Captured by Odelyt Marcelion, he underwent an interrogation that was more like an experiment.

‘Was this the 47th round?’

He closed his eyes and opened them again, puzzling himself once more.

‘Which round is this time?’

Following the interrogation chamber of the Mage Republic where the stage had been earlier, this time the scene was the interrogation chamber of the Holy Order. It seemed the two countries were competing over whose interrogation methods were crueler.

He had been branded a heretic and was being questioned. His body, worn to tatters and no longer usable, was just waiting to be incinerated.

Then, the beautiful black-haired saint, Myriel Filize, appeared once again.

She spoke to him with an expression and voice full of saintly compassion.

“This world needs your death. I’m sorry. And thank you, Sir Tesilid.”

‘...The 88th round.’

His stomach turned and his lips twisted in disgust. As he forced himself to suppress his emotions, death passed him by.

He asked himself again.

‘Which round is this?’

Sssshhhh...

The cold rain hammered his entire body. He was dying on a rain-soaked plain, his chest pierced through.

The one who drove a sword into his heart was a platinum-haired boy prince.

“Do you know, Sir Tesilid? From the very first time I saw you, I utterly despised you.”

“......”

“You, a dog of the Church. Your hypocritical airs have always grated on me.”

“......”

“Since I killed a dog, I’ll make you pay for it. Don’t worry, I’ll handle the diplomatic issues your delegation brought. Just go die.”

Rigares Ezentel Winchester—the kingdom’s third prince.

Come to think of it, his relationship with this guy...

‘...Enough.’

As with Queen Raviosa’s time, he consciously stopped his thoughts. His mental strength had drained so much that this effort was more intense than before.

His consciousness blurred and then slowly returned. He opened his eyes and faced a new round.

A question. Yes, it was time for another question.

He needed to ask it...

“Ah.”

The question came to mind.

The question was...

“Who am I?”

Just as he was about to answer, “Tesilid Arzent,” he flinched. His sense of self and memories as the 100th-round Reid who had experienced everything were fading.

An instinctive aversion snapped his mind sharply awake. Yet his will to resist quickly faded.

‘Maybe... forgetting is fine?’

After all, until this nightmare’s exit was found, wasn’t he stuck living as Tesilid Arzent, that worm?

Assigning that foolish past self the fitting role, he could sink under unconsciousness like a drowned man and rest.

His soul was already worn out and his mind broken. There was nothing to lose by breaking further.

‘Yes, I’ll forget.’

He compromised peacefully and surrendered his consciousness. The nightmare, as if it had been waiting, assimilated his memories and self.

This life dragged along was somewhat special.

The timeline where he had searched for one special person until the very end of life.

It was the 17th round.

✠

“Is this a dream?”

I marveled as I entered Reid’s nightmare.

Where I had fallen was the very center of the Gehennid plaza. The bustling streets and busy people looked unbelievably real.

Compared to Elantia’s library—a place that was still and limited—this extensive and detailed dream seemed to faithfully replicate the world itself.

“It looks so real. Don’t you think so, Agnes?”

There was no reply, and I felt awkward. Because the Nightmare Catcher connects partners’ minds, apparently I was the only one who entered Reid’s dream.

Anyway, this was no time for hesitation.

I needed to find Reid quickly.

If he was dreaming about the past, it was highly likely he was inside the Holy Order’s headquarters due to his status as a paladin.

‘Alright. There’s a spatial teleport stone that leads right to the Holy Order’s front gate. There are multiple ways to enter inside, and if worse comes to worst, I can borrow Cardinal Cattleya’s power, so!’

The plan was perfect. I immediately began moving to meet Reid.

But then.

“Ah, this is maddening! Why does it keep resetting?!”

I was still in the middle of Gehennid’s central plaza. On the way to meet Reid, I kept getting sent back to the starting point repeatedly.

I realized it wasn’t just spatial teleportation, but time was also rewinding after about the third repetition.

I noticed the recurring scene of the fruit vendor and customer’s argument right after entering the dream.

There was only one conclusion this reset phenomenon could mean.

Reid was also regressing within the dream.

Fitting for his nightmare, indeed.

‘But isn’t the interval between regressions too short?’

I reviewed the three resets.

Once immediately after spatial teleportation, once when trying to pass through the Holy Order’s gates, and once more after barely passing inside while searching for Reid.

In less than thirty minutes, three regressions had occurred.

‘I guess I shouldn’t expect normal time flow inside a dream.’

Just then, a divine response came.

[‘The Word of World Building’ nods.]

[‘The Word of World Building’ informs that Reid is currently experiencing a wildly irregular flow of time like a rubber band.]

“An irregular flow of time? What does that mean?”

[‘The Word of World Building’ says Reid is being forced to experience only the unpleasant parts of his past memories at normal speed.]

I guessed it meant the bitter parts of betrayal, loss, and death.

“Sigh, his mental state must be shattered again.”

[‘The Scales Judging Souls’ anxiously urges that you and Reid must meet quickly.]

[‘The Word of World Building’ explains that when you find each other, the flow of time will normalize.]

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ informs that [N O V E L I G H T] rounds 2, 5, and 86 have passed, and round 25 is currently ongoing.]

Thanks to the gods’ generous information, I learned three important facts.

The first: the rounds of Reid’s nightmare occur randomly. The second...

“Is the inspector absent right now?”

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ is surprised by my quick wit.]

[‘The Architect of the Tower of Trials’ says he’s been busy raising his followers lately.]

[‘The Word of World Building’ boasts that it will tell me as much as possible since it will be a while before the inspector returns.]

“As expected, Word! I trust you.”

I sat heavily on a nearby bench, lost in thought.

The third important fact. This was the key.

‘It is nearly impossible for me to find Reid on my own.’

The 86th round where I barely managed to enter the Holy Order’s interior was a complicated round with many twists despite its longevity.

Yet I was not given enough time to find Reid. It was clear time would be insufficient regardless of which round I landed in.

“Ugh, what should I do...”

No matter how much I thought, no sharp solution came to mind. Time continued to flow mercilessly, and resets continued in the meantime.

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ announces round 10 has begun.]

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ announces round 47 has begun.]

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ announces round 88 has begun.]

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ announces round 16 has begun.]

Reid continued to experience death repeatedly.

“Sigh.”

I sighed, but the heaviness in my chest did not ease at all.

Helplessness turned into self-loathing. Without realizing it, the hand that had been on my forehead clenched my hair as if about to tear it out.

[‘The Word of World Building’ hints there is also a way for Reid to find you.]

“Eh?”

I didn’t understand at first.

“Reid wouldn’t know I’m inside his dream, would he?”

He probably believed he was alone in the nightmare. Even if he expected me to come for him, there was still a problem.

“Besides, you said he can’t move freely and is forced to experience the past, right? He’s trapped by the nightmare’s compulsion, so if that’s true, he can’t possibly find me even if he tried...?”

[‘The Word of World Building’ sighs.]

What? Was I overlooking something?

I was confused by the strange sense of discomfort.

[‘The Eye Watching the Chaos of All Things’ announces round 17 has begun.]

The 17th round.

I remembered. The protagonist was brutally killed by the final mastermind in the sculptor’s atelier right after regression—one of the shortest rounds ever. The closing paragraph still remained vivid in my memory.

“He was dragged into pitch darkness thinking the whole world hated him and wished him dead.”

Suddenly, a realization pierced my mind.

‘Wait a minute, the final mastermind is Reid?’

Reid himself was never killed in the 17th round. The final mastermind only forms after turning dark, but at that point he had not yet darkened.

Then what was the 17th round where he was killed in the original story? That round was actually the 100th round Reid crossing into a parallel world. But through a clever narrative trick, it was written from the point of view of the parallel world’s Tesilid, who was the victim, not the killer Reid.

To summarize...

‘The 17th round timeline that Reid actually lived doesn’t exist in the original story. I don’t know his real 17th round.’

Come to think of it, there hadn’t been any reset phenomena for quite some time. That meant the 17th round was not smooth and was full of difficulties.

By now, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“What kind of 17th round did Reid live through?”

[‘The Word of World Building’ advises that this world is heavily influenced by the tutorial you intervened in.]

My tutorial’s influence? There must be a reason they told me that now...

At that moment, a pure white butterfly flew into my sight. My gaze followed its gentle fluttering drawn by the scent of spring flowers.

Butterfly.

“...Effect.”

The moment I unconsciously completed the word.

“...!”

It felt like lightning struck the crown of my head. I sprang up, inhaling deeply to fill my chest.

My heart was pounding wildly.

No way. No way. No way.

“Wo-Word. Reid, no, Tesilid...”

A hot sensation rose up my throat.

“He’s been looking for me...?”

No answer came.

Only a message brushing down my back, like a gentle stroke.

[‘The Word of World Building’ says the 17th round is in progress.]

Still no reset phenomena.

He is... looking for me.