Chapter 406: Restart This World

Takumi now found himself inside this broken world—floating above the universe itself.

As far as the eye could see, the stars were devoid of light. Terrifying energies surged chaotically across space: neutron star eruptions, white dwarf explosions, and even countless black holes scattered everywhere. The universe was in constant destruction.

Takumi witnessed a colossal black hole devouring everything, shredding stars into cosmic dust.

He streamed all of it to the group.

Shiroyasha, who earlier questioned whether the world was truly dead, commented bluntly:

Shiroyasha: [ It's hopeless! ] [ What you picked up earlier is probably the only inheritance you'll get. ]

In a world overrun with black holes, what else could be saved? The entire universe radiated destructive energy. Even the homelands of former civilizations had likely been obliterated.

Herta: [ Tsk tsk! ] [ Learned something new today. ]

Lala: [ It's terrifying. Any lifeform would be destroyed in such a universe. ] [ Oh, except Takumi of course! ]

Himeko: [ Should we toss in an Aeon? The Aeon of Destruction might enjoy this view. ]

Fujiwara Chika: [ Humanity is fragile. A single solar storm could wipe us out. In a universe filled with such destructive energy, most beings wouldn't stand a chance. ] [ Maybe that's why the civilization here tried to flee—to escape to another world. ] [ But something unknown destroyed them. ]

Looking around, even the viewers couldn't help but sigh. It was truly terrifying.

"The universe is collapsing. Every star has gone dark.

All living beings have been utterly annihilated.

Let's scout around. If there's data to salvage, we'll collect it.

If not, I'll just restart the world.

Now that I think of it—I've never restarted a world before.

Might as well use this one as practice."

Staring at the ruined cosmos, Takumi felt a surge of excitement. A world reboot might restore it. Even if the former inhabitants couldn't be revived, he'd at least gain a blank world to experiment on.

He could observe it, even accelerate its timeflow, and see how fast development progressed.

The group went silent upon hearing Takumi's plan. Was this really okay?

But Herta's eyes lit up instantly.

Herta: [ A blank world?! That's amazing! ] [ Can I observe it?! ]

She could hardly wait to rush over. If Takumi rebooted the entire world and let it develop naturally under observation, the potential data was overwhelming.

"You want to observe the whole world?

You plan to come over here?"

Takumi was surprised by the idea. If she wanted to observe, Herta would have to come in person.

Herta: [ Of course! ] [ I'll even bring everyone from the Genius Society! ]

Naturally, they had to come. Having the entire Genius Society observe a universe's evolution? Too tempting to ignore. No researcher could resist such a massive experiment.

Takumi thought for a moment, then agreed.

"Sure.

I'll send the whole world back to my place.

You can do whatever you want with it."

The idea of using an entire world as a lab stunned Takumi. He suddenly realized: this was probably how the aliens in his own world were treated.

In that moment, Takumi understood. At a certain level, one really stops caring about what lies beneath them. You do as you please.

With a sigh, he stopped thinking about it and began his search.

The world was riddled with peril. Any weaker individual stepping into it would be instantly torn apart by its harsh environment. But for Takumi, that wasn't an issue.

He began his sweep, only to find that there were hardly any intact planets left. Everything had been devastated. Any habitable world had long turned to stardust.

Takumi entered Herrscher mode. His presence turned cold and detached.

Seeing his transformation, several fangirls in the chat couldn't help squealing.

Nyarlathotep: [ Damn, who's this hottie?! ] [ Lick~! ]

Fujiwara Chika: [ Hiss… No matter how many times I see it, Takumi in Herrscher form is insanely handsome! ] [ Normally he's chill, but when transformed? Wow! ]

Akeno: [ Ara~ Ara~! ]

Tokisaki Kurumi: [ Gorgeous! ]

Takumi glanced at the group chat, utterly speechless.

He said nothing, and got to work.

His power erupted. He scanned the entire world, absorbing anything of value into his Imaginary Space.

After a full sweep, it was clear—there was truly no life left.

With that confirmed, Takumi didn't hesitate to format the world.

He released his full Herrscher of the End power.

His form grew until he stood outside the world itself—like a scene straight out of Honkai 2 where the Herrscher grabs Earth.

Takumi's colossal projection enveloped the ruined world. His unleashed power caused spatial distortions, radiating from the world's center.

If there had been other nearby worlds, they might've sensed it.

But the distance between worlds was too vast. There were no strong beings nearby. Perhaps this region was particularly barren?

Grasping the world in his hand, Takumi activated the End's power.

In the next moment, the entire world began to transform.

The broken, pockmarked sphere vanished. In its place stood a restored, complete world.

A newly born world consciousness awakened—only to fall into a slumber moments later.

With the reboot, Takumi naturally became the ruler of this world.