Part 4

Ji Hengsheng: Okay, here's the plan.

Ji Hengsheng: While you get ontop of the train car to meet S, I'll go around to the other side of the car, climb up quietly while you're distracting him, and then I'll jump him from behind.

Wu Shi: Are you sure that's going to work? He's probably armed, after all.

Ji Hengsheng: Eh, we don't need to beat him, we just need to get the mask off him. It's two of us to one, we've got the advantage of numbers.

Wu Shi: I guess... Be careful, okay?

Ji Hengsheng: Relax! I still haven't gotten my answer from you, Shi-chan, I'm not going to let anything happen to me that easily.

Wu Shi: Okay.

Ji Hengsheng: Well then- see you in a bit!

Wu Shi: ...Hengsheng.

Wu Shi: ...I'm so happy that you're here with me.

Ji Hengsheng: ........

Ji Hengsheng freezes in her tracks.

Ji Hengsheng: ....uuuugh.

Ji Hengsheng: Don't say things like that to me without any warning!

Ji Hengsheng: Always saying these things that make me worry about you like that.

Wu Shi: I guess that's why people say that hard work beats talent, every single time!

Wu Shi: Even if you're not talented, as long as you keep trying over and over again, you're bound to succeed sooner or later.

This time, I was prepared for S. I knew this was the time when he'd show up, and I'd stolen a pair of medical scissors from the infirmary to protect myself from him with. You couldn't call it a powerful weapon, exactly, but who knows- maybe it'd prove useful against S.

Wu Shi: Come at me, S.

Wu Shi: i̸̮̎ ̷͌̀h̴̍̈́a̴͘͝v̵͌̚ë̸́̚ ̷̾̚ã̶̔b̶̂̏ã̸͐n̵͌̓d̵̈̃o̴̐̚n̴̓̓e̵̛͗ď̷͐ ̵̐̆m̵͋͝y̷͌͛ ̵̍̌h̴͊͠û̴̆m̶̍̐ä̵͊n̴͐͐í̷̕t̵͒̈́y̴̎͛

S: You just do not give up, do you.

Wu Shi: People who request meetings with me and stand me up don't get to criticize me, okay?

S: You set up a trap for me, didn't you? So I'd say we're even on that count.

......

How did he know?

Was he all-knowing or something like that?

S: Mere fuel should stop trying to meddle with things.

Wu Shi: I'm not just mere fuel. I've learned things now.

S: Oh? What have you learned, exactly?

Wu Shi: I've learned... the identity of 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲.

Me.

Ji Hengsheng.

Se Yue.

Your greatest enemy is Se Yue-

No, that's not the right answer.

screen flashes red, HP -1.

Wu Shi: Are you wondering why your health hasn't come back after save-loading?

Wu Shi: Looks like you still don't understand the time-travel mechanisms of the Tour of Time...

Wu Shi: No matter how many times you use these buttons to travel through time...

Wu Shi: 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒎, 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓.

Wu Shi: So... be more careful with your actions, okay?

Wu Shi: It's no good... The more I think, the more the wounds caused by repeatedly crossing through time are distorting my cognition...

This is beyond my ability to withstand...

The overwhelming pressure caused you to sink into madness, and you ultimately lost your ability to take action.

S: What makes you think that?

Wu Shi: Isn't it obvious? Somehow, despite being used as fuel, I've been able to both remain alive and retain my memories.

Wu Shi: I understand now that this is because the god of time has bestowed upon me the duty to stop your evil plans.

Wu Shi: As the Novikov self-consistency theory says, in order to prevent time paradoxes from occurring, there must exist a force in the universe that opposes the creation of time paradoxes to protect the integrity of the universe.

Wu Shi: And now I understand that I am that force.

Wu Shi: You are a time traveler who is incessantly causing the universe to reset itself.

Wu Shi: That's why the god of time gave me the ability to retain my memories.

S: You're... sure that... these things are causally related??

Wu Shi: Of course.

Wu Shi: Because I've kept my memories and will, I die painfully at the end of every loop.

Wu Shi: Avoiding that death inevitably puts me in conflict with your goal of prolonging the endless cycles.

Wu Shi: That's what makes me your enemy.

S: ............

S: How frustrating.

S: That ability of yours to see straight to the truth of matters is really quite frustrating.

S: Was this the reason why the God of Time chose you to act as their avatar?

Wu Shi: Oh, you're too kind. If that's why the God of Time chose me then all I can say is that the God of Time could use higher standards.

S: ............

S: Alright, let's take a step back. Let's suppose that everything you've said is the truth and that's why you're my greatest enemy.

S: What exactly do you think you could possibly do?

S: You're not afraid of doing something that results in the deaths of what few friends you have left?

Wu Shi: Oh, no, I'm terrified, yeah.

S: ...So stop.

Wu Shi: I can't.

Wu Shi: If Yu Guang knew that I gave up on saving myself just because I was scared of you, he'd get up out of his grave to punch me in the face.

Wu Shi: And every time I think about resigning myself to death, I think about how Ji Hengsheng cried for me, and I find myself filled with resolve again.

Wu Shi: This is usually the part where a shonen protagonist gives an inspiring speech about never giving up, but I honestly can't find it within me to do that.

Wu Shi: This is just a really fucking shitty situation for me, you know? But if I'm in a situation like this already, I might as well pick the options that make my remaining friends cry less, if I can.

Wu Shi: I'm afraid of dying...

Wu Shi: But I'm more afraid of letting my friends down, than I am of dying.

S: ...............

S: I suppose I understand, now.

S: So long as there's any sliver of hope, even if it's a tenth of a percent, that'll be enough to motivate you to keep fighting.

S: It looks like ordinary measures will not be sufficient to stop you.

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan! Don't- don't come over here- mmmph!

S: Too late for that.

S: I have to engrave despair deeply onto your heart.

S: Please firmly remember.

S: If you dare do anything in subsequent loops, then the same things will continue to happen to those that you hold dear.

Ji Hengsheng: AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Alongside the horrible sound of certain bones being snapped, Hengsheng let out a terrible scream that I could never have before imagined.

Wu Shi: What have you done?!

S: First comes the thumb.

S: Don't forget what you promised.

Wu Shi: You despicable bastard:

S: Hm. Still not quite the fully lifeless eyes I was hoping for.

S: Don't push your luck anymore.

S: You may retain your memories on each loop, but your friends sure don't. I could ambush them any time I felt like it.

S: Next time, I won't stop at fingers.

S: I'll start with whole limbs.

Wu Shi: I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU TRY!

S: As long as you don't interfere further, I won't need to take action on any of these promises.

Ji Hengsheng: ...Are you okay??

Wu Shi: .....

Wu Shi: ..I'm fine.

Ji Hengsheng's fingers were as pristine as ever. Nothing had happened to them.

Ji Hengsheng: WAH!

Ji Hengsheng: W-why did you grab my hands all of a sudden??

Ji Hengsheng: Everyone's watching!

Clutching onto her undamaged hands, I wanted to cry right then and there.

Ji Hengsheng: ...Wu Shi?

Wu Shi: ...Sorry, Hengsheng, but there's some-- things, I have to take care of. Please don't mind me, I'll be just a while.

S: That's right.

S: You don't need to think about anything.

Somehow, as though he didn't want to give me any time to think about it, S had reappeared behind me, with a syringe in his hands.

S: An obedient puppet is all you have to be.

S: This way, you don't even have to experience the agony of your final death, and your friends won't be slaughtered by me, either. Isn't this the best way for things to go?

His words in my ear were like poison.

S: Your choices aren't wrong.

S: This is... the best of all possible paths amongst all the branches.

An ice-cold syringe slid into my back, and I lost consciousness once more.

Six, seven, eight- endless loops.

To make sure that I didn't forget, I took up the habit of walking to the thirteenth car and using the ring that Ji Hengsheng had gifted to me, to carve tally markings into it.

Incredibly enough, no matter the number of loops, these tallies didn't seem to disappear.

Throughout all these loops, I did absolutely nothing.

I simply repeated the same rote actions procedurally- avoiding Ji Hengsheng for a few hours, carving the tallies on the thirteenth car, waiting in the infirmary, and finally accepting S's injection when he appeared at the appointed time.

Whatever was in the syringe, it was strong stuff.

As soon as I was injected with it, I lost all consciousness- not even waking up while I was being drowned.

I was sure that S just wanted to get me out of the way, because I was an unnecessary complicating factor.

But, ironically, it was only thanks to S's intervention that I was able to escape repeatedly experiencing the torment of death over and over.

In these endlessly repeating twelve hours, in order to protect my sense of self, I'd given up on thinking- but despite that, in the hours I spent waiting for S to show up, I still managed to discover a few things.

And as the number of loops increased, the number of people lying in the infimary grew as well.

As the number of people who disappeared during the final day of the trip increased to an unbelievable number, it finally became impossible to hide.

A rumor began going around that there was a disease confined to the bottom of the sea, a disease named 'Lost Time Syndrome' which had a 100% fatality rate.

But, foolish as I was, I didn't think at all about what would happen if this continued- just what kind of horrible future would unfold before me.

Or, rather, what kind of horrible past.

Ji Hengsheng: If you want, I'd like to... become real family with you.

Wu Shi: ....Sorry, but I-

Ji Hengsheng: ........

I looked at her face- and found that it was pale like a corpse's.

Wu Shi: H-how could...

How could I be so foolish?

Why didn't I think of such a basic and obvious thing?

Ol' Wang: AAAAAAAHHHH!

Li Kong: WAAAAAAHHHHHH!

Everyone who'd been afflicted by the so-called 'Lost Time Syndrome' fell to the floor simultaneously. Such an abnormal situation spooked my classmates, who fled instantly.

Wu Shi: What... have I been doing?

𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞.

Se Yue: Tell me everything you know

Wu Shi: B-but...

Se Yue: Have you forgotten who I am?

Se Yue: I am the heir of the Se Family and the one esteemed as the princess.

Se Yue smiles and reaches a hand out to me.

Se Yue: If even I can't save you, then nobody can save you.

Se Yue: I do not make mistakes, for I am the representative of the entire Se family.

Se Yue: Even if I did, I would use everything at my disposal to turn things back to their proper path.

Se Yue: So- hand it all over to me.

Se Yue: Allow me to be your savior.

Se Yue: I... see.

She sits down and absentmindedly pushes a lock of her silvery hair back over her shoulder.

Se Yue: So, there exists an 'S', and they're most likely someone under the employment of the Cesium Corporation.

She starts munching on the sweet biscuit straw snacks on the table as she continues to think out loud.

Se Yue: ...In any of these preceding loops, did you consult me for help or advice?

...Did 'pretending to be S to get information out of you' count as 'consulting' you?

Se Yue: Judging by your expression, I guess that's a no.

Se Yue: No wonder things have gotten as bad as they have now.

She sighed deeply, and, as though to push back her annoyance with me, shoved a whole three biscuit straws into her mouth at once.

Se Yue: ...I notice that you can't help but pay attention to these.

She waggles another biscuit straw in the air.

Se Yue: You see, I am quite up to date with the trends of you average high school students. I am given to know that these are popular snacks for your social and economic demographic.

Se Yue: Do I not look the exact image of an average high-school student as I consume these high-calorie junk-food confections with wild abandon for my health?

...No, uh, those snacks are more often eaten by little kids than teenagers...

Se Yue: I have quite taken a liking to these confections, as it happens. I think they fit my aesthetic quite superbly, in fact. Don't you agree?

Uh, no, I, uh, really can't say I do.

It's like seeing someone in an expensive Armani suit eating at a street vendor's grill.

Wu Shi: Y... yeah... you look... exactly like an ordinary high-schooler.

Se Yue, apparently gratified, picks up another biscuit straw, this time from- oh my god, did she have her maids arrange them into a lotus pattern on that ten-thousand-yuan silver platter?

Wu Shi: You know what, I should really apologize to you.

Se Yue: What for?

Wu Shi: I was a fool to ever imagine that somebody like you could ever possibly have been S or an accomplice to S.

Se Yue: Uh, I'm happy to hear that you've accepted me as an ally, but, what made you decide to accept me all of a sudden?

Wu Shi: It's not you I'm accepting, it's the you that's holding a biscuit straw like an expensive cigar I'm accepting.

Se Yue: Is that so?

Se Yue regards her biscuit straws again with renewed focus.

Se Yue: I have truly underestimated the power inherent within these fragile straws.

Se Yue: If I could channel the power within these delicacies, I could perhaps even develop a technology that allows me to make friends-

Wu Shi: We are going to change topics, right now.

Se Yue: I'm very special and capable, but I can't stand up to a time-traveler. It's like playing a game of chess, except for every one move I make, my opponent can make fifty or even a hundred moves.

Se Yue: The only one who can match a time-traveler in such a game is another time-traveler- someone such as you.

Se Yue: So, in order to equip you with the best chances for success, I'm going to tell you everything I know about the Tour of Time.

Se Yue: Starting from the things you already know.

1: The Tour of Time is a time machine that was invented by Se Yue.

2: The method of time travel is as follows: Place a deceased person within the 13th train car.

3: Every time time is reversed, 'one corpse' must be used as fuel.

4: Fuel used once cannot be reused.

5: Those who have been used as fuel will, at the start of the loop, suffer 'Lost Time Syndrome', and perish immediately.

Wu Shi: Girl, your time machine is fucked up.

Se Yue: I know. I didn't meant to invent a time machine that needed human sacrifice to operate either, I promise you.

Se Yue: These costs are entirely and unfortunately incidentally necessary.

Se Yue: Let me ask you a question- do you think that 'time' is an absolute and immutable thing?

Wu Shi, who has literally traveled through time and changed time, like, fifty times at this point: Yeah, isn't that obvious? Time is immutable and unchangeable.

Se Yue: 'All humanity's shared experience of time', compounded together, becomes the true time.

Se Yue: Some people are in the past, some people are in the present, some people are in the future.

Se Yue: By compounding and averaging everybody's perception of time together, we get the 'time' that everybody knows of.

Se Yue: ...why are you looking at me like that?

Wu Shi: I'm sorry, I've become distracted by your giant b-

Se Yue: Do NOT finish that sentence.

Wu Shi: -BRAIN! I SWEAR I MEANT TO SAY BRAIN!

Se Yue, unaware that the guy in front of him has just undergone a major paradigm shift: Now that I've recapped all that I can finally get into the actual hows of the Tour of Time.

Wu Shi: ...What is this?

Se Yue: The Tour of Time? I thought I drew it quite clearly.

Wu Shi: No, I'm pretty sure what you've drawn here is a caterpillar-

Se Yue: This is the Tour of Time.

Wu Shi: Uh-

Se Yue: This is the Tour of Time.

Se Yue: As the heiress of the Se family, I have of course been trained in classical visual arts.

Se Yue: Clearly, the deficit here is in your lack of exposure to art criticism.

Se Yue: These things are necessary:

Se Yue: The undersea enclosed space, the environment with a relatively low number of people, and the track where the beginning and end overlap. These three things, plus the train itself, make up the time machine.

Se Yue: Since time is made up of the subjective perception of time by everybody within the 'world', with a smaller world and far fewer people, it becomes possible to directly control the perception of time, and thus time itself.

It did seem more practical when she put it that way. You couldn't possibly hope to realistically control the perceptions of all seven billion people in the world, but if you could shrink the world, a hundred people seemed decently controllable for an organization as powerful as Cesium.

Se Yue: Nevertheless, it's not easy to change the perceptions of even a single person.

Se Yue: So, we don't start with the operators.

Se Yue: Rather, that's where the fuel comes in.

Se Yue: Generally speaking, most people perceive time in much the same way, except for one category of person.

Se Yue: That category is, 'a dead person'.

Se Yue: There is an irreplaceable quality to the time-perception of the fuel, since nobody else in the world has the unique quality that the fuel does, of being dead.

Se Yue: That's the quality I've set my eyes on.

Se Yue: By using the dead, whose experience of time has come to a halt, we can change the definition of time.

Se Yue: Afterwards, by loading the dead person into the car, and shouting the activation phrase to this crest, the time machine will activate.

Wu Shi: We must destroy all of the control crests immediately. Give the maids an order to gather them all up and-

Se Yue: Can't. Time laws. Novikov consistency literally makes the crests invincible.

Wu Shi: What the fuck?

Se Yue, shaking her head sadly at Wu Shi's lack of Time Wisdom: One day you'll understand.

Wu Shi: So what you're telling me is you do know who S is,

Wu Shi: Because obviously you're one of those who know the password,

Wu Shi: And so the other person who knows, who isn't you, is S. Case closed.

Se Yue: ...Qian Yuan's already dead. Can't be her.

Se Yue: Furthermore, I can tell you with absolute certainty that Qian Yuan would never choose to use the time machine again.

Wu Shi: I'm sorry, again?

Se Yue: That's right. Again.

Se Yue: She used it once. In fact, she's the only person that's ever used it, before all of this. I built the machine for her.

Wu Shi: Wwwwait.

Wu Shi: If the culprit attacked Se Yue to gain access to her crest, the crest that's necessary to control the time machine...

Wu Shi: Then that means... that, to keep the loop going, the culprit has to come after the princess, sooner or later.

Wu Shi: Which means... We need to run, young mistress!

But before I could do anything, the sound of a huge impact shook the door to the bedroom off its hinges.

Wu Shi: You DUMBASS!

Seeing her there on the floor, I couldn't help it- in my mind, the indistinct silhouette of the firefighter who saved her, and Se Yue's image, merged into one.

Wu Shi: Why would you do that to yourself just to save me?!

Se Yue: ...What... a silly question?

Se Yue: Protecting... those who you can protect... is natural, isn't it?

Wu Shi: WHAT IF HE USES YOU AS FUEL?!

Se Yue: That's not... a reason... to not save you, isn't it?

Se Yue: I am the princess of the Se family... and each and every one of my actions represents the honor of the Se family........

Wu Shi: STOOOOP IIIIT!

S: Your turn.

S: Gimme that pokemon badge, I need it to enter Victory Road.

S: Hand over the crest.

S: I want to master the secrets of time and break the laws of causality.

S: You don't need to understand, and you oughtn't understand.