I was in a very difficult situation.
I had transmigrated into Natsuki Subaru from Re:Zero.
Yes.
That peak isekai.
At first, I thought it would be amazing. It would be like winning the lottery. I could be with Emilia, and as an Emilia fan, it felt like a dream come true.
But… dreams rarely stay dreams.
As someone who had read everything from Arc 1 to Arc 9, and even read the IF routes, I knew far too much. I knew things Subaru Natsuki wasn't supposed to know.
I knew Emilia could be emotionally manipulated.
And if I made sure she became completely dependent on me… then I could essentially create a yandere.
Yes.
I would do it.
Because I wasn't Subaru.
And I never could be Subaru.
But that didn't mean I had to become him.
Subaru Natsuki was something beyond human, even if he was written by a human.
He was a hero.
Truly kind.
He had the qualities to be a friend, a good father, a good brother… all in all, he was humanly perfect.
And I wasn't.
Even though I was human, I wasn't like him.
I had desires.
And they weren't like Subaru's.
Nothing about me was like him—my ideology, my philosophy, my instincts… none of it.
That was why I wasn't going to take the harem route.
Or the yandere route.
Not because I didn't want to…
But because there were problems.
There were disadvantages.
Didn't understand?
Fine.
Let me explain.
If I made Emilia dependent on me too early—earlier than **Arc 4**—then it wouldn't fit **Roswaal's** plan.
And that was the problem.
Because Roswaal L. Mathers wasn't someone you could treat like a normal antagonist.
I could make deals with Roswaal. I could tell him I would leave him alone, and promise him that I would help revive Echidna.
But that idea had too many flaws.
First…
I wasn't Subaru.
I wasn't someone with an indomitable will.
That meant I was a weak target. Someone Roswaal could easily manipulate into thinking everything was under control.
And that was exactly why I didn't want any association with Roswaal.
Or Echidna.
I could also join other camps, like Anastasia's camp, where I could get a solid position using ideas from Earth.
But Roswaal would still exist.
That threat would still be alive.
And Roswaal…
Roswaal was scary.
Many fanfics downplayed him. They wrote him like someone who would lose hope the moment Subaru diverged from canon.
But that wasn't reality.
The situation wouldn't be the same.
It would never be the same.
Understanding one's own capabilities is one of the biggest achievements in life.
And I understood something clearly:
Right now, Roswaal had control of a terrifying force.
He had control of two Great Spirits.
He had Emilia.
He had Rem and Ram.
And many other resources.
They were already one of the kingdom's greatest forces, and that wasn't even counting Roswaal himself.
So what now?
Crusch's camp would meet their end regardless… unless I gave them information.
Or…
I could use this chance to damage both Crusch and Anastasia's camps.
But if I did that, it would give Roswaal a hint.
A hint that someone was helping Emilia's camp from the outside.
And then the whole game would become dangerous.
Arc 3 was designed to put Subaru into a desperate situation.
It was designed to force him to ask for help from other camps, instead of trying to do everything using only Emilia camp's power.
But I wasn't Subaru.
I knew far more than Subaru at that time.
Which meant I could use tactics Subaru never even considered.
If I wanted…
I could let Crusch and Anastasia's camps get defeated first.
Then I could use miasma to lure the White Whale toward Reinhard, or at least toward the capital.
That would force Reinhard to arrive at an absurd pace.
Or he could kill himself to teleport.
Then I could tell him everything about the Sloth encounter—Petelgeuse's fingers, the timing, the hidden cultists, the ambush.
After that, Reinhard would only need to kill himself again to teleport to Emilia's camp.
And then…
I could use the name of Flugel.
I could manipulate the narrative.
Make sure Reinhard got the credit.
Make sure Reinhard became Emilia's knight.
And if Felt was killed by Elsa, then Reinhard would never serve any other royal candidate besides Emilia.
It would trigger a path similar to Pride IF.
But honestly…
It wouldn't matter.
As long as Emilia won the Royal Selection.
…
But that was just imagination.
I wouldn't proceed with that plan.
Not now.
Not yet.
Because it was too unstable.
Too cruel.
And too dependent on the world behaving like a script.
And this world…
was no longer a script.
"If he wants me to play…"
"…then I will play until the end."
With that, I left to sell my cellphone.
I had a plan.
One hour ago—
I had transmigrated into Natsuki Subaru.
The first thought that came to my mind wasn't Emilia.
It wasn't even fear.
It was something else.
Am I in a new IF route?
Or…
Am I in a fanfic?
The answer was obvious.
Most likely, a fanfic.
We hadn't reached a stage where a new IF route could even exist.
Now the question was:
What type of fanfic was I in?
Subaru with a different power instead of Return by Death?
Subaru with some new cheat ability?
Something different entirely?
I didn't know.
Then another thought hit me.
Wait…
What if I tried to figure out which author wrote me?
If I knew the author, I could predict the kind of story I was trapped inside.
The fact that the story began from Arc 1 meant the author wanted a canon divergence from the beginning.
So it wasn't one of those "diverge at Arc 5" type fanfics.
(AN: Different arc canon divergence means everything proceeds normally until a specific arc where Subaru chooses a different option than canon—basically alternate IF route versions.)
I wasn't genderbent.
So it wasn't one of those fanfics where Subaru wakes up in someone else's body.
And it wasn't a route where I had one clear goal like "becoming rich."
Because all I was thinking about right now was girls.
Harem.
Emilia.
Manipulation.
Yeah.
The author was down bad.
This was either a self-insert…
Or a self-reflection.
The latter was more believable.
And since I hadn't discovered any new ability yet, that meant only one thing:
The author wanted to write how the story would change if a Re:Zero fan who had read everything was inside Subaru.
Tsk.
Such a simple plot.
If the author was famous, this would've been more complicated.
Which meant the author was probably some random person.
Then the question became:
Who?
And then a name appeared in my mind.
A person who loved taking simple ideas and turning them into "slightly different" stories.
Eeread.
Of course it had to be him.
That meant I was either in one of the simplest harem stories…
Or one of the worst possible versions.
And judging by how simple my thoughts were…
It was definitely the latter.
From what I knew:
First, he loved harem plots.
Second, he always wanted to make Subaru stronger.
Which meant I probably had something.
A cheat.
An ability.
But of course…
I would have to find it first.
Present—
I most likely had Return by Death.
Because I would die easily.
That meant my first goal in the first loop was simple:
Leave the Royal Capital.
Find the ability.
Then restart from zero.
But even before that…
I needed a way to die peacefully.
Subaru could probably commit suicide.
He could probably throw his life away for the sake of others.
But I wasn't like that.
I was scared.
Terrified.
If I had to die, I wanted it to be instant.
Not frozen to death.
Not stabbed through the gut.
Not disemboweled.
Not tortured.
Poison was an option.
But even poison hurt.
And suicide was hard when you knew you were going to die, even if it wasn't permanent.
Then…
The Witch of Envy.
If I broke the taboo, she would kill me.
Or maybe she would just warn me.
But…
I couldn't take chances.
Wait.
I had already made a mistake.
If the Witch of Envy saw me and realized I wasn't Subaru…
Then it would be the end.
But if she was going to kill me for not being Subaru…
She would've already done so.
Which meant…
What?
Was I Subaru?
No.
I wasn't.
Then what was I?
A theory appeared in my mind.
What if Subaru wasn't Flugel…
but a reincarnation?
Satella was probably in love with Flugel.
Flugel died.
Then, after 400 years…
Subaru was born as the reincarnation of Flugel's soul.
One could argue that would make Subaru "Flugel."
But I didn't think so.
They were different.
Or maybe…
they weren't.
If Subaru's friends were about to die, he would sacrifice himself.
Maybe that was what Flugel did too.
Maybe that was why he left Shaula in the Watchtower.
Because there was no other option.
Because he couldn't save her.
…
I got sidetracked.
But if Subaru was Flugel's reincarnation…
Then what was I?
A different reincarnation?
But then what happened to Subaru?
And if Subaru was reincarnated…
How was he born before I even died?
How was I here?
Ahh…
It was too confusing.
The mystery of Re:Zero only grew deeper in my eyes.
---
Satella teleported Subaru here.
She gave him Return by Death either when he said—
"I will save you, Satella."
Or somewhere during the teleportation itself, since Subaru mentioned losing his memories during that gap.
Then there was the whole "sage candidate" thing.
Whatever the hell that even meant.
The questions were never-ending.
And yet…
I had been given a chance to explore them.
That was the fate of an imaginary character.
Truly a cruel blessing.
…
I left the capital.
I had obtained 34 Holy Gold Coins.
I wouldn't need to earn money for days.
Though I might if research became expensive.
I could always get my cellphone back.
Unlike Subaru, I didn't need to give it up permanently.
If I ever succeeded in creating electricity and learned how to produce electromagnetic waves…
I could mass-produce cellphones.
And then I could work with someone, make huge profits…
…and after seeing the future, I could kill myself.
Reset.
And take all the profits for myself next time.
But there was one thing I hated.
Checkpoints.
The fact that checkpoints were controlled by Satella.
Satella could possibly see the future, and make sure Subaru never got into a truly desperate situation.
If I could control checkpoints, it would be overpowered.
But I didn't need to control them.
I only wanted them to stay fixed in one place.
Unlike Subaru, I wouldn't care about losing progress.
Instead, I wanted my progress erased.
So I could do it better next time.
Arc 1's checkpoint, in my opinion, was the safest.
If I ever faced an enemy too powerful—like my miasma attracting a powerful mabeast, or Pandora teleporting a Sin Archbishop against me—
I could at least use Reinhard.
And if a truly desperate situation still came…
Then Puck.
The Divine Dragon Volcanica, maybe.
And even Satella herself could be summoned.
If none of that worked…
Then I would rather go insane.
Or live in the Shadow Garden.
A person can't stay insane forever.
Not as long as they're provided information.
…
…
79 years later—
I couldn't find any secret ability.
I tried everything I could.
Maybe the secret ability would only be given after I died.
Sadly…
I couldn't achieve anything great in this loop.
My time was ending soon.
But I was worried about one thing.
In all these 79 years, Sphinx, who should've destroyed the whole world…
did nothing.
It was like Sloth IF.
Like Subaru had lived peacefully.
Was Subaru the trigger for the great disasters?
Maybe it only happened because Echidna failed to make a contract with Subaru.
Since in Greed IF, that situation didn't occur…
Ahhh.
Why did Tappei always keep IF stories so short?
Echidna's plans ran deep.
And why did I feel like Roswaal had been following secondary plans this entire time?
As if he already had a script prepared in case Subaru diverged.
Echidna knew too much.
She knew Satella wouldn't change my checkpoint.
And even if Satella did…
I was sure Echidna had already prepared for it too.
She wouldn't be the Witch of Greed if she hadn't planned for it.
I became more wary as time passed.
Because none of the canon events happened.
None.
Emilia didn't die at the loot house.
Felt was still discovered as the fifth royal candidate.
The White Whale and the Sin Archbishop of Sloth were defeated by the four-camp alliance.
Priscilla made Vollachia sign a peace treaty with Lugunica.
The Great Spirit of Yin made a contract with the "Knight of Knights"…
Julius Juukulius.
All five camps defended the attack on Priestella, and they even conquered the Pleiades Watchtower.
The Royal Selection was stopped because Felt was discovered as the missing princess.
Emilia became the ruler of Elior Forest after saving everyone there…
I didn't even know how.
Anastasia became the richest merchant alive, and also led the world into a new era with the help of Priscilla's knight, Al.
Crusch became famous after defeating the Black Serpent and defeating two Sin Archbishops of Gluttony.
Every Sin Archbishop was either captured or killed…
Except Capella Emerada Lugunica and Regulus Corneas.
Those two were still alive.
I stared at the stars.
My time was close.
But…
I didn't have regrets.
It was exciting.
I had thought my journey wouldn't be hard. That with my knowledge, I could live however I wanted.
But everything changed anyway.
I laughed like a madman.
So many possibilities.
So many questions.
It was exciting.
Truly exciting.
And just before dying, I looked at the night sky one last time, muttering familiar words—
"The road to the future will be interesting."
END OF ARC 0
THE BEGINNING THAT NO ONE EXPECTED