Infinite Checkpoint Project: No Game No Life

Read ahead on my P@treon...

p@treon.com/MayaMatengele01

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Things often don't go as one imagines, and now Nangou Haruya was facing such a situation.

To put it another way, it wasn't entirely against Haruya's expectations. At least, the development of Shiro pretending to be Sora's enemy was still the same.

However...

"Why is this happening!!!" Haruya, running at full speed through the alleyways, let out a cry of despair.

His confusion was soon answered by someone nearby.

"Because our escape routes are the same! I won't forget that you're my enemy just because of this!"

The one speaking was Sora. Sweating profusely, he said this while dodging Shiro's shots and still finding time to fire at Haruya.

Although Haruya wanted to shoot back, slowing down even a little would allow Shiro to catch up.

Since Shiro was only pretending to be 'hit', Haruya was worried that she might suddenly shoot, putting him in an uncontrollable state.

Even if he could reload his Checkpoint and try again, it would only waste his mental energy.

This was an easy situation to understand. Even though Haruya could infinitely repeat his actions through Save Scumming, even though his body would return to its original state, and even though he could continuously learn about his opponents, his consciousness still experienced everything once.

If he kept repeating the same time period, he would likely suffer a mental breakdown.

Haruya had never repeated the same time period more than twenty times before. Otherwise, it would put immense pressure on his mind, making it hard to distinguish which was the real save and which was the load.

"But I don't want to just run away, Haruya. Even while my adorable sister is chasing me, I'll still chase you."

"You should worry about yourself first!" Haruya dodged Sora's sixth shot.

This was because Sora was under Shiro's 'influence', and most of his shots were meant to block Haruya's escape routes, preventing him from successfully running away.

The distance between the two wasn't far, which meant Shiro's attacks could easily hit both of them.

This wasn't good news. Thinking this, Haruya increased his speed.

"Whoa! Aren't we supposed to be otaku?! Why are you running so fast, Haruya?!"

"Even otaku have their moments of sudden power-ups! Also, I was in the track and field club in third grade!" Haruya said.

"That was almost ten years ago!" retorted Sora.

Ignoring Sora's witty remark, Haruya searched for another way out.

Noticing Sora's movements behind him, he realized Sora was trying to use continuous shots to block his escape, forcing him to stay on the same path.

Why? Was it to make sure Haruya entered the building with them, avoiding Izuna's line of sight so they could shoot him?

Jumping forward to avoid an obstacle on the ground, two ricocheting bullets flew toward him from behind.

He failed to dodge...

...

<< Checkpoint: Reload >>

After reloading the Checkpoint from before being hit, Haruya memorized the trajectory of those two bullets, preparing to dodge after they were fired.

But here, Haruya discovered a flaw in his Save Scumming...

Just as he took action, the sibling pair also adjusted their shooting trajectory.

'Huh?!'

Trying to dodge, but encountering the exact same situation as before...

<< Checkpoint: Reload >>

Even after reloading, every minute change he made caused the siblings' attack trajectories to change as well.

They were perfectly targeting him...

Realizing this, Haruya thought it was due to his insufficient influence on the worldline after reloading. So, during the next reload of this scene...

<< Checkpoint: Reload >>

He pulled out the last from his pocket and threw it on the ground, forcing the pair to abandon their shooting and dodge the explosion.

"Whoa! Trying to take us down with you?!"

Sora let out a cry of despair, glancing at his sister behind him before scrambling to catch up with Haruya.

Before he knew it, they had reached the top of a building. Haruya had wanted to avoid this...

'Whatever. Even if this happened, as long as I could change the outcome...'

Reaching the edge of the rooftop, a three-way standoff formed.

Shiro pointed her gun at Sora, Sora pointed his at Haruya, and Haruya pointed his at Sora. Though it was more like two against one...

Suddenly, Shiro charged at Sora while pulling the trigger.

Sora used his clothes as a shield to block the shot, but Shiro tackled him, sending them both falling off the building.

Without hesitation, Haruya jumped after them, trying to hit both the sibling pair at once.

At that moment, a figure rushed out from the opposite building... it was Izuna.

On one of the floors of that building, Jibril, now an enemy, also raised her gun at Sora and Shiro.

"Our victory, desu!"

Izuna grabbed the falling Haruya and pointed her gun at the siblings.

Almost simultaneously, Shiro, who had pretended to be hit, also raised her gun.

"What... it was an act, desu!" Surprised, Izuna let out a gasp but didn't slow down.

'It's coming!'

Shiro pulled the trigger, and the ricocheting bullet aimed to hit Izuna from a blind spot.

Unable to gain leverage in mid-air, if Izuna was hit, Haruya would also become easy prey.

At that moment, it activated.

Izuna's blood surged uncontrollably, capillaries burst, her eyes and body hair dyed crimson from the blood, nerves heated up, cells boiled, muscles ignited, even the laws of physics wept...

... 『Blood Break』...

In a feat that mocked the laws of physics, the crimson figure, Izuna, silently vanished.

"You've lost, desu!"

Her voice resounded accompanied by laughter.

Unlike the changes in her body, she was enjoying the game now.

Not for the country, not for territory, not for resources, but simply to achieve victory.

Defeating the enemy was the ultimate goal of a gamer.

Moving at super sonic speeds, it was as if she ignored gravity.

The humans; Sora, Shiro, and Haruya couldn't perceive her movements at all.

Her powerful, destructive force allowed her to use the air as a foothold...

A double jump.

"This cheat is too OP." Sora said this as both he and Shiro fell.

At the same time, Izuna pulled the trigger.

Haruya had expected that both the siblings would be hit following the plot, but reality had changed that.

Shiro shielded Sora at this moment...

"Useless, desu!"

Izuna wanted to attack again, but Haruya saw it...

Steph had appeared among the NPCs.

Much earlier than in the plot.

"Dodge, Izuna!!"

"Shut up, desu!" Her blood-red eyes, with a hint of impatience and a slightly hoarse voice, told Haruya to stay quiet.

At that moment, Sora fired a shot.

The target was Jibril!

'Is he trying to hit Izuna while also restoring Jibril?!' Unable to do anything in mid-air, Haruya sighed.

He he wanted to grab Izuna who was now closer to him but he failed...

Below where he was falling, dozens of NPCs were gathered...

Haruya fell towards them, and the NPCs reached out to grab him.

Behind him, the plot continued to unfold, but with some differences.

Izuna was about to be hit, he couldn't do anything, and Jibril would be restored.

So... "Sigh, Very well, let the game... collapse..."

Haruya was caught by the NPCs, and the result was full-body pain. It felt like his bones were being crushed as countless NPCs clung to him.

His entire body ached, and his heart pounded violently. The pain was like death itself had him in its grasp...

...There are explosives designed to detonate when the heart stops beating, and conversely, there are bombs that trigger when the heart beats too fast...

And so, when Haruya's heart beat too fast just now, the box he had made earlier silently triggered the short-circuit mechanism connected to the VR Machine...

As his consciousness began to fade, outside the game, Ino's trembling voice rang out.

~How could this be! The game... it's gone black!?~

...

{T/N: Bro is too focused on the 'plot' in my opinion... Still, I understand where he's coming from... I mean, his whole life has been like a game where he would simply spam his cheat if things don't go his way... It was expected of him to view reality in his own twisted way...

BUT!! Just because I understand, it doesn't make it any less annoying...

What are your thoughts??}