Chapter 102: Searching for the False Human, The Game Begins!

[Fortunately, not long before Roswaal went mad, we happened to find a new rule:

Within the manor, none may enter uninvited.]

[Unless the master of the house consents, these frenzied ones cannot get in no matter what.]

[By the time Roswaal went mad, he was already dead, and so his status as master of the manor transferred to me—who is also the past you. Exploiting this, we successfully drove Roswaal out of the manor without a single person being harmed.]

[But don't celebrate too soon. Roswaal going mad was only the beginning... Everyone in the manor soon underwent abnormal changes of varying degrees, one after another.]

[Take the past you, for example.. merely losing your memory counts as a relatively mild symptom. Although no one went mad anymore, it seems everyone's memories and personalities underwent some kind of change during this period of abnormality.]

[And because of this, Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Betty—their current appearances and behaviors may all differ from what you remember. They are still themselves, that's true, but only on the condition that the ones you see truly are "human."]

[Take care to discern carefully. The lives of Emilia and the others are now all held in your hands as the master of this manor, so treat the matter with caution.]

[Firmly remember all these rules—this is the very foundation for keeping yourself, and Emilia and the others, alive.]

[But please also remember: at the critical moment, do not hesitate either!]

[So that the others can survive, when necessary, sacrifice the one you suspect. After all, this time you no longer have the power to redo things countless times—and before that, I will help you....]

[But remember, our chance to reach the perfect ending—there is only one!]

[Time is limited; this is all I can say today. Lastly, let me give you a few reminders.]

[Besides Emilia and the others, and the villagers, during the day and night there may also be some who come to Roswaal Manor for all sorts of reasons—"old acquaintances" from the Royal Capital.]

[Take care to distinguish their identities, to judge whether they are frenzied ones.. Oh, right—calling them by that name now might cause you some misunderstanding.]

[I should have told the past you—the new name we've given these frenzied ones——"Imitation Humans"!]

[It means creatures disguised as humans. They often behave strangely and think in bizarre ways. Sounds like distinguishing them is easy, right? But once they begin to disguise themselves, they really are very hard to tell apart.]

[That's all the information I can provide today. Hang in there, past me—with enough reminders, I hope you can make it through tonight successfully.]

[At this time tomorrow, I will bring new news again...]

The writing on the page came to an abrupt halt at the very end.

If possible, Natsuki Subaru really wished that this supposed future self of his could cut down on the nonsense, so that he could obtain more information on the very first day.

But one possible reason was also, just as that future self had said, that some kind of rule restriction had probably limited him to giving only this much information on the first day.

Relaying messages from the future to the past—compared to his previous "Return by Death," this ability had been weakened by no small amount.

Most importantly, this so-called relaying of messages from the future wasn't controllable, and he couldn't even be certain whether it was true or false.

Natsuki Subaru knit his brows deeply, hesitating endlessly.

The villagers... Imitation Humans—were they those children I saw earlier by the hallway window?

Pressing a hand against his chin, Natsuki Subaru suddenly recalled something, and Petra's bizarre smile surfaced in his mind.

Perhaps everything written in the book was true.

Or rather, no matter what, right now he had to treat it as true.

Natsuki Subaru made up his mind: unless absolutely necessary, he would never step outside.

After all, even though he'd just been spotted by that group of Imitation Human children, nothing had happened—the rule that none may enter uninvited had already been verified.

While Natsuki Subaru received this piece of good news, outside the screen, Otto, having taken in every bit of the content on the page, was rocked to his core.

Imitation Humans? Is that the name the future Mr. Natsuki on the screen just gave these monsters?

That can't be right—didn't he just hear the people around him all mention this word?

And they all said in unison that they'd known about this kind of monster all along?

Otto's heart was pounding thump-thump like a beating drum, his engine-like heartbeat standing out all the more in the dead-silent viewing area before the screen.

"Everyone, why is no one saying anything? Aren't you surprised at what Mr. Natsuki just saw...? Haha?"

Otto laughed awkwardly a couple of times—at this moment, how he wished he had guessed wrong.

"Relaying information from the future? Truly inconceivable."

"In that case, it'll be even harder for us to get into the manor, won't it?"

"What is this 'Return by Death' written in the book?"

After Otto finished saying this, the viewing area suddenly came alive, everyone seemingly discussing the matter in full swing.

But the content of their discussion left Otto in silence.

Right here, right now—what on earth were these "people" around him?

They didn't even know about Return by Death, and from the gist of their words... they seemed more like that pack of Imitation Humans who were trying every possible way to sneak into the manor!

Otto slowly turned his head, finally looking at the people beside him—and behind him—whom he'd been ignoring all along.

Just when, exactly, had everyone around him been swapped out?

But upon looking closely, Otto found that the people around him were still the same group as before—only their state at this moment was somewhat strange.

Whether it was Emilia, Rem, Ram, and Betty, or Priscilla, Crusch, and the others, every single one had turned their head, their faces stiff as they looked toward where he was.

The crowd was utterly motionless, only staring fixedly at him with strange, mimicked-human eyes—eyes that seemed to be gazing at food on a dinner plate.

What was even more eerie was that, even though the lips of this group of people before him made not a single movement.

The air, nevertheless, carried the sound of them discussing in full swing, as though no abnormality had occurred at all, as if everything were perfectly normal.

Otto's limbs froze as if frozen in ice, unable to move, his eyes glaring wide open as he gasped in great mouthfuls of air.

Soon, having given up on thinking, Otto stiffly twisted his neck and, as if deceiving himself, ignored the group of Imitation Humans beside him who might go mad and kill him at any moment, turning his head back toward the direction of the screen.

The light from the screen fell upon Otto's face, illuminating his ghastly pale, dim countenance, from which a faint trace of despair could vaguely be seen.

On the screen, Natsuki Subaru closed the black book, and a line of text that only the audience outside the screen could see surfaced.

[The game begins. This game is titled: "Find the Imitation Humans!"]

[We wish all you viewers an enjoyable game.]

Next, the first-person view of Natsuki Subaru on the screen changed.

The view pulled back, and back again.

In the ink-black night, Roswaal Manor stood all alone beneath the moon, as if about to be swallowed by the darkness.

Just then, the image on the screen suddenly trembled for an instant, as if the signal were poor, and immediately afterward the final line of text took up the entire screen.

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