The Elusive Truth

"What day is it? Isn't today Sunday?"

She couldn't resist taking out her phone to check, and replied with Temperance Gentleheart.

"The date displayed on my phone is indeed..."

"That's Sunday, right? But my phone shows Tuesday."

Bai Zhi calmly showed the other person the date on his phone.

"This Orphanage home is located in an isolated and unusual space, with no internet or signal. Under these circumstances, if you have already reloaded your save file, your phone will naturally revert to its previous state as well."

"Tuesday... Doesn't that mean two days have already passed?! I've already died twice?!"

Temperance Gentleheart was startled by the conclusion she had drawn.

"... I didn't even know about something like this, how do you know you died twice?"

Looking at the Young Girl in front of him, Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Uh... because two days have passed, once a day, right?"

Feeling a sudden chill emanating from Bai Zhi, Temperance Gentleheart couldn't help but take a few steps back.

"I... I have pretty strong reasoning skills, so figuring this out shouldn't be too surprising, right? After all, aside from the date, the morning time is correct..."

"... Congratulations, Zhao Mugong, you've now been relegated to the 19th level underground in my heart."

After a moment of silent silence, Bai Zhi turned his head away expressionlessly.

"Based on the clues I have so far, it's possible that we've only reloaded the save file once since we got involved in this mission, but it's also possible that we've reloaded it two, three, or even more times."

"Why? Shouldn't it be twice?"

Noticing the strange chill subside, she breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but ask, her Temperance Gentleheart.

"And what was that all about? I had a feeling you were trying to kill me...?"

"Oh, that's an illusion."

"..."

"When I passed by the Guard Room earlier, the tea on the table was still steaming. This means that during the save/load process, not only this building filled with Anomaly, but also other places outside the Orphanage were being reloaded. So, it's impossible to determine how many times the save/load was done simply by looking at the sky and the date... And the times on our phones are different, didn't you notice? In reality, if you just pay more attention to the time, you can deduce the hidden conditions of this Mandatory Quest..."

Bai Zhi casually plucked a hair from his head and held it in his hand, speaking calmly.

"I don't know the conditions for reloading a save file right now, but after each save, everyone's memories will be erased, and everyone will return to the very beginning. Item on the bodies of the deceased, even their physical condition, will be reverted. The physical condition of the survivors will be reset, but the Item they have used will be preserved exactly as they were... For example, the Walnut item I have."

As he spoke, Bai Zhi took out the Plant Card he had obtained from the [Save Dave] Game.

"I remember it was supposed to Storage 800 points of sunlight, but now there are only 700 left. I also prepared seven Gas Mask, but there's only one left in my Inventory."

"... So you knew about this all along?"

Listening to Bai Zhi's story, Temperance Gentleheart seemed somewhat stunned.

"That's right, I guessed this from the very beginning. As long as you don't die in a certain cycle and have everything reset, it's actually quite simple to deduce this from the changes in the supplies you carry."

Bai Zhi glanced at the other person.

"I have a question for you: where did you first appear?"

"The... downstairs in the big building...?"

"What about the others? You don't need to tell me their exact locations, just tell me if they're inside or outside the Orphanage."

"Well..."

After a moment's thought with a slight frown, Temperance Gentleheart spoke with a touch of hesitation.

"Their conversations all seem to have taken place within the Orphanage... Wait, it seems like you're the only one who came in from outside the Orphanage?"

Suddenly realizing this, Temperance Gentleheart was momentarily stunned.

"Hmm... it seems it's basically what I thought. The main body of the Anomaly is within the Orphanage, and its influence should currently be limited to the Orphanage... it seems you were all wiped out in the last cycle."

With his arms crossed and his hand touching his chin, Bai Zhi nodded thoughtfully.

"If that's the case, then there shouldn't be any problem..."

"Wait, wait a minute!! What do you mean 'no problem'!? There's clearly a huge problem here!?"

A sudden surge of anger welled up within her, Temperance Gentleheart couldn't help but speak out loudly.

"Since you guessed this all along, why didn't you explain it to us sooner? Is it fun to keep us in suspense all the time!?"

"Ah, the Merely the wisdom of mortals."

Bai Zhi glanced at her, his expression noncommittal.

"Let's set aside for now how many cycles have occurred, but in the last cycle, I definitely informed you of this, and in that cycle, you yourselves deduced it... for example, the Traveler."

"But, but how could we possibly be completely wiped out..."

"That's right. Overall, the Anomaly inside this Orphanage aren't actually that strong, especially with me here. So theoretically, it's impossible for everyone except me to have been wiped out."

"..."

Hearing Bai Zhi's Mount Dayan words, Temperance Gentleheart's lips twitched slightly, but she couldn't find any words to refute him.

After all, judging from the other party's previous effortless performance, they were fully qualified to say such things.

"So, why were you all wiped out? This should be at least our third cycle, and in the last cycle, I really couldn't find any reason why you would all be wiped out..."

Turning his head to look out the window, Bai Zhi exhaled.

"After discarding all impossible options, the remaining option, however improbable, is the truth... Regarding the reason why you were all wiped out in the last cycle, I can only think of one."

What is it?

With Temperance Gentleheart, she couldn't help but ask further.

"It's very simple."

Turning his head to look at the Temperance Gentleheart in front of him, Bai Zhi spoke lightly.

"I orchestrated your deaths."