my current run (currently 8th on any% at time of posting) uses this skip so if its decided against I understand completely if the run becomes invalid. I have a previous run that doesn't use this exploit albeit a bit slower. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

I've found a small dialogue skip you can use on the npc at the bridge after the opening cutscene. its consistent but i don't know if it fits within rules. It doesn't require any other save data (such as data in file 2 or 3) but it does involve quitting from a clean fresh file at a specific point. Then starting the game over. Just curious if this is applicable. Video demo link: