Chapter 2

I feel myself fading away. It’s a sensation of my soul being pulled out.

Even without using the VR machine, I have the usual feeling.

I slowly open my eyes.

A room so white it’s almost nauseating. This is the sixth time I’ve seen it. The starting place in Irlande.

I was inside a massive, transparent cylindrical container. The container was filled with a solution that felt warm and sticky against my skin.

"Nice to meet you, wanderer of the soul. I am the god!"

A familiar face, the first character I meet in the game, a gender-neutral girl with pink hair.

"Can you understand me? Just in case, I’ve given you the common knowledge and language of this world. Come on, let me hear your voice, the first cry of your new life in this world."

The self-proclaimed god said this with a look of genuine joy.

I open my mouth. The solution flows in, but strangely, I can still breathe.

"Hello, world"

I always start with that. I also expect the usual response.

The god always replies with a blessing for my new life.

"That’s always what you say. Sometimes, it would be nice to try something different."

However, contrary to my expectations, the god said something completely different from the game.

"Hehe, surprised? Until now, it was a game. But from now on, it’s different. Wake up. See the reality. Your new life that you’ve chosen."

The cylinder shattered, and I was thrown out with the solution.

◇

"Um, should I call you Soji? Or would you prefer Kaland, the name you often use in the game?"

Soji is my real name. Kaland is my game character name.

"Call me Soji. I want to stop distinguishing between reality and this world."

"Okay, got it."

The god says, "memo, memo," while writing my name on a parchment with a quill pen.

"Alright, what do you want to know first?"

"First, I want to confirm if this is really not a game."

"Yeah, it’s real. Not a game. In your terms, it’s another world, I guess."

"I see."

"You accept it so quickly."

"Well, if I can be brought here without a VR machine, I have no choice but to believe it. Besides, I want to believe it."

Besides, as long as I can come to Irlande in some form, it’s fine.

"Hmm, I see. Anything else? I only have four minutes and thirty seconds left, but I’ll answer most questions within that time."

"What’s with the time limit?"

"Gods have limits on interfering with humans and it takes power. I used a lot of power to bring you here. I have four minutes and ten seconds left. After that, I’ll use up all my power and go into hibernation."

The god smiles brightly as if it’s no big deal.

If time is short, I need to narrow down my questions.

"First, you said this is reality. Then, what was Irlande until now?"

"That was a game. However, it’s a simulation of this world created by my power. You’ve been experiencing the future of this world through the game. I’m the goddess of fate and the future, so I’m quite good at that kind of thing."

That made a strange kind of sense.

Irlande was clearly overpowered.

"Why did you create such a game?"

"Because a hero was needed to save this world."

"I don’t understand."

"Alright, calm down. Let me explain step by step."

The god looks at me with a warm, understanding gaze.

"Gods have rules that limit our interference with the world. We can’t create a hero directly. So, first, I created a body with the potential to become a hero. That’s the empty homunculus. Creating a soul would violate the rules, so I started with just the body. I used all my power to create the best homunculus, and I had to hibernate for six years. It feels nostalgic."

The god lovingly pats the homunculus, which is me.

"That’s strange. I know from the game that this homunculus isn’t strong at all. Without growth, it would lose to any thug."

"Yeah, that’s right. I can’t create something that surpasses humans. The best I can do is a body that’s strong by human standards. But that’s meaningless. So, I decided to give it the ultimate potential, even if it means sacrificing current strength. That way, the potential to become a hero increases."

"Indeed, the homunculus was full of talent."

"Right? But then, the next problem arose. If it doesn’t grow properly, the homunculus’s potential is wasted. Talent is just talent. I had to figure out what kind of soul to put in the homunculus."

I understand. Even in the game, when Irlande had over 200,000 players, many failed to succeed with the homunculus.

"I see, that’s why it was a game."

A hypothesis forms in my mind.

"Probably, as you thought. I believed that by actually using it, the best soul would be found. In your world, just calling it a game would make hundreds of thousands of people accept my selection test without any hesitation. I disguised it as a game and had you simulate this world. Among all of you, you were the one who used the homunculus I created the best. That’s why I called you."

What an ambitious story.

Creating a homunculus with the best potential, selecting a matching soul through a game, and then bringing the chosen soul into this world.

"There were some interesting side effects, too. The magic you created. It will take this world 300 years to reach the same level. It will surely be helpful to you. When I disguised it as a game, I consulted with the great mages of this world and created a system for information exchange and magic development. It turned out to be a great decision."

"But I can no longer access the database for the magic."

Normally, I would open the menu and access the database to download the data, but I can’t do that now.

The virtual development environment for creating magic appears in my mind, but I can’t retrieve the data.

If this continues, I won’t be able to use the countless magics created by the players.

"Don’t worry about that. All the magic registered in the database and the data exchanged are already in your head."

The god taps my head.

"Remember, you already know it."

"Oh, oh yeah."

A flood of information rushes into my mind.

All the magics developed by the players in the game, the accumulated strategy information, and the information brought from reality and registered in the game all race through my mind.

"Your body will automatically organize and index the information after a while."

The god sips tea nonchalantly, ignoring my information overload.

I force myself to process the information. There’s still something I need to ask.

"Is my experience in the game correct?"

"It can be considered correct, but it can also be considered incorrect. It’s the result of my calculations based on all the information in this world. Of course, there can be discrepancies."

"Finally, why is a hero needed? What should I do?"

"A hero is needed because destruction is coming. I can’t tell you the details. It’s the interference limit for gods. Even the game I had you experience has the element of destruction removed. I can’t tell you what you should do. The only thing I can say is that I want you to become the strongest. That’s all."

The god stands up after saying this.

"It’s time. I’m going to sleep. I wish you happiness in this world. In many ways, you are my child. Also, the money is in the usual place. Good night."

The god kisses my cheek and smiles... then disappears.

"You just said whatever you wanted and disappeared."

I touch my cheek. The sensation of the kiss still lingers.

I feel motivated.

With the best talent and the wisdom of hundreds of thousands of people from the real world, I’m sure I can overcome whatever destruction comes.