After returning, Sairuis flopped backward onto his bed, rolling around twice in boredom.
"So boring." He stared up at the ceiling.
[Don't worry, it won't be boring for long.]
"What's going on?" Sairuis rolled over again.
[Not telling you.]
"Then don't even start. Talking halfway is such a tease."
[Hehe, can't select me.]
It was daytime, so Sairuis couldn't see the moon. But on the other side of Earth, one could witness a strange sight:
A night that wasn't supposed to be a full moon suddenly turned into one. Crimson moonlight surged like tides, and under its glow, everyone became noticeably more emotionally unstable. Extraordinary beings of the Apothecary and Farmer pathways especially suffered wild fluctuations in their spirituality.
Then, the moon turned a shade of fiery orange-red. Bathed in that light, people suddenly felt relaxed, joyful—even smiling uncontrollably.
Sairuis also felt his mood lighten, overjoyed beyond reason.
Meanwhile, on Earth's other side, the night began to boil. Black clouds rolled across the sky, blotting out the moon completely.
Yet still, Sairuis could hear laughter echoing from the depths of his own heart.
He couldn't help but curl his lips upward.
Some time earlier.
In a nameless place.
There was no light here, only chaos. There was no up, down, left, or right. Something lost within might drift forward one second and whirl about in erratic, meaningless motion the next.
Space itself was sticky, layers overlapping, interwoven, twisting, flowing, merging, splitting. Anything unlucky enough to fall in would be torn to shreds by this disorder.
Time was equally warped. It no longer flowed straight forward. Anything caught here would simultaneously rush toward past, present, and future. Time held no meaning. If one were lucky, perhaps they'd even glimpse the river of time doing a tap dance.
This was exile beyond the world, and yet also the crossroads between worlds.
And at this moment, a red mass rolled through with an uncanny gait.
It was a jumble of masks, cards, and trinkets—all warped beyond recognition. They twisted, shattered, decomposed, then constantly reformed.
Though endlessly broken, they stuck together, forming a sphere. An invisible energy radiated outward, shaping a spherical protective shell.
Inside sat a headless being.
Like a hamster pushing a ball, It scrabbled with all four limbs, rolling forward frantically.
Of course, "forward" was inaccurate—no such direction existed here. It simply shortened the distance between Itself and a chosen coordinate.
Through the ever-changing space, It kept adjusting Its trajectory, drawing closer to Its target.
And everywhere It passed came peals of eerie giggling: "Hehehe~."
Occasionally, streaks of light zipped by—glimpses of passing worlds.
Yet It never wavered. Its purpose was clear. It was so moved by Its own steadfastness, It nearly cried. Truly, It had "face."
Suddenly, It felt the ball growing harder to push. Turning Its neckless form, It saw something had latched onto It, following like a satellite caught by gravity.
Hah. A hitchhiker.
A hula-hoop stretched from the sphere, hooking the "stowaway" to keep it from drifting away.
It didn't mind. In fact, It welcomed playmates. If someone could even trick It, that would be the greatest delight.
After an indeterminate time, It finally reached Its destination.
Bang! The sphere slammed into an invisible barrier, braking hard. The little stowaway smacked into It as well.
This was the world's barrier. Not exactly the boundary of reality, but a conceptual wall—dividing inside from outside. Beyond was the void; within could be anyplace in the world.
It patted the wall, posed thoughtfully—hand where a chin should be, scratching above where a head might be.
Even a god couldn't make sense of this.
Then, with exaggerated flair, It struck Its palm with a fist. A bright bulb popped up where Its head should be. Brilliant idea achieved!
From behind Its back, It pulled a lump of deep-purple slime. The slime resisted not, just stared at It with mismatched white eyes.
O.o: "..."
Sometimes, it was really annoying dealing with gods with no sense of boundaries.
This was a chunk carved from Its good brother. Since the brother hadn't stopped It, that meant consent.
Never underestimate their bond.
Despite pretending not to care, the brother had still sent over part of Its consciousness.
Locking eyes with the slime, It grinned, then smeared the black slime evenly across the wall. At once, the barrier began to corrode—eaten by [Void].
Time held no meaning, but within Its perception, no more than a minute passed before a hole appeared. It yanked the slime off and tossed it aside.
Coincidentally—or not—the discarded slime twisted into a giant "?". Floating there, it seemed to silently protest.
O.o: "..."
With a shout, Aha shrank down and slipped through the hole, Its possessions tumbling after. Two gloves even helpfully carried the black slime and the hitchhiking orb along.
Inside, time and space stabilized. The chaos subsided. It had successfully entered this world.
"Surface pot, I'm coming in!"
Aha sensed the coordinate that had guided It—a planet not far away. It landed instead upon that planet's nearby moon.
It stuffed the black slime into a box. Even if it was just part of IX, leaving it unchecked would cause chaos. Wouldn't want Its future toys ruined.
Overcome with joy, It rolled on the ground, laughing and crying all at once.
Its belongings chased after, but couldn't quite catch up.
After much self-entertainment, It finally calmed down.
Sitting up, It raised Its hands high like a child who had just won a game.
"Hahaha! Akivili, Akivili! I've explored farther than you!"
"Hahahahahaha!" The masks chorused, one white mask laughing louder than the rest.
Gradually, Its figure faded away. In contrast, the masks grew more active.
Perhaps Its shrill laughter had drawn an uninvited guest.
Though technically It was the outsider, that didn't stop It from seizing the moral high ground.
"What's a local doing here? That's as unreasonable as finding a man inside the men's toilet!"
No one replied to Its "feminist punch." Crimson moonlight surged like a tide, engulfing Aha as It cackled.
Behind It, the hole It and IX's bond had opened was nearly repaired. Only a sliver of moonlight slipped through, soon devoured by chaos.
And within that chaos, where past and present intertwined, some poor transmigrator seemed to brush against the Mother Goddess Of Depravity's corruption.
Who could it be? Hard to say. Sairuis, do you have any guesses?
(End of Chapter)