Where was I—ah, I was in the middle of explaining how I was about to die!
Dun-dun-dun
After hearing the whisper "死ね,(Die)" I really got scared. A Japanese ghost was after me—and a powerful one, or so I thought at that moment.
So, I put multiple barriers around me. You could say at least a thousand, and I bent space for teleportation. But even then—it caught me. Tapping on my shoulder, it said,
"Ara, ara, if you use more of that, it will really be a problem, okay?"
A cute girl's voice—that's what I think I heard. But don't let your guard down, Luo. It could be mimicking.
But what could I do? This thing stopped me before I even did anything.
Ah, while doing research on white holes, I learned a lot about time. Let's try, that.
I bent time and went to the past.
But that thing followed me again. And suddenly—I wasn't able to move. Did that thing paralyze me?
With my magic eye, I checked my blood vessels. I saw some black thing that was stopping my cells from moving.
Ah, WTF! I studied math, not biology, to deal with this!
But suddenly, my brain lit up. Idea!
Instead of teleporting my whole body, I teleported every single cell and liquid of my body separately—without those black things.
I was able to move again. Success!
And then it whispered again—
"Wow, the more I see you, the more interesting you become. But stop now. Really, are you planning to dry the world tree—2.14159...?"
Hah? That sounds like pi, except starting with 2.
For some idiotic reason, I turned and said, "Shouldn't it be 3.14159...?"
I caught my mouth before blurting out anything else.
My life is on the line—I'll have plenty of time for math if I live. So, later.
So that thing suddenly replied, "Sike! You're right."
But who is stopping for her God Damn! answer. So when I was about to make a run for it again, then she shouted ,
"Stop if you don't want to see Shila's dead body."
I was still running.
But Shila... what if it really kills her?
But I can go to the past, so I'll be able to save her, right?
But—but—but!
I stopped.
"What? Why are you after my life? I didn't cause any harm to others, so why are you threatening me? Just why?"
My eyes were teary. But I've only known Shila for a few years.
When did she become so important to me?
Agh! Life sucks. I shouldn't have formed any bond.
"Oh my! Sorry if I made you feel sad. I didn't mean to (╹ڡ╹ ) . I just wanted to talk, but you kept running away."
I lifted my face and saw a woman in a Greek dress, like Venus. She, with a warm smile, said,
"I am Gargian, the god of knowledge. And I hereby choose you to be my successor! Hehe."
"What?"
Is this a prank? First it wanted to kill me—now suddenly it's offering me to be its successor?
And even calls itself a God?
I was shocked—like in my previous life, when I saw that letter. That cursed letter—because of which I died and am now going through all of this.
She then made some flowers sing with her hands, like in Rabindra Nritya (a cultural dance form of Bengali people), and her body started to glow.
Her glowiness turned into butterflies, then they scattered through space.
And then everything went back to its place. My spell got nullified.
I found myself in the underground library again.
I built up some courage and asked,
"Why me?"
"Because, um, you are the cutest boy in the world. Hehehe."
"Huh?" Another weird character in my life.(⊙_⊙;)
"Aw..., don't give me that look, you'll make me fall for you, you know.(For real!)But I must say, I'm impressed. They said I'd never find someone more nerdy than me. But here you are, all acting cute with only Shila. Hmp!"
Is she actually a god? And none other than the god of knowledge?
What is wrong with this world?
Her aura definitely seems divine, but a moment ago she was about to kill me.
So I won't be fooled by her clumsiness act.
"You were about to kill me, right?"
"Ah, that—"(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)(while playing with the compass on my table, totally ignoring the fact that these are my private things & we are having a serious conversation here.)
"I was just teasing you. That's all.
But you have to dis if..."
She stopped in the middle of the sentence.
"Miss God, you were about to say something about my death."
"Hmp, you only care about life and death, huh? So rude! (She pouted.)And I'm a Mr., not Miss."
Huh, a femmy? I've only seen them on social media .
I never thought they were actually a real thing.
I guess I'm just a frog in a well.
Or maybe men have different styles here.
But I won't dress like a woman.
Still, why is he acting all cute too?
Well, it's not like I hate femmies—people may have different tastes.
But I don't have that taste, so I'd say no to this kind of style.
"Umm, Mr. God, pardon my interruption, but can't you choose someone else?"
"What? Are you rejecting my divine blessings?"
"No—no, I didn't mean it that way.
But I don't think I deserve such a thing.
I'm neither powerful nor anything special to have such a blessing."
"Have some confidence, boy!
And if you were really unworthy, I wouldn't have come to you in the first place.
And who is more worthy than you, who studied continuously for a thousand years in the history of study?
In terms of knowledge, you've become far greater than me.
And that breathing technique of yours is really something.
If you continue it, you could disrupt the world's balance by sucking the World Tree dry.
So that's why I said you have to die—
Meaning, you have to be promoted to the level of god.
And it is a rule set by the Supreme God that if we find someone greater than us, we can retire after helping them with their internship as a god.
So that's why I choose you.
So, make a contract with me."
"1000 years, world balance, femboy god? I must be sleeping. This isn't true, right?"
I sat on the chair and tried to sleep on the table.
I couldn't sleep.
I slapped myself—ahh! It hurts.
So this is real.
I, 'Ostar Black' (my previous name), really did study for a thousand years? And continuously at that?
I am shocked... but also a little happy.
My mama would be proud.
No—no, don't get distracted by sweet words, I must confirm it.
I told the god to wait for a moment and rushed upstairs.
I was running very fast on those rusty stairs.
I hoped they wouldn't break.
I came up through my grandpa's room.
Well, that room looked the same as always.
I went to the veranda.
I saw that the open field in the middle of the house, where the Beda tree stood, was full of wild plants.
It was like nobody had trimmed them for years.
And the Beda tree looked even bigger.
I went outside in search of Shila, as I wasn't able to find her in the rooms. The trees outside had become massive.
Before, I could see the blue sky from the front door of the house, but now it was completely blocked by the trees.
Before, it was quite open—even though it was in the middle of the forest—but now, it really felt like a forest.
And the presence of monsters had become more powerful too.
I screamed, "Shila! Shila! Where are you?"
Then that suddenly appeared.
"Why are you shouting like that? She is in a sprit realm now— so shut up. It will take more time for her to fully grow."
"Huh? Again you're saying whatever you like—please explain more!"
"Sigh! Really? Do I have to say everything?
Don't give me that annoying look now.
Okay, okay. I'll tell you now... why and what you have become."