Chapter 79 Click
How long has it been since Higashimura left?
The only thing his body can do in the tank is think.
It looks like he's going to go insane right away, but apparently the elixir that cures status ailments can even heal him.
For Nick at the moment, it's the worst "miracle".
Clear consciousness, but no bodily sensation.
Yet, the habits ingrained in the body naturally bring back the feeling of moving hands and feet.
Still, he can't move at all.
It's maddening, but that's not allowed either.
He was aware of it, he thought he was—but skills, items from another world, they go too far beyond the laws of this world.
Of course, until now, he was in a position to enjoy it in a good way.
But now, by that man, the terror of being placed outside of reason... he is being forced to experience it involuntarily, in the present tense.
The fear of being in this state and not being able to die.
Because he can only think, he is forced to think and cannot leave.
From continuing to think about how to break this situation.
What is needed is a password, he said.
Perhaps it was meant to be a message to Higashimura, the person at the end of the loop.
His words contained an important fact that he probably wouldn't pay attention to if Nick didn't do it right.
No, even such small things remind him of the current situation.
He said, "When the password is complete."
Yes, when it is complete.
In other words, the password may not be just one.
If that's the case, it's terrifying....
(I might encounter this situation multiple times!)
This is not a joke.
It hasn't even been an hour, but he's already feeling unbearable pain.
He has to do something.
But the first round has already begun.
For now, until Higashimura gives the password, or until he doesn't want to think about it at all──he will stay like this for five years.
If there are many passwords, there must be some kind of pattern.
If he can figure out that pattern, he can escape later.
As a backup plan, it's about doing something in the short time from [Return by Death] until being called here.
He remembers the situation at that time.
Surely, there was some time to think about Nada Kyouko after [recording] for a while.
It's less than 30 seconds.
If he eliminates as much wishful thinking as possible, it's probably around 20 seconds or so.
That person reads his habits and predicts the timing quite accurately, but even with 20 seconds, he should be able to do something.
──Wait, why can he predict it so accurately?
Regarding [Return by Death], he hasn't even told his SACA colleagues; After all, it's his secret weapon.
Also, the fact that Higashimura read [the records] means he understood the skill details.
Moreover, until the recording time. What makes this possible is──. ('Memory'...!? If he has a skill accessing memories, it can explain how the routine was exposed!)
The only thing [Return by Death] can't make 'not exist' is Nick's memories. Inheriting memories even in loops is the skill essence.
If that's the case, being able to read memories is a real archenemy. What the archenemy does to the prey is overwhelming exploitation. From a being doing as it pleased, it became a being unilaterally exploited.
Though he might tremble at that, his trembling body and supporting arms have already been exploited.
How much time passed? Before Nick, who contemplated repeatedly, Higashimura returned.
The man took out a piece of paper from his chest and stuck it to the glass tank.
The paper had 'S.75.16.K.38.P' written on it.
Then, to make sure Nick could hear him, he grabbed Nick's ear and pulled it up.
"Sorry for making you wait! Well, this time was quick, right? Only three days!"
Higashimura shared a surprising fact.
It felt like a very long time, but it had only been three days.
"Well, I'll give you one more day, so please remember the password, okay? We'll test it in one day. If you forget, it'll be another day. To remember, think of 'S, Seventy-five, Sixteen, K, Thirty-eight, P.' Don't make mistakes, okay?"
With just that, Higashimura let go of Nick's ear and disappeared again.
Nick continued to look at the paper in front of him.
The password appeared to be some sort of code.
Probably not too difficult, even for a beginner.
But still, there were too few clues.
For now, Nick kept thinking about the password in his mind.
'S.75.16.K.38.P''S.75.16.K.38.P''S.75.16.K.38.P''S.75.16.K.38.P''S.75.16.K.38.P'
* * *
After that, Higashimura appeared again.
He opened a box and took out Nick's body part that was inside.
Then, he lifted Nick's head from a tank of water and quickly connected it to the body.
After not being able to breathe for several days, Nick took a deep breath and looked at Higashimura.
"Okay, this is a test. Say the password."
"'S.75.16.K.38.P'..."
Despite the pain in his new limbs, Nick managed to say the words, and Higashimura smiled with satisfaction.
"Great, you passed! When you go through the loop again, tell 'me' about it, okay? And make sure the password is correct because the 'me' in the loop will check it. There's no point in finding a random pattern and saying something meaningless, okay?"
It's not good.
Even if he find a pattern, it's not helpful to think about the meaning of the password without knowing what information Higashimura wants.
"Well, I will press the 'reset' button then!"
After saying that, Higashimura released Nick...
"Click!"
Thump!
In this way, he completely crushed Nick's head.
Afterword:
About the password
It contains a lot of random elements, so it's not the type of code that you can think about and come up with an answer.
So there is no need to speculate, okay.
In the main story, there is no detailed explanation or anything about what the password is referring to (it would ruin the flow).
We have a new work with genre second life. The story is about a former s*x worker who didn't want to be a loner again, and fulfilling his second life. It has a life conflict and the protagonist will solve it one by one. You can find out in => [Link]
We also have a new work with genre returned from isekai. The story is punishing someone who troll in SNS, someone who cheat and many more. You can find out in => [Link]
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