CHAPTER 2
SUBARU NATSUKI
1
His black eyes widened in disbelief as he felt his throat tighten.
He had discovered a deadly poison clearly meant for him that was harmless to everyone else.
Natsuki Subaru’s book of the dead. This was a serious discovery.
“Why…?”
Why was there a book of the dead that should not exist?
The Taygeta archive in the Pleiades Watchtower was supposed to hold the books of people who were already dead. It made no sense to find the book of someone who was still alive.
And he couldn’t pretend it belonged to someone who miraculously had the same name.
“It’s written in Japanese…”
The title engraved on the black cover was unmistakably . As far as he had seen, the writing in this world was like nothing he knew. If Emilia or the others saw this book, it would look like meaningless characters to them.
This book was a poison for Subaru and Subaru alone, but the opposite was also true. It contained a possibility only he could see.
But a possibility for what, and provided by whom?
The reason he found this book was because of Cor Leonis’s faint reaction and because he had searched based on that. Without it, he would never have noticed.
It was a chance thing that was virtually impossible, barring the whims of a god.
“And if not a god, then…”
Someone was behind this. Subaru was sure of that.
The question was whether it was real. And if it was real, what would be recorded? Whose life would he experience?
“Was Natsuki Subaru considered dead the moment he lost his memories…? Does that make it a recording of all the times I died before…?”
According to what Louis said, the corridors of memory extracted recollections and experiences from the souls of the dead before recycling the souls. If those memories were what filled the books of the dead, then it wasn’t hard to imagine how Subaru’s deaths might be reflected in some form or another.
But in that case, returning by death is…
“What am I, stupid? Of course I’m stupid. And a coward…”
Subaru berated himself as he felt his thoughts scramble in a completely unexpected direction.
If he was being honest with himself, Subaru knew he was scared. What would happen if he read the book? He was terrified of that strange and unknown possibility. He was trying to put off testing his baseless hypothesis. To put off turning the pages.
“ ”
It wasn’t like he particularly believed the five-minute hypothesis, but discovering that a book of the dead existed was almost a relief. It was essentially proof that he had not, in fact, just popped into existence.
But at the same time, it also confirmed that another Natsuki Subaru really had lived in this world. And that he was wiping away the traces of that Subaru, overwriting him.
“…Where does this Natsuki Subaru’s book even start, and where does it end?”
With Meili, it had begun with her earliest moments, when she first gained a mind and ■■■■■ and started forming proper memories. From there, it continued through her life up to her death.
But how would it go with Subaru?
It would probably start similarly, with the seeds of consciousness, like with Meili. But where would it end? The current Natsuki Subaru who had lost his memories was obviously not dead. So if the Subaru inside the book was considered dead, then the natural conclusion was that the contents would show everything right up until the moment he lost his memories.
The other possibility was that it would include the moments after he woke up in this tower, missing his memories. In that case, which death would be the endpoint?
Or was it blank, like Reid’s, after his book was used to re-create him as an examiner for the tower?
What in the world would the book show…?
“So, what do you want to do, chicken?”
Do you want to see it or don’t you?
Dismayed by the fact that he couldn’t easily answer his own question, Subaru denounced his weak ■■■■■ and sighed. After coming this far, there was no way he could bear not to look. Even if it had occurred to him, he couldn’t imagine actually making that choice.
“ ”
So, so, so, so, so…
Then, then, then, then, then…
“Ngh…”
He took a deep breath, then opened the book.
The path of that began who knows where and ended somewhere—
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