.
“What were you thinking, killing your comrade? Are we no longer of any use?”
“You know, right? If I can’t kill in one hit, I lose half my power. If you stood in my way knowing that, didn’t you prepare to be killed in one hit?”
Infighting erupted.
I wanted to make a change, but this wasn’t what I intended.
As a small crack breaks a massive dam, everyone revealed their hostility toward the Strength Marine.
“You’re insane.”
“Weren’t you the ones wanting to take revenge using that madman’s strength? I spent precious time pushing through the side story only to be met with this absurdity.”
“That’s why we were in it together up to now. No more.”
Irene’s Grand Magic, Yayoi’s Holy Spear, Mandela’s Celestial Echo, all offensives had already pressed the switch of doom like a nuclear war beginning.
If we didn’t kill each other in one hit, our offensives would rain down.
“Uwaah!”
Dobi rolled on the rocky ground and after slamming against a huge boulder, only then could he stop being pushed back by the shockwave.
The Strength Marine was incredible.
Even while withstanding all those attacks, he still managed to take out every single member of the party with his own hands.
Of course, the party was wiped out.
The Strength Marine couldn’t hide his emptiness.
“Ah. This is truly absurd madness.”
“Madness?”
“It means forcing a scene. How could you say it’s unfair?”
“Unfair? This is all your doing!”
“With the gods’ eyes barely blocked, where did this scale of good and evil come from? I’m going crazy. Was there a time travel plot in the lectures I didn’t catch?”
Normal conversation was impossible.
Even though it took on the form of a human, it didn’t possess a human heart.
Let’s change methods.
I need to find a way to kill that monstrous man.
I have an opportunity for
Dobi released the Mana Barrier.
And then the Strength Marine forcefully infused the Mana Barrier.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh-oh?”
“Are you really just going to screw it up and die by yourself?”
To start the next phase, I needed to die.
If the Mana Barrier was released, I could be sucked dry and die at the Bloody Super Moon.
But now, I couldn’t die.
“What on earth is going through your head? Let me take a look inside.”
“Ah, no! Don’t come any closer!”
The futile resistance ended with his head caught in one hand of the Strength Marine, dangling in midair.
“Memory Scanning.”
It pierces through.
All the memories accumulated up until today.
His past.
Dobi, unable to resist from despair.
The Strength Marine gathered enough necessary information, saying he wouldn’t crush his head with increased grip.
“Oknodie? You okay? Not dead?”
“…?”
“What is this? Could it be…?”
Suddenly, the man burst into frantic laughter.
“Is that so? That strategy was definitely mine. It’s something I never shared with anyone. No doubt. I can’t be deceived by my own eyes.”
“You’re just a byproduct of memory synchronization… You can’t touch Oknodie!”
“Do you know this saying? A future that’s observed has a chance of manifestation in some form.”
“Liar!”
“I’m looking forward to it. Oknodie, will that new possibility provide me with new enjoyment, or will it gnaw at route branches? Ah, this is a gift. Since I showed you something good, I should reciprocate with a gift.”
His body freezes.
He can’t lift a finger.
It’s a world from his memories.
A fake called forth by synchronization.
Not reality.
The depth of knowledge wasn’t enough, shaking common sense.
Dobi’s body petrified alive.
“I’ll allow you to watch closely. My training.”
The Strength Beast began a sinister study to escape the fate of becoming mere fragments of synchronized memories.
There was no stopping it.
All Dobi could do was watch.
The man was relentless.
He periodically replenished strength as the mana of petrification waned.
His blood could not escape the body, and only the consciousness was continuously tied together.
“I’ve found a clue.”
Finally, the Strength Beast whispered the words he most didn’t want to hear.
That thing transcends the realm of synchronization.
It gained the possibility of descending into reality.
“When you go ‘outside,’ be sure to convey this. This is the first. When it becomes the third, that’s when I’ll definitely come to find you.”
It wasn’t out of idle curiosity.
I shouldn’t have meddled.
Because of me, a tremendous incident has occurred.
Is that so?
The reason people fear foresight and prophecy.
Could it be that it’s to guard against moments like this?
I’m sorry.
I have no excuse.
To Oknodie, who had provided an opportunity to him.
To all the humans who will suffer alongside.
The cost of hastily trying to adjudicate the end was a massive violence that rivers into reality.
Perhaps the impending catastrophe in reality may come even faster this time.
“I must stop it. This time for sure.”
“I must do this. By any means necessary.”
The voice that echoed like annihilation only ceased after the man destroyed Dobi’s petrified body.
[The Gate of Synchronization has been destroyed.]
Dobi’s last memory was the Strength Marine, who smiled ominously as he crossed the door he had to open.
*
“Dobi, are you okay?”
Opening his eyes, he saw a pale-skinned youthful face staring down at him.
“Gah!”
“Why are you sweating so much?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
“Nothing??”
“Ah, no. I just had a moment of confusion in my memory.”
“Hmm~ Is that so?”
Oknodie narrowed her eyes at him.
“Dobi, did you see something strange?”
There were many things he wanted to say.
There were many questions he wanted to ask.
What in the world was the piece of doom transmitted through synchronization?
Who on earth passed on the memory to you, who didn’t even exist in that world?
However, remembering the anger that his rash attitude had brought, he formed the habit of thinking for himself instead of recklessly speaking.
“I have something I wish to ask. Do you know the name Vladimir?”
“Hmm? I know. Kasia’s friend.”
“Kasia?”
“Leader of Upper Class Group C!”
“Upper Class? Could it be he’s from Class 981, just like us?”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
It became certain then.
The scene he witnessed in the synchronized memory was no fabricated falsehood.
The culprit of the calamity indeed exists vividly in reality.
“Rosgini, Sandkooker, Rockbell. Do they know as well?”
“Rockbell is from the same Upper Class, and the other two are members of my organization! Of course, Rockbell is part of the organization too. Even though Kasia doesn’t attend often, his name is still on the list!”
“I see… So you were trying to prevent tragedy from a place no one knew about…”
“Hmm??”
“I apologize. I merely thought of you as a talent with a penchant for fun, someone I envied. I even felt jealous, thinking you’d be nothing without the Foundation’s background.”
“Suddenly?? You shouldn’t worry. You never bothered me, so I’d let it slide. But why’s this apology coming up now?”
“Because I glimpsed your memory, the piece of doom that was inscribed in that memory.”
Oknodie blinked in surprise, eyes wide.
There was no trace of that demonic man.
Finally, Dobi built the courage to ask.
“Then, do you know about the Strength Marine?”
“…No clue!”
He knows.
But he doesn’t want to say.
He must be someone related to the Foundation.
Dobi nodded.
He wanted to respect the intent of the one who showed him the piece of doom, whether intentional or not.
Still, he mustn’t forget the message.
“He warned me. This is the first time. When it becomes the third, he said he would come to find you.”
*
This was truly surprising.
He hadn’t synchronized memories for long, yet in that brief moment, he had unearthed such deep information.
Dobi might be someone with a natural talent for the synchronization magic.
But it became troublesome.
The fact that he saw my past self during the time of the [Marine who Specializes in Strength All-in].
If someone notices that the 2m30cm giant has become a 133cm small fry, and if rumors spread through the campus…?
“A sister Arcadia, Irene, and everyone might not like me as they always have!”
Should he forcibly incinerate the memories?
No, if a genius at synchronization magic appears, the trigger may go off somewhere, and the memories may restore themselves on their own.
The most certain secret is kept in the grave.
Shall he kill?
He was startled by the bad thought that sprang up instinctively.
Killing a newbie, what on earth am I thinking!
“Then, do you know about the Strength Marine?”
“…No clue!”
Even when he played coy, his reflexive harmony made him feel relaxed.
People are diverse; some have reactions like a bothersome newbie who turns everything into chaos, while others, like Titosso, who follow along while crying even with harsh treatment, are commendable newbies.
He couldn’t harm such a commendable child even if he’s not a second-year!
“I really don’t know!”
“I see… If that’s your wish, I’ll gladly keep it a secret.”
Dobi lowered his head.
Then he conveyed the most crucial message.
“He warned me. This is the first time. When it becomes the third, he said he would come to find you.”
The fragment of memory, I left a message directed at my true self.
What a fascinating tale it was.
If he opens the synchronization magic three more times, could he meet his player self?
“Ah, a cheat prevention system that forbids the secrets of the world from being directly shared with others!”
But once he hears “don’t do that,” he inevitably wants to try it out—it’s the mentality of a veteran player.
Seeing Dobi mention Vladimir makes it clear that the moment of doom he witnessed was the Bloody Super Moon Disaster.
A bad end route where the vampire’s blood magic conquers the world, absorbing defenseless living beings into a blood moon, a specification that could wipe it all out in one blow.
To summon that self in reality and confront it.
What an enticing prospect.
Moreover, as an Academy Graduate, he’s obligated to achieve the Graduation Project.
“Then I just need to set my graduation project as surpassing my past self!”
The goal leading up to graduation is now set.
The aim is to build specs that surpass the bad end route version of myself!
