Ch.7676. Vermin

“Absolute One!”

The visitor, left alone in the place, cried out in bewilderment.

In an instant, the presence had vanished.

If only the divine vessel had disappeared, there would have been no need for such a startled reaction.

However, what vanished wasn’t just his form.

As if his very existence had been erased from the world—

Even the divine power that shaped and constituted him had disappeared.

“Absolute One…!”

The visitor called out his true name again, mournfully.

Whenever his name was called, he would always caress the visitor’s head with a warm touch.

But now, no warmth could be felt.

In this realm meant for him, a place that was essentially the Absolute One’s home—

He no longer existed.

The calls searching for the Absolute One continued, over and over.

‘Wait.’

If not for those words left behind with a trustworthy expression before his existence vanished,

The visitor would have long ago revealed their power and turned the world upside down.

#

“Moving to the ‘Hidden World’…”

“Due to the influence of the ‘Hidden World,’ you cannot interfere with the original world!”

“Oh, damn it.”

Interference.

Looking at the system window after hearing that word, I saw that various permissions were indeed grayed out.

The same indication as when the Sanctuary’s object was deactivated.

“Are you serious?”

I grumbled lightly while waiting for the loading to finish.

-Dianon.

I couldn’t properly identify the information about this being—whether it was a world or a constellation—even during my player days.

Acting indifferent to the world but suddenly popping up to create events, sometimes interfering with user accounts and turning everything into a complete mess.

In fact, it had no real connection to dungeon clearing or normalization.

“Loading complete.”

“Entering the ‘Hidden World’.”

-Flash!

Suddenly, a light exploded that nearly blinded me.

Of course, since a constellation’s retinas are tough, I didn’t bother avoiding it.

Through my wide-open eyes, I could see the world gradually being reconstructed.

From a universe filled with countless stars to a world completely immersed in darkness.

‘Outer space?’

The severed interference and the starless world immediately brought one name to mind.

It might be related to the end of the universe, something that even the game developers in my previous life couldn’t properly handle.

However, if that were the case, another headache-inducing problem would arise.

-Whoosh…

Suddenly, light emerged from the nothingness of darkness, and a being rose up.

The being took the form of a woman.

“Hello.”

She greeted me naturally, as if she had been watching me from the beginning.

“…”

Since the atmosphere wasn’t particularly pleasant, I maintained my silence.

“You don’t look happy. Are you angry with me?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Words spilled out because I was dumbfounded.

“Why did you ban my system?”

“Ban…? Ah, you mean ‘interference.'”

I’d prefer if she called it management rather than interference.

Interference sounds like a parasite draining blood.

“I’d like to apologize for that. I wanted to talk with you alone, without any interference.”

“What talk? Make it quick. I’m busy.”

I don’t know which bastard did it, but the dungeon that was running smoothly has been blown up, and it’s giving me quite a headache.

“If you’re worried about the Dungeon Break, don’t be. I’ve taken measures so nothing too extreme will happen.”

“What measures?”

“I weakened the dungeon’s core itself. Naturally, the monsters affected by it would have taken direct damage as well.”

“This is ridiculous. You blew it up and now you’re saying this?”

“But… without going this far, there would have been no means to establish a dialogue.”

“What does that even mean?”

I’m not sure if this is nonsense.

You need to blow up a dungeon to establish dialogue?

Though she has a human form, her way of thinking is clearly different from mine.

“Why go to such lengths?”

I asked, tilting my head askew.

The woman in the light gently smiled at that.

“Because I find you extremely interesting.”

“I don’t feel the same.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.”

“Why are you being so creepy?”

The incarnation of Dianon, disgustingly putting on feminine airs.

Just thinking about how much I suffered because of this bastard in my previous life makes my teeth grind, even more than my constellation image.

For players, Dianon’s existence was a nightmare itself.

“Nuclear bastard.”

“…Nuclear? What’s that?”

“You don’t need to know.”

If a constellation like the visitor is a stage boss monster, Dianon’s incarnation should be classified as a bug—an unreasonable existence.

“Well, anyway.”

Dianon’s incarnation changed the atmosphere.

“I’m always grateful to you. As you know, other constellations are making quite a mess of the world.”

While saying this, she moved her fingers to create a friction sound.

-Click.

“…!”

Suddenly, unfamiliar memories that even I didn’t know began to seep in.

Various darknesses of the world.

Despair and darkness, more vast than what I had encountered through the system, began to color my memories.

-Waaah!

In a village massacred by holy war, a child was crying.

“Sword Saintess.”

This is Herien’s story.

-I’ll kill all of you.

In the secret underground prison of the religious order.

A vampire born with a cursed fate glares at the believers with tears of blood.

“A vampire created in violation of Providence.”

Dianon’s incarnation was speaking as if guiding through the emerging memories.

“Damn it, are you joking?”

This is extremely unpleasant.

Since this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this since transforming into this life, I couldn’t help but be bewildered.

“Warn…! Dan… ous…”

Perhaps due to the interference’s aftermath, the system began to spit out half-broken sentences.

This wasn’t a particularly good situation.

‘Hmm.’

“Isn’t it truly disgusting? The parasites eating away at this world.”

“Hey, that’s offensive to the parasite listening.”

“Not you!”

Dianon’s incarnation waved her hands in denial.

“You’re different.”

“Why am I different?”

“Because… you know well. Among those terrible beings, you’re the only one who respects living beings.”

“That’s a generous evaluation.”

“It’s the reality.”

That’s actually because the fundamental essence that makes me is different.

Starting from my ordinary human days.

I wanted to respect those who resemble me and are living their own lives.

I wanted them to be able to lead their own independent lives, not as someone’s toys.

“…”

I stared blankly at the floor.

It was also dyed in deep black, making it difficult to distinguish properly.

“Are you going to reset the world?”

“…That’s sudden?”

“No. I can’t stop it anyway.”

If the world wants to do that, I, a mere constellation, don’t have the capacity to stop it.

Is that right?

Still, I’m a constellation overseeing one axis of the universe.

“What… would you like to happen?”

“Huh.”

At Dianon’s incarnation asking with a subtle tone, a malicious feeling arose in me.

“Do whatever you want. Go to hell.”

“…?”

“I know you’ll do whatever you want regardless of what I say. Get lost.”

At this point, there’s no answer anymore.

How much frustration did I experience because of this guy in my previous life?

In my deep imagination, I could see the image of users shedding tears of blood after having their accounts reset.

“Pfft.”

At my indifferent response, Dianon’s incarnation let out a laugh.

“The more I see you, the more fascinating you are. How can there be a constellation like you?”

“What?”

“For a constellation, you’re narrow-minded and base.”

Suddenly dissing me like this?

I’d like to stab her with divine power, but it wouldn’t work.

More precisely, it would only hasten her, or rather, her self-destruction.

“But that’s what I liked about you.”

You knew how to care for other lives and were angered by injustice.

You moved for those who had nothing, and sought to give equal love to all.

‘What nonsense is this?’

And as I listened to such words, I felt like I was falling deeper into a labyrinth.

“How many times do you think I’ve reset the world so far?”

“…What?”

“I’ve created numerous worlds, and each time, they’ve been invaded by unwelcome guests. The disgusting owners of stars, selfish beings who only care about themselves.”

Disgust was visible from Dianon’s incarnation.

She says she has created and reset numerous worlds.

Then the world I’m active in isn’t the first.

“Multiverse.”

“…What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

But, so what?

The point at which I regained consciousness is this very moment, this era.

I’ve been diligently working, focusing only on the well-being of my religious order.

World regression, being an oddball among constellations—I don’t care about any of that.

“Well, if you’re not going to reset it, send me back. I got scared for nothing.”

“…Why are you so relaxed?”

“The way to annoy nuclear bastards is to not give them attention.”

Dianon’s incarnation still had an expression of not understanding.

I didn’t particularly expect her to understand.

“Okay, then. Let’s talk business now.”

This detestable being throwing a new topic, as if it doesn’t matter.

I was starting to get annoyed.

Why do I have to be stuck here?

I genuinely wondered.

“What business?”

“Actually, there are some troublesome things. I told you, didn’t I? This world isn’t the first.”

“You did say that.”

“So, there are some pests that have followed me from the previous world.”

“What?”

“There are beings that should have died but didn’t, and have now joined forces with the parasites of this world.”

What is that?

It was a confusing explanation the moment I heard it.

“Take care of them for me.”

“This is ridiculous. Why should I do that?”

“Because that’s how the peace of this world will be maintained.”

“I’ve already achieved that.”

I thought I was almost there.

I’ve gathered several constellations and marked those with potential risks clearly.

If they defy me, they’ll be ‘divinely manifested.’

For the time being, there wouldn’t be any constellations plotting to rebel.

Where else could you find such peace?

“I understand your feelings, but this time it’s really dangerous. Even for someone like you, it’s dangerous.”

“Bring them out. I’ll beat them up.”

“…Strangely, that’s convincing.”

I’m the best, so who’s threatening me?

If they don’t want to turn the entire world against them, challenging me would be a very foolish action.

“If they’re left alone, the world might truly perish.”

“Sure, whatever.”

If there’s a real crisis, I’ll move when the time comes.

No matter how I think about it, there’s a lack of evidence for the danger.

But.

“Recently, haven’t you lost your power?”

“How do you know that?”

Object level initialization.

Just thinking about it still makes my blood boil.

How carefully I had cultivated that progress—

“That was done by those guys.”

“Damn, they’ve crossed the line.”

Suddenly, my motivation to act became clear.