Chapter 51: Chapter 49: What if I told you?/ Monster

"Elise, what if I told you I'm not actually... from here?"

"N/N?"

I clenched my fist, my other hand gripping the fork tightly as I hesitated whether or not to tell her everything.

"Elise, I'm not who you think I am,"

She gazed at me with a look of concern and confusion, her brows furrowing slightly.

"What are you talking about, N/N?"

"Everything might sound strange right now... but I don't actually belong here,"

Here. The world of a novel, one that doesn't actually exist...

Now I'm starting to doubt, is it real? The characters here are getting more life-like... with Alisa and Prince Leonas too, surely things aren't as simple now.

"Elise, what if I told you I'm from somewhere else? Somewhere far, far away..."

What if I told you... everything here, was just a story I picked up randomly?

Would things still be the same?

I find myself liking you even more, but if you ever knew... would you still stay with me?

"N/N, you seem to have a lot on your mind right now... I understand that there are some things bothering you, even I have found it odd. I just hope you can explain everything to me,"

Take a deep breath.

"Elise, we're in a story,"

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"Prince Leonas,"

"Alisa Lenal,"

"How is the investigation going?"

Standing up from my desk, my hands traced the edges of the book in my hands.

"We've uncovered quite a lot,"

"The characters that didn't exist in our previous lives... those are the users in our current life,"

With those users... avoiding the doom at the end may be possible. Still, all I remember from back then...

Flames.

Blood.

Screams.

Imagining that scene again gives me a splitting headache. Is it even possible to defeat that thing?

"Prince Leonas, you're thinking about it again,"

"It's hard to forget it... such a scene,"

I take a deep breath, walking over to the couch opposite of Alisa, and taking a seat.

The snacks and tea prepared by the servants were already cold.

I picked up the expensive teacup, inside filled with exquisite tea leaves from our neighbouring kingdom.

"What do you think? Can the saviour... really stop the end from happening?"

"If it's N/N, of course she can..."

"But she doesn't seem to know about it, does she?"

"..."

I took a long sip from the cup.

"Let's just hope things don't end like the last lifetime with lived,"

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"N/N...I believe you, but please explain further,"

"The truth is... I'm from another world. This world, it's all happened in a story I read before coming here,"

Alisa.

Leonas.

Elise.

Even Batman, Shiro and Kuro... they might not be real.

"I see. It's no wonder I felt something off,"

"Huh?"

"N/N, to tell you the truth... I've been feeling a sense of deja vu... like everything had already happened before,"

"Like everything's... in a loop?"

"That's right,"

I hadn't felt it myself, but it's true that both Alisa and Prince Leonas remember their previous lives. Is it possible that this isn't just the second time?

"N/N, whenever I think about it, my memories become hazy. The rules of the world must be preventing me from ever discovering the truth... but you seem to be different,"

"You noticed...?"

"N/N, you should know I pay extra attention to you. A few of your habits don't this world... habits are learnt from young, so it would be weird for you to develop habits that are considered unnatural here,"

I see... as expected, Elise is something else!

[Host, emergency!]

Hm? What is it?

[I just received message that the doom that caused this world's downfall is arriving sooner than expected!]

What? Haven't I already...

[New mission assigned: Save the world. Rewards: Case file, the truth.]

The truth??

"Hey, N/N, are you alright?"

"Huh...? Yeah, I'm fine... I just got assigned a mission,"

"I assume it has something to do with that 'system' of yours? Well, what is it?"

"Saving the world,"

_____________________________________

[Place: Unknown]

"Hey, what the heck is that?!"

A dark, shadow silhouette emerges from behind a mountain. Its large claws landed on the ground, causing no the soil and all life affected to wither immediately.

Rising from its slumber, 'Doom' begins making its way through the smaller villages, crushing everyone in its path, and setting the land ablaze.

"Quick, run!"

"I̶̻̥͔͕̜̘̊͒͂͋̾̂'̶̦̼̐̾m̴̘͈̜̣̗̦̣͒́̇̉...̶̞̦̈́̎́̑̎̒͜͠͠ ̴͉̪̀̂͐̈͆͋͋ḧ̵̛̰̳̺͎̪́u̴̹̅̎͜n̶̰̓̚͠g̵͍͎̜̈́̂̊̈́͋͗̀̐r̵̢̛̪̯̤̰̙̝̣̍̐̓̒̉͗̽̓͜ỵ̶̢̲͂̆̓̃̈̄͠...̵̨̢̛̙̦̇̎͂ ̶̖͐̀͠n̴̨̗̳̩̟̪̐̽̏͐̈́͝e̷̮͕̔ȇ̶͕͑͛̽̽͠͝d̶̻̻̭͍͇̰͊͂͛̉̔͝,̵̢͙̭̱͍́͂̿̉̽͛̏͘͜͠ ̷͙̝̲̣̿̀́m̸̨̪̲̬͓̠̾̿̽͐̈́̽͝͠o̴̡̬̣̫̼̤̺͝r̸̮̦͇̉̉̏͒̔͠ę̸̺͉͇͉̂,̸̨̛̖̞̫̰̤̜̦ ̴̛̼̠͇̳̠̱͛̏͝b̶̞̱̳͕̥͔͆͗̾͠͝ĺ̸̮̀͝o̵̤̩̳̳̤͉͇̯̿̈́̂̆̿̓͆̎͜od"

It feeds on the misery of the people, growing stronger and larger each time. This, is doom.

...

"Prince Leonas, there's a huge problem!"

"What is it?"

The Prince raises his head, Alisa following after.

"There's a huge shadow figure spotted near the kingdom!"

"What..?! How could it be? It shouldn't be here for a few more years..."

Getting up from his seat, he quickly ran towards the balcony with full view of the kingdom below.

Beyond the castle walls, a mountain-sized shadow makes its way steadily towards the kingdom.

"Impossible..."

He takes a step back, and another one. Memories flushed into his mind, a surge of emotion running through him all at once.

The screams, tears and blood of the people slaughtered by this monster, he could feel it all at this moment.

"Alisa, get B/N and Y/N immediately!"

"Leonas..."

"Prepare for war,"

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"We have to save the world,"

"THUMP!"

The ground shook, the buildings beginning to collapse. With each steady thump, the tremors of the ground grew more noticeable.

"There's a monster! Quick, evacuate!"

"Hurry, take the civilians and bring them to the safe shelter! Miss L/N, please come with us!"

Being led away by a group of knights, Elise and I were brought to the palace.

"Y/N, you're here!"

"B/N?"

By the balcony, observing the situation, Prince Leonas stood, a rare nervous expression on his face.

"Report the situation,"

He commands, the knight saluting and beginning his report.

"There's beast is nearing the walls of the kingdom, it's expected to arrive in 20 minutes! We've evacuated half the civilians, and are still continuing our efforts,"

"Leo, what is going on?"

"It's here..."

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Chapter 49 is finally here! How do you think they'll defeat the 'doom' that ended the previous worlds? >:3

My schedule has been freeing up lately, and I've even had time to try out a few new games! Just saying, Infinity Nikki isn't too bad at all!

Happy reading from your author,

Baldie