Ch.88Protagonist (2)

The girl’s name was Ireh Hazlen.

The word ‘Ireh’ means ‘the prepared one’ in the language of a certain Middle Eastern Arab country.

In a religious sense, being prepared means being chosen by God.

But why does that god happen to be an outer god? Huh?

About fifteen of them, perhaps?

That was a number that shouldn’t exist in one person’s body. With that many, it wouldn’t be strange if she died at any moment.

However, her Pron capacity was correspondingly large.

300,000.

Is she even human?

I mentally gave a standing ovation to the girl who somehow maintained her sanity while possessing the impressive value of 290,000/300,000.

This protagonist has had it worse than in the novel.

It’s my eternal regret that I didn’t notice earlier.

First of all, her appearance wasn’t particularly distinctive. Well, protagonists need some physical characteristics to be recognizable. Until I saw her name, I thought she was just a passing extra.

And the girl seemed to think the same about me.

The Rheinland family is famous for their amber eyes, but that’s not a feature exclusive to them. Of course not. How many people are there in this universe?

“Aaaaargh…”

The girl groaned, clutching her head. What, is she suffering from even the slightest breeze?

“She’s gone mad! Catch her!”

The guards swung their batons. But none of their attacks reached the girl. She displayed nimble movements and approached me.

She grabbed me by the collar.

“You, why are you here…?!”

Her eyes turned red.

“After all my efforts! After wandering around trying to change this insane world! Why do you only show me this kind of future! I’m tired of it! You damn bastard…! You’re supposed to be stuck in some garbage dump at this point in time, not here! But, but why…!”

What’s this about? Why are you the only one who knows what’s going on?

Being possessed by outer gods must have weakened her mind. I’ll acknowledge that as a mitigating factor. But that’s as far as it goes.

I cannot forgive the rudeness of grabbing my collar!

I tried to grab her hand that was muttering and forcefully remove it. It didn’t work well. In that moment, I sensed I was screwed.

This one, in terms of pure strength, is equal to or greater than Rustila Kersil. Her delicate-looking hands are surprisingly powerful. This is insane.

The next moment, my body was flying through the air. The enraged girl had thrown me over her shoulder. The world spun around once.

I never learned how to fall properly. If I crash into the urethane floor like this, I’ll surely end up with a curved spine. Ah, isn’t the spine naturally curved anyway? Whatever.

“Young master!”

Sonia caught me.

“What is this outrage?”

“Guards!”

Sonia’s anger and the warden’s aggro stacked. The guards, realizing the situation was turning serious, pulled something from their belts. Tasers.

And that crazy protagonist dodged them all.

“Is she even human…?”

“Prisoner 888888 is escaping. Everyone after her!”

In that moment, I felt a sense of déjà vu.

The prisoner number on the girl’s uniform ended with 8. Originally, that was the number I received when I was admitted.

A Maxwell-type outer god must have split the world line.

“…This round is over.”

The girl ran toward the exit. I had a feeling that letting her go would ruin something important.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue and took out my calipers.

And then.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

I threw the calipers (Grade A) with all my might. Grade A means they’ll hit the target perfectly even if thrown like a dog. The tool drew a strange curve and hit the girl’s head.

Clang!

A clear sound echoed through the corridor.

***

Ireh Hazlen was a child chosen by the stars.

The God of Patience and Integrity, Altair.

She received power to confront outer gods from the constellation that bestows mental strength that doesn’t yield to any adversity. However, young Ireh didn’t know that great power comes with great responsibility.

The nightmare began then.

– That one doesn’t die easily.

– We can extract the star’s energy to the maximum.

– Let’s take advantage of this.

Even a restaurant in a sparsely traveled alley is still a restaurant. The outer gods quickly discovered the identity of the girl named Ireh Hazlen, and from then on, her trials began.

Outer gods that should have attached to other people entered her mind instead.

The outer gods had various aims. Some extorted coins or stellar energy produced by the constellation, while others simply enjoyed watching the girl break down.

Even through all this, Ireh didn’t collapse. She couldn’t collapse.

It was because of a skill named <Indomitable>.

No matter how high her Pron value rose, it would approach but never equal her total Pron capacity.

At the same time, she could suppress her madness for a limited time each day. She separated her time as an invalid from her time as a normal person.

She lived as a normal person during the day and as a madwoman at night.

This lifestyle pattern attracted another outer god.

– This looks interesting. Perfect for harvesting stellar energy. Yes… using you will greatly help me achieve my goal.

[— The outer god ‘Steel Flowing Like Earth’ has arrived.]

A named entity with the highest rank among Maxwell-type outer gods had arrived. Of course, Ireh in her first cycle had no idea about this fact.

Just another one who thinks of me as a plaything.

But that wasn’t the case.

‘Steel Flowing Like Earth’, Sapaul, was different.

He gradually subjugated the outer gods who had entered Ireh’s mind before him. He established hierarchy and determined distribution.

– Listen well, all of you. This world is survival of the fittest. Regardless of which forces you belong to, a strong outer god has the right to rule over weaker ones. If you don’t want to follow my opinion, come at me anytime.

No one could match Sapaul. Disorder became order, and Sapaul reigned at the top of that order.

Thus, Sapaul became Ireh’s landlord. He demanded rent from other outer gods and exploited stellar energy.

[— You have received 1000 coins as a donation.]

[— ‘Steel Flowing Like Earth’ has extorted 1000 coins.]

[— Coins are being distributed to the outer gods.]

The intensity was so severe that Ireh’s time to maintain her sanity was greatly reduced.

She even thought about dying.

– You must endure, Ireh.

Her background constellation faintly called out.

It tried desperately to pass coins to Ireh. But that became a pretext.

Altair, who had been hiding in a corner of her unconscious, was eventually captured by Sapaul.

A constellation captured by an outer god. It was horrific in every sense. Altair became completely reduced to a coin mining machine, squeezed by the outer gods. It was raped, and its body was damaged through terrible experiments.

As a result, Vega became the darkest star in the Summer Triangle.

Ireh also found it difficult to endure. All day long, she heard only giggling sounds, and strange quests prevailed.

[— Kill your parents.]

No reward.

Death upon failure.

[— Conceive and give birth to an avatar’s child, then cannibalize it.]

No reward.

Death upon failure.

[— Make a hole in the Aether Belt.]

No reward.

Death upon failure.

She would die either way.

If the world was so unfair, wouldn’t it be better to just take her own life?

So she committed suicide once.

– Where do you think you’re going?

Sapaul didn’t allow it. He was the first Maxwell-type outer god to enter Ireh’s brain.

Every time she tried to die, time rewound. And then another quest would appear. Similarly, if she couldn’t complete it, time would rewind.

– Look, this way we can permanently extract the stellar energy produced by the girl. The energy gained is greater than the energy invested. This is creation!

Please, stop.

After about 100,000 regressions like this?

In one cycle, Ireh began to grit her teeth.

This can’t continue. I must break these eternal chains.

So she put all her effort into her time as a normal person.

She trained endlessly to become stronger, and wrote down the locations of useful events or sacred objects, compiling them into notebooks. These notebooks were stored in a sanctuary with the blessing of stars that outer gods couldn’t touch.

Through 700,000 regressions, she created 80 volumes of notes, which she titled:

<Surviving Outer Gods>

There was a limit to how strong she could become in one cycle. When the quest time ended, she would face forced death.

However, some memories and power were still inherited. At some point, Ireh realized that dying near the Aether Belt created this effect.

In what she thought would be her final 888887th cycle, Ireh entered Alcatraz Prison. She knew that on this planet, which directly receives the effects of the Aether Belt, the outer gods’ schemes would be weakened.

No quests occurred, and there was no change except for the gradual absorption of stellar energy.

‘I’ve done everything I can now. All that’s left is to watch the world move on its own.’

She had moved all the necessary sacred objects and transferred karma to those she judged as ‘key figures.’ Now she could only place her hopes on them.

And that prediction went terribly wrong from the start.

Eidel von Rheinland.

The worst scum in the universe, who should have died early on, was still alive.

***

The girl’s mental image that I read through the calipers’ unique function ended there.

At a glance, it feels like “I’m suffering, boo-hoo.”

In other words, it could be called misery porn.

Such melodrama is common. But since outer gods enjoy seeing others suffer, it was inevitable.

“Hmm.”

I rubbed my chin, pondering.

There are more than a few questions.

First, after so many regressions, why didn’t she recognize my face?

Second, if she’s not the one who caused my transmigration into this world, then who on earth did?

“Thank you very much, student Eidel. I find myself unexpectedly indebted to you.”

For now, it didn’t matter. I made a proposal to the guards who were trying to take away the collapsed girl.

“Wait a moment.”

“What?”

“Can I take her with me?”

“You’re talking nonsense again.”

But I’m tempted.

I fingered the ‘Organizing’ potion I received as a reward for solving the Celestine case, deep in thought.

Even so, her mental strength is 300,000.

She’s exactly the talent our lab needs…