The audience and judges gradually returned to the venue, and the ending theme song concluded at just the right moment, immediately followed by the unsurprising eighth episode.
The piano music from the end of the seventh episode played again, and Okabe Rintaro's gaze passed over the words on his phone screen, one by one.
'Kyouma'
'I hope you'
'Can become the savior'
Finally, Okabe Rintaro's breathing stopped, and his hand, like a kite with a broken string, lost its strength and fell.
His body spun around sharply, his white coat rustling.
"Heh hahaha, heh heh hahaha..." With his back to the light, he suddenly burst out laughing: "To ask me, to become the savior?"
Taking a deep breath, he turned around again.
"Boring!" With a smile stretched to its limit and incredibly sharp eyes, Okabe Rintaro seemed to be blustering to an unknown recipient: "I am a megalomaniac mad scientist!"
"All I anticipate is destruction and chaos!" As he spoke, his eyes subtly shifted, his gaze fixed on the camera.
"Heh haha, heh hahaha, hahahaha —"
Okabe Rintaro's laughter gradually subsided.
Makise Kurisu watched him expressionlessly, and then, Hashida Itaru's voice suddenly rang out:
"...What's wrong with him, anyway?"
Just then, Hashida Itaru, who seemed to have just returned, was standing at the doorway.
Okabe Rintaro tilted his head, looking directly at Hashida Itaru, and then, suddenly, his lips curved upwards.
Under the dim glow, drops of what might have been sweat or something else fell from his cheek.
He closed his eyes.
"Starting now, we restart Operation Skuld, the goddess who governs the past," he said.
Although it seemed very atmospheric, Hashida Itaru paid no attention to his thoughts, but instead pointed out a more realistic problem:
"Eh, but Mr. Braun is still downstairs."
"It doesn't matter!" he declared loudly.
"Wait, I said I'm against it." Seeing that the atmosphere seemed to be turning into another experiment, Makise Kurisu quickly spoke up to state her position.
Okabe Rintaro said without looking back:
"What are you talking about? Weren't you very cooperative at noon?"
"Noon?" Hashida Itaru caught the key point.
"? !" Okabe Rintaro suddenly realized he had exposed himself.
Makise Kurisu: "So you really..."
"Yes." Seeing that it probably couldn't be hidden, Okabe Rintaro said very straightforwardly: "The experiment has already begun. The D-mail has already changed the past."
Hashida Itaru: "Is that for real..."
Makise Kurisu: "So, the worldline has already changed?"
"I'm afraid so." Okabe Rintaro sighed softly: "That's why you've lost some memories from before the change."
"That is, the thing about the lotto 6?" Hashida Itaru asked.
"Yes."
"..." Makise Kurisu also sighed, putting her hands into her white coat: "So, why are you the only one who retains memories?"
"..." Okabe Rintaro's voice changed slightly: "Titor said."
'I have some kind of power.'
"To confirm this, I must shift the worldline again!" he said in a deep voice.
Makise Kurisu: "Power?"
"The power to retain memories even after crossing worldlines." Okabe Rintaro's voice was hoarse, but he managed to convey his words clearly, and softly uttered a name:
"— Demon Eye - Clairvoyance of Fate (Reading Steiner)."
[Cool!]
[It is cool, but where did this name come from?]
[Uh, he probably made it up himself (cough)]
[So he agonized for so long before, was it intentionally for this scene?]
[As expected of Okabe Rintaro, he easily did what we couldn't]
[Did he waste everyone's time pulling himself back and forth thinking about all these things just to make this one grand entrance?]
[Mr. Hououin is like that]
[I think it's fine, struggling is normal, but now isn't this just how he looks after making up his mind?]
[Actually, I thought the worldline jump would be kept secret for a while, and then they'd drag it out for a bit longer]
[That would make the pace too slow, there really wouldn't be time to tell the story]
[In a blink of an eye, it's already the eighth episode, does anyone know what else has been told?]
[Haha, I don't know, a lot of setup, a lot of interaction, a lot of daily life, but it didn't really sink in]
[It's fine, anyway, I came for Assistant, as long as the black stockings are still there, I can keep watching]
At the moment Okabe Rintaro's words fell, the opening theme song perfectly inserted itself.
Under one minute and thirty seconds of music, the title of the eighth episode slowly floated up.
[Illusory Constant State]
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz —"
Amidst the noisy cicadas, Urushibara Ruka, leaning against a large tree, held the lottery ticket in her hand, looking at the number that was off by one digit, unable to let go for a long time.
"..." He sighed, sadly put down the lottery ticket, and looked up at the sky.
Turning back.
The lights of the Braun Tube Workshop had dimmed, and the Laboratory upstairs flickered with electricity.
With a "Dong —" sound, the Phone Microwave's timer reached its end, and the discharge phenomenon stopped.
"Tonz!" Okabe Rintaro shouted.
Hashida Itaru, while flipping through records, said: "No send record, receive..."
"Oh oh, the D-mail was sent five days ago."
"It worked, huh." Makise Kurisu sighed.
Swallowing, Hashida Itaru couldn't help but turn his head and ask:
"Did the past change?"
"Heh." Okabe Rintaro couldn't help but laugh: "Why do you remember this?"
"Ah..." Both of them only then realized.
The evening sunset spilled onto the street, and the three people in the Laboratory were still gathered in front of the Phone Microwave.
"Send a D-mail to Tonz five days ago, telling him the card distribution for the Felis Cup, he should have won," Okabe Rintaro thought to himself, staring at the Phone Microwave.
Five days ago, that is, during the previous Felis Cup, when he was looking for the IBN5100.
Although it was Tonz, knowing the opponent's card distribution in advance was like enabling x-ray cheating, there was no reason why the future wouldn't change because of it.
"Ah, Mayushii, there's something I want to ask." Hashida Itaru dialed Mayuri's number: "Last time at the Felis Cup, I..."
"Eh? Lost? Instant kill?"
"Ah... I see, thank you, goodbye." Hashida Itaru's tone became incredibly subtle.
Then, as if losing all strength, he slumped into his chair.
[Rukako still hasn't let it go, huh]
[So they waited until Mr. Braun left before starting the experiment?]
[The biggest enemy in Time Machine development — Mr. Braun]
[So, sending a text message doesn't necessarily mean the worldline can be changed]
[It probably depends on what content was sent, right?]
[Does that mean, even with a little cheat, Tonz still lost?]
[So why do they still remember this?]
[Because the worldline hasn't changed]