Nowhere close to the depth of hatred aimed at Subaru.
Now this is genuinely interesting.
Gojo leaned into the soft cushion, eyes half-closed. But behind those lowered lids, there was no tension. No worry. Only curiosity, bright and keen, like a man watching the opening move of a game he'd been waiting for.
During the previous loop, his time studying in the Forbidden Library had broadened his understanding of this world considerably. He knew how powerful it could be. In certain respects, it outstripped even the Jujutsu world he'd come from.
But the moment he'd thought he had a reasonable grasp of things, this happened. And it didn't broaden his understanding so much as shatter the frame entirely.
Time reversal.
Forget the experience itself and the shock it delivered. The concept alone was staggering.
If he had to name something capable of this, it would be a god out of mythology. Nothing less.
Wait. Could it be the Side Character System?
Thoughts cascaded through his mind, and a spark of intuition made him glance at the blue text floating in his vision.
The system remained a mystery. But it had ripped him from his own world and dropped him here without a trace. Crossing the boundaries between dimensions was already absurd enough.
Measured against that, adding time reversal to the list didn't seem impossible.
But if the system had triggered the Time Reversal, then why?
Is the plot too boring?
He had to admit, compared to the fight with Elsa the Bowel Hunter, life at the mansion had been downright leisurely. Reading books, sampling desserts, teasing Betty. Day after day of comfortable nothing.
Still, if that were the real reason, the whole thing was ridiculous. Even if the goal was better ratings and a more exciting storyline, they couldn't expect him to live in constant battle. He wasn't some combat-obsessed berserker. Were they trying to turn him into one?
The more he thought about it, the less it held up. Pacing problems could be solved with a time skip. No need for something this drastic. If the system wanted to force the issue, it could hand down a mission directly.
After chewing on it from every angle, nothing credible surfaced.
Yeah, this kind of thinking really isn't my thing.
Gojo yawned, nudged his sunglasses up his nose, and toppled sideways, landing his head squarely on Felt's.
If thinking got him nowhere, he'd stop thinking. The road was long. Might as well sleep.
"Don't lean on me without warning!"
"You jerk!"
"Oh."
"Making a sound doesn't make it okay!"
Subaru watched Gojo bicker with Felt without missing a beat, calm as ever, and felt something tighten in his chest. I can't fall behind.
True, his behavior earlier had been strange. But he'd spent days with Emilia during the first loop. The girl sitting across from him was no longer a mystery. He knew how to read her moods, what made her laugh, what put her at ease.
It didn't take long. Within minutes, his efforts paid off and Emilia was smiling, the two of them chatting back and forth like they'd done it a dozen times before.
The journey unfolded the same as the first loop.
Uneventful. Safe. The group arrived at the mansion without incident.
---
Evening. After dinner.
Gojo called Subaru to his room.
"We still don't know what's going on. To be safe, act the same as last time. Nothing unusual. Keep your eyes open and try to figure out what triggered the reversal."
"Yeah, I know."
Subaru nodded, serious. He could be unreliable in plenty of ways, but when it mattered, he was solid.
Once Subaru left, Gojo considered his options.
Rem's behavior today hadn't escaped him, but confronting her directly would get him nothing. There was a better lead to chase.
He strolled through the mansion without bothering to hide his movements, and before long, found the door to the Forbidden Library.
He pushed it open and stepped inside.
Late as it was, the library blazed with light.
"Good evening."
The same girl stood near the entrance. Golden drill curls, small frame, an expression that said she'd been here longer than the books themselves.
Of course, from her perspective, they'd never met.
Gojo greeted her casually and walked in like he owned the place. He stopped in front of Betty, bent at the waist, and studied her face with exaggerated care.
"Cute as ever."
"A stranger barges in uninvited and says something nonsensical. Betty's cuteness doesn't need your approval."
Her tone was ice. But she didn't throw him out.
She'd been in this library for four hundred years. Every person who wandered through that door served one purpose: to be checked against the promise. To see if they were that person.
Betty reached for a book on the nearby table and opened it, silent and deliberate.
The pages were blank. White from edge to edge. Not a single character.
Her gaze dropped. A faint flicker of disappointment passed through her eyes.
Gone as quickly as it came.
Four hundred years of the same result had taught her not to linger on it.
"A book with no words. Looks unusual. Is there a special way to read it?"
Gojo had helped himself to Betty's teacup and was sipping her red tea, eyebrows raised with genuine curiosity.
"That's none of your concern. You can leave now. This place..."
Her voice was flat, dismissive, already forming the eviction notice. Then she closed the book, looked up at him, and froze.
Every hair on her body stood on end.
"What... what are you doing with Betty's cup?!"
"Hm? This? Drinking tea. Is that complicated?"
He shrugged, unbothered.
"Don't worry, I know it bugs you now, but give it a little time and you'll get used to..."
The teapot hurtled toward his face before the sentence was finished.
It stopped in midair, suspended at arm's length. Not just the pot. The tea that had splashed free hung frozen in space, every droplet motionless.