Chapter 66: Chapter 63: Alterations
A rather unremarkable two-story apartment building stood in the middle of the city. Renting a room there cost fifty thousand yen a month. The rooms weren't all that big, but each still had a living area, a bathroom, a toilet, and a kitchen. It was a little far from the closest station, but there were no other issues with the building itself. All in all, it was a pretty good place for its price.
Today, just as any other day, Fudou Niito—one of the tenants—was seated in front of his computer. He was catching up on the adventurers of Ellize, his other self—or rather, his real self, considering the biggest part of his soul was inside her already—who'd ended up in another world by some trick of fate.
The amount of information he could access had greatly increased, and the game's story was finally nearing its end. The ultimate battle was quickly approaching.
A bunch of new characters, including Profeta, the prophet; Alfrea, the first saint; and Crunchybite Dogman, had been added to the cast. It was becoming more and more apparent that Ellize's route was very different from the rest of the game.
It had only been a few days since this brand-new route had been discovered. Everyone was fervently discussing it online, and all the websites and wiki pages had been altered by now.
Ellize
Profile:
A dateable character from the game Kuon no Sanka.
Was believed to be a non-dateable character for four years until a hidden route was discovered during an RTA Let's Play.
Ellize is referred to as the saint. She's proficient in magic and swordplay and is one of the most powerful characters in the game.
When she was a child, she was selfish and often acted up, but after realizing the error of her ways, she changes altogether and decides to devote her life to helping others.
Ellize rises as the symbol of light to oppose the witch, the grim symbol of darkness. She often helps the player in times of need.
At the start of the story, she helps the fourteen-year-old Verner control his powers and gives him a pendant. This event becomes a turning point for him.
The main character meets Ellize again when he's seventeen, only to discover that her appearance has remained unchanged. Ellize still looks fourteen.
Saints, just like witches, cannot die of old age and usually stop aging altogether at some point. This prompts people to believe that Ellize's aging process simply came to a stop earlier than most saints' had.
As the saint, Ellize cannot be hurt by anything other than the witch or the saint's powers. She is known to be able to stop swords barehanded without suffering so much as a scratch.
Ellize is also able to purify the witch's powers.
Ellize refuses to abandon even the smallest village and rushes to battle monsters wherever they appear. She also heals everyone she comes across, no matter who they are.
It is said that, until Ellize's generation, monsters were rampant all over the world. It wasn't unusual to encounter one right outside the city gates. When the game begins, Giardino—the continent on which the story takes place—has already been purged from most of the monsters by Ellize. As such, it is a relatively safe place. Merchants are able to travel freely, and goods are distributed all across the continent.
Ellize is also credited with rejuvenating the land. Thanks to her, harvests are fairly abundant after years of famine. She also introduced new crops, such as potatoes and soybeans, to the people of Giardino. As a result, dying of starvation has become relatively rare in the world of Kuon no Sanka.
Unlike previous saints, Ellize isn't only regarded as a shield against the witch and her monsters. She's known as the saint of plenty for having saved countless people from starvation.
Also unlike previous saints, Ellize's birthday has become an auspicious day and is celebrated every year during the Saint's Birth festival.
Ellize is also known for her culinary skills. She's cooked for kings and queens. Her specialty, "Cloud" cakes, are said to be a delicacy.
Ellize is known as the saint of all saints, but in truth...
The wiki has gotten so damn long...
Niito read through the page, getting increasingly grossed out by the endless praise. Apparently, the other him had been having a blast in the other world.
Niito had been living on his own for quite some time. While he had modern culinary knowledge, the food he made was definitely not worthy of being called "a delicacy." In fact, the cakes he bought at the convenience store were ten times better than the ones he baked.
Things must be different in that world, he assumed. The people there barely had enough to eat. They hadn't had the leeway to develop a culture of cooking. Anything a modern person made must've tasted like heaven to them.
The next bit of text went over Ellize's true identity, but nothing had changed since the last time Niito had read it. He ignored it and moved on to the next category—the one that described game events. He skipped over the parts he'd already read and focused on the new pieces of information.
Game events:
Besides Eterna's suicide attempt, the events of Ellize's route are the same as in other routes. The only other difference in the first half of the game is the special weapon you can unlock during the martial tournament.
The main character will receive a new weapon of the same type as the one you chose to enter the tournament with. Be aware that if you choose to fight barehanded, you will not receive a weapon.
According to the data the players have gathered so far, the strongest weapon you can obtain at that time is the Super Spring Onion Blade. You will receive it if you enter the tournament using a spring onion. Note that the spring onion has an attack stat of one. If you choose this weapon, you will not be able to beat Marie or John. Only select it if you're prepared to sacrifice your rank in the tournament.
Starting with the Dias treason event, Ellize's route takes a different direction.
After defeating Dias, Ellize tells him something the main character cannot hear. It prompts Dias to give up the fight. Most players believe that she reveals her secret to him.
Right before the winter holiday, Ellize is betrayed by the royals. She's confined in her castle in an attempt to keep her alive as long as possible. The knights of her guard join the plot against her. Ellize is unable to escape because her closest aid, Layla, is taken hostage. She eventually escapes her room when the main character breaks into the castle.
Immediately after this event, Ellize rushes to the Bilberrian capital along with the main character and his party to thwart a monster invasion. The main character dies during the battle but is quickly resurrected by Ellize. For some reason, the fake saint can do things not even a real saint can! Note that if Ellize's affection is under fifty, you will not be able to collect the scene's special CG.
During the winter holiday, Profeta, the prophet (a character that was mentioned in other routes, but had never been shown on-screen), will make her first appearance. Ellize creates a pond next to the academy where Profeta elects to stay.
After Eterna awakens, Ellize brings the main character and his party to Fuguten for training purposes. There, Ellize hears Alfrea's—the first saint's—voice, and the group heads to her grave.
Ellize breaks the first saint's seal, freeing her. The player then hears the story of Eve, the first witch, and her daughter, Alfrea. Their relationship is never mentioned in other routes.
As the story nears its end, the main character finally learns that Ellize is a fake saint. He does not let that fact bother him and confesses anyway. Ellize shuts him down by telling him that she doesn't have long to live.
Ellize will always reject Verner during this event, regardless of her affection level.
Then—
Niito couldn't see the rest of the page. It seemed like there was more text below, but no matter how many times he tried to scroll down, the page wouldn't load.
He'd recently bought a newer, faster computer, but that hadn't changed anything. No matter what he did, he couldn't see or read about events that had yet to occur in the other world.
New entries had also been added for the characters that had shown up in Ellize's route: Alfrea, Profeta, Crunchybite Dogman, and Elizabeth Ibris. Niito read through them too. Even though they were girls, Alfrea and Elizabeth were very clearly described as non-dateable characters.
After that, he moved on to videos.
On the screen, Verner mustered up his courage and confessed ardently, only to be immediately rejected by Ellize. She proceeded to tell him the truth.
Niito buried his face in his hands and groaned. His other self had managed to dump Verner without telling him that he had no interest in guys. Still, no matter how Niito spun it, it'd been a terrible move. What if Verner lost his will to fight altogether?
Niito understood that he'd tried to avoid hurting Verner's feelings by not rejecting him specifically, but couldn't his other self have just said that he wasn't interested in dating or something?! Telling Verner that he wanted time to think about it would've been an infinitely better choice—Verner would've been even more motivated to do well.
And yet, that idiot had picked the worst possible answer.
He panicked, didn't he?
Ever since Niito had realized he wasn't like the others, no one had ever shown him much affection. It was only natural. Who would be attracted to a creepy, weird guy like him? To be fair, Niito didn't even particularly want to be loved.
Either way, it meant that Niito wasn't used to being on the receiving end of so much unbridled affection from anyone, much less someone of the same sex. It got him thinking.
I'd lose my shit and react like that, huh?
...No. I wouldn't.
Fudou Niito lacked a sense of reality and subjectivity.
Saying that he was able to look at himself objectively sounded good, but—in reality—he wasn't able to look at the situation any other way. Would his heart be moved if someone suddenly showered him with affection? Niito could only picture the situation through the prism of a game. He imagined an NPC confessing to a character he controlled. In his brain, he understood that his life was about him, not some sort of character, but his feelings couldn't catch up. He couldn't stay grounded in reality. Fudou Niito's soul constantly floated around, threading the line between reality and dream.
Even if someone were to confess to him and shower him with love, Niito still wouldn't be able to take it personally. He'd consider the situation objectively, from a third-person standpoint. His brain would understand, of course, but his heart wouldn't.
In a way, the inner workings of Fudou Niito's mind were quite similar to those of the normalcy bias.
A fire in the opposite building was never one's problem. Even if such a terrible event occurred right in front of their eyes, people tended to treat it like someone else's problem—as though it had happened in some distant land.
Fudou Niito's distorted mind worked like this—only for everything.
It was starting to occur to him that Ellize, on the other hand, may not be like that.
She's really...
Niito remembered something she'd said in the past:
"Plus, that world and the people in it... I've started to like them a lot, you know? If my death can help them obtain happiness then... I don't mind. I won't have any regrets."
Niito wondered if Ellize herself had noticed that, on that day, she'd shown him a genuine smile—the kind that had never appeared on his own face.
They'd both agreed on the conclusion that they wouldn't have any regrets after their deaths, but their reasoning was very different.
Fudou Niito had never smiled from the bottom of his heart for someone else's sake, and he was certain he never would. His heart couldn't mellow out for someone else like that.
She's really...changing, isn't she?
Ellize hadn't seemed to notice, but she was starting to ground herself in her new reality. She still treated life like a game—how could she not when Niito had grown up that way?—but something fundamental had changed inside her.
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!!
SHE DUMPED HIS ASS!!!!!!
No, but, it's true that Lady El died pretty early in the other routes too.
I knew it. Gonna kms
Seriouslyyyy?! She can't escape her fate even on her own route???
Why does Lady El have to die so young, huh?!
She always says no. I thought I didn't have enough affection so I redid everything from the start but it was the exact same dialogue.
Huh? Did my message send?
ROFL SHE LIT STILL DUMPS YOU EVEN AT MAX AFFECTION!
DESPAIR VERNER!!!
THERE'S NO LOVE IN THIS WORLD!
Idk bro, just resend
Guys, stop spamming! I can't see the screen anymore!
The players' cries of agony covered the entire screen.
Be that as it may, the final battle was approaching. Compared to the original plot of the game, they had an overwhelmingly powerful party ready. Niito also felt bad for the witch.
In the original game, Ellize, the overpowered saint, didn't even exist. She was nothing more than a glorified piece of shit that dragged the main character's party down, rather than helping them.
Her total 180 was already an incredible advantage for Verner and his friends. On top of that, the witch had lost most of her influence, and her monsters were almost all dead.
The countries within Giardino were also much wealthier than in the original game. That meant that the soldiers were healthier and better armed—obviously, making them more effective than starving ones. With the circulation of goods restored, people could easily buy better equipment.
Besides, in the original game, the knights and soldiers showed no loyalty toward Ellize. If anything, they despised her. Even though Eterna had nothing to do with the situation, they still somewhat disliked her by association after she rose to the position of saint. They fought alongside her because it was their duty, not out of some feeling of devotion.
The complete opposite was true in Ellize's current timeline. The soldiers and knights would all gladly give their lives for her sake. If anything, the morale of the troops was too high.
With Ellize as their figurehead, humanity was more united than ever. Even if the witch made it out of the basement, she'd find herself in a world full of Ellize's supporters. She'd be truly alone.
These conditions already made things very unfair for the witch. The cherry on top, though, was that the first saint had joined the main character's party. To put it bluntly, Alfrea alone was already more than enough to defeat the witch.
Alexia would be forced to face two saints at the same time with only subpar guards to protect her. It'd be no contest. Saying something so cocky was usually a death flag, but no amount of those clichés could save Alexia this time.
Niito had already seen dozens of comments along the lines of "I'm starting to feel awful for Alexia," "Talk about overkill," "LMAOOOO! Alexia's gonna go through hell," or "When she was the saint, she had to fight against the strongest witch ever & now that she's the witch, she's gotta fight the strongest (fake) saint ever + two other saints??? Looool how's she so damn unlucky?"
The story was nearing its end... Which meant Niito also had to do his part.
He turned off his computer, dragged his aching body out of his chair, and put on his coat.
The intercom rang as if on cue. Niito stepped out.
"Hi, Ijuuin-san."
The man he'd just greeted, Ijuuin Haruto, had recently moved into his building.
Ijuuin took a good look at Niito's face. Seemingly concerned, he asked, "Are you okay? You look even sicker than before... You can go rest if you want. I'll let you know what Fiori's Turtle said."
"Resting won't make me any better," Niito answered. "I want to use the time I have left to look for the truth. I'll be there in person until I stop being able to walk."
Just as Ijuuin had pointed out, Niito looked even worse than before. Most of his hair had fallen off, but he wore a hat to hide it. His eyes were sunken in, and his cheeks hollow. The man was skin and bones. His arms were so thin that they seemed to belong to a sickly child, not an adult man.
Nonetheless, Niito had a bold smile. Niito didn't know how to smile from his heart, but he'd long mastered the art of forcing his lips to curl into one.
In a way, Niito had never really lived. He'd always gone through life as if he was some sort of spirit looking down on his body—his character—from above and controlling it. And yet, with death at his doorstep, Niito was finally starting to feel alive.
"Shall we go?" he suggested, clasping a piece of paper. "We have to meet the true creator of this world...its scenarist—Fiori's Turtle."
On the paper was an address the two men had found after looking for a couple of days—Fiori's Turtle's.
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