Thirty Simulations

Great.

Marcus Weybridge nodded.

"Eugene, you're fast at judgment even if your spell casting is slow. You have good pattern reading ability too. You're sharp. Although the survival time is a bit shorter than before, this time it was all your skill, not luck like last time."

I skimmed over Marcus's words while watching videos of the other friends on the screen.

Penelope was screaming into the walkie-talkie like she was going mad, dragging the bombing line somewhere. Charlie's memo said to lure it to the empty school athletic field, but I figured she'd die anyway. She was the type who couldn't ignore something that stuck in her eye, so this time it wouldn't do any good to try to stop her.

Percy was rummaging through the body of the deceased Tobias Weybridge. Crazy guy? What the hell is he doing? Is this a game? He's looting?

Karina had already adapted to Marcus's body and had dismantled the surrounding buildings before Sirius or the Prime Minister's Guard Battalion could blow them up.

"That's actually a pretty good strategy. You remove all the debris launch points from the start and clean up the battlefield. Your friend really resembles her dad a lot. Of course, without that level of physical ability, you couldn't even attempt it. You and I ordinary people couldn't do it."

Marcus's blunt tone actually resonated this time. Power-enhancing the body was this family's specialty, and Karina was strong like her father, though not as strong as Uncle Yoo Sung-geon. An ordinary teenage girl couldn't even lift a go-kart with her bare hands, after all.

And then there was Cedric.

"Is that guy insane?"

A shrill voice came out of my mouth before I knew it.

"Does your friend have no-pain syndrome? Eugene Kim?"

I rewound from Cedric's current video back to the logs from before.

This crazy guy froze to death, exploded to death, got tangled in silver threads to death, sliced to death in four pieces, and...

Constantly died in different ways, but the same thing kept repeating.

He pushed all the civilians from area 3 into the subway station, using the underground passage to send them to the safe side of the City of London where the Royal Guard Battalion was holding out. The exact same strategy every single time. That guy didn't care about the MPs or Sirius at all.

Would this work?

I started the ninth simulation again.

"Fuck!!!"

In front of King's Cross Station, the square.

Kaboom!

The frozen clock tower collapsed.

I had to dodge one by one while they froze me with snowflakes.

"Fuck you—signboard—"

I sent the signboard flying up and immediately blasted it with a bomb spell.

With a bang, the shockwave spread out, and while the snowflakes gave me a brief gap, I jumped like my feet were on fire.

Sirius Black was already out of his mind fighting the silver threads.

Next to him, the body-less face of a fallen Prime Minister's Guard Battalion Auror was visible, frozen and broken.

A terrified face. Not bombing, but facing the Prime Minister's Guard Battalion personally was still just one ordinary person like us.

'Damn it, this guy too... King's Cross district... For who the hell are they dying like this.'

I tried to catch up with Sirius Black by kicking off, but my feet wouldn't move.

"No, please."

I went to step anyway, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my knees were already frozen.

The damn snowflakes were stacking up without melting and freezing my body a little more with every step I took.

"Stupefy—!"

I shot a spell at Sirius Black in desperation, but my spell didn't even reach him before he was caught in silver threads and hung in the air, and my neck was already frozen too.

"An..."

Tenth.

Just like before, I lured Sirius Black toward the King's Way and ran after him.

By good luck, this time a blue dragon appeared far away...

Crack!

My vision went white and then unbearable pain hit.

My thigh below was neatly sliced like a ham on a cutting board.

It was fortunate I didn't go into shock, but blood was already spurting out like a fountain.

And a moment later, I saw that the top halves of the university buildings had been neatly sliced away right in front of me.

"What the hell do I do about this..."

Twelfth.

This time I decided to change the pattern.

I lured Sirius Black to the river instead of the road. Then he wouldn't be able to freely use lightning because he'd detect something.

But before I could even think that, Sirius detected something and leaped away.

Before I could even follow his gaze, I was cut to death by something.

Again, that blade.

Sixteenth.

Before Lucius Malfoy appeared, I aimed for a timing right before I froze.

Sirius would definitely freeze if he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stepped on the snowflakes, so then...

"Ignis Ignare—!"

Fuck.

I used that four-element spell again. Damn it, why didn't Professor Flitwick teach us that at Hogwarts?

The fireballs from Sirius's wand scattered everywhere, melting the snowflakes and allowing him to escape.

And of course, Sirius didn't miss the chance to knock me unconscious and flee again. So busy.

Thirty-fifth simulation.

From now on, I decided not to think anymore. The body reacted first. Dodge the explosion, block with a shield, jump out of the dust cloud, turn around, and cast spells. It all happened automatically. My muscles remembered the movement.

Sirius Black, his face black with rage, smiled sadly.

"You're on the side of justice too. Why don't you believe my words. Lucius Malfoy is your enemy!"

He kept casting spells in succession. I rolled, jumped, and blocked.

Bang! Bang! I deliberately blew up all the passages in the area where Lucius Malfoy had appeared. Boom-bang! I couldn't block forever, but I did it to slow his entry a little. That time I scraped together was really precious.

'From what I keep seeing, the silver threads seem to have a 200M radius limit around Lucius Malfoy, so if I block the entry roads, he won't come in for a while.'

The areas where the blue dragon had appeared kept getting damaged too. The blue dragon and the blizzard seemed to draw a circle with a radius of about 3KM from the origin point. The caster's standing point was probably the center. Fortunately, the monster MP using abilities like Aoki-ji couldn't move his true body while controlling the dragon. The silver threads flying around wildly within the 200M radius were better. The snowflakes shot from that blue dragon were too small and precious to fight without accidentally inhaling them, which would freeze my lungs from the inside.

'The blue dragon appeared from Richmond Park this time? Okay, 15KM from here to there, so I'll dodge it this time.'

But the giant magic blade could come from anywhere, so I had to leave it to luck. Fuck, when I suddenly hear a snap of fingers with no warning, the entire area gets swept away in 5 seconds. Either crushed by gravity or torn in two by an invisible blade. One or the other.

'That's a real natural disaster. All I can do is pray.'

Debris flew and the ground cracked with air twisting. I went through countless death crises while constantly blocking all passages, but eventually I survived.

"Do you have any way to dispel that magic?"

My grumpy question got nods of agreement from Percy and Cedric.

"If I know the dispel method, I'll be the police chief? After retirement, I'll be teaching those students who don't listen here."

Marcus Weybridge answered while clicking his mouse without even looking at us.

"Well, do you have any hints?"

"None."

"Do you hate them?"

"Really none. Those guys reached that position because they had the ability to do so. Before they were MPs, they were purebloods. You know that too. The seven ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pureblood families. The purebloods of the seven families besides Cornelius Fudge all have that level of ability. Only people like Minerva McGonagall or Kingsley Shacklebolt can match up with them. Don't even ask a retired Auror like me. I won't tell you anything."

Marcus was being completely serious, and we had nothing to say.

"Why are we hunting those people? I never once ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠told you to kill them. The current goal isn't to take down those MPs, right?"

Marcus was right.

I had no way to face those three natural disaster MP lords right now.

Right now, my only choice was to do my best to avoid them.

The objective of this simulation was different.

To escape from those disasters and capture Sirius Black.

And finally— the one and only chance that had come.

After dodging the incoming double-decker bus and safely stopping it,

Guiding the flying signboards to crash into the wall,

Demanding with the line "Sirius Black, you suck on Bolemort's toes?" to make him chase after me,

Waiting in the stinking trash heap for the guy whose rationality had broken and face was black with rage to make a gap.

"Incarcerous!"

The rope shot out and wrapped Sirius's legs. When his ankle tightened, he staggered and lost balance, arms flailing.

Now! Quickly, before he knocks me out and runs away...!

"Stupefy!"

Sirius twisted his body to avoid. The red light grazed past him and hit the dentist's sign on the building. The sign fell, and under it was a little boy with glasses and messy black hair crying. He looked like... Harry.

My breath stopped and my limbs started trembling. The image of Tobias Weybridge who had died trying to save the child from the bombing overlapped in front of me.

I thought I was on the side of the Aurors. Not a real Auror, but anyway, I was in Marcus's body, trying to save Cedric, on the side of justice.

Here, the Aurors who protected justice from the pouring bombs, the black-faced Sirius, and the three MPs.

Insanity. It wasn't. I was only saving the thing I wanted to save. I was only looking at what I wanted to see.

I wasn't an Auror. I was the bombing.

I couldn't move because my feet were rooted like I was trying to save the child. I was afraid of becoming a horrific corpse like Tobias, and since I knew this was fake, my body wasn't obeying me.

At that moment, Sirius leaped and saved the child. The child ran away crying, and the black-haired handsome man was pinned under the signboard, covered in blood. The wand fell too, and the result was him jumping to save the Muggle child.

This man was innocent. This man was good. The fact that I, a trash like me, looked down on such a person made me sick. But those who watched this screen from outside came to mind. Marcus lost countless comrades in this operation. If I showed sympathy for Sirius, what reaction he would have was obvious. With self-hatred suppressed, I became Auror again.

"Sirius, I know you're not the true culprit. Malfoy's the tool of Voldemort, and Wormtail's the true culprit, right?"

I continued as I approached. The blackened Aurors, the bombed Tobias, the people screaming after losing their homes... A mosaic of countless tragedies passed in front of me.

"But I really want to kill you. It's too... too much. Why the hell did those people have to die like that?"

Kicking his knee, Sirius knelt. His face, which had been black and white until just now, turned back to normal skin color.

"Ghk... Really... Really I didn't kill... I never killed those people... It's like they're cursed... I remember things dimly."

But he was still laughing while crying.

"And I have to meet that kid. So—"

I stared at Sirius Black. Every alley he had passed was now ashes. The ground mixed with blood and dust hardened like mud, and someone was still screaming and wailing, calling names.

This man had killed too many people in London right now. For saving just one Harry Potter, too many young people had disappeared into a handful of dirt. Still, I knew. Even in this twisted parallel world, the past history that didn't change.

This man is betrayed by his closest friend. Framed as the killer of another close friend, his family destroyed, he spends his youth rotting in Azkaban. And he will be killed by his cousin. A life of happiness mixed exactly half with self-inflicted misfortune and half with externally inflicted misfortune.

I knew those times. I alone knew that future that no one else knew. That's why I couldn't just pass by those eyes. He may not have been a perfect saint, but at least in the original he was good. No, at least he was good to Harry Potter, and I needed someone good for Harry Potter.

Sirius Black burning with the sense of mission to protect his friend's son while not believing friends and trying to kill himself while enemies attack, and the Aurors who died protecting London without knowing anything, for the citizens.

Which one was the villain? Could I judge?

So I... was just a viewer who knew the original, not a judge. I didn't know if this guy was really black or if it was Marcus's memory PTSD or a fantasy error.

But every time I decided to save Harry, this guy turned back to normal skin color and was suspected as a betrayer, he turned black. I needed a brighter Sirius than black.

"The Ministry now thinks that those noble MP lords betrayed Voldemort and are on our side. Of course, you thinking that's bullshit is correct. I don't know those two Dragon Slayers well, but I at least know that Lucius Malfoy isn't on our side."

"And... that kid you're trying to protect." He swallowed once. "He's alive."

"No matter how much hell he goes through, he'll survive. That Harry Potter you're trying to protect."

"What?" Sirius's eyes widened.

"Did the Ministry touch that kid too? No, Harry! No! That kid can't! Fuck! Harry is your hero! Crazy people! That kid can't!"

He started struggling. The rope tightened, but he didn't care because it was about Harry.

Whoa, chills. Is it possible I went crazy. What am I doing in a simulation. After all, it's fake.

While casually saying it, my hand holding the wand trembled like aspen. Just before my legs gave out and I sat down, I endured it.

"Stupefy!"

The red light struck Sirius's belly. Sirius kept yelling "crazy" at me until the end.

I'm sorry. And you're sorry to those people too. Please.

With the words I couldn't finish, he collapsed and lost consciousness.