Silence filled the dining room after my confession, but it was quickly cut short.

"I believe you," Micah replied and smiled. But then his expression shifted to one of concern. "But we should have this discussion elsewhere. In private."

He rose gracefully, gesturing for me to follow suit.

"You believe me?" I stammered, still rooted in my seat, astonished. "Why? Don't you find it strange?"

I had just said something utterly ridiculous by any usual standard of measure.

Micah shrugged. "There are many strange things in this world. I don't see any reason to doubt you on this matter. And besides, has there ever been a time when I didn't believe you?"

I blinked.

No. There really weren't any instances that came to mind.

"Now, come on. Let's discuss this in the privacy of my study," Micah said and walked toward the dining room doors.

I hopped out of my seat and followed him.

"Peep!"

I told you so.

<< Yes… Yes, you did. >>

 

***

 

Seated in one of the plush armchairs in Micah's study, I picked up my cup of dark tea, its rich aroma rising to my nose. The room showcased Micah's academic nature, adorned with numerous books, scrolls, and a large mural depicting the world on one of the walls. I inspected the two continents displayed, with the morning sunlight hitting the ocean between them.

"Louis, push out my morning appointments and do not disturb us unless something is pressing," Micah instructed the young attendant.

"Understood," Louis bowed before closing the door behind him.

"Now we can talk." Micah settled across from me, armed with a pen and a red leather-bound book.

"What is that for?" I asked.

"I have a decent enough memory, but it's far from perfect," Micah replied, flashing a brilliant smile. "This will help me record and remember our conversation so I can help you—don't worry, I have runes on this, so no one but me will be able to open it."

Micah opened the book to the first page, and I realized it was blank. It was a giant notebook.

I nodded, recalling my hastily written notes that I hid in my room in one of the rounds, only for them to be easily found.

Now that I think about it. I never asked Chase about his meddling with my notes. The matter never came up.

"I presume you need help and that this is our first time talking about your loops?" Micah asked as if it were self-evident.

I nodded. "I do need help, and it is the first time."

I sipped my tea, letting the warmth settle in, and Micah, ready with pen and paper, awaited more.

"How far into your current loop are you?" Micah inquired.

"Peep!"

Your brother is ready to go, isn't he?

He really was.

"It's been seventeen days," I replied.

Micah nodded, not bothering to make any notes yet.

"That makes sense," he muttered.

I agreed. In hindsight, it was evident that I was not the original Luca that Micah knew.

"And the loop before, how and when did it end?" Micah asked.

I looked upward, trying to recall. "It was thirteen days in. The Farmer captured me, and I took a poison to avoid being taken captive."

Micah looked at me wide-eyed.

"The Farmer tried to capture you? Why?" he inquired.

I laughed. "No idea," I replied. "Not yet, at least," I added.

It was one of the mysteries I had hoped Freida Stran would shine a light on. I hoped to inquired her of this, and if today would rain, I might soon learn the answer.

"I saw you are friends with Sedna Ozeryn in this lifetime?" Micah changed the subject.

I didn't quite see the connection between the questions, but perhaps he was skipping around.

"Yes, she's also an awakened one like me," I replied. "She was a true saint in my original life, helping the war effort significantly. I am glad to have her help in this lifetime as well."

"The war effort?" Micah frowned.

"Ah, yes." I realized I wasn't doing a good enough job of explaining the timeline of events to my brother. "In my original life, Adovoria fell to the Kobar Empire's invasion seven years from now. But see, there's this Game—a summoning that has been taking place—where Players were summoned to help Adovoria in our fight against the Kobar Empire, but there were no more Players. So the System made me into a Player, a partial Player, with the mission to save Adovoria."

Micah set down the book and pen, seemingly wanting to concentrate on what I was telling him better.

"Your original life lasted until you were twenty-six, but your seventh life ended just thirteen days in?" Micah clarified. "How is that?"

I laughed again. "If you think that's short, my sixth life ended on day two. And the rounds prior all ended on day one."

"How?" Micah asked. His green eyes bore into me.

"Well, in Round 6, Prince Chase Daylan poisoned me in the form of a cat," I replied honestly. It was as ridiculous as it sounded. "And as for the other rounds, in half of them, I restarted the round on my own."

I laughed louder, seeing the baffled expression on my brother's face. It was a rare sight.

Micah blinked. "But you are friends with Chase Daylan? Or at least on friendly terms? That is what it appeared to me."

"I suppose so," I replied. "He is a lunatic who wants me to die sooner than later in this round because Claude Noire stole his lucky coin, but he means well."

Micah clasped his hands together and leaned forward in his seat.

"Luca, I think for me to fully comprehend the situation, you're going to have to explain what you've undergone from the beginning."

 

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

 

Micah leaned back in his armchair, his eyes tracing the intricate patterns of the blue rug beneath his feet. Luca's revelations about the future had been both enlightening and concerning. The large notebook in Micah's hands brimmed with hastily scribbled notes, capturing his brother's tumultuous journey and the insights he had to offer

Luca's recount of his original life had painted a bleak picture. Micah and everyone else in the Frey family had been killed off in one manner or another. The life that Luca led afterward was not a cheerful one either—Micah marveled at how well-adjusted Luca currently was after having experienced the worst of East Genise.

But then again, he doesn't appear to remember everything clearly either. Perhaps a touch of amnesia is helping keep him sane?

"When did Adovoria's king, Evelyn's father, pass away in your original life?" Micah inquired.

"I'm not sure." Luca squinted. "I'll ask." His eyes moved to an empty space before him, indicating his communication with this so-called 'System.'

Micah waited patiently as Luca reverberated what the System told him.

"It will be the first day of fall," Luca said. "Natural causes."

Micah nodded and made a small note.

Fortunately or unfortunately, that will have little consequence.

Knock. Knock.

"Yes?" Micah called out.

"Young master Micah, you have several more appointments coming up—do you need me to push them out as well?" Louis inquired, opening the door slightly.

Micah glanced at a nearby clock. Three hours had flown by.

There was far too much to learn, and Micah barely scratched the surface. His younger brother had lived through seven years, but his memory was spotty. It was sometimes nonexistent, like a blank white sheet of paper. However, Luca had the benefit of this System, which, as Luca described it, had the knowledge gained from all the previous Players. As such, any knowledge that other Players didn't have, it often didn't either. This explained why the four years during the original Game were far more robust than the next three years.

Interestingly, however, the System had knowledge of Adovoria before the official Game's start. While it didn't know with complete accuracy the events that took place in the surrounding nations, it could often provide details regarding significant events within Adovoria itself, such as the death of Adovoria's king.

"Peep!"

The little yellow bird chirped on Luca's shoulder, and by his brother's expression, he was utilizing the Whispering Necklace to communicate with it.

And to think I'd been worried about this bird when he had something far more dangerous attached to him.

"Yes, and clear the rest of the day, for that matter," Micah replied.

"Micah, keep your appointments. I have to attend to other matters today as well," Luca chimed in.

"Like what?" Micah asked and waved to Louis to get out of the room.

The door shut, and Luca spoke. "Well, I need to see Kathy about identifying a cure to the poison afflicting myself, Elda and the others—"

"That can wait till tomorrow," Micah cut in. "Based on what you told me, one day won't make a difference. Besides, at your current rate, you will restart onto the next round before you can even die of this mysterious poison."

"I also need to go see my information broker. It'll finally rain today," Luca stated.

"And it will rain tomorrow as well," Micah retorted back.

"But won't getting answers sooner than later be better?" Luca asked.

"Yes, but only if you know what questions to ask," Micah said. "Luca, you might not realize it, but you are already at a massive disadvantage—a large part of which could have been avoided if you had informed me sooner, but it is what it is. In future rounds, inform me first thing in the morning."

"Future rounds?" Luca's golden eyes widened.

Micah let out a deep sigh. "Yes, future rounds."

Even if he had been unaware of the misfortune telling that hung over Luca's head, based on what Luca described, it was evident to Micah that his brother would have to suffer through round after round before he would be able to beat this Game.

He stood up and motioned Luca to join him at his desk, where he pulled out a roll of empty parchment.

"Here's what the timeline looks like." Micah drew a line on the paper and put in indicators for years 780, 784, and 787.

He drew a line curving from year 787 back to 784. And then another and another. "And this is what each round might appear as you loop through."

He looked toward Luca, who was inspecting the drawing very intently.

"However, it's not really a loop." Micah drew an X through the drawing.

"It's not?" Luca blinked, evidently confused.

"No. It only appears to be a loop, and in some ways it is, but the timeline is more like this." Micah pushed the scroll, making it unfurl across his table.

He then drew a long line across it and marked the segments, indicating the Rounds and the looping years.

"First of all, time is not looping in other realms. It is limited to our world only." He drew a secondary line beside the first one. "The timeline those so-called Players are living on is the true passage of time, unstoppable."

Luca nodded. "That's true. Purchasing glimmersteel from the Game Store has become three times more expensive than before and will likely remain so in future rounds because the supply is limited."

"Moreover, as you have stated, the world's visuals are changing with each round—rather than looping, it appears you are jumping from one variation of our realm to another." Micah pulled out a green and blue pen and highlighted two of the subsequent lines after the original line from 784 to 787.

"But the people are the same," Luca muttered. "You're still Micah. Right?"

Micah smiled sadly. His brother was beginning to comprehend the situation.

"I am myself, but I am not the same Micah from your first life. Nor the other rounds. Unless my consciousness can be moved between rounds, like you and other Awakened, I will remain here when the round ends." Micah marked an X on the timeline in between two rounds.

"What happens to you when the round resets—or rather, the next one starts?" Luca asked.

Micah shrugged. He had his theories, none of them particularly pleasant.

"That's not the most important caveat." He deemed it best to divert Luca's attention instead. "Besides you, others can take advantage of the loops, be it because they are awakened or have a means of knowing when they are in a loop. And their cumulative influences impact the world."

He drew small circles on the parchment, with names indicating the known individuals Luca informed him about who either were awakened or knew about the loops. "You'll need to find a way to either avoid, defeat or work alongside these other individuals."

"Like Chase Daylan and Sedna Ozeryn." Luca nodded in agreement.

"Exactly." Micah then drew a thick dark blob amongst the other circles, the largest of all.

"And who is that?" Luca asked.

Micah set down his pen.

"Luca, that is your primary obstacle, and why no one has been able to beat this game to date."