As Hero in The Realest Sense
This chapter is from Hero's POV again
Once we finished exchanging information and formulated our plan, we managed to find a door that connects to real time Parallecia.
...Or to be exact, it's Parallecia 624 years in the past but we apparently can go back to present day Parallecia by spending 624 years in a room that quickens the passage of time first.
The room in question is pure white with partitions every few meters. Each partition has a clock on the wall. It's very weird.
...You can tell at a glance the spacetime works wonky here.
"Don't go deeper in or you'll get to be Urashima Tarou."
"...Ura-sima?"
"Err, you might end up slipping past the correct time and get thrown into the far future instead."
"Yep. The passage of time goes faster the deeper you go in, or more like slower from the perspective of people outside."
"...Was that an idiom from Japan? I can't believe you people can understand so much from so little..."
Wonder if the world here doesn't have a similar fairy tale? Like Rip Van Winkle maybe.
First we spend 600 seconds or 10 minutes in the 'One second here, one year outside the door' spot.
Then around 400 seconds in 'One second here, one week outside' spot to fine tune the time.
"There'll be no going back if you spend even a second deeper inside by mistake so yeah, take it easy, sip some tea or something."
"...This man really went and got us a tea table and cushioned chairs."
"It's so relaxing our fight to death against Demon King just earlier almost feels like a lie..."
...I mean, I'm not complaining. I just don't get how can this man stay composed.
Meanwhile here I am losing my mind over the prospect of having to fight that Demon King.
And without the grace of revival at that.
Heroes' biggest advantage is the ability to be immediately revived endlessly. It enables them to keep going until Demon King is defeated, risk free.
Without this Grace, the world is at risk of ending the moment a hero is beaten. It's an extremely important ability.
And I no longer possess it.
I had been cut off from the Revival Formula engraved on the world itself the moment I was sent from present day Parallecia to another world, or more like the future dead Parallecia.
There is no linking me back to the formula. The goddess might be able to do it, but even if I somehow manage to get in touch with her, there's no guarantee she can reconnect me according to Menu.
<<Activating and maintaining the Revival Formula requires an extreme amount of Resource. We don't have enough energy to consume unless another person from earth gets reincarnated here.>>
What's a 'Resource'?
<<It's a type of energy in broader terms. Or rather, a component that can transform into any form of energy. Earthlings have an unbelievable amount of Resource within their body. Their latent potential to become anything without a Skill is also thanks to that tremendous energy contained in them, you see.>>
...I don't really get it, but in short, there's no hooking me back up unless we sacrifice an earthling.
Maybe we can find someone on a death row.
<<Can you not with those disturbing thoughts!? No, it can't be done! The earth's god would definitely penalize us if we did that!>>
Ah, figured earth has a god too.
So we gotta get the permission from that god?
<<Yep. Once every several hundreds years, a human who dies on earth gets to be reincarnated as a Hero in Parallecia. They act like a porter that brings the Resource within them here. That has been repeating many times for over tens of thousands of years in Parallecia.>>
So, it was my turn this time huh.
Are you sure you're allowed to tell me that.
<<Nope! Goddess would scold me if you found that out before Demon King is defeated... But Neora-san already got an inkling didn't you? That the epic of Hero defeating Demon King is a farce at global scale.>>
...Well yeah.
Also, Demon King and demons are the regulators with the sole purpose of culling humanity, right?
<<Yes. If they don't exist and humanity proliferate unchecked, it's gonna turn out like Neora-san's... 'Oishi Shinobu (Neora-san in previous life)'s' earth, on the verge of dying due to resource running out.>>
This revelation is only gonna put reincarnated people in a bad spot in this world, so I won't publicize it.
Being known as the hero who defeats the Demon King is going to make all kinds of things smoother, especially to those who love isekai genre.
...Just like I was.
Haa... Well, that didn't really come as a shock since I already expected it.
That's for the goddess to deal with, it doesn't change what I gotta do.
Defeat Demon King, save the world.
The only thing that changes is it's no longer a farce now. It's the real deal.
...Frankly missing the revival has got me scared stiff.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Whoops, it's about time. Guys, put this on."
"Eh, what's with that weird mantle. I don't wanna."
"Is there something that necessitates us to do so?"
"It's called 'Veil of Tengu', an equipment that conceals your presence by consuming your mana. Past Kajikawa Hikaru (me) is going to enter this room soon, we gotta stay out of his sight."
Ah, the Kajikawa-san that initially found this room is coming huh... Man it's so convoluted.
We hid in the veil for a while before someone entered the room and left not long after. I couldn't really see it well since it happened so fast but that must have been the past Kajikawa-san.
"Phew, there he went. Well then, I should get going as well. You guys do your best."
"Hey, can't we get back earlier too? Like maybe we can prepare for stuff in secrecy before the final battle..."
"Don't. Menu-san said there's a high risk of causing unpredictable outcomes when two of the same person exist at the same point of time."
"Like say?"
"Like a god much greater than Earth's and Parallecia's gods handing down divine punishment, destroying the entire world."
"...Yup, we're gonna wait for our correct timeline. Yes."
I thought it was something to do with Time Paradox but things are way out of my hands if it relates to the godly side of things.
It's not worth risking to lose everything anyways, we just gotta wait patiently like the good kids we are.
We exited the room back to Floor 21 once it was the time.
We should be able to return by opening the door to real time Parallecia now.
...Starting anew without revival huh.
"Aah, if only I could run away to another world, heck, maybe even back to Japan."
"Neora-san, that's..."
"Hey, are you seriously going to run away with your tail between your legs now after all this time?"
"Oh come on, I'm just grumbling out loud. I get that I can't run nor I plan to. It's just that..."
I've experienced death countless times now.
Both Levia and Olivie have shared the suffering as well.
I won't let there be another time.
I don't care about myself. I'm scared of dying but I already died once on earth. Were I to die again, it just meant my borrowed life ends for real.
But that's not the case with Levia and Olivie.
The only reason I let them join me without much thought was because of Grace of Revival. I invited them in the fight against Demon King because I knew they were never at risk of dying for real.
But not anymore. A death is final now.
As such, I absolutely won't let them die.
"Don't die on me, you two."
"Hah, says the person who's died the most. Worry about yourself first."
"Besides, we're one mind and body once we are fused. We'll be fine as long as Neora-san is alive."
...Fair points.
Now that it's come to this, I'm gonna beat the crap outta Demon King with sheer will and grab our happy ending.
Now then, time to head back. It should be the door next to that wooden door.
Knock knock, someone knocked on the wooden door.
...Eh? Aren't these doors supposed to be safe as long as you don't open them from this side?
Oh crap, some unknown monster from the other side might get in here at this rate!
...Calm down me, I gotta calmly and politely refuses them.
Err, what should I say, what do, what do, telling them to stay away sounds bad, what do I do, ah geez I got no time to overthink!
"It's occupied."
"Ah, excuse me."
Aaah I'm an idiot! What is this, a toilet?! There's tons of way to phrase that better!
And the person who responded right at the other side! What? Did you want to use a toilet booth for real?
...Gotta go back to our world pronto before more weird stuff crops up. That sudden knock was real bad for my poor heart...
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