The 163,417,413th Soulslike Hero 70

Chapter 70 – To Die or Not to Die

“This time, wake me up no matter what! Wake me up even if I’m on the verge of losing consciousness! Do you understand?”

“Oh, I got it. Just calm down already.”

I was only able to barely escape after promising the Demon King’s earnest request.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The party’s atmosphere could not even be described as mere nonsense.

Lucy is utterly fed up due to the 33 repeated Infinite Tsukuyomi. I am surprised by the fact that I have been resurrected here 33 times and am sorting out my thoughts. And Seolbaek cannot arbitrarily intervene as she doesn’t understand what’s going on. [TL/N: A skill from Naruto]

Naturally, a heavy silence was hanging over our party.

‘… It doesn’t feel real.’

I died 23 times in the entire Halcenberg.

But I died 10 more times than that? And all 33 times at the same return point?

Previous lives of mine. What on earth are you going through? Just when I thought things were getting better, why has this trial come to me again?

‘… Hmm? Wait a moment.’

After being immersed in self-reproach for a while, I felt something was strange.

I turned my head towards Lucy, who was walking away briskly, and soon opened my mouth.

“Hey. Something feels off.”

“What’s strange? The strange one is you, dying repeatedly like an idiot.”

This girl is going to shoot her mouth off without holding back?

For a moment, I thought about grabbing her cheeks, but if the 34th me is not to be born, I desperately need her help.

I endured it first and brought up my point.

“What were you doing while I died 32 times and came back to life the 33rd time?”

“What was I doing? I was just sleeping soundly! That’s why I still don’t know why you’re dying so much!”

“During those 32 times?”

“Yes! During those 32 times! Got a problem with that?”

“That’s what’s strange.”

“…… What?”

Only then did the Demon King turn her head towards me.

Her eyes were full of bewilderment. Could it be that she didn’t notice even after experiencing it 32 times herself?

I suddenly realized how much this white Demon King’s intelligence had been shattered.

“You would have wanted to know naturally… Why I kept dying like an idiot.”

“Yes! That’s why I was keeping an eye on you! But these damn water demons kept coming and…”!

“You slept soundly every single time I died, 32 times?”

“Yes! 32 times without fail…!”

Lucy’s tone began to fade.

Instead, her bright red pupils slowly expanded.

“Even if it happens once or twice, 32 times is definitely not a coincidence.”

“Oh, oh…!”

Only then did Lucy realize what I was trying to say.

I nodded to confirm her speculation.

“You were deliberately put to sleep. By someone else.”

To be more precise.

By someone who wants Lucy, or me, to die.

* * *

I immediately booked rooms at an inn. Unlike before, I spent some money this time so that the three of us could have separate rooms.

Of course, one room would have been sufficient, but there was a reason for doing this.

“Let’s organize this.”

I was now talking in Lucy’s room without Seolbaek knowing.

She seemed still shocked by the fact that she was being manipulated by someone, but I started blurting out regardless.

“First, the time of my death is tonight. Since you said you usually fall asleep around 12, it would be accurate to say early tomorrow morning. Is this correct?”

“… Y-yes.”

“Good.”

Lucy had already told me about all 33 repetitions of today.

At least her memory was not a lie. She remembered all the experiences of my previous lives, as vividly as if I had experienced them myself.

But there was one problem.

It was difficult to find any consistency in my actions during these 33 repeated todays.

“Sometimes I rushed madly towards the capital. Sometimes looking for residual consciousness. Sometimes I died comfortably while staying at an inn?”

“Yes. And it’s not just in the direction of the capital. It’s like you’ve gone in every possible direction.”

“What kind of crazy talk is that? The direction changes each time? Why?”

“How would I know? You’re not telling me anything, shutting your mouth. It’s something you did, not me!”

“Tsk.”

Lucy glared at me with a resentful expression.

A look that seemed to say, ‘I’m being so cooperative, why are you so uncooperative? Are you a premium member of a suicide café?’

I had nothing to say. I immediately took out the Box of the Dead and started renewing the insurance.

[Report to Lucy first whenever something happens. Report everything, even trivial matters.]

While stuffing the memo in like a nagging senior, I fell into thought.

According to Lucy, the previous me did not recover the residual consciousness. More precisely, it seemed I had no intention of doing so.

That means the me from two lives ago probably did not update the Box of the Dead.

‘Something so sudden that I couldn’t even update the Box of the Dead is happening.’

The biggest reason for my inconsistent actions is this.

I don’t notice my own death. Even if I hear about it from Lucy later, I don’t understand its severity.

No matter how much I am from a previous life, the crisis I convey directly and the crisis conveyed by others have a significant temperature difference.

‘… Once the connection is cut, it keeps getting disconnected helplessly.’

The continued distance of the residual consciousness also played a role in creating this missing link.

The previous me seems to have tried to escape this Kern somehow. I can roughly understand the process of making that judgment. After all, they’re all versions of me.

A sudden death in one night.

residual consciousness discovered from afar.

These two elements would have led to the following deduction by my previous life self.

‘The previous me wanted to escape. Because an irresistible incident was about to occur near Kern.’

I did not know exactly what that was, but one way or another, I needed to get as far away from Kern as possible. So I’m moving then and there.

Whether I discover the residual consciousness and precisely know the cause, or not. Eventually, I will try to escape from this place. The best I can think of right now is just that.

‘So, I must have tried to escape in multiple directions.’

Probably, after hearing the time limit from Lucy, I would have become anxious, and the probability of giving up on recovering the residual consciousness would be high.

So, all I could know at that time was the location where my previous self died.

I would have tried to go far in the opposite direction of that location. As a result, I ended up shooting around here and there in all directions.

‘This won’t do.’

Operation. A thorough operation is necessary to survive.

Why did I come back to life 33 times? Ultimately, it’s because of a lack of information.

How I died. Why I died. First of all, without that information, I don’t know the proper response. So, when the improvised measures don’t work, I’ve been repeating meaningless deaths.

‘This is a death that cannot be escaped through improvised measures.’

Then, all that’s left is a thorough plan. To create a thorough plan, I need even more information.

To gather information, I must fix the location of the residual consciousness.

And to fix the location of the residual consciousness….

“Hey. Lucy.”

“What are you doing? Why are you suddenly getting serious?”

“Remember, I’ll die a few more times from now on.”

Lucy, drinking the fruit juice that came with room service.

The juice in her mouth dripped back into the glass, returning to its original state.

A scene worthy of popcorn.

“What happened?”

“I’ll stick to this inn and investigate. The cause of my death. The cause of that cause. The cause of the cause of that cause. Just remember that.”

“… Ah, no… No. Wait a minute….”

“Tell the me in the next life to secure a room in this inn first. If I don’t listen, tell them to beat me up to make me stay. And make me read the Box of the Dead unconditionally. And also….”

“Waaaaait! Just wait a moment, hero!”

Of course, I trampled on Lucy’s tantrum without hesitation.

Lucy shouting, “How many more times do you want me to experience today!”, I sent her a fresh smile.

“Let’s look at the forest, not the trees.”

Me, throwing around a quote I’ve seen somewhere with a smile, confident that her disgust and humiliation would reach its peak.

As expected, Lucy collapsed onto the bed, seemingly fed up with my shameless attitude.

Clunk. I closed the door, leaving her behind, and immediately returned to my room.

“Then….”

The smile disappeared like it was washed away, and the sweat I was desperately holding back started to seep out.

Pretending is not easy at all. Laughing at myself while recalling the ‘death is nothing’ mode I was just playing.

‘Let’s move immediately.’

Because I want to die one less time. There’s not even a second to waste.

I immediately start moving around the streets of Kern, spinning my head.

Did the previous me move alone? Or did they move together with everyone?

At least considering the tasks I have to do from now on, it’s clear that being alone is much more convenient.

‘I must think.’

Whatever attempts I make and whatever choices I make, all 32 of me were me. But all of me have failed.

So now, I must come up with ideas that the previous me couldn’t.

Beyond one-dimensional thinking. Beyond myself who is beyond one-dimensional thinking, thinking beyond that.

‘Alright. I’ve decided.’

With that, the priority tasks were determined after careful consideration.

I swiftly move my body and slowly melt into the damp alleys of Kern.