I Became an Outer God
I became an Outer God. I became an Outer God. I was definitely hit by a car and died. The ordinary life of a college student in the 21st century should have ended right there.
"What the..."
My eyes snapped open suddenly, and I was floating in the vacuum of space. And in a body that had changed strangely. A humanoid form composed of black matter and shimmering colorful starlight. I had no idea why my body had transformed like this, but shouldn't it go back to normal? I tried to turn my head to look around, but I realized there was no need. Even standing still, everything around me flowed directly into my mind.
Whooooom!
Space was supposed to be silent, so why could I hear sounds? All around were tiny specks scattered everywhere. No, upon closer inspection, they looked like dust. Beautifully sparkling dust particles drifting slowly, and like a man entranced, I reached out toward the nearest one. My finger, made of starlight, sliced through space and touched the dust.
Plop.
The moment my finger made contact, I sensed something. What I'd touched wasn't dust. It was a cluster of celestial bodies—a galaxy containing countless stars. And because I hadn't controlled my strength properly, it exploded in an instant, scattering into the cosmos.
Just a light, careful touch had obliterated a galaxy. How enormous was my body? If all these surrounding specks of dust were galaxies... what kind of existence had I become?
A disbelieving laugh escaped me at this unbelievable reality. And from the shock, thousands of those specks—no, thousands of galaxies—shattered and dispersed.
But then, from one half-destroyed galaxy, I felt something strange. Something reaching out toward me, speaking. It felt like an ant, but I strained to listen.
[Please! Please, tha—!]
It was clearly a deep male voice... but it screamed and vanished. Had he died? Honestly, I had no idea. Now even laughing required caution.
The world excluding myself felt like it had turned entirely to soft tofu. A mere touch shattered everything. What was I supposed to do? Any rash movement would destroy it all. I still held the values of a normal person, and with guilt weighing on me, I couldn't move. Especially...
That man's voice from the shattered galaxy kept pricking at my heart. No matter that I hadn't known, I'd essentially tormented him. This body, brimming with cosmic power, told me he wasn't a mortal called human. Still, by my standards, everything seemed like fragile lifeforms.
Thus, a long time passed.
Floating aimlessly in space for quite some time revealed much. My strangely altered body told me everything. Knowledge drifting through the universe. The name for beings like me. And that there was no way to return to human form.
I was an immortal without death, a god from another dimension. An Outer God, as called in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Just dying and reviving had turned me into an absolute existence overnight. Who? For what purpose? No way to know.
The strange knowledge flowing naturally into me didn't fully grasp Outer Gods either. I simply had an innate right to rule.
As I cautiously avoided destroying anything, contacts came to me. Similar presences to the screaming man kept appearing, and turning my gaze that way brought a pitiable voice.
[Hup... O great one. Please, withdraw your power!]
A beautiful woman's voice, like jade beads rolling. She was no mortal with a fixed lifespan but an immortal—a goddess ruling a galaxy. No idea how I knew this, but accustomed to the knowledge flooding my mind, I didn't panic. I simply sent a faint will to converse.
[...No intent to harm? Th-thank you.]
The goddess, introducing herself as Naiserria, questioned my identity. She called me an exalted being beyond measure, apparently never having met other Outer Gods besides me.
Identity. Purpose. Her prattling annoyed me, so I sent my will. A torrent of secrets and trivia poured into her tiny galaxy like a vacuum.
[O-oh...! You are...]
Too small to see her form clearly, even as a galaxy, but from her voice's emotion, she was overwhelmed with ecstasy, expressing gratitude. She felt slightly larger now, not physically but in presence—like evolving from a worker ant to a soldier ant.
Some time passed. Then her will returned.
[To share the universe's most secret knowledge... This Star Mystic Mother Naiserria wishes to submit to you. Please accept me.]
Secret knowledge? Submission? Star Mystic Mother lingered in my mind more. Did that galaxy use Hanja universally? Or was this a novel or movie world with Hanja? My mind brimmed with alien terms detached from the 21st century. Searching cosmic linguistics was like browsing a library—I hadn't found it yet.
Emotions surged. Black matter filling space swirled in response, and I hastily suppressed them. Closing off my senses. Sealing my mind. Recalling the truth gleaned from witnessing a galaxy's creation and destruction.
All this was but a dream. Space quieted again. I sent my will to Naiserria.
[To be accepted by you... An indescribable honor.]
Then explain Hanja.
[These characters are used by a prosperous race in my domain. Some mortals with natural lifespans call me Star Mystic Mother... I hope this unworthy one hasn't offended you...]
I see. So that's how it was. Who'd have thought a Hanja-using culture existed in her galaxy. The universe is unpredictable. But no planet called Earth there. Nor the human species I remembered.
Then who created Hanja there? Who coined Outer God in my knowledge? I continued talking with her. About nearby galaxies. Other worlds. Diligently asking what even my knowledge couldn't grasp.
[On other dimensions different from here, I know a few things.]
Fitting for a top-tier galaxy goddess excluding Outer Gods like me, she knew much. Other universes—dimensions—definitely existed. They knew of this one too, and even planet-ruling gods in her galaxy were aware of them. Like parallel worlds?
New knowledge surfaced. Ways to other dimensions. Methods to explore them. If I scattered fragments of myself beyond...
I might find my previous life's Earth. Floating motionless here was boring, so half-impulsively, I followed the knowledge. Like flicking sweat from my hand. Fragments scattering to the other side. My inner energy overflowed space, engulfing the nether realm, soon sensing something.
But it was odd. I'd probed, yet they read my energy first and sent info back. Let's hear what they say.
I absorbed the info up to there and sank into an inexplicable emotion. Rules of this world. Conditions for influence projection. Summoning a small device to observe and bestow power. Words straight out of constellation stories I'd read in my past life. Even the Super Galactic Empire Federation. Felt like SF blended with constellations.
If I had to sum up my impression in one phrase...
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