"System, there won't be any problems with this world, right?"
A young man with long green hair, an androgynous face, and a white lab coat asked in an attractive, magnetic voice.
["There won't be any problems, Host! What happened in the previous world was just a minor accident! I guarantee there won't be any problems this time. This really is just an ordinary slice-of-life world!"]
"That's exactly what you said about the last world."
"Then, out of nowhere, some passing-through Kamen Rider with a camera hanging around his neck showed up and kicked me to pieces."
"If I hadn't already transformed my life-form from human into a viral organism, if the Blacklight Virus didn't have such ridiculous survivability, and if I hadn't deliberately scattered pieces of my flesh around as resurrection material, I would already be reporting to Hell."
The young man spoke with a helpless expression.
His System had also claimed that the previous world was merely an ordinary slice-of-life setting.
He had even observed it for several days and confirmed that the events unfolding there really did resemble the ordinary romantic comedy of Saekano.
So he had begun spreading his virus without restraint.
At first, everything went extremely well.
He was on the verge of infecting and killing every living creature on the planet, then using the life of an entire world to strengthen himself, when a man suddenly walked out of humanity's final surviving stronghold.
The man wore a suit, had an extremely peculiar hairstyle, and carried a pink camera around his neck.
That passing-through Kamen Rider muttered something about apparently having taken a wrong turn.
Then he immediately transformed.
The result was obvious.
Under the young man's despairing gaze, twenty Kamen Riders appeared and kicked him to pieces, successfully saving the world in the process.
Before dying, the young man had demanded to know where all those Riders had come from when Kamen Riders did not even exist in that world.
"When the world needs heroes, Kamen Riders will naturally appear."
That had been the Riders' explanation.
["Apparently, some world suddenly produced a Kamen Rider for reasons nobody understands, which attracted the attention of the Rider multiverse."]
["That wandering menace was heading over there to investigate, but the place was apparently too far away, so he got lost halfway and somehow ended up in our world."]
That had been the System's explanation.
"If I hadn't deliberately separated some of my flesh into independent bodies, I really would have died there."
"System, are you actually reliable?"
"Don't tell me that instead of Kamen Riders, Ultramen or a Super Sentai team will show up this time. If that happens, I'm really finished."
["Relax, Host. This time is absolutely safe."]
["I specifically chose a world outside the reach of the Kamen Rider multiverse."]
["This genuinely is just an ordinary slice-of-life world!"]
["At most, it contains a few vague phenomena that resemble superpowers, the kind you sometimes see in romantic comedies. There really isn't anything especially unusual here!"]
Listening to his System swear with such confidence, the young man could only nod doubtfully.
In the end, he decided to lie low for half a month and observe the situation first.
"What slice-of-life world is this?"
["Shikan."]
The young man, who had been preparing to visit a nearby restaurant and buy a few things, froze on the spot.
Then he suddenly whipped his head around.
He knew there was nobody behind him, but he needed the movement to properly express his shock and disbelief toward the System.
"Bro, you call this a slice-of-life world?!"
"Have you played so many visual novels that your brain stopped working?!"
["Those beings are certainly powerful from an ordinary person's perspective."]
["But for you, a Fourth Rank devouring-type powerhouse, they really aren't that impressive."]
["If you eat all of them, your strength should improve considerably."]
"The original story doesn't really show their combat capabilities very clearly, but judging from everything else, they should still be quite powerful."
"Don't get me killed."
["Relax."]
["The exact reason I brought you here is because this world is filled with despair and suffering."]
["That way, I can guarantee that those so-called heroes won't suddenly appear, right?"]
["After all, according to the original story, nobody ever comes to save this world."]
"No wonder you sounded so confident."
"All right. I understand."
The young man nodded.
Then he looked at the ordinary people who were still living their peaceful daily lives and decided that he should first collect this world's three famous games.
Once everything descended into chaos, it would be a terrible waste if they were destroyed.
For him, beautiful women and other pleasures had already lost their novelty back when he was still at the First and Second Ranks.
At this point, only games could provide him with enough stimulation and relaxation.
As for good food, that was merely entertainment.
"If I remember correctly, in the original story, those higher races capable of crossing worlds or universes to reach Earth each possessed bodies that were practically immortal."
"They had incredibly powerful physiques, could manipulate elements, interfere with the environment, and could even grant immortality to others."
"If I obtain the flesh of creatures that are naturally this powerful, my evolutionary progress should skyrocket."
"I just don't know whether I'll be able to evolve their elemental manipulation abilities as well."
["Why not aim higher and imagine yourself directly gaining spatial abilities and learning how to cross worlds?"]
["After all, they can do that too."]
"Hopefully."
"That would be the best outcome."
After finishing his casual conversation with the System and accepting the same kind of mission as usual, destroy the world and devour every living creature within it, the young man went to a game store.
While he was buying games, the System suddenly spoke beside his ear.
["Hm?"]
["Something just used a System-level detection method to scan my location."]
["What's going on?"]
"What, did one of your enemies from school finally come looking for you?"
["That shouldn't be possible."]
["I don't have any Systems at school that I'm on particularly bad terms with."]
["Besides, we should be among the fastest in this assessment. You're already at the Fourth Rank."]
["I don't think anyone should be significantly ahead of us. At most, someone else might be around the same level."]
["And if we're equally matched, the benefits from fighting each other wouldn't even be especially high."]
["So why would someone bother locating me?"]
"Eh, whatever."
"The world you chose is already horrifying enough."
"One more transmigrator won't make much difference."
"We can even let that System's Host test the strength of those higher races for us."
The young man spoke leisurely.
His direct combat ability might not have been outrageously powerful, but his survivability was absolutely exceptional.
The moment he arrived in this world, he had already released enormous quantities of his cells and flesh into the water supply.
Those cells and tissues continuously divided, consumed surrounding nutrients, and rapidly expanded before spreading throughout the world.
Before long, pieces of flesh capable of resurrecting him would exist everywhere on the planet.
Under those circumstances, killing him through ordinary physical means was practically impossible.
Unless someone could directly erase his existence or concept, he was almost impossible to truly kill.
In that respect, he already stood in an almost unbeatable position.
...
["Host, I found it."]
The System's voice sounded beside Caelus's ear.
["Target locked."]
["Beginning the jump!"]
Caelus stood beside the window, watching the stars rapidly retreat until they stretched into brilliant lines.
A new world awaited him.
He had arrived.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)