"This feels like suddenly jumping from one of those brick-sized cellphones from decades ago straight to a touchscreen smartphone."
The sensation of his physical abilities being completely unshackled left Takumi a bit drunk on it.
As he gradually got used to it, he also realized his current state meshed nicely with [Innate God (Gold)]. After becoming a god, even if his body was destroyed, as long as his god core remained, he could resurrect. Now that his body had become an ultimate lifeform, as long as a single shred of cellular debris remained, he could regenerate.
Put together, unless his body and godhead were destroyed at the same time with absolutely nothing left behind,
he could just stand back up on the spot and be reborn all over again.
"In that case…"
A sudden idea popped into Takumi's head, and without another word he headed into the Time-Space Realm.
He lightly plucked a few strands of his own hair and tossed them into a corner of the realm. Every strand was an extension of his body.
From now on, even if his body and godhead outside were both destroyed, he could still resurrect from these few hairs. And if he wanted to be even more cautious—or twisted—he could even leave some of his cells inside other people's bodies as anchors for revival.
"Perfect~ survivability maxed out."
Compared to him, that old king's so-called immortality didn't even come close anymore.
Takumi didn't rush back to the Danmachi world but first returned to his original world to adapt for a while.
When he came back this time, there was a new calm confidence about him. Lying down again on the soft bed, he no longer felt shackled by excess energy.
"Let's set internal and external gravity to… 215 times. That's about right."
Feeling the pressure of gravity from the inside out, Takumi let out a comfortable breath.
By adjusting his own nervous system and hormones, he could even convert the pain of training into a pleasant sensation.
"Wuhu~ feels great!" He narrowed his eyes, and the next second he was fast asleep.
While he slept, the whole world churned under the surface. His defeat of Katerea, along with his identity as the Red Dragon's host, had been completely exposed to the public.
In the Underworld, the pacifist faction was now fully taking their cues from House Sitri. And the retainers he'd summoned under his own name were also gathering at the Sitri estate.
On Takumi's side, Serafall, acting as the Leviathan Maou, had begun securing territory for him.
Everything was proceeding in full swing, while Takumi peacefully spent a lovely night in his sleep.
At dawn, before his biological clock even went off, he felt a fragrant breeze brush over him.
"Achoo~~~"
He snapped his eyes open and saw a slightly flushed, adorably tempting Yuki Suou giving him a good-morning kiss.
Seeing he'd woken up, Yuki, who'd been straddling him, straightened up and showed him a sweet smile.
"Good morning, Onii-chan~~"
"Morning, Yuki… so, can you get off of me now?"
"No way! Kiss back, kiss back—hurry, hurry~~"
Yuki spread her arms and puckered her cherry-pink lips, motioning for Takumi to lean in.
Amused, Takumi did a sit-up and at the same time gave her a quick peck, light as a dragonfly on water.
"There, that good enough?"
"Uu~~~"
Yuki stared at him, full of wounded resentment. She knew very well she'd been played.
What she wanted was one of those deep, unforgettable kinds of kisses—not something this floaty and quick.
Just as she was about to turn on the spoiled-brat routine, Asia's shy voice came from the doorway.
"G-good morning… Um… so there's a… a greeting custom like this here… I-I'll do my best!"
After a long, serious internal debate, Asia's cheeks were bright red, like she'd finally mustered her courage. The next moment, wearing her pajamas, she took tiny steps over and, with stiff, awkward movements, pressed a kiss to Takumi's lips.
Yuki: "????"
The warm, soft touch vanished in an instant, and Takumi saw the shy Asia give him a sweet smile.
"Good morning, Takumi-san~"
"You little~"
Takumi sucked in a sharp breath. No way he could just sit still after that. He slid an arm around Asia's slender waist and lowered his voice. "Courtesy demands reciprocity, Asia. Good morning."
The next moment, Takumi gave Asia a deep, lingering good-morning greeting.
"Eh? Wait, no, that's not right! I'm still here… and I was first! This is all wrong, don't just ignore me!!!"
Always so smooth and in control, Yuki suddenly felt herself on the verge of breaking. How was this any different from being NTR'd right in front of her?
Especially when the one stealing the march on her was a pure, innocent nun—she was totally unprepared!
Unfortunately, by the time Yuki screamed, it was already over.
"What's going on in here?"
Hearing the commotion, Mio poked her head in, curiously looking around. All she could see was Yuki and Asia with bright red faces.
And when she saw Yuki sitting on the bed, Mio immediately pouted. "Yuki, you're sneaking again and didn't call me!"
"I-I… this time… ugh~" Yuki pointed at Asia, and the pile of words jammed in her chest finally turned into a long sigh.
Seeing Yuki acting so weird, Mio just felt completely lost.
"What's wrong? Are we skipping breakfast and going straight to morning sex?" Hearing the noise, Maria also came mincing over on little steps.
The moment those words left her mouth, Takumi—who'd gotten out of bed—walked over and chopped her on the head.
"Idiot succubus, what the hell is going on in that brain of yours!!"
Bonk!!!
Maria took the hand chop dead-on, immediately clutching her head and squatting down.
Tears welling in her eyes, she muttered pitifully, "Takumi-nii just bullies me… I was saying something totally normal…"
"What part of that was normal?" Takumi grumbled helplessly. Was that really the image she had of him in her head?
Watching him leave, Maria stood up and gave herself a little pep talk. Looking at all the girls in the room, she nodded to herself meaningfully.
"It's definitely because I'm not being proactive enough. Otherwise, Takumi-nii wouldn't treat me like this."
Thinking that, Maria felt a bit depressed.
If it hadn't been for that whole bathroom incident with Takumi leaving a bit of a psychological shadow, she wouldn't have been this restrained lately.
With Yuki and the others being this forward, she had to make a big move too, to win Takumi's favor.
And if she could use the chance to finally explain that thing to him, maybe there was still a way to fix it.
As if she'd suddenly remembered something important, Maria's expression darkened. The look vanished in a flash, and soon she'd gone back to her usual cheery smile.
By the time Maria walked into the living room, Takumi was already having breakfast. Phone in hand, he was eating and messaging at the same time.
Lately he'd been planning a new series, and quite shamelessly getting ready to rip off Konosuba—with some tweaks to fit himself as the template.
Looking at the reply his former editor had sent him on-screen, Takumi sighed.
"Quit already, huh… looks like I'll have to go in person."
"Eriri's draft illustrations—I'll go over those later."
"As for the actual writing… my hands, you're seasoned hands now. Time to type for yourselves."
Right in front of the girls, Takumi casually snapped off one of his own index fingers like he was breaking a biscuit.
....
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