The End of a Long Adolescence – 4

Explaining the Goddess, the Dimensional Shift, and my death was quite difficult.

Well, it would be hard to accept, considering the world they had perceived for their entire lives suddenly expanded overnight.

At first, Seong-a looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, “Is this guy crazy?” but when the additional weight went up on the Libra and the scales balanced, her eyes widened as she looked at me again.

Then came a barrage of questions like a storm. She seemed quite interested in the path I had walked.

“So, the women you mentioned last time were all from different worlds?”

“My ex-girlfriend is from the dimension I originally lived in, and the rest are from different dimensions.”

“Hmm~ I see.”

Seong-a made a strange nasal sound and grinned.

She was smiling brightly, making it seem like her gloomy face from just a moment ago was a dream.

“What are you smiling about?”

I felt like I knew the meaning of her smile, but I asked to confirm.

“Dimensional Shift means you died in that dimension, right?”

Seong-a spoke like a cram school instructor summarizing the key points.

“That’s right.”

“And except for one instance, you’ve never returned to the same dimension. And even that one time, the timelines were off, you said?”

“That’s what happened.”

“That means you’ll never see the women you met while Dimensional Shifting again, right?”

“I guess that’s how it is for now?”

“Exactly. Hehe.”

She smiled again and buried her face in my chest.

“Are you so happy about someone else’s misfortune?”

This kid… her personality is a bit….

“It’s sad that you died, but… if you think about it positively, you shift when you die. Thanks to that, I met you… so it’s lucky for me.”

“My misfortune is your fortune?”

“No, if you take it that way, I’ll look too bad.”

She lightly hit my chest with her palm. There was a smack, and my chest stung.

“But, Ahjussi. What is dying? What does it feel like?”

Death. I’ve experienced it many times, but I still don’t really know.

“Sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye….”

“Did it ever hurt?”

I recalled the deaths that were particularly difficult.

“Being tied to a chair, unable to drink water, and slowly dying was the most painful.”

I recalled the memory of that time, which I never wanted to experience again.

I saw pity in Seong-a’s eyes as she looked at me.

“But I don’t really know about the afterlife. I wake up in a different dimension, in someone else’s body, as if waking up from a dream. It’s kind of like waking up.”

I tried to change the atmosphere and spoke in a cheerful tone.

“Then it must be continuous. Since there’s no gap in between?”

She pointed out an important point.

“Right. Thanks to that, my memories are often mixed up.”

I’ve definitely been thinking a lot lately that my memories are mixed up.

“Eek, isn’t that a big problem? Losing your ego is a really big deal.”

“It’s not like I forget my existence or anything. It’s just that I gain experience in a completely different body, in a completely different place, so it’s hard to adapt. Like the seasons or the time.”

“Ah, I see.”

Seong-a nodded at my explanation. Thanks to that, her chin pressed against my chest a few times.

“It’s all so amazing. The fact that this world isn’t just one, but many, and that there really is a being called God.”

She said to herself.

“Ahjussi. Which dimension was the best?”

She asked me with a devilish face.

“Huh?”

“Which dimension was the easiest to live in out of all the dimensions you’ve been to?”

“Hmm… it’s hard to pick just one.”

“Ehh, then let’s change the question. Where does this dimension rank?”

“Hmm….”

“Ahjussi. Why don’t you say it’s number one?”

She puffed out her cheeks and protested to me.

“Isn’t number one the dimension I originally lived in?”

“Except for the dimension you originally lived in.”

This kid is persistent.

“If I had to choose, I liked the modern setting. If it’s not modern, there are a lot of things I miss.”

“How many dimensions were modern?”

Let’s see….

The first dimension I shifted to, then the next dimension, the dimension where Lee Mina was, the landlord dimension, the delinquent dimension….

One, two, three… it seems like five.

“Five, excluding this one?”

“That’s a lot. Then where does this one rank?”

“Why are you so curious?”

“It’s important. I want to be number one for you.”

“…If I had to choose, number two.”

When I told her the result of much deliberation, she looked noticeably disappointed.

“Where’s number one?”

“The landlord dimension.”

How great it is to have so much money to spend without having to go to work.

“Ah, well, that can’t be helped.”

She readily agreed.

The light of the Libra that had been floating above my chest was slowly fading.

It seemed the magic was running out.

“By the way, I’d like to meet the God of this dimension.”

She muttered, playing with my chest by putting her palm on and off.

“What, is there something you want to ask?”

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be strange if there wasn’t anything to ask?

“There’s a lot. This Magical Girl system, the afterlife… there’s a lot to ask.”

“It seems like you’re curious about the afterlife. Isn’t it too early to think about death?”

She’s only twenty.

“I’m curious if my mom and dad are doing well.”

“Ah….”

“The fact that you’re here is proof that there’s a soul. So, my mom and dad might be watching over me somewhere too.”

Seeing her smile with her gums showing, I felt sorry for her.

“You can check when you go to the afterlife after a very long time.”

Don’t say you’re going now.

“I guess so. I’ll just have to live very, very happily here before I go. With you, Ahjussi.”

“Why are you dragging me into this?”

“Because I’ll be with you.”

“Don’t I have a say in this?”

“Sorry, but… nope. Just kidding.”

She laughed.

The light of the Libra was fading more and more.

“The magic is ending.”

“It seems so.”

“Ah, wait, let me ask you one thing too. We’re supposed to ask each other questions, but you’re the only one who asked.”

Suddenly, something came to mind.

“Yes, go ahead.”

Knowing that she had been asking all the questions, she readily agreed.

“I told you the secret I was hiding, so you tell me a secret you’re hiding from me too.”

“Uh…? Th-that’s a bit… Ahjussi, ask something else….”

Seong-a suddenly became flustered and started talking nonsense.

So she was hiding something after all.

“Come on, questions are supposed to be an equal exchange.”

“Ugh… okay.”

Okay, if it’s something like academic stress or worries about the future, I can give her advice as an adult.

So, tell me everything.

“Th-that… when you were asleep, I pretended it was a dream and slept with you.”

…What the fuck?

“Th-that… with the face of your acquaintance….”

Seong-a’s voice gradually faded.

As I slowly got up, Seong-a, who had been attached to my chest, naturally fell backward.

“…Seong-a.”

“…Yes.”

“First, let’s kneel and put our hands up.”

Guiding children is also the role of an adult. Yes.