Chapter 65

I see, then there's only one thing I can do.

Just as I was about to pounce on the boy in front of me, I was restrained from behind.

Too fast. Did he anticipate my move? And the force with which he held me down was stronger than I expected.

"Patrick, let go! You can't kill him!"

"I'm going to die! Run, quickly! I can't hold him anymore!"

"U, uh-huh."

Hearing Patrick's warning, Rem finally started to move. For some reason, he approached us... Ah, I see, he's trying to escape into the shadow. But the shadow is not only his escape route but also the source of my attack.

"Shadow Lance"

From the shadow I was about to jump into, countless black spears appeared. All the spears rushed at Rem. There was no room to dodge.

The moment I was certain of victory, an unexpected event occurred.

As the tips of the spears touched Rem, the Shadow Lance disappeared. The dark magic that had dispersed seemed to be absorbed by him.

"...Why?"

"Hehe. As the god of darkness, I can't be hurt by dark magic, can I? Ah, you rushed and lost out."

Rem wore a confident smile.

Dark magic doesn't work? My most powerful attack, the Black Hole, might also be ineffective. But I won't give up yet. If magic doesn't work...

The force with which Patrick was holding me down increased. Hmm, did he notice? But Rem is completely off guard. This is the perfect opportunity.

"Run! Don't think Yumera will stop just because you nullified the magic!"

"Big brother?"

"Let go, Patrick! If magic doesn't work, I'll hit him physically!"

"Th, that's a lot of strength."

"Uuuuuu! Let goooooo!"

The effectiveness of physical attacks on Rem had already been proven before Patrick arrived. Even gods can be knocked down if you hit them.

I kicked at him as he tried to escape into my shadow, even though I was restrained from behind.

With no place to run, Rem said, his expression tense. I won't listen to any pleas for mercy.

"Hey, hey, miss. How about a hug from your beloved big brother?"

"What are you saying all of a sudden... Run quickly!"

Hearing Rem's strained words, Patrick shouted for him to run.

His anxious voice rang in my ear. Ah, his gentle voice is nice, but this kind of voice is good too. He's worried about Rem, so even though he sounds angry, it's actually a gentle voice.

Moreover, it's loud in my ear. It's like a surround sound, the best.

Thinking about it, I'm being held from behind. Our bodies are closer than ever before.

In front of a child... Patrick is so bold. Being hugged so tightly... it doesn't hurt, but I'll pretend it does. It hurts.

"...Patrick, it hurts if you hug me so tightly."

"Huh?"

"It's still morning, but... if you really want to..."

"Hmm?"

"But Rem is watching... It's embarrassing, so it's better to do this when we're alone."

As I relaxed and leaned into Patrick, he slowly let go of me. Huh? We could have stayed like that.

Turning around, I saw Patrick sigh deeply, looking very tired. Rem also sighed at the same time, the sounds overlapping. No background noise.

"Phew, I really thought I was going to die."

"Sorry. But I didn't think Yumera would stop just because of that."

"Hehe, you like to use your 'liking cannon'—"

"Ah! That's it! Is it true that defeating Rem will level you up?"

To prevent the topic from being revealed in my dream, I shouted to drown out Rem's words. If I bring up the topic of level cap removal, the conversation will shift.

In the midst of his readiness for me to start fighting again, Rem said with a bright smile.

"It's a lie."

"...Eh?"

"Even if you defeat me, the level cap won't be removed. If people are the residents of the branch, I'm the manager of the branch. There's one of us for each parallel world, and we're not much different from humans."

"Does that mean Rem's level cap is also 99?"

"That's right. I'm just a weak boy in a single world."

What? I lost by fighting. I just wasted energy, Patrick.

The one who suffered the most, he said with a voice tinged with hardship.

"Talking about levels and strength, jokes don't work with Yumera. I hope you'll refrain from it in the future."

"Okay, sorry, big brother. I didn't expect her rationality to fly off like this."

The two of them looked at me together. I thought the same thing earlier, but do they see me as someone who only thinks about leveling up? No, that's not true.

But more importantly, it's about the level cap removal now.

"Then, to remove the level cap, I need to defeat a higher-ranking god, right?"

"...You're still not giving up. Well, that's true... There are indeed higher-ranking gods who have influence over all parallel worlds. They might be the managers of the tree. But they rarely show themselves."

"Them? They're like your superiors, right?"

"...I might not be a model god, but I don't want to be lumped in with them. You shouldn't believe anything they say to you, either."

"Don't worry. I only take half of what you say seriously."

"...It's better to be cautious. But don't say it in front of them, it will hurt their feelings."

Is level cap removal unrealistic? The possibility of meeting a higher-ranking god seems extremely low.

But wait, Rem said there are "several" ways.

"What are the other methods besides defeating a higher existence?"

"Really, you're so persistent."

"What are they?"

"Alright, I'll tell you."

We've had similar conversations many times. It's his fault for being so dramatic.

He prefaced his explanation with "the second method."

"In short, you need to transcend being a single existence in a single world. You need to become more than one person in a world."

"...Do you mean I need to defeat my parallel self?"

"That's right. You don't need to defeat all of your parallel selves. Defeating one and becoming an existence spanning two worlds will remove the level cap."

A battle royale of my parallel selves. The last one standing will be the strongest me. It sounds like a curse.

It's unrealistic. Even for the sake of leveling up, I can't kill myself.

"That seems impossible. I can't kill people for the sake of leveling up."

"...Eh? You were serious about attacking me just now?"

"Rem is not a human but a god."

What's so obvious? Humans and gods are different.

For some reason, Rem looked genuinely confused and turned to Patrick for help.

"No, I don't understand either. I thought I understood Yumera's ethics..."

"Big brother, are you really going to marry someone like this? You should reconsider."

"That's... I've decided to take care of her for life. There's no choice. I've given up and made my peace with it."

Oh, he really heard that. He's decided to be with me for life. Patrick's love is heavy. Now, I'm in a bind.

It's my fault for making his love grow to a point where he can't handle it. I should take responsibility. Sigh, I'm really in a bind.

...Not good. My mind was about to drift away. I'll think about this problem later. First, I need to get more information from Rem.

"Just in case, just in case, I'll ask. How can I go to a parallel world?"

"Ah, you're still not giving up..."

Both Rem and Patrick looked exasperated. Even though I said "just in case"...

If I can open a door to a parallel world, I might as well go. Then I'll meet my parallel self... I'll think about what to do from there. After discussing with the other me, I'll make a choice without regrets.

But, is that parallel self really "me"?

Is it a me with memories of my past life, or a me who is still Yumera from the game? It makes a big difference.

Such assumptions are meaningless unless I go to a parallel world. From the way things have been going, it seems unlikely that Rem can open a dimensional door.

"Traveling to a parallel world, I can't do it."

"Ah... I knew that."

"I can communicate to some extent with my other selves in parallel worlds, but physically traveling between worlds is impossible."

As expected. Ah, it's no use.

I can't meet a higher existence. I can't meet my parallel self. It feels like a bright future has been closed off.

"Are there any other ways to remove the level cap besides those two?"

"You're too stubborn."

"Are there?"

"Maybe, but I don't know."

The god gave me false hope and then plunged me into despair.

In the activity report, I introduce additional episodes from Volume 2 of the book.

The cover illustrations are also revealed!