Chapter 6: First Day of Academy (6)

“….”

“Ah, ah. So, everyone, it seems like you’re all a bit too nervous today because it’s Teacher Allen’s first day. So, I’ll introduce him instead! This is the famous Allen Zest, the founder of the renowned Allen Trading Company! Even though he’s nervous right now, his abilities are so extraordinary that his name is known across the entire continent, so don’t misunderstand!”

Lydia, flustered by my silence, stammers as she tries to salvage the situation.

But to me, her words are nothing more than meaningless noise.

After all, all of this is nothing but a childish puppet show.

A childish script leading inevitably toward a predetermined ruin.

“Sigh. Teacher Allen must be nervous on his first day too. But it’s okay! Honestly, when I first stood at the podium, I was just as nervous as you, Teacher Allen—I couldn’t even introduce myself properly. You’ll get used to it soon!”

“….”

“Ha, haha…”

“Teacher Lydia.”

“Y-yes?”

“I’m sorry. It seems I’ve gotten too nervous and don’t feel well. Would it be alright if I left for today?”

“Ah! You’re not feeling well!? No wonder you seemed off… I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner! Don’t worry. I’ll explain things to the other teachers, so please go back to your quarters and rest! Your health comes first!”

“…Thank you.”

As soon as the morning assembly ended, I made up an excuse to Lydia and headed for the underground cavern.

Truthfully, there was no need to keep playing along with this farce of being a teacher.

But to avoid drawing the attention of those bizarre humans, I had to maintain at least some pretense.

And so, once the first class began and the students disappeared from the halls, I slipped away to the hidden underground space.

Thus began another new day of mine.

A day devoid of any meaning.

Another meaningless day had begun.

Several days had passed since Elaine and I began investigating the underground cavern.

But my routine remained unchanged.

Each time the day reset, I would immediately come up with some excuse and head underground.

I would wait there until midnight, and when the new day began, I would return to the cavern once more.

I knew it was a cycle of meaningless actions.

But then again—

What action would have meaning?

Against cosmic horrors that even a pre-modern civilization like Earth in my past life couldn’t hope to oppose—without magic, without superhuman abilities—

This was better.

If I kept this up, the day the Outer Gods awakened would never come.

Tap, tap.

As I crouched in the corner of the cavern, the sound of hard-soled shoes echoed toward me.

I didn’t bother looking up. The only person who would come here was already decided.

“…You came again today?”

“Yes.”

There was no mutual respect between us.

I had long since given up on formalities with her, and though she still used polite speech, there was no respect in her tone.

She no longer called me “Teacher,” but “you.”

What filled that void was contempt.

But even under her scornful gaze, I remained motionless, my head buried in my arms.

I understood her disdain.

…But even that was meaningless.

“How many days has it been now? Every time the day resets, you come back here and hide like a frightened child! Do you even have the will to solve this problem?”

“Haven’t you realized yet? I don’t want to solve it.”

“Why not!? You were the one who said it! That we could definitely solve it! That giving up was even more impossible!”

I had been tuning out her words, but at that, I couldn’t help but explode.

“Back then, I didn’t know what this situation was!! I thought that if we solved this, there’d still be something left!! But I was wrong! This bizarre situation? Sure, maybe we can solve it someday!! But then what? Do you think we’ll just return to peaceful, ordinary lives after that? No! Wrong!! If we solve this, something even more bizarre will come next! And even if we solve that, something even worse will follow!! Until when? Until humanity in this world is completely wiped out!! So tell me—what’s the point of solving this? If that’s how it is, it’s safer to just stay here and never move forward!!”

This wasn’t the first time I’d said this to her.

The day we first discovered the massive stone gate at the end of the underground cavern—I had already told her about this miserable world, doomed to destruction.

That this was a world inside a novel, that I was a reincarnator—

I left out those details and only spoke of the inevitable ruin.

But even so, she refused to give up.

Even though I, the one who had comforted her, had long since abandoned hope and was now hiding in this underground hole.

Perhaps the difference was that I had read the novel and knew exactly how this world ended, while she had only heard it vaguely from me.

“…You said you believed me. So why won’t you give up? You were ready to give up before you met me too.”

“….”

At my words, Elaine fell silent for a while.

I don’t know how much time passed.

Just as I was about to give up on a response and retreat back into the corner, she finally spoke.

“…Because you were the one who told me not to give up. You gave me hope.”

“….”

“You’re an incredible person. Someone I could trust and rely on. So when someone as amazing as you said it was possible, I believed you. For the first time, I could forget my fear and hold onto hope.”

Her voice was damp, trembling.

But with my head bowed, refusing to look up, I couldn’t tell if she was crying or not.

“…And yet, you’re the first one to give up. How disappointing.”

With those words, Elaine turned and returned to the surface.

.

.

.

Several more days passed.

“Allen Zest? As in the founder of the famous Allen Trading Company? But he couldn’t even greet us properly—how pathetic.”

“It’s not that he couldn’t. He probably just didn’t think it was necessary. You know how it is—people who succeed young tend to think they’re the best in the world.”

“Still, his face looks kinda tasty. Bet he’d be especially good to chew on.”

The number of grotesque humans grew with each passing day.

Before I knew it, even Class A had begun to show signs of them.

But I paid no attention.

What were grotesque humans, anyway?

In the end, compared to the true Outer Gods, they were nothing more than ants.

After morning assembly ended, I returned to the underground as usual.

Ever since the day we had that argument, Elaine had stopped coming back down here.

She must have completely lost interest in me.

Just then—

Tap, tap.

The sound of hard-soled shoes.

It was Elaine.

Even now, she still came down here to see my face.

Her persistence was impressive.

“…With Class A, the entire first main building has now fallen under the influence of the grotesque humans. There are still some humans left, but it’s only a matter of time.”

Her tone was cold, as if she were delivering a report.

“So, have you found a way to fix it?”

“…Not yet.”

At my question, she bit her lip before answering.

“See? It’s all pointless in the end. Why don’t you just give up and rest here? No matter how many grotesque humans there are, they won’t be able to reach this place.”

If this single day kept repeating, at the very least, the Outer Gods wouldn’t revive.

Their revival was supposed to happen just before graduation—the end of the academy’s story.

Paradoxically, if time remained frozen on this one day forever, the Outer Gods would never awaken.

“There’s… one last method I haven’t tried yet.”

“…And what’s that?”

“Dying.”

“What?”

“We’ve never experienced death before.”

“Because we don’t know what’ll happen if we do. Are you out of your mind?”

Ordinary people, even if killed by grotesque humans, would simply revive the next day as if nothing had happened.

But what about me and Elaine, who had become aware of this anomaly?

Maybe death was the trigger to escape this loop.

Or maybe we’d just revive like everyone else.

But what if it wasn’t that simple?

What if we permanently vanished from the loop?

Or worse—what if the condition for grotesque humans to multiply was the death of someone aware of the loop?

What if, the moment we died, we disappeared and were replaced by grotesque humans?

Life is a one-time coin.

No matter how untested the possibility, it’s a chip you can never recklessly bet.

“But this is the only idea I have left.”

“…”

“So… I’m going to die today. I just came to tell you that.”

“…I see. Do what you have to. I genuinely hope it works.”

That was all I could say to her resolve.

She probably hadn’t expected anything more from me, either.

With those final words, she turned and went back above ground.

And time passed.

I’d already spent several days in this underground cavern, but today, time seemed to crawl.

…Had she died by now?

If so, then I’d be the only sane person left in this loop.

I was alone now.

Even if I escaped and left, it would mean nothing.

Her death had been meaningless.

But even that was a laughable thought.

Then what meaning was there in me staying here like this?

I was just afraid.

Death was terrifying.

But living was even more terrifying.

So I hid.

Yet, ironically, while I had locked myself underground because I was too afraid to go outside…

Now that I was truly alone, I was afraid of being alone.

Slowly, I got to my feet.

It wasn’t that I suddenly wanted to fix this situation.

I just vaguely…

Wanted to find Elaine.

And so, for the first time, I climbed the stairs.

.

.

.

Time had already passed too much, and her figure was no longer to be seen anywhere in the academy.

However, I didn’t give up and searched every corner of the academy to find her.

“What are you looking for? Do you need help, perhaps?”

“Have you seen a student named Elaine by any chance? She has long black hair!”

“What do you think it is?”

A bizarre person looked at me suspiciously and spoke to me, but I ignored him and asked him about her whereabouts anyway.

In the end, however, I wasn’t able to find her, and midnight arrived.

.

.

.

And so, a new day began once again.

The first thing I checked upon opening my eyes at the podium was Elaine’s presence.

Thankfully,

She hadn’t disappeared—she was still there.

A wave of relief, almost overwhelming, washed over me as I finished the morning assembly and immediately approached her.

When I suddenly walked up to her, I could feel both the students and the bizarre beings around us were startled, but it didn’t matter.

After all, they would forget everything again tomorrow.

“Elaine! You’re safe!”

“…Um, you’re Mr. Ellen, right? What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“…What?”

My heart sank.

But I hadn’t misheard.

“You say I’m safe like it’s surprising. Was I not supposed to be? More importantly, have we met before?”

“…Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

Before I realized it, I was back in the underground cave.

She didn’t recognize me…

No, more than that—has she completely lost all memory of the loop?

Don’t tell me… if someone dies in this loop, they lose all memories of it and return to being just an ordinary student?

If that’s the case—

Then the Elaine I knew is truly gone?

Will I never be able to see her again?

Am I…

Truly alone now?

“…It’s cold.”

Was this cave always this cold?

Suddenly, an unbearable fear overwhelmed me.

For the first time, I truly felt the weight of being alone.

Only now do I realize—

It was because Elaine came to me that I was able to hold on this long.

It’s true that she knew nothing about how this world was doomed.

But even so, thanks to her, I managed to endure.

But now, even that is over.

…

…

…

No.

It’s not over yet.

I have to get her back.

I have to bring her back.

To do that, I need to solve this bizarre phenomenon.

I have no certainty.

But I must do it.

To borrow Elaine’s words…

“Because now, this is the only idea that comes to mind.”

That’s why I have to resolve this situation.

Midnight has struck.

The day resets once again.

But from now on, each day will be different from the last.

Because I will make it so.