A long two days of running back and forth between Paradise and Earth. But two days that were well worth it.
I was back on Earth right now after spending a long night with Teresa back in Paradise and making her feel properly loved.
Also, making her feel properly 'claimed.'
Apparently, she was really getting antsy about the fact that her 'dear hero' had left her unmarked and untaken... And while she was fine with waiting a bit, since I was going around to make sure the women in my life felt loved and appreciated, I made sure she was *thoroughly* loved before I left.
But anyway, since that was done, I was back on Earth for a quick break to rest, relax, clean up, and sort things out before setting things up for wrapping up the events in Paradise.
Although...
"Weird."
As I sat in the shower of my apartment, I'd done a quick check to see if I'd be having troubles on Earth as well with that Martial God guy, but...
===
[Current information about the Martial God and his wives]
Due to an 'arrangement,' the Martial God has yielded this plane of existence and shifted over one phase.
You will not be obstructed in your actions on Earth.
===
Was it because he knew that no one would win if we clashed? An arrangement made by Gula? Or was it that weird entity who had brought me here in the first place, whatever that was?
Either way...
"That's convenient." I read the message once more and used my Transcendent Insight a few more times to confirm.
But it was the same result.
While there were some other people with powers on Earth, I was definitely the top right now.
Although...
===
[Blackie and Whitey]
Due to your query, it has been determined that Future Seol and Future Sung Shihyun have retired to your Earth. Currently, they are enjoying time China by pretending to be cosplayers to hookup with beautiful women.
===
...It seemed like it wouldn't be COMPLETELY trouble free.
I chuckled as I scrubbed myself with deodorant soap and said, "Well. I can deal with slice of life and gags. I'm done with the grimdark battle manga developments..."
Honestly, at this point it felt like my whole life had been spent on that. If this was a light novel or something, there would definitely have been like 150+ chapters about me gearing up to fight a big boss...
"Genre shifts are OP though, I guess. Though, it's still concerning that causality is preventing the gods from talking about my love life and future family but NOT about killing literal eldritch deities and invading gods..."
I'd checked in with Gula before heading back and she'd confirmed that, yes, the Slenderman thing I found in the Forest of Denial a while back was very much a part of an eldritch deity from beyond the veil. And apparently, this time's Sung Shihyun had managed to kill and assimilate himself with it through some cheap imitation of my abilities.
Now, if it was normal circumstances, that would be terrible. Hell, if I was just 'Seol' like in the story or Blackie, I'd be pretty screwed.
But at this point, I was basically the JRPG hero who had gone and done all the side quests before the climactic final boss. I was functionally max level and overgeared.
In fact...
"Huh. I didn't think about it... but isn't this actually a New Game Plus run?"
Seol, Yuhui, Gula, and Teresa had conspired in Blackie's timeline to spin the clock back...
But functionally, it was like beating the game with a 'bad ending' and carrying over bits of your data to try and get the best ending.
They messed up though.
'Seol' still existed. Judging from the fact that Blackie was still around, he was probably moving along his own timeline like in canon... though I didn't remember ANYTHING about it at this point.
Our lives were just too different now.
But anyway, that guy still existed.
But because four people had made the same wish, it seemed like either causality had to do something as a counterbalance, or some 'thing' had used the gap to do some field testing.
As a result, I was here. A guy from Earth who read Seol's story and got pissed off enough at how he treated Jinhee to want to hijack his life. The same guy who even threw away his past and kept just his lingering will and knowledge base so that he could take over Seol's life as 'Jihu.'
And the same guy who stripped so much of himself away that the empty bits were filled with parts from Seol and parts from Sung Shihyun that had been floating around in the metaphysical void while time spun back.
I turned off the shower and walked out, grabbing a towel. As I dried myself, I murmured, "Well. Doesn't matter too much about how I got here at this point."
I wasn't any of them now. At least, not any one of those people.
Hadn't it been apparent from the moment Gula gave me the class of Synthesis Blade?
It wasn't 1+1+1. And it wasn't fractions adding up to a whole either.
No.
It was a qualitative change. Taking each piece as an ingredient and baking a cake rather than adding milk and sugar into coffee.
A cake had eggs, flour, sugar, milk, and other ingredients... but it was a cake.
In contrast, even if you added milk and sugar into coffee, it was STILL coffee.
And that was the difference between me and Seol.
"...Man. Is sage mode real?" I chuckled as I put my clothes on. "After having so much sex, my head is definitely clear... Though." I frowned. "...I'm not getting much sleep at night in the foreseeable future, huh? Mm, no. That's not true. Everyone's different."
It wasn't like they were all clingy and wanted me in their bed at night.
Well, not all the time.
But...
"Mm, we'll play it by ear." I finished wearing my usual suit... which had somehow become my de facto outfit. After that, I walked out of my bathroom and to my apartment living room.
This wasn't the one I'd originally gotten with Seonhwa, but the one I'd been using after I moved out to Seoul.
In other words, the one that Hannah had been keeping an eye on for me while I was in Paradise. And apparently, also the one she'd been spending time at.
As I walked around the place, I saw traces of both her and Flone being around.
There were various recipes pinned up everywhere, signs of Flone's new hobby.
Then there were various bits of documentation from my businesses too laying about in manilla folders.
In short...
"My lovely wives are keeping our house warm while I'm out, huh?"
It was nice.
Knowing that there were people waiting for you... that they loved and cared for you enough TO wait...
Well, I guess Seonhwa counted for that. But since we hadn't hashed it out until recently, it didn't feel the same.
But I knew that Hannah and Flone loved me specifically for who I was now.
"...Yeah. It's a nice feeling. Still..."
It was a distraction. Or rather, procrastination.
Because there was something I had to do. A promise I made to Claire.
I checked my phone.
It was 8 AM. Morning.
Flone and Hannah were probably at Hannah's house right now.
Seonhwa was definitely asleep in her room at the Neutral Zone.
Chohong was also definitely knocked out.
Seora and Seohui were absolutely not getting up for a while and was asleep in their office.
Claire was picking up the slack in the Neutral Zone.
Maria was probably heading back to work in the Neutral Zone...
Yuhui was also probably heading back aroud now.
Sora was probably just setting up for the morning rush.
And Teresa...
Well.
My dear princess had been thoroughly savored, so she needed time to recover.
Which meant...
"I've got some time."
Maldong was in charge of affairs at the Neutral Zone, and he had reliable people helping him.
Probably.
...I was pretty sure that Kazuki and Ghio were back at least.
"Aaand procrastinating again. Fuck it." I adjusted my tie and said, "If we're in this, we're in this. So..." I walked out of my apartment, locked up, and headed to the parking garage. After that, I hopped into the black BMW that Seora gave me a while back to use for work and drove to my parents' house.