Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Countdown to Destruction
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I blinked.
The drawing of the blindfolded girl shook her head and chuckled.
[Does the Dimension Destroyer destroy dimensions?]
My hyper-realistic drawing had been replaced by a chibi-style deformed version of the blindfolded girl, who hopped around the notebook with every blink.
[It's a place beyond the Singularity, the final land of time and space where there's nothing at all. Everything's the same and uniform, so there's nothing to see or do. As the owner of such a land, the empty-headed fool lives without a thought in the world, but every now and then feels bored and comes down to a random dimensional universe.]
[Just a simple stroll. A walk to relieve boredom. Circling the universe once or crossing it and coming back—a short walk.]
[And that destroys dimensions?]
[Yeah, the biggest idiot in the real world, just brute strength and nothing else. Brother to the Blue Moon, maybe? So ridiculously strong the dimension can't hold up.]
An absurd existence.
And at the same time, an unreasonable one.
[No respect for other lifeforms. Destroying dimensions and wiping out all life just to kill time.]
[You're not all that different.]
[You mean environmental pollution?]
[Nah? You walk around? Breathe? Bathe? Drink water?]
[Care to explain?]
[Don't wanna. You'd be shocked if you knew.]
Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Back to the main topic.
[From its perspective, strolling through the universe and destroying dimensions isn't all that different from you walking, breathing, or drinking water.]
[Is there a way to resolve this?]
[Impossible from a human standpoint.]
[If you stepped in?]
[You want my help? "Help me!" Try it lol]
[Help me.]
The blindfolded girl clutched her belly and laughed.
[You're really doing it.]
[Better than total annihilation, whatever the price. Probably.]
[But sorry, can't help.]
[Can't beat the Dimension Destroyer?]
[Its presence pushed my avatar out of there. A small avatar like this might slip by, but shoving in one strong enough to fight it would cause problems.]
[What kind?]
[Forcing it in could destroy the dimension.]
In the end, I couldn't get help from the blindfolded girl.
[Does your journey end here?]
[No.]
I left a final reply and closed the notebook.
[I plan to resist to the end.]
That's what it means to be human.
6 days until destruction.
"Hey, hey! Smash it quick!"
"Take it! Hurry!"
The streets were chaos.
Like a warzone, no shop windows intact, people looting wildly with not a shred of guilt on their faces.
"Stop right there! Move and we shoot!"
"Shoot me! World's ending anyway! Do it!"
They even laughed like they were enjoying it.
'No news broadcasts either.'
The world had changed this much in just a day since the reveal.
Looking up at the sky, it felt like it would've ended up this way even without the reveal.
'It's the same size as the sun now.'
The accretion disk brighter than the sun.
The massive black hole jet splitting the sky.
And the event horizon like the black pupil of a destruction god overlooking the world.
'Too massive to feel real.'
Hard to tell if this was reality or hell approaching.
'Out of cigarettes.'
I entered a convenience store for smokes, but it was a wreck too.
No clerk, so I grabbed smokes from the trashed corner shelf, scanned the barcode, and paid.
"I want to resist to the end."
Cigarette in mouth, I looked up at the sky.
No matter how I thought, no way to resist that thing came to mind without help from special entities.
"Is there no way to deal with that?"
5 days until destruction.
Downtown still a mess, rampant looting, crime on the rise.
[How to Survive a Black Hole.txt][37]
[Leave Your Last Words Before the End][769]
[dying without ever having sex lol][93]
Unlike this reality, the internet was peaceful.
[Title: Leave Your Last Words Before the End]
[Author: GameDevFloorWiper]
Aris-chan, you made my life fun.
====
[Comments]
[UmaPunch: Sex is real (confessed to my girl friend and it worked lmao)]
└[Author: You Bitch]
[SuperconductorThumbsUp: Enjoy life. No matter how much you study and strive, meaningless death can come anytime.]
[Mentitos: Destruction ain't confirmed yet, let's not go there.]
Like yesterday, the community stayed upbeat.
Maybe using humor to forget reality and bury the fear.
'The office is empty.'
Next, I checked the company, but no one had shown up.
'Even big money and great benefits mean nothing before destruction.'
Wandering the office, I headed to the racing circuit and spotted Lee So-young stepping off after a drive.
"Huh? Boss?"
"Practice driving?"
"Ah, yes!"
"Even with the world ending?"
Peeling off her helmet and wiping sweat from her brow, I saw fear in her eyes.
"Well, nothing else to do. Driving at least lets me focus here and blocks out other thoughts. And it's not guaranteed to end."
"A model racer."
"Haha, thanks."
Short chat done, I charged Sarang-i and logged into the Center of the World.
"Logins are exploding."
She was thrilled by the crowds but complained about being busy.
"Logins are one thing, but everyone's got trauma and I'm short-handed treating it."
"Because the world's ending."
"Ugh, just when I could finally show people some fun."
The Center of the World showed no fear.
"Not scared of destruction?"
"Have to see it as fate. Long time no see—wanna game before you go?"
"Want to, but I'll come back once this is solved."
"Hope you do. And..."
She spread her arms.
"It might be the last time, so hug me please."
I hugged her.
Her heartbeat felt real, alive, and I felt the tremble in her arms around me.
"Please, let's meet again."
4 days until destruction.
Andromeda's starlight had grown larger than the sun.
Even nights were bright as day now, world's end confirmed.
"Fuck! Kill 'em!"
"Heehee! A woman!"
With the black hole bigger, people's morals shattered further.
Crimes no longer just theft and vandalism—robbery, pillaging, violence, sex crimes shifted from survival to pleasure-seeking.
"Our Father in heaven, look upon us lost lambs and..."
Many turned to religion.
No, a ton.
"Amen!"
Tens of thousands filled the roads, so even criminals avoided the spot.
"This is God's wrath punishing fallen humanity!"
"Aah! Forgive us, Lord!"
"Repent, all of you! Only then can you enter heaven!"
The pastor's cries brought wails from the crowd.
"Those who didn't tithe on time! To hell!"
"Those who defy the pastor spreading God's word! To hell!"
"Buddhists! To hell!"
Slippery words for a man of God.
Wanted to step up and debate, but if those words gave people something to cling to, so be it.
"If snake words keep people going now, that's help enough."
I roamed, trying to contact other entities.
Still no responses.
"Eating a ton of dried friendship won't destroy or repel the black hole, right?"
『Can dialogue resolve it?』
"Dunno, Earth'll roast in the accretion disk first probably."
Looking at the sky, I called out.
"Can you hear me? If so, let's talk."
No reply.
Accretion disk still blinding, jet splitting the sky.
3 days until destruction.
Outside unchanged from yesterday.
Criminals everywhere—now more survivors of a dying world than criminals.
Strolling the city, I met a street cleaner.
"Have a drink."
"Whoa, thanks!"
Shared a beverage with the 50-something cleaner.
"Why work when the world's ending?"
"Not ending right this second."
"Not scared?"
"Scared, sure."
But he seemed unfazed.
"Fear won't change a thing. So just do the usual."
"Family?"
"See 'em after work."
To him, dying world or normal one seemed no different.
"I'll get back to it then."
"Yeah, take care."
Looked around the city more.
"You bastards!"
"Are you animals?!"
Found vigilantes formed against criminals.
"Who cares, we're dying soon!"
"Die tomorrow even, die human, not beast! You trash!"
Watched the fights, then went home.
That evening, YouTube videos popped up.
[Current US Situation]
[Current China Situation]
[Current Russia Situation]
Mushroom clouds over the US, China, Russia.
"Who started it?"
Regrettable, but world'll end before we find out.
2 days until destruction.
"Childu-sa, dinner time."
Fed Childu-sa, read a book to pass time.
Opened office in case of clients, checked entity usability, waited.
'In isekai transfers, the text vanishes and contracts disappear too, unusable.'
Waited ages, then clocked out.
『Quack!』
Bathed with the rubber ducky, turned on the TV.
Wall-mounted TV wouldn't work without signal.
"Gotta try that."
Conclusion after a day of pondering.
Pulled Original Friendship and last month's special reinforcement potion from the Void Pocket.
『Friendship can't be reinforced or weakened, right?』
"Regular potions, yeah. But never tested special ones."
『Then maybe...』
"No help from other entities, so no other way."
Sprinkled special reinforcement potion on Original Friendship.
Thought it immune, but the special potion worked, turning it into a deep golden apple.
"Special Reinforced Friendship. It really worked."
Touching it flooded me with knowledge.
Friendship born from Homin-i.
Homin-i, a flawed homunculus linked somewhat to all phenomena.
Part of that power transmitted through light, revealing the golden apple's ability.
Eat to wield constellation-level power for one hour.
As much as a Munchkin Mary Sue constellation.
Full true body power, no incarnation needed.
Penalty: Die after 10 minutes.
Not a bad tradeoff.
"Homin-i's gift for the final resistance."
If I'm dying anyway.
Better to try something first.