Volume 4 Afterword / Side Story 4: Snow's Dream

It's impossible to succeed in carrying out a blitzkrieg decapitation strike like before. First, the Earth Federation's high-level protection forces are very strong, and second, he has already used this tactic before, so people are wary of him using it.

Shuya thought that if that were really the case, he might as well join in and see if he could get a share of the profits.

... It's just a rumor, his identity is definitely a powerful tool for spreading rumors.

Just as his integrity was rapidly declining, the Heavenly God shook his head:

"It's not accurate to say that the Earth Federation was behind everything; they just didn't stop it, they didn't push anything."

"That's alright."

Shuya breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "But aren't these things involving the supernatural things something the Earth Federation has always prevented?"

"Many years have passed since the founding of the Earth Federation, and it no longer adheres to the policy of prohibiting the extraordinary as it once did. Internal divisions are also increasing... You should understand the arrogance that absolute power breeds."

The Heavenly God smirked. "Even knowing that someone was stirring up trouble in secret, the Federation's upper echelons remained confident that they could resolve the situation and reap the greatest benefits, so they continued to let it go unchecked."

Shuya thought to himself, "In fact, the Federation's lack of intervention is tantamount to pushing things forward."

The Heavenly God looked at Shuya: "Isn't that the kind of person you know, the head of Japan Administrative District? You instigated a civil war among Monster, and I participated in a war between gods and monsters. We should be held accountable for that."

"But he reached an agreement with you and stopped questioning your responsibilities. Instead, he used your and my influence to pursue various interests within the Federation."

It's not that no one at the top disliked these predictions, but rather that the checks and balances between the two sides led to this outcome.

Shuya took a moment to process this before asking, "So, what exactly is their purpose in doing this? Do they really want the apocalypse to come?"

"No, they're targeting a collective of human consciousness."

The Heavenly God first gave a concise answer, and then explained:

"As you know, the origin of Strange Arts lies in the exploitation of the collective consciousness of humanity. Just as the shamans of primitive tribes utilized the collective consciousness within Fire Seed, the forces driving the doomsday prophecy behind the scenes are also eyeing the collective consciousness of humanity."

"..."

Shuya roughly understood what the prophecy was all about.

Indeed, the apocalypse is a deadly threat to humanity as a whole. If enough people believe in it, it will inevitably cause a shock to the collective consciousness of humanity.

Even if not all of humanity believes it, enough people to believe it are enough to sway it.

"But the question is, even if doomsday prophecies shake the collective consciousness of humanity, what good will that do?"

Shuya's heart was beating slightly faster; he had a bold guess.

The Heavenly God took a sip of tea and after a long while said, "Just as you think."

"As the collective consciousness of humanity falters further, the seal on forbidden techniques... will become looser."

So-called forbidden arts are Curse cast by extraordinary individuals throughout history against various supernatural Strange Arts that violate human ethics and cause terrifying consequences, rather than any decree from God.

It's like a law; anyone who dares to break it will be punished, and the severity of the punishment varies depending on the level of the forbidden technique.

Like the Fox God and Rena from back then, they both received severe punishment.

These forbidden techniques might be extremely destructive supernatural Strange Arts, or perhaps viruses that are far too vicious...

And the forbidden technique that Shuya was most familiar with was undoubtedly---

He uttered four words: "Forbidden Art of Life and Death."

"Or perhaps, immortality."

The Heavenly God also uttered the name of a forbidden technique.

If there's any interest that could pique the interest of the Earth Federation's top brass, causing them to break the rules, this must be one of them.

It even has extremely high priority.

Just as ancient emperors desired immortality, these powerful figures were no exception.

While not everyone does this, there are undoubtedly many people who are interested.

Even Shuya, upon hearing this, had countless thoughts arising in his mind.

He managed to compose himself and asked, "Is there really such a good thing? Are there any side effects?"

His expectations for the voice even exceeded his own imagination.

But the Heavenly God's answer surprised him:

"Have no idea."

"Don't know? Why?"

He simply said, "Because it has never succeeded."

Shuya: "..."

Fuck, what the hell are you talking about?

It was rare for him to curse Him in his heart. This also shows how intense his inner turmoil was.

The Heavenly God shook his head. "There have indeed been many doomsday prophecies in the past, but none of them ultimately had much impact. Never before has there been such a nationwide discussion as this. Why do you think that is?"

Without waiting for Shuya's reply, he gave the answer, "Because of the widespread use of the internet."

"Previous prophecies spread on a small scale were simply insufficient to shake the collective consciousness of humanity. But technological advancements have made this method, which has failed countless times, a possibility of success."

"Therefore, many extraordinary organizations secretly promoted this."

"It failed in 1999, and in 2000... 2008, and in 2010 it failed too. But none of those failures were as significant as the prophecy two years later. The attention it garnered was unprecedented; even we deities were discussing it."

Gods are relatively uninterested in forbidden arts, so they won't discuss them.

But this time was different; the deal had a very high chance of success, so they started talking.

This conversation made the Heavenly God realize their mistake.

He circled around the topic and finally brought it back to Puberty Syndrome.

"After the explanation just now, I think Inoue- kun has realized what I wanted to say."

Under the influence of the doomsday prophecy, the collective consciousness of humanity has begun to waver. This wavering was not initially strong enough to affect reality, but...

Shuya replied helplessly, "But I've gone out to cause trouble."

After being enlightened by the Heavenly God, he finally understood.

Japan Administrative District were peaceful until he suddenly appeared and completely disrupted the structure of Japan's supernatural world.

"It seems that Amaterasu's death has had consequences I didn't expect."

Shuya frowned.

In reality, his mind was no longer on Puberty Syndrome; he was more concerned about the fact that the collective human consciousness was faltering.

Forbidden techniques.

Forbidden techniques...

Forbidden techniques...

Regardless of his thoughts, the Heavenly God spoke:

"The fall of Amaterasu, the death of many gods or the Age of Gods, the birth of you as a new god, and the reappearance of Takamagahara... these are all important contributing factors. The successive occurrence of these events in a short period of time has directly opened a channel for the wavering collective consciousness of humanity to move towards the Japan Administrative District."

Then some teenagers who were going through puberty, were sentimental, and still had their spirituality, began to experience all sorts of strange symptoms.

The Heavenly God concluded, "I've checked the records; Puberty Syndrome started appearing gradually after Amaterasu's fall. That's why I said these things are related to you, Inoue -kun."

Shuya nodded, speechless for a moment.

The news I received today was truly shocking.

Volume Four Completed.

PS1: Yay! 600 chapters! I've broken my own record!

P. S. 2: Actually, I had wanted to end the fourth volume before, but I forgot and then thought it didn't matter. Not long ago, someone asked why the fourth volume was so long... so let's end this volume. It also covers an important part of the plot.

I might add a sequel later; I'll think about it some more.

Finally, as usual, I'll finish this volume and take a day off.

What? You're saying I'll skip writing even if I haven't finished a single volume?

Don't worry about such a small thing!

Section 643 Reflections on Volume 4

Volume Four is complete.

As mentioned before, I originally intended to end this volume, but I forgot and there's nothing I can do about it.

Hmm---it's exactly 600 chapters, so let's divide it up.

Anyway, the plot has reached a pretty important point.

The end of this volume also explains the origin of Puberty Syndrome... Although I've already said it, I'll say it again here: the origin of Puberty Syndrome is purely something I made up myself. I haven't followed the latest volume of the original work, so I don't know if it's explained there.

The same applies to the father of the Quintuplets. He hadn't even appeared when I started the book, and he was killed off early on, so he probably won't appear again later.

... Unless they're just trying to pad the word count because they can't write anything else. (crossed out)

As for this volume, the plot is a continuation of the third volume, so there's not much to say.

The second volume will also focus on high school life.

Just a heads-up, the Quintuplets that everyone loves should make their official appearance in volume five, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

However, it won't be released immediately.

Hmm... I'm writing the next chapter now, I'll start the new volume once that's finished.

Finally, it's been 600 chapters and no one's voting or anything? (Implied)

Chapter 4, Section 644: The Dream of Snow

M Worldline.

The Spirit Realm.

Takamagahara Base, Core Control Room.

Buzz---

With a low hum, Yukino Yukinoshita returned to the M Worldline from a distant world.

After returning to the world that gave her birth and nurtured her, the faint sense of rejection from the other world finally disappeared, and her body was finally able to relax.

Yukino's vision cleared, and then she saw the familiar, expansive space.

Countless screens flashed with massive amounts of complex data, and many people were busy at work.

Welcome back.

"..."

As always, Rio Futaba, dressed in white, greeted her in a calm tone.

She put down her coffee and looked at Yukino, whose clothes were tattered:

How are you feeling?

"No problem, a day of rest will do the trick."

Yukino replied after stepping out of the teleportation array, her voice icy.

"Yeah."

"..."

Rio glanced at her.

Yukino was wearing a snow-white kimono, which was stained with dust, blood, and other dirt, and had many burn marks and cuts from battle.

Beneath the torn clothes, the flesh also bore wounds of varying sizes.