Part 9

??: Hurry and wake up.

Wu Shi: ...???

??: WAKE UP!

Someone seemed to be shaking me.

??: Wake up, Shi-chan!

Ji Hengsheng: Oh, thank goodness, you're awake.

Ji Hengsheng: I was really worried about what I was to do if you just never woke up again.

...Those were definitely trails of tears from her eyes, yeah.

Looks like I made her worry about me again.

Wu Shi: ...The princess...

The princess had... knocked me out, with some kind of... gas?

I had to stop her.

Wu Shi: ...The princess... must be stopped...

Ji Hengsheng: You know, it's very rude of you to wake up and immediately start talking about another woman right in front of me~.

Ji Hengsheng: I've been worrying about you ever since the bonfire last night!

Wu Shi: Sorry...

I was saying that a lot these days, wasn't I.

Wu Shi: I made you worry about me again.

Ji Hengsheng: You're such a troublesome guy.

Ji Hengsheng: Soooo, what'd you get up to with the princess?

Wu Shi: Uh... why... how did I...?

Maybe it was an aftereffect of the knockout gas. I felt like my brain wasn't operating properly at all. Everything felt slow and I couldn't find the right words.

Ji Hengsheng: Oh, Qian Yuan told us that the princess had locked you in her bedroom. That's how we learned about what'd happened to you.

Wu Shi: Oh. Qian Yuan. Ah.

Ji Hengsheng: Yeah, Yu Guang and Qian Yuan- and some other maids that Qian Yuan thought were trustworthy- got together and dressed up in the costume of- that freaky guy who attacked us- to get Se Yue's attention and distract her.

Wu Shi: I see. They disguised themselves as S.

Ji Hengsheng: So, what were you up to in her room, anyways?

Ji Hengsheng: I found you tied up real good. You were all trussed up six ways to sunday.

Ji Hengsheng: Don't tell me... you were doing some kind of adult play-

Wu Shi: ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Ji Hengsheng: ...Are you up to something dangerous again, Shi-chan?

Ji Hengsheng: If you don't tell me what you're up to, I'll...

Ji Hengsheng: I'll follow you around until you tell me, and no amount of money will change my mind!

Ah. The Hengsheng-style Unbreakable Vow returns oncemore.

Wu Shi: Well, it was really just a difference of opinion.

Wu Shi: Sort of.

Ji Hengsheng: You are going to have to be way more specific than that, mister.

Should I really tell her?

Telling her would just get her involved again, and maybe she'd just end up the way she did in the timeline of the thirteenth train car.

In that case, perhaps it's best for me to not tell her anything, and instead simply disappear quietly and inexplicably...

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan, a year ago I watched you almost die in front of me.

Ji Hengsheng: It felt terrible- but more than feeling terrible, it also filled me with an overwhelming regret.

Ji Hengsheng: Regret that I wasn't able to do anything, regret that all I could do was cry ineffectually.

Ji Hengsheng: I already feel this bad about seeing you in danger- I don't know what'd happen if I saw you actually die. I don't know what would become of me if that happened.

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan, most of the time, I know exactly what you're thinking, and I'm sure you can do the same with my thoughts as well.

Ji Hengsheng: How would you feel if our positions were reversed, and you were in the position of helplessly watching me perish? How would that make you feel?

...Well, Hengsheng didn't actually know that I'd already actually gone through that.

I did watch her die, in the 13th train car's world.

When she collapsed from Lost Time Syndrome into my lap, I felt like my entire world went dark,

As though nothing that happened from then on would mean anything to me at all anymore.

A void in my heart larger than anything imaginable, where even the slightest breath would lead to unbelievable pain.

Ji Hengsheng: That's how I'd feel, y'know~.

Ji Hengsheng: When you smile, I smile too.

Ji Hengsheng: When you weep, I weep too.

Ji Hengsheng: All you need to do to know how I'd feel is to ask yourself how you'd feel if it were me.

Ji Hengsheng: After all, we've done nothing but worry about each other for as long as we've known each other~.

...If it were her faced with a situation like this...

Would I want her to go to her death without letting me know what was happening?

Of course not. Without closure, I would surely see the rest of my life spent on pursuing the truth of that incident.

I'd clutch the tragedy to my chest, dive deep into an inescapable labyrinth, and endlessly seek for a way out in futility.

I decided to tell her everything.

Wu Shi: Hengsheng, this may sound unbelievable, but...

Wu Shi: I-

My words were interrupted by the sound of hell's announcement.

Se Yue: The tour of time is about to reach the terminal station. All personnel, fasten seat belts for your own safety.

Se Yue: I repeat.

Se Yue: The tour of time is about to reach the terminal station. All personnel, fasten seat belts for your own safety.

The fear that came over me, in that moment, felt like it could crush me into tiny pieces.

Wu Shi: -HENGSHENG! WHERE ARE WE?!

Ji Hengsheng: Where are we? Uh, it- isn't it self evident??

Ji Hengsheng: It's your cot in the men's dormitory car, of course.

Wu Shi: ...What day is it?

Ji Hengsheng: Uh. December 3rd?

How could things be this way?

I fainted on December 2nd, and when Ji Hengsheng woke me up, I hadn't expected so much time to have passed.

And now- just like this- things were already over for me?

Wu Shi: HENGSHENG! RUN!

Ji Hengsheng: Ow! Ow ow ow you're pulling me too hard! Why are you acting like this, Shi-chan?!

I paid no attention to her cries.

Wu Shi: Get out of here, NOW! The accident's about to happen!

I rushed for the touchpad that would open the door to the next train car-

But a tremor jolted my hand, and I missed the touchpad by just a moment.

Wu Shi: FUUUUCK!!

I pulled Ji Hengsheng to the floor and hugged her tightly.

Wu Shi: It's alright, I'll protect you!

It was fine- I could do the same thing as last time- take advantage of the moment when the water fills the car and equalizes the pressure

And break out of the car.

Find an air bubble.

Get Hengsheng to safety.

Wu Shi: I'm absolutely not going to let you die-!

But,

Much to my surprise,

This time, things went much differently than how they'd gone before this.

Wu Shi: ...Bwuh?

Se Yue: Just now, while pulling into the terminal station, the train encountered an unexpected obstruction on the rail, causing temporary tremors. The situation has now been resolved.

Se Yue: The Tour of Time will soon arrive at the terminal station. All personnel should continue to wear seat belts for their own safety.

Wu Shi: ...Whaaaaaa??

I reached towards the touchpad that would open the door- but I hesitated.

What if the announcement was- wrong, or an accident, or a trick? What if I opened the door, and saw a wall of water in front of me?

It froze me in my tracks with fear.

Ji Hengsheng: Uh... What, was, that.

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan, are you... okay?

Wu Shi: I'm... fine.

Wu Shi: I'm..... fine?

Wu Shi: This is... good? I think?

Ji Hengsheng: ...Weren't you saying that we had to get out of here, just a moment ago? Come on, let's go find some seats and buckle in like the intercom's telling us to do.

Wu Shi: Wait, no-

But she'd already pressed the button to open the door.

Ji Hengsheng: Gosh, the wind's cold out here right now.

The wind was cold.

Ji Hengsheng: Even though we missed a day's worth of hanging out, this trip was still a blast!

Wu Shi: Mmm-hmm.

I still couldn't believe it. Everything was normal. No impacts, no flooding, no tremors, nothing. Part of me was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but...

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan, to make up for the third day of this trip, you're going to have to come over to my house and help me make food after we get back home!

I looked at the clock.

Three minutes to noon.

I was destined to die at 12:00 on December 3rd. Had I really survived, finally?

And then,

the unexpected happened, just as expected.

The train shook again- a small tremor, an ordinary amount of shaking for a train, nothing dangerous at all-

-but it shook something loose from Hengsheng's lap.

Ji Hengsheng: Ah!

I recognized it immediately, of course. It was Ji Hengsheng's precious ring.

She hadn't had the chance to give it to me at the bonfire last night, so of course it was still on her.

As I watched, the ring landed on the floor, and bounced away towards the edge of the connecting path between the two train cars.

Ji Hengsheng: No! Wait!

Because it was a precious thing to her, Hengsheng rushed after it.

Because she was in such a panic, she didn't notice her own unsteady footing.

Everything after that happened in a flash.

The train shook again, at that very moment- another perfectly ordinary tremor that just happened to occur at the worst possible time.

Pursuing the ring, Ji Hengsheng lost her footing. Her body twisted-

-And rolled over the guardrails.

> Wu Shi: HENGSHENG!

I reflexively dove for her and grabbed onto her.

But, I'd lost my own balance too, doing so, and there was no way for me to oppose the forces pulling both of us off the train, now.

Before we fell together, a thought flashed through my mind.

𝑫𝑰𝑫 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑬𝑵 𝑩𝑬𝑪𝑨𝑼𝑺𝑬 𝑰 𝑾𝑨𝑺𝑵'𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑻𝑶 𝑨𝑪𝑪𝑬𝑷𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑹𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑭𝑹𝑶𝑴 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑨𝑻 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑩𝑶𝑵𝑭𝑰𝑹𝑬?

We fell from the train together, smashing against the concrete ground like pudding.

I viscerally felt the crushing of my bones.

...

...

...

...

Se Yue: ...So it turned out this way again, after all...

I heard Se Yue's voice again, at the edges of my dissipating consciousness.

I used the last bit of energy I had to open my eyes, and saw her and Qian Yuan standing before me.

Wu Shi: ...Please, help her- Hengsheng, she needs help,

I choked out what I could with what was left of my broken body.

Se Yue: ......

Qian Yuan: ...The medical team is on their way right now. Wu Shi, you have to hold on...

Se Yue: ...It looks like the fourteenth train car has designated miss Ji Hengsheng as the fuel for the second loop.

Oh.

Wu Shi: Se Yue, please,

I reached out with my only working hand and grabbed the edge of her dress, leaving unslightly bloodstains all over her clothes.

Wu Shi: Please...

Wu Shi: Don't let her die, don't let her become fuel...

I couldn't speak coherently anymore. Blood was bubbling into my lungs and throat, now, and it made all my attempts at speaking turn into nothing more than gurgles and croaks.

Damn, this hurt.

Everything hurt. My hands, my toes, my chest, my legs, my skull...

And I knew that, if I was hurting, then surely Ji Hengsheng was also hurting just as much, if not more.

...Man, I was an idiot, wasn't I?

'Even if one more person has to die this loop, ending things here with just two deaths is still the best outcome we can hope for' my ass.

Saying these noble things so magnanimously.

I'm a fucking moron.

I suppose this is what I get for having thoughts that stupid.

If the loop were to end here, not only me, but Hengsheng too, would die.

The loop couldn't be allowed to end.

Se Yue: .....

She turned away from me.

Se Yue: Qian Yuan, give me that thing you have in your lap.

Qian Yuan: Mistress, you don't have to burden yourself, I can do it myself-

Se Yue: That was an order. Give it to me, now.

Qian Yuan reached into her lap and pulled something metallic out.

It was a forbidden item that I'd never seen in the flesh before.

Se Yue was holding, there, with her delicate thin wrists, a handgun.

Se Yue: Have you resolved yourself for this, Qian Yuan?

Qian Yuan: Of course, mistress. I am ready as ever.

She curtsied to Se Yue.

Se Yue: ...As I once said to you, I will bear the burden of all this. You are no exception.

Qian Yuan: It is my honor to be able to repay the debt I owe to you as your personal maidservant, madam.

In that moment, I saw Qian Yuan smile, resplendently, a true smile unlike the polite smiles she wore as a mask. It was the first time I'd ever seen her smile like that.

And then a gunshot rang out.

With that gunshot, my awareness and consciousness- it all came to an end.

Just before everything ended, I saw Se Yue biting her bottom lip, as though she was struggling with some great pain of her own.

Se Yue: Have you calmed down?

Wu Shi: You didn't- you didn't-

Se Yue: That's right.

Se Yue: This is the 12th hour of the 2nd day of the tour.

Se Yue: Your suppositions are correct. Time has indeed been looped-

Wu Shi: Did you use Hengsheng as fuel?!

Se Yue: ...No.

Se Yue: I-

I had no intention of listening to the rest of her words.

I ran right through all the train cars, yelling Ji Hengsheng's name as I went.

Wu Shi: HENGSHENG! HENGSHENG!

A few students gave me weird looks.

Wu Shi: HENGSHENG! WHERE ARE YOU?! HENGSHENG-

Se Yue had deployed her whiteboard again, and was once again in professor mode.

Se Yue: I think that after the last loop, the possibility that our universe is a model-B universe has been counted out.

Wu Shi: You mean, the, parallel universe theory or whatever?

Se Yue: Yes. It seems there is only one universe, and one timeline.

Se Yue: That is the less-preferable outcome, unfortunately. This is quite bothersome.

Wu Shi: Uh, why.

Se Yue: If we were working with parallel worlds, then there would be countless ways I could try, to work around the paradoxes and save you.

Wu Shi: Paradoxes?

Se Yue: Specifically, the Paradox of Cause and Effect.

Wu Shi: Please speak english to me.

Se Yue: ...I am speaking english.

Wu Shi: No, like, the kind of english I can comprehend.

Se Yue: Okay, well... Have you heard of the Grandfather Paradox?

Wu Shi: The Garfunkel Paradox?

Inexplicably, this provoked another giggling fit in Se Yue for a whole half-minute. I had no idea what the deal with her sense of humor was.

Se Yue: The Grandfather Paradox is simple. Imagine you were a time traveler and you went back in time to before your grandparents had given birth to your parents.

Se Yue: Would it be possible for you to kill your grandfather, before they had your parents?

Wu Shi: Why would I want to kill them?

Se Yue: I'm not asking you why you'd want to, I'm asking you if you think it's possible to physically do it.

Wu Shi: Hhhhm.

Of course it's possible.

Of course it's impossible.

Wu Shi: So what you're saying is...

Hengsheng's death is unavoidable.

S's appearance is unavoidable.

My death is unavoidable.

Wu Shi: Well, I guess I'm fucked, then.

Wu Shi: I think perhaps we should consider stopping the loops again, ma'am.

Wu Shi: I'm really not giving up on life- like, if I could, I'd love to horse around with Yu Guang and Ji Hengsheng some more.

Wu Shi: But you said it yourself- my death seems unavoidable. So we should really stop this madness before things get even worse.

Wu Shi: I'm grateful for the fifty additional loops of time granted to me by your Tour of Time. I'm ready for it to end now.

Se Yue: No you're not.

Se Yue: You may say it, and even think it, but your expression is the face of a man who isn't ready to die yet.

Se Yue: You know, you've got great friends, Wu Shi.

Se Yue: You've got two great friends that you can always rely on to save you when you're in a pinch.

Se Yue: But always relying on others isn't enough when you want to be the one who saves others.

Se Yue: If the only way to help you was to hurt you... then what would you call an existence that constantly hurts you?

Se Yue: There's no way to stop, now.

Se Yue: If we stop here, then the people who died in the last loop would have died for nothing.

Wu Shi: ...Those who died last loop?

Se Yue: You haven't noticed? We're short a person.

Se Yue: Though the Tour of Time produces fuel by itself every loop, there is a way to take control of fuel designation. A very simple method, in fact.

Who was used as fuel in the 2nd loop to bring us here to the 3rd loop?

Hengsheng

Qian Yuan

Yu Guang

Wu Shi: Holy fuck did you-

Se Yue: That's right.

Se Yue: I murdered Qian Yuan and used her as fuel for the second loop.

Se Yue: I still have the gun I used to shoot her, by the way.

Se Yue raises the gun to me.

Se Yue: Before the tranquilizers kick in, I'm not going to allow you to escape from this place.

Se Yue: So, I've decided.

Se Yue: I have to use my own hands to control the selection process for fuel.

Se Yue: If someone must be sacrificed every loop, then we might as well start at Qian Yuan.

Wu Shi: Why her?

Se Yue: Because she respects me.

Se Yue: And because she respected me, she was willing to allow me to kill her.

Her expression was the resolved expression of someone who believed all their deeds were that of absolute justice.

I took a step back.

Wu Shi: ...So now you're going to kill someone every loop, is that it?

Se Yue: Only in loops where your friends, Ji Hengsheng or Yu Guang, are designated as fuel, I think.

In the third loop, in any case, Wu Shi perished anyways, despite me keeping a close watch on him.

He died of a bullet wound.

Even though I kept him far away from the 11th train car, all the way in the 1st train car with me, when we arrived at terminal station, the car suddenly shook, causing the handgun that I'd been keeping on the dresser to fall to the ground.

The gun discharged, and the bullet pieced his heart.

Se Yue: Time is bullshit.

Anyways, it turns out that the designated fuel this time was Yu Guang.

In order to prevent him from being used as fuel, I raised my gun and shot the maid who came to report this fact to me.

I'm not permitted to apologize to you, unfortunately.

But I will save you as well. Just like all the rest.

Terminal Station

VIP Cabin

Connecting Junction (between train cars)

Midpoint Station

Se Yue: The original way that Wu Shi died was by drowning in the 11th train car.

Se Yue: To avoid this, I attempted to detach the 11th and 12th train cars.

However, the detachment process led to instability in the train, and caused a tremor which caused me to fall and knock my head against the control terminal. I was knocked out.

Maybe it was because I was thinking about Wu Shi so much, lately, but I had a dream where he and I were conversing alone.

In the dream- uncharacteristically for me- I showed signs of weakness and despair to him.

After I woke up, in order to prevent an accident from occuring earlier than scheduled, I abandoned this prophylactic plan and reattached all the train cars at the midpoint station.

In the end, Wu Shi died of drowning this loop, as though the universe were mocking my useless efforts.

The fuel for the 4th loop was a student from a different class that I'd never met before. I was relieved when I found this out. Then I was somewhat disappointed with myself for being relieved.

Loop five. Tranquilized Wu Shi at the start of the loop, both to spare him the pain and to minimize his interference with the loops.

His death in this loop was probably the worst one so far.

He was killed by- well, in a sense, Ji Hengsheng.

Due to obstructions on the railway, the train was forced to make multiple emergency brakes, causing it to shake violently multiple times. At the same time, Ji Hengsheng broke into the VIP Cabin and saved Wu Shi. As she was escorting Wu Shi away from my room, the train's shaking caused her to accidentally push Wu Shi over the guardrail between cars.

I was glad that I'd tranquilized Wu Shi, so that he didn't have to witness Hengsheng's absolute despair.

The fuel for this loop was Ji Hengsheng, who, after witnessing Wu Shi dying, attempted to follow him by jumping off the train herself.

I called for a Se family maid, and pushed her... off...

In loop 6, I released the tranquilizer gas the moment we returned to the past, causing Wu Shi to lose consciousness instantaneously.

The idiot tried to stop me all the way up to the last moment of his awareness.

But rules are rules.

I can't make mistakes or fail. No matter how much I suffered, I had to bear the pain and continue.

Unfortunately, Wu Shi died this loop as well.

From a drug overdose, of all things.

At the end of the trip, an accident occurred that overturned many of the cars, causing the expected flooding and whatnot. All quite standard at this point.

I had medical personnel readied, of course, and they were immediately able to recover and initiate rescuscitation on Wu Shi.

Unfortunately, one of the medical personnel accidentally added an excessive dose of a drug that was poisonous in high doses to Wu Shi's drip, resulting in Wu Shi's death.

Another ridiculous death.

This time the fuel was a student that neither me nor Wu Shi knew, a student named 'Hao Xing' who died from blunt trauma during the train's crash.

It wasn't Yu Guang or Ji Hengsheng, so this time I didn't have to kill anyone.

In the seventh loop, the crash and flooding happened as scheduled. None of it affected Wu Shi in the least, who was sedated and lying peacefully on my bed in the VIP cabin.

Unfortunately, it was only after I'd finished organizing the rescue efforts, when I brought medical personnel to check up on Wu Shi, that I found that he had long since died of inhaling an excessive amount of aerosolized sedative.

Apparently, the crash had caused the trigger mechanism for the tranquilizer to misfire.

Yet another unacceptable way to die.

The fuel this time was a Se family maid who died of an impact during the crash.

Because it wasn't Yu Guang or Ji Hengsheng, I didn't kill anyone.

Nevertheless, the events of this loop had a strange sense of deja vu to them. It made me uneasy, and I found that I had trouble breathing.

It's hopeless. Cause and effect are sealed.

It's the grandfather paradox, after all. Wu Shi's death starts the loops, so Wu Shi has to die, or else none of this could have happened.

It's so ridiculous...

This time, Wu Shi was crushed, under the train, when it crashed and flipped over.

The fuel this time was a Se family maid who had always looked on me with respectful eyes.

Loop 13.

Twelve people have been afflicted with Lost Time Syndrome.

With the increase in the number of people who fall over spontaneously, people are losing their interest in enjoying the cruise. Everyone is worried.

The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.

What laws existed that could be used to solve this problem that I had yet to discover?

To break the binds of causality and escape the limits of the Grandfather Paradox.

...Was it really possible?

It was like killing one's own grandfather and still expecting the father and son to appear.

If I can't think of something, the corpses being used as fuel will just get stacked up higher and higher.

In the thirteenth loop, Wu Shi died of being decapitated.

The fuel this time was the Se family maid who'd replaced Qian Yuan to give me my regular morning greetings.

Loop 15. He dies of asphyxiation.

The fuel was... It doesn't matter. Whether I killed them or not, it's the same as if I killed them.

Can't think of a way out, no matter how hard I try.

But as the Se family princess, I can't ask anyone to help.

Have to figure it out by myself.

Every loop teaches me a new lesson that strengthens my defenses just a bit further.

But, as if to mock my efforts, Wu Shi's death becomes more and more ridiculous.

This loop, it was a heart failure of unclear cause.

In the 19th loop, he died saving me.

For some reason, he awoke at the very last moment, and saved me from falling off the train while I was staring at the 14th train car in a daze.

He died smiling.

It's not over yet.

I can't lose.

If even I can't save everyone, then there's nobody who can save them.

I still couldn't save him.

To minimize the number of variables, I imitate the actions I took during the original loop as best as I can.

I am the Se family princess. I am very good at acting.

This time, he died of... spontaneous respiratory arrest.

...What's even the point of writing down these causes of death, anyways?

It's not like it changes anything...

Can't think right. Everything feels like a dream.

In the face of the mounting pile of corpses and the repeated loops that makes one want to vomit, all I've got left is the curse of the Se family inscribed in my blood.

Can't lose.

Can't losecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlosecan'tlose.

W a i t....

T h i s... i s a c o m p l e t e r e p e a t.

I ' v e w a s t e d a l o o p -

a l i f e

j u s t l i k e t h a t.

Wu Shi died.

Wu Shi died.

We've lost so many people, but the tragic outcomes show no sign of stopping... should I really continue?

CONTINUE LOOPING

CEASE LOOPING

PROCEED

Wu Shi died.

So many people died.

Death.

...Just when exactly is this, anyways?

Se Yue keeps tranquilizing me as soon as I wake up.

It's really not at all clear to me anymore how many loops we've gone through, now. How many loops into the 14th train car's world are we, now?

I'd somehow managed to claw my way to a sliver of consciousness again. I turned my head just a bit and opened my eyes just a sliver-

Oh.

My head was apparently resting on Se Yue's lap.

I closed my eyes shut immediately. If she noticed, I'd be put back to sleep again for sure.

Se Yue: Hey, Wu Shi.

Se Yue must have not known that I could hear her.

Se Yue: What kind of person do you think I am, I wonder?

Her voice was weaker- more fragile- than I'd ever heard it before.

Se Yue: Can't thank people, can't apologize, can't say please...

Se Yue: Disconnecting the connections between me and others, so that I can view others from a higher vantage point...

Se Yue: But how do I know who I am, once I've severed all those bonds?

...Actually, was this real, or was I dreaming?

The surroundings around me certainly didn't look anything like any of the places I'd been before in any of the previous loops.

Se Yue: I once told you not to attempt to estimate me, as your expectations would surely be disappointed whether they were good or bad ones.

Se Yue: Because...

Se Yue: Even I don't know what kind of person I really am.

Se Yue was speaking words that she absolutely couldn't say had anyone else been present.

Se Yue: Only when I am confident that there are none around me can I reveal my real self.

Se Yue: But a self not perceived by others doesn't really exist, does it?

Se Yue: Even when I talk aloud by myself, I have no way of knowing whether the things that I say represent my true self.

Se Yue stared towards some distant place with loneliness in her expression.

Se Yue: I am the Se princess, the heir of the Se family, the Se Family Itself.

Se Yue: But that's just another way of saying that, if you take the Se Family out of me, then I'll be left with nothing at all.

Se Yue: So, I guess what that really means, is that Se Yue doesn't exist, really.

Se Yue: When I take action, I really can't tell if I'm doing things because Se Yue Wants To Do These Things, or if it's because the Se Princess Is Supposed To Do These Things.

Se Yue: When I talk, is it that Se Yue Wants To Say Something, or is it that the Se Princess Needs To Say These Things?

Se Yue: If I had such a friend, I wouldn't mind it even if he denounced me for being cruel.

Se Yue: Or yelled at me for being inhuman and cold.

Se Yue: I just want to know what kind of person I am.

Se Yue: How would the you who always speaks your mind speak to me, if you could answer me, now?

Se Yue: ...But you can't answer me now, can you.

Se Yue: After all...

Se Yue: You're already dead...

Wu Shi: ...12:05? So it's probably the second day again, which means this is the start of the loop.

Wu Shi: ...This would ordinarily be the point at which the princess turns on the sleepy gas.

Wu Shi: ...Why isn't she here to do that? Where is she?

Still confused, I left the VIP cabin- it was unlocked, apparently-

And stepped into hell.

Ji Luban: AAAAAAHHH! SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE HIM!

Se Family Maid: Take all of the fallen to the infirmary car! Quickly!

(a different) Se Family Maid (distinguished mostly via nametag color): There's not enough stretchers! Hurry! Tell them to bring more!

Countless classmates were slumped over on the ground. It was chaos.

Wu Shi: ....Just which loop IS this?!

It's like a battlefield. No matter where I went, there were collapsed bodies. In the chairs, in the aisles, between the trains, in the dining car, the observation cars, the recreational cars...

The dining car had so many soulless bodies in particular that I found it impossible to walk without stepping on anyone.

...Twenty completed tally marks.

And the last mark there was- it was not just carved in a clearly disheveled way, but there were bloodstains on it.

Yu Guang: Wu Shi!

Ji Hengsheng: Shi-chan!

Yu Guang: We've been looking for you for ages! So this is where you were!

Ji Hengsheng: So many students just collapsed suddenly... Shi-chan, are you okay?

Knowing her, she's probably 'shouldered the burdens' for all of the people she killed to protect Ji Hengsheng and Yu Guang.

...No wonder she's gone missing.

She's probably on the edge of complete emotional collapse.

...I should go see her.

Wu Shi: ...Hey, you two.

Wu Shi: If I put everything I had on the line to try to save just one person, do you think I could do it?

Yu Guang / Ji Hengsheng: Nah.

Wu Shi: What.

Yu Guang / Ji Hengsheng: You're nowhere near competent enough to be that cool.

Yu Guang: But if you said we rather than I...

Ji Hengsheng: Then, yeah, totally, we'd back you up!

Yu Guang: So go for it, man.

Ji Hengsheng: We'll be with you!

Wu Shi: Mmm. Thanks.

It was time to end all this.

Not just for my friends, but also for that foolish young mistress who insisted on doing everything herself.

Wu Shi: I'll be counting on you two to help me, then.

I lifted my head.

Wu Shi: Let this ridiculous series of loops come to an end, here and now.