Chapter 71: Change of Approach

As soon as he came back to the past, Raive rushed home to where the rest were staying. There was still some time left before the trial began, so thankfully, they weren’t short on time.

"Everyone, listen up!"

But still, he didn’t dare waste time.

As soon as he arrived, he began explaining what he’d learned through the first loop. Not everything, though. Only the parts they needed.

About how some players would be replaced by impostors who inherited the exact memories and experiences of the original.

The rule about killing someone leading to their own death too, and the ways to bypass it safely.

The need to capture eight dungeons, each requiring twelve hours of defending, to gain enough information to clear the trial safely.

How they had to protect the crystal from near-endless monster waves, and the best approach to save time and energy.

And how the kingdom they were visiting wasn’t an ally to them.

Raive didn’t hold back the important details at all.

"This trial sounds complicated..." Hazel muttered, a hand to her chin.

"No joke it is." Khamish scoffed. "Fighting monsters, clearing dungeons, all while holding back the kingdom itself from harming us... talk about being overkill!"

Therese had her brows furrowed, clearly worried. "Do the gods not want anyone to actually pass the trials...?" She muttered under her breath.

And Raive agreed with her.

This trial was designed to allow as many passers as possible. But at the same time, it could just as easily allow none at all. In terms of damage to survivor numbers, it might even be worse than the first trial.

"For others without pre-knowledge of what’s coming, like us, the best approach would probably be to group up, kill all the knights, clear the dungeons while defending the walls, then eliminate the impostors and protect the crystal."

Reinhardt reasoned aloud.

"But given their lack of information, even someone smart enough to figure things out fast would need at least 20 hours to pull it off."

The time limit of 24 hours barely made that achievable. In other words, normally, they’d only have about four hours of buffer.

"But that’s assuming all trials are the same across different spaces." Raive sighed.

After hearing the others’ accounts of the first trial—Hazel and her family’s, in particular—he’d noticed there were some differences between trials.

The general objective was the same: a maze where only five could survive. But how it was implemented was slightly different each time.

In Hazel’s case, it was a battle-royale type, where the first five to reach the "finish line" were allowed to survive.

The others became her teammates for a short while after that. But as she’d told Raive and the rest, they failed to clear a dungeon, losing two of them, and then she killed the other two after they tried to turn on her.

Reinhardt and his family, in the same trial space, simply had to be the last survivors standing. With Kenny’s ability, they managed that easily. Though the fifth member who survived with them ended up killed during the Sine Gang incident.

As for why there were minor differences between trials, Raive already had a guess.

It was the archangels’ doing.

Each archangel seemed to watch over a single trial. Not only that, but he suspected they’d designed the trials themselves too, given some creative freedom within specific limits—number of survivors, trial type, and so on.

But all that was speculation, and honestly, it didn’t matter much for the task at hand.

"Anyway, everyone, I need your cooperation." Raive said, tone grim. "I have a plan..."

...

Once their planning was done, they did the same as before. Standing outside Hershey’s home, holding hands, waiting for the trial to begin.

After a blinding flash of light, they arrived at the same courtyard as before.

Above them, the same lazy-looking archangel floated idly, as if waiting for people to settle down. Raive stared at her, gritting his teeth, holding back the irritation building in his chest.

[Ahh... Welcome to the second trial...]

And then, the same talk as before began.

The archangel explained the world, the trials, and the rules. Though, same as before, not everything. Raive knew better than to push for more, though. Even with his current strength, he had no idea just how powerful these archangels were.

He’d have no chance if she took offense at something he said and decided to kill him.

After all, nothing said the "observers" couldn’t kill them.

In fact...

[An irregular, huh.]

He’d already caught the interest of something that dangerous.

Raive stayed silent the whole time, waiting for her to disappear. As soon as she did, he nodded to Hazel, who moved without hesitation.

She raised walls of dirt to seal off the exits, and a raised platform where Raive alone stood.

Every eye turned to him at the sight of it.

Then—

WHOOSH!

A chilling wave swept across the entire space.

Everyone trembled, some of the weaker ones dropping to their knees, unable to hold themselves up under the pressure Raive had just released.

"I am Raive Asterates!" He began, speaking loud and clear. "To clear this challenge, I, who have the skill to see the future, will share extra details with you all!"

Nobody dared voice a complaint. They could barely stop their jaws from shaking, let alone speak.

So they just listened.

To what Raive and the others had decided to share beforehand.

The killing rule. The dangers of the kingdom. The trial space as a whole. The monsters. The eight dungeons. And so on.

It was simplified enough that he could get through all of it in under two minutes—the window before the castle’s soldiers would notice them.

"As such, right now..."

Raive narrowed his eyes, easing off the pressure he was releasing.

"We will be raising a coup!"

Right.

The higher-ups were nothing but a hindrance to them right now. No specific role to play, just something standing in the way of clearing the quest.

So Raive decided—half out of strategy, half out of petty revenge from the last loop—to kill them before things could escalate.

"Now, let’s show them who’s boss...!"

Before monsters, a war among humans had begun.