NOVEL NEXT Chapter 71
Meditation was, quite literally, meditation.
It was a time to sit down, calm the mind, and reflect on oneself.
Of course, it wasn’t all that easy. Even though I had the ridiculous ability to reverse time, there were plenty of stress-inducing things in my life.
Having Leo and Claire, along with the protagonist crew, being honest—sure, it wasn’t exactly stressful. My body might be tired, and regardless of what I predicted, those kids were energetic enough to shatter my expectations, but honestly, it was a pleasantly delusional situation.
Wasn’t it? Maybe Leo’s personality was worse than I thought, or perhaps there were other time travelers among the protagonists messing with what I envisioned as the “original” story… Sure, I was an alien presence invading from outside, and another person who loved the original might think I was messing it up, but there’s a huge difference between perceiving it from the perspective of the one messing it up and the perspective of the onlooker.
If I do it, it’s romance; if someone else does, it’s adultery… Well, that might be a little different.
So, the only time I’m affected by the protagonists behaving like protagonists isn’t really even a problem—it’s just how things were supposed to flow.
The reason I found myself stressed was when the story went “too close to the original” and “somehow, it felt like it wasn’t flowing according to the original” at the same time.
First, when the story went suspiciously close to the original.
From what I’ve experienced so far, protagonist Leo seems likely to clear every single sub-quest. He probably moves diligently through the parts I can’t play, ensuring the story flows just like the original.
For someone who enjoys the original, that might seem like a good thing.
But if it proceeds exactly as in the original, there will definitely be characters among the protagonist party who die.
Not just the heroine. Male characters can die too, and girls they like could die as well. No matter how strong the protagonist grows, it’s impossible to be with every character scattered around the vast Empire; in the end, you can’t prevent every moment of danger.
Moreover, there are characters who “definitely die.”
Claire.
Right now, I was occupying Claire’s role, so maybe that death might be mine. Would reversing time really be a way to prevent that death? Is some overwhelming force causing either one or both of us to bite the dust? I’ve reversed time before, but I’ve never died. What happens after you die? Would I be moved to another world and become a different character to live again?
Plus, this world doesn’t just flow in a straightforward original manner. Strangely enough, it mixes game-like elements with realistic ones.
In games, getting shot, stabbed, or even hit by a giant’s hand falling from the sky—if your HP doesn’t drop, you don’t die. Even if HP hits zero and you fall, it doesn’t count as death; in cutscenes, you show up just fine. The only downside is that you can’t use that character in battles anymore.
But there are countless instances of contradictory animations between gameplay and cutscenes. Characters that should have certainly died from attacks still “falling” even when they took shots to the chest or had knives poked into their bellies. You could say it’s all just game mechanics, but in reality, what happens then?
Does that mean throughout that lengthy narrative, the protagonist party must avoid being stabbed or shot, even when facing beasts, and must never enter the range of magic?
…But clearly, one of the most important characters in the story, Mia Crowfield, nearly got hit by a bear’s magic just a moment ago—right after I reversed time.
Was it ultimately because I was there that the outcome diverged? Or was it my responsibility to save everyone and make it that far?
By my standards, during those continuous 300 days of meditation, I constantly pondered these matters.
Being able to meditate without eating, sleeping, or even washing was quite beneficial in many ways.
Especially in organizing my thoughts.
I hadn’t even thought about any of this until now.
*
“……”
Before my eyes lay a battlefield. Just moments ago, it seemed a battle had taken place; the faint smell of gunpowder wafted through the air, and something burning in the no-man’s land between the trenches sent out a stench.
Craters appeared in several spots, as if shells had fallen multiple times, and snow piled high within.
The battlefield itself was overwhelmingly in favor of the Imperial Army. The enemy had dug trenches and fortified the surroundings, but the Imperial Army was surrounding those trenches.
The enemy didn’t have tanks, but the Imperial Army did.
They also had combat planes.
However, transporting such armored equipment across borders was a complicated matter. The Republic of Liclant asked the Empire for support, but there were some reservations about ‘latest equipment’ advancing across the border.
From what I heard, it seemed that this military crossing was actually essentially a political pressure from the Empire, unable to endure the “we couldn’t properly eliminate the warlords at the border, resulting in damage to our side. What should we do?” situation.
“There are many.”
Jennifer said, looking at the fortress through binoculars. It appeared to be a pretty solidly built concrete bunker, but it was quite far away, even appearing small from here.
“But that doesn’t mean they have enough to break through the defensive line.”
Soldiers would die trying to reach there.
“They don’t have machine guns. But they use several muzzles tied together as substitutes for machine guns. Many soldiers died due to that in the early offensive. While the rate of fire isn’t quite the same as a machine gun, the fact that several bullets come flying quickly doesn’t change, right?”
Assault rifles hadn’t been developed yet. Machine guns were also one of the latest weapons, and they were extremely heavy. They were definitely not portable items.
“What do you think? Can we do it?”
“……”
I stayed quiet, prompting Jennifer to look at me intently before asking again.
“Or have you already done it?”
“I’ve succeeded seven times.”
Of course, it meant I had to attempt it numerous times.
This was a whole different dimension from infiltrating the Count’s residence. The journey through the no man’s land to reach that trench was long. The moment I showed myself, bullets rained down.
To not die, I had to go without being detected.
The fact that it was already dark was, in a way, an advantage for me.
Even in a standoff situation, a person’s vigilance doesn’t remain sharp for hours. There are soldiers dozing off in some extended sections of the frontline, or there are soldiers who are getting excited thinking it’s nearly time to finish their shift and go to sleep.
It took an eternity to find a place like that, but I finally managed it.
Once I entered that trench, I had a massive advantage. I could take down one enemy at a time as long as I had bullets. Fortune was on my side, as nobody managed to get a clean shot on me amidst the dimness and chaos.
Dodge, hide, shoot.
There was no suppressor to muffle gunshots. Even if I somehow had a modern suppressor, a shot would still be hard to conceal; the moment you fire, you’re sure to be spotted.
What I could do was simply cause further chaos to the enemy’s situation.
I made every effort to drop grenades into every little room among the trenches, trying to explore as much of the trench as possible.
Equipping my shotgun with Marmaros had definitely proven effective. Just the fierce flames erupting from the barrel was enough to terrify the opponents. Without carrying a massive fuel tank on my back, I was still able to create mayhem in the enemy’s camp.
With a submachine gun, shotgun, and revolver. Once I exhausted the ammunition of all the guns I had, I began picking up and using other weapons to advance. Eventually, I stumbled across a deep stash of ammunition in the base.
Moreover, around that time, the Imperial Army started their attack as well.
Seeing the gunfire and explosions occurring inside the enemy camp, it seemed that the Imperial Army thought it was the perfect moment to attack.
Amidst the simultaneous assaults from both inside and out—
Boom!
A massive sound shook the ground. For a moment, everything went silent.
As I regained my senses, I found myself lying on the ground. I must have fainted for a few seconds. My back and shoulders were in excruciating pain. As quickly as I could, I shook off the daze and stood up to see the enemy soldiers staring blankly.
When I glanced back, I saw a bright flame blazing. Smoke billowed darker than the black sky. There were several more gigantic explosions.
……The ammunition depot has blown up.
One of the grenades I carelessly tossed in must have ignited the ammo stash.
The gunfire coming from outside the trench grew closer and closer.
Waaah—
The cheers of Imperial soldiers sounded almost like a triumphant chorus.
One by one, the mercenaries knelt, hands raised overhead. They seemed to realize it was all over.
Everyone was watching me with fearful eyes.
Silently, I crawled up over the trench to gaze at the place where the original bunker had been.
The bunker had partially collapsed inside due to the explosion. Even if someone were inside that remaining half, they wouldn’t have come out unscathed.
Even if they had survived, they’d likely be captured or killed by the hordes of Imperial soldiers coming in.
That was my first success.