As Emi became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that this world, just like the last, lacked love. Ren's love. His confession.
That's right! she recalled. It was hazy at first, but she remembered who she was. The 'him' the system mentioned had to be Ren. She was beginning to understand things better.
However, this time Emi was a child wearing a nightgown. Her eyes were wet with tears, and she was lined up with other children who had clearly been taken from their homes. As her head drooped, blonde locks fell into her face.
It somewhat remotely occurred to her that she had always wanted blonde hair, but that was when she was alive the first time. Was it the first time?
Right. This was her third life now.
When she was finally taken out with the other children, she stood there rubbing her head. Her scalp ached from being dragged.
Their backdrop was a burning building. It was late at night.
At least here, she understood what was being said, but off the bat, it wasn't looking good for her.
"Will you be smarter than your parents were?" the large man wearing a finely tailored suit asked the children. "All of them ran. I hope that their children want to survive more than they do."
She faintly recognized that this man was handsome. He had long, dark hair and piercing blue eyes. He was unlike anyone she had ever seen before. However, the darkness that emanated from him was enough to cause her to shudder.
There was a sob at Emi's side.
"Shh," she quietly urged.
She put her arm around the little boy who was shorter than her.
She had a really strong feeling that if they could keep themselves together and be more obedient, then they might have a more positive outcome.
At that moment, she realized the boy had elf ears. Her eyebrows lowered, and she lifted her hand to subtly push her long, blonde hair behind her ear, but she was testing if she had elf ears, too. The firm point of her ear poked her palm, and she immediately placed her hand back down.
Her fist was clenched at her side. She wanted to scream for help or ask why this was happening to her, but something told her she needed to obey. This was about survival.
Yet another question arose. She wondered why she cared to survive in a place that was unknown to her.
But all living things had the desire to keep living. She was finding that, even in the uncertain worlds, all she wanted to do was find a way to keep going and get the answers she so desperately sought.
She wanted to see Jiro, Ren, her father…
Instead, she was living in a fantasy world beyond her imagination. The world before was full of aliens. This one seemed more earthlike but… There were elves here.
However, the large man in the well-tailored suit stepped towards the children and they all started to cower, including her. She pulled the smaller boy closer to her and covered him.
The tall man smirked down at them, and she felt defiance but tried to make sure it didn't show in her expression. Even if she wasn't getting out of there alive, she wanted to at least make sure someone else did.
The last two lives she lived, she only seemed to make people sad. This time around, she decided she would make a difference.
"Take these ones away," the large man ordered a few others who were standing closer to vehicles with their back hatches open. "They're at least compliant."
"Yes, señor," one of the helpers responded with a bow.
The large man scoffed as he faced the children once more.
Emi realized this man wasn't an elf. His ears weren't like the ones she felt on herself. Was the issue the fact that they were elves in the first place?
Had she somehow stumbled upon the worst possible timeline where there was racism against elves?
She couldn't imagine what the man wanted with a bunch of kids. Either way, all the kids were pushed into the back of a van. Soon they were brought to an airstrip where a plane waited for them.
Rather than being allowed to sit in seats while they were transported from one place to the next, the children were forced into the luggage storage underneath.
The boy she had protected seemed to cling to her, and when they were finally in the air, completely unsafe because they weren't buckled, she cuddled up to him to share a bit of warmth. It was freezing cold in the plane's storage area.
She was unsure of how many hours had passed, but when they finally landed, all the kids were jostled the second the wheels hit the tarmac of wherever they were. At least they were finally able to thaw themselves out. Tears fell from her eyes as she saw some of the other children who hadn't been able to keep warm.
Everyone's lips were purple, but some were breathing and others weren't. She and the boy had somehow made it.
At least this far.
Her stomach was growling, and if she was a reflection of the little boy who clung to her, her lips were cracked from dehydration.
"It'll be alright," she assured the boy as they walked down the ramp of the plane and to the bunker-like building they were being led to.
The weather was cold, but it was still more bearable than what they faced while in the cargo area of an airplane.
The children who survived the plane ride were then taken into the large bunker, where they were put in a cement room that had what could hardly be described as beds. The mattresses were thin, and if you even tried to sleep on your side, you would hit one of the metal edges.
Most decided to lie down since that was the only comfortable place to be.
Compared to the lives she had just experienced, this was unbearably slow.
There was no sign of sunrise or sunset. Occasionally, someone would bring them a meager ration. They were all forced to use the bathroom in a small metal toilet at the corner of the room.
Emi realized it was a cell. Not even a padded cell, because at least then it would be comfortable.
It was clear they were prisoners, but what were they waiting for?
All she wanted to do was survive and figure out what was happening to her. She wanted to see if she could finally succeed in the mission.
Was she in some strange afterlife? A lot of people believed in reincarnation; maybe she was having flashbacks of the lives she had lived before. Had she read too many comics and played too many videogames that now her flashback before death was full of system messages?
In these places, she was nameless, but in her heart, she was Emi, who longed for her family and friends. The more she thought about it, the more the "him" in the message had to be Ren.
The more she was allowed to sit there and waste away, the more she turned towards her thoughts, remembering the words Ren said as she was dying in his arms. It wasn't clear, but they elicited a feeling from her. A confession?
Was that wishful thinking as she comforted herself? Did he ever confess to her in that life?
She looked around at the tired faces of the other children and took a chance.
"System," she whispered.
[Current Mission: Find Him]
[Affection: 0]
There was nothing else. She couldn't even see a guide or get any answers.
During what felt like at least a week of barely living, the children were occasionally summoned by someone in a lab coat who would lead them away. No one ever returned to the room; their numbers merely reduced until there were five of them left.
It was finally their turn.
A woman with a fake smile and a lab coat came, summoning them to where she directed them.
However, when they followed the woman down the hallway, they could hear screams and cries from various rooms. The little boy from before sought Emi's hand, and she held it.
They passed what looked to be a two-way mirror because Emi could see her reflection, but nothing behind the glass. For some reason, seeing a face that wasn't hers in the mirror made tears fall from her eyes, and she understood even less.
She couldn't push away the feeling that they were being led to their deaths.
Not knowing what else to do, she squeezed the little boy's hand and urged him to look up at her. When she had his green eyes on her, she whispered, "Run."
They both immediately took off, and she practically dragged him down one of the perpendicular hallways.
An alarm began blaring, and her eyes darted around wildly as she looked for a place to hide. Footfalls of adults could be heard closing in on them down one of the other hallways.
There was what seemed to be a custodian closet, and she placed the little boy inside.
"You need to survive, okay?" she said, barely able to speak through the tears that fell down her face and made her throat feel heavy. "Do something with yourself."
He could only silently nod as Emi closed the door and sprinted forward.
Sure enough, men in what looked like military uniforms caught her, and she was dragged back in the direction she had come from. Even though she wasn't resisting, one of them still elbowed her in the gut, and the wind was knocked out of her as she was dragged into a room where a hospital bed sat in the corner.
"No!" Emi cried. "I want to go back to the cell!"
"Don't worry," someone wearing a lab coat said from the corner of the room. "You have about a fifty-fifty percent chance of surviving."
Emi's eyes widened.
"Please, don't do this! I will do whatever you want."
No one listened to her screams or pleading. They even held her arms down as the doctor walked forward and put the needle in her arm.
She began to convulse.
[Mission: Failed]
And that was it.
But consciousness never seemed to truly leave her. It was just like before, just like the two other times she had been through this.
Pure torture.