Chapter 154 - Ruphas Used Teleport![1]
writer:Firehead      update:2022-07-14 15:06
  Raw link: (2017/01/28)

  Translator: twomorefreethoughts / TpstT (2020/02/14)

  Editor 1: Hand of Vecna (2020/03/31)

  Editor 2: Keii (2020/04/07)

  Translation link:

  __

  TLN: Apologies for the low-quality translation. This chapter’s "explanations/analogies" were a little difficult to translate and I took forever trying to figure out how to word it. Hopefully, it still makes sense and I didn’t butcher it too much. As we are almost at the climax of the main storyline, the seemingly "useless information" in this chapter is actually quite important, so please let me know if it doesn’t make sense.

  __

  __

  We searched every nook and cranny of Mafahl Tower, however, we spectacularly found nothing.

  I thought that there would at least be a single note left somewhere, but there really was absolutely nothing.

  Now that it had gotten to this, I really had no clue. Without a doubt, the first location where I had met Dina was here.

  "Oi, Mafahl. Are you sure you don’t have any ideas?"

  "Unfortunately, I really don’t. What a problem it’s turned out to be."

  "I’m not sure about the details, but, isn’t that one called Dina supposed to be the Goddess’s avatar? In that case, couldn’t she have used some kind of memory manipulation technique to convey and leave a message that only you could understand? If that wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have specifically added ’that is within your memory’."

  "Hmm, even if you tell me that……"

  Benet suggested a consideration on the matter, however, I really did not know what I did not know.

  Even if I was told that it was within my memory, the very first location that I could recall where I met Dina was, without a doubt, the very place that we were in.

  If I were to go back any further in time, I would no longer be Ruphas, but be "me" (ore).

  I first saw the figure of Alovenus in the game on my screen, then I was led to this world, and……

  "Oh."

  A voice leaked out of me without me meaning to.

  It was in the other world…… It was on Earth, in Japan. In "my" (ore) own room before I became Ruphas. Right in front of my computer’s screen.

  At that time, I set Dina as an object within the Mafahl Tower.

  Was that what she meant? In other words, that she was not in Midgard, but on the Earth?

  If that was truly the case, indeed, it would absolutely be a location where no one other than me would notice.

  "Sorry, I just thought of one."

  "Hou? Where is it?"

  "It’s in another world."

  "Huh?"

  There was an expression that said "What the hell is she saying?" written all over Benet’s face. Furthermore, even on my own end, I did not say it with much conviction.

  Nonetheless, factoring in that we could not find her anywhere even after thoroughly searching the Mafahl Tower, that was the only place I could think of.

  Exactly, Dina had to be on Earth. She was in Japan and…… in all likelihood, at the house that "I" (ore) was previously living in. Even if she was not there specifically, she should be somewhere nearby.

  Additionally, I also had a method of reaching that place.

  If I used X-Gate, it should be possible to bypass the space-time continuum and pass over to the other side. In reality, the young boy Sei had already been summoned here through that method.

  If anything, perhaps I should have done this sooner.

  Even if just to investigate my background from the roots, I should have crossed over to the other side at least once.[2]

  And the reason behind why I had not done that yet could probably be attributed to the fact that I myself had not wanted to unveil the truth.

  In all likelihood, I was fearful of learning the truth more than anyone else.

  "There’s another world independent of this world that is called ’Earth’. If Dina were to be somewhere, that’s most likely where she is."

  "Another world, huh…… Good, this sounds fairly interesting. There might be some individuals with decent backbones over there."

  "No, there isn’t. I’m begging you not to go berserk over there."

  Benet laughed belligerently as if she was ready for a fight, but I remonstrated her.

  Although I did feel bad for her, there was absolutely no one in the other world who would be able to fight against Benet.

  The physical capabilities of the people on Earth were shockingly frail. It was because they had evolved and adapted to living in a progressively advanced civilization with convenient lifestyles.

  You might have often heard this line before. That, if one were to compare a human being of the past and a human being from modern times, it would give rise to a difference in strength and stamina.

  People now lived in comfortable living spaces where one could adjust the room temperature. Their modes of transportation were bicycles, buses and trains. Not only that, it was not even rare for there to be people who did not leave their houses all day long unless they suddenly gained the motivation to exercise. These were the signs of peace and prosperity made possible only because Earth had advanced beyond Midgard.

  Even the greatest nation in the world, America, which boasted the strongest military force was more famous for asserting ridiculous things such as "Pizzas are vegetables!" and undergoing an obesity crisis.

  As such, it was only natural that the physical capabilities of the people on Earth had dropped to a deplorable state. They were simply incomparable to the people in Midgard. Even when human warriors were compared to each other, the modern counterparts fell short of the warriors of the past.

  Also, pizzas are not vegetables.[3]

  Although this was purely my speculation, even the so-called world champion in that world would not surpass level 5 in this world.

  From what I’ve heard in the past, the bones of human beings on Earth were structured in such a way that it would be impossible for them to lift anything weighing over 500 kg.

  In contrast, this world was just a mess. As long as an individual raised their level, they would be able to lift anything regardless of the weight.

  Whilst I had never exerted my full strength, at the very least, I had enough arm strength to throw the Dragon King away with a single hand, so I was substantially weird myself.

  The misgiving in all of this was most likely the laws of physics.

  In Midgard, perhaps because the Goddess fired the laws of the physics-san or whatever, it was not doing its job at all.

  Even if Benet or I were to go at a speed fast enough to lap around Midgard in a single second, everything would most likely remain fine. However, if such a thing were to be attempted on Earth, there would no doubt be a major catastrophe. In the worst-case scenario, that alone would be enough to erase all life on Earth.

  Once we crossed over to that world, battles had to be absolutely avoided. For argument’s sake, even if we were to engage in a battle, if we did not substantially hold back, it would result in an extremely bad situation.

  Although this exposition had gotten quite long, in summary, if Benet were to rampage in that world, Earth would be in danger.

  In the worst-case scenario, let alone Earth, that whole universe would be in danger.

  "I’m going to ask just in case, but are you planning to come along?"

  "That’s my intention."

  "In that case, I’m going to request that you stay calm and collected. And whatever you do, don’t move around as you do in Midgard, even if it’s by mistake."

  "What do you mean?"

  I had knowledge about both worlds. As such, I could understand how dangerous and horrible of an idea it would be for us to move around with all our might.

  On the other hand, Benet only had knowledge of this world. In other words, her common sense told her that the world would still be perfectly fine even if she ran around seriously.

  If I did not revise her understanding of that first, I would be too fearful to take her over to the other side.

  As such, I casually activated one of the grappler’s skills, [Shine Blow], and fired it in a random direction at that moment.[4]

  This skill was one of the available skills that had an absolute accuracy effect. Just as the name of the skill would suggest, the fist was struck out at light speed, thereby giving no room for the enemy to avoid the attack and allowing the user to absolutely hit the enemy.

  Furthermore, the speed of light was not absolute, but instead relative. For example, if I were to compress time and use the skill in a world where the speed of light was about 10%, Shine Blow would be activated at "the speed of light as I perceived it". In other words, the fist would be thrown at a speed far faster than the actual speed of light.

  From that random shot that I had fired, the ground in front of me got scraped away to the horizon as if it was scooped up by a spoon, but that was all there was to it. The world itself around us was still perfectly fine.

  "Putting things simply, if an attack like that was fired on the other side, the world would perish."

  "…… Well, I mean, if you punched the planet with all your might, I suppose it’d end up like that."

  "That’s not what I’m saying. It doesn’t matter where you shoot it, a person will…… or more like, the moment anything with sufficient mass passes the speed of light, it’ll all be over. Sure, the part about shockwaves being created due to something moving is also the same in this world, but the scale at which it happens is completely different. Let alone the speed of light, you have to understand that just by passing the speed of sound, there could be a major disaster. Furthermore, there’s a theory that not only the planet but the whole universe could perish if something were to travel faster than the speed of light. Although I’m not too sure about the details."

  "…… How fragile can that world be? What is even up with the world perishing from a punch that doesn’t even hit?"

  Although Benetnash replied as such whilst sounding exasperated, the one which was strange was not the other side but the world that we were in.

  It was only because the world we were in was so nonsensical that people like me and Benet were able to fight to our fullest extent.

  Should that not have been the case, we would most likely have had to seal our own powers which had become overly powerful.

  If anything, the part which we needed to pay attention to was making sure that we did not unintentionally kill off the people living in that world.

  Without it coming across as some kind of a joke, the people in that world could very well end up dead just from our shoulders bumping into them……

  For the human beings in that world, Benet and I were like a certain plumber with a red hat with an invincible star buff which lasted for an indefinite amount of time.[5]

  "So yeah, as insurance, I need you to wear this. I’ll also put the same thing on."

  I activated X-Gate and connected it to Mafahl Tower. I then took out two bracelets, throwing one to Benet and putting the other one on my arm.[6]

  It was a limited equipment called [Infinity], which was distributed only to players who had participated in a special event.

  It was a broken piece of equipment whereby the effect of the item was to make all the skills used by the wearer cost only 1 SP. Although it would not be infinite uses, since the skills cost practically nothing, the wearer became able to use skills for effectively no cost, thereby allowing them to fire skills off continuously.

  However, the corresponding demerit was quite detrimental. When the bracelet was equipped, every status was reduced to 10% of the original value.

  As a consequence, the practical use of the bracelet in actual combat was low. The only usage of this bracelet was to equip it during preparation for a battle to spam-cast skills and buffs then change equipment right before the actual combat began.

  However, rather than taking such troublesome steps, as it was faster to use skills normally and recover by using items, there was no practical use for the bracelet unless the individual wanted to save items.

  In either event, our status was now down to triple digits. If it was now, perhaps even the Seven Luminaries would be able to put up a good fight.

  "Also…… let’s match our clothing to what’s on the other side as well."

  Our current appearances would be equivalent to cosplaying if we went to the other side now.

  As was the case, it was probably better that I crafted some clothing which would match the people on the other side.

  Benet and I returned to the

  and got changed after I crafted a new set of clothing.

  Although it was a bit painful to have to lose the beneficial effects of the equipment that we were currently wearing, as expected, it would be problematic to be wandering around the middle of a Japanese city in a fancy dress.

  Even the clothing that I had received from Megrez gave off a fantasy design, therefore, it was not very suitable for the other side.

  On this specific point, the dress shirt and skirt that Benet was wearing might have possibly been viable for use, however, I decided to have her change just in case.

  "Well, yeah, I guess this should be fine."

  "These clothes have quite a weird design, huh?"

  Looking at my own reflection in the mirror, I was feeling satisfied now that I looked like the people on the other side.

  My getup consisted of a red hoodie and a pair of jeans. By the way, the hoodie that I was wearing was the type with a pocket in the front.

  Additionally, it was nice for moving around casually. Or rather, the dress that I was usually wearing was just too hard to move around in.

  Due to the beneficial effect that it gave and its durability, I still wore it. However, with that dress on, it was really hard to use a kicking technique.

  My hair was tied up in a ponytail and I no longer wore a fake pair of glasses. After all, I doubted that there was anyone who knew my face on that side.

  Benet did not look very different from how she usually looked with a white dress shirt and a black skirt. She now wore tights underneath the skirt.

  Well, she nonchalantly kicked around even with a short skirt on, after all…… it was something that I needed to worry about, you know?

  And lastly, on top, she wore a long black coat. That was the summary of her getup.

  "Now then, shall we begin?"

  I got up onto the deck of the

  and gathered arcane power in my right hand and divine power in my left hand.

  I then mashed the two powers together to make them repel each other. The resulting reaction bore a hole in the space-time continuum.

  And lo and behold, in front of me, an X-Gate big enough to allow people to pass through was completed.

  Typically, we would use this skill to go from one place to another within Midgard, but this time would be different.

  Deeper and deeper, a hole was dug into the world known as Midgard…… no, a hole was opened in the very universe itself and eventually broke through the world itself.

  It was on the other side of a completely separate universe. That was where the Earth existed.

  There was no need to figure out the coordinates. After all, the place where this Midgard existed was also the Solar System.

  There was the Sun, the Moon, the planet Venus, the planet Mars and others.

  In other words…… it had the same coordinates.

  The Earth existed in exactly the same place as Midgard.

  If I were to be more specific, I should say, it was on the opposite side of Midgard.

  I did not know which side was heads and which side was tails, but long story short, the Earth could be reached as long as I could cross over the universe.

  And the reason behind why I knew about all of this information, which I normally should not have been aware of…… was most likely because she had left this information in me.

  "Let’s go, Benet."

  I stuck my hand out to Benet and she stared at it in puzzlement.

  "…… What’s that hand for?"

  "Doesn’t matter, just take it. X-Gate requires the consent of the other party. If you reject the transfer halfway through, you’ll end up in a boundary between the two worlds. So if you reject it at this point, I’ll judge that it’s impossible to take you along, and I’ll go alone."

  "……"

  Benet placed her hand on top of mine whilst looking reluctant to do so, and then quickly turned her head away.

  Well, whatever, I was not going to mention anything at this point. I mean, after all, she was someone who was originally hostile towards me, so if anything, her taking my hand must mean that she was trying to be amicable with me.

  Whilst being sent off by the

  ’s crew who were telling us to take care, I pulled Benet’s hand along and leapt into the X-Gate, heading to the opposite side of the world.

  We travelled far, far deeper than we would ordinarily ever have gone.

  By travelling in the boundary of space that one would never be able to reach by physical means, we were able to experience the existence of arcane power and divine power which overflowed the world in a way that would not be possible otherwise.

  In all likelihood, in an originally empty space, arcane power overflowed to materialise substances. Those substances were then likely enhanced by divine power, turning into real tangible objects.

  It was a godly technique of "creating something from nothing" through the act of combining arcane power and divine power in a way that was impossible for us to achieve.[7]

  It was nothing more than dividing the power of creation into plus and minus. It was said throughout Midgard that arcane power was the power to materialise something that did not exist and divine power was the power to enhance something that already existed. But the truth was different.

  It turned out arcane power was the power to create something from nothing and divine power was the power to strengthen that something so that it would remain as that something permanently.

  Midgard was composed and held together by those two powers. That was why, when one forcibly mashed the divine and arcane power together, it would repel the power which held the world together in that specific area, causing a hole to form.

  As a simple explanation, it was something like overwriting data which already existed. If there was data which already existed in that place and the exact same data was brought on top of it, the data would be overwritten.

  At the moment the overwriting happened, the previous data would be squashed by the new data and disappear.

  Needless to say, although the new data would take root in that location, at the very moment the process took place, there was a temporary state where nothing existed.[8]

  So in summary, X-Gate was something like overwriting a part of the world and utilising a blank state which was given birth until the moment the overwriting was completed to create a shortcut.

  In other words, the world that we were inhabiting until now…… correction, the whole universe itself was Alovenus’s arcane magic.

  What I could not understand was why the living creatures within it were also not created by her arcane magic.

  Although the whole world itself was made out of her arcane magic, the people living within it were substantive. Needless to say, we were also not given birth by arcane magic.

  After all, if that was not the case, I would have long been erased by her.

  Of course, I was under the influence of mana and had even been mutated due to it…… but we were still different from the demon race.

  In other words, it meant that Alovenus created a world through her arcane and divine magic and allowed real living creatures with actual substance to inhabit it.

  And although this was just my speculation, those living creatures were brought over from Earth. That was why there was a strange sense of congruity in the ecosystem between Earth and Midgard to an unnatural extent.

  But why was it like that? Could it possibly be that she did not have the power to create life even though she had sufficient power to even create a universe itself?

  Could it possibly be that she brought over real life from outside because she could only create incomplete dolls like the demons?

  "……"

  "What’s wrong, Mafahl?"

  "No, nothing."

  Just then, I was imagining something truly terrifying.

  It was a line of thinking that I hoped would not be correct.

  At the same time, there was a bitter feeling within myself. The more one hated the idea, the more often it came into fruition. And I was most likely spot on.

  Whilst thinking like that, I started to break out into a cold sweat.

  __

  (Author note)

  By the way, I will give away one spoiler to answer the question of whether there is another mastermind behind Alovenus who just happens to be the true creator deity. Please rest assured that such a last boss will not just pop out of thin air.

  To the bitter end, the highest-ranked deity of this world is Alovenus. That will not change and there is no stronger character than her. In the truest sense, this shoddy failure of a Goddess is the final antagonist and the strongest character.

  Eh? Are you saying that she doesn’t have the necessary majesty or threat of the last boss, so you would prefer it if another boss that has an actual sort of majesty pops out even if it’s out of thin air?

  It - it’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. Once we enter the final battle, she will properly show us strength worthy of the last boss.

  Her personality and her strength is a mismatch.

  (Author note end)

  Tp: @[email protected] Is that how the quantum state works……? It’s not right? Also, the Evil God was sent flying to Earth from Midgard a few chapters ago. So that means, you can travel from Midgard to Earth through crossing the universe, but it’s at the same coordinates if you use X-Gate? Not to mention the Evil God was sent flying for years but also went back in time? O.o??

  Vecna: I think you’re thinking too much. The author is probably just making things up by meshing together different theories and hypotheses.

  Many worlds interpretation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many-worlds_interpretation

  Tachyon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachyon

  Blackhole as a wormhole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole#Singularity

  __

  [1] "".

  [2] Recall that they are in "a game" or "a novel". Either way, he’s saying he could have returned once to check the source material/what’s happening on the other side.

  [3] …… I feel like the author wrote the whole section of this chapter just to say this line. ^^;;

  "".

  [4] Shine Blow (シャインブロウ)

  [5] "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario".

  [6] Keii: Aren’t they at Mafahl Tower right now……?

  [7] Vecna: It’s also called creatio ex nihilo - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_nihilo#Creatio_ex_nihilo:_the_creation_of_matter".

  [8] Tp: @[email protected]?? I feel like something is not right here……

  Vecna: Yeah. -Long explanation: snip-

  __