episode_0162

It’s a bit hard to think about it like this now, but there are places in the world where common sense dictates silence.

For example, places such as library reading rooms where one must not disturb others’ study or reading, or places such as offices or government offices where one must not interfere with work processes.

Aren’t those places places where you have to use common sense and be quiet even if someone doesn’t tell you to be quiet?

There is no need to tell people about such places. Unless you are a child, anyone can read this basic atmosphere.

And now, the space where we finish the last work and finish everything is also like that.

It is not appropriate to break the mood by chatting in a place like this. It has no shape.

So, all you have to do is quietly end the situation and leave this space as if everything was as expected. That’s what I was thinking.

But actually, I was going to do that.

Now that I was faced with something I had tried to ignore, I couldn’t help but be greatly shaken.

“You know. The whole time you were living in that world, you kept it in the back of your mind. I was forcing my thoughts away from that, thinking that it was ridiculous and that it couldn’t possibly be like that.”

“Ha, so that’s true? That can’t be possible.”

“You are already speaking from the moment I am speaking. No, these words have no meaning anymore.”

You can’t see my expression right now, but my face will be contorted and my eyes will be squinted with a clear expression of disgust.

I glared at the guy in front of me with a very angry expression, but the blonde guy just giggled and shook his head slightly as if he wasn’t responding. I became even more angry at that sight.

“It doesn’t matter if you get rid of me, you made it anyway. Because you created it and you are manipulating it into saying this. If this is absurd, get rid of it as originally planned. Then that’s it.”

The anger that had built up at his words quickly subsided and bitterness filled my heart.

When I suppressed my violence and replaced it with a sigh, the sigh was deep, like leading the tide.

This energy welling up inside me feels foreign. Of course, this great being was not entirely mine at the moment.

It was an allegory of becoming a god, and at this moment when I was going through the process of breaking away, what the fake Alexstras in front of me was saying was psychologically painful.

If this were the world of martial arts, wouldn’t he have been vomiting blood due to being intoxicated? When you break these steps, you are probably the most vulnerable.

“You are hoping to use my mouth to speak. Then let’s do it. Um.”

Alexstras muttered quietly. His voice somehow became sharp and pointed, as if it were mixed with speaker noise.

“Have you ever thought that things were going too well? It’s a small thing, but have you ever thought that the world works too much to your advantage? Have you ever felt something like that?”

“… .”

“Then let me be more direct. Do you think fantasy worlds really exist? Do you think it is realistically possible to be active in such a world?”

“What do you mean? Isn’t it what these guys did that created me? The damn child who is my foundation is like the creator god of this world, so what can it be if it is not called fantasy?”

“Whoa, whoa. Don’t get excited. I’m just talking. If you think it’s inappropriate, just stop talking.”

The exaggerated stretching of both arms, as if in a play, and the merciless raising of the corners of the mouth were just disgusting.

This guy, who was mercilessly smiling at the corners of his mouth, raised his right hand between his shaded bangs and swept his hair back.

Was I thinking that this guy would have a personality like this if he became human? Is that why they made it that way?

No, isn’t this guy just a doll anyway? Of course there will be differences from the original personality. Or really this too… .

“That’s right. If you think about it, what can I say… Yes, it could be that kind of ending.”

“What do you say… .”

“You know what these things are called. Should we call it the ending of the path of light?”

“What?!”

bang! A voice was heard. When I asked what he was talking about, I saw that my fist was hitting him.

The guy who caught my defenseless fist, which I used with no hesitation, was literally crushed to pieces, but even then, I kept hearing voices coming from behind me.

“Is it possible to suddenly receive a strange power and fall into another world? And there, without much effort, you gain people’s respect and later find out that you are a piece of God?”

“… You.”

For some reason, I felt like I could see my face. It was clenching its trembling fists, rolling its unfocused eyes back and forth, and its protruding snout was twitching mercilessly.

The clenched hand lost and retracted strength over and over again, and the clenched hand seemed to be bleeding because the sharp nails were stabbing the palm.

“Hahaha, you destroyed me and then made me right away. You want to keep hearing it. After all, you are a duplicitous guy. No, I am.”

He laughed at me and continued to open his mouth.

“Okay, in fact, aren’t you just imagining things in your daydreams? I don’t know what happened outside, but it could be that he got into a car accident and is currently lying in a vegetative state, or that he was imagining another happy life with his last wish as he was dying after a long fight.”

“No.”

“Isn’t your previous life strangely too specific to just deny it? Of course, you said you don’t remember your name or occupation, but I understand that your memories were quite specific at the time when you believed you came to this world while playing a game? What do you think about the iPhone release date, the situation of companies at the time, coins, Tesla, etc.? What about the scenes on the way to work in the previous world that sometimes appeared in my dreams? Are these just memories created?”

“… That is.”

“Of course, Dimostra could have really created your memory code and injected it like that. But was that really the case? If you listen to what he said, he said that he was very pressed for time and ripped off parts of a great being, but did he put in such seemingly good information in detail?”

I can’t refute it.

I would like to refute this, but of course the things he is saying are things I have been considering for a long time.

Thinking about it, it was a little strange. You could pass it off as just luck, but there were a lot of things that made it difficult to do that.

And very occasionally.

There were a few times when I thought this might be a dream, as Alexstras said.

Could it really be a dream and not reality? There was a time when I thought I might be trapped in my imagination.

It was when I was gradually discovering happiness.

I met Sia, met my precious students, and although it was presumptuous, I was able to smile little by little.

Even on days when I am busy with my mission, when I think of them, I feel like my heart is tickling.

When I thought that such things were happiness, such anxiety would often visit me.

And those.

I was once again enlightening myself through the words of Alexstras.

If my insecurities are true.

What if everything you’ve done so far is a lie? If you open your eyes, they will collapse like sand castles in front of the waves and you will not even be able to tell they existed.

If it was a lie that I thought that if I finished everything, I would be able to rest properly and have happy days.

I just realize that all of that was just sugar-coated words that couldn’t come true.

“… Ah.”

Suddenly I grabbed my chest.

The energy I had absorbed was mixing with my own energy and blending into one being, so my anxiety was like a torrent, engulfing everything in me.

Soon my vision changed completely. At the end of the fable, the writhing divinity finally gained power and filled this space.

‘eww.’

The surrounding scenery looked awkward, as if he had suddenly grown taller. It wasn’t the height I usually see.

When I looked down to see what was going on, I saw a red lizard with its head wrapped around it and an unlucky-looking blond man watching it with an expressionless expression.

I thought I had left my body, but I quickly realized what was going on.

By divine power, by my power, I was looking at my surroundings as I thought and as I wanted.

As the power I absorbed was fused with me, the level of its power gradually increased. Even now, my vision was gradually increasing, reaching the sky.

‘Can I go beyond this space I’m in now and go somewhere else?’

I just thought that, but the scenery around me changed.

‘This place.’

Where is this place?

‘Is it a bookstore?’

Inside, the bookshelves are so long that it’s difficult to count them, and there are countless books stacked so tightly together. Tags are placed on each bookshelf.

And there are people who want to buy books and people who take them out and read them. And the street scene seen through the window of the bookstore.

It was an everyday scene in an ordinary world.

Pieces of peaceful daily life filled with vitality rather than worry on people’s faces.

─After humanity finally won the battle against monsters, the world economy is experiencing an unprecedented boom…

News is playing on a small radio near the bookstore counter. From what he says, it seems like some time has passed since then.

It seems like very little time has passed since I used the orb given to me by Dimostra. Is that not true?

‘What happened to the academy? ‘Can we get there?’

*

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, I opened my eyes with a sharp sound, as if I was waking up from a dream. My head was pounding.

As I looked around, rubbing my face dry with one hand, I still saw him. Alexstras.

It’s still inside this space.

“Looks like a conclusion has been reached.”

“Yes.”

The guy asked in an extremely flat tone. It wasn’t a sneer or anything like that before.

No, the guy before was probably laughing at himself in self-deprecation.

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel any anger or frustration. When I thought about it, there was nothing to be angry about.

“I’m getting out of here.”

“The power has not been properly absorbed yet. The reason you just came back was because your power was weak compared to your will, right?”

“It doesn’t matter. Because I will not become a god.”

“Hmm.”

I grinned. This is because the favor came from him.

Alexstras is just a ventriloquist doll I created and does not have a personality, but at this moment, his smile was filled with truly human-like emotions.

“That does not mean that we will allow this world to be destroyed. The divine power that could not be absorbed was returned to work in this world. As the power is restored, there will be a gap between realities for a while, but it will gradually be resolved.”

“Are you sure it’s okay? Are you no longer anxious?”

“Yes. Because there is no point in worrying about that.”

I didn’t really worry for long. This is because there is no longer any need to worry about hesitation or making decisions.

Because you just have to accept it resolutely.

I snap my fingers and create a portal to get out of here.

Even though I couldn’t absorb all the power of the great being, the power I currently have is enough for the job.

In the portal, a transparent and pleasant warmth like morning sunlight surrounds us.

“What if it’s not reality? What if it was actually a dream? I did my best anyway. And whatever the outcome, I am ready to humbly accept it.”

“… I see.”

“It doesn’t matter even if I leave this place and wake up in a hospital bed. Even if it was just a dream, it’s okay. There is no problem even if it is a hope circuit that was turned the moment it was hit by a truck and flew away.”

“That’s right. Even if it wasn’t reality, the days you spent in that dream wouldn’t be a dream to you.”

“That’s right. Of course, it must be a pity, but everything that is precious to me becomes a memory that I can cherish forever.”

I grinned at him. And since the only thing I received from him was favor, I was able to become even more determined.

“But I hope it’s not just a dream, right?”

“Of course. And I truly believe that none of this is a dream. I have to go back now. My students will be waiting for me.”

“Wait a minute, I have to take this. Since I am no longer a god, if I leave it here, I will never find it.”

As I was about to say that and turn around, something came flying from behind and I caught it.

Alexstras threw my great sword this way.

“… Thank you.”

“No, I am truly grateful. I hope your path ahead is filled with happiness. bye. Elm Northmund.”

“Quuk. I can’t believe I’m receiving comments like this.”

Feeling like I was cringing for some reason, I shook my body, closed my eyes for a moment, and then threw myself straight into the portal.

As if in reverse order from when I came here, my body was engulfed in light and then everything I could see changed completely.