"Rem, stop the bleeding! We need to get him to the village. Can you carry him?"
Toyota's serious tone snapped her out of her stupor. She began placing her hands over Subaru's wounds, faintly glowing light emanating from her palms. Her horn, now fully contracted, was nowhere to be seen.
I keep forgetting that Rem isn't human, Toyota thought. She's an Oni—otherwise known as a demon—from a special tribe that uses their horns to amplify inherent magic. But since she's a twin, she only has one horn, supposedly making her magic power amplification halved.
The wounds visibly began to close as the blood, once flowing profusely, finally started to halt. Yet, Rem could only mutter manically, "It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault…"
Finally, Toyota had enough.
"It's both of your faults!" he exclaimed loudly. "You keep jumping in to save each other like some sort of sacrifice. What's the point of being a hero if you can't live long enough to brag about it?"
Rem stared numbly at him as Toyota turned his back and started walking toward the village with the possum girl still in his arms. Frustration burned in his chest.
I haven't changed the storyline practically at all. I couldn't even stop this supposed minor event…
Eventually, they crossed the threshold of the barrier, where the magic crystals had been replaced with new, functional ones. Toyota didn't know exactly how they worked, but they seemed to act as a repellent rather than a literal barrier.
Rem carried Subaru to a nearby vacant house and set him down on a cot. After ensuring Subaru was stable, Toyota briefly left him in Rem's care while he walked alone to a quiet place with the girl still in his arms.
Without ceremony, he harshly dropped her to the ground.
The girl gasped, stunned as her body slammed into the floor.
"Is that any way to treat such a cute little girl?" she stammered, trying to sound confident. In doing so, her acting was exposed as she was visibly wide eyed, not drowsy at all and wide-eyed. Toyota, glaring at her with cold, disgusted eyes, responded icily,
"You're lucky I don't kill you on the spot. I'm letting you go only because you're useful. So scram, brat."
The little girl, unnerved by the sheer hatred in his eyes, faltered. Her voice trembled as she replied, "Fine… but I won't forget this. Next time, I'll make you pay."
"What a third-rate villain line," he muttered, watching her retreating back.
Once she left, Toyota returned to the room where Subaru was resting. He found Rem sitting nearby, visibly distressed. She seemed to be talking to herself.
"Subaru will be fine. Beatrice can remove the curses… and Lady Emilia can heal him back to new."
Walking up behind her, Toyota startled her by suddenly saying, "Have you used your clairvoyance to contact your sister?"
She turned toward him sharply, suspicion flashing in her eyes.
"How do you know about that?" she demanded.
"I'll tell you later," he replied cryptically. "But now, I have to go. I'll see you again—when you find out the truth and go into the forest."
Without another word, he turned and walked out of the room. Rem stared after him, unsettled.
Why did he say it like that? she thought. It always feels like he knows something I don't.
As Toyota left, his thoughts swirled with frustration.
There were multiple reasons he didn't want to be seen with Subaru. For one, Ram—if she saw him with the two of them—would think he was stalking them. And she was terrifying. Not only did she possess more physical strength than Rem, but it was said that with her horn, she would be among the top five strongest in the world.
She was too emotional when it came to people close to her. In the previous loop, she had tried to kill Subaru and essentially forced him into suicide to reset. And in the one before that, where Subaru had been chased by Rem and tortured for answers, it was Ram who dealt the final blow. Her specialty was wind magic—that was what had cut Subaru's throat. It wasn't Rem, whose affinity was with water magic and brute force through her mace.
So yeah… Toyota didn't want to get between Ram and her suspicions. Especially if she started thinking he was a threat.
Another reason was Emilia. He wasn't ready to get tangled up with such a naïve, idealistic girl.
But the best reason of all?
Puck.
Also known as the Beast of the End, Puck was a dangerous entity. It wasn't well known, but he could read minds and detect intent. He probably already knew about Subaru's "Return by Death" ability and simply didn't care, choosing to leave everyone else in the dark.
In the future, Puck would kill Subaru many times out of sheer spite—punishing him for failing to save Emilia. Whether it was to force a reset or out of pure wrath, Toyota didn't know. But one thing was certain: Puck was a demonic cat he didn't want to face anytime soon.
At least, not until Subaru awakened—and Rem was at his side. Puck wouldn't do anything to harm him if it meant Emilia might see him differently.
But knowing Emilia, even that was a flimsy excuse.
Alright…
My plan now is to wait for Subaru to heal. Then I'll meet him in the village once he wakes up. Only then will I have the chance to get some alone time before we head into the forest to save Rem—who, once again, will sacrifice herself as a hero to remove the curses from Subaru by killing every single mabeast in the forest.
That was when Toyota felt a vibration go through his pocket. Reaching in, he felt his iPhone—not vibrating in a typical text message kind of way, but with a strange, supernatural tremor.
Pulling it out, the screen suddenly lit up with a blinding, otherworldly glow.
With his eyes clenched shut and seething in irritation, only one thought ran through his head:
This is why dark mode was invented.
"Support system has successfully integrated into cellular device," a robotic voice announced.
"Would you like to check features?"
A prompt appeared on the screen with two options: YES and NO.
After a moment of hesitation, he tapped YES.
The screen changed, showing several rows:
Main Mission. World Missions. Favorability. Rewards. Item Shop.
He tapped on Favorability, curious to see what it meant.
At the top, a message read:
Favorability shows one's affection or friendship in percentages. The higher the percentage, the more points gained. More impactful characters provide greater points.
Below that were the rankings:
• Subaru Natsuki – 8% | Points Received: 800
• Rem (Blue Oni Maid) – 2% | Points Received: 40
• Ram (Pink Oni Maid) – -2% | Points Received: 0
• Maylee (Child Assassin) – -20% | Points Received: 0
• Satella (Witch of Envy) – 20??% | Points Received: 10,000
After reading the last one, his face went pale. He started to tremble.
"Of course… I have the worst person possible on here," he muttered. "But isn't she supposed to be obsessed with Subaru? I mean, she can control the timeline of this world… but is she watching me directly? and what's with all the question marks it's creeping me out?"
The thought alone made him want to jump off a cliff.
He remembered a quote he once heard in the Shadow Garden, a limbo-like space where Subaru's soul was taken every time he died. In that realm, he would meet Satella, who ruled over the entire landscape and could manipulate a person's emotions.
Other than the incessant mutterings of "I love you" that slowly drove Subaru insane with Stockholm syndrome, she once said something that chilled him to his core—words that were both confusing and strangely profound.
Satella, the Witch of Envy—who killed almost all the other witches and stole their Witch Factors—was essentially immortal. No one really understood why she was so obsessed with Subaru. Some believed it was love, others insanity.
In that eerie space, where even death held no escape, Satella whispered these words to Subaru:
"Sloth, because I cannot wipe away your tears.
Lust, because I want us to melt together and become one.
Gluttony, because I want to consume you, to take all of you for myself.
Greed, because I want to have everything that I love.
Wrath, because I cannot forgive the absurdity of it all.
Pride, because I scorn everything that is not you.
Envy, because that is all I feel for the world that embraces you.
I love you."
The lovely voice echoed softly—haunting and serene—until the very end, when Subaru Natsuki began anew.
That psychopathic yandere was the most dangerous character in the entire series. And yet, despite everything, she would never directly harm Subaru. Sure, she killed anyone he told the truth to, but she never actually crushed his heart. At most, she would stop time around him, forcing him into silence.
That was shown clearly when she killed Emilia—only after Subaru, filled with resolve, forced himself to reveal the truth, even if it meant stopping his own heart.
Reading and watching the series, it was always hard to tell whether she was actually evil… or just broken. Maybe the incompatibility of the Witch Factor drove her insane.
Next time I see Rem, Toyota thought, I need to ask if she can smell the Witch's Miasma on me… or, as fans call it, the Smell of Death. Subaru seems to reek of it more and more every time he dies.
Shoving those thoughts to the back of his mind, Toyota took a deep breath and exited the Favorability menu.
"What else do I have?" he mumbled.
"Item Shop. Let's see here…"
He tapped on it, and the screen glitched briefly.
ERROR: Only one world unlocked. Full item shop capabilities will unlock upon entering additional worlds.
Current inventory restricted to: RE:Zero
"Yeah, that makes sense," Toyota muttered.
"If I had full access and enough points, I'd just buy an OP Devil Fruit from One Piece or something—though I'm guessing that'd be, what, over 100,000 points? Maybe I could get an eye power from Naruto too… Not that I wanna go blind. Or maybe something like the Omnitrix?"
Suddenly, the screen flashed green.
Item Shop updating…
Update complete. Item Shop fully unlocked.
"Holy crap… This is way more useful than I thought."
Under the large title ITEM SHOP, new categories appeared:
• One-Time Use Items
• Consumables
• Equipment
• Weapons
• Abilities
"Wait—let's check out Abilities," he said, tapping the option.
As he scrolled, his eyes widened. This stuff was absurdly overpowered:
• Divine Protection of the Sword Saint – 1,000,000 points
• Divine Protection of the Phoenix (One-time use) – 50,000 points
• Divine Protection of the Earth – 30,000 points
• Authority of Greed – 500,000 points
• Authority of Gluttony – 200,000 points
• Authority of Sloth – 300,000 points
At the bottom, one caught his eye—something different:
Special Authority: Return by Death – DELETED
"What does it mean… deleted?" he whispered.
"And how can I buy an ability someone already has?"
He paused, thinking.
I remember in the RE:Zero world, only one person can have a Divine Protection at a time… so what happens if I buy one that someone else already has? Or… is it like a duplicate?
(AN: I have decided on an official release schedule Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Bonus chapters will be released on Saturday if my demands are met 🔫
Trade deal: give me 50 power stones, and I will give you a bonus chapter.)