Not a detective

Page 139

As the helicopter slowly descended, sand from the beach was constantly being churned up. Asakawa Riku followed the churning motion with his eyes, his heart filled with emotion.

...So, has the long "Summer of Red Stingrays" finally come to an end?

It's really not easy. Only a few days have actually passed? Less than a week?

In his heart, it felt as if a year had passed in hardship.

As he pondered this, he looked again at the half-built keel on the beach. The ship's structure wasn't even finished yet, so he had to give up.

Although Asakawa Riku was reluctant, he wasn't someone who didn't know his limits or act recklessly. He knew that the families of these classmates were probably anxiously waiting for their children to return. The most urgent thing was to send them all back. Important matters had to be taken priority. He could still distinguish between what was important and what was not... At worst, he could secretly build a boat by himself when he got back. That wasn't out of the question.

At this moment, the helicopter was about to land, reaching a height of more than ten meters above the island.

But at that moment, an unusual situation occurred, which Asakawa Riku noticed first.

He saw that Shinonome Suetsuki, who had been sitting quietly in her seat like a beautiful statue, suddenly showed a look of horror.

She suddenly leaned against the window and shouted in Asakawa Riku's direction!

However, because the propellers were very noisy, and the villagers were cheering and discussing in amazement, all while separated by the glass window of a helicopter...

"******!!"

It was impossible to make out what she was shouting!

Asakawa Riku frowned. He knew that very few things could surprise this guy, so it must be something very important. He immediately began to read Shinonome Suetsuki's lip movements.

But before he could even realize it, the ground beneath his feet began to shake.

—A deafening roar, the earth shook violently, as if the end of the world had arrived.

"An earthquake...?!"

He stared incredulously at the surging waves nearby: "It's a tsunami—"

He can manage to gain a foothold after much effort, but others don't have that ability.

Inspector Takahashi was violently shaken and thrown around. Asakawa Riku grabbed him, and a huge crack appeared in the ground between them, which continued to widen.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

Some students have already fallen in and are now lost in the sea.

It wasn't the waves that were surging up; the entire island was collapsing! The rocks beneath our feet were rapidly crumbling, showing signs of collapse.

how can that be!

The propellers were still roaring, but the police driver was highly skilled and managed to climb successfully at the last minute, avoiding being caught in the earthquake's ripples.

Watching the figure of Shinonome Suetsuki gradually disappear into the distance, Asakawa Riku felt a sense of relief, but even more so, a profound and desperate bewilderment:

Why? Why did it turn out like this?

Why did it fail again? Why did the island sink? This is too outrageous! Could it really be divine punishment for blaspheming the red stingray?

Hold my hand tightly!

With no time to think, he was forced to drag Inspector Takahashi along, jumping and searching for new footholds, traversing the falling rocks, trying to run into the jungle and back to the village.

The entire island is disappearing, so where can he run to?

The villagers' screams were incessant. Asakawa Riku was unable to save everyone; in fact, he himself was beyond saving.

Before me lay a chasm of despair, and my foothold had vanished. With a stumble, I was quickly submerged in the water.

With a whoosh, his hand was forced to loosen under the impact of the waves, and his vision was covered by the azure sea, which continued to sink.

At the very last moment, he finally recognized Shinonome Suetsuki's lip movements.

【wrong. 】

She kept repeating that word.

【No, no, no, no, no!】

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Forty-Six - The True Mystery

"No. What's wrong?"

The sixth cycle.

Asakawa Riku has been resurrected once again, and this time, he is on the beach.

However, it wasn't the beach on June 14th, but the beach on June 15th, which is the timeline after successfully "passing" the Stingray Festival.

I initially thought I had cleared the game smoothly, but I hadn't. Although my reputation in the village had greatly improved and I now had many trustworthy companions...

But if this continues, it will still end in ruin.

The island will collapse.

"What's wrong? You should finish what you're saying."

Asakawa Riku pressed down hard as if complaining.

The women under his command made pleasant moaning sounds.

They were under a parasol, and the beautiful, long-haired woman was lying on the canvas bed with her back bare, revealing her smooth, fair skin.

She enjoyed Asakawa Riku's massage and said something indifferent:

"How would I know? I'm someone you've created in your imagination, not the real Shinonome Suezuki. If you want to ask 'what's wrong,' you have to ask her directly."

"……Too."

Yes, the imaginary partner this time is the detective himself.

Unfortunately, she was just a figment of Asakawa Riku's imagination and couldn't possibly know things she shouldn't know, so asking her was pointless.

Asakawa Riku didn't know why he was applying sunscreen to her on the beach, and this guy wasn't wary at all. He even took off the straps of his swimsuit, and half of his spheres were exposed by the pressure of the beach, which was very pleasing to the eye. Although Asakawa Riku was dissatisfied with his inexplicable service, at least it felt nice to touch (referring to his back), so he didn't complain.

This time, there were only the two of them on the beach, while the villagers were still in the village. His failure to call for help to draw distress symbols or build a boat proved to be useless.

If nothing is done, in a few days, Inspector Takahashi will land on the island by helicopter, and we'll be back to the same disastrous ending as before...

He applied sunscreen to his palms and carefully spread it evenly on the other person's shoulders and sides.

To be honest, Asakawa Riku was a hot-blooded teenager, and seeing such a scene, he couldn't hold back anymore. He really wanted to just flip the other person over...

But then I thought, this is just a scene in my imagination, it's not real. Even if I really turned it over and saw something, so what?

"So, where exactly did you go wrong in the last cycle of reincarnation?"

Moreover, Asakawa Riku has no mood for frivolous fun until the most important matter is resolved.

In the last cycle, he had made thorough preparations, carefully considering every step: finding partners, winning over confidants, confronting the village chief, stopping the ritual, and using the power of words to interfere with the villagers' faith. At the same time, he gained the villagers' trust, making them have renewed expectations for the outside world. They even began to seek help from the outside world and prepared to build a ship and go to sea.

Moreover, luck was on his side; the police arrived quickly, and a rescue boat was on its way.

But then, the island suddenly collapsed?

Where does this make sense?

Asakawa Riku could clearly sense that everything was heading towards a GOOD END, but then, at a certain moment, a sudden, unexpected development occurred, and everything collapsed.

Which step went wrong?

He was completely baffled, and even suspected that this island instance was an unsolvable problem, because no matter how they tried, the convergence of the world lines would prevent them from being saved.

"However, I can help you find out what was wrong with the previous cycles, but as for the real truth, you'll have to find it out yourself."

Suezuki, lying on the bed with her back to him, closed her eyes and spoke.

Asakawa Riku paused for a moment, then quickly said, "Okay."

By the way, even if this last moon isn't real, she still has an amazing memory. If we ask her for help, we might actually be able to find out something.

"Kawasaki, what do you think is the most crucial element in breaking this deadlock?"

“I used to think it was the Red Stingray Festival, and that if we avoided or broke that ritual, we could prevent the villagers from turning into fanatical monsters… but it turns out that’s not entirely true.”

"So, what key mysteries do you think remain unsolved?"

"【Time Reversal】. I can understand that the Crimson Ray God can turn its followers into fanatical monsters; it's a divine power. But why can I reverse time again and again, endlessly reincarnating? What is it that keeps me reincarnating here? Do I also possess divine power, or is it a superpower that I've been dormant for a long time?"

"What do you think are the conditions that trigger time reversal?"

Shinonome Suetsuki's question made Asakawa Riku pause in surprise. He asked in return, "The triggering conditions...?"

Mo Yue turned half her face back and blinked:

"Yes, under what circumstances will one enter a new cycle of reincarnation?"

"...Isn't it [my death]?"

Asakawa Riku suddenly felt uneasy.

Yes, every time he enters the BAD END, gets killed, and then suddenly finds himself on a new timeline.

"But is that really the case?"

The detective's voice echoed in his heart, illuminating the final piece of the puzzle.

Asakawa Riku began to recall the circumstances of the previous reincarnations:

In his first reincarnation, he participated in the Red Stingray Festival as usual, but the villagers went mad because of the ritual and kept attacking him.

In the second cycle, he was corrupted and became emotionally unstable. He accidentally killed a classmate and decided to commit suicide by walking into the sea.

In the third cycle, he escaped back to Tokyo with the illusion of Hoshino, but was suspected by the police station and besieged by agents of the Inspection Department, finding himself in a desperate situation.

In the fourth cycle, he participated in the Red Stingray Festival as usual, conversing and reflecting with Chizuko's phantom. Just like the first time, he was surrounded and pierced by the villagers.

In the fifth cycle, he found a way to break the Red Stingray Festival and survived for several more days. However, just before the rescue arrived, the island suddenly collapsed, and everyone fell into the sea.

Speaking of which... did he really die these last few times?

Asakawa Riku suddenly felt less certain.

Indeed, almost all of his escapes ended with him severely injured, or in an irrecoverable predicament where he was exhausted and unable to escape.

However, I have never truly experienced the moment of death.

There was no feeling of "skull fracture", "cardiac arrest", "asphyxiation and exhaustion" or "arterial bleeding". It was just that I suddenly lost consciousness in a certain second.

At the time, Asakawa Riku thought that, just like when he was besieged by the Inspection Department, some particularly powerful superpowered person had made a move and killed him before he could react.

But is it always like that...? No way.

Although there are people he can't defeat, he can at least control his own death and won't suddenly die without any explanation; that much is certain.

"So... does that mean the trigger condition for time reversal isn't my death?"

Summer of the Crimson Ray: Chapter Forty-Seven - You Alone Are the Only [Reality]

Asakawa Riku sensed that something was wrong.

He originally thought that [death cycle] was the game rule of this instance, but he didn't expect it to be overturned suddenly.

The trigger for time reversal is his death, just like the save/load function in a game. Once a bad ending is reached, the previous save will be automatically loaded.

Or, to give an example, like "Return by Death" in RE0, it's his ability.

However, now Shinonome Suetsuki is reminding him that this might not be related to him personally, but rather the result of external forces...

"Then there's only one possibility left."

Asakawa Riku opened his eyes: "The only beings capable of reversing time are at the level of a [god], and even then, it must be a highly compressed, closed, and constantly evolving [Crimson Ray]."

—It was the stingray that caused the time to reverse!

Although this conclusion is absurd, after careful consideration, Asakawa Riku found that there were no other possibilities.

Time travel is a terrifying superpower. During his third reincarnation, he went to Tokyo and found that Tokyo's time had also rewound to a few days earlier. This shows that this phenomenon is not just happening on this island, but affecting the whole world. If someone with such power is manipulating everything behind the scenes, it is impossible that they have not shown themselves until now.

In Riku Asakawa's opinion, only gods could perform such miracles, so the only object of suspicion was the red stingray.

...But why would that evil god do such a thing?

Every time he was about to be in dire straits and on the verge of death, the time reversal was activated. Isn't that equivalent to saving him?

Did the Red Ray intend to trap him in an endless cycle of despair, slowly tormenting him on this inescapable island?

However, each of Asakawa Riku's previous reincarnations interfered with the core of the island's faith and shook its foundations, which was clearly a fatal threat to the gods.