Juuichi Ashihara was frozen in place, seated.
Just a moment ago, his room had been there, but it vanished.
In front of him was a small campfire.
And a strange โfireballโ floating in the air.
He could feel the cold stone floor through his pants. The tiles, etched with esoteric patterns (resembling seaweed?), were old, cracked, and chipped, with pebbles lodged in the gouged-out crevices.
There was a pillar nearby. Carved intricately with mysterious symbols, the top featured two sea serpents entwined in a circle. However, one of the serpentโs heads had been shattered, leaving it incomplete.
To the right and left, there was nothing but darkness.
The dim light from the feeble flames could only illuminate so much.
He thoughtโ
Where am I?
โWhat happenedโฆ?โ
โI teleported you. This placeโฆ during the โGreat Disappearance,โ parts of space were torn apart. This is one of the scattered remnants.
It seems to be ruins from the โUnderwater Civilization,โ but I thought it would be a convenient spot to have a conversation. We wonโt be disturbed here.โ
The fireball spoke.
No, it had been speaking all along.
Juichi was too dumbfounded to grasp it at first.
โWhat are you? I canโt make sense of thisโฆ Save the world, you say?โ
โYou can think of me as an angel. That would probably be the easiest way to understand it. I donโt have a physical bodyโright now, I exist only as a consciousness. But since that wouldnโt be enough for us to communicate, I manifested this fireball.
And yes, I want you to save the world. Itโs not just my hope, but rather a predetermined course of action.โ
โWhat?โ
โRefusal isnโt an option. Iโm sorry, but thatโs how it is.โ
Juichi glared suspiciously.
Being dragged to some strange place and told he couldnโt refuseโhe couldnโt accept such a thing.
โA savior, huh? What a grand title. But right now, Iโm very annoyed.โ
โYour anger and confusion are justified. But refusal is still not an option. Because there is no one else who can take your place. To be precise, I donโt have the time or power to find a replacement. Iโm going to die soon.โ
โHuhโฆ?โ
โBefore taking on this task, I received payment from the gods in advance while gathering strength for the summoning. I lived a life of about 60 years as a human. I had a wife and childrenโa modest but fulfilling life.
As the culmination of that life, Iโm now completing my work. I donโt have the power to select and bring someone else here, so youโll have to do it.โ
Juichi was baffled. This โangelโ claimed it was going to die.
โYouโre saying you just showed up? Youโre already just a soul, butโฆ no, wait, thatโs not the pointโโ
โThereโs no time left. Regarding what you must do to save the world, Iโll give you the necessary explanation. Look at this.โ
โWhoa!โ
In the next moment, the scenery changed entirely.
A pure white space. Juichi and the fireball were floating in midair.
Below them were two colossal โstatues.โ
Each statue was over several hundred meters tall. Both were in the shape of standing humansโone male and one female, both nude.
However, one of them had a snakeโs head, and the other had a unique hairstyle tied up like a mohawk, with a face that resembled an insect more than a human.
The statues were intricately carved from white marble.
The two giant figures had their right hands intertwined, and at the tips of their fingers, a glowing sphere rotated, radiating light.
The fireball spoke.
โThose are the godsโCastus and Shalnakif. These forms represent avatars of the gods. The glowing sphere is a miniature representation of the universe and also symbolizes the world itself.
Now, look ahead, near her โfeet.โ Do you see it?โ
In front of the two statuesโCastus and Shalnakifโat a diagonal angle, there were two remnants, not pillars, but the broken legs of another statue.
From around the knees down, what was once a colossal figure had been entirely lost.
โThere once stood the god Albaf there. That was before the Great Disappearance. Iโve never seen her full form, aside from her legs.โ
โThis is a god? Sure, theyโre big statues, butโฆโ
โThey arenโt gods from your world but from ours.โ
Juichi remained bewildered.
The gods that the fireball mentioned felt too lifeless to evoke any sense of reverence.
โMade of marbleโฆ?โ
โNot just ordinary marble. I understand what youโre trying to ask. Gods likely donโt possess personalities like you or I. Whether thatโs necessary or not, I cannot say.โ
โSo theyโre like machines or systems?โ
โIt would be an intriguing subject to compare gods to machines, but unfortunately, I donโt have the time left to delve into that.โ
Cutting off the conversation, the fireball said to Juichi,
โWhatโs important now is Albaf. I wanted you to be aware of her. The avatar is merely an expression of one facet of the god, but itโs connected to the main body.
Thus, to resurrect her, you must gather the scattered fragments of her avatar, which are scattered across the world.
If you can collect about 60% of the fragments, her functions will recover, and the remaining pieces should gather automatically through her self-repair system.โ
As soon as the fireball finished speaking, the white space vanished like an illusion, returning to the original darkness.
In front of Juichi, the campfire crackled once again, casting its red light into the void.
โTo help you in your task, youโll be granted three special abilities by the goddess as a โblessing.โ
Many of the goddessโs fragments are trapped within strange creatures, so an ordinary human couldnโt retrieve them. Use these powers wisely.โ
โWaitโฆ hold on.โ
โNo, weโre out of time. Youโll have to learn quickly. Here we go.
The first ability is โInventory.โ
It has a limited capacity but serves as a bagless storage space. You can also use it to send the goddessโs fragments back here.
Second is โRevision,โ a power to replay past events as three-dimensional visuals and sound. Youโll find this useful in tracking down the creatures holding the fragments. It can likely be expanded and applied in various ways.
The third oneโฆ should be called a curse rather than a power. โNo-Death Worker.โ
When you die, youโll be reincarnated somewhere in the world. Over time, youโll even be able to choose where you resurrect. However, every time you die, your corpse will be left behind, so be mindful of that.
In short, you can no longer die.
Not โwonโt die.โ You are not allowed to die.
Before we continue, let me clarifyโthis third ability isnโt a personal power but a universal law. Itโs a rule that states you, as the apostle of the gods, must continue to exist in this world.
In certain cases, your existence might be reset, and youโll be recreated from past data and sent out again.
This means no curses can undo it, you canโt go insane, and youโre immune to sealing, sleep, brainwashing, or nullification.
Escaping is absolutely impossible, and Iโm sorry, but you must resign yourself to this fate.
As for direct offensive powers, you wonโt receive any. Youโll have to procure those on-site.
Once enough fragments have been gathered to revive the goddess, your reward and the path home will openโฆ supposedly. The gods said so, but I canโt guarantee it.
Thatโs all. Phewโฆ
I rushed through the explanation, but that concludes it. From now on, youโll need to learn by yourself. Do you have any questions? You have 20 seconds left.โ
It was all too one-sided.
Juichi couldnโt even begin to decide where to start with his questions.
โInventory, Revision, No-Deathโฆ? And 20 secondsโฆโ
โUntil my life ends. And until youโre sent off. Less than 10 seconds now.โ
โSave the world! Me? Why me? Why have I been chosen, and why am I suddenly being told to do all thisโโ
โItโs over. I wish you luck, savior.โ
The campfire cracked and popped.
TN: This novelโs got such hardcore suffering vibes, and Iโm totally hyped to translate it!