Sakurajima Mai froze.
Being suddenly pulled into someone's arms was already shocking enough.
But what truly stunned her was the face of the person holding her.
She looked up instinctively.
For a brief moment, surprise flashed across her beautiful eyes.
He's... absurdly handsome.
The kind of handsome that seemed almost unfair.
Her heartbeat skipped for an instant.
Then reality caught up with her.
Mai hurriedly pushed herself away from him.
"W-Who are you?"
Then another thought struck her.
Her eyes widened.
"You can see me?"
That was the truly impossible part.
Nobody had noticed her the entire way here.
Yet the man before her had not only noticed her—
He had appeared directly behind her.
Izumi nodded calmly.
Looking at the bunny-girl-clad actress before him, he smiled.
"This entire world belongs to me."
"So isn't it natural that I can see you?"
Then his gaze narrowed slightly.
"More importantly..."
"How exactly did you get in here?"
He paused for a moment before suddenly understanding.
"Oh."
"I see now."
"You followed Yunyun in, didn't you?"
"Tsk."
"To think you'd secretly tail a little girl."
"I never expected you to be that kind of person."
Mai took several steps backward.
"W-W-W-Wait?!"
Her face turned red.
"You can read minds?!"
"Hentai!"
The accusation came out almost reflexively.
At that moment, countless ridiculous scenarios flashed through her imagination.
And every single one painted Izumi as some sort of dangerous pervert.
Izumi rolled his eyes.
"Reading minds?"
"That's only the basics."
"I can understand everything about you in an instant if I want."
"Doesn't that make me even more of a pervert?"
Then his gaze drifted downward for a second.
A teasing smile appeared on his face.
"For example..."
"I know all about your impressive ambitions."
Silence.
Mai froze.
Then her entire face exploded into crimson.
"Y-You—!!"
Without thinking, she swung her hand at him.
Slap!
Or at least, she tried to.
Izumi effortlessly caught her wrist before it could reach him.
"Calm down."
"What's with the violence?"
"You trespassed into someone else's home, and this is the attitude you're bringing with you?"
Mai blinked.
"Your... home?"
Then realization struck.
"Wait."
"You're the Creator God?"
The legendary supreme being.
The ruler of this world.
The owner of the place she had accidentally wandered into.
Everything suddenly made sense.
No wonder there was a man here.
No wonder he could see her.
No wonder he knew everything.
In front of a being like this, she probably had no secrets at all.
The thought alone made her face burn even hotter.
Mai immediately lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
"Creator-sama."
"I didn't mean to intrude."
Seeing her finally calm down, Izumi released her wrist.
Then he chuckled.
"You're surprisingly bold."
"Most people wouldn't dare wander around here."
"Did you really think nobody could detect your ability?"
As he spoke, he reached toward her head.
Mai blinked.
"What are you—"
Before she could finish, a small fragment of light emerged from her body.
Izumi pulled it free as though extracting a splinter.
A strange crystalline shard floated above his palm.
The instant it left her body—
The world changed.
Mai felt it immediately.
Before, it had been as though the world unconsciously ignored her existence.
Now—
It was the exact opposite.
Countless gazes seemed to fall upon her all at once.
The sensation startled her.
What Mai didn't know was that the moment the fragment disappeared, two beings immediately noticed her presence.
Alaya.
And Gaia.
The guardians who had previously overlooked her now saw her clearly.
Izumi observed the fragment thoughtfully.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The moment he touched it, he realized something.
This fragment didn't belong to his world.
Nor did it originate from any of the worlds currently connected to it.
It came from somewhere else entirely.
Another dimensional realm.
Tsk.
Now that's intriguing.
For the time being, he stored the fragment away.
Perhaps it would prove useful someday.
Mai finally understood what had happened.
Her eyes widened.
Then she bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
"You've helped me more than you know."
For a long time, she had suffered from the strange phenomenon that caused people to forget her existence.
Now, just like that—
The problem was gone.
It felt almost unreal.
Izumi nodded casually.
Then he produced a black card and handed it to her.
"Here."
"Consider this compensation."
"There's two million points loaded onto it."
"Use it to strengthen yourself."
He looked her up and down.
"Hmm."
"You'd probably make a pretty good Assassin."
"Your talents are suited for that sort of thing."
Then another thought occurred to him.
"Oh, right."
"If I get the chance, I'll introduce you to someone."
"She's had similar problems before."
"People used to overlook her all the time too."
Megumi Kato immediately came to mind.
Although her situation wasn't nearly as extreme as Mai's, there were enough similarities that they might actually get along.
Maybe.
Or maybe putting those two together would create some kind of stealth singularity.
Mai accepted the card.
"Thank you."
Izumi reached out and lightly patted her head.
Then he spoke in a joking tone.
"Also."
"Try not to break into other people's homes from now on."
"Otherwise someone might catch you and make you have their babies."
Several veins instantly appeared on Mai's forehead.
"That would never happen!"
She stared at him speechlessly.
This Creator God is seriously unreliable.
And kind of awful.
And definitely a pervert.
Unfortunately for her—
Every one of those thoughts reached Izumi perfectly clearly.
A knowing smile slowly spread across his face.
Mai immediately noticed.
And the moment she did—
Her heart skipped a beat.
...Right.
He can read my thoughts.
The panic on her face returned instantly.