Chapter 47 – Where the Star Reached Last

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Translated by Jinmu

Read only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“…Ugh.”

A faint groan slipped through my teeth. The sunlight pouring down so mercilessly was bright enough to sting.

I rubbed my eyelids over and over with a loosely curled hand. But my eyes stubbornly refused to adjust to the pitiless direct light.

Soon, I lowered my arm and stopped. They would adapt with a little time anyway. I had only moved in haste because of needless impatience.

I drew in a deep breath and let it out heavily. At that, some of the thick tension piled inside me eased away. Then, excluding sight, I began expanding my other senses.

The silence soaking into my ears. Realistically speaking, no matter how deep the quiet, you would still hear insects or something.

I heard nothing. There was not the slightest sound around my ears, enough that I could hear ringing there instead. As though someone had forcibly covered my ears.

Next, I spread my fingers wide and waved them through the empty air. I could not even feel the resistance of a soft breeze.

If I had to describe it, it felt like one of those scenes in films where someone floats without direction in the deep sea. An overwhelming loss of strength pressing down on my body. The feeling of being alive itself seemed numbed, and a cold shiver went through me.

Even when I half-opened my eyes, a stabbing pain swept across my eyeballs. I spat out a harsh curse and shut my eyes tight again.

Keeping them closed, I calmly reviewed the situation.

‘Where is this?’

No matter how carefully I thought, I could not remember how I had ended up in this incomprehensible place. It felt alien, yet paradoxically familiar, and that only made me tilt my head.

Only after pondering for a long while did I begin to understand the situation to some degree. Lost senses, a causeless arrival. There was only one possible conclusion.

This was a dream.

The moment I realized it was a dream, my eyes began opening into slits against my would. Soon, the blurred focus sharpened.

“Is this one of those lucid dreams?”

My mutter circled at my throat and was swallowed. But my own voice clearly rang in my ears. At the unfamiliar sensation, I swallowed.

Then my half-lowered lids fully opened, and at the sight before me I could only flap my lips a few times without speaking.

Stars scattered across an immeasurable black canvas like grains of sand on a white beach, and a sun burning deeply.

When I turned my gaze slightly, I saw the Milky Way gliding across the vast blue-dark expanse. It looked like a single sword cutting through the universe itself.

“Space?”

That was right. In the dream, I was suddenly adrift through the great sea of the cosmos. I hurriedly checked my breathing in and out. Fortunately, I was breathing just fine.

It was so realistic that for an instant I forgot it was a dream. I gave an awkward laugh and turned my head to look around.

If the cosmos had a sunset, maybe it would look like this. Faint sacred traces were emitting five-colored light through the gaps in the dark universe.

Though surreal, this too was still nature. Newly impressed, I let my body drift in the weightlessness of space. This sensation of floating was strangely addictive.

Come to think of it, had I even dreamed recently? At least half a year? A year? It felt like I had not had one for even that long.

And after such a long time, the dream I got was a lucid dream this overwhelmingly real.

Right as I was muttering that to myself.

Shhhk.

“–!”

The stars scattered through space suddenly all began moving at once around me. I was confident in my speed, but they were moving too fast even for my eyes to follow.

The bustling stars soon seemed to find their proper places, and in an instant they stopped and arranged themselves.

My eyes widened. With a dubious face, I checked again.

What had appeared on my retina was a combination of words written in stars. Startled, I focused on it hard, eyes wide.

[‘G.M.’ requests a conversation with you. Will you accept? ☞(Y/N)]

At that sentence, an exclamation point lit up on my face. It was similar to the status window I could raise. I had gotten so used to the world of Miracle’s Blessing M that now, apparently, even my dreams were taking this form.

I stared blankly at it, then nodded. At that, the stars that had been fixed in place moved again and rearranged themselves.

(Y/N)

▲

Sss.

[You have accepted G.M.’s request for conversation.]

[‘G.M.’ interferes with Worldline-Code.◎●○●○●●○○●●○○○●.]

“What’s a worldline supposed to be now?”

The terminology was baffling. What was G.M., and what was a worldline, and what were all those symbols after it?

But for a dream, it was somehow so vivid that it was almost eerie. Goosebumps swept quickly across my whole body.

Bwoooooooooong.

Together with a violent roar, the stars shining in my field of vision trembled. I understood immediately. The universe itself was vibrating.

My body felt as though bound by intangible chains, my movement restrained. Starting from the tips of my toes, I gradually stiffened until even my vocal cords were locked.

[The other’s rank is too high.]

[Your rank is too low.]

[You have not yet fulfilled the qualifications to be 【? ? ?】.]

At the same time, the echoes pounding at my ears were enough to make my mind go hazy.

[Do you still wish to continue? ☞(Y/N)]

A sentence made of stars rose into my vision as if engraved on my retina. I stared at it clearly.

At that moment, I realized this was not a simple dream. Perhaps it was the reason I had fallen into this world.

At the very least, it had to be a clue regarding the Blessing of the Sword God given to me.

That was the only possibility that came to mind. Meanwhile, the resonance of the universe grew fiercer still. I barely forced strength into my stiffening neck and nodded.

(Y/N)

▲

Then.

[G.M. has confirmed your intent.]

[G.M. uses restraining force in order to make contact.]

[Beginning full adjustment and conversion of Worldline-Code.◎●○●○●●○○●●○○○●.]

Jiiiiing.

Soon the black cosmos filling my vision began to crack with a sharp splitting sound. Then fragments of space broke apart and came tumbling down in great numbers.

In an instant, bundles of red lines began to sketch themselves harshly into the world. They were unmistakably the lines that appeared whenever I manifested the blessing.

Along those lines, countless sacred traces, star clusters, and spaces were cleanly cut away. I witnessed the scene with blank eyes.

‘…What is this?’

The scattering stars flew apart like dust. The boundary between horror and ecstasy blurred.

This was not a figure of speech. Heaven and earth were literally being split open. It felt familiar. It was similar to when I manifested the Blessing of the Sword God on the day I entered the academy.

Soon, from the cracks between the chaotic debris, a light too intense to behold flared out. I fixed my gaze on that point.

No matter what, I had to see what that was. That conviction, from some unknown source, filled me up. At that, the vibration of the universe became uncontrollably violent, and my consciousness suddenly rushed in on me.

“Hey! Wake up!”

At once a someone’s voice struck my ears. Who? I didn’t know. But it was undeniably familiar. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

[Due to external interference, G.M. postpones things until a later time.]

[G.M. attempts to speak to you.]

At that, the scene before my eyes slowly began to darken.

I stretched out my arm in front of me. Letters woven from stars formed between my fingers.

[Cut and sever.]

But the force acting from behind me indifferently pulled me away.

[Whatever it may be.]

With that sentence as the end.

Darkness rushed in all at once and swallowed me violently.

Pa-at.

+++

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《 Might God’s blessing be with you. 》

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“Hey! Kang Geom-ma! Wake up already!”

When I opened my eyes, Ryozo was grabbing my shoulder and shaking me. She was shaking me so hard I felt like I was getting motion sickness for the first time in my life. Holding my dizzy head, I slowly straightened my back. A hazy sunset flickered beyond the scenery.

“For someone who always talks about how much I sleep, you were sleeping pretty sweetly yourself, you know?”

Ryozo was saying something to me with a pouty expression. But because my ears were still ringing, I could not hear her clearly.

“If I hadn’t woken you up, you would’ve made it to class tomorrow by waking up in this classroom.”

“……”

“Here.”

Saying that, Saki handed me a few tissues she took out from inside her clothes. I shook my head once, got my senses back, and took them from her.

“Usually when people sleep, they drool, don’t they? But why were you crying, Geom-ma?”

Just as she said, something had been running down my cheeks. I wiped it away with the tissues. Ryozo stared straight at me and then asked in a worried voice.

“What, did you have a sad dream or something?”

“…Mm.”

It was embarrassing enough to get caught sleeping by Saki, who did nothing but sleep all the time, and I had no idea why I had been crying too.

Scratching my chin awkwardly, I thought about it. I definitely felt like I had dreamed something.

Dreams were the sort of thing that slipped away the more you tried to remember them, but this one faded unusually fast. Then even the tail end of it disappeared like a mirage.

“I think I had a dream… but I can’t remember it. Anyway, thanks for waking me up.”

“Well, sure. Dreams are originally caused by hormones secreted in the brain preventing storage in the hippocam–”

Ryozo started rattling off some scientific terms I didn’t understand. I coolly let it go in one ear and out the other. At my indifference, she puckered her lips and took that thing out of her pocket. Yokan.

“Get up already. The building doors are going to close in thirty minutes.”

“It’s already that late?”

“You slept for twenty whole minutes after class ended.”

“……”

She sleeps straight through class herself and still lectures me so confidently. I shook my head in disbelief.

“Anyway, hurry up. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Without even listening to my opinion, Ryozo tried to hurry me to my feet. Just as I was putting the scattered introductory textbooks into my bag and getting up from the chair, a question suddenly arose.

“But Saki, why are you still here yourself?”

“……”

As if she had not expected the question, Saki’s eyes darted around energetically. Then, stammering slightly, she moved her lips.

“Uh, uh, obviously I stayed until the end so I could wake you up.”

A manner completely opposite from her usual cool attitude. At the sense of strangeness, I put my bag back down and sat in the chair again.

At that, Ryozo’s head seemed to go blank, and her lips twitched in obvious panic. Then, glancing around nervously, she began spilling out her true intention.

“Ahem, well, Rachel told me that, you know, men, well… when they wake up, don’t they immediately have that sort of biological feedback? It wasn’t anything else, I was just curious about it from a purely academic point of view. And then, just at that moment, you happened to be taking a nap.”

What kind of academy was this where the girls were worse than the boys…. Letting out a deep sigh, I cut off her streaming excuses in the middle.

“Hey.”

“H-huh? –Hic!”

Maybe because of the yokan, she started hiccuping as if she’d choked. When I looked at her in disbelief, her face turned red.

Hic.

The sound of hiccups echoed through the empty classroom. Saki covered her mouth and struggled to stop them.

“Go on ahead.”

Apparently embarrassed, Saki nodded with a deeply reddened face and quickly backed away. She really was a character with a hard-to-understand concept.

Once I had confirmed she was completely gone, I slowly looked down toward my crotch.

‘……’

I plunged both hands stylishly into my pockets and turned my head toward the window frame. For some reason, the sunset was especially dazzling today, so I decided to sit a little longer and watch it.