"…Am I really back here?"
I opened my eyes to find myself in the room where the Armored Bear Bugbears appeared.
It seemed like time had rolled back to before I defeated the Armored Bear Bugbears.
I was certain that I would meet the puppeteer after this.
In this level, there were three teleportation circles.
The first teleportation circle led to the sealed Agetha, the second to the vampire Judite, and the third to the puppeteer.
At this moment, I had a stronger desire to turn the puppeteer into a human rather than seeking revenge.
I was willing to repeat time as many times as needed to make the puppeteer into a proper human.
With that determination, I stepped into the third teleportation circle.
"I'm sure the puppeteer should be ahead."
I said this and proceeded down a straight path.
"Grrrrrrrrr!"
I heard a low, a fierce growl.
"Huh…?"
Before me was a creature resembling a black shadow.
It was massive, filling the entire corridor, with a colossal jaw that covered its entire body. The jaw was lined with strong, sharp teeth, and numerous black tentacles sprouted from various parts of its body.
These characteristics somewhat resembled the "Ruthless Predator" skill of the puppeteer.
If you were to make " Ruthless Predator " even larger and give it a more grotesque appearance, it might look something like this.
"Puppeteer…?"
So, I muttered.
I was sure there was a puppeteer resembling a sword here.
However, its presence was nowhere to be found, and only the creature remained.
"No, it can't be…"
Because if time was rewinding, every event should be reset.
Therefore, there should be the Parasitic Sword Puppeteer here.
"No…"
The skill "Save & Reset" was undoubtedly a skill that rewound time when I died.
Rewinding time meant that all memories and experiences should be reset.
However, there were exceptions that didn't reset even when time rewound.
One was Agetha.
It was clear from her words and actions that she had memories from another timeline.
And this puppeteer was another one of those exceptions.
When I first met her, the Parasitic Sword Puppeteer was merely an entity that possessed me and devoured monsters one after another.
After going through several loops, I tried to control the puppeteer under the guidance of the vampire Judite, and I remember her saying this to me in the deep world:
"Your soul has a somewhat nostalgic scent."
This was evidence that, even though memories from another timeline weren't clear, they were to some extent retained.
There were several peculiarities about the puppeteer.
For example, her appearance in the deep world gradually became more human with each return from death, and she started speaking to me, even though she couldn't in the previous timelines.
Although she wasn't aware of it herself, there was plenty of evidence that the Parasitic Sword Puppeteer was able to escape the effects of time resetting.
"So, this is the result…"
I muttered to myself, looking at the complete monstrosity that the puppeteer had become.
I don't know the exact reasons, but as a result of time rewinding, the puppeteer had turned into a monster.
"What the…?"
I said weakly. After all, the puppeteer was supposed to become a human. However, this appearance was far from human.
Is such a cruel fate even possible…?
"Oh… "
Tears flowed naturally. What should I have done? How could I have made the puppeteer happy? Maybe, the puppeteer couldn't become human anymore… Thinking about it that way filled me with helplessness and frustration.
Is there a future where the puppeteer becomes human after countless returns from death? I want to believe there is, but I have no idea how to achieve it.
"Garr!"
I heard a growl, and at the same time, the puppeteer swallowed me whole.
A few seconds later, I realized I had died.
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GAME OVER
Would you like to try again? ▶ 'Yes' 'No'
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'Yes' has been selected. You will resume from the saved point.
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