Future Diary Survival Game

Chapter 172 : Unknown Identity - 1

The Diary Book answered lightly.[Yes. One moment.]

[Searching the Future Diary using the Search function to determine whether there is a Quest that awards 50,000 Points.]

[Points Consumed: 100]

[Remaining Points: 3,305]

The Diary Book flipped through its pages in a blur.

The next moment, my vision brightened.

It was thanks to the Observer Perspective function I had unlocked previously.

In my altered vision were “Mason” and the others.

The location was the same as where I currently was—Berseum's house.

The Aina in the vision let out a long yawn.

“Yaaawn.”

“A fly's going to fly into your mouth.”

“Don't joke about that, even as a joke. It reminds me of that bastard Odline.”

At those words, the others snickered.

Sienne spoke.

“Odline... and Edgar. The fact that both of them have been so quiet only makes me more anxious.”

“Indeed. Let's see... it's been over four months since we came back after making Drod and Odline fight each other, hasn't it?”

At those words, I tilted my head.

'Over four months have passed?'

That meant this diary was from four months in the future.

Strange.

I felt an odd sense of discomfort that I couldn't quite identify.

While I was wondering what it was, the Armelia in the vision answered it for me.

“Edgar and Odline are one thing, but what I find even stranger is that the next game still hasn't begun.”

“Ah, right. It should've been time for the Tenth Quest.”

“Exactly. We've never had such a long gap between games before. It's almost as if...”

Just then—

Whoosh.

My vision changed.

Apparently, the same thing happened to the companions inside the vision.

They looked around in confusion.

Soon, after understanding what had happened, Karin grumbled.

“They say words have power. Hey, you started talking about the game, and now it began immediately.”

“How is that my fault?”

“By the way, what were you about to say earlier? You got cut off.”

“Hm. Well, now that the next game has started, it doesn't really matter anymore.”

Armelia scratched her cheek before continuing.

“I was going to say... it felt as though we'd skipped an entire game.”

“You got it exactly right!”

Magireta's voice suddenly echoed.

“Mason” and the others in the vision looked up at her.

Grinning in midair, Magireta snapped her fingers.

Snap.

As always, the board appeared.

The moment I read it, I felt as though my heart had leaped out of my chest.

The very first line read:

-Eleventh Quest.

What?

What in the world was going on?

The “Mason” in the vision spoke.

“Wait a moment, Sister.”

“Mhm. I knew my little brother would object.”

“The Eleventh Quest? We're supposed to be doing the Tenth Quest.”

“The Tenth Quest already ended.”

Sienne immediately cut in with an incredulous expression.

“So you've finally gone senile.”

“Am I you?”

“……”

Instead of the Sienne who was about to draw her sword with a metallic clang, Benjamin spoke.

“When exactly did the Tenth Quest end? We never even participated in the Tenth Quest.”

“You did. You just didn't realize it.”

“……”

“Well, does it really matter? All of you safely cleared the Tenth Quest. Although...”

She shrugged.

“A whole bunch of ordinary Participants were Eliminated.”

“……”

“There aren't even a handful of Participants left now. I never imagined that so many would be Eliminated. In the remaining games, I think Participants will start overlapping quite often.”

“……”

“Alright, alright. Enough pointless chatter. Let's officially begin the Eleventh Quest.”

The group was bewildered, but they quickly regained their composure and turned toward the board.

The “Mason” inside the diary didn't.

He... no, “Mason,” hurriedly called out.

“Wait! Then at least answer this.”

“Sigh. What is it?”

“What was the first-place prize in the Tenth Quest? No... no. You probably can't tell me that. Let me ask something else.”

“……”

“Was there even a first-place winner in the Tenth Quest?”

It was such a brilliant question that even my ears perked up.

Magireta remained silent for a moment as she quietly looked at me.

A strange smile rested on her lips.

“There was.”

“Then Edgar must've taken first place.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because none of my companions received a first-place reward. And I can't imagine any ordinary Participant besides us or Edgar winning first place.”

“Isn't that awfully arrogant?”

“Mason” ignored her and continued.

“Setting the first-place reward aside, why didn't you give us the gold coins you always award after clearing a Quest?”

“……”

“Did the Tenth Quest really exist?”

“Yes. It certainly did. But, little brother, you didn't even know you were inside a game. You didn't even realize you'd cleared it. So why should I have given you any gold coins?”

She shook her head.

“Enough idle chatter. The Tenth Quest is already over. Don't cling to a game that's already finished.”

“……”

“Now then, back to the matter at hand... Look at the board.”

Everyone turned toward the board for the Eleventh Quest.

But I wasn't interested in it.

Instead, I folded my arms and continued thinking.

[You're not going to look? At the board?]

'I can check the contents of the Eleventh Quest whenever I want later. That's not what's important right now.'

[Huh?]

'The mysterious Tenth Quest is far more important.'

[Does it matter? Whatever the Tenth Quest was, the future where all of you cleared it has already been decided.]

'Did you already forget what search parameter we used for this diary?'

[Ah.]

A clue to earning 50,000 Points.

That was the purpose of this search.

In other words, it meant it was possible to earn 50,000 Points in the missing Tenth Quest.

'Magireta said it herself. A huge number of ordinary Participants were Eliminated during the Tenth Quest.'

[She did.]

'If I can figure out what the Tenth Quest was, and somehow save the majority of those ordinary Participants...'

Then I might get close to 50,000 Points.

Honestly, without knowing how many Participants remained, it still felt incredibly far away.

Even so, compared to before, it felt like I could finally see a faint path forward.

While I was occupied with those thoughts, the Observer Perspective disappeared.

When I returned to reality and looked up, everyone was staring at me.

Aina spoke.

“Hurry up. You saw the future, didn't you?”

“Don't talk about someone else's mysterious ability as casually as asking whether this morning's eggs were soft-boiled or hard-boiled.”

“So what future did you see?”

“The Tenth Quest.”

Everyone nodded as though it were obvious.

Stroking his mustache, Berseum spoke.

“That makes sense. Now that the commotion in Hell has settled down, the most urgent matter would naturally be information about the next Quest.”

“……”

“So then, what was the title of the Tenth Quest?”

“I don't know.”

Everyone tilted their heads.

Scratching my head, I continued.

“It's not just the title I don't know. I don't know the rules at all either.”

“...That's troubling.”

“No. We all clear the next game. So there's no need to worry about that.”

The expressions on everyone's faces brightened a little.

They chatted among themselves.

“That's a relief. Still, I am curious about what the Tenth Quest was.”

“It probably wasn't very difficult. Even the Princess managed to clear it.”

“Seems that way.”

“...Now you're admitting it so readily.”

“Maybe it was a breather Quest. It's nice to have one like that once in a while.”

“Magireta isn't kind enough to hand out a free Quest.”

I interrupted their conversation.

“We can't dismiss it so lightly. There's something strange about the Tenth Quest.”

“What is it?”

“The board never appeared.”

Everyone's expressions stiffened.

That's right.

The board.

Magireta had always said that a game only began once the board appeared.

In the Future Diary, our party didn't realize the Tenth Quest had begun.

If they'd seen the board, they would've noticed the Quest had started.

Therefore...

“The Tenth Quest is one where the board doesn't appear.”

“That can't be. Magireta emphasized that from the very beginning...”

“Right. Let me rephrase that.”

I corrected myself with a sigh.

“The board definitely appears. There's no way Magireta would tamper with something that fundamental at this point.”

“Then...”

“Exactly.”

I continued without hesitation.

“The board appears. We simply don't notice it.”

Edgar lay asleep at the bottom of the sea.

No.

He was dead.

Immediately after descending into the world, he said to Odline,

“Please move us to the deepest part of the ocean.”

-What? Why?

“Mason hates pointless games of hide-and-seek, so he won't come after me. Both he and I can teleport. But...”

He continued with a sigh.

“There's always the possibility that he might.”

-……

“I want to extinguish any desire he might have to chase me. If I'm at the bottom of the sea, he'll be much less inclined to pursue me.”

-You really are conscious of Mason. Or perhaps... you're afraid of him.

Edgar didn't answer.

In any case, Odline opened a hole in the depths of the ocean as requested.

The instant they arrived there, Edgar died.

Being unable to breathe was the least of the problems.

The unimaginable pressure crushed and destroyed every tissue in his body.

Odline, who was living inside Edgar's stomach, didn't bother reviving him.

It was too much trouble.

'I'll revive him once the next Quest starts. He won't be Eliminated anyway.'

In Magireta's game, “death” and “Elimination” had different meanings.

Of course, every Eliminated Participant died.

But not everyone who died was automatically treated as Eliminated.

'I remember someone like that.'

During the interval between Quests—the so-called rest period—there had been a Celestial who couldn't endure despair and committed suicide.

Magireta didn't immediately mark that Celestial as Eliminated.

Instead, she carefully summoned the corpse to the Quest site, acknowledged him as a Participant, and proceeded with the game.

Naturally, a corpse couldn't play.

After the Quest ended, he was finally classified as Eliminated.

Only then did Magireta send his corpse to Hell.

It was the same principle behind how Mason had once recognized the “dead” Ian as a Participant and built his trick around him.

'Still... damn it. Why did this body end up like this?'

Why in the world had Lady Magireta killed me?

What was wrong with me?

Where else would she find a Monster capable of loving her so deeply and unwaveringly?

Squirming inside Edgar's stomach, Odline muttered,

-Ahh. I miss Lady Magireta.

“I don't miss you.”

Suddenly, Magireta's voice came from outside.

Overjoyed, Odline shouted,

-Lady Magireta! You've come to save me!

“No.”

-Then... did you simply want to see me?

“Stop talking nonsense and revive Edgar.”

-He'll just die again immediately. There's no oxygen here...

“I'll take care of that. Just revive him first.”

Odline did as he was told.

He still wasn't used to it, so it took quite a while.

Before long, Edgar opened his eyes.

“Cough... Gurgle.”

“My.”

Magireta casually waved her hand.

The seawater around Edgar was pushed away, and air filled the space.

Even the crushing water pressure vanished without a trace.

Only then did Edgar finally open his eyes.

“Huff... Gah!”

“Are you awake?”

“Magireta...”

“So you're not calling me Sister anymore. Well, I suppose you've lost quite a bit of your composure.”

Edgar glared at her as though he wanted to stab her to death.

“I couldn't help it. You turned me into a waterwheel.”

“But I was also the one who restored you to human form.”

“……”

“I came because I wanted to talk.”

Edgar's expression turned strange.

“You feel a little different. I see... You're the so-called ‘Broken’ Magireta.”