The same sky. The same forest. The same irritating voice of Tohime.
"Hey, can you move faster?" she said, exactly like before.
I stared at her for a long time without replying. Every detail was too similar. The rustling leaves, the same bird flying off the branch, even the way Penlope tied her hair... everything was a perfect copy.
"Ugh, do I have to?" I tried repeating my previous words, and like a script, they all responded in the exact same way.
My chest trembled. This wasn't déjà vu. This was time repeating itself.
This time, I changed my decision. " Tohime, let me handle the front monster. You support from behind," I said. What would happen if I changed this repetition?
She frowned but followed my lead.
We fought the Stone Grizzly earlier than before, but the outcome was still the same. The monster shattered, the bracelet glowed, and the scores appeared:
Tohime 95,Penlope 88,John 60,and me 54.
This time my score was even lower. Did the loop already stop?
The teleportation light appeared again, pulling us out of the forest. I looked around, hoping the repetition would not happen again. But it did.
Thump… thump…
I felt the same thing. The dizziness returned.
"Hmph, great. Now we've got a harasser, a crazy girl, and a half-asleep guy. Perfect." The same words, the same sunlight, the same positions. I was looping again.
"Argh!!" I shouted. What was happening? I had changed the event, yet the loop still occurred.
"What's wrong, Leon? Are you sick?" Penlope asked cheerfully. Tohime and John looked confused. Maybe it wasn't about what I changed. Maybe we needed to take a different path. Maybe there was some strange magical phenomenon where the Stone Grizzly appeared.
"Tohime... I know you want to lead this team, but can I decide our route through this forest?"
"Why should you?" Tohime said.
"Please." I spoke seriously. Tohime sighed.
"Fine, but don't lead us to a low-level monster," she said.
As we continued our journey, I asked Penlope to scout ahead. I avoided every path we had taken before, and instead of meeting the Stone Grizzly, we encountered another monster.
The forest grew denser. Sunlight fractured through the canopy, casting moving shadows that looked like watchful eyes.
"Wait…" Penlope stopped walking. "There's something underground."
Before I could ask, the ground in front of us cracked open, and from within emerged a creature that shouldn't exist in an ordinary forest.
A Root Wraith.
Its body resembled the skeleton of an ancient tree, towering tall with a moss-covered face and crimson eyes glowing from the hollows in its bark. Each step it took made the roots around it slither like snakes.
The creature roared, and thick roots lashed out from the soil.
"Tohime, front! Penlope, guard the right side! John, get your ranged magic ready!" I shouted.
Tohime leaped forward, her sword gleaming. "Leave it to me!" Her attack was fast, but the roots were faster, striking back and forcing her to retreat.
"These roots are tough! Like iron!" she yelled.
Penlope cracked her whip.
Swish!
The whip wrapped around one of the roots, and she shouted, "Now, slash it!"
Tohime followed the whip's line and struck down. The root snapped, and thick green sap splattered out.
The Root Wraith roared, its body pulsing like a heartbeat.
"John, fire magic! Now!" I shouted.
John raised his staff, a red sigil flaring in the air. "Blaze Arrow!"
A blazing arrow shot forth, piercing the Root Wraith's chest and igniting its center. Some roots burned away, but the creature still stood, now enraged.
More roots erupted from the earth, whipping toward us from every direction. I drew my dagger, slicing through the ones that came near. "Damn it, it won't stop!"
Penlope swung her whip repeatedly, leaping onto a branch and spinning to dodge. "If we keep defending, we'll get overwhelmed! Leon, got a plan!?"
I scanned the ground. The roots were all connected to one massive point beneath the creature. "Its main root! It's underground!"
"Tohime! Dig and cut from below!"
"Got it!" she shouted, slashing into the soil. Dust flew as she severed a thick root as wide as her arm.
The creature shrieked in agony, its entire body trembling. John fired another spell, this time stronger. "Blaze Burst!"
Flames engulfed the Root Wraith completely. It screamed before collapsing, turning into smoking green ash.
Tohime fell to the ground, panting. "Finally... it's over."
Penlope smiled. "We actually worked well together this time."
John sat down, brushing the dirt from his clothes, and promptly fell asleep again.
I stared at the ashes still smoldering on the ground. "Maybe… the loop won't happen again." That's what I hoped.
Our bracelets vibrated, displaying new scores:
Tohime: 120. Penlope: 110. John: 98. Leon: 76
The teleportation light appeared and carried us back to the wide plains. This time, I prayed the loop wouldn't repeat.
Thump… thump…
The dizziness returned again, and once more, the loop began.