Chapter 43

Chapter 43

From Cosmic Rascal to Professor.

Episode 43: Together, The Three Of Us (5).

I retraced my memory.

Clearly, I had fallen off a cliff.

“I called you here.”

The sound of footsteps approached. An Outer God, cutting through the dark aura, moved toward me. The figure, wielding seventy-four tentacles, was undeniably monstrous.

“You are in a coma right now. Well, not dead, though.”

The Outer God laughed, spouting incomprehensible words.

The floor was slippery. Looking down, I saw a thick pile of cobalt blue threads.

The more I observed, the more eerie and unsettling the space became.

I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but it was impossible without the permission of the Outer God.

The Outer God, now right in front of me, lifted her chin and said,

“I issued you two quests. One was to remain at the top, and the other was to subdue the arrogant one.”

Her clear voice resonated throughout the space.

“It seems that you managed to succeed with the first somehow, thanks to your adept mental maneuvering.”

“I knew it would work.”

“No, that is what you call luck, kiddo.”

The Outer God chuckled, her smile bizarre.

“However, the second quest turned out differently. You ended up scraping your own head with the calipers while I had expected you to crush someone else’s skull with them.”

She grimaced and spoke in a low voice.

“Human, I thought you would break the rules set by the school.”

At some point, I realized two things.

The first was that my approach had always been too passive.

The Outer Gods always maintain a step ahead of humans. To outmaneuver them, my actions must be swift and unpredictable.

Is it really that unusual to contact a graduate school advisor right after starting high school?

Isn’t that entirely plausible?

For Outer Gods, such actions would hardly raise an eyebrow.

I need to take actions that are more dramatic, pushing beyond the usual limits of a student

Additionally, the second realization was that there was a trick to the quest assigned by the Outer God.

The ‘Calipers of Wisdom’—an artifact bestowed by the Outer God—posed a significant risk. If someone else touched it, particularly a student without a Constellation, they might go mad or even die.

“Why didn’t you strike the other student?”

“That would have gotten me expelled.”

“So you hit yourself instead?”

“I’m quite proud myself.”

Believing that completing the Stellarium would alleviate my concerns was nothing short of prideful arrogance.

As humans, we are meant to struggle.

Indeed, by this point, the protagonist was likely battling for their life. I couldn’t afford to remain passive.

“You corrected your mindset out of pride… An interesting tale. Very entertaining.”

Shimmering tentacles danced before my eyes.

Suddenly, one of the tentacles thrust a thick tome toward me.

“This is your reward for amusing me. Take it.”

The Sage’s Manual (Lv. 10)

There it was—the quest reward.

The Sage’s Manual, a unique tome capable of predicting future events, now lay in my hands.

At level 10, the book should have contained significant information.

However, as I was about to flip it open, I couldn’t help but hesitate.

Would seeing this change the future?

“What’s the matter? Just open it.”

If it concerns the future, I already know what it holds.

Destruction.

There’s no need to read about that.

I didn’t even open the book; I just threw it back.

“What are you doing?”

Although I couldn’t see the face of the Outer God, she was clearly frowning.

It felt as if one wrong word could get my head crushed.

Here’s one of the major principles of my life:

Never show fear, no matter what.

“I don’t need it,” I answered confidently.

“You don’t need it?” she echoed.

“Yes.”

“Knowing the future is a good thing, whether it’s through regression, prophecy, or this method. If you know, you have time to prepare. Are you trying to disregard such a favor?”

“It isn’t a favor, though, is it?”

It’s a quest reward.

“You are a sly one,” the Outer God remarked, clicking her tongue.

There was a subtle change in her tone. To be precise, her voice was now filled with excitement.

She asked, “What do you want?”

“A solution.”

“Looking for an easy life, huh?”

“I have no interest in paths I will not take. I am going to change the future.”

“So arrogant. Do you not know who you stand before right now?”

“I know. An Outer God. A much higher being living in the seventh-dimensional space, far superior to us.”

“And yet you dare mock me.”

With a swift motion, eight pairs of tentacles wrapped around my body, immobilizing me completely.

Cartesia slowly approached me, tightly bound as I was. She lightly tapped on my stomach and laughed chillingly.

“What do you think will happen if I exert my strength here?”

“Pregnant?”

“Correct.”

Indeed, an Outer God is an Outer God. To think of making a man pregnant—isn’t just madness; it’s beyond normal comprehension.

But on the other hand, I am curious.

“…What happens genetically if a child is born between a human and an Outer God?”

“…”

“No, really. I am genuinely curious.”

As soon as I blurted it out, I wondered what nonsense I was spouting.

Shhh.

The tentacle loosened.

“Crazy bastard.”

For a very brief moment, I caught a glimpse of the Outer God’s expression.

It was too beautiful to be called a monster, and it had taken on a human form.

It was an odd thing. The Outer God, who regarded humans as mere insects, was actually mimicking the appearance of a human.

I saw the corners of her mouth rise.

“Interesting. It was worth making you a host.”

She continued to speak.

“I will ask once more. Are you truly not going to take the Sage’s Manual?”

“Yes.”

“Then what do you desire?”

“A bomb.”

A grand and beautiful bomb to blow all your heads off and bring peace to this universe.

“All the related theories, the recipes you’ve formulated. Everything you know, as much as possible.”

“You are quite greedy.”

Cartesia began to laugh, a laugh longer than any before. Her laughter, pristine and clear, carried an undercurrent of melancholy.

“You want all of my research findings? This is the first time I’ve seen someone demand to negotiate with an Outer God!”

“…”

“…Fine.”

A thud resonated as something landed at my feet.

It was a new book.

“Take this.”

This time, I picked up the book without hesitation. It was a hardcover, unmarked and austere. As I flipped through it, every page revealed itself to be blank.

“This is a monumental work I’ve spent a long time completing. It is like my own child… though it is still incomplete.”

Soon, a title was engraved on the cover of the hardcover, and the status window opened forcibly.

“Fill in the rest. It would be interesting to watch that.”

Asking for a scoop on her thesis.

She was definitely out of her mind.

A zero point condensed by a black hole.

Seated upon that throne, the Outer God Cartesia laughed senselessly.

-You useless half-breed.

-A disgrace to our race.

-Spend your life confined to the outskirts.

With a crack, she bit into her tentacle.

A brightly shining scalene polyhedron reflected light chaotically around her. The temperature of the black hole increased rapidly.

She was furious.

-Homo sapiens, what difference does it make to be curious about an inferior species?

-Cartesia, you are engaging in pointless activities.

-That’s the level of a half-breed.

Cartesia’s eyes blazed with flames.

“Worse than humans…”

The humans you all look down upon.

The humans you torment.

Let the hands of those pathetic humans severely punish them all.

As a reward for defeating the S-grade monster Renanial, 25,000 Pron has been awarded.

You have gained access to the following paper in exchange for the rewards and Pron you have acquired.

7-Dimension Quantum Gravitation Ether Field Theory by Cartesia, from Sgr A* (Unfinished)

I opened my eyes in a dimly lit cave.

The first thing I saw was the status window, and the second was a softly burning campfire.

It seemed I had lost consciousness after falling into the water, but Rustila had taken good care of me afterward.

My shoulders felt heavy.

Following the sound of dripping water, I turned my head and saw Rustila leaning on my left arm, asleep.

She had her arm coiled around mine snugly, as if in a dream.

Even in sleep, she was truly beautiful.

No, now wasn’t the time to be admiring her.

I gently shook my left arm.

“Huh…!”

Like a cat with its tail stepped on, Rustila let out a sharp cry.

After rubbing her eyes a few times, she looked at my face, her eyes widening.

“Aidel! You’re awake…! Uh…!”

She groaned. Could she be hurt?

That thought vanished quickly.

Rustila was half-naked, the stigmata on her shoulder clearly visible where the sponsor had settled.

She was only covering her upper body with the school jacket; otherwise, she would have been embarrassingly exposed.

I closed my eyes and lifted my head.

Rustila, who had been parasitizing Aidel, quickly moved away and picked up her clothes. I couldn’t see her, but the rustling sound told me enough.

“…Are you up?”

“Yes.”

“Are you alright?”

“No problem.”

My head throbbed from being hit by the Calipers, but it wasn’t enough to make me cry out in pain.

However, something was strange.

Despite Rustila having fallen from my left arm, my body still felt heavy.

I mechanically turned my gaze.

Zelnya was clinging to me.

“Ah…”

Rustila let out a long sigh.

Asking Rustila to detach her was impossible; she had completely stiffened up like a dried persimmon.

Just as I was about to reach for Zelnya’s shoulder reluctantly—

Tak!

“…Don’t touch.”

Zelnya, who had suddenly opened her eyes, pushed my hand away.

I had no choice but to look up again.

She was simply dressed in a white shirt.

“Why are you clinging so much when you’re telling me not to touch?”

“…? Ah!”

Only then did Zelnya hastily back off.

While the rustling sound continued, I mentally recited the national anthem four times to kill time

Rustle, rustle.

“Damn, why won’t this go in…”

Zelnya, fitting her role as a chapter boss, was entering a serious second phase.

Thus, after a silent battle, the triad of Aidel, Rustila, and Zelnya entered a state of uneasy peace.

Gathered in a circle around the bonfire, everyone stared into the flames in silence.

Swish.

The rain poured down furiously.

Awkward. Caught in a sudden unspoken game of glances, the three of us found ourselves exchanging looks.

Given the situation, it couldn’t be helped.

Theory and Formula for Graviton Bullet Development (Incomplete)

Might as well read a paper.