Up to this point, including Su Mo, the Dimensional Chat Group had a total of nine members.
Among them, Su Mo was the only male; the other eight were female.
Aside from the air-headed March 7th, even Madoka could notice the glaring issue with the group's gender ratio at a glance.
A male-to-female ratio of one to eight—even without considering the LGBTQ+ spectrum or the numerous asexual or multi-gendered races across the multiverse—was absurdly unbalanced if one only looked at the binary.
Even if the Chat Group had a preference for certain members, why was Su Mo the only male who had passed the screening?
There had to be some sort of hidden rule behind this.
Of course, a single case study wasn't enough to prove anything. One could technically write it off as pure luck. After all, the Chat Group appearing in the first place was a probability lower than one in a trillion; compared to that, a skewed gender ratio wasn't that big of a deal.
Thinking this, Su Mo shifted his focus back to his previous line of inquiry.
Soon enough, he found his answer.
"It doesn't just need an energy supply; it also requires a supply of informational concepts to maintain the Chat Group's internal metabolism."
"In other words, the original model of the Chat Group was actually born in a 'Fourth-Class World'—the harshest conditions possible!"
Confirming this left Su Mo slightly shaken.
A product of a Fourth-Class world had somehow managed to break through its world's limitations through constant iteration, successfully connecting to other worlds and growing into an entity capable of bridging the entire multiverse.
Just how much obsession and persistence did that take?
Su Mo wasn't actually that surprised by the growth path the Chat Group had chosen. He had known from the beginning that being in a Fourth-Class world didn't necessarily mean one was at a dead end.
As he had demonstrated before, without help from other worlds, a Fourth-Class universe would inevitably face heat death, eventually eroding until even the concept of the "End of the World" lost its meaning.
However, as long as one could make contact with a product of a First-Class world, a Fourth-Class universe had a slim chance of survival.
There were two ways to reach out to a First-Class world.
The first was the path Su Mo had chosen: using the occult principle of Synchronicity to attempt to link with a First-Class universe. Instead of trying to find the mystical opportunity himself, he made himself the target so the opportunity would find him.
According to occult theory, mystical concepts themselves are the traces left by First-Class mythological worlds across the multiverse. Though the hope was microscopic, there was a non-zero probability of touching that hope through the Mystic.
The advantage of this method was that it was easy to execute; the disadvantage was that it was too passive—one could only wait for a miracle to descend.
The second method was the path chosen by the Dimensional Chat Group.
It didn't place its faith in the ethereal Mystic. Instead, it stayed grounded in the rules of reality, finding a way to cross between worlds and actively seeking out other universes.
Since a Fourth-Class world was destined for destruction, wouldn't the problem be solved by simply "job-hopping" to a First-Class world? As long as one traveled through enough worlds, they would eventually find a First-Class Perpetual Motion Machine and achieve true immortality.
In fact, Su Mo had originally considered this path and even kept it as a backup plan.
If he hadn't attracted a mystical opportunity within ten years, he was prepared to pivot entirely to the field of science—not to achieve the impossible goal of immortality within his own world through science, but to use science to go to other worlds in search of a perpetual motion machine, the so-called "elixir of life."
Because he had contemplated this path himself, Su Mo reacted the way he did upon deducing the Chat Group's history.
He wasn't surprised by the method of the group's growth—it was one of the only two paths to crossing worlds he had already theorized.
He was simply surprised by the sheer willpower of the Chat Group's creator.
The greatest obstacle on this path wasn't others, but oneself.
Just as the biggest problem with Su Mo's path was the possibility that the Mystic simply didn't exist—meaning no matter how deep his research, he would never attract the right opportunity—the biggest problem with the Chat Group's path was the possibility that other worlds simply didn't exist. No matter how advanced the research, the feat of crossing worlds would be impossible.
To succeed on this path, one had to believe in the existence of other universes without a shred of proof. Only then could one avoid doubting the feasibility of the theory itself when faced with insurmountable difficulties.
Having walked a similar path, Su Mo understood that this was a long and lonely journey.
For the Dimensional Chat Group to grow to this level, its creator must have poured an unimaginable amount of blood, sweat, and tears into it.
"I just wonder why the creator would hand the Chat Group over to someone else... Was it simply for the benefit of others?"
Only under the rules of Third or Fourth-Class universes would intelligent life engage in various conspiracies and schemes due to resource scarcity.
At Su Mo's level—as an entity who controlled a First-Class Perpetual Motion Machine—he didn't really care about the gains or losses of "interests." After all, his creative power was infinite, and his resources were infinite. The concept of a zero-sum game simply didn't exist for him.
Thus, after a brief moment of reflection, Su Mo stopped worrying about this unanswerable question and prepared to continue studying the Chat Group's other properties.
Right then, a familiar soul-frequency sent him an invitation.
Recognizing it as Hatsune Miku, Su Mo allowed the connection.
The next second, the voice of his AI butler rang out in his mind.
"Master, I've created a chat group specifically to discuss your bedtime arrangements. Would you like to join?"
Hearing Miku's words, Su Mo froze for a moment.
"You said you created a what?"