Chapter 2
A search box appears in a rectangular window floating before my eyes like augmented reality.
But without a keyboard or mouse... What am I supposed to do with just this?
The cursor is blinking in the search box part here... But it's not going to read my thoughts and automatically input text, is it?
Is there some kind of Brainwave Input Function? Should I try searching for a Brainwave Input Device?
As soon as I think that...
[Brainwave Input Device]
These words automatically appear in the search box and search results are displayed.
Hmm. Maybe...
Search for Tree Wiki.
[Tree Wiki]
I see, so this is how it works.
Scrolling up and down happens automatically as I change where I'm looking. And the window closes when I think "Close!"...
This might be better than I thought.
It could be useful for killing time when bored or looking up various kinds of knowledge.
Well, I can only read things, but that alone is very precious to me right now.
After understanding the second perk to some extent, knowledge about the third perk now pours into my head.
The power to freely control time. The power to speed up the flow of time, pause it, and turn it back to the past.
The method of using this power was... to materialize a small pocket watch.
Connected by a thin chain, the pocket watch showed not only the current time but also the year, month, and day.
However, everything is set to 0 now, and the hour and minute hands are stopped at the 12 o'clock position.
Besides that, there was also a strange ▶ symbol marked on it.
It was a curious object with two buttons and a dial attached to the rim of the watch.
Is this how I control time? I carefully pressed one of the buttons on the watch.
Tick.
With the sound of the spring stopping, everything froze.
The gentle breeze stops blowing. The dust raised by my footsteps doesn't settle. Nothing moves.
A scene of frozen time. Instead of the ▶ symbol, the watch now displays II.
I pressed the button once more, and the stopped time began to flow again.
I see, so this is how it works. But giving such an overpowered ability like time stop as a perk... What on earth was that god thinking?
Well, how could I possibly understand that god's thoughts? I probably wouldn't understand even if I thought about it for a lifetime.
Putting aside the zero-productivity task of thinking about that god, I continue to investigate this watch.
I carefully turned the dial attached to the top. If I'm right...
The flow of air becomes incredibly fast. The sun in the sky starts moving at a visible speed.
The ▶ symbol on the watch had changed to ▶▶.
Turning the dial a bit more, it changes to ▶▶▶, and turning it once more, it becomes ▶× 4.
As I keep turning it, the number behind changes, and the sun sets while the moon rises.
After a short while, the moon sets again and the sun rises. It feels like only a few seconds have passed, but a day goes by, then two days.
I hold the dial and turn it in the opposite direction, hoping for the flow of time to return to normal, and it goes back to ▶.
Indeed, it's easier to use than I thought. It changes to the appropriate speed just by turning it while thinking of the desired time speed.
I turned the dial while thinking about slowing down time, and the symbol on the watch changes to ▶× 0.1.
If you slow down the flow of time extremely, it wouldn't be much different from stopping time... Well, that doesn't mean much to me right now.
As I accelerate time again, the sun rises and sets repeatedly. Days pass by quickly.
Matching that speed, the minute and hour hands of the watch spin busily. Every time the sun sets and rises, the date display on the watch increases by 1.
Even though the days are changing continuously, I don't feel any change.
I'm not even feeling hunger, which any living being should naturally feel.
I let out a small sigh and return the flow of time to normal.
It seems I've stepped out of the category of living beings.
Well, it would be difficult to call a being that can create anything, connect to other worlds, and manipulate time at will a living being...
I sigh once more and press the button on the pocket watch that I hadn't pressed before.
With a click, the glass covering the pocket watch opens.
So, what am I supposed to do with this?
I carefully turn back the second and minute hands with my fingertip. For some reason, I felt like this was what I should do.
After turning it back several times to reset the date display to 0 and closing the lid, a small window pops up in front of my eyes.
[Requesting consent from the past point...
The past point has consented.
Do you want to turn back time? Y / N]
Consent from the past point? Hmm... Is this the restriction the god mentioned?
Even if I want to turn back time, I can't do it unless the past point agrees? Hmm.
I pressed Y with my fingertip. Then the pocket watch started to turn counterclockwise.
Is time going back? The sun and moon in the sky repeatedly set and rise in the opposite direction.
After a short while, the date displayed on the pocket watch had returned to 0.
The third perk is very intuitive and easy to understand. And it's incredibly powerful too.
It might be fun to shout "The World!" while stopping time. Hmm.
I turned back the pocket watch, summoned it again, and turned it back once more.
The pocket watch that disappears when it leaves my hand and can be taken out again anytime must be an ability tied to me.
Now, it's time to test the most important perk. The first perk, the ability of creation.
The ability to create anything I want.
The ability to fill this world, which has no living beings except for a few plants, with new life.
What should I create with this ability?
Humans? Humans in a world with nothing? That's unreasonable.
Humans are at the top of the food chain. If there aren't enough lower-level organisms, they'd just starve to death.
Should I start by creating basic organisms? But that seems like a daunting task.
Or... should I just create a bunch of primitive single-celled organisms and induce their own evolution?
It would take a tremendous amount of time, but for me who can change the flow of time as I wish, that's not really important.
The downside would be that there's no guarantee that the evolution of organisms will happen as I want.
Oh, no. Couldn't I just create them with added evolutionary direction?
For example... creating them so that mutations occur more frequently and in greater numbers.
I don't know much about biology, but if I create a bunch of organisms with such characteristics and scatter them all over the world, then speed up time... wouldn't they evolve and flourish on their own?
There's a possibility that some bizarre creatures might be born... but I can tweak those parts a bit.
If I don't use this method and create everything one by one myself... it would probably take an incredibly long time. Let's just do it this way.
If something goes wrong... I'll handle it myself.
I'm a dragon after all, shouldn't I be capable of that much?
Oh, speaking of being a dragon, shouldn't I use magic too? I should think about magic as well.
Hmm... Can I create magical power too? Or should I create something that contains magical power?
Well, either way, I can just do it. The ability to create anything is truly omnipotent.
I got up while lightly stretching, and used the first perk, Creation.
A translucent window appears before my eyes. It was a window where I could make detailed settings about what to create.
Let's see... First, organisms. The simplest organisms possible. High vitality, good environmental adaptability. Lifespan... should I make it about 1 year?
Since I'm going for simple organisms, let's reference single-celled organisms. Organisms with such tenacious vitality that even if cut in half, both parts would still be alive.
For food... Hmm... Photosynthesis? No, no. There should be consumption and predation.
They might end up eating each other, but... this is just the first attempt. Let's do it like this. They might end up gnawing on the abundant leaves or something.
Add to this an increased probability of mutations, increase the frequency of occurrence... Genetic Variation? What's this... Hmm... Let's add it anyway!
Those that adapt well to the environment will survive, and those that don't will die.
By the way, that god is really cruel. Why did they put in plants but not animals? Sheesh.
Oh, wait. Should I create bacteria or viruses too? Or did the god already create those?
Hmm, I'm not sure. Well, if there's a problem, I can just rewind time and do it again.
And so, I was able to create the organism that would become the common ancestor of all living things.