I (30), Who Works for a Black Company and Died While Regretting My Gloomy Life, Started Over From High School!
Chapter 136: One More Miracle to Go

In the midst of the gathering dusk, rain fell like tears.

I walked from the Shijouin residence to my home, umbrella in hand, my steps feeble.

…

There were no words. My thoughts were a jumble, my mind shrouded in darkness.

Afterward, I informed Fuyumi-san and Akiko-san that I would be cutting short my visit.

During that time, my complexion was evidently ghastly, and the two women from the Shijouin family expressed great concern for my well-being. However, I feigned cheerfulness and managed to reassure them.

Now, I walked home alone, my head bowed in despair.

(Perhaps… my hypothesis is correct…)

The words Haruka spoke, like a flashback of a nightmare—there was no doubt they matched the details of the workplace bullying she suffered in her previous life.

And the final confirmation was the word “smartphone”.

Although smartphones already exist overseas, they haven’t yet made their debut in Japan. Hence, there would be no reason for such an abbreviation to exist.

(Which means… the one lying on that bed now must be the future Haruka, broken by severe workplace bullying…)

If I assume this, then all the elements of this abnormal situation, which would never normally occur, fall into place.

A Haruka from the future, just like me, who leapt through time. A Haruka who, once innocent and pure, was mercilessly crushed by those wretched scum, transforming into the figure I see now.

“Why… Why is this happening!? Haruka was trying to move towards a happy future, why is some supernatural phenomenon deliberately bringing ruin upon her!?”

I raged, slamming my umbrella into the ground, screaming towards the dark, clouded sky.

What… What is this…!? Everything… everything was in vain!? Everything I’ve done, everything I resolved to do to protect Haruka…!

I wanted to change the future. Not only for myself, but above all, to save the girl named Shijouin Haruka, who had become an eternal gem in my heart, from tragedy.

Yet, fate, spanning time itself, brought destruction to Haruka.

It mocked my desperate struggle to change the future.

“If I’m… breaking the rules as I leap through time and getting punished for it, then so be it…! But why is the Haruka living in this moment being punished? What crime has she committed!?”

Ignoring the rain soaking through my clothes, I shouted with unrestrained emotion.

I cursed the irrationality that left me with nothing to do but shout in the face of such injustice.

(Is there… really nothing I can do? Must I just stand by, helplessly watching as Haruka deteriorates and withers away?)

Since I began my Youthful Revenge in this era, I’ve fought against various things.

Though I’m just an ordinary person, I’ve strived to better my own life and worked hard to ensure the girl I love doesn’t meet a tragic fate.

But… in the face of the situation before me now, I have no means to fight.

To regain the normalcy that was shattered by a supernatural phenomenon, no conventional method will suffice.

(Why did I leap through time and return to this era in the first place—)

Hm…?

Then, a sudden idea flashed through my mind, extinguishing the blaze of my anger.

I see. In the first place… what is my existence?

(If it were just me leaping through time, one could chalk it up to the whims of a god or the mysteries of the universe… but if both Haruka and I, two familiar individuals, are leaping through time, does that imply there’s a pattern, a meaning… no, a purpose?)

Time leaps are a phenomenon entirely beyond human understanding; perhaps trying to find meaning in it is foolish.

However—

In this moment, as Haruka, who has brought destruction from the future, lies before me, I, the time leaper, earnestly wish to save her from the depths of my heart.

If this situation, not a mere coincidence but intentionally orchestrated, then…

Am I being expected to do something?

…

It’s a thread so fragile it’s almost presumptuous to call it hope.

Merely a desire born from optimistic speculation.

But—

“Listen! Whoever sent me leaping through time!”

In the pouring rain, I shouted loudly towards the sky.

“I don’t know who you are! Whether you’re a god, a demon, or an alien, I honestly don’t care! But listen to my words!”

Fortunately, there was no one around, but even if there were, I wouldn’t have stopped this insane, foolish shout.

“I… want to save Haruka! No matter what it takes! The seventeen-year-old Haruka living in the present, and the future Haruka who has suffered destruction! If that aligns with your objective—”

It was a shout driven more by impulsive emotion than any semblance of thought.

“Take me to the place where I can prevent Haruka’s destruction! If I can just get there, I’ll find a way to stop it!”

If what I thought happened actually did, I had no idea what the consequences would be.

But still, if there was even a glimmer of hope, I wanted to bet everything on it.

“I don’t care what happens to me after! Even if I can never return, even if I have to collapse at that company on that night again just like fate intended! So—!”

With a wail laden with tears of blood, I pled, staking my soul.

She’s a girl I truly love.

In my once pitch-black life, she shines eternally, like a star.

If it means Haruka can have a happy future, I’ll do anything.

As someone who has died once before, I am prepared for that…

“Please…! Just one more miracle…! Give me a chance to truly save Haruka!”

Shouting with all my might, I lay prone on the wet asphalt, beseeching the heavens.

In an era when celestial beings were deeply revered, much like people did back then, I offered up a genuine, wholehearted prayer.

—There was no answer.

In the first place, there’s no rational explanation for there being ‘someone’ who would heed my voice.

Reality remains, shrouded in the darkening dusk, as cold rain mercilessly soaks through my body.

But, at that moment—

Mixed in with the myriad sounds of rain hitting the asphalt, I felt like I heard a sound from far away.

It was a sound akin to the ticking of an old clock, the clattering of gears.

TLN: Bonus chapters, lets keep it going~