Chương 45: A Question for the Nation (and the Readers)

After Yari's agonizing cry was swallowed by the void, a crushing, suffocating silence descended upon the ruined office. Even Gennai remained completely quiet, likely reaching the absolute processing limits of his quantum calculations. A world of pure "Null." From every mathematical standpoint, any further historical correction seemed entirely impossible. And yet. Deep inside my breast pocket, I felt a sudden, distinct spark of warmth. It wasn't the drugstore stomach medicine.

What rested there were the indelible memories of the journey we had taken to get here. The pure ideals of the PRINCE. The tragic tears of USHIWAKA. The bright, radiant smile of HIMIKO. The burning literary passion of MURASAKI. The grand, lonely dream of NOBUNAGA. Was all of it truly wasted? No. Absolutely not.

"... There is still a way," I whispered into the quiet.

"A path has to exist."

"I have no use for empty comfort," Yari said, his face still buried in his blood-stained hands.

"We have tried absolute power, cold logic, spiritual faith, and profound emotion. There are no cards left in the deck. This country is a fundamentally corrupted piece of junk hardware. No matter what OS we install, it compiles into a critical bug."

"You're wrong!" Ignoring the screaming agony in my muscles, I forced myself onto my feet.

"It failed because they are completely scattered! Harmony, martial pride, faith, emotional sentiment, absolute destruction... each historical era we visited was too extreme, too isolated. Every single element was correct on its own, but because they cannot mix—because they constantly clash and reject one another—the system violently overloads!" I locked my eyes onto the vast, silver metallic wasteland stretching out toward the horizon.

"What we need isn't a single dominant ideology. We need the power to bind them all together! Conflicting philosophies, mortal enemies, trusted allies, the forgotten past, and the unwritten future... we need a force capable of tossing all of it into a single, chaotic melting pot and forging it into an entirely new shape!" With resolute steps, I walked toward the sixth, final capsule.

Inside its glass frame, a brilliant azure light pulsed, carrying with it the unmistakable scent of the ocean tide and the howling wind of a brand-new era. Yari slowly lifted his head, a microscopic flicker of hope warring with profound hesitation in his eyes.

"... Are you seriously planning to wake him? 【RYOMA】."

"Yeah," I said, placing my palm against the cool glass.

"Let's have him wash this completely messed-up world absolutely clean." I reached for the primary activation switch. But before I could throw the lever, Yari's hand clamped down hard around my wrist. His grip was ice-cold, trembling violently.

"Wait, Kataru.... Simply booting him up isn't going to save us."

"What?"

"Ryoma's core architecture is built upon 'Integration' and 'Fluidity.' He is a volatile, high-potency chemical catalyst. Depending entirely on how his algorithms are directed, the future of this nation will solidify into two completely incompatible realities." Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Yari stared into my eyes with a desperate, breathless intensity.

"Kataru. To repair this broken world... what exact role do you expect Sakamoto Ryoma to play?"

"What exact... role?"

"Yes. Do you want him to allocate his processing power to reconnecting the shattered, volatile hearts of the people? Or do you want him to completely restructure the collapsed system of the nation? Ryoma's remaining quantum resources are strictly limited. The mainframe can only compile one." I choked on my breath. It was the ultimate, devastating paradox. If we save the human heart, we risk drifting right back into a chaotic, inefficient world of volatile emotion.

If we choose to save the system, we risk locking ourselves into a cold, unfeeling, perfectly managed corporate dystopia. A single choice from my fingers would permanently cement the fundamental nature of existence. My trembling hand hovered over the blinking console. It felt impossibly heavy. The sheer, crushing gravity of an entire civilization's history was pressing down on the tips of my fingers, threatening to snap them.... No. Wait. This story... this timeline doesn't belong to me alone.

I lifted my head, looking past the console, past the server racks, and locked my gaze onto the empty, hollow air. Out there, in the silent void beyond the boundaries of this world, I could feel them. Countless unseen eyes that had watched over our journey from the very beginning. The true stakeholders of history. The souls who would actually have to inhabit the future of this world. You.

"... Prime Minister. My resolve alone isn't enough to compile this data."

"What are you talking about?"

"We need to borrow it... the raw power of the Future Will. The consciousness of those who are actively observing this narrative with us!" I threw my arms out wide, reaching directly toward the empty air, locking my eyes straight onto your gaze through the invisible screen, shouting with everything my lungs had left:"If you can hear me, lend us your strength! We are going to flip the script and change history right here, right now!... But choosing the shape of the future that follows isn't my job.

That right belongs to you, the ones who will actually live within it!"

"... Kataru? Who on earth are you speaking to?" Yari knit his brows in sheer bewilderment. But I could see it clearly. As if answering my desperate, fourth-wall-breaking roar, a blinding torrent of infinite light particles began to cascade down from the hollow, grey sky. It wasn't raw digital data. It was pure, unadulterated thought-energy. The literal willpower of you, standing at the precipice, preparing to execute a choice.

"Come on! Decide the future! Pull this trigger alongside me!... Which way does Japan's dawn lie?!" ⚠️ WARNING: HISTORICAL CRITICAL JUNCTION REACHED ⚠️ The compile data for the future timeline is currently [UNSTABLE]. To successfully finalize Project Re-JAPAN, which definitive solution will you execute? 🔴 WORLDLINE α: 【 HEROIC TRIUMPH // AVENGERS 】"We don't need cold theories. Bind this fractured nation together with nothing but raw, burning human souls."

By selecting this path, you command Ryoma to prioritize the human heart. The historical figures we have met across our journey will gather as one ultimate, unified vanguard, crushing every algorithmic despair in their path. You lock the timeline into a"Narrative of Passion and Miracles." Deployment Vector: The story will continue seamlessly right here on this very page. Please proceed to the next chapter to witness Worldline α!

🔵 WORLDLINE β: 【 SYSTEM REBUILD // STATE RESTRUCTURING 】"Emotional arguments cannot save a dying world. Redesign this nation with the ultimate, mathematically flawless mechanism." By selecting this path, you command Ryoma to prioritize structural optimization. The fluid economic strategies of Sakamoto Ryoma will fuse with the profound, immutable philosophies of Kukai, reconstructing a flawless, harmonized societal machine. You lock the timeline into a"Narrative of Strategy and Absolute Truth."

Deployment Vector: The timeline will branch into a completely separate entry titled"Re-JAPAN: Worldline β" Please check the author profile or the linked story index to jump tracks and explore Worldline β!