07/01/17 - Hi! I just finished this fic, so I'm updating all the chapters with the revised version from AO3. Future chapters will include my Authors Notes from the original! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy!

Day 5 - 8:00 AM

Each morning she woke up to the chime of her phone. Every couple days she changed the ringtone so it would stay fresh in her mind. Something to break up the constant monotony of her endlessly repeating days.

/ Yoosung : Zai! You're online! Did you sleep well? /

A notification from Yoosung first thing in the morning would have brightened up her day instantly before, but now she responded with methodical, near-robotic grace.

/ Zai: Very well, thank you ^^ I hope you didn't stay up too late playing LOLOL again? /

/ Yoosung : I only went over my limit by a few hours! /

Zai smiled at her phone. No matter how many times she lived this life, Yoosung always made the days a little more bearable.

/ ZEN: Hey babe! I saw you in my dreams last night. Maybe we can have a real rendezvous sometime? /

At the appearance of one of her favorite people, she finally found enough energy to hop out of bed. Toting a thick duvet across her shoulders, she hastily sent out a reply while she set about making breakfast.

/ Zai: Zen! You were in my dreams too. However I don't think my imagination can do you justice, you're just so much more handsome in real life! ^^ /

/ ZEN: Aww, babe! You're gonna make it so hard for me to stay away from you until the party! /

Ah yes, the party. The same one she had arranged dozens of times. She'd practically memorized all of the guests at this point. Their likes, dislikes, what kind of personality she'd had to portray in order to peak their interest. It had all been done before.

Zai let part of the duvet slide to the floor while she busied herself by adding a myriad of different kinds of produce to her omelet with one hand while scrolling through the chat with the other.

/ Jaehee Kang: Zai, Zen, good morning. I hope you both had a restful night. /

There was Jaehee, ever the voice of reason and reassurance in the usually chaotic RFA chatroom.

/ Zai: Hey Jaehee! I slept like a baby last night, but I wish I had some of your coffee to keep me up so I could finish more of my work. /

Even though she always started off opposing Zai's budding relationship with Zen, she knew that it was all done with his best interests in mind. After all, with how much of a romantic Zen was, it would probably be pretty easy for someone to take advantage of him had they really wanted to.

/ Jaehee Kang: Oh! Perhaps at the party, I could show you how to brew the perfect cup for staying awake. Mr. Han left Elizabeth the 3rd at my house while he had me working on another cat project and I... /

Zai felt a pang of sympathy for Jaehee as she slid her now cooked omelet onto a plate and felt around the kitchen drawers for a fork while keeping up with the chat. Out of everyone in the RFA, she felt for her the most.

She continued to respond in between shoving forkfuls of egg, mushroom, and tomato into her mouth, while simultaneously pondering her situation.

She'd experienced their routes several times. Zen and Jaehee had been both her friends and sometimes a little bit more. At first, she didn't quite understand them, and her misunderstandings about who they really were led to ends that could be considered quite unpleasant by most. Yet she persevered, even when she achieved the best possible outcome, only to wake up the next day and realize she was back at the start.

There had been days where she had considered giving up completely. So what if there was a bomb installed in Rika's apartment. Zai felt like she had already died many times over with each dramatic reset of the clock.

/ Yoosung : Hey, where'd Zai go? She got quiet all of a sudden! /

Yoosung again. In a way, it was comforting to see how they worried about her, even though truly, it should have been the other way around.

Leaving her dirty dishes in the sink, she began planning. Today wouldn't be about responding to emails, nor would it even be about participating in the chatroom. Things were going to have to change unless she wanted to be trapped in this time loop forever.

Zai returned to her bedroom and pulled out the unused journal she had purchased at the thrift store the day before, along with the pen she had nicked from her bank. Flipping the journal open to the first page, she began to write. It wasn't the simplest plan, nor was it the easiest to execute, but if this didn't work, then she had no idea what would.

Looking out the window, she was surprised to see the sky already darkening. After retrieving her duvet back from the kitchen floor, and subsequently realizing she had forgotten to make herself dinner, Zai flopped onto her bed, staring at her phone's screen and tracing little hearts over Zen and Jaehee's icons before going back to catch up on all the chat logs she'd missed.

Her plan was risky, and there was a good chance that she might fail, but looking at their faces at the end of each cycle made it bearable. She'd do this, if not for herself, then for them.

Day 5 - 11:55 PM

She'd been up late putting the final touches on her plans when her phone chimed again.

Closing the journal and sliding it under her pillow, she grabbed her phone off the side table to check the notification.

"A private text?" She unlocked the screen and tapped on the (uninstallable, she'd tried) RFA app.

/I know what you're trying to do./

Zai stifled a shout as she quickly glanced at the windows. Why was Unknown contacting her now?

She crawled under her blankets and stared at the screen; it's dim glow now ominous instead of comforting.

/ You know you can't save them, right? Only our Savior can help the chosen few into Paradise. You will fail. /

/ Zai: That doesn't mean I can't try. /

/ . . . /

/ Your efforts will be wasted. /

With that response, he logged off.

Zai laid back in bed and considered the day's events. That was the first time something like that had ever happened. Perhaps she was already starting to change things? Before she would have immediately called Seven to report the presence of the hacker, but now she just felt tired. In a few minutes, she'd be back to the beginning, and she'd start putting her plan into motion.

Looking at her phone's screen once more, she noted the time. 11:59 PM. She sighed.

Just once, she wanted to fix things.

Maybe this time, it would be better.

Day 5 - 11:59:99 AM

. . .

RESET