Chapter 18
Extreme stress.
Guilt toward oneself.
Feeling powerless in the face of one’s anger.
To forget emotional pain.
And so on.
These can cause self-harm.
In the end, it’s a struggle born of physical or mental inadequacy or pain.
So.
“Why are you doing this?”
What was wrong with Little Squirmy?
As time went on, it grew more and more lethargic, until one day it began hurting itself.
It had been going on for weeks.
It hurt itself once a day.
“Has its lifespan really run out?….”
Truthfully, I’d had an inkling.
I was the god of Yeoulrim, after all.
When I focused on an individual, I could faintly sense its general life, emotions, and condition. It was part of the omnipotent sense I had for observing Yeoulrim.
That was probably why I kept denying it.
I thought Little Squirmy wouldn’t die.
All it had to do was keep evolving.
I thought it could live on forever as it evolved and molted….
It had reached its limit.
KWAANG!!
Little Squirmy slammed itself against a rock, injuring itself and bleeding, as if it knew it couldn’t go on living like this.
If that was the case, then…
“I only have about a thousand points of World Power left, but you’re worth every bit of it.”
I wasn’t going to just stand by and watch.
Time to exercise my authority as a god.
With World Power, I could make most things I imagined a reality.
The same went for extending Little Squirmy’s lifespan.
I wouldn’t let it die.
[Restoring the individual's cells to their initial state.]
[Extending the lifespan of the individual's cells.]
[Healing the individual's wounds.]
[471pt of World Power has been consumed.]
A massive body.
A complex body structure.
That made extending its lifespan and healing its wounds consume a great deal of World Power, but Little Squirmy was worth the investment.
[Pipyu?….]
Had it noticed the change in its condition?
Little Squirmy seemed momentarily dazed, confused by how different its body suddenly felt.
Its lifespan must have been extended by several decades, at least.
Then, let’s hurry and evolve it while there’s still time—
KWAANG!!
“Huh?”
Why?
Little Squirmy had started hurting itself again.
It was smart enough to judge its own condition, so why was it doing this?
“Little Squirmy?….”
Why wouldn’t it stop hurting itself?
Why was it hitting its head against the rock again?
Just as I was falling apart in confusion…
“Pipyu!”
“Pipyuu!….”
The mini Little Squirmies stepped forward.
Were they feeling the same way I was?
As if telling Little Squirmy to stop, the mini Little Squirmies stood in its way.
They were the children Little Squirmy had worked so hard to raise.
They must have been worried about it, too.
Thankfully, it worked.
[Pipyu.]
Little Squirmy looked at its children, then seemed to understand, stopped hurting itself, and went away. Even Little Squirmy couldn’t win against its own children.
“Little Squirmy….”
But that didn’t solve the problem.
That day, Little Squirmy quietly left the group.
It left the group in the hands of its second-in-command, the one who had followed it most faithfully.
*
Little Squirmy was alone.
It had become a legendary figure among its species, but it left its group and traveled far away by itself.
The Little Squirmy species’ territory spanned about 300 kilometers, and it traveled even farther than that.
It left the territory it had created.
And it didn’t stop.
Fwoosh!
Toward the western sea.
Far to the west.
It swam on and on without resting.
The sea grew deeper, and Little Squirmy’s diving range grew deeper along with it.
The water grew colder.
Deep waters it had never explored.
From here on, there were many dangers.
I’d praised Little Squirmy as the ruler of the sea and all that, but that only applied to its own territory.
The sea was an enormous place.
There were many life forms it had yet to encounter.
And the deep sea was home to an entirely different kind of life.
I hadn’t explored all of it, but there were several powerful creatures like Little Squirmy.
It could be dangerous.
And on top of that…
KWAANG!!
There was the self-harm, too.
As it traveled west day after day, it found a rock and slammed into it once a day.
As if it were fated to do so.
I didn’t know why.
I was omnipotent, but not omniscient.
I could make a rough guess, but I couldn’t see into the details of what was going on inside it. All I could sense was that it wanted something.
I had no idea what that was.
With no other choice…
“Little Squirmy.”
“Pipyu?”
I appeared before Little Squirmy.
I couldn’t bear watching it hurt itself anymore, so I decided to step in myself.
“Pipyuuuu~”
It came over with a smile.
It rubbed its head against me as though nothing had happened just moments ago.
“Little Squirmy… are you all right?”
“Pipyu~”
It had been hurting itself like its life depended on it just moments ago, and now it was welcoming me as cheerfully as ever.
That was even more puzzling.
It must have been in pain.
So why were you smiling so happily?
“Little Squirmy, don’t do that. That’s bad.”
Even so, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.
I pointed at the rock it had been hitting, then made an X with both hands.
“Pipyu?”
When it didn’t seem to understand, I tapped my head against the rock like Little Squirmy, then repeatedly gave it a stern look and made an X or shook my head.
“Pipyu~”
Little Squirmy came over with a gentle sway, turned its back to the rock, and leaned against me.
Did it understand what I was saying?
For now, I’d trust it.
It was smart, after all.
If it didn’t work, I could stop it again.
“Heh. You’re so huge, you’re pushing me away.”
At any rate, it came over with a smile.
It seemed fine for the moment, which was a relief, so I stroked it and played with it.
It was so big that I felt like it was pushing me around, but that was fun in its own way. After that, we traveled west together.
It must have been lonely by itself.
I should at least be its companion.
*
After meeting me, Little Squirmy never slammed itself against a rock again.
But that wasn’t a solution, either.
After that, Little Squirmy stopped eating altogether.
Fwoosh~
It just kept heading west.
It traveled aimlessly west for days on end.
Whenever it came across a mana stone field, it would rest there for a while before moving on.
Farther.
Deeper.
“Was I… too obsessed with evolution? Shouldn’t I have paid more attention to what was around me first?”
By then, I’d begun to realize.
No matter how much I tried to stop it, I wouldn’t be able to keep Little Squirmy from hurting itself.
I didn’t know Little Squirmy very well.
I hadn’t watched every moment of its life.
There was only one thing I could do.
“Little Squirmy.”
“Pipyu~”
Stay by its side as its companion.
I traveled west with it, and it still greeted me happily whenever I appeared.
Maybe if I stayed with it, I’d figure it out.
What it wanted.
I didn’t have enough World Power to stay with it all day, but I could appear once a day.
Along the way, I used time acceleration many times.
I kept watching where it went.
And time gradually passed.
“Why are you always smiling?”
Was this really the right thing to do?
Once, I voiced my doubts in front of Little Squirmy.
Noticing my sadness, Little Squirmy would instead stroke me.
It wrapped its broad arms around me and patted me gently. For some reason, it comforted me.
That only made me feel more helpless.
For once, I was the one being comforted.
Who was supposed to be worrying about whom?
This wasn’t why I’d appeared.
Even so…
“You’re not sad, are you?”
At least, it didn’t seem to be suffering.
It seemed to have a purpose.
The fact that it was going hungry like that… maybe there was something I didn’t know.
“Then I’ll keep watching over you.”
I shouldn’t be sad.
Wouldn’t it just cast a gloom over things if I was sad beside someone who was happy?
I just didn’t understand.
Little Squirmy was genuinely absorbed in something.
Then the least I could do was cheer it on.
Even if it made my heart ache.
“Let’s go!”
“Pipyuuuu~”
Rather than being sad, I should try to understand.
I should approach it like a friend and stay by its side.
So I appeared once a day, accelerated time, and watched how things progressed.
A day, two days.
A week, a month.
Half a year.
Its journey continued.
I appeared every day and traveled with it.
Even while starving, it kept moving.
I could see its strength visibly waning, but it still refused to eat.
Sometimes, when I wasn’t there, I saw it suffering alone. At other times, it would groan in pain for days as it rested in a mana stone field.
Even so, whenever I appeared, it would smile as though nothing was wrong and pretend to be carefree.
Its gaunt body was all I could look at with pity.
At this rate, it would die within a few months.
I wanted to stop it right away, but…
“Even so, I believe in you.”
“Pipyu~”
I trusted it without a word.
No matter what it did, I stayed by its side.
Before long, we had reached the middle of the ocean, and it began to descend into the deep sea.
There were many beautiful pink mana stones here.
They were the only light illuminating the dark deep sea.
Maybe it liked them. Whenever it spotted a mana stone field, Little Squirmy would look around before moving on.
The journey wasn’t an easy one.
It fought several creatures along the way.
There were several powerful creatures like Little Squirmy, and each time, they fought bloody battles.
Its body was often torn, and it bled frequently.
Even so, it never avoided a fight.
At times, it even seemed to deliberately take hits, as though it wanted to be wounded.
Maybe it was because it was so smart.
In the end, Little Squirmy always won.
Each time, I appeared to congratulate it on its victory and heal its wounds if necessary.
“Will you ever be able to go back?”
I kept watching it.
Little by little, I began to come to terms with it.
I’d held onto the vague hope that Little Squirmy would return to its group after finishing its journey and achieving its goal, but now I understood.
It wouldn’t do that.
Every day, it acted as if there would be no tomorrow.
[Pipyuuuuu!!!]
KWAANG!!!
It descended into the deep sea, fought a powerful foe, and bled. Each time, vivid red seawater gushed out, drawing in other predators.
It kept doing that for two whole months.
It was astonishing.
I couldn’t even understand how it was still alive.
After traveling for over half a year, its body had become horribly twisted and damaged. Since it wasn’t eating, its metabolism had nearly stopped, too.
Half its body was practically dead.
And yet it was still alive and moving.
It must have been in terrible pain, but it chose to suffer for the sake of something.
So…
Should I keep trusting it?
Should I stop it right now?
Sometimes, you just know.
This was one of those times. If I didn’t stop it, Little Squirmy would die before long.
I had to decide before the end came.
I…
What should I do?