Even though Shichen was strong in this world, the power he had gained here was fundamentally no match for the resentment from the outer world.
This was a dimensional gap—an outright "downward-dimensional strike."
Even if his soul came from beyond this world, it still wasn't enough.
But there was still a way.
If his otherworldly soul could fuse with the will of this dimension, then he would be able to oppose the outer-world resentment.
The world's will had to stop that invasion. If it didn't, its dimension would collapse and become nothingness. And if its dimension collapsed, it couldn't survive either.
Fusing with Shichen was the only hope.
But it required time.
So they came to help—without hesitation.
Not only for their own world, but also to be with Shichen.
Yet the power of the outer world wasn't something they could handle. Takamiya Mio sacrificed herself because of it.
She was the strongest among them, but still not a match for the outer-world resentment.
Later, Shichen successfully fused with the world's will and became the god of the dimension—using his three-dimensional soul.
But the outer-world resentment was too strong; it wasn't something he could defeat immediately after fusing.
And because Mio's sacrifice enraged him beyond reason, Shichen threw everything away. He exhausted his own primal source power, sealing the outer-world resentment and assimilating with it—trying to perish together with it.
The world's will saved him, preserving a single thread of his soul.
But his primal source power shattered into countless fragments scattered across the world, leaving behind only one shard to protect Shichen's soul.
Shichen could not die. The outer-world resentment was immortal, and it needed him to keep guarding this dimension.
Since Shichen lost to it because he hadn't fully fused with the world's will, then the answer was to start over—give him enough time.
The world would reboot. The outer-world resentment would revive too. But that was fine: this time, Shichen—the outsider—would have enough time.
However, the world's will could no longer do much. It needed someone to guide Shichen.
Kato Megumi volunteered to take that role.
But becoming that kind of existence meant losing her memories and emotions—she would need the primal source fragments to restore herself.
Even so, she accepted it without hesitation.
Jeanne was a step late. She found a shard of primal source power, kept her memories, and waited for Shichen to find her and help him.
And so the world rebooted.
Megumi existed deep inside Shichen's soul, becoming an existence indifferent to everything—yet she knew what she had to do. It was a mission carved into her soul.
She didn't rush to bring Shichen back to their dimension. Instead, she let him experience more, mature more.
When the time was right, she brought him back—in the way he was most familiar with.
Step by step, starting over—but the experiences were different, and the outcome was better.
As more primal source fragments were recovered, Megumi's memories returned bit by bit, and her emotions grew richer—
until she fully recovered.
But she couldn't tell Shichen everything that had happened before. When he tried to die with the outer-world resentment, he assimilated with it—if she told him, it would trigger those memories and wake the outer-world resentment early.
It wasn't time yet.
When the time came, Shichen would naturally remember everything.
…
In the morning, Shichen woke up and opened his eyes, looking a little dazed.
After a while, he came back to himself—fully awake.
He remembered last night's dream clearly, and he understood: it wasn't a dream at all, but his previous loop.
So he hadn't guessed wrong.
He'd read plenty of stories like this—of course he could figure it out quickly.
But…
Shichen lowered his head and looked at Kato Megumi, curled up in his arms, facing him. Her sleeping face was peaceful.
Affection and tenderness rose in his expression.
For his sake, Megumi had gone that far and lost herself—an incredible thing.
Her love for him ran that deep.
Shichen didn't know if he could do the same for her—but she already had.
There was a reason he'd once loved her so much.
She deserved it.
Shichen couldn't help tightening his embrace around Megumi, though his strength was gentle.
"Mmm…" Megumi woke from his movement.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the love in Shichen's gaze.
"Hm?"
She blinked, puzzled.
"What's wrong with you this early in the morning?"
"I remembered," Shichen answered as he looked at her.
"Remembered…? Don't tell me…" Megumi's face brightened.
"Yes. Everything from before. Everything—with you, and with all of them." Shichen nodded.
"Just as I thought. I knew you'd remember around now." Megumi nodded, not surprised at all.
"You worked so hard." Shichen leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"It wasn't hard. It was all worth it." Megumi smiled softly.
"But I'm so fickle…"
"I've known that forever."
"And that still counts as 'worth it'?" Shichen asked.
"Of course. Being with you makes me happy. That's enough."
"Happiness…" Shichen murmured.
Everyone defines happiness differently. Some cherish what they have; some chase what they don't. Some are easily satisfied; some are endlessly greedy.
Whether you're happy depends entirely on how you think.
Megumi said she was happy, and Shichen didn't believe she was lying.
Maybe she'd already adapted to his fickleness, adapted to life with others.
And after all the hardship they'd lived through, now that they were reunited, some things really were too small to matter.
"Then, are you not happy?" Megumi asked.
"I'm happy," Shichen answered without hesitation.
"Ten times, a hundred times happy."
He truly was.
Being with any one of them would have made him happy—let alone being able to be with everyone he'd met.
It was a little wrong, maybe—but it was the truth.
"Then isn't that enough? If you're happy, why worry about anything else?" Megumi asked with a smile.
"No," Shichen shook his head. "That's too selfish."
A lot of people's happiness is built on someone else's pain. The heartless can ignore that, but Shichen wasn't that kind of person.
For example: could everyone really accept his fickleness?
This family looked harmonious and warm, but who knew if someone was suppressing their true feelings?
What they chose, what they sacrificed.
He liked them—he loved them—so of course he cared about them.
"And what if it's selfish?" Megumi asked calmly.
"Huh?" Shichen stared at her.
"Shichen—so long as you're happy, nothing else matters." Megumi cupped his face, her tone serious.
"You're really…"
"That's how I feel. Your matters come first. Always."
"…I don't even know if I should be happy or not." Shichen gave a bitter laugh.
Megumi's private devotion to him seemed beyond saving.
Even so—he was happy.
"I care about you this much. Don't you like it?"
"I do, I do… but…"
"Then that's enough. Don't get tangled up in extra emotions—just focus on what makes you happy."
"But…"
"With me here, nothing's a problem. People or things—I'll handle them all for you." Megumi said it with fierce confidence.
"So you really want me living off you?"
"What's wrong with that? You gave so much before. Now it's my turn."
Back when she'd lost Shichen, Megumi felt like the sky had fallen. Nothing mattered anymore.
Now that she finally had another chance, there was no way she'd let that happen again.
She only needed Shichen to be safe. She only needed him to be happy.
"But the outer-world resentment… only I can deal with it, right?"
"That's true. But I can help you now too." Megumi grinned.
"How?"
"Don't forget—I've been with you the whole time. My soul isn't just from this dimension anymore."
"So that's how it is…"
"So this time, we can fight the outer-world resentment together—before it fully takes shape, we deal with it first."
"When?"
"Right now."
"Now?"
"Your memories have returned, so it's about to wake up too. We have to act fast—kill it while it hasn't formed yet."
"But my primal source power…"
"Half is enough. You're not alone this time—you have me."
"You've gotten so reliable, Megumi." Shichen laughed.
"I had to. I don't want to go through that again. I want our future—peaceful and safe." Megumi clenched her small fist.
"Got it. Then… husband and wife as one?"
"Then we can cut through metal!"
They looked at each other and laughed.
The moment Shichen regained his memories, the two of them were in perfect sync.
"By the way—there's no need to rush this very second, right?" Shichen suddenly asked.
"It's not that urgent, you—mmph!"
Megumi didn't even finish her sentence before Shichen kissed her.
~~~
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