I Favor the Villainess

This is the first story from the perspective of Rei Ohashi.

When I left Claire's hospital room, I came to the bottom floor of the laboratory.

This is where Time's mainframe is located.

After a faltering ID authentication, I shouted into Time's interface, "Time, Eternal Regression Loop System!

Time, activate the Eternal Recurrence Loop System!

The only way to save Claire is to put her in a loop system, even if it's already forced.

Considering the work time involved in quantizing the soul, we don't have any more time.

"Voiceprint and iris recognition are both clear. Administrator, Zero Ohashi is recognized. Warning. Approval from the United States government and the United Nations Secretary General is strongly recommended for activation.

"I don't have time!　Just come on!

If I waited too long for the approval of the higher-ups, Claire would die.

It was a coincidence that I first learned that Claire was in danger of being stricken by an unknown disease.

At the time, Claire and I were in the early stages of developing a human survival system, and I was temporarily entrusted with authority over Time.

Claire wouldn't have known it at all, but I had already fallen in love with her by then.

It was love at first sight, let's say.

She was a doozy for my taste, and every time I saw her vulnerable in the lab, my heart leapt every time I saw her unprotected.

Sneaking a peek at Claire's health data was just a random act.

But I had a bad feeling about the sentence written in that chart of the physical exam.

I ordered Thyme to report on it regularly, and my hunch came true.

The numbers were getting worse by the day.

It was one thing to show the probability of infection with a pathogen, but another to show the progression of a particular disease.

I contacted Thyme, but Thyme himself had no idea.

Anyway, Claire was in a strange situation where the odds of contracting an unknown disease were increasing by the day.

As long as the disease was not fatal.

Fortunately, medical care at the end of the twenty-first century is excellent, and what was previously considered incurable can usually be cured.

But if it's a disease of that magnitude, there's no way Thyme can't see it for what it is.

I thought.

How can I avoid losing this love of mine?

I wanted to make this love last forever.

This is how the Eternal Recurrence Loop System was born.

Confirmation. This system cannot be stopped after activation. Are you sure you want to activate it?

"Yeah!

"You will enter the boot sequence. The administrator should insert the activation key in the prescribed manner.

I removed the activation key from around my neck and inserted it into Time's console.

"Final confirmation--will you regret it, Ohashi Rei?

"There is no greater regret than losing Claire!

I'm sorry. Sixty seconds to system startup--

I turned the key and Time's plane started beeping.

Immediately after, I received an incoming call on my phone.

'Zero, what's going on!　The launch of the loop system still needs the approval of the United States--

It was the director.

He probably saw the notification of the system activation and contacted me in a hurry.

I hung up the call without answering any questions.

As it was, I turned off my phone.

'Now ...... this will help Claire. Claire can loop with you.

I collapsed to the spot in relief.

My consciousness becomes dazed.

The quantization of the soul begins.

'Claire ...... I'll be with you forever,'

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The next time I regained consciousness, I was in an unknown place.

There was a starry sky ...... or space-like scene all around.

In the center of it all, I was standing alone.

This is ......?

"Administrator's room, zero.

With an answering voice, my eyes glowed faintly in front of me, and out of the light appeared a fairy-like child.

Silver hair and red eyes - the figure was familiar.

'Time ......'

Congratulations, Zero. The Eternal Recurrence Loop System has been successfully activated. Humanity has now entered a dormant phase.

"Claire!　Claire was in time!

I asked Thyme what I had to make sure of above all else.

Rest assured, Claire's soul is safe and sound in the system. Claire's soul is also safely embedded in the system.

Good for you. ......

I was in time.

Now Claire can live forever.

"Zero, sorry to be so relieved, but don't forget your job as an administrator, too. You have a lot of work to do on your first go-around.

I got it. I'll take care of everything.

We have to create a framework for the world that Claire will spend hundreds of millions of years in.

I have to complete it perfectly.

Then, Zero. Then, Zero, you'll need to control the configuration and distribution of the various nanomachines as we work towards building a magical civilization.

"Yes.

We have to keep up.

For Claire.

Then I spent some time at work.

Because, as Time said, there was a lot of work to be done.

There were tens of thousands of processes that needed to be done, starting with the remaking of the Earth's environment.

I steadily completed them one by one, with the help of Time.

Zero. Isn't it still too much to ask to concentrate on a single person?　As Clare also said, we can be more efficient if we have a group of administrators--

We've talked about this a lot, Time. We've come to the conclusion that the number of administrators should be kept to a minimum, since they're going to be independent of the loop system.

"But ......

I'll be fine. Fortunately, you're there too.

If I had been completely alone, I would probably be too lonely and heartbroken to bear.

But I'm okay with that for now, as Thyme is there to talk to me, and she shows me the records of old Claire and her friends, and comforts me.

The hard part is yet to come. I don't know if I can follow you on my own: ......

Then I'll finish the necessary work as soon as possible and I'll go into a dormant state. Before my mind goes haywire.

"...... It may be best to

During the hundreds of millions of years loop that will follow, I will be under the mental care of Time.

Specifically, I will gradually adjust, integrate, and delete all memories except those necessary for management and those related to Claire.

Without this, I would be mentally ill.

Fortunately, I was able to finish the whole process before I went crazy.

Physically speaking, it was a few years in time.

I couldn't know for sure because the flow of time is so fuzzy here, but it seemed like decades had passed in Earth's time.

I was lying in my cold sleep device, having one last conversation with Time before bedtime.

'Well, Time. Can you wake me up when you're ready for magical civilization?

I understand, Zero. Thank you for your work. I will see you again at the beginning of your magical civilization. Good night.

"Good night, time

And so I went into a long sleep.

◆◇◆◆◆

"--your ......

No......

There was a voice that called out to his deeply submerged consciousness.

'Zero, please wake up.'

"U......n ......?

How much time had passed?

I woke up again in the starry sky at the call of Time.

Time ......?

Good morning, Zero. We are about to start our magical civilization. Please do a final check.

"...... Okay.

Cold sleep is not supposed to be different from normal sleep, but I was dying to sleep.

There are no facilities to wash my face, so I wait until I'm awake for now.

Would you like to take a look at the world of magical civilization to help you stay awake?

Please.

A holo-display emerged in the darkness.

I was mesmerized by the new look of the world projected on it - a new look.

The "awesome ......

The new world created with reference to the worldview of Revolution was beautifully restored by nature.

Various climate parameters, such as average temperature and precipitation, have also stabilized.

Humanity has not yet begun to prosper. The main actors of the world are animals, plants and demons. We are going to start the early human civilization and guide it into a magical civilization.

It's finally happening.

It's the back half of the loop.

Initiating final check. Zero, audit.

Yes. Let's start.

As it turns out, the world had been successfully regenerated.

The environmental destruction that was about to end scientific civilization had rebounded beautifully, thanks to the nanomachines and various autonomous robots that were under the control of Time.

This would be no problem for humanity to start civilization again.

'Now, Zero. We will begin the thawing of humanity's soul.

"Have you got a body to catch?

Yes, I'm prepared. I have a better aptitude for magic than that of scientific civilization.

OK, then start thawing.

"I'll get right to it.

And so began a second civilization, leading to a magical civilization.

In the early stages, it was a civilization that lived a primitive life, like that of scientific civilization, but with the adjustment of time, it gradually developed into a civilization.

When it reached a civilization the size of medieval Europe, the discovery of the magic stone - a small terminal of time - caused humanity's magical civilization to flourish.

'You're on track, Zero.

Yeah, I'm scared to death. When will Claire's soul thaw?

We're planning for a little while after the dawn of magical civilization, so it's coming soon. You will be reincarnated at that time, too.

Okay.

Finally, we can meet up with Claire again.

It's been a long time.

It's been a really long time.

It's about time. Good luck, Zero.

You're not going into battle.

"Love is a war, right?

"Remember the funny thing again. But I'm going to go.

And so I descended to earth from the administrator's room.

◆◇◆◆◆

"How dare you put yourself in the place of a commoner to sit across the table from me!

When I regained consciousness, a woman with a distinctive haircut stood in front of me.

She was younger than the girl I knew.

But she was unmistakably--

'Whaaat?　What are you doing?　Let go of the flowers ......!

I couldn't help but hug him.

We could meet again.

"Claire,

"Don't let a commoner call me by my name!

Yes, it is!　Goodbye, Miss Claire!

"Just let go!

And so I began my second life in a magical civilization with Claire.