“You know, sometimes I wonder what it’d be like if I was a sinner as well,” you spoke. To say that you weren’t jealous of the sinners, of the way they were connected to Dante and understood them, would be a lie. “I want to understand you, too.”

Dante ticked at that, looking up from a newly placed bandage on your arm and at you. Whatever could they be thinking, you wondered.

“…I feel bad, too,” you reluctantly confessed. “I can’t be brought back like the sinners if I die, so I feel like I’m dragging everyone down.”

Dante ticked again, shaking their head rather frantically before they pulled away from you and looked around. They went over to their desk, hands hastily stumbling about before they took hold of a notepad and pen. They looked back at you and ticked again before furiously writing something down… only to stop and rip the paper out, crumble it and — fail to — throw it in the trash before they wrote something else in another page.

The process repeated a couple of times, the silence that previously permeated the room now completely gone thanks to Dante’s incessant, angry ticking before they finally got something that they were satisfied with. They rushed back over to you, holding out the notepad so you could read what they wrote down.

You’ve been very helpful to us ever since you joined and you’re very capable in fights, so you aren’t dragging anyone down. Besides, I like taking care of you like this. So don’t feel bad.

“Dante…”

You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t feel your heart flutter a bit reading their note.

They perked up at the call of their name, head tilting down to look at the notepad in your head then up at you; undoubtedly curious — or maybe nervous — about what you had to say.

Seeing them like this, as well how worried they were about wanting to get their words right, you couldn’t help yourself.

“So you like me, huh?”

The sound that followed your words was that of a train instead of a clock as Dante lunged forward, ripping the notepad away from your hands and clumsily fell to the ground; rereading what they wrote down for you before turning back to look at you, making yet another sound akin to a train horn.

Was this them glaring at you? Cute.

“Sorry, sorry! I just couldn’t help myself when I saw how nervous you were~”

They shook their head, ticking away in annoyance as they placed the notepad down and continued placing bandages on your injuries.

Ah, if only you were a sinner so you could understand whatever they were saying and tease them accordingly.

<- Back to the masterlist?

That… didn’t really explain anything, but you supposed that was all you would get from him. “Can I make up for it at least?”

“Oh?” That seemed to catch his attention as he tilted his head, looking at you with a smile. “How so, my liege?”

You gestured for him to sit down beside you and he happily listened; back turned to you as if he already knew what you wanted to do. His hair didn’t look too bad all things considered, he must’ve combed it with his fingers earlier while returning to your side.

You weaved your fingers through the strands, feeling how soft and well taken care of his hair is despite the fact that he just came out of — what you assumed to be — a fierce duel. “How come your hair is so soft?” you asked as you combed his hair with your fingers; fixing up any knots that you found.

“Hm, I like using Capella’s and Amaryllis’ products~”

Capella and Amaryllis… two brands that you’d need to sell your entire family to buy one product from. No wonder his hair was still so soft then. Just how rich was this guy? Did he even need this job?

“I can lend you some of the bottles I have if you want~” he added. On second thought, maybe he was just buying them second hand.

“I’ll have to refuse, but thank you.” He seemed fine but you didn’t want to risk getting poisoned and killed because some weirdo put a toxic substance in one of the bottles.

You ran your fingers through his hair one more time, looking for any more knots you might’ve missed and gently parting his hair into three sections when you didn’t find any. “Do you have a hair tie?”

“I do, give me a second.”

As his hands dug into his pockets in search of a hair tie, you got to work braiding his hair. You moved the right strand to the middle, then took the left strand and crossed it over the new middle strand; repeating the pattern until you reached the end.

He held out a hair tie for you to take just then, allowing you to secure his braid with the elastic material and make a few adjustments afterwards before letting it go. “There, done.”

He moved his new braid in front of his shoulder, humming in approval once it was within his sight. “You’re pretty good~ Maybe I should start asking you to help me with my braid?”

“Only if you start giving me discounts,” you joked.

“Oh!” He turned back to you with a smile. “In that case, why don’t I start taking you out to eat with me after duels? I know a place that makes really good xiaolongbao.”

The reason you braided his hair was because you felt a little bad he looked messed up after taking on a duel on your behalf, but… “That’d be lovely.”

“In that case,” he stood up and turned around, taking your hands in his before pulling you up from your seat, “Let’s go now— ah, unless you already ate?”

You shook you head. “I haven’t.”

“Wonderful~”

<- Back to the masterlist?

written for this request

That was putting it lightly, as you might’ve gotten a bit carried away with him and gotten yourself a bunch of trinkets made in Ishmael’s image. All as tiny and cute as the person that they were based on.

“What are you two doing?”

Your fun unfortunately didn’t last long as Ishmael comes into the room that you and Yi Sang were holed up in. Her gaze lingers on the tiny versions of herself before moving to Yi Sang, expression changing to that of exasperation but without a hint of surprise before her eyes land on you. It’s then that you can make out the surprise in her eyes, together with disappointment.

How could you explain yourself in this kind of situation?

“Yi Sang’s idea,” you quickly threw him under the bus. He didn’t seem to care, looking proud of himself for all the little plushies and trinkets that he made.

“And why did you go along with it?” she questioned, targeting you instead of the man that started the incident. So much for you throwing him under the bus.

Since you didn’t really have anything to hide, you might as well tell her the truth. “I asked about a plushie of you that Yi Sang had, and he told me that he made it as a sign of his devotion and asked me if I wanted one as well. I want to show my support for you for the hierarch evaluations so I agreed.”

She stared at you one moment then opened her fan to cover her face with it the next. “Haah, you two…” was all that she responded with before leaving you and Yi Sang be.

<- Back to the masterlist?

ten... fifteen... twenty years ago you had woken up without explanation in this hell, taking everyone that you had come to love with you

all of them, ghosts following your march after the First Smoke War that had taken away your whole world

you still think that the people to whom this City is home and were born within deserve life more than some "fan"

your brothers in arms had begged to differ

you tried telling them everything

you tried telling them nothing

you tried all paths you could think of

time flows like life. life flows like time

it never meant shit. just like all other souls you bowed before the irrefutable reality, because you were never strong enough to resist it for yourself. for your ragtag band of misfits

it became crueller to keep going on

not for you. for them

you stopped trying

below the earth's soil, you let them rot

every year you still bought them flowers. still repeated their names with the tongue who deserves to least of all the wretched souls. told them of all those stories you together had made and unmade

because for them you had to survive

because you were not allowed to not survive

and even were you, everything they had done since the suffering you had brought forth would be for nothing

even were the world kinder, you had to choose the harder decision to live

you had tried joining Lobotomy Corporation's Main Branch, because the Library would ensure that you had escape this shithole's claws even remotely

but surviving the Smoke War had been by the skin and bone of everyone else's teeth, and with recommendation to another branch instead, you said you'd consider it, and never answered again, because you were no diamond under pressure

packing the bags you had intended for District 12 and the main facility of, you poured your pockets into permanent residence in Hongyuan. cruel as it was now, it would have a kinder future leading it forth

one that might let you barely survive the Second Smoke War deathless

that was... hmmm... eight years ago now

now you were dragging your tired eyes across a newspaper going on about the Wing Director for D Corp. handing the mantle to their regent—not to step down, but to do vacate and return some day—sipping a cup of coffee meant to do the job, not taste good

for all that you had everything to learn about the City, you still kept tabs on how 'canon' was going, playing an insignificant enough role it that it ought to be unchanged

ping!

you set your coffee cup down. before you something for only your eyes to gleam

you refused to die, because it would script being confronted with that obsession again. you hoped that making it to old age would be the exception

you had never even asked it to appear your eyes again. tried to bury temptation

you going to ask it to fuck off and try getting drunk to stop yourself from giving in

but your eyes, your eyes ever attached to that little obsessive brain of yours...

they scanned the text

they scanned the text that never should have changed

[ System Notice! ]

[ Congratulations on Player for reaching the Twelfth Milestone! ]

you mouthed those words. twelfth. skipping a little ahead of yourself, loathed system...

[ Player has reached the beginning of 'Limbus Company' and has now unlocked their twelfth Save Slot! ]

you slammed your hands on your table and stood up, hypnotized by the continuing text

'unlocked save slot' meant that the one that you had gone all your years cursing for being your only salvation and your's only was the last of thirteen

your shoddy little dam holding the line against the spiral of despair finally broke, and you thought of everything that you had tried

telling everything

telling nothing of anything

the same thing readjusted

whole different things applied

starting conversations at the very beginning

experimenting between violence and negotiation

Save Scumming on just one File

and now you could hop between two timelines

you immediately opened your system to clear out your oldest Save File before your fingers paused before it

no

you needed a slot in the present day to have a place to recuperate and read up on knowledge now exclusive to you

this wasn't just Save Scumming

this was making the world your bitch with everybody else's achievements, stomping on them like stepping stones to get what you wanted

it was no longer being able to rewind the clock and failing to apply your metaknowledge. it was being in two places at once and being able to prod truly effectively for the answer

'twelfth save slot'

you were going to unlock eleven more save slots

you laughed honestly for the first time

you were so... so very happy that you were going to meet your brothers in arms again

no matter how many times you had to redo it

[ Enjoy your New Game+ ]

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

the Smoke War was supposed to be over

even Mother had said it

so why?

his brothers in arms march. his brothers in arms died. his brothers in arms are human flesh are his brothers in arms hated themselves

him more than any of them

he had thought it was all a bad dream at first, or even flashbacks, but dreams don't happen at just any time, forcing you in and out of awkward conversations and into the smog like the slaps to the face they always were

the way time jumped back and forth, he might even be happy for Mother to have an answer

but in his search for understanding, he found one particular unit... with a human at the center of them all

because at some point, in some skips of time, they weren't a human anymore, fighting with a group they loved more than their own life again and again and again and again

and it riled up every instinct inside of him

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

for Odysseus, the Odyssey has been over twenty years and counting

it undid its weave and remade as it saw fit, torturing her with the possibilities of endlessness

she changed what she could. whatever to try so futilely to turn this into her advantage

until she say that one soul playing at seargent that always changed, always made new decisions, always in the same of its groupie

it was no longer the world tormenting her; it was now her peace being denied before her eyes so that it could have it's happy ending with its most favorite toys

"oof!" it had the audacity to complain, bio-prosthetics twitching

"your men are in the next room over, and my own are quite the experts at torturing their lot" thanks to her extended years of service, of course "now get talking"

it glared at her, like a puppy trying to be intimidating

her chin remained up high

"you bitch..." the it made its best intimidation of a growl

"a 'bitch' is a funny thing to call someone you put in this war..."

it continued to sass. a trait she learned to be mainstay

"oh, whatever did little old me do to make you think that i am to blame for the First Smoke War?"

Odysseus eyes were now locked onto it

the Urban Phenomenon had realized it's error, and scraped their feet trying to back tread

"ho... ho... hold on a moment" but no matter

because Odysseus was meeting its eyes, moving oddly like imbued with body modifications, and—

Odysseus blinked at rapid pace

"Outis?"

"Yes?" Outis recalibrated herself, her new mission to figure out the date at which perfect ocular prosthetics or body modifications for the purpose of 'reading' were invented

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

it was a sick joke

it had to be some sick joke

because the City wasn't kind enough to give and take back—at every turn—the opportunity to have never killed his hometown

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

Rodion... Rodion couldn't change anything

so she did as always and indulged as she pleased

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

the smog sickens her

Ishmael tried all manner of methods

killing Ahab first, starting her own sailing crew, quitting her job early versus staying longer to stockpile her money

fuck, she had gone and joined the Middle for Queequeg, going against what had allowed for them to meet eachother

if only just one of them would stick already

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

Hong Lu accepted it as is

the world did not agree with him

hmmm... he was becoming curious himself

"Grandmother... can i ask about the Smoke War?"

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

Heathcliff had bet it all in revenge being everything left

but this version of her... this version of her even said anything...

maybe he could have her love, and not lose her to Linton

it'd just... it'd just be a lot easier were the Smoke War not always looming on in the background, and the dream was always ripped away from him

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

the leader of the aberrant G Corp. Unit joined Nagel Und Hammer and other branches of N Corp., using rewinds time and time again to breach the barrier time should have been in climbing the corporate ladder

in these timelines, they did miracle work for N Corp.

in these timelines, they obtained information used to shred the feathers of the Wing he slid from in service to and exiled by

Meursault reported the Urban Phenomenon once their intentions became clear

the timeline he had made the reported never reappeared. neither did the rest

Meursault... would leave them ignorant the next time they joined

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

with a blank canvas restored, to repaint and undo

the original referenced again and again

always before her daughter was etched on

always after she had to be locked away

with the Index Nursefather's leash gone M.A.D., she wondered whether it could even happen again

if that bug settled the score with her baby E.R.A.S.E.D., there would be H.E.L.L. to pay

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

the pages of the past, present and future flirted closer than their numbers allowed for. this wasn't how adventures worked

besides, she now had plenty of redos to make her heroic acts shine brighter than the last, escaping from her tower for herself

just... don't let that oddity of time ever get close to her again...

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

Gesellschaft could no longer help her...

all progress always lost

Sinner №02... now... had only herself to get out of this predicament...

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

Yi Sangs submitted to the smoke occulating the flow of time

Gubo. the Nine. the Smoke War. now all the same

he opened his eyes to finally converse again with Sang Yi

he met another Mirror

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

"excuse me!" you ran before the building—the employee walking to their place of work—before gasping for air because at the start you could barely do a marathon

the G Corp. scientists looking at you odd, especially with how wide you smiled

"are you still accepting recruits?"

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

they buttoned up their shirt, and did their tie. someone of their station must always be punctual

that pest. that pest. once they were done with it—

Dante was...

Dante was...

...

what were they doing again...?

right. Mirror Dungeon

how long was it again? it should be just enough time for the Sinners to be rested

₊ 𓏴 ᛝ 𓏵 ᛝ 𓏴 ₊

a/n: inspiration is the manhwa, Let's Make Saving a Habit

clarification

the Reader isekai'd with a System to Save and Load a single File, making them immortal, but for all that this power is OP, there's only so much some with that power can effectively do without proper training, knowledge, patience and etcetera.

however, once they reach certain criteria—the first criteria being that they reached the beginning of Limbus Company—they unlock a new Save File, with the maximum being thirteen total

here's what they learn the hard way about their New Game+, these Save Files are attached to each Sinner in the reverse order

the more Save Files they unlock and begin to use, the more Sinners are jerked between their Save Scumming

this opens up the idea of Gregor instead being aware of Save Scumming since the "First Playthrough," now that i think abt it. fun idea to consider using

y'know... given how the Sinners constantly have to refigure out which Save File they are in, assuming the Reader doesn't wipe it entirely (they can delete and override Save Files with different timelines after all) maybe someone in a consistent enough timeline says... "ur acting odd... time to extract some memories..."

cue the Pandora's Box

Dante's awareness unlocks at slot ten, but i kept the reveal for last because i could. they're wholly aware, but in timelines with their prosthetic, they forget everything due to it being "pre-game"

logically, Limbus Company would figure out they're all experience this timeloop as collateral, but as i explain below...

initial ideas

my muse didn't flow for this one, so it's much shorter

here's how i imagined it: the Reader unlocks their second save slot post-Smoke War, but this is before Limbus Company's Sinners are even recruited, so they think they only have themselves

lots of daydreaming of Odysseus slowly piecing things together from observation and interaction, a reveal or confrontation that has the Reader being like "oh fuck. oh shit, no matter where i go i am always having her on my heels"

because my muse didn't agree on this one, we never got to see the Sinners lose their minds and fixate on the culprit/'culprit' being the enviornment creating their insanity

thus, where Reader is a platonic/found family yandere for their bestie G Corp. Unit, the Sinners are yandere for the Reader as they realize the Urban Phenomenon in question has a level of responsibility in all of this

Reader had to Save Scum to get a good enough gacha roll for their bio-prosthetics A LOT. fun way to make the Gregor and any other Sinners go insane as the time loop seems to be the same period of time only for the rug to be pulled from under them

extra thoughts!

the Reader—and by extention the Sinners who time travel with them—interfere with the Index's Wills of the City, much like poisoning an LLM's database (think ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, etc.)

the way i see it, the "Gods" can make the City dance to it's strings because everybody in the world of Project Moon (well, Iori and the Wild Hunt exist) has grown up and existed in the same Mirror World their whole lives. ergo the "Gods" have all their data inputed

not the Reader. the same becomes true with the Sinners each load and save, so besides the butterflies they all cause themselves, even were they to somehow behave like the first save file, the Index would be unravelling from the poisoned data well

y'know, T Corp. probably has something to say about this

Reader doing their Save/Load shit in Warp Trains.... ohhhh i have no idea what fuckshit could go on but that would be fuuuun...

references

"time flows like life. life flows like time"[1]