If anyone complains, you're the one who has to explain.

　Even if Goro and Rokuro didn't show up at the beginning of the lap, Wolfe and the others would be there.
　The burden on Ilias would be even greater if he realized that he had repeatedly eliminated them.
　It was not impossible that Ilias would try to go around without leaving any memories behind, but that possibility has been destroyed after the sixth round.
　It seems that Ilias doesn't even want to live in the virtual world anymore.
　The Golden Demon King touches the table and finishes his work.
　Then the Iliad and Lakra began to wobble.

"Oh ......, what the ...... am I?
"Mm ......, I believe I've entered the virtual world in a match with the Golden Demon King .......
"Hey, you're up.
Hey, Master Shosho.

　The two of them look almost exactly the same as they did before they started, and rightfully so.
　That's because all the memories they experienced in the virtual world were retrieved by the Golden Demon King after the second round.
　I negotiated with the Golden Demon King, thinking that he would be able to recover all of their memories if he was able to compress the memories they had gained in the virtual world and leave them as information as a result when they moved on to the next round.
　As a result, there was no damage from Saburo or, for that matter, Shiro's attack.
　It was an unpleasant experience for us, but it was retaliation from the position of being used, so we would take it in stride.
　I'm sure Saburo was thinking about that as well, he's a jerk.

...... Wolfe and the others are not awake, what was the result of the game?
I won on the first lap, you lost on the seventh - or maybe fifth - lap when you declared give up.
Defeat. ...... I don't remember that. ......
I've had the memory erased. I'll tell you why, because your heart was broken, by the virtual me.
"Oh my God, ...... no, ...... right, .......

　The Iliad tried to argue, but quickly slurred his words.
　In the virtual world, he stands as the king of Garnets, and he will immediately know that we are on the enemy side.

I'm sure you'll be able to tell that we're enemies. I had my memories retrieved.
I'm not sure if I've been pushed to the point of self harm, but I'm ...... wondering what you've done for me in the virtual world.

　I'll give you a rough idea of how things unfolded.
　I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.
　In the third game, when I asked him to join me, he resented me for screwing around, set a trap for me, and then forced me to give up.
　In the fourth round, I was forced to establish the same relationship as in the real world, and my heart was broken when I was forced to betray it.
　From the fifth round, my heart was broken by my own hand.
　I'll spare you the details and just tell you the result.

I'll just tell you the results. ...... It certainly doesn't feel good to betray the same person you are now.
It was fatal that I told him honestly in the third round. I'm sure you're not the only one who's had it.
I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that.
It's just a virtual world with the same personality, the same name, and the same appearance. It's just a virtual world with the same personality, the same name, and the same appearance. You have to remember that the "I" who is here now is the friend and protector of the "Iliad" who is here now. I wanted to tell you about it beforehand, but I wasn't allowed to discuss it.

　The important thing in a game where people die is that the game is the game.
　The deaths in the game are just the spice that makes the game fun.
　If it causes your life in the real world to be ruined, it will not help you.
　If the game is banned because it has too much influence, heavy users will be grieved.

...... So you're telling me to take it easy?
What? I thought you were giving me advice.
If you don't understand what I'm saying, it's invalid. It's not a good idea.
...... I'm sorry, I wasn't good enough. I chose to rely on you even in the virtual world and I failed. ......
"Don't worry, you can't destroy the Tarz if you're doing it right. It's admirable that you made the choice to rely on others.

　You can't blame the Iliad for seeing the potential in the situation and taking action, instead of being stuck with the idea that they couldn't do it and ending up with no results.
　You can't blame them.

I'm sure you're not the only one.　Do you still have your memory?
"Oh, you want to hear it?
Yes, that's... I'm curious as to how you managed to break through the odds that we both sounded off.
"Yes, you were able to destroy the TARDIS when the difference should have been overwhelming, right?　You can't be sure that the Golden Demon King won't use that as a guide to do something bad.
I'll never copy you!

　The two of them were surprised by the shouting of the Golden Demon King.
　I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I'm sure you've heard of it.

I'm not sure what to say.　I'm not going to go into too much detail because the Demon Lord vomited when he checked the contents.
I'll stop.
Oh, don't talk. Put him in the grave with you.

　He refrained from talking.
　It's not a scene I want to see, but it's a little sad.
　I'd like to have someone I can talk to about impressions and time attacks.

So, that leaves us with the Wolfe. How are they doing?
"Up until the third round, they've been on the defensive under Mix's leadership for quite some time. The first round lasted three years, the second round three and a half years, and the third round four years. By the way, you've all lasted less than two years.

　In a simple war, the difference would be so great that the war would be decided in less than a year.
　It's wonderfully admirable, even if it's all about stretching things out.
　He was considered the equal of Marito in terms of mix ability.



"Talk about awesome, but ...... just endures?
"On the fourth lap, Wolfe's country held out for ten years after declaring war six months later.
That's .......
In the fifth round, twenty years. In the sixth round, thirty years.

　Ilias can't hide his surprise, and I can understand why.
　But thirty years is just too much for Wolfe to look forward to.

No, no, no, wait, wait, is that possible?
Yes, it's possible, because both the Wolfe and the Mix understand the secret to winning.
"The ...... secret to winning?
First, you have to be aware that this is a virtual world. If you can't separate it from the real world, you'll see it as the same level of difficulty as life. The Iliad couldn't do this, and incidentally, it broke my heart.

　As usual, I took out a piece of parchment and a pen, and drew two vertical lines and two horizontal lines.
　I drew two vertical lines and two horizontal lines.
　I drew a circle in the center and handed it to Ilias.

"Iliad, do you remember this game I taught you a long time ago?
"Oh, yeah. It's a simple game. It's a simple game. If both players play their best hand, it's a draw, right?

　With an incomprehensible look on his face, Ilias drew a cross diagonally to the right.
　Yes, that's the rule of thumb for a draw.
　In this game, if both players play their best moves, it's a draw, and if both players don't play their best moves, they lose.
　So, if two people who know the game well play this game, they will never win.
　But that's only if you are bound by the rules.
　Again, you draw a new circle on top of the one you drew, and then draw a circle below it.
　Naturally, the line is aligned and the first player wins.

"Hey, that's not fair!
"That's how the Tarzians died. That's it.
It's .......
"This is an extreme example, but it's the right way to play it. There are games that tell stories, of course. Just because you're King Garne and you're running the country doesn't mean you have to take care of the country, it doesn't mean you have to be a virtual enemy and win a real victory.

　What we did was to play a crazy game that could have ended with Taze saying, "I don't care about Garne's future.
　This is the kind of foolishness that no sane ruler in the real world would do, but it's the reason we won.

In the real world, you'd be in despair, but this is a game. "In the real world, you'd have to wallow in despair, but this is a game, and you can throw away the elements that bind your thoughts. The Iliad has strangled itself by bringing humanity, chivalry, and justice into the game.
...... That hurts my ears.
Back to the point, the secret to winning at games is to have fun.
"...... Enjoy?
Oh, Goldilocks, give me that.
Mmm.

　The Golden Demon King brings up a book from the table.
　It's the same book that the little Gold Demon King used as a control panel.
　You can't touch it, but it's like a hologram that opens with the movement of your hand.
　You can quickly operate it to open the corresponding page.

This is a record of the first round of Wolfe's operations, and this is the second or third round.
"...... I can see that you're on the defensive. You can see that they are defending themselves well.
It's a record to be carried over to the next lap, a record of the methods you came up with during that lap, even if they weren't perfect, you carried them out and saved them for the next lap. The Iliad used a similar method in the third lap.

　Ilias and the others recorded the information in the names of holidays and festivals.
　Iliad and the others had written down the names of holidays and festivals and kept a record of them, while Wolfe and the others, even if they hadn't thought that far ahead, had made a bullet-point list of methods they had noticed or thought of that could be used in the next round.

I see, now that you mention it, you're adopting one policy after another that you're hitting at the end of the next lap.
By the way, that's not the part I want you to pay attention to the most.

　I'm going to operate it again, and this time I'm going to record the first lap of the Iliad.

"This is the record of the first lap of the Iliad. You remember the first lap, don't you?
"Yes, I do. I can barely remember what I did and how it turned out.
How does it compare to the records of the Wolfe?
...... We attacked after war was declared, so I'm sure there are many differences.
The Iliad has been in the field a lot, even though Lord Raggedythe cut off his head in the end.
Yes, and the Wulfe haven't done any fighting on the defensive.
"......, huh?

　You can see the difference between the two, and it's so easy to understand. .......

"Well, if there's a difference, why don't you explain it!
"This is it, this is it.

　I point to a spot in the Iliad's operation log, an operation that is used all over the place.

Is that ...... fast-forwarding?
"Yes, then look at the Wolfe record.

　I switch to Wolfe's record and show it to them.

It's not ....... Wait a minute, does that mean the Wolfe--
That's right, Wolfe and his friends have never used the fast-forward function.

　One of the greatest features of the virtual world is the ability to fast forward time, which allows you to focus on the game without mental strain.
　However, Wolfe and his team did not use this fast-forwarding feature at all, not that they didn't know about it.
　This is the will of the wolfe, deliberate and prolonged play.

"Wolfe, you see, is enjoying this virtual world. He's going about his daily life, reading books, practicing, etc.



　By the third round, he had barely left Garne Castle to train, but by the fourth round, he finally went outside, or rather, became an adventurer.
　Ilias, too, had disguised his identity in order to infiltrate the TARDIS, but that was a completely different story.
　He was completely enjoying the world as an adventurer.

"No, no, no, Garne is declaring war on us in six months!　If we don't do anything, we'll be destroyed.
"There are three main conditions for a country to exist: it must have territory, it must have people, and it must have sovereignty to govern itself.

　It's common sense, but we can learn about this from the information we get from the little gold demon king.
　The game in the virtual world was based on the maintenance of these conditions.
　Even if the king dies, the country will not be destroyed as long as the sovereignty remains.
　Even if there is a country, it ceases to be a country when its people die out.
　When these conditions were no longer met, the country was considered to have 'perished'.

The existence of sovereignty is maintained as long as there are still people who can rule, such as the kings of Urfe and Garn or Ludfein. As for land, as long as there is enough space for a house, that's all that matters. As for the people, ...... is safe as long as the king is alive.

　In my first round of playing, Marito was protected by his knights and did not die.
　It's a good thing that you're not the only one.
　The people are safe, and Marito is still sovereign.
　But sadly, Marito abandoned Taze's territory, which was full of undead, and fled the country.
　At that point, Taze failed to fulfill one of the three conditions and was doomed.

...... No, is that possible?
I'm not sure what to make of it. Wolfe had become a casual adventurer in the fourth round. He had built a secret base in the forest as a home, and even after the fall of Ghaneh's mainland, it was still recognized as his territory.

　In the end, when the secret base was discovered and destroyed by a third party, the territory was judged to have been lost, and it was destroyed, and the Wolfe were defeated in the fourth round.
　In the fifth round, he took care of the situation and enjoyed his life for a long time.
　He established a small settlement in the forest and ran it manually, separately from Garnets.
　The Tarzians would not make any more major moves once they lost Garne Castle and liberated the people.
　Of course, they will try to find a wanted man who suddenly declares war on Gurne, but it is impossible to find a Gurne king who has never appeared on the public stage.

But then, we'll never be able to win against Taze. If the Wolfe of the virtual world dies, then--
"Even if the king dies, the country will remain as long as the sovereignty remains." "In the fifth and sixth rounds, Wolfe was reckless as an adventurer and died rather early.

　In the fifth round, Wolfe built a small settlement and resumed his adventuring career, thinking it would be okay.
　And, of all people, he sought out Parshero and offered him a fight.
　He is a disciple of Gladna the Fist, a man of whimsy and crime.
　In the world of Wolfe, there are otherworlders and the Iliad in the Targs.
　Lakra is there, too, and the incident with Rahite was supposed to have been recreated. ...... Somehow, Parshero survived.
　And somewhere in the world, Wolfe heard him and found him.
　I didn't expect to see a series of events where the cause of death had nothing to do with Taze, did you?
　He was defeated in the fifth round, and in the sixth round, after ten years of training, he got his revenge and was still defeated.
　It doesn't look like he's getting any guidance from anyone.
　He may have had some wisdom from Mixu, but I don't see it either.
　He is probably trying his best to defeat them on his own.
　Wolfe has completely forgotten his goal of destroying Taze, and is purely enjoying the virtual world.
　If he dies, the village will lose its founder.
　In the fifth and sixth rounds, the village disappears a few years later because of this, resulting in the destruction of Garne.
　The ministers of Garne can be easily manipulated to direct the internal affairs of the village, but they cannot interfere with the operation of the village after death.
　The act of leaving a village behind is not an easy task, but the wise king, Mixu, is there as a consultant.
　Needless to say, the next village will continue for many more years.

"And this situation will hit the crux of this game.
"Point?
Yes, why the Golden Demon King forced you to declare war. It's because he wants a short game. Didn't I tell you why before you asked me to fight?
"Uh, ...... ah, you're saying that there's a limit to the future that can be verified by saying that the hero Yugra defeated you?

　I'm not sure what you mean by that.
　Since it was created as a disposable simulator, it does not require excessive specifications.

"Demon King of Gold. I'm going to ask you again, how many years into the future can your virtual world see?
......, the virtual world I'm using in my game against you, is fifty years.
"Then ......
Oh, the time limit of the virtual world is only fifty years from the declaration of war. After fifty years, the virtual world will collapse.

　The Golden Demon did not anticipate that the time limit would come, in other words, he did not set a time limit for defeat.
　Even if the virtual world collapses, it does not mean that the players will disappear together.
　After the virtual world collapses, the players will be moved.

Then, where will the collapse of the world be centered? Then where will the collapse of the world be centered?" "It will be centered on those in the real world, where Wolfe is standing.

　In other words, Ulfe is the king of the world just before the collapse of the world.
　The hourglass in the corner of your eye tells you that the world is collapsing.

"......

　Slowly, Wolfe and Mix rise.
　The time is still on its seventh cycle, or so it seems.
　Wolfe and the others have successfully destroyed the Taze, along with the virtual world.