"...What?"
"Congratulations. From now on, you’ll be able to know everything in this world."
The boy had introduced his ability as a demon, hadn’t he?
True to that description, he grinned like a demon as he spoke to the girl.
"Your ability won’t work on me at all."
"Hiiiiik—?!"
The girl frantically replayed the current situation in her mind.
Should she kill the boy right now? That was impossible.
If she killed him, the story would unravel completely.
The story she wanted to see was a sweet love story between the Reader and the protagonist—not a bitter tale of the Reader’s regret after the boy’s death.
But if she left the boy be, he was spouting the most terrifying words from her perspective.
If the boy could really do that...
If he could truly make it so she couldn’t change anything...
Then he would pull out the eyes inside her body right this instant.
And that would be the end.
The world must have already sensed something was wrong.
When the eyes had briefly been taken out of the Reader’s body, there must have been a moment of unease.
If the eyes were exposed outside the boy’s body in that state?
They’d be expelled from the world just like that.
She might hold on for a little while, but in the end, she’d be forced out without being able to do anything.
And once the world detected the external threat, it would fortify its defenses even further.
Then there would be no way for the girl—or anyone else—to interfere with this world ever again.
A checkmate.
That word spun in the girl’s mind.
What should she do, what could she—!
At that moment,
A single thought flashed through the girl’s mind.
Other Transcendents might call her stupid, but she was a Transcendent too.
She seized upon the opening in the boy’s claim.
"...N-No way! That’s impossible!"
"Impossible?"
"You’re just a human! If you knew everything in the world, you’d go insane!"
Yes, that was it.
Even Transcendents, unable to endure the boredom, invaded these remote worlds to create entertainment.
What would happen if a mere human knew everything?
They’d definitely come to a bad end. It had to be that way.
Was it thanks to that desperate wish?
The boy nodded at her guess.
"You’re right. Like you said, knowing everything wouldn’t end well."
"T-Then let’s make a deal!"
What could she offer?
Even the boy wouldn’t risk the enormous danger of rendering her powerless and banishing her.
He wouldn’t use that card recklessly.
It was more of a threat—one he might actually carry out if things went wrong.
But for the girl, it was an incredibly effective threat.
What could she offer to stop the boy from showing her everything from the world’s beginning to its end?
As the girl racked her brain,
The boy directly refuted her thoughts.
"But here’s the thing. I never said *I* would know everything."
"...What?"
"The one who’ll know everything is just you."
"Th-That can’t be...! You have to experience it for me to go through it too! You know that—!"
"My ability, see, it’s like getting it hammered into your head."
Suddenly, the boy began explaining his ability.
Just what was he talking about?
The girl could only listen to the boy’s words, trembling all over.
"Ah, where I should dodge. Ah, what this person will do next. That kind of feeling."
"...What are you trying to say?"
"It’s simple."
The boy grinned again, a devilish smile, as if he already knew exactly what the girl was agonizing over.
Just as unease began to creep in from that smile, the boy spoke to her.
"I’m human, and you’re a transcendent, right? If I really did learn everything like you said, I’d go insane."
"Yes! That’s why we need to make a deal—!"
"The problem is the same. I’m human, and you’re a transcendent."
The boy tapped his own head as he spoke to the girl.
"Maybe your brain could handle it, but mine can’t process that much information all at once."
"What?"
"If I used my ability to learn everything about the world, it’d mean you’d process all that information far faster than I ever could."
"...I don’t get it. In the end, you’d just be slower at processing, but you’d still know everything."
"Hmm. You’re forgetting one thing."
"...Forgetting something?"
The boy’s confident tone made the girl’s body shake with anxiety.
There was no flaw in what she had said.
She would process all the information far faster than the boy—almost instantly.
But even that was just a matter of time.
Whether it took a month or a year,
the boy would gradually absorb it all and go mad.
That’s what she thought.
At least, until she heard the boy’s amused voice.
"Thanks to your setup, my ability has grown this much. I went through near-death experiences all at once, so it got insanely stronger."
"..."
"But honestly, that alone wouldn’t have been enough for my ability to grow this much. I needed help."
"Are you talking about Dorothy’s reinforcement? What does that have to—"
"You should’ve figured it out by now. This is a trick. A trick using my ability."
"...A trick?"
"Yeah."
What the boy said next left the girl in shock.
Her entire premise had just collapsed in an instant.
"If you learn everything about the world, I’d probably be watching the birth of the universe by then, right?"
"Probably."
"And by that point, 30 minutes will have passed since I blacked out."
"...30 minutes?"
"You forgot? Before I passed out, I asked Dorothy to deactivate my ability after 30 minutes."
"?!"
The girl’s mind went cold, as if she’d been doused with ice water.
Then, cold sweat began pouring down her face.
Now that she thought about it, when she’d been in a panic—
the boy had been talking to one of the heroine candidates beside him.
They’d been having that kind of conversation?
She’d been too flustered to listen properly?
"After 30 minutes, I’ll have watched the birth of the universe, and then Laplace’s Demon’s effect will cut off. Naturally, I won’t be able to see anything beyond what my mind can process."
"N-No way...!"
"Yep. When you become an omniscient god, I’ll just be watching an incredibly immersive cosmic documentary. The theme? The birth of the universe. Sound good?"
"N-Nooo—!"
The girl screamed.
She’d realized there was no way to stop it.
"Don’t worry about me. I never want to go through Dorothy’s reinforcement again for the rest of my life."
"Y-You, youuu—!"
The girl raged at the boy, who was teasing her so infuriatingly, but there was nothing she could do.
She could only suppress her rage as she watched the boy mock her.
The boy, who had been watching the girl with a smirk, waved his hand dismissively.
"Even if you broke in illegally, a guest is still a guest. I should introduce you to my home."
"S-Stop it! Please! I was wrong, okay?!"
"Here, this is my home. From the birth of the world to how it will end in the future—watch it all unfold, slowly."
"No! Please! I’m begging you! What can I do? Tell me! I’ll do anything!"
"Sorry, but I’m a little busy. I’ll watch with you at first, but you’ll have to finish the rest alone."
The boy activated his ability with a laugh.
"So even if you get lonely, try to endure it… Have a nice trip."
"AAAAH! PLEASE! NOOOOOO!"
Even as the girl screamed, the boy didn’t stop.
A flood of information began pouring into both of their minds.
"…te! …te! Ar… My… …te! Arte!"
Her fading consciousness slowly returned at the sound of the voice in her ear.
…What was I doing again?
I had rushed after Yu Siwoo to help him, and then…
We fought that monster together.
I gave him my heart.
"…Hah!"
"It’s okay! You’re alive!"
"Unbelievable… I can’t believe it actually worked…"
As expected, trusting Yu Siwoo was the right choice.
My faith, my trust—it was all repaid.
Even if it meant giving up my heart, I believed in him, and he repaid that belief.
Without a heart, I should have died. That was certain.
But somehow, Yu Siwoo had saved me.
"Arte, are you okay? Can you see my fingers? How many…"
"Yu Siwoo?"
"Huh?"
"Where is Yu Siwoo?"
I wanted to run to him right away.
To ask how he saved me.
To ask why he targeted my heart.
To talk about everything.
But Yu Siwoo wasn’t anywhere near me, so I searched frantically.
…The others stared at me in disbelief, but I didn’t care.
Yu Siwoo, where could he be?
The one who was always by my side.
Where was he?
"You wake up and the first thing you do is look for him? After he *stabbed your heart*…"
"That doesn’t matter. Where’s Yu Siwoo?"
"Sigh…"
Amelia exhaled deeply, as if realizing talking to me was pointless.
"I don’t know why, but he passed out. He probably won’t wake up for a while…"
"…As expected, I trusted him."
Amelia started saying something, but it quickly slipped from my attention.
Because there, right in front of me, was Yu Siwoo.
As always, he was there with me.
Ignoring Amelia’s words, I stood up and walked over to him.
"…Arte, are you okay? You must be in a lot of pain."
"I’m fine."
Honestly, walking still hurt a little.
But I didn’t care at all.
"Because you’re here."
I grinned and hugged him tightly.
As long as Yu Siwoo was with me, I could endure any pain, any hardship.
A little discomfort like this was nothing.