Chapter 403: Searching for a Needle in the Sea?

After Bronya finished washing up, she came out for dinner.

As she ate, she recounted the events of her recent mission.

"All the recent missions we've taken seem to come from worlds where the plot isn't following its original path. I wonder if something's wrong. If everything had gone according to the script, the things we faced wouldn't have happened."

As she spoke, Bronya voiced the confusion in her heart.

Something felt off. The storyline-based missions weren't following the source material anymore.

Takumi nodded at her observation.

"I noticed it too. All three of your recent missions were like that. Chika's group was assigned to defeat Muzan, yours was a demon realm invasion, and Nyaruko's world had goblins overrunning everything. Something's definitely strange."

He rubbed his chin, deeply puzzled.

Why were these things happening?

No one really knew.

But judging from the mission content, these worlds weren't fixed or unchanging.

"Maybe something unusual is happening across the multiverse," he mused. "It's impossible to say for sure."

Bronya shook her head. These were things beyond their understanding.

"Maybe I should go beyond the world and take a look. I have time anyway, and nothing urgent to do. Might as well go for a stroll."

Takumi rubbed his chin again. With little else on his plate, it might be worth taking a look beyond the bounds of the known worlds.

Perhaps he could find other worlds adjacent to his own.

Bronya blinked in surprise.

"Won't it be dangerous?"

Heading outside the world?

She was immediately worried.

Wouldn't that be extremely risky?

"Of course there's danger, but nothing I can't handle. Worst case, I jump to another world and escape."

Takumi wasn't that concerned.

If he met something he couldn't beat, he'd just flee.

The chat group was incredibly high-level.

It had already made him this powerful, so its capabilities had to be immense—perhaps not even at their limit.

As long as he had points, he could keep strengthening himself.

Just thinking about it showed how terrifying the group truly was.

Hearing his confidence, Bronya no longer pressed the issue.

"Alright then. Just be careful."

Since he was determined, there wasn't much else she could say.

And Takumi was right—if he ran into trouble, he could escape to another world.

With the ability to cross worlds at will, the danger was relatively manageable.

Having accepted that, Bronya said no more.

After eating, she followed Takumi to rest for the night.

The next day, Bronya stayed home to relax.

Meanwhile, Takumi set out beyond the world.

This time, acting on a sudden impulse, he went alone.

No companions. Just himself.

First, he arrived at the dimensional rift.

Opening a portal, Takumi entered the empty space between dimensions.

He then headed toward the magic formations he had set up earlier.

With Ophis no longer here, the place felt deserted.

There used to be an adorable dragon floating around here. Now, nothing.

He wondered how she was doing since returning home.

After confirming no one else had visited, Takumi moved beyond the world itself.

Arriving outside, he surveyed the scene.

Numerous world spheres began orbiting Takumi's world.

Like satellites, these worlds now circled around his, following fixed trajectories.

Watching them, Takumi couldn't help but sigh.

The people in those worlds probably had no idea.

Their worlds had already drifted near his.

And they entered his world through portals.

After surveying the area, Takumi confirmed that all connected worlds had gathered.

As a result, his world had grown even larger due to the gravitational pull of the others.

It seemed to be expanding again.

Noticing this, Takumi mused quietly.

Who knew how massive it would get in the future?

He shook his head, brushing the thought aside.

Then he flew toward the void.

Leaving his world behind, he entered a vast emptiness.

It was like flying through outer space.

Only, no other worlds were in sight.

This kind of travel quickly became boring.

After thinking a moment, Takumi assessed the environment.

Then he made a decision.

He would build a small spacecraft and fly it himself.

Some crafts could indeed function in this void.

The hardest part was leaving your own world and escaping the transitional dimension.

Once that was done, flying here became easy.

With that thought, Takumi created a space-jumping aircraft.

Once it was complete, he climbed aboard.

"Prometheus, keep a constant scan. Notify me if you detect a world. Engage maximum speed."

The craft was powered by a perpetual engine.

"Understood," Prometheus replied.

With that, the craft initiated a spatial jump.

It surged forward into the void.

Meanwhile, Takumi opened a livestream in the chat group.

Seeing this, many group members grew curious.

What was Takumi up to now?

Why the livestream?

As soon as they entered, they saw him traveling steadily forward.

The chat buzzed with questions.

Fujiwara Chika: [Where are you going?!]

She didn't get it.

This shut-in Takumi had actually gone out?

Shiroyasha: [In the void? Are you trying to find other worlds?]

Seeing the stream, Shiroyasha immediately caught on.

Takumi had left his world.

"That's right. Just out for a little walk. Seeing if I can find a few new worlds."

He made no effort to hide it.

Upon hearing this, Shiroyasha was speechless.

That sounded extremely difficult.

It was like searching for a needle in the ocean.

Shiroyasha: [Searching in the void is like finding a needle in the sea. You could search for decades, even centuries, and still not find a single world. Some have tried.]

She couldn't help but caution him.

It was a truly difficult endeavor.