Chapter 179
To prepare for hypnosis, I made the room as dark as possible.
My body relaxed, and I lay down comfortably.
[Inhale... and exhale.]
The voice I'd just recorded on my phone played.
A hypnosis track recorded with the Siren's vocal cords, following the script the Black Mage had given me.
Keeping my eyes closed, I stayed focused on the voice.
'The method is pretty similar to meditation...'
Fortunately, I'd long since become used to meditation.
It didn't take long for me to empty my mind.
[Your body gradually sinks down.]
[Empty your mind and simply follow my words. Deeper... deeper....]
A quiet, dreamlike voice echoed softly.
Just hearing it made my mind hazy and my body languid.
My body gradually grew heavier, as if sinking into the bed.
[...!]
But one thing was still missing if I wanted to reach the buried memory.
Chohogi, who was serving as my assistant today, held something up in front of my eyes.
Since the Black Mage had lost its tentacles, it couldn't help me anymore.
The room's only light source beneath the blackout curtains: the Deep-Sea Angler's lantern.
The light drew my consciousness deeper and deeper.
It felt like dreaming while standing.
I accepted it all without resistance.
[Now you stand before the forgotten time.]
[You remember. You return to who you were then....]
With that final line, my consciousness was completely cut off.
***
"Gasp! Did I fall asleep?"
I wiped my mouth and hurriedly got up.
The surroundings were an unfamiliar space.
Thankfully, it didn't seem like I'd simply fallen into a deep sleep.
"This is the 50th floor."
My vision was out of focus, so everything looked hazy.
It felt like I was in a dream.
But looking at the surrounding darkness and countless stars, there was no doubt this was the 50th floor's universe.
"Did it work?"
As I looked around, more certain proof came into view.
In front of me were the items I had taken out to use back then.
All of them were still unused.
Next, I looked down at my body.
Familiar hands and clothing. It was definitely me from that memory.
[1]
[0]
[1 minute of survival.]
[Time remaining: 59 seconds]
The countdown I had seen in my memory reached zero.
Soon, it would be time to face that enormous being's 'eyes' again.
I steeled myself.
'Now's when it really matters.'
From here begins the one hour where my memory cuts off.
I opened my eyes wide and watched what would happen.
And then, the next moment.
Almost at the same time, the Transcendent's 'gaze' reached me.
Flash!
A dazzling golden light suddenly burst from my body.
Immediately after, I realized I couldn't control even my gaze, let alone my body.
I couldn't even speak.
'What the hell!'
It felt exactly like watching a forced cutscene in a first-person game.
My body moved on its own and picked up the World Tree Staff.
I twirled the staff playfully with one hand.
'No way?'
Just from that short motion, I knew everything.
That wasn't something I had done. I'd never done anything like that in my life.
More than anything, could I really be that relaxed in front of that terrifying being? It all seemed impossible.
'What on earth...'
A wave of fear washed over me.
Did some unknown being just take over my body?
An unimaginable situation.
But strangely, the fear didn't last long.
Instead, my heart filled with a strange sense of familiarity and warmth.
I instinctively felt that whoever was controlling my body held no malice toward me at all.
[I deliberately blocked it off, but you found it right away? I figured you would.]
Then my mouth moved on its own.
'This... wait, are you talking about me?'
It knew.
That I was observing all of this from within a dream right now.
The one who had taken over my body went on to say words I couldn't understand.
[I'll show you just a little as a bonus. Not much. Even I wasn't allowed to show more.]
As my body said this, it was looking toward the far side of the universe.
It locked eyes with the ruler beyond that distant horizon.
That being still looked at me, but the feeling was completely different from before.
Until just before then, it had felt more like an unconscious approach.
But now I could clearly feel that it was strongly aware of the existence known as 'me.'
【■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ !!!】
The Transcendent's cry.
I couldn't understand a single word of it.
But the emotions contained in it came through vividly.
Bewilderment, followed by anger.
【 —— !!!】
Immediately after, the entire cosmic expanse trembled.
The stars in the universe flickered.
An invisible force surged toward me like a wave.
I couldn't look directly at it.
My entire field of vision turned black and white, and even that began to ripple as if a mosaic filter had been slapped on it.
'Crazy...'
It was so transcendent that I couldn't think.
All I felt was its grandeur, and the awe that followed.
Even so, my body stood there without a tremor.
There was a confident smile on my face.
[I'll only show you once.]
Swoosh.
My right hand rose.
In it was the World Tree Staff.
The next instant, unimaginable power began pouring out from the staff.
Crack!
Cracks began to spread through the staff.
At least one question had been answered.
Why my staff had gone into overload.
Well, of course. It had taken on that kind of power.
Phew-.
I brought my hand to my mouth and blew gently.
A grain of sand rolled across my palm.
A grain of sand so tiny it was barely visible.
A dust-sized grain of sand floated through the air like pollen, drifting away from me.
The change started right away.
Another grain of sand came and stuck to it.
I had no idea where it was coming from.
Sand and dirt particles from near and far flew in and clung to it.
At some point, the grain of sand began to grow exponentially.
From fist-sized to human-sized.
Soon it was as big as a building, and before long, as big as a mountain.
And then, finally.
'A planet?'
It had become a gigantic planet.
A huge celestial body formed by clumping together the surrounding dirt and sand.
A single star covered the sky.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-ga-gang!
A collision on a cosmic scale.
A massive flash erupted with the explosion.
'My God...'
The black-and-white vision vanished. That meant the enemy's attack had been neutralized.
At the same time, the planet I'd created also crumbled back into dust and scattered away completely.
A mind-bending sight of stars being born and destroyed.
I stared blankly at it all.
[That's as much as I can show you.]
I heard my own voice again.
The voice was mine, but the tone was completely different.
Much calmer, carrying wisdom and dignity.
My hand covered my eyes.
Everything went dark.
[When the time comes, you'll know everything, so don't rush. You're bound to reach it anyway.]
With that final line, my consciousness was forcibly thrown out.
***
"Gasp!"
I opened my eyes, drawing in ragged breaths.
It was my familiar room.
Somehow, the lights were on.
Phew...
I wiped away nonexistent sweat and steadied my breathing.
My heart was pounding like crazy.
[Was it successful?]
The Black Mage's voice came from beside me.
Chohogi and Sandworm were also looking at me with worried eyes.
"Yeah. I saw it. Not all of it—maybe not even a tenth of it, but still."
I swallowed hard.
It was all still vivid.
Someone who had possessed my body and spoken to me.
The brilliant, warm golden light pouring from my body.
And that grain of sand growing to the size of a planet.
"If I can still remember it while it's fresh... I feel like I can pull it off."
[I don't know what you're trying to do, but you'd better stop. It doesn't seem like anything good ever happens when you say things like that...]
I ignored the Black Mage and picked up the staff.
The roots of the World Tree were still periodically emitting light, as if breathing between the gaps.
I closed my eyes and calmed my breathing.
Then I revived the vivid sensation still lingering at my fingertips.
Phew-.
I brought my hand to my mouth and blew gently.
A grain of sand slowly drifted away from the tips of my fingers.
I focused on the grain of sand.
Sand gathers with sand. It draws more sand in.
It naturally happens that way.
Wooooong-.
The air hummed softly.
At the same time, the tiny dust particles in the room began to be drawn toward the grain of sand.
Flutter.
The wind started to pick up.
The pull grew stronger and stronger.
Before long, the grain of sand was the size of a ping-pong ball.
"... Huh?"
That was when it happened.
The ping-pong ball suddenly broke free of my control.
At the same time, the sand ball began to vibrate wildly in place.
"Whoa!"
Crash!
Chohogi's bedside flowerpot tipped over and shattered.
Bang! The monitor slammed into the floor, unable to withstand the force.
"Oh, no!"
Just as I was squeezing out every last bit of strength to take back control.
The ping-pong ball shot away from me as if rebelling against me, then charged toward the wall.
Kwaang!
The wall was blown open, leaving a huge hole.
Fortunately, the ping-pong ball also shattered from the impact and completely fell apart.
I wasn't exactly happy about it.
"... It must still be a dream."
The cold wind blowing in through the hole slapped my cheek, telling me this was reality.
[See? What did I tell you? I knew something like this would happen, so I made the fish tank heavy in advance. Thanks to that, my home is safe.]
The Black Mage huffed.
"... It didn't go as planned."
I got up awkwardly and walked over to the wall.
After tapping the staff a few times, rocks of a similar color rose up and roughly filled the hole.
... It won't be obvious, right?
[Never use that in the house again.]
[Sandworm vehemently agrees that, for once, that bastard is right.]
[!!!]
The Black Mage, Sandworm, and even Chohogi crossed their arms and glared at me.
"Still, I think it went pretty well. I think I've got the hang of it. If I just try one more time..."
[You idiot, do you have no learning ability? If you're going to do that, then go outside and sleep!]
I was just about to give it one more demonstration.
Suddenly, dozens of magic arrows sliced through the air and came flying at me.
Magic arrows poured toward me through the wall.
"What, what is this?"