Chapter Text
During the expedition to the Pleiades Watchtower, the black-haired boy named Subaru targeted the barrage of deadly light as they struggled to retreat away from the tower’s vicinity. However, as the constant attacks are getting faster, Subaru and his contracted great spirit, Beatrice, were forced to use one of his trump cards, a magic spell that can invalidate and negate the incoming attacks.
The combined efforts of Subaru and Beatrice's magic created a spherical field capable of stopping the incoming attacks, freezing them mid-air, and escaping the danger’s grasp. As they tried to retreat away from the tower, they all saw that the world around them was broken apart due to the magic the duo created.
Subaru: “Not good… Emilia!?”
Emilia: “Subaru”
Subaru screamed as he was flung into the blackness, and gravity's grip was broken.
While in the air, Subaru desperately looked over the floating members, their current position was shown in his eyes. In a stroke of luck, the group gathered in one place, and they were all swallowed by the space distortion.
Before losing consciousness, his remaining thoughts played out in a flash, an act of desperation to piece out the solution to the current problem. But as he tried to gather every last detail in his memory, he didn’t find any, as he accepted the results of his misjudgment.
Subaru: "Shit, this is not good... There is a chance we will all die from where it would take all of us.”
This magic was familiar to him as he encountered it with Beatrice many times during his failed loops. He didn’t know what would happen afterwards because it was the first time he had been swallowed by the space distortion.
Subaru: “I wouldn’t like that to happen…If it happens, I have no choice but to forcefully return from my previous checkpoint if it happens damn it!"
The checkpoint was only minutes from danger, and he would have to deal with the Courtesan Bears and the light attacks all over again. Subaru inwardly cursed himself for his carelessness, for that matter. He will just have to do better next time and make countermeasures as soon as possible.
This was the last thought that was recalled as he accepted his death into the hands of this cruel world.
Little did he know, his fate would be decided by the other world that changed the verdict of what the cruel world had judged.
As the entirety of the group was simultaneously sucked into the broken space, a sudden voice rang out across the vast lands of sands.
???: "Master, please come back.... don't leave me again like last time, Masterrrrr!"
The tone of a grieving lady echoed her feelings towards the unfairness of the circumstances given by the world. As the silence was returned to its normal state, the lives who challenged the tower have written its conclusion.
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As his consciousness drifted into nothingness, he heard various voices from the black mist.
???: "Hahahahahaha, your lack of diligence along with your mistakes paid the price with the expense of the lives you carry. You didn't account for the possible dangers that caused harm to your friends and allies with your negligence. AHHHHHH, you are truly a SLOTHFUL person."
The maniacal voice he hated to hear was full of mockery toward him. He tried to find the source of the voice, but it was interrupted by the other voice that stung him the same as the first owner of the voice.
???: "Your greed has no bounds, have you not learned from your previous mistakes from that greed that will continue to hide its true nature from others. That sense of selfishness violated my rights to continue to live peacefully! That swine doesn't deserve to have such sweet indulgences and special treatment from the witch. Such a fraud and nasty person should not exist and should not be allowed the right to live.
He cannot recall half of the words the man has said, and yet his soul is filled with annoyance as he cannot remember the owner of the voice in his mind. He continued to look out amidst the looming darkness, longing for someone, until he heard a voice that granted joy to his poor soul.
???: "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you."
He heard her voice that filled his mind with immense happiness, yet the tone of the voice was full of sadness and sorrow. He wondered why the voice felt immense pain and sadness.
He wanted to comfort the person, and he tried to reach his hand to the voice in an act of consolation, and the owner of the voice extended her hands to intertwine them with each other. As both of their hands approached, he only needed a little push to be able to interlock their hands. He tried his hardest to reach it and immense effort to get closer but then he realized that he was slowly drifting away as both of them were unable to lock their hands tightly.
???: "Wait, p-please don't go."
As he heard her voice tinged with sadness and grief, he despaired and cursed the one who made her feel like this. The distance between the two gradually increased, the shadowy hands stretched out to forcefully take the person she desired, but it was already too late.
???: "No matter what, I will always find you and hold your hands again."
He didn't know whether that was his or her voice, but the tone was full of determination that would shake the world apart if physically manifested. As he knew that this was not the last time they would meet again, he would await their next reunion in this void full of darkness as it slowly broke apart, making his thoughts go completely blank, snatching away the light he couldn't grasp.
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Natsuki Subaru joined the game.
Emilia joined the game.
Beatrice joined the game.
Rem joined the game.
Ram joined the game.
Julius Euclius joined the game
Anastasia Hoshin joined the game
Eridna joined the game.
He hoped that all of them were transported somewhere safe away from danger, and he was remembering the past events as they played in his head. He blamed himself for dragging all of his group into more danger due to his mistake. He speculated that his mistake was using one of his trump cards, which had caused a malfunction or a glitch in the Sand Time.
He could’ve seen it coming and expected it with the use of the Return by Death ability, but it was not the time to blame himself, as all of his loved ones' lives are on the line. He cleared out his thoughts and focused on ensuring the lives of others.
He didn't want to die, nor did he want all of his companions to die. He preferred to die first because he never wanted to see them hurt by his mistakes, and not let their deaths set in stone.
Would someone hear his dear wish? The only way to know is to open his eyes and prepare for the sight that he would see.
He opened his eyes as the sudden light blinded his sight. He took a closer look at the view in front of him. He saw a vast sea of clouds and bright blue sky, but something was different.
The clouds he was seeing were not as he expected. The cloud was made up of the shape of cubes, like blocks from a Lego set, as these cubes piled up on each other to form a cloud-like figure. The hue of the sky was different from what he saw in Lugunica or even in his hometown, Japan. The sun that shone brightly in his eyes had a different shape than he knew. The shape it pertained to is a square, which is very strange.
As he was looking directly at the sky, his hands touched the ground, feeling its distinct texture, and as his palm came in contact with the land, he noticed something strange.
The texture he was lying down feels different from the texture he would expect if he were to fall asleep in the grass, truly a very strange sensation, and the sound of the grass and the air were very different from what he used to hear.
He remembered what happened before he lost consciousness. The last thing he remembered was getting sucked along with all of his party members.
This strangeness harbored bad feelings inside Subaru's chest as he quickly stood up and saw something disturbing and unbelievable. He saw his allies and his friends lying on the ground, which in itself was reassuring for him because no single person was missing from their group and only suffered minor injuries, except that his attention was mostly focused on the ground itself.
As he looked closely with his two eyes, he noticed its intricate details. It has a blocky architecture and pixelated texture that is reminiscent of the game he played in the past. It shouldn't have existed in his eyes, yet he had seen it in his eyes.
He rubbed his eyes to check if he was dreaming or not, but it was still there. As he checked out his surroundings, he saw that the ground was a floating island in the middle of the empty void, a lone tree was standing, and a cube-shaped chest was there.
He saw that everything was made out of blocks, aside from their body structure. It was an undeniable proof that...
Subaru: "WE HAVE BEEN SUMMONED FROM LUGUNICA INTO A MINECRAFT WORLDDDDDD"
He shouted, tinged with mixed emotions that overwhelmed his thoughts and mental capacity. He needs to survive and escape this floating island to ensure everyone is safe. How hard can it be?
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Subaru was currently making the cobblestone generator with the materials he found in the chest. This reminds him of one time when his friends played Skyblock as this type of minigame in Minecraft. He messed up the cobblestone generator many times, like accidentally making obsidian or wasting the only water source, which many of his old friends were enranged by his actions. He kept messing up the run and start another in another world several times to the point they are annoyed with him and sometimes even kicked out in the server.
His former friends constantly complain to Subaru's clumsiness so he practiced making the generator many times until he managed to master it in fast speeds.
It was the great times when his old friends were there playing games with him. As nostalgia hits him, he remembered his main goal and shifting his focus on making the generator.
It was even more challenging to make it in real life, as he wasn't able to use his keyboard or mouse and relied on his hands and feet for the work. It was very tiring for Subaru, who even trained hard for 1 year in another world. Maybe the effects of death are starting to manifest in his body yet he still need to push himself hard for the sake of others.
The cobblestone generator was almost complete; the only thing missing was the ice block and lava bucket. He might accidentally dropped it somewhere on the tree so he went to Meili where currently she is breaking the tree while he was trying to find the lava bucket and ice block, he might dropped them somewhere.
He heard a sound that was familiar when he messed up the cobblestone generator. He quickly rushed to look to the unfinished generator he made and saw something horrifying.
Subaru: "N-No, it can't be"
He mumbled these words as his face contorted with a horrified expression as the shocking scene was shown that made his eyes welled up with tears threatening to spill into his cheeks.
Julius: "Peculiar, it instantly turned into a solid object."
The sound reminds him of his past failures when he failed to create the cobblestone generator over and over again. When he saw it, his heart stopped as the only lava bucket was wasted and turned into an obsidian block by Julius's stupidity. A wave of despair crushed Subaru's soul as he screamed into the skies above, cursing the person who ruined everything.
Subaru: "JULIUS YOU HAVE DOOMED US ALL!!!!"
The curious Emilia and Julius still didn't know the big mistake they made that would make Subaru suffer in this peaceful world.