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Chester bolted upright as he awakened, sending himself tumbling headfirst onto the hardwood floor.
"Argh!" He groaned in pain, clutching his bruised chin.
Tilting his head upward, he surveyed his surroundings. It was a space he had grown all too familiar with.
"I'm in my room… no, in the room of that brat named Chester," he muttered, his voice laced with hollow resignation.
Pushing himself up while nursing his throbbing chin, he began tidying his appearance, fully expecting his father to bellow from beyond the door, urging him to hurry off to the academy.
Gazing into the mirror, Chester could only accept the physical vessel he had been forced to inherit.
Yet, a lingering disquiet plagued his thoughts, a persistent haze centered entirely around the moment he had shared with Alise by the lake just moments ago.
"Strange. I was clearly at the lake a second ago. How on earth did I end up back here?"
Chester rose and scratched his head, scanning the room in utter bewilderment. He replayed the scene by the lake in his mind, where he had been standing alongside Alise.
"Right… Alise was there too. And she… didn't hate me," Chester softly whispered, staring at his reflection. It was a form deeply reviled by himself, by Akira, and by everyone else in this world.
"What is the meaning of all this? I don't understand. A world that suddenly loops back on itself… and Alise's demeanor toward me, toward *Chester Kerl*, being so drastically antithetical to who she's supposed to be," Chester murmured, attempting to dissect the surreal events that had just unfolded.
"What is going on, Chester? You're still in there, aren't you? Please, answer me. I'm completely lost right now," the soul within him; Akira, was utterly consumed by confusion.
Silence. No voice echoed back; no answers came to relieve his query. Only a suffocating despair enveloped his heart.
Every occurrence seemed to pass him by like a phantom, leaving behind no decipherable truth.
"Why bring me to this world, inside the body of someone I detest so deeply and could never comprehend?" Akira felt profoundly hollow in the deepest recesses of his spirit. The situation had left him entirely adrift.
Still, no answer followed.
"Damn it!" Chester slammed his fist violently against the tiled wall in sheer frustration. His chest heaved with ragged breaths before his posture withered. He lowered his head, concealing half his face in his hand.
Bewildered. There were far too many things that he; Akira, did not know about Chester and this world.
A character meticulously engineered to be despised. That much was certain.
Chester Kerl was notorious for tormenting Alise and harassing everyone else in this realm. That was his sole function. He contributed nothing of substance to the narrative, offered nothing to the readers, and provided no solace to Akira himself.
Yet all of this stemmed from the fact that Chester Kerl's backstory was completely shrouded in mystery; even his true power remained an enigma right up to the novel's conclusion. He existed purely as an irredeemable nuisance. Furthermore, Akira had never possessed the slightest desire to unearth Chester's past, harboring a disdain for him that mirrored the sheer disgust Alise was written to feel toward him.
"Was Chester actually enduring all of this? These hauntingly vivid dreams?" he mused aloud, still trapped in a labyrinth of confusion.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Suddenly, sharp, heavy knocks rattled the door.
"Are you alright in there, Chester?" a deep, anxious male voice called out from the other side.
Chester flinched, snapping his gaze toward the door.
"Ah… I'm fine!" Chester called back hastily, stepping toward the washroom to splash cold water on his face.
"Huh?"
------
Just like the mornings that had preceded it, Chester crossed paths with the three female students who would mark the turning point from this moment forth.
Before they could utter a word, Chester took the initiative to greet them.
"Yo, how are we doing today, fair ladies?" Chester drawled with a playfully teasing cadence.
Contrary to the pages of the novel he had read, Alise immediately lowered her head, her gaze sweeping toward the ground. Liane followed suit, averting her eyes. Marcia, who stood between them, displayed nothing but unadulterated disgust.
"How sickening," Marcia sneered, curling her lip in contempt.
With a nonchalant wave, Chester brushed past them, striding toward the academy building with a singular, unwavering resolve: he would unravel the anomaly plaguing his existence so that he might finally glimpse tomorrow, never again forced to relive the same agonizing day.
Inside the classroom, Chester spent the hours lost in thought, occasionally feigning sleep to maintain the facade of his original character, a lazy, delinquent student.
The chime of the bell reverberated through the halls, signaling the commencement of lunch break.
Having memorized the script of the previous loop, Chester immediately dashed toward the lake. However, the path diverged slightly this time, as he did not run into Alex, the primary protagonist, likely because he had bypassed his locker altogether.
Upon arriving at the lake, Chester leaned against the trunk of a sprawling oak tree, his eyes fixed intently on the far edge of the water, eagerly awaiting the appearance of the blonde-haired heroine.
"Hey, Chester!" A soft, somewhat flat voice called out unexpectedly, startling him out of his reverie.
He snapped his head toward the sound and found Liane gazing at him with a gentle smile, leaving Chester momentarily dumbfounded. In her hands, she carried a neatly wrapped bento box.
"Oh… Liane," Chester replied, adopting a relaxed tone. He strove to master his inner turmoil, terrified that a wrong reaction might condemn him to the same fatal end as the prior loop.
Noticing the faint strain underlying his voice, Liane tilted her head with an endearing curiosity. "Are you okay?" Her tone was laced with an undeniable tenderness.
Gulp.
Woah, woah, hold on… Is Liane like this too? Damn it, I almost broke character.
Chester stood frozen, staring blankly at Liane as he struggled to process this startling revelation regarding his relationships with the people around him.
Flustered by his unblinking, intense gaze, a delicate blush crept up Liane's cheeks. "Don't stare at me like that," she murmured bashfully. She thrust the bento box toward him while turning her head away, desperately attempting to conceal her flustered expression.
Snapping out of his daze, Chester scratched his head awkwardness. He caught sight of her flushed cheeks even as she steadfastly looked the other way.
Glancing down at the bento box in his hands, his mind suddenly flashed back to the meal left inside his locker.
Wait, I had a bento in my locker too… Who was that from? Alise?
After a fleeting moment of reflection, Chester raised his eyes back to Liane.
"I think Alise left one for me too, but I forgot it in my locker… So—" Before he could finish his sentence, Liane cut him off, shoving the bento box directly against his stomach while puffing out one cheek in pouting jealousy.
"Eat mine first," she demanded, shooting him a sharp, possessive glare.
"Err… hahaha," Chester let out a dry, nervous chuckle, accepting the offered meal.
Liane sat beside Chester, fixing her eyes on him in complete silence, her expectant expression suggesting she was waiting for something.
Choosing to brush it aside, Chester unwrapped the bento box.
"Whoa!"
Clasping his hands together, he uttered a quiet *"Itadakimasu"* before diving into the food with refined manners.
"This is delicious!"
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it. Even though you're always showering my cooking with compliments, it still makes me so happy to bring a smile to your face," Liane murmured softly. A tender smile blossomed across her lips, a sight so breathtaking that even a single glance was enough to leave a lasting warmth in Chester's heart.
This very girl, who had always been depicted as the epitome of cold indifference within the novel, now wore a sweet, radiant smile right before his eyes. She was fundamentally different from the character he thought he knew. He had devoured every piece of lore regarding Liane on the wiki, yet not a single entry had ever described the side of her he was witnessing right now.
I can't help but wonder… was there a side to Chester that was never written into the novel either? What was he truly like? And this looping ability… did it truly originate from him?
"You know… when the lives of the people I cherished were ripped away, I nearly lost all hope. I kept thinking, 'What is the point of going on if they aren't here to see me reach my dreams?' Sometimes, I think fate is unnecessarily cruel. I tried to help, I tried to prevent it… I tried everything. But… fate remained unyielding. And in that dark moment, I finally understood why my parents abandoned me in the slums. I… I was utterly broken," Liane's voice drifted lower, her face a canvas of conflicting, heavy emotions.
Chester paused mid-bite, his full attention captivated by her words.
"Oh… I'm sorry. It seems I've ruined your appetite," Liane offered a faint, apologetic smile, feeling as though her heavy past had intruded upon his peaceful moment.
"Ah, don't be. I actually prefer listening to your story," Chester reassured her. He wasn't merely trying to break the tension; he genuinely sought to grasp the deeper lore surrounding the girl at his side.
"Just eat for now. I'll tell you more another time when we have a chance," Liane said before excusing herself to use the restroom.
Chester watched silently as her figure retreated, disappearing beyond the crest of the rolling hill.
"Did I ruin the mood?" Chester whispered to himself, letting out a soft sigh before lifting another spoonful of food to his mouth.
Chester chewed the remaining food in his mouth, his thoughts a chaotic tangled web. The exquisite flavor of Liane's cooking, which he should have been enjoying, was now overshadowed by a torrential wave of questions weighing heavily on his soul. Every word that had escaped Liane's lips was no mere idle chatter, it was a poignant fragment of a backstory that had never graced the printed pages of the novel he read.
Before he could even draw a proper breath, the crisp rustle of faint footsteps stepping upon dry leaves atop the grassy hill shattered the silence. Chester lifted his eyes.
Standing a short distance from the oak tree was a girl whose golden-blonde hair caught the shimmering hues of the afternoon sun. Alise. She stood there with her fingers nervously interwoven against her skirt, fixing her striking, crystal-blue eyes upon Chester, a gaze swimming with an ocean of unspoken queries.
"Chester," Alise called out. Her voice bore neither the haughty arrogance nor the disdainful disgust that was supposed to define her character. Instead, it carried an awkward, yet strikingly genuine, intimacy.
"Alise," Chester set Liane's bento box aside, striving to maintain an air of nonchalance even as his heart hammered against his ribs.
Closing the distance, Alise gracefully settled onto the grass beside him. She maintained a modest space between them, yet close enough for Chester to catch the delicate, sweet fragrance of wild roses drifting from her presence. Her gaze lingered intently on the bento box resting at his side.
"Did you… not eat the meal I put in your locker?" Alise asked softly. There was no heat in her voice, only a subtle flick of curiosity laced with unmistakable concern. "I… I woke up early to make that for you. You're always complaining about how lazy you are to buy lunch during break."
Chester froze for a beat. The food had indeed been there, but he had completely overlooked it, swept away by the storm of his own existential turmoil.
"Ah, that…" Chester rubbed the back of his neck, offering a sheepish grin. "I ended up leaving it in the locker. Liane happened to drop by earlier and shared hers with me first. I was planning on eating yours later this afternoon, or maybe taking it home."
Alise let out a soft, barely audible sigh, though the tension in her posture melted away as a gentle smile touched her lips. "Well, as long as it wasn't intentional. I just thought you left it behind because you disliked what I cooked today. Next time, pay a little more attention to your own locker. Stop staring blankly into space during class."
Chester offered a firm nod, keeping his eyes locked onto hers. "Why make it yourself though? Why not just ask Liane to do it?"
Alise shook her head softly, a faint, elusive smile gracing her lips, one so subtle it would have easily slipped past notice had Chester not been watching her so intently. "You really are strange today. You should know why by now."
Chester knitted his brows, pointing a finger at his own chest in silent protest at being labeled 'strange.'
For a long while, the two of them simply sat together beneath the shade of the ancient oak, bathed in the cool breeze sweeping across the lake's edge, a tranquil, deeply intimate moment carved out of time, as though the world around them was not bound to a wheel of bloody fate.
***
The school day at Fantasia Academy finally drew to a close as the western sky was painted in deep shades of crimson and amber. Chester stepped beyond the academy gates and began his long, solitary walk back to the Kerl estate. The journey elapsed in heavy silence. The grand, opulent mansion greeted his return with a solemn stillness; his father was nowhere to be seen, having departed for a neighboring city to attend an emergency summit at the Town Hall.
"Welcome home, Young Master Chester," greeted an elderly butler who was already waiting attentively at the grand entrance. He bowed respectfully, awaiting commands.
Chester observed the old servant. As Akira, being served with such obsequious deference felt profoundly unnatural. Yet, knowing that Chester Kerl was supposed to be a brash and arrogant youth, he tilted his chin upward, donning a cold, detached mask to preserve his cover.
"Prepare a hot bath for me. After that, have my dinner delivered straight to my room. I don't want to be disturbed tonight," Chester ordered, his voice deliberately firm and laced with a sharp edge.
"Understood, Young Master. Everything shall be arranged at once," the butler replied dutifully, showing not a single trace of offense. He merely cast a fleeting glance at his young master before hastening away to fulfill the task.
Having washed away the day's grime and finished his meal, Chester lay sprawled across his luxurious bed. The room, dimly illuminated by the flickering dance of candlelight, stood witness to his long, weary sighs. Akira's mind refused to rest.
Alise's behavior… Liane's attitude… none of it aligns with the novel. If Chester Kerl was truly a pariah meant to be loathed, why do the two of them treat me as though I'm the most precious person in their lives? And above all… I survived today. I didn't die in that alleyway.
That night, Chester drifted into sleep with a fragile flame of hope burning within his chest—a hope that tomorrow would usher in a brand-new timeline, a piece of fate he had yet to touch.
***
The following morning, harsh rays of sunlight pierced through the curtains, forcing Chester to squint. As his eyes adjusted and he realized his surroundings remained unchanged, that yesterday had successfully slipped into memory and today was indeed a brand-new day, a faint, rare smile finally broke across his face.
"I… I actually made it to the next day," he whispered under his breath, a wave of relief washing over him.
He sprang out of bed, dressed with frantic speed, and donned his academy uniform. Though his heart leaped with joy at having severed the agonizing cycle of the loop, he dutifully maintained his external facade as the lazy, troublesome Chester the moment his boots stepped onto the academy grounds.
Yet, that brief spark of joy was crushed into ash, proving that fate was nothing if not a cruel puppeteer.
The moment he crossed the threshold of his classroom, the usually boisterous atmosphere vanished, replaced by a suffocating, grim tension. Clustered in the corners of the room, several students were whispering in hushed, panicked tones, their faces drained of color. Chester's brow furrowed as he walked toward his desk, their hushed chatter inadvertently catching his sharp ears.
"…did you hear? The murder case over at Fert City yesterday afternoon…"
"…two students from our class… their bodies were found dumped in an alley…"
"Alise Antoinette and Liane Fernandez… they're both dead…"
BOOM!
Chester's world shattered instantly into a million jagged pieces. A deafening ringing roared in his ears. His vision swayed violently, and an unbearable tightness seized his chest, suffocating him.
Alise? Liane? Dead?
Oblivious to the startled glances thrown his way, Chester spun around and sprinted out of the room like a madman, bolting toward the academy's washroom. He slammed the stall door shut, locked it frantically, and collapsed hard against the cold wall.
"No… This can't be… WHY?!" Chester clawed violently at his own hair, his breathing coming in ragged, erratic gasps as sheer despair clawed at his soul.
Tears burst from his eyes, unbidden and unstoppable. Akira sobbed uncontrollably in the dim solitude of the stall. He had naively believed he had saved the day by stepping into tomorrow, but the reality was far more sinister, he had merely traded places with them. Because he hadn't gone to that cursed alley yesterday afternoon, Alise and Liane had gone in his stead. They had ventured into the darkness only to be slaughtered without a shred of mercy.
"Because of me… This is all my fault!" he groaned through gritted teeth, slamming his fist against the wall until his knuckles bruised and bled.
He collapsed onto the seat, utterly drained, burying his face in his trembling hands.
Images of yesterday flashed vividly through his mind, how warm, gentle, and affectionately close they had been with him. He remembered the smiles they had gifted him. Smiles that were undeniably genuine, pure, and radiant.
Out of that agonizing guilt, a dark, unbreakable resolve ignited within the depths of his spirit.
"I will save you both. I won't let you die!" Chester swore fiercely, clutching tightly to the memories of yesterday's warmth.
Wiping away his tears, he splashed cold water onto his face and stepped out of the washroom, his eyes gleaming with a lethal mix of vengeance and cold, calculated strategy.
"I'll drag myself through hell if I have to," Chester vowed silently, the phantom agony of being brutally shredded by the killer echoing in his nerves.
The moment classes concluded for the day, Chester squandered no time. Ignoring his usual route, he bolted past the academy gates at full speed, his legs carrying him relentlessly through the winding streets of Fert City until he arrived at the mouth of the dark, stone-walled alleyway, the exact site where his life had previously been snuffed out.
Chester stepped into the gloom with calculated caution. His footsteps were slow, every muscle coiled in a low, battle-ready stance. Every sense was dialed to its absolute limit, analyzing the high stone walls and the shadowed blind spots surrounding him.
Squelch!
A flash of a cold blade plummeted at terrifying speed from an overhead shadow, aiming straight for Chester's neck!
ZAP!
Having anticipated the ambush, Chester threw his body sideways, dodging the lethal strike by a hair's breadth. He hit the cobbles, rolled smoothly, and bounded back to his feet, instantly creating distance.
A heavily built man leaped down from a low overhang, landing with terrifying grace right in front of Chester. Dressed in pitch-black attire, a jagged scar slashed across his left eye. Clutched tightly between his fingers was a curved karambit blade, its polished steel gleaming wickedly in the dim light.
The man tilted his head, his eyes widening in a mix of psychotic madness and sheer disbelief.
"Kikiki… Impressive. How does a pathetic brat like you dodge my ambush? It's almost like you knew I was waiting up there," the man rasped, his voice dripping with sinister malice.
Chester stood his ground, his sharp gaze cutting straight into the assassin's eyes. He displayed not a single shred of fear; instead, a chilling aura radiated from his posture.
"Answer me one thing," Chester demanded, his voice flat, heavy, and devoid of warmth. "Yesterday… did two girls come through this alley?"
The question caught the scarred killer off guard for a split second before his torn lips curled into a wide, grotesque grin. Throwing his head back, he unleashed a fit of hysterical, echoing laughter that rattled against the alley walls.
"HA! HAHAHA! Two girls?! Ahhh… the blonde one and the girl with the chains?! YES! THEY CAME! And the sheer quality of their screams as I dismantled their bodies piece by piece… IT WAS MAGNIFICENT! HAHAHA!"
That laughter acted as the spark that set Chester's dormant fury ablaze. The veins along his neck bulged, his teeth grinding together so hard they threatened to shatter.
"You bastard!" Chester roared, dropping into a low combat stance as earth magic hummed aggressively beneath the soles of his boots.
The assassin's laughter died instantly. He sneered at Chester with a look of supreme disdain. "You think yelling will bring help? You're an idiot, kid. This entire alley is sealed beneath an isolation barrier. Nobody on the outside can see, hear, or ever know you're trapped in here with me!"
Before the final word even fully left his lips, the assassin vanished into thin air!
Fast!
First step, the killer materialized directly in Chester's blind spot. Before Chester could even command the earth magic beneath him, the cold bite of the karambit sank deep into his abdomen!
"Ugh!" Chester spat a mouthful of crimson blood.
Second step, a brutal, heavy kick slammed directly into Chester's chest, shattering his ribs and smashing his body violently against the alley's stone wall. Before he could slide to the ground, the killer closed in, pinning him mercilessly.
Third step, the curved blade was driven in and dragged horizontally, slicing through skin, flesh, and muscle with sickening, unbridled cruelty!
"ARGHHHHH!" Chester's bloodcurdling shriek of agony echoed uselessly within the soundproof barrier.
"Kikiki! Weak! Pathetically weak! You came here just to die!" the killer cackled insanely, slashing and tearing into Chester's torso without pause, spraying hot crimson across the cold stone walls.
Chester's vision began to blur, the light in his eyes dimming rapidly as his own blood washed over his face. Yet, amid the blinding pain burning through every nerve in his body, a single, unrelenting thought burned in Akira's mind before the darkness claimed him once more.
'You are the one... who will die later...'
Chester Kerl's world dissolved into absolute blackness as the cold grip of death claimed his soul once again.