Chapter 131: Today (7)

“No, what the hell is that thing?!” In the twenty-fifth loop, Everly couldn’t hold back and shouted when she heard the story.

She had thought this time-loop movie was purely a crime story: catch or control all the criminals, and Orff would be saved. How come, halfway through, a supernatural monster just pops out of nowhere?

Hey, brother! This isn’t right. If a monster like that really existed, how on earth did the protagonist in the original movie manage to survive until the end and break the loop? Not that she underestimated him, but judging by his behavior, there was no way he looked capable of taking down a supernatural creature!

Orff buried his head in his hands, looking a little panicked. “I don’t know! If I did, why would I be asking you for help right now? I’d have just completed it in one go…”

Misha, sitting between them, rested her chin on her hand, glancing left, then right. She reached out with both hands, tapping each of their shoulders in turn. “Alright, alright. There are still a few more loops ahead. We’ll figure it out for sure.”

Everly’s agitated mood calmed, and she nodded in agreement.

Orff sneaked a glance at the girl beside him, felt his ears heat up, and slowly settled down as well.

And so, Orff’s experience-sharing session continued.

Although the twenty-second loop hadn’t managed to save Orff, the information gathered exceeded the total of the previous twenty-one loops.

Now came the twenty-third loop.

Just like in the previous loop, after waking up, Orff carefully avoided Ronald—the guy who looked sunny on the outside but dark inside—and, when Ronald’s back was turned, gave him a distant middle finger.

After leaving the dorm, he didn’t go to the cafeteria. Instead, he waited early along the path Everly would take after class, keeping his eyes peeled for any unexpected attacks while also craning his neck, eagerly waiting for her.

Finally, finally, at the far end of the path, the figures of Everly and Misha walking side by side appeared!

Orff immediately lunged forward, just like in the previous loop, desperately seeking Everly’s help with a silent plea: “Please, help me!”

Unexpectedly, this time, after hearing Orff recount what had happened in the last loop, Everly refused him.

“Although I’m very interested in the clues about the Fountain of Youth, from what you described, in the last loop, after encountering that monster at Mark’s house, it wasn’t just you—I and Misha were likely in danger too. I’m sorry, but I cannot take part in something that dangerous.”

In the twenty-fifth loop, Everly heard herself say this and mentally gave a thumbs-up to her twenty-third-loop self.

That was exactly what she would have done.

Whether helping others or seeking immortality, the first rule was to stay safe and unharmed. If she couldn’t even keep herself alive, what meaning would any of the other pursuits have?

Even though she had some exorcism equipment and could call on Rebecca or Wester, her gear wasn’t particularly reliable, and the two allies were not in the city. Faraway help couldn’t save her from immediate danger. Better not to get involved at all than to realize mid-fight that she was completely outmatched…

Back in the twenty-third loop:

“…W-what?!” Orff froze, then burst into wailing, “No, Everly! You can’t do this to me! You’re the only one who can save me! If my stakes aren’t enough, I can add more…”

Everly cut him off coldly: “It’s not about stakes. I really cannot help you. Misha and I aren’t like you—we don’t have the ability to die and start over. Every version of us in any loop is unique, so I’m truly sorry.”

“But…” Orff took a couple of steps forward, still hoping to argue, but when he saw Everly’s cold gaze and remembered the beatings from previous loops, he timidly stopped in his tracks.

“Since you already know who’s trying to harm you, why not try contacting the police?”

Orff must have looked pitiful, because Misha stepped forward a couple of paces, stopped, and turned back to offer a reminder.

“But… the police… will contacting them even work?”

Misha shrugged. “Give it a shot. It’s better than running around by yourself, right?”

With that, she waved at Orff and jogged after Everly. The two of them left together.

Orff, rejected and standing alone, thought for a moment. Misha had a point—at this stage, things couldn’t really get worse, so why not try?

But before contacting the police, Orff first needed to infiltrate the newly built dark web site and copy the operators’ evidence.

From the previous loop, he remembered the new dark web URL and Abel’s account credentials. Given enough time, obtaining the evidence wouldn’t be difficult—what worried him was getting killed by the two school agents lurking around before he even started.

After some thought, Orff decided to change the way he cooperated.

He swallowed his pride and caught up to Everly and Misha again, testing whether they could help him deal with Ronald and Professor Abel at school. Unfortunately, they refused—Everly didn’t want to intervene directly, knowing it could trigger unpredictable consequences.

So after some negotiation, the deal changed: Everly would lend Orff the Grand Cherokee, allowing him to use the vehicle as a temporary safehouse for system hacks, copying classified files, contacting the police, and other necessary activities.

But Orff was not allowed to drive the car off campus, because once outside, the “Butcher,” the “Nest Keeper,” and the “Undertaker” could all attack him. Everly didn’t want her precious vehicle to get damaged.

Since college students often borrow each other’s cars for casual outings, Everly judged this wasn’t particularly risky. Besides, Orff was going after the people who had harmed the girls—Everly hated those people just as much. So she only took a token payment of 5 bitcoins from him.

“Here’s the key. But remember—do not drive off campus. If you do, you won’t like what happens to you. Got it?”

Orff nodded frantically.

Everly tossed him the key.

Sitting inside Everly’s Grand Cherokee—practically a mobile safehouse—with the doors locked and windows closed, Orff finally felt a real sense of security. He pulled out his laptop and, relying on his memory from the previous loop, infiltrated the new t*rture livestream website. Using Abel’s credentials, he secured the evidence he needed.

Clutching the hard-won evidence, Orff immediately called Chief Sawitt at the city police department.

This time, to protect his own life, he used the blackmail material on Chief Charlie as leverage and made three requests of Chief Sawitt:

He revealed his identity and stated he had concrete evidence proving he would be in danger today, asking Sawitt to send a team of elite officers to protect him.

In the course of evading his pursuers, he might encounter supernatural forces, so he requested the police to contact the most renowned local psychics for assistance.

He asked the police to launch a strict investigation into the two local cases: the missing women in Dalami City and the livestreamed t*rture site.

In return, Orff promised that if Sawitt agreed to these conditions, he would hand over all the evidence of Chief Charlie’s criminal activities. Furthermore, he pledged unconditional cooperation for any future help Sawitt might need.

“If you can crack a case of this magnitude, the next police chief position will be yours without question. Not only that, but you’ll earn the admiration and praise of the citizens, becoming a hero of Dalami City…” Perhaps the pressure to survive was too great—Orff, who normally lacked social skills, even ended the conversation with this spontaneous, over-the-top flattery.

On the other end of the line, Chief Sawitt paused for a moment, then agreed to Orff’s requests.

“I’ll personally lead my trusted men there. You just wait at the school… I hope the evidence you provide won’t disappoint me.”

“Don’t worry. Working with me will absolutely be the best decision you’ve ever made!”

Sawitt acted quickly. About twenty minutes later, dressed in plain clothes, he arrived at the state university with two capable subordinates.

The meeting place was, once again, Everly’s Grand Cherokee. The vehicle felt incredibly secure, giving Orff a rare sense of relief. If it weren’t for the possibility of being hunted by supernatural creatures later, he might have happily stayed there forever.

“I need to see this so-called evidence first before deciding whether to continue cooperating,” Chief Sawitt said firmly, making his request as soon as they met.

Orff nodded and handed over all the copied materials—the recordings of the t*rture livestreams and the rest of the files—for Sawitt’s review.

After verifying the authenticity of the information, Sawitt nodded in satisfaction. As Orff had requested, he then took out his phone and called the locally well-known psychic, Mrs. Salaman.

Over an hour later, the psychic arrived at the vehicle at a slow, deliberate pace.

“So, from now on, the three of us will stay here to protect you until you safely get through midnight. After that, you’ll hand over all the materials in your possession to me. Is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Okay… I still don’t know why you made such a strange request, but… for the sake of this evidence…” Sawitt muttered under his breath, raised his phone, and began urgently issuing orders to several of his trusted subordinates.

This time, the police chief position was within his grasp!

…

“Probably because I had police protection around me, I stayed safe for the next few hours. Ronald wasn’t giving up; he even came by to try to lure me out to ‘hang out,’ but I refused. Clearly, as long as you prepare ahead of time, it’s not easy for them to successfully kill me.”

“However, around 5 PM, an unexpected incident still occurred…”

It was 17:19, a winter evening, and the sky had already begun to darken.

Sawitt, along with two officers and the psychic Mrs. Salaman, sat inside the air-conditioned Grand Cherokee, keeping Orff company. Bored from waiting, someone yawned and began thinking about what takeout they might order later.

Then, suddenly, a piercing, agonized scream rang out from nearby.

Sawitt may have been ambitious, but he was still a competent policeman.

“You stay here and watch him; I’ll go check what’s going on.”

With that, he left the vehicle, opened the door, and stepped out.

The others inside the car were momentarily stunned but decided to follow the chief’s instructions. They obediently stayed in the car, watching through the windows as Sawitt walked toward the source of the screaming.

It led to an ordinary walkway on campus. Something had happened—several students were gathered there, pointing down at something on the ground, screaming in horror.

The shrieks acted like a “danger here” signal, drawing more curious students toward the scene. Once they saw what was in the center of the crowd, some doubled over, clutching their stomachs in nausea, others covered their heads and screamed, and a few even went weak in the knees and collapsed to the ground.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know… the chief’s already gone over there. Wait for him to come back and ask him…”

The two officers leaned against the window, whispering to each other, when suddenly they saw the chief staring at something so terrifying that he immediately drew his handgun from his back holster. While motioning for the students to disperse, he fired several shots in a specific direction: “Bang! Bang!”

“Ahhh!”

“Help!”

Startled by the gunfire, the students scattered like a herd of sheep cornered by wolves, screaming as they fled. This left the area they had previously surrounded completely exposed.

Beneath the streetlight, lying on the ground, was a corpse, a mass of mangled flesh and blood.

The eyes had been blown out completely, leaving two pitch-black, empty sockets. The mouth gaped wide, the tongue reduced to shredded bits of flesh. But the most horrifying part was the back of the head: it looked like a water-filled plastic bag had “splat” against the ground. The back of the man’s skull flopped limply on the pavement, and the blood and brain matter—like the bag’s water—had spread into a filthy, sticky mess, almost like a map smeared across the ground.

Despite the body being unrecognizable, Orff could still identify Professor Abel by the overcoat he was wearing.

As for whoever had killed him…

Orff’s pupils trembled, his whole body shook uncontrollably, and his gaze slowly shifted upward, focusing above Abel’s corpse.

There, legs suspended in the air, head hanging down, hovering in a looming stance over Abel’s body, was the same monster that had killed him in the twenty-second loop.

—It had actually killed Professor Abel!

——————————————————————————

Author’s Note:

Let’s sort out the timeline for everyone:

Orff meets the heroine in the 25th loop, and so far he’s been recounting his unlucky experiences from the previous 24 loops.

Of those, the first 21 loops were mostly his various deaths. In the 22nd loop, he joined the team at the cost of the “Fountain of Youth” clue, and under the heroine’s leadership, he interrogated suspects harshly, found clues about the four masterminds, and then died when confronting the last one because of the monster.

This chapter corresponds to the 23rd loop, which is still Orff narrating, while the heroine’s actions in the 25th loop haven’t started yet.

I always add a prompt whenever the loop changes, so if you pay a little attention, you won’t miss it.