Staring at the group of children with a confused expression, I muttered out.


    "w-what?"


    Letting out a groan, the children''s leader looked back at the rest of the children and said.


    "You guys go; I''ll take care of this guy."


    As I remained shellshocked in front of the gate, the children walked past me and towards the pool of water with their buckets.


    Not giving me time to regain myposure, the leader of the children stared at me and asked.


    "Can''t you see you''re blocking our way? What do you want?"


    Taking a couple of deep breaths, I looked at the child and said,


    "I just told you, didn''t I? I need an adult to speak with for some directions...I''m an adventurer who is a bit lost."


    Matching my confused expression, the child replied.


    "What do you mean "just told you?" This is the first time I''ve ever seen you."


    "..."


    " *sigh* If it''s an adult you want, I''ll get one for you... but there''s no need to lie ore up with stupid excuses."


    As the children''s leader turned around and headed for the same hut, the other children returned with their buckets full of water and reentered the vige.


    ...what the hell was going on?


    Were these kids ying some kind of trick on me?


    No... he seemed genuine, right?


    "...I take back everything I said about them having good parents...if they can lie this well at such a young age, their parents must be criminals."


    Sighing, I watched the children''s leader enter the same exact hut asst time, hoping that this time an adult would actuallye out.


    But...a momentter, even though the hut door did not budge an inch, the children''s leader, alongside the same group of children, reappeared in front of me.


    "Who are you, and what do you ne-"


    Interrupting the children''s leader midsentence, I stepped forward and replied.


    "Look, is this some kind of joke to you? Can you just grab an adult for me... the first time, sure, I''ll admit it was funny, but now it''s getting repetitive."


    Staring at me with a startled expression due to my annoyed tone, the children''s leader confusedly nodded his head before turning and heading to the same exact hut.


    I swear to god, I''m going in there myself if an adult doesn''te out this time...


    While we waited for the children''s leader to return from the hut, one of the children with the empty buckets spoke out.


    "Sir...what were you talking about this ''joke?'' "


    ...So they''re all in on this goddamn joke, aren''t they...?


    Facepalming, I replied.


    "Look, I''ll give it to you guys; your coordination and acting are unmatched. But you have to know when a joke is over, alright?"


    "..?"


    "..?"


    "..?"


    As the children stared at me in silence with confused expressions, I resisted the urge to punch something.


    "Look like we have a bunch ofedians in this vige, don''t we?"


    At my question, yet another child stepped back and worriedly asked.


    "Sir... what is aedian?"


    Looking at the group of children, who were all wearing concerned and confused expressions, I actually felt like the bad guy.


    They were the ones trying to trick me... I''m not the bad guy!


    Closing my eyes and attempting to calm myself before I did anything drastic, I began thinking of what questions to ask the adult when he came.


    Reopening my eyes, I almost copsed to the floor as I realized that the group of children hadpletely disappeared.


    Turning around to face the pool of water, I noticed that they weren''t there either.


    ...Either they''re really good at coordinating and making borate tricks, or something is seriously wrong.


    As if confirming questions, when I turned back around to face the gate, the same group of children with their leader at the front was standing there...with no adult in sight.


    Realizing that something was off, I spoke before the children''s leader could say anything and hurriedly asked.


    "Do you remember me?"


    "...? No...who are you, and what do you need?"


    Oh god... I''ve been yelling at a bunch of children for no reason...


    It was a loop.


    The children weren''t constantly getting buckets of water; it was that every time they returned with their water, the loop reset.


    This made it seem as if the children were always gathering water.


    The same went for the adults who were cooking and chopping the berries as the loop ended before they finished, giving off the illusion that they were permanently cooking animals and making berries.


    Turning away from the vige gate, I headed back to the gate of water.


    Talking to them would be useless... they would forget everything before I could get some useful information out of them.


    Sitting by the edge of the water pool, I saw the loop reset in real time as the same children came to the pool to gather water every thirty seconds without fail.


    It was a full circle, a loop.


    Just like I always ended up back at the flipped carriage and waterfall, these children always got water, and the adults always cooked and chopped.


    This entire forest was stuck in a loop.


    The only reason the main cast, Ruby, Irene, and I, are able to retain our memories is because we are awakened, so our mental fortitude is increased...


    But... what if we couldn''t?


    What if I unknowingly lived the same life over and over... and over again like these poor children and adults?


    What if I was one of those children, collecting water at every thirty-second interval while still thinking I was living apletely normal life?


    Terrible...it was terrible.


    This world truly was cruel...


    Sighing, I watched the children collect their water onest time before getting up and heading back to the cliff.


    I had a long hike ahead of me... and after that I had a long way to get out of this damned loop.


    But...one thing had changed.


    I wasn''t doing itpletely for myself...those children deserved to live a normal life, not living in this artificial loop over and over again like a drone.