Ch.3Foreign Media Contract (1)

The ‘Outer Gods’ of ‘Outer Flesh’ possess characteristics of the constellations found in constellation stories.

They make contracts with humans, lend their power, and give quests. When those quests are cleared, they also provide rewards.

Up to this point, they seem like ordinary constellations, or benevolent deities.

The reality is different.

First, the contract.

Outer Gods attempt forced contracts with humans they find interesting.

Just like now.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is examining your cerebrum.]

When a contract is established, the Outer God settles into the contractor’s cerebral cortex.

This is called ‘Erosion.’ Like a host infected by a virus, humans who contract with Outer Gods gradually go insane. Once the erosion is complete, that person becomes disabled or transforms into a monster. Or dies.

There are two main ways to prevent this contract.

One is to wrap your body with ‘Aether,’ the fifth force of the universe, like a vaccine; the other is for humans themselves to possess a level of madness equal to that of the Outer Gods.

In the latter case, the Outer God judges the human as someone whose ‘Erosion’ is already complete and goes looking for other prey.

I didn’t want to become insane just to avoid a contract with an Outer God. That would be like burning down the house to kill a flea.

That’s why I planned to enter the academy to learn how to handle Aether.

But.

[“Interesting human. You don’t go insane even after hearing my voice.”]

It was already too late.

Attracting an Outer God’s interest before I could do anything. My luck was absolutely terrible.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is accessing your memories.]

An unpleasant laugh echoed through the air. I felt like my cortex was being gnawed away.

The sensation of the world cracking. I gritted my teeth. I didn’t want to lose my personality like this.

[“Huh? Wait a minute….”]

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ feels confused.]

Wait, what?

[“Two graduate degrees? Isn’t this person completely insane!”]

“Ugh!”

My head spun at the Outer God’s shout. Every cell in my body screamed as if about to burst.

It was according to the setting. Just hearing an Outer God’s voice makes humans writhe in pain. They become buried in madness. I seemed to be no exception, as my vision turned red.

But the headache was brief.

My blood pressure, which had momentarily spiked, returned to normal. My mind, which had felt like it was being torn apart, found its place again.

“…?”

What’s going on?

Why am I not going insane?

I took steady breaths and tried to deduce what had happened.

I didn’t know why. I just felt like somehow things had worked out.

I clenched and unclenched my fist, trying to calm my pounding heart.

[“Interesting. Fascinating.”]

Ding!

As the female voice brushed past, a translucent window that had been floating in my mind appeared before my eyes.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ requests a contract.]

The so-called status window.

It’s the primary means Outer Gods use to communicate with humans.

Communicating through the status window supposedly makes humans less likely to go insane. It’s the Outer God’s way of being considerate.

No, that’s not right. Consideration, my ass.

[— You cannot refuse the contract request!]

[— Contract established. From now on, the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ will be watching you.]

What kind of consideration is a forced contract? I can see she’s full of thoughts about playing with me.

A sigh escaped my lips as I scanned the status window.

From my head to my nape, down my spine. Cold sweat poured down like rain.

Damn it. I just took a shower.

“Young master, are you alright?”

Sonia brought a dry towel and placed it on my forehead. She looked genuinely concerned.

I got up with Sonia’s support.

“That strangely shaped object… where did it go?”

Sonia asked, looking around the box.

“It probably disappeared…”

“Disappeared? Did it warp without any special device?”

“…Ha.”

“What exactly did you buy?”

Ordinary androids like Sonia don’t know what irregular polyhedrons are. Their very existence is classified.

“I didn’t order it.”

“Then…”

“The delivery company must have sent it by mistake.”

I told Sonia that it seemed to have been automatically returned.

It’s fortunate we live in an age with warp technology. Otherwise, I would have had a hard time explaining.

Anyway.

I examined the status window that was being updated in real-time.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is a transcendent being who prioritizes knowledge and interest.]

[— Her thirst for knowledge is endless. She constantly searches for truth and enjoys strange and new things. Provide these, and she will bestow high rewards; fail to do so, and she will bring destruction.]

The Outer God of Wisdom, ‘Cartesia.’

As shown in the status window, she has abundant curiosity.

Other Outer Gods view humans as less than insects. Not Cartesia. She observes people with interest. She even lets them struggle. And if she likes what she sees, she helps.

Why is Cartesia favorable to humans?

The reason was never revealed, even at the conclusion. It could be considered a kind of MacGuffin.

Of course, she’s just like other Outer Gods in that she’ll mercilessly cripple you if you fail to satisfy her.

“Haah…”

I was prepared for something like this.

But it’s faster than expected.

Much faster.

Having a forced contract with an Outer God from the prologue made my future look bleak.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ hopes you will be a human who can satisfy her.]

She probably discovered all my plans to research graviton bombs.

I don’t know what to do…

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is interested in your plans to counter Outer Gods.]

…Wait a minute.

“…?”

What does that mean?

Even though she’s considered an oddball among them, would an Outer God protect a human who opposes her kind?

What is this? Is she saying “try if you can”?

“…”

Don’t try to understand. Trying to understand an Outer God leads to insanity.

Just accept it.

Simply accepting it and doing my own thing is better for my mental health.

“Phew.”

I organized my thoughts.

In a way, this could be good.

No, it’s definitely a good thing.

Isn’t there a saying about “turning crisis into opportunity”?

Since Cartesia is high-ranking among Outer Gods, if I play my cards right, I won’t be bothered by other Outer Gods.

Of course, that’s something my future self will have to deal with.

Ding!

Just then, a quest appeared before me with a clear metallic sound.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ wants to test your capabilities. Solve all the workbooks in your room from now on.]

[— Time limit: 800 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds]

[— Success: A special gift for a dull human :)]

[— Failure: Type 1 diabetes (incurable)]

“Ah, damn.”

“What’s wrong now?”

“Nothing, it’s nothing…”

I clenched my teeth.

This is where it begins.

From now on, such sudden quests will appear frequently. If I can’t get through all of them, my life is ruined. In the original story, Eidel failed to pass any quests and died insane.

But me?

I will never end up like that.

I will save myself, the world, this universe.

Whether I return to my original world or live well here, I will reach a happy ending in some form. That’s my goal, if you can call it that.

[— Time remaining: 799 hours 59 minutes 56 seconds]

So it starts now.

Without delay, I opened the first workbook I could grab.

Mathematics.

I’m confident in this.

“Can you solve these without proper study?”

“Yes.”

“Weren’t you worst at mathematics, young master?”

“What do you mean…?”

I sighed and said:

“…I’m sorry, but please leave now, Sonia.”

“What are you suddenly saying?”

“I need to concentrate.”

Sonia shook her head.

“Watching over you is the mission the head of the family gave me. I cannot leave you for even a moment.”

Right, that makes sense.

Considering what Eidel has done so far, it’s reasonable. My father probably thinks that without Sonia attached to me, I might cause another incident.

It’s just frustrating that I’m not that Eidel.

I should study alone in a quiet place…

“If you’re really going to study, I’ll stay still and not disturb you.”

Sonia spoke softly and headed to the corner where the android charging station was located.

“Huah…”

Sitting at the charging station, Sonia made a relaxed sound and closed her eyes. After that, she didn’t move at all.

Well… that’s fine.

Let’s think of it as being in a study room. I can ignore about 40 decibels of ambient noise and concentrate.

Flip.

With that thought, I turned to the first page of the workbook.

“…”

The first problem is over ten lines long.

It feels more like an essay question than a college entrance exam, or like Japan’s university entrance exams. It’s even in essay format.

“Tsk.”

This is difficult.

I spent about 30 minutes on the first page. The concepts are at a middle school level, but it’s quite challenging.

As expected of problems from Stellarium, the universe’s most prestigious academy.

I went through several errors before finding the solution. Since it had been a while, I needed a lot of concentration.

But once I got past the first page, I picked up speed. After that, I started solving them smoothly.

How much time had passed?

[— Time remaining: 796 hours 22 minutes 55 seconds]

“Whew…”

O Outer God.

I finally finished one book.

I closed the book after completing problem number 150.

“That was a tough battle.”

“…”

When I looked back, Sonia was staring at me. Her gaze was fixed on the workbook I had just finished.

“You solved all of that…?”

A disbelieving look.

A disbelieving tone.

Sonia narrowed her eyes and approached.

“May I take a look?”

Her eyes showed clear curiosity. She seemed genuinely interested.

“Go ahead.”

I willingly handed over the workbook.

That’s when it happened.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is reviewing the math workbook you solved.]

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ feels slight interest in your problem-solving speed and concentration.]

A message appeared on the status window.

This means that Cartesia, the Outer God of Wisdom, had seen all my solutions and checked whether they were correct or not.

It’s not strange.

Cartesia is known to be very fond of mathematics and science.

She must have been watching me solve the problems.

“Let’s see… you seem to have gotten everything right.”

After flipping through the pages and completing her computation, Sonia looked up. She appeared clearly bewildered.

“How… how did you solve something this difficult?”

“What?”

She thoroughly examined my surroundings.

“Do you know what 40-32/2 equals?”

“4.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Factorial.”

Sonia’s eyes grew even wider.

As if she’d seen something unbelievable. As if she’d heard something impossible.

“Did you think I was such an idiot that I couldn’t even do basic arithmetic?”

“You definitely couldn’t.”

“At sixteen years old?”

“You couldn’t.”

I smacked my forehead audibly.

“Really?”

Was he someone who studied so little?

The thought that he might have been even worse than described in the novel gives me chills.

I sighed and looked at Sonia.

“…”

It’s subtle, but I can feel it. The contempt that had existed in her snow-white eyes was gone. In its place was a small amount of respect and surprise.

“…How strange. To think a human could change so much from a head injury.”

Sonia seems to have concluded that everything changed after I was hit on the head by the casino security guard. It’s actually fortunate if she thinks that way. Because I’m going to continue living like this from now on.

There was no time to waste. I hurriedly opened the next workbook.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

But this time, my concentration was inevitably broken.

A voice I’d never heard before but somehow felt familiar. I reflexively turned around.

There stood a girl with golden eyes, just like mine now.

“I heard you blew 2,000 trillion on gambling? You gambling addict.”

A girl who appeared out of nowhere and immediately hurled insults.

I knew very well who this girl was.

“…Seti.”

Seti von Rheinland.

My half-sister had appeared.