The touch of the soft cotton beneath his body was the first thing Arata felt as he regained consciousness.
He suddenly sat up in bed, breathing heavily, and immediately found Emma sitting in the chair right beside him.
A violent shiver ran down the young man's spine as he brought his hands to his chest.
I... returned again... to the morning of the first day... he realized mentally, feeling the psychological weight of his fifth death crushing down on his shoulders.
Man... I have to find the perfect strategy so I won't have to die again.
Which path should I choose now? But wait... What if I tell the others about Return by Death? I've kept the existence of this power to myself all this time...
What would happen if I revealed the truth?!
Emma stared intently at him, her brow furrowed in clear concern.
"Arata... are you okay...?" she asked, looking deeply worried.
Overcome by a desperate impulse, Arata turned directly toward her and gently grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Emma... I have something crucial to tell you."
"What...?" She tilted her head, confused by his sudden seriousness.
"I can... Return Through-"
Before the final word could cross his lips, the entire surrounding environment seemed to freeze in a deathly silence.
On the floor of the room, Arata's own shadow began twisting in a bizarre and grotesque manner, molding itself and rising up the walls until it took the distinct shape of a black, icy hand.
It was as though his shadow were being manipulated externally by someone, surely by the mysterious Witch who had granted him that Authority.
What?! Arata's eyes widened, paralyzed with terror.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
The black hand revealed itself to be completely intangible.
Without encountering any physical resistance, it passed through Arata's skull and penetrated directly into his head.
The dark appendage wrapped itself around the young man's brain and clenched into a violent grip, a direct punishment clearly intended to prevent him from continuing to speak.
An immense, tearing, indescribable pain struck Arata's mind.
Under the impact of that overwhelming agony, his strength vanished instantly, and he collapsed back onto the mattress, writhing in suffering.
"What happened, Arata?! Are you okay?!" Emma exclaimed, rising from the chair in pure panic.
From her perspective, there was no black hand, shadow, or magic involved. The young man was simply agonizing on the mattress by himself, leaving her completely clueless about what to do.
Arata clenched his teeth tightly, pressing his palms against his temples as tears of pain streamed down his face.
Please, stop! he pleaded in his thoughts, directing the appeal toward the darkness suffocating him. I won't talk!! I promise I won't tell anyone!!
Almost immediately, the unbearable pressure ceased.
The black hand loosened its grip and disintegrated into the air, causing the shadow on the floor to return to its perfectly normal state.
"Arata?! Arata?!"
Emma's frightened and desperate cries were the last thing that echoed in the young man's ears.
Exhausted by the physical and mental shock of the punishment, Arata's vision went completely dark, and he ended up fainting in her arms.
Moments later, Arata's eyelids grew heavy, and he opened his eyes again, awakening from his fainting spell.
The excruciating pain and suffocating pressure in his mind had completely disappeared.
When he looked to the side, he found Emma's relieved yet still tense face.
Right behind her, Loiry silently observed the scene.
For a fraction of a second, the white-haired twin fixed her pink eyes on him, her gaze deeply analytical and observant, before looking away again.
Just like in the previous loops... she's looking at me like that, Arata thought, adjusting himself on the bed while massaging his temples. Why the hell does she keep giving me those discreet looks?
"ARATA!" Emma exclaimed, approaching the mattress. "I was so worried! What happened to you all of a sudden?!"
"I... I just got a massive headache, some bizarre migraine..." Arata lied, forcing a smile to calm her down.
Internally, his mind was working at full speed.
They really can't see what the shadow hand did to me.
I've been forbidden from revealing Return by Death... But what would happen if, even at the cost of that pain, I forced myself to tell everything until the end? Would I die instantly? I'll think about that later...
Challenging that mysterious force now didn't seem like the best strategy.
Pushing the sheets aside, the young man jumped out of bed, trying to recover from everything.
"But now I'm one hundred percent fine! So, what are we doing today, Emma-Pan?!"
Emma blinked several times, confused by his sudden change in mood and by the nickname.
"Pan? What does that mean?"
"It's a special suffix I created myself to show that I'm close to you!" Arata explained, winking playfully.
"I've never seen anything like that before..." Emma commented, letting out a shy laugh and shaking her head.
"Then let's go, no time to waste!" Arata called out, walking toward the door.
While pretending to be excited, the mysteries from the previous loop organized themselves in his mind.
Now I know exactly who killed me during the early hours of the fifth day.
Gabriel... that blue-haired spirit. He's the same little boy I saw in Shibuya before being transported.
But how the hell is he capable of traveling between worlds?
And who was that guy wearing the crow mask that I saw in the forest near the village?
Maybe he's an ally, or maybe he's working together with Gabriel?... I can't be certain yet.
He lightly clenched his fists, determined.
I need to investigate this further.
Besides, there's the person who granted me this ability to turn back time... That silver-haired woman wearing a black cloak who appeared before me.
She called herself a witch. Could she be one of the four hated witches of this world? I have to discover the truth.
While Arata was lost in his theories, Loiry glanced at him once again.
The young man had his back turned and didn't notice, but this time, the white-haired twin's expression wasn't merely analytical.
There was a clear spark of suspicion mixed with a cold and hostile feeling in her pink pupils.
For some hidden reason, Loiry had already been strongly suspicious of Arata Ryusei's actions and presence in that mansion from the very beginning.
End of Chapter 30...
To be continued in Chapter 31...