Opening his eyes, Tiran beheld the clear deep blue sky above and the passing seabirds, accompanied by the soothing sound of waves crashing nearby. A look of despair crossed Tiran's face.
Back again.
Not... Coach, how do you play this! I hid on the ground and that thing directly blasted even the land under me? Is that thundercloud some kind of deity? I've never seen anything so fierce.
Tiran began to suspect if this was just a demo version of that game, designed to prevent players from progressing further by throwing in some plot twist that you just can't get through, no leveling up or boosting attributes allowed, so they just sealed Chi magic to avoid creating some unbeatable sword god.
Maybe it's best to just give up thinking about it.
Princess closed her eyes and lay on the beach, pretending she was dead.
Fifteen minutes later, definitely not feeling a bit uncomfortable from hunger, Princess sat up from the sand, brushing off the sand and droplets of water, hugging her knees as she began to seriously contemplate her experiences of the previous two seven-day reincarnations.
A week's time is quite peculiar, seeming long but not really that long, but if we were to say short... well, it might as well be a national holiday or a spring festival holiday, and if something unexpected happens like a large-scale epidemic, it could even be longer... Ahem, off-topic.
There have been quite a few things happening during this time. Let's carefully recall and see if we can find more clues, isn't that how these reincarnation puzzle games are played? Please guide me, Senior 486, and true Senior, bless this lady.
Although the second reincarnation didn't make much progress, information from various aspects was still gathered. For instance, finding out that the taste of the ramen shop at the end of the fifth alley on East Street is exceptional after exploring the map.
First, the climactic events that occurred in both reincarnations, the thundercloud attacks. The first time, it was known that the ship on the sea would be heavily damaged, and the second time it seems the entire Seabreath was a total disaster. Considering that Seabreath is mainly surrounded by mountains and sparsely populated, if that thundercloud's power range is determined by magic, it's already in the category of a forbidden curse.
Of course, without the ability to use Chi, Tiran doesn't think she has the capability to counter such a level of attack, but that doesn't mean she's helpless. Options like finding a sufficiently deep cave or going further inland can both be considered.
Next is the event that still provides the most opportunity to gather more information, the "intermittent time," but for now, the only thing to be done is to visit the Tairaeda mansion on the same day of this reincarnation.
And what's left... Should we continue exploring?
"No matter what, this lady has played Plants vs. Zombies for hundreds of rounds and cleared several rounds of card adventure games! Don't underestimate me!"
Seven days later.
"..."
Tiran silently gazed up at the vast sky, couldn't help but exclaim that the sky was truly blue. Ah, I can't do this anymore, my heart is tired, it's only the third round.
Compared to the progress of the second round, the third round was practically fruitless.
This time, she followed the strategy of exploring the map, but this time she went to Tairaeda's mansion for a glance at Ayako's practices—which were just as dismal as they were in the first round.
Then, she once again excelled at the Divine Prayer Dance Festival.
As for the "intermittent time" that Tiran considered as a hope, this time it did trigger smoothly. However, besides the fleeting appearance of Aya's Seabreath in the scene, Tiran gained nothing.
"So, what does that image really mean? Do I have to go to the same place?" Tiran muttered to herself, clutching her head, "This town is surrounded by mountains, you could see a similar scene from a mountain in the same direction, right? I'm not some precision measurement device, do they expect me to find a hammer or what?"
Feeling weary, really weary. This kind of cycle is unlike a game at all. Most games calculate game time in hours, but in Seabreath, each day passes just like normal time, repeating the same day once or twice is fine, but entering the third cycle, Tiran gradually starts to feel bored of repeating the same days.
Though not too obvious yet, considering that the progress she has made in the game is still far from completion, the possibility of a fourth or fifth cycle becoming a major issue later on cannot be ruled out.
The only gain in the third cycle was a deeper understanding of the power of thunderclouds exchanged for a life. This time, Tiran tried sneaking out into the night after the festival, and found a crevice in the mountains, likely caused by tectonic plate movement, which extended underground to a cavern estimated to be a hundred meters deep.
However, even hiding in such a place could not shield Tiran from the lightning strike. The whole cave collapsed amid increasingly violent tremors, and the last thing Tiran saw in the third cycle was a cascade of white light pouring down from vast cracks.
If this were a game, Tiran probably would have stormed off to confront the game developer through the internet cable. Now she is almost certain that this design was intended to prevent her from continuing the storyline, never witnessing the sunset of the seventh day.
But perhaps she shouldn't be so absolute about it yet.
After gathering her thoughts again, Tiran sat up from the beach once more, giving her cheeks a hearty slap. Let's put other things aside for now—actually, she had no clue in any other direction, so why not try a different approach in this fourth cycle?
"Maybe...?"
This time, she found Ayako secretly practicing singing in the same spot, but this time, after entering Seabreath, Tiran did not reject Ayako's invitation, and instead followed her to the mansion to rest properly for a day.
The next day, Tiran asked Ayako for help in preparing a week's worth of rations and introduced her to a caravan preparing to leave Seabreath, and left directly with them.
"Miss, may I ask where you intend to go? Because our caravan’s destination this time is Kyoto City, so if you plan to leave halfway, we can prepare in advance for the handover of security duties."
The head of the caravan found Tiran sitting at the front of the carriage. Even though Ayako was the daughter of the Tairaeda family, it was not proper to directly request adding a person to a caravan that did not belong to their family, so she just made a brief introduction.
But as long as someone introduced the issue, it wasn't a big deal. Tiran, despite not being skilled in much else, was quite good at fighting, so after knocking down the original leader of the caravan's guards in a sparring match, she smoothly joined the caravan.
"Kyoto City? Where is that located? Inland?" Tiran asked curiously.
"Of course, it's inland. Kyoto City is situated at the foot of the sacred mountain..."
"In that case, no problem, I'll go with you to Kyoto City," Tiran readily agreed. As long as it was going inland, everything was fine. In the fourth cycle, she had already decided to test just how powerful those thunderclouds really were.
Although according to the caravan manager, it was impossible for the caravan to reach Kyoto City within seven days of travel. But who cares, as long as the direction is right, by that time, they'll already be at a location significant enough to be considered inland.
Even though Morninglight is considered an island nation, the land area is quite substantial, with no chance of crossing it without covering several hundred kilometers.
Fortunately, the goods carried by this caravan seem to be exclusively for the capital city of Kyoto, so they won't make many stops along the way and will be rushing through most of the journey.
On the seventh day, the caravan finally left the mountainous region, and a vast expanse opened up before them.
"Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen this kind of scenery."
Tiran, who was sitting at the front of the convoy, also perked up a bit and looked into the distance. The silhouettes of the mountains gradually receded into the distance behind them, while ahead lay a vast alluvial plain, with distant mountains already visible.
At least compared to those mountains behind, it was definitely a behemoth.
"Oh, that's the Sacred Mountain. Although we can see it now, it will still take many more days to reach there." The driver beside him chuckled.
"The Sacred Mountain...?" Tiran chuckled to herself, that shape definitely looks like a volcano! And a super-sized one at that.
"Miss Tiran, you must be from another country, so you probably haven't seen the city of Kyoto. It's the largest city of Morninglight, with tens of thousands of cherry blossom trees planted throughout the city. During cherry blossom season, petals flutter all over the city, creating a magnificent sight in conjunction with the Sacred Mountain that shelters Kyoto not far away!"
The driver seemed quite enthusiastic and kept on talking.
Hmm, it does sound amazing indeed.
"But unfortunately, it seems we might not have the chance to see it." Tiran's tone became quite complicated, a mix of resignation and a hint of "I knew it."
On the horizon in the distance, dark clouds loomed, with countless twisted white lines beneath the cloud layer forming a thunderstorm prison, ruthlessly destroying everything on the surface.
No, not just the surface, even the deeper underground couldn’t escape.
Even in the previous cycle, when Tiran had hidden over a hundred meters underground, the thunderstorm still ruthlessly descended, so exaggeratedly powerful that it could even disrupt the geological structure of Morninglight, Tiran wouldn’t find it impossible.
Wait... geological structure?
Princess Tiran's expression was incredibly vivid. That "Sacred Mountain," essentially a massive volcano?
Morninglight is an island nation. If it is also situated in a gap between two geological plates, just like a certain island nation from a past life that she was familiar with...
"Hey, do earthquakes happen often in Morninglight?"
At the last moment, Tiran asked the dumbfounded driver with a serious tone, as he was already stunned by the distant thunderstorm.
He answered instinctively, "Yes..."
The thunderstorm descended, once again turning the surroundings a bleak white.
...
Waking up for the fifth time on the beach, Tiran gazed at the sky for a moment. "I seem to be getting used to this, feels almost like sleeping."
Indeed, dying several times in this cyclical world had made her indifferent to the whole ordeal.
And then, the only information she received from the fourth cycle was that the thunderstorm couldn't be avoided, encompassing the entire Morninglight and most likely triggering an eruption of the Sacred Mountain, ultimately putting a big question mark on the existence of this Morninglight land.
The end.
