“Slow, you say?”
“Ah, no, it’s just… a year has passed.”
“My apologies. Negotiations with the god of your world took longer than expected.”
“Huh… negotiations?”
Even though it calls itself a god, it seems it can’t do whatever it pleases. It seems there are circumstances on their end as well.
And I ended up yelling, but what kind of attitude should I even have when talking to the God of Creation? The God of Creation is the Hidden Boss of that world, so should I act arrogant like Geld to match that?
“First, I must thank you. Thank you so much for your efforts in clearing that world.”
“Eh? Well… that’s… wait, did I become Geld because of…”
“Yes, it was me. I put your soul into Geld’s body.”
“…! How dare you put me through all that… no, wait. Maybe I should thank you… or is that wrong too?”
It’s not like I don’t have any resentment. It was tough, and there were many painful things.
But more than that, I feel like there were more good things. In the first place, I was mostly just fooling around, and in the end, I finished without doing anything myself. Millie, Shino, and the Harem members were the ones who really had it tough.
But I don’t think I should be grateful either. There were many good things, but if I’m going to be grateful, it should be to Millie and Shino.
And I have a lot of complaints too. Especially about the ending, couldn’t something have been done about that?
“No. I’ve been watching you the whole time. You’re allowed to be angry.”
“No, more than that, there’s something I want to ask… um, it’s been a year since I came back here, but how much time has passed there? A day? A week? Maybe time stopped?”
“A year.”
“…”
I’m done for. I’ve made them wait a whole year.
“So, as much as I hate to bring this up so suddenly, I need you to, as soon as possible…”
This is bad. I’m not at all prepared to hear what comes next.
“Wait a minute. What was that all about in the first place? Why did I become Geld?”
“I see. Perhaps we should start there.”
The God of Creation only looks like a giant white ball of light, so even though I’m facing it, I can’t see its expression or gestures. Furthermore, its tone is flat and devoid of emotion, making it a rather eerie presence.
So, I don’t want to talk for too long, but I need some time to compose myself, so I changed the subject.
“A certain god jokingly created a world based on a game called Fantasy Legend and forced me to manage it, just because my name happens to include the word ‘god.’ But it soon became clear that there was a major flaw in that world.”
“J-jokingly…?”
“Yes. Apparently, they’ve been having fun creating strange worlds lately.”
Even though it calls itself the God of Creation, it doesn’t seem to have actually created anything. Of course, it’s just a character in a game, so that’s to be expected.
But what does it mean by one major flaw? I thought there were twenty or thirty.
“Never mind. So, what’s the flaw?”
“Geld Wasrein’s weakness.”
“…Well, yeah.”
At the start of the scenario, he’s a pathetic level one. Weaker than any child.
“Originally, Geld should have been knocked unconscious by Shino’s attack, and Shino would have been banished for that.”
“That’s how it was in the game.”
The moment I woke up as Geld in that world. In the game, Geld didn’t suffer such serious injuries, he just fainted.
As a result, Shino is fired from her Maid position in Waslein and becomes a skilled adventurer in a distant Town. And eventually, she meets her childhood friend, Haruto, and his party—that’s how Shino’s past episode is briefly told.
By the way, there was no explanation in the story as to why Shino was so strong. It was just that she was strong because she joined later in the game.
“But in reality, Geld’s weakness and Shino’s strength meant that he would die in one hit, no matter how many times we tried.”
“…Oh.”
“As you know from playing the original game, the story can’t proceed without Geld.”
“True.”
The connection between Geld and Shino, which seemed insignificant, was actually a factor that made it impossible to proceed.
“So, I decided to put another soul into Geld’s body to keep him alive somehow.”
“A soul to keep him alive…?”
“I can’t directly interfere with the mortal world while sealed.”
“Oh, right, that’s how it was. Well, never mind, is that me?”
“No, it’s someone else. But I tried various souls, and none of them knew Fantasy Legend, so they wouldn’t kidnap Millie.”
“Well, yeah. It’s an old, obscure game.”
Geld’s role is to enter Desroah Academy and kidnap Millie. No, it could be any of Haruto’s companions, or even if he could lure Haruto into that Basement, the means didn’t have to be kidnapping. But in any case, there’s no way anyone could reach that situation without any prior knowledge.
“Couldn’t you have just told them…? Oh, right. You can’t while you’re sealed.”
“Yes. The only one I can communicate with while sealed is the awakened Maiden of Genesis.”
Millie awakens as the Maiden of Genesis very late in the scenario, just before the Final Boss Battle. From there, the God of Creation would convey important clues to the protagonists for defeating the Final Boss through Millie.
“Now, since no one had any knowledge, they couldn’t be guided to that Basement. So, I thought, ‘What if I prepared a soul that already had knowledge?'”
“That’s where I come in? I didn’t have that much knowledge.”
“I negotiated with the god of your world to get a soul with knowledge of Fantasy Legend. I thought, ‘Since it’s for the sake of the world you created, you should at least cooperate.’ And what was sent was your soul, about to die while holding the game software. I assumed you had knowledge.”
“Well, I guess that’s understandable… So, if you were keeping him alive with souls, did Geld die after I left?”
“He’s still alive somehow. While your soul was maintaining his life, the original Geld’s soul was gradually healing.”
Ignoring the slightly ominous words, I asked a few more questions and understood the general story.
The God of Creation was sealed by the Final Boss as in the original story, and its actions were limited. In order to be released from that state, the God of Creation wanted them to defeat the Final Boss somehow, and if it judged that they had failed, it would exercise its authority as administrator and reset the game to the beginning.
And since Geld was always killed by Shino, the God of Creation felt that it was impossible to clear the game just by watching, so it decided to do what it could within the range of its sealed state.
First, it tried replenishing Geld with a random soul to keep him alive, but that didn’t work because the kidnapping incident didn’t happen no matter how many times it tried.
So, it injected my soul, which probably had knowledge of Fantasy Legend, into Geld. After that, it would just leave him alone and tell him that the Kingdom of Ukyak would be ravaged in three years, and eventually, he would cause the kidnapping incident as in the original story.
It would have been nice if it had reset the game if something went wrong, but it’s so inflexible that it just left me alone.
“When I saw your initial behavior, I thought I had made the wrong choice again.”
“Well, that was, you know… I didn’t really understand what was going on.”
My initial behavior… those days of debauchery surrounded by Maids… well, I guess it’s okay since everyone was watching.
“Furthermore, I was at a loss when I realized that Shino’s memories were no longer being reset.”
“…I see. From there, things were already fatally off track.”
“But as I watched you gradually gain strength and move forward, I realized that I had made the right choice after all. I wondered if Geld having a scandalous relationship with the heroine was really according to the original scenario.”
That’s right, it saw all of that too. There’s no privacy at all.
“Well, even in the original game, it wasn’t like the protagonist and all the heroines were guaranteed to end up together.”
“Yes. So, I decided to overlook it. And while you were flustered, you eventually progressed the story as in the original… no, in a much better way. There were various problems after that, but I also did everything I could, thinking that you couldn’t fail now that everything had been prepared so well.”
“…I see.”
The God of Creation also supported them from the shadows. Well, it’s doing it for its own sake, so it’s only natural that it would do that much.
“And finally, you succeeded in clearing the scenario as in the game. And if I returned your soul to its original time in your original world, the strengthened you wouldn’t have to die.”
“My original time? Now that you mention it, that’s what happened, but is that even possible?”
“The god of your world is a real god. Your soul was immediately taken away, saying that it was no longer needed.”
“Ah, so that’s why it was so sudden.”
“Anyway, with this, everything was resolved, and all that was left was to leisurely watch over that world. But… um…”
The God of Creation, who had been speaking in a monotone voice like a machine, suddenly became hesitant. Perhaps it wasn’t entirely devoid of emotion.
“But?”
‘T-The Maiden of Genesis and Shino, you see. They want you to be returned.’
“Hmm.”
So, it was going that way after all.
Ever since I learned about the God of Creation in the game, I had expected Millie and Shino to act that way in the other world. However, since a year had already passed, I had recently been wondering if the flow of time was different, or if the wish would only grant me weapons like in the game.
Anyway, imagining Millie and Shino asking for me to be returned warms my heart. I want to go over there and see them soon—
‘They’ve been asking me that every day, many times a day, from morning till night, endlessly for a whole year… Their anger is quite terrifying…’
“…”
—I guess I need some time to prepare myself mentally.
‘So, I continued negotiations with your god, and today I finally managed to receive your Soul. They said they couldn’t stand seeing you so hung up after a year and just gave you away.
“H-Hung up… Well, yeah, but… I guess I’ll interpret it as there being a reason why I kept playing the game all that time.”
‘Yes, I think that’s a good way to look at it. So, with that said, our interests align.’
“Ah, no. Well, I have to sort things out here.”
‘You will come to my world again as Geld Wasrein.’
This is exactly the development I had been waiting for for a year, but because it’s been a year, I’m a little hesitant.
Of course, I’m happy, but I’m still a little scared and awkward.
“W-Wait a minute! I’d love to go over there, but things are happening a little too fast… Eh? Were they really that angry?”
‘Geld’s Soul was destined to die and disappear soon no matter what, so it won’t last long. Besides, I don’t want to be the target of their anger any longer. Geld’s Soul and my heart are at their limit.’
“…I-I see.”
The situation seems to be more pressing than I thought. It seems I have no choice but to brace myself.
But what kind of anger are we talking about? I hope it’s the kind of anger that can be resolved with a dogeza right at the start.
‘Then, is everything alright?’
“No, no, no! I’m not mentally prepared yet, and there are other things I want to ask… That’s right! Why wasn’t my memory reset? And how did that spread to Millie and Shino?!”
‘My power doesn’t fully reach Souls from another world, so they aren’t completely reset. Millie and Shino must have touched your Soul at the moment of the reset, which changed their Souls.’
“Eh, just like that…? Th-Then, what else… Something, um. Right, was there some kind of game mechanic that made them like me so much?”
‘No, there’s no such thing. Isn’t it because of the bond you share from looping together? Ah, it seems there are countless dreadful, resentful connections between you and the Maiden of Genesis. Is everything alright now?’
“Countless dreadful resentments… Ah, is it a doujinshi? Hmm? No, not yet, wait!”