A Meeting with the God

If there's something more precious than life itself for a human, it would be an event that could easily be called a soul hijacking.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

As Shirone's mind reset at the speed of light, the memories from before attempting the Immortal Function returned.

Shivering from the brief fear of death, he exhaled roughly and checked his body. Aside from the fact that he wasn't wearing clothes, there seemed to be no abnormalities.

"Where is this place?"

It was a space of pure white.

An endless, monochromatic landscape stretched out before him, and no matter how much he moved, he felt no sense of progression. Even when he walked slowly, it felt like he wasn't getting anywhere.

'This is so strange. It feels like all my senses are numbed.'

Suddenly, a unique thought crossed his mind.

Curious, he slowly bent his knees and stepped as though climbing stairs. To his surprise, it felt as if his body was rising.

"Huh?"

Shirone was climbing an endless staircase.

Stopping for a moment to look around, he was at a loss for words.

"..."

He didn't feel like he had climbed very high. No matter where he went, the same white landscape stretched on.

"There's no distance."

If something can't be measured, then space can't exist.

Shirone decided to test his hypothesis by descending.

As expected, no matter where he moved, it felt like he hadn't moved at all.

When he couldn't find any meaning in his actions, he heard a woman's voice.

"Impressive. To perceive the meaning of space like that... You truly deserve to be here."

Shirone didn't turn around. There was no concept of direction in this place anyway.

"Who are you? Am I dead?"

A beautiful woman stepped out of the white landscape.

As soon as a sense of distance was created, the surroundings changed. A massive temple that Shirone had never seen before loomed over him.

"Wow…"

The scale was unimaginable.

Hundreds of pillars held up the ceiling, each one towering an estimated 2 kilometers high.

"What is this place…?"

"Greetings, Shirone. I've been waiting for you."

The woman with ocean-colored hair, flowing down to her ankles, was the most beautiful being Shirone had ever seen in his life.

It wasn't just her appearance—it was her worth as a being.

Much like how a man in love finds his lover the most beautiful in the world, her worth in this place was absolute.

"Ah!"

Shirone realized, belatedly, that he was naked. He quickly covered himself, but the woman smiled slyly.

"Heh, don't be embarrassed. This isn't your world. Your body still resides in your original world."

With a wave of her hand, clothes were instantly put on him.

As Shirone stood there, dazed, he had no choice but to give in. One question continued to echo in his mind.

"Is this the afterlife?"

"No. It's not the afterlife. It's simply a different spot from the one you lived in."

A spot—a one-dimensional space without space. Shirone recalled the white landscape he had just been in.

"Could it be…?"

"Yes. That is a spot. It's not that there's no space, but rather it's compressed infinitely."

No wonder he couldn't feel any distance.

However, even if he were trapped in a one-dimensional space, wouldn't his body still be three-dimensional? If he could measure the distance between his left and right arms, then space should still exist.

"Are you saying that three-dimensional space exists within a one-dimensional one?"

"Exactly. You have good insight. That's the essence of time and space. No matter how vast the world is, when viewed from afar, it's just a speck. Conversely, no matter how small a speck is, when you go inside, an infinite world unfolds."

Finally, Shirone was able to calm himself.

If logical conversation was possible in this world, there was no need to fear, even if it was the afterlife.

"Then who are you?"

The woman smiled innocently.

It was an eerie smile, but it was still beautiful. She was, after all, the most valuable being in this place.

"I am a god."

The magic school was in utter chaos.

It took a full 8 hours to collect Arcane's body and send the students back to their dorms.

The students were still lying in their rooms, their memories blocked.

Once the faculty regained their memories, the work would gain momentum, but just thinking about the unrest that would occur once all the students regained their senses already gave everyone a headache.

To make matters worse, the suspects—Canis and Arin—had disappeared, and now, the only people left to care for Shirone in the infirmary were Neid, Iruki, and Amy.

Actually, the term "care" didn't quite fit.

Shirone wasn't breathing, and his heart had stopped.

But no one dared speak of death.

Meeting the God (2)

"Shirone…"

Amy, her eyes swollen from crying, held Shirone's hand.

The teachers were still out of their minds, so no one had come.

Or perhaps, they had already accepted that Shirone was dead.

Amy shook her head, denying the thought.

She couldn't believe Shirone was dead. There was a sense of unresolved doubt, something didn't add up.

Neid tried to offer comforting words.

"Don't worry, Amy. Shirone will come back."

"That's right. Logically, it doesn't make sense. If he was supposed to die from using Mass Teleport, the spell wouldn't have activated in the first place. Something strange must have happened to Shirone."

Iruki frowned, clearly displeased.

He had been keeping watch all night, but was there anything more foolish than mistaking a dead person for alive?

"Well, if we're talking about it that way, Arcane should have been alive too. You can die from casting magic alone."

"Arcane's situation is different! Shirone fully opened the Immortal Function. That's an entirely separate issue from brain function decline!"

"Either way, it's still an overload. A human can die from any variable. What matters is whether you're dead or alive, and questioning how you died isn't rational."

Even if it was true, Neid wasn't about to say it in front of his girlfriend, so he grimaced.

Before he could snap back, Amy spoke up first.

"You're just as annoying as ever, aren't you?"

Iruki rested his chin on the table, silently staring at Amy's red pupils.

'The Carmis family. Of course, if she has red eyes, she'd be immune to mental magic.'

It was a well-known trait even on the continent.

Only an anti-magic force close to mental matter could affect the mind of a Carmis, so it wasn't surprising she managed to escape from Abyss Nova.

But that was as far as his thoughts went, and Iruki, showing no further interest, turned his attention elsewhere and spoke.

"It's a bad habit to blame others just because you're in a bad mood."

"YOU are the one who's ruining the atmosphere! What's your deal? Are you really Shirone's friend? How can you think he's dead?"

"I never said I thought he was dead. I said he is dead."

"That's even worse! And what's with the casual speech from someone at Class Five?"

"If it bothers you, report me to the student council. I don't care about any disciplinary actions."

Amy, unable to hold back, grabbed Iruki by the collar and lifted him up.

Iruki's legs barely touched the ground due to the Skima's power.

"Say it again. This time, you better say it properly."

"Oh, how scary."

Iruki showed no emotion, merely looking down at Amy with empty eyes.

But Amy, too, was the type who would stop at nothing when enraged.

"Repeat what I say. Shirone isn't dead. If not, I'll make sure you lie beside him."

"No matter what I say, Shirone is dead."

"Shirone isn't dead! Say it quickly!"

"Shirone is dead."

Amy's red eyes flickered rapidly.

With her mind set on the accuracy of the force, she aimed for Iruki's third and fourth teeth, throwing a punch.

Iruki showed no change in expression.

The fact that the acceleration was slowing down meant that the punch would stop right in front of his lips.

As expected, Amy halted her action just before the strike.

Noticing her trembling fist, Iruki spoke indifferently.

"Ah, that's a relief."

"Don't make me laugh! You annoying servant! You don't even understand the meaning of me stopping my punch, do you?"

Amy couldn't strike him. No matter how much she hated him, he was still Shirone's friend.

"The meaning of stopping the punch? Maybe it's because you wasted energy unnecessarily?"

Iruki's provocations caused sparks to fly in Amy's eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. But are you seriously saying that Shirone is dead? Do you know that someone like you doesn't even deserve to have friends?"

"Maybe. But do you think you're qualified?"

"What are you talking about? This is ridiculous!"

Amy grabbed his collar again and raised her fist, but Iruki finally grimaced and shoved her hand away.

"Ugh, screw you!"

Amy glared at him as he walked to the bed and pointed at Shirone.

"You're the pathetic ones. Does this really look like someone alive? He's not breathing and his heart has stopped. And you're still talking nonsense about him being alive or something weird happening to him? What kind of friends are you?"

"Then what should we do? What do you expect us to do while Shirone's in this state?"

"Think, damn it!"

Iruki yelled.

"Do you think if you believe he's alive, the dead will suddenly come back to life? If you're going to spout nonsense, at least think of a way to bring him back to life! No matter how delusional it is, it'll be more constructive than what you're doing!"

"Ugh!"

Amy, who had been about to rebut with emotion, realized she had no words left and lowered her head.

Iruki's words were true. Shirone was, at least mathematically, dead.

Neid spoke with a sad expression.

"I get what you mean. But Iruki, how can you bring him back? There's no way to bring someone dead back to life…"

"Hmph, that's your limit."

Iruki turned coldly and slammed the door as he left.

The infirmary fell into silence.

Amy sat down and covered her face, while Neid comforted her.

"Don't hate him too much. Iruki's just frustrated."

"Forget it. I don't care about someone like him. 'Think of a way to bring the dead back to life?' Doesn't he realize that's just more hurt?"

Neid couldn't respond to those words.

It was typical of Iruki, but even today, he felt some bitterness toward such a friend.

As Iruki walked down the hallway, he suddenly stopped, grimacing.

Two people he didn't want to see were waiting for him.

Unlike Canis, who was casually leaning against the wall, Arin was staring anxiously at the floor.

"..."

They were the ones who had instigated this whole mess, and while they needed strict supervision, the current situation didn't allow for any extra attention on them.

Iruki, however, was just as uninterested.

If they were planning to run, they should've done it already; besides, there was no way they could escape the eyes of the Magic Association.

"Did you come to rub it in? Or are you here to apologize?"

Canis pushed himself off the wall.

"Both. I came to rub it in and to apologize. Dying in battle is one thing, but it's unsettling knowing that Shirone sacrificed himself for something meaningless. But I guess I picked the wrong time."

Iruki, irritated after hearing the commotion outside, scratched his head and spoke.

"You thought it through well. You're better off not going in there now. The girl in the infirmary will start by breaking your legs. Anyway, good luck. I'm out of here."

As Iruki started to walk past, Canis followed him with his gaze and spoke again.

"That doesn't matter. What I meant by 'wrong timing' is that it means the opportunity