5
“Buddy, you gotta work on those wrinkles.”
“…”
Flop was using his fingers to massage and loosen the skin around his brow, performing his usual exaggerated demonstration.
Watching him, Subaru clutched his own shoulders, his mind racing as he tried to process what had happened. He thought of his formerly “ventilated” mouth and the pain that had vanished.
—I died again.
“And…this time…it was a dragon carriage…?”
The memory hit like a hammer. Subaru had been broken by the carriage’s impact, his body sent tumbling, unable to move. Pain enveloped him, overwhelming every fiber of his being until the flame of his life weakened and faded.
“…”
His shoulders trembled, and his knees quaked.
Even though the pain and injuries were gone, his soul still bore the scars. The terror of his violent death clung to him, eating away at his resolve.
Subaru could no longer mask his fear of the unknown menace stalking him.
The first time, it had been an instantaneous death. The second, his throat had been slit. The third, he had been run down by a carriage. None of these could be coincidences. Someone or something was deliberately and mercilessly trying to kill Subaru Natsuki.
The most horrifying part was that despite this being his fourth cycle, he still knew nothing about his killer besides the fact that they were out there somewhere.
“In which case, get rid of those wrinkles… What is it, buddy? You’re deathly pale,” Flop said, looking genuinely concerned.
“Flop…”
Once again, Flop’s concern was plain to see. Subaru’s disheveled appearance and his lingering reaction to the pandemonium from earlier clearly worried him.
Subaru vividly recalled the moment of impact with the carriage. Flop had reached out to help him, trying to pull him to safety. But he hadn’t made it in time. Subaru had died from the impact, and Flop had been standing right next to him.
He must have been caught up in it, too.
“And not just that, either…,” Subaru whispered to himself.
There was no guarantee the killer would stop with just Subaru. It was entirely possible that Flop had been caught in the collateral damage of the previous deaths—or, worse, deliberately targeted as well.
Grinding his teeth, Subaru forced himself to suppress his rising panic.
“Gh! Flop!”
“Wh-what?!”
Subaru turned toward Flop, biting down hard to keep his fear in check. Without hesitation, he grabbed Flop’s hand, startling the man.
But Subaru didn’t have the luxury of explaining everything. The countdown to death had already begun.
Forward is hell. Back is hell. Dodging is hell.
If every option led to disaster, Subaru had to create a new path to survival—not just for himself, but for Rem and for Flop, the kindhearted man who had helped him.
“Let’s run, Flop.”
“What?! Why?!”
“There’s only so many hours in a day! We can’t waste a second!” Subaru said, his voice sharp and urgent.
Stopping to explain would be a losing move. Subaru relied on momentum to overpower Flop’s resistance, forcing him to follow.
“That’s true!” Flop nodded, caught up in the moment. “Life is short! And for me and my sister’s goal, it’s important not to waste time!”
“Let’s run! We’ll run straight into the bar! We’ll worry about the details later!” Subaru shouted.
“G-got it! I got it! But you don’t have to pull me—you’re messing up my hair!” Flop yelled, stumbling as Subaru dragged him along by the arm.
Subaru charged down the road he’d taken before, sprinting toward the alley and the bar where they had originally planned to recruit protection.
But this time, his goal wasn’t just hiring guards for the road ahead. He needed immediate support—someone or something that could help him break free of this unending cycle of deaths.
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