Nini (After) - You Are the Sole Survivor of Hope
When I regain consciousness, I[1] find myself sitting in a train car.
I remember one thing about this train: It's not the electricity-powered type.
Suddenly, the memory of my arrival in town resurfaces in my mind. Why now? Well, I do have a guess -- back then, I was quite on edge. The same emotional state that I'm in right now.
I'm in another town. One that looks just like Ashihara Nakatsu. A location so familiar, but at the same time, kind of not.
The colors that form this town are constantly shifting. I believe there's a pattern to this, but there's no time to investigate it now.
As I run through the streets, I swing my spear to cut down Kegai, causing them to lose their physical forms and disappear as if melting into the ground.
No, I'm not killing them. After all, the Kegai are already dead. To cut them down is not to kill, but to banish.
"Dad, think we're about done here yet?" Hori[2] asks while we run, still calling me Dad for some reason.
"Sure hope so."
"Right," he groans, panting heavily. "I should have worked out more..."
I know both of us want to take a break, but there's no way we can do that now. More Kegai are coming.
I look away from Hori and check on our other companion -- Saru[3]. He's swinging an oversized wooden mallet with all his might, keeping the Kegai away from him. Where did he even get that thing from, anyway?
The three of us were at the shrine. I just had a feeling that "this is the way" and stepped forward, and then we were here. I don't even know what I was thinking then -- and why I would do that.
What's even more mysterious is the fact that we can fight. It just doesn't make sense. The whole world's military forces have struggled against the Kegai for so long, but we are more capable of dealing with them.
It feels like my body is moving on its own -- like my body, and not my brain, knows what should be done.
That's not the case only for me, but for Hori and Saru as well.
I want some time to think carefully about what is going on. Not having access to that time is quite stressful.
While I think about that, I realize that we are now in a familiar place. The halfway point of my excruciatingly long walk from the house to the school... It's the shopping street. Ah, that's right. This is the place. Wait... what'd I mean, the place? What is this thing I'm feeling in my mind? It's not because I recognize this location -- the sensation is different.
Seeing a gigantic shadow loom over the asphalt, I slowly raise my line of sight.
It's a walking giant tree -- a monster! Is this a Kegai, too? Really? It doesn't quite look like a dead plant to me.
"YOU AGAIN!"
"What'd you mean, again?" Saru asks. "I've never seen you before!"
He's focusing on the wrong point here.
"Shouldn't we be more concerned that the Kegai just talked?"
"What're you saying? We've heard some of them talk on the way here."
Did we? I was so focused on attacking everything that I didn't notice. Wait, no, I can worry about that later. The tree monster is swinging its branch-arm at me -- an arm thicker than my body, almost at the speed of sound. It moves as if it has muscles.
I can't dodge this. If I step back, the tip of the branch -- the part that's swinging the fastest -- would hit me.
So I deliberately step forward. Even if it's the same powerful swing, it should hurt less if I'm closer to the base of it.
I see Saru is doing the same thing. Did he figure that out on his own? He hasn't been doing well in physics... Well, can't linger on that question -- here comes the blow. My spear looks like it'll break if I guard with it, so I'm taking it head-on. Never thought I'd have the courage to do this.
And so I get hit, and subsequently crack a dry grin. It actually doesn't feel all that painful as I get lifted up into the air. The part where I fall and crash onto the street, though... now that hurts.
Then I suddenly remember: last time, this attack killed me.
Yeah, I remember dying. And as it turns out, I have seen this monster before.
While bewildered by my own memory, I dodge the next attack... and succeed at doing so. Okay. I got this. I'm more physically capable than before.
As I roll to escape the monster's grasp, I look at my companions. Saru seems to have sustained less damage than I did. He's standing up, screaming and swinging his mallet.
Hori... he's supposed to be much smarter than Saru, but he's stepping back in an attempt to avoid an incoming attack.
The impact snaps his spine and blows him away. His body crashes into the meat shop's signboard and is stuck there. There's no way he survived that.
He's dead. Hori is dead.
I rush at the monster, roaring so loudly that even I myself can't believe it, and stab it with my spear. Doesn't look like I'm dealing any damage. Its appearance gives the optical illusion of it having muscles, but its physical form turns out to actually be like a real tree.
"How the hell is this thing so tough!?" Saru shouts, apparently thinking the same thing I do.
What do we do? What should we do? Did I mess something up? I feel stronger than I was last time. Is that still not enough?
Should I have worked out more as well, like Hori said? Would we have been more in sync if I had built a better relationship with everyone? Or, if I had gotten along with the girls, maybe they would have agreed to follow me into this fight.
No! I was distracted -- now Saru's stuck pushing back against the giant tree monster head-on, gritting his teeth. He's not going to make it! ...Wait, no, is this my chance to strike? I see an opening!
Stabbing it with my spear, I still see no damage being dealt... but this is the only thing I can do. Even if my hands go numb, even if my skin peels and bleeds, I have no choice but to keep attacking.
And then... Saru is crushed.
It happened so fast that I didn't even get to hear his last words. Now I'm alone. The monster is turning toward me.
I mean, what the hell!? We came all the way here just to be massacred!
What did I do wrong?
Did I not collect enough blessings or whatever from that flying squirrel[4]? Should I have attended my classes more regularly? Should I have drawn a fortune at the shrine every day?
The monster swings its arm. My feet won't do what I want them to. It's about to hit my head. No... this is it. I'm done.
The strike blows me away. As my consciousness fades, all I can do is wonder what I should have done.
／＊／
When I realize that I'm dead, I also notice something resembling beds of light gathering around my body. I think I'm hearing a voice, too...
It's strange. Is this supposed to happen when I'm dead?
More importantly, what am I now? A ghost? That sounds too ridiculous to believe...
I narrow my eyes as I instinctively look up. The beads of light are... speaking.
No.
What...?
You must not give up. You are the sole survivor of Hope.
It's not like I want to give up, you know. But I'm dead.
The beads of light form a shape similar to the number 8, then they start swirling around.
Then, suddenly, time starts to... reverse.
...To before I was killed, before Saru was killed, before Hori was killed, then night turns to midday, which then turns to night again...
As everything plays backwards, I shout to the 8-shaped swirl of light,
"It won't work! I've tried again and again, but I never remembered any of it! I'll keep dying at the same place!"
Suddenly, something enters me. Fuses with me.
A scene plays in my mind. Musasa is sitting on top of my head, speaking to me. I don't remember this ever happening...
No name entry? Whatever does that even mean?
When I regain consciousness, I find myself sitting in a train car... again.
I remember one thing about this train: It's not the electricity-powered type.
I close my eyes and think to myself:
"This time, I'll succeed."
To be continued in LOOP8: Summer of Gods
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Chapter 27 Character Profiles
↩[1] Nini (Novus Nemo/Taichiro Oyama)
The game's protagonist.
Born on the Hope International Space Station as Novus Nemo, and raised outside of the Japanese linguistic sphere despite his ancestry.
Due to the unique location of his birth, some people treat him as effectively an alien.
His nickname, "Nini," is short for "nobody" or "new" in the International Space Station's standard language.
Being Teruko's grandson, he goes by Taichiro Oyama, his Japanese name, when he comes down to Earth. No records of his father and grandfather exist in Japan.
First-person pronoun used: Boku
↩[2] Hori (Sachi Hori)
While on a skiing trip, he suffered an accident and almost died. Had to spend a year being hospitalized before returning to school.
As such, he is a first-year student at Ashihara Nakatsu High School despite being older than Nini and his other classmates.
Surfs as a hobby, and is good enough to participate in national competitions.
First-person pronoun used: Ore
↩[3] Saru (Kunihiko Sawada)
Member of the baseball club. Quite good at looking after others.
When he was in elementary school, he was called "Saru" or "Saruta" because of his tree-climbing skills. Sometimes he is still called by those nicknames.
He is not keen on studying because he wants to find a job to ease the burdens of his widowed mother.
First-person pronoun used: Ore
↩[4] Musasa
A flying squirrel god of the Momonga Clan. Lowest in rank in the hierarchy of gods.
Acts as a divine messenger for other gods during events of the game, delivering the gods' blessings to the protagonist whenever conditions are fulfilled.
Spends time gliding around in the mountains when not on the job.
Does not exhibit any godly qualities, as far as everyone has seen.
First-person pronoun used: Watashi
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