Dark clouds blotted out the sun. The air was thick with all kinds of radioactive toxins, and icy rain fell like a silver curtain. A gaunt boy stepped out of his hiding place, tilted back his head, and took several gulps. No one knew what drinking such rain would do, but one thing was certain: if he did not drink, he would die. If he did, he might cling to life for a few more days.
Wars constantly broke out among humanity. No one remembered which country had fired the first nuclear missile. In the history that followed, humanity willfully used the weapons it had created to destroy and slaughter without end. By the time they came to their senses, it was already too late. Earth, which had nurtured them, had completely lost any chance of salvation and become a dead planet.
"Caw, caw."
Under the eaves, strange birds let out harsh cries. Infection had mutated them beyond recognition, making it impossible to tell what species they had once been. The creatures that had survived until now were naturally scavengers. They patiently waited for the boy before them to die so they could feast. Ruben cast an indifferent glance at the birds that had already regarded him as food, his eyes devoid of emotion. Just as he considered how to turn himself from prey into predator, another young man abruptly appeared before him.
"I am a god."
The torrential rain did not wet the man's casual clothes. It was as though even the rain knew its place and consciously avoided his body. Smiling, the young man spoke to the person on the verge of death.
"Um, I'm not some street con artist. Calling myself a god is a bit of an exaggeration, actually..."
Perhaps realizing that he sounded as unreliable as a fortune-teller under a bridge, the young man hurriedly tried to prove himself, only to have no idea how.
"I believe you."
Ruben's dry throat struggled to force out those words. Leaving aside the fact that this person could avoid the rain, simply wearing such clean clothes in this apocalypse was enough to make him believable.
"Really? That's good, then. I can help you survive."
The young man had not expected to be accepted so easily, which spared him a lengthy explanation.
"Why?"
"Because you are the last human on this planet."
"A strange reason."
The city Ruben lived in was naturally a dead city, but he had not expected that everyone in the world had truly died. He did not know how he had managed to survive until the end either. There was probably no explanation other than luck.
"...Don't say that. Ah, you can't see her, can you? She says that in countless parallel worlds, countless planets are destroyed by foolish humans every day. She says I'm meddling in other people's business, but since I've seen it happen, I really can't just ignore it."
The young man turned to speak to some unseen presence. Following his gaze, Ruben could vaguely make out a blank humanoid shape in the curtain of rain, untouched by the rainfall. Meanwhile, the young man rambled on about his companion.
"You're very long-winded."
"L-Long-winded? Fine. I'll put every crystallization of human wisdom from this planet into your head. That way, you alone will carry an entire civilization. It can be another way for this planet to continue on."
The young man seemed deeply struck. After standing frozen for several seconds, he reached out and tapped Ruben on the forehead, inputting all that knowledge into his mind just as he had said.
"Won't my head explode like this?"
"No. They won't exist directly in your memories, but in another space. Whenever you need something, you can go in and look for it yourself. The method is like Xidu or Xge."
"Though I don't know why you're doing this, I'm about to die anyway. You should give this task to someone else."
Ruben quickly grasped how to use it. It was indeed as convenient as a search engine, but he also knew that his body would only last another two or three days at most. Put bluntly, this ability was useless to him.
"Huh? Didn't I tell you? I'm sending you to another world."
"!?"
"Say, Ruben, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
"Hmm... I want to become a scientist and make all kinds of things that make people happy."
The last thing Ruben saw was a dazzling light. In his dream of crossing worlds, he saw his gentle mother and the dream he had held as a child. When those final visions ended, he awoke in another world and began struggling to live in the body of a five-year-old child.
Mayuna was confused. Lying on Ruben's bed, she stared blankly at the ceiling. Scenes of her time with Ruben yesterday replayed in her mind. Why? Why had she revealed her true feelings to a stranger? She clearly understood how distant and cold she had been in the past. Aside from her teacher, she had never revealed her true thoughts to anyone. Yet when she had been with Ruben yesterday, she had been so genuine. When she smiled, when she threw a tantrum, when she was smug—it was all real.
"Perhaps it's because I'm about to die. It won't happen again from today onward. Yes."
Mayuna quickly found herself a reason, then promised herself that no matter what Ruben said today, she would handle it calmly. At the very least, she had to make him feel that she, the Magic God, possessed great dignity. Otherwise, how would she ever be able to hold her head high before him? As for why she needed to hold her head high before him, Mayuna ignored that question.
Having made thorough preparations in her heart, Mayuna stepped out of her room to find Ruben still asleep on the sofa. She froze slightly as she looked at his curled-up body. She was all too familiar with that sleeping position. When she was young, she had spent several years sleeping just like that, only gradually breaking the habit in Yura's warm embrace.
"Good thing I didn't sleep here."
Perhaps an ordinary girl would find someone like him pitiful and reluctantly offer him a warm embrace. Then, when he woke up, she would blush and warn him not to misunderstand or something. But Mayuna merely felt that yesterday's choice had been absolutely correct, then she patted Ruben awake.
"Good morning."
Ruben was not angry about being awakened by Mayuna. It had not been a pleasant dream anyway. After greeting her, he went to the bathroom to wash up.
"You're cleaning yourself?"
Mayuna watched as Ruben spread a thick white substance onto a short wooden stick embedded with soft bristles, shoved it into his mouth, and moved it in and out until countless bubbles appeared. After everything that had happened yesterday, Mayuna had worked out what he was doing herself. She looked at him with disdain for one simple reason: in her eyes, his method was far too troublesome for mere cleaning.
"Keeping your mouth clean is necessary. You have your own way of cleaning yourselves too, right?"
"Mm, things like Sticky Grass seeds."
Mayuna took out a white pellet the size of a marble from her spatial ring. These strange grass seeds stuck to the filth in one's mouth and even carried a faint minty scent. After chewing them a few times, one only needed to spit them out. They were much simpler than brushing one's teeth, but Ruben still firmly believed in science.
"I'm hungry."
Mayuna could already hear her stomach protesting. Yesterday, she had only drunk a bowl of plain congee. Even a Magic God could not endure hunger. This guy really knew how to sleep. He had not even prepared food for his patient. What happened to a healer's professional ethics?
"Wait."
"I don't want porridge."
Mayuna kept a cool expression, constantly reminding herself to maintain the bearing of a cold beauty. She could not let Ruben think she was begging for charity. Yes.
"Oh."
Ruben nodded. He had no desire to patiently lecture her about what she should eat while recovering. Besides, if he did not give Mayuna food, she would probably run outside and eat random things herself. It would be better to let her suffer a little and learn her lesson.
Someone: You carry the collective achievements of every person on Earth.
Ruben: Am I supposed to change my name to Clark, wear my underwear outside my pants, and save the world?
Someone: You're overthinking it. Just be a salted fish who can only shout "six" and live peacefully.
Ruben: Mayuna 666, Mayuna eight nines
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