Reload

"Oh, right. Put this on."

Linde took out the faded ribbon he had found earlier and tied it around the hair on the right side of Frisk's head.

"Mm, pretty cute." Linde nodded in satisfaction. "Now I want to 'investigate' even more."

Frisk covered her face. She really had no grounds to complain about this, because it truly was her own fault.

"Please, I'm begging you. Just forget about it..." Frisk struggled to squeeze out those words.

Linde chuckled. "All right, check your stats. The ribbon should boost your defense."

As soon as Frisk opened her status panel, a message appeared before her eyes-

[Party member Frisk is attempting to equip the Faded Ribbon. Change armor?]

[Yes][No]

She pressed the "Yes" button.

Suddenly, she felt something loosen around her waist...

The bandage went into her inventory, and the pants it had been holding up slipped down a little now that it was gone.

Two lines converged in a V shape, with the spot where they met just barely hidden by her pants.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Linde suddenly choked. Even though he had checked once before, it was still quite a sight... "I'll turn around right now!"

"Waaah-!" Frisk hurriedly crouched down, adjusted the elastic waistband, and secured her pants again.

"Ahem... All done? I'm turning around now." Linde turned back as he spoke, his gaze darting about. "Why don't you check your stats again?"

Frisk hid her embarrassment and opened her status panel-

Her armor had changed from the Bandage to the Faded Ribbon, and the number beside her defense had changed to 0(3).

"Anyway, I've already solved this pillar puzzle. Let's get moving." With that, Linde strode forward.

Suddenly, Linde felt dazed, as though a memory had flooded into his mind. But it was vague and fleeting, so he paid it little attention and kept going.

Frisk suddenly shouted, "Hey! Wait! Watch out..."

"It's fine. The puzzle's already solved."

"No, I mean..."

"Don't worry. It's definitely right."

"No, you..."

"Oh, you... Urgh!"

HP -6

Linde was hit by a barrage of bullets and gritted his teeth in pain. Seeing more bullets coming his way, he hurriedly dove aside to dodge them.

"I was trying to tell you." Frisk couldn't help putting a hand to her forehead.

But Linde had no time to argue, because three monsters were attacking him at once!

[Lukeye]

[Attack 6][Defense 6]

[Don't pick on him. Surname: Eyewalker]

[Vegetoid]

[Attack 6][Defense 6]

[Serving size: 1 monster. Not monitored by the USDA.]

[Gospel Roach]

[Attack 7][Defense 5]

[It looks evil, but it just fell in with the wrong crowd...]

The triple barrage left Linde unable to dodge in time, and he kept colliding with the bullets.

Just then, Frisk appeared beside him as if guided by some unseen impulse, pulled him away, and stuffed a Monster Candy into his mouth. "Now we're even!"

Then she spared all three monsters with remarkable ease.

"Could it be..." Realizing something, Linde smiled faintly.

Frisk had just reloaded her save. That fragment of memory was his memory from before she reloaded.

Linde thought back carefully. It seemed that his previous self had died in the ambush.

He guessed that Frisk couldn't reload immediately while she was in battle, so she had needed to spare all three monsters before rewinding the timeline to save him.

"You just... reloaded, didn't you?" Linde asked outright, making no attempt to skirt the subject.

Frisk said nothing and simply nodded.

A glimmer flashed in Linde's eyes. "You know, I can vaguely remember what happened before you reloaded. I think some monsters might be able to do that too."

Frisk looked surprised for a moment, then sank into thought. "Hmm... But at least those three monsters didn't have those memories. Anyone who can remember must be pretty special."

Approval showed in Linde's eyes. She was right. As far as he knew, only Flowey and Sans clearly knew about things like timelines.

Of course, some people in his previous life had speculated that Asgore knew too, but Linde couldn't be certain.

As for Gaster, there was no point dwelling on him. The original game offered too little information about him, and most theories came from fan works, which weren't much use as a reference in the original world.

"All right, let's not dwell on it. Sooner or later, we'll learn what we need to know. No need to overthink it. Let's keep moving for now."

Linde led Frisk left at the junction ahead, where a large, pitch-black, leafless tree stood.

Toriel hurried out of a small house behind the tree...