One hundred forty years. I had heard him mention that before.
—When you fought Teacher in a Verbal Match, you said you held out for one hundred and thirty years.
—Yup, that’s it.
His voice was very hollow. Hearing him speak that way made my heart feel heavy. I pressed on my forehead.
—My god. So, Mr. Sword Emperor, you…
The talk I’d had with the Sword Emperor in the Truth Heaven Realm flashed through my mind.
Me: I suddenly had the thought that I might fail the ninety-ninth floor. You died on the ninety-ninth floor.
At those words, the Sword Emperor had reacted strangely.
Idiot: Hmmm. Well, there’s death...
I remembered him repeating that.
Me: What’s on the ninety-ninth floor?
At the time, the Sword Emperor had not given a clear answer. He had said that he just didn’t want to tell me, but that couldn’t have been the whole story.
Me: Can you still not tell me?
—Let’s walk.
I blinked. Before I knew it, the Sword Emperor had gotten up and was looking at me with the same look from back then.
—Uh…
—Just follow me.
The Sword Emperor began walking just like before. Ever since I stepped onto this stage, I became weightless. The world no longer tried to hold me down. No matter how hard I stomped, my footsteps made no sound. It felt like I had been cut off from the world.
Over the week, I stopped walking. Floating like the Guardian was more comfortable.
The princess also joined us on our walk.
—Mahos said it felt like he got noclipped.
—I don’t know what noclip means, but I think I understand.
Now that gravity had no effect on me, all physical barriers had lost their meaning. If I wanted to, I could walk through floors or walls. That was why I knew how hard it was for the Sword Emperor to walk right now. I had also seen it as a great skill in the Truth Heaven Realm, but now that I was in the same state as him, I really understood how hard it was.
—What are you doing over there? Come.
The Sword Emperor glanced at me, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked like he was on a casual stroll. This was an important moment.
—Give me a moment, please.
Instead of floating away, I gathered my resolve. First, I set my feet on the ground. Though I still couldn’t feel anything, I tried to stand straight.
—Hmm.
The Sword Emperor waited in silence. He neither urged me nor offered advice. Even so, I knew at once that I didn’t really look like a normal person trying to stand up.
—Just a bit more.
The Sword Emperor nodded.
—Take your time.
—Yes.
My thoughts turned serious.
How does one stand?
Even to me, the question felt absurd, but a stronger belief fueled my resolve. This moment was important.
To stand up... First, place my feet on the ground, then the ground will support me… But right now, there’s no ground to support me, so then...
I felt as if a light cloud was drifting around my head. The cloud seemed within my reach, yet I couldn’t grasp it. I took a deep breath. Wait, did I?
No, of course not. I was just mimicking breathing.
I focused again.
I’m now like a ghost. Naturally, there is no air for me to inhale, and that means…
The moment I thought that, another question arose.
Wait, if there’s no air, how can I hear sounds?
I realized that this was very odd. The most common contradiction shown in science fiction films was the roar of explosions echoing through space.
Strange.
When I spoke to the Guardian and the Mirage-Walking Princess, it felt like I was imagining sound. However, the voices of Sylvia and my orphanage director were real.
Sound is delivered by vibrations in the air, but no air can reach me now. Therefore, I shouldn’t hear anything. Meaning...
The moment I realized this, silence enveloped me, like stepping into outer space—no, it felt like the perfect stillness that had existed before time and space had any meaning.
—Hmm.
The Sword Emperor crossed his arms with a faint smile. That smile merely flashed and faded in my mind, disturbing nothing of the stillness I now felt. I was completely captivated by this white moment.
It’s so white.
But, that was strange.
It can’t be white. By the same logic, it can’t be black, either.
I didn’t mean it abstractly, like how silence couldn’t be colored. It was something far more specific and basic.
How am I seeing what I’m seeing?
Color was a wave of light. Just as sound needed air to vibrate, light needed to exist for something to be seen.
But I’m not affected by anything right now. No gravity. No physical force affects me.
Was light a special exception right now? That couldn’t be. In games, light was often marked as a special attribute, but light was only one form of many physical phenomena. As someone who used a holy sword of light, I was well aware of it.
Then I should be unable to see or hear anything…
The light was gone, replaced by perfect darkness that swallowed me.