Only after Inas left the room did Nigel finally move, stiff and hesitant. The way Inas had touched and groped him for no reason left him feeling strange. Nigel rubbed the goosebumps on his arm.
“Wh-Why is he acting like that…?”
It was different from his usual, matter‑of‑fact attitude. Sure, Inas had kissed his cheek out of nowhere before, or hugged him without warning—but he’d never so blatantly revealed desire like that.
No—thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t like it had never happened. In previous loops, Inas had no qualms about touching him all over. But in this loop, incidents like that were rare.
Nigel stared blankly at the closed door and arrived at the most plausible reason.
“…Is it because I became an adult?”
He had just turned twenty not long ago—the legal age to inherit all rights.
The Belfir Kingdom didn’t condemn relationships between adults and those slightly younger, as long as one wasn’t an actual child. But Nigel, originally from modern-day Korea on Earth, found the idea uncomfortable.
Even though he didn’t remember his past or even his own name, he somehow remembered useless morals like that. Still, it wasn’t bad that Inas cared. After all the killing in previous loops, he damn well should be attentive now.
“…The past, huh.”
Nigel frowned deeply. Just as Nigel remembered nothing about his original identity or his family, Inas also remembered very little about their original world. Unlike Nigel, Inas hadn’t lived fully assimilated into this world, so he should’ve remembered. But the only thing he recalled clearly was the game he’d mentally revisited countless times.
If Nigel understood more of that past, persuading Inas to return to their original world might be easier. Still, he should be grateful he could at least read glimpses of this world’s past.
“And the cooldown just ended, too.”
Perfect timing. Nigel opened his item window and pulled out a pitch‑black book.
[SAVE DATA]
A book recording the iterations of this repeating world.
It had vanished for a while, but at some point, it suddenly returned to Nigel’s item window.
Only Nigel could perceive the book’s contents. People with no awareness of the loop—like Schumacher—couldn’t see it, and even Inas was the same.
Whenever Nigel tried to show it to someone…
<system: This item requires authentication. Unauthenticated characters/accounts cannot view this item.>
…that message would pop up, and the other person simply wouldn’t see anything.
He’d been treated like a lunatic more times than he could count for trying to show it to Inas.
He had no idea why only he could see it—but since it appeared again, he was making full use of it.
SAVE DATA
A book that records traces of this world’s repeated timelines.
It can contain records from Slot 0 to Slot 99,999.
After selecting a slot and using this item, you can load part of that slot’s record through a dream.
Cooldown — 30 days
Slot 0 started at 1 in practice, but in any case, records from Slot 1 onward could be accessed in vast numbers.
Ever since acquiring it, he had checked about eighty data slots so far—once every thirty days.
Each record was from the final day of a loop, so as long as the loop hadn’t ended unusually early, he could glimpse a substantial part of that timeline.
It wasn’t incredibly informative most of the time, but simply learning about a past he didn’t know made it worthwhile.
Of course, some entries were so ridiculous they made him question why he even bothered…
While he was wondering which record to access, a small window popped up over the book.
<system: A memory similar to today’s experience exists in slot [10340].>
Nigel reluctantly selected slot [10340]. The record ended on March 27th, Year 284.
Seeing the date, it appeared that loop had been completed normally, meaning he couldlikely view at least a year of memories. Worth checking, but…
“…I’m scared.”
The Inas of the early ten‑thousand loops was overwhelmingly emotional. Not like the chaotic early hundreds when he couldn’t adjust and lashed out—more like he’d grown wild from exhaustion and repetition.
In that stage, Inas constantly “tested” Nigel. Because of that, early ten‑thousand‑series memories were full of misery for Nigel.
Early loops were painful to watch because Inas was bewildered and suffering from the repeated lives. Just because their relationship had soured didn’t mean Nigel hated him.
But the later loops weren’t much better—Inas, burned out from living too long, lost motivation. He’d done almost everything already, hardly moved, and left little information.
After seeing a record from the 90,000s where Inas literally did nothing and lived like a bum, Nigel avoided late loops entirely.
“It’s just a dream, anyway.”
A bad dream might sour his mood for a few days, but that was it.
After a moment of hesitation, Nigel chose slot [10340].
The black book emitted a faint glow. Monochrome static—like an old TV screen—filled his vision, and Nigel slipped into the dream as if fainting.
The dream began at the point where young Nigel first met young Inas—unusual for a ten‑thousand‑series loop.
As always, dream‑Nigel fell for Inas at first sight, and Inas treated him kindly.
And, as in this loop, Inas revealed early on that he could use the Aura Blade and claimed the position of heir.
In most dreams, once Inas revealed he was an Aura Blade user, he tended to take the heir’s seat. If he revealed both magic and Aura Blade capability, he would often jump into a path of usurpation or continental conquest.
Even when he seemed erratic, Inas’s patterns were surprisingly consistent across a hundred thousand loops.
At first, Nigel felt awkward that his crush had become his “older brother.” But Inas was quite devoted, so Nigel managed to accept him as family—while keeping his feelings hidden.
The problem began when Ruder died, leaving only the two of them behind.
Not long after the funeral, Inas came to Nigel’s bedroom as if he’d been waiting for the chance.
He comforted the grieving Nigel with gentle warmth. Nigel clung to him, seeking solace from the only remaining family—even if not by blood.
“Nigel.”
Inas pried the clinging Nigel off with firm hands. He wiped Nigel’s tear‑soaked cheek with his fingertips and smiled tenderly.
“I’m the Duke now. You know that, right?”
“Yeah. Of course you are. Why?”
“Because I’m a Duke with no Montstein blood… the true bloodline is a threat.”
The gentle tone mismatched with the chilling gleam in his eyes, and dream‑Nigel—who had grown up innocent, untrained, naive—cowered in fear.
“Wh‑Why would you say that? I won’t get in your way.”
“I know. The Duke entrusted me with his position so I could protect you.”
“Then why are you saying things like that…?”
“Because I want proof you won’t betray me.”
Inas brushed aside Nigel’s wet bangs with a slow, almost serpentine motion.
“You like me, don’t you, Nigel?”
Dream‑Nigel’s face flushed bright red, humiliated at having his barely hidden feelings exposed. Even watching, Nigel felt embarrassed—of course it was obvious. Inas had always known Nigel liked him.
Dream‑Nigel, ignorant of that fact, pushed Inas away in shame.
“N-No, I don’t…”
“It’s fine, Nigel. I’m not blaming you.”
Inas kissed him. Nigel jumped and shoved him, but Inas pulled him close instead of retreating. Nigel couldn’t push him off for long, eventually surrendering to the embrace.
Their lips met again and again—slowly parting each time.
“B-Brother…”
“If you call me that, I can’t hold back.”
“…Ugh…”
“If you want me to trust you… give yourself to me.”
Inas’s weight pressed Nigel into the bed. Pinned beneath that large body, Nigel flushed and let out a faint moan.
He hesitated for only a moment. Then, with trembling acceptance, Nigel reached out to the longtime object of his affection.
And then—
<system: This game is rated 12+.>
<system: Unsaved data. Playback terminated.>
The dream ended abruptly, as if kicked out.
“…Ah.”
Nigel woke with a small groan—then immediately kicked the blanket away.
“Inas…!”
So that was the “similar memory” the system had mentioned. Because Inas had said something weird before leaving, the dream had pulled up useless data.
And since the system declared it “12+ content,” everything past that point wasn’t recorded. But he didn’t need to see it to guess how the rest went.
Honestly, it was ridiculous—doing all kinds of things far beyond a 12+ rating, yet the record itself was restricted. He had no idea how this world’s system worked, but he definitely didn’t like it.
“All that just for that…”
A book he could only access once every thirty days—wasted. A shame, but there was no way to retrieve the lost opportunity. Half of his attempts ended like this anyway.
If there was a common thread in all the memories, it was that Inas always obsessed over Nigel. At his worst, he’d locked Nigel in a tower so no one else could ever see him. Even in loops where he lived as a lazy bum, he would still spruce himself up whenever it was time for Nigel to visit.
“Ugh… that maniac.”
Nigel squeezed his eyes shut. A real lunatic—and unfortunately, Nigel was the target of that madness.
He hadn’t even seen the entire memory, but the small portion he did see was enough to leave him rattled.
Nigel very slowly lowered his gaze.
“……”
No reason to get up and face him right away…
In this state, Nigel couldn’t bring himself to look at Inas’s face. He felt a stab of guilt—having such a dream when his father was so ill—but even guilt couldn’t fully stop him.
Wrapping himself tightly back under the blanket, Nigel curled up, twisting his body as he silently cursed Inas to hell and back.
