I can't control anything in a situation like this…
Thud! Crunch… Splat!
The beautiful body and dazzling white mage robes of the young woman collapse to the ground, convulsing as crimson blood gushes from her severed parts…
Her once-gorgeous face, frozen without time to show its final expression, rolls to a stop at the feet of the young man she saved.
"Jena… JENAAAAAAA!!!!"
The young man's eyes widen, nearly losing his mind as he witnesses one of the people he loves most sacrifice her life for him…
No… I can't even imagine the mental anguish or the haunting image seared into his mind.
Jena (me), who always sensed his feelings—that he's a hero, a true champion, trying his hardest to save everyone—
But in a moment like this, faced with the woman he'd give his life to protect, he failed completely…
"Argh… AHHHHH! Jena! JENAAAA!!!!"
Ric screams, teetering on the edge of sanity.
But before he can do anything more for Jena, the monster Blood Rablade—a towering rabbit standing on two legs with razor-sharp sword-blade arms—turns its attention back to him, raising its deadly limb.
"[Magic Wall]!" x2
Clang! Shatter!
"GAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Fena and Tena rush in just in time to save the dazed Ric.
"Ric!!! Use [Link]—hurry!!!"
"Je… Jena… Jena…"
"RIC!!!!"
"Ric, you idiot! Are you gonna let Jena's death be for nothing!?"
"Argh… AHHH! [Link]!"
What the… What kind of madness is this!? What's going on!?
No way, something's gotta be wrong… This can't be right… Or, wait, was it always like this from the start!?
Rumble! Creak!
Buildings reduced to rubble, corpses of people lying in pools of blood everywhere… Roars and screeches echo from dozens of monsters—LV.300-500 beasts that belong in ultra-dangerous forests—rampaging through a high-risk city meant for LV.100-200.
Amid the wreckage, Hero Ric clutches Jena's severed head tightly, her eyes still wide open from her sudden death, cradled in his arms.
His face is twisted in grief, tears streaming endlessly, unable to hold himself together.
In the midst of the chaos, only Ric and the two other women feel like time has frozen around them.
"AHHH! Jena!!! JENAAAAA!!! Wake up! Please, wake up, JENAAAA!!!!"
Ric keeps holding Jena's head, his body smeared with her still-oozing blood.
As Tena embraces Ric from behind to comfort him, Fena stands, glaring at the monsters steadily destroying the city. The panicked crowd has no one left to fight these beasts—or if they could, they're unprepared, caught off guard with no plans.
One monster turns back toward them, forcing Fena to snap Ric out of it.
"Ric!!! RIC!!! We gotta run!!!"
"Like Fena said, crying won't bring Jena back, Ric!! Survive first!!!"
To Fena and Tena, Jena was a precious sister. But in this world's cold logic, the dead don't matter more than the living… Survive now, grieve later…
But not for Ric, the earnest young man from another world, who was reveling in this one, happiest with these three women—
His entire "world."
"Revive her! Please, Tena, revive Jena!!! She's your twin, isn't she!? The power of a white mage… a holy mage… the priest class we all leveled up together!!"
"Ric…"
"Do it, Fena!! A revival skill… resurrection… time rewind, anything!!! Save Jena! She might still be alive—there's still time!"
"Ric… There's no skill like that…"
"There has to be, Fena! This… This is an isekai, isn't it!?"
"What're you talking about? An isekai? A skill like that doesn't exist!!!"
"A world this game-like! Why!? Tena!! Why doesn't this world have game-like powers!? Isn't this a game world!?"
"A game? Ric… What are you even saying…?"
"Argh! AHHHH! JENAAAA!!!!"
Ric sobs, overwhelmed with grief and despair, losing his grip on reality… It's painful and cruel that he has to face this. Fena and Tena can only try to snap him out of it, grounded in this world's logic.
But me… I mean, the real me… I don't have enough power to help Ric overcome this…
Even with all my strength… I'm too scared of the consequences to act, too afraid of the backlash to make Ric's wish come true…
… I'm… Selfish…
End of Chapter 65
I'm… Selfish