Chapter 47: Where the stars finally arrive

“…Ugh.”

A faint groan escaped through my teeth. The direct sunlight was so intense that my eyes began to burn from the brightness.

I raised a loosely clenched hand to my eyelids and rubbed them repeatedly, trying to alleviate the discomfort.

However, my eyes couldn’t adjust to the merciless sunlight.

Finally, I lowered my arm and stopped trying. After all, with enough time, I would adapt. My impatience had led me to act rashly.

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs, and exhaled forcefully.

The tension accumulated in my chest eased slightly.

Immediately, I began to expand my senses, excluding sight.

An unsettling silence crept into my ears. No matter how quiet a place might be, the sound of insects or the wind should at least be present.

But not here. I couldn’t hear anything. It was as if someone had forcibly sealed my ears.

I extended my fingers and moved them through the air. I couldn’t even feel the faint resistance of a gentle breeze.

It was like a scene from a movie—a character adrift in the depths of the ocean.

That oppressive weightlessness crushed me, as if the very sensation of being alive was fading. A shiver ran through my body.

I half-opened my eyes, but a sharp pain shot through my eyeballs.

Cursing softly, I squeezed them shut again.

With my eyes closed, I tried to calmly analyze the situation.

‘Where am I?’

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t remember how I had ended up in this strange place.

It was an unfamiliar feeling—peculiar, yet eerily familiar.

After mulling it over for a while, I started to piece together what was happening.

Lost sensations. A lack of logic in how I arrived here. There was only one plausible explanation.

This is a dream.

As soon as I realized I was dreaming, my eyes began to open slowly, as if of their own accord.

Soon, my blurred vision began to focus.

“Is this… a lucid dream?”

I murmured to myself. My voice echoed softly, confirming I could hear it. Swallowing hard, I tried to steady the strange sensation overtaking me.

I fully opened my eyes, and what I saw left me speechless.

An infinite black canvas, speckled with stars that resembled grains of sand on a white beach, and a sun burning with unparalleled intensity.

I scanned my gaze across a vast celestial expanse, where glowing rivers of the Milky Way stretched out.

It was as though a sword had pierced the universe itself.

“Space… am I in space?”

Yes. In this dream, I drifted aimlessly through the immense vastness of the cosmos.

Instinctively, I tried to regulate my breathing. Fortunately, I could inhale and exhale normally.

It felt so real that, for a moment, I forgot I was dreaming.

Letting out a nervous laugh, I looked around.

If a sunset could exist in space, perhaps it would look like this. Soft multicolored glimmers sparkled through the cracks of the dark void, like scars painted across the cosmos.

Despite its surreal appearance, everything felt natural. In awe, I allowed myself to float in the weightlessness of space.

There was something addictive about this unrestricted sensation of drifting.

Then, a realization struck me: how long had it been since I’d last dreamed? Perhaps six months, maybe more than a year.

And now, after so long, I was having this incredibly vivid lucid dream.

As I pondered, something unexpected happened.

Swish⎯

“⎯⎯!”

The scattered stars in the universe began to move rapidly, swirling around me.

Even with my confidence in my senses, it was impossible to follow them with my eyes.

Their speed was overwhelming.

Finally, the stars found their places and stopped, aligning with precision.

I opened my eyes completely, stunned.

As I stared intently, I confirmed what I was seeing—a collection of words formed by the stars.

My mouth hung slightly open in astonishment. I focused on the text the stars had written before me.

[‘GM’ requests a conversation with you. Accept? ☞(Y/N)]

The words shone clearly in my vision. It resembled a system message, similar to those displayed in Miracle Blessing M.

I stared at the text for a few seconds, utterly bewildered, before nodding.

As soon as I did, the stars began to shift again, rearranging themselves.

(Y/N)
▲

Ssss—

[You have accepted ‘GM’s conversation request.]

[‘GM’ is interfering with the World Line ◎●○●○●●○○●●○○○●.]

“World Line? What does that even mean?”

The words and symbols were puzzling. Who was ‘GM’? What was this World Line and those strange codes?

For some reason, the dream felt too real. A chill ran down my spine at the thought.

Boooooooooooooooooom⎯

A deafening rumble shook the space, causing the stars to tremble.

Something was shaking the entire universe.

My body, as though bound by invisible chains, became immobilized.

It felt like everything was freezing from my feet to my throat.

[The opponent’s level is too high.]

[Your level is too low.]

[You do not meet the conditions to be recognized as 【???】.]

A series of messages echoed in my head.

It was as if an endless reverberation pounded in my ears, disorienting me.

[Do you wish to proceed anyway? ☞(Y/N)]

The words formed by the stars etched themselves into my retinas as though carved there.

I stared at the message intently.

In that moment, I realized this wasn’t just a dream. Perhaps, it was even the reason I had been drawn into this world.

Or, at the very least, it was connected to the clue leading to my “Blessing of the God of the Sword.”

That was the only plausible explanation.

Meanwhile, the resonance of the universe grew stronger. With great effort, I managed to move my stiffening neck and nodded.

(Y/N)
▲

Shortly after.

[‘GM’ has confirmed your intent.]

[‘GM’ is using a restrictive force to establish contact.]

[Initiating adjustment and total transformation of the World Line – Code ◎●○●○●●○○●●○○○●.]

Shiiiiiiiiing⎯

Suddenly, the black universe filling my vision began to crack with a thunderous sound.

Fragments of space began to crumble like grains of sand.

Red lines appeared, streaking through the desolate void. They were unmistakable—the same ones that always emerged when my blessing manifested.

Following those lines, countless constellations, stars, and even space itself were cut with precision. I watched the scene in awe.

‘…What’s happening?’

The stars scattered like dust as the boundary between the sublime and the terrifying blurred.

It wasn’t a metaphor. The sky and the earth were literally being rewritten. I felt déjà vu. It reminded me of the day I was admitted to the academy when my “Blessing of the God of the Sword” first manifested.

Among the disordered fragments floating around, a dazzling light began to shine, too intense to look at directly. I fixed my gaze on it.

An irrational certainty gripped me—I had to know what it was, no matter what.

Then, the vibrations of the universe surged uncontrollably, and an overwhelming wave of awareness crashed over me.

“Hey! Wake up!”

A voice suddenly echoed in my ears, cutting through everything.

Who was it? I didn’t know. But the voice felt familiar.

I felt a hand shaking my shoulder.

[Due to external interference, ‘GM’ will postpone contact for later.]

[‘GM’ attempts to tell you something.]

The scene before me began to darken.

I reached out, trying to grab something, as words made of stars formed between my fingers.

[Cleave and sever.]

An irresistible force pulled me backward, tearing me away from everything.

[Whatever it is.]

Those were the final words before darkness enveloped me completely.

Flash!

+++

… … … …

… … …

… …

…

…

《May the blessing of the gods be with you》

…

… …

… … …

… … … …

+++

“Hey! Kang Geom-Ma! Wake up!”

I opened my eyes to see Ryozo gripping my shoulders, shaking me violently.

She was doing it so roughly that I started feeling nauseous, something that had never happened to me before.

Slowly, I sat up, holding my dizzy head.

In the distance, the sunset danced on the horizon, its light diffused and gentle.

“And weren’t you the one who always scolds me for sleeping too much? Look at you, taking a glorious nap, huh.”

Ryozo mumbled, her tone grumbling and her expression slightly annoyed. However, my ears were still ringing, and I couldn’t quite catch her words clearly.

“If I hadn’t woken you up, you’d have attended tomorrow’s class from right here.”

“…”

“Here.”

She pulled out some tissues from her pocket and handed them to me. I rubbed my face to shake off the sleep and took them from her hand.

“Isn’t it normal for people to drool when they sleep? But you? You’re crying instead.”

Just as she said, something wet was running down my cheeks. I quickly wiped it away with the tissues while Ryozo watched me with a concerned expression.

“What’s this? Did you have a sad dream or something?”

“…I guess.”

It was embarrassing enough that she had caught me napping.

But finding me crying as well? I had no idea why tears had been falling.

Scratching my chin awkwardly, I tried to recall the dream. I was sure I had dreamed about something.

But the harder I tried to remember, the more it slipped away.

Those images, which had seemed so vivid at first, disappeared like a mirage.

“I know I dreamed about something… but I can’t remember. Thanks for waking me up, though.”

“Of course. Dreams are just a result of hormonal secretion in the brain that the hippocampus fails to store⎯”

Ryozo began explaining some scientific terms that I had no interest in. I let her words go in one ear and out the other.

When she noticed my lack of interest, she pouted and pulled something out of her pocket.

Of course, it was a yokan.

“Hurry up. We’ve only got 30 minutes before the teachers’ building closes.”

“It’s that late already?”

“You fell asleep for twenty minutes after class ended.”

“…”

She, who spends all of class sleeping, had the nerve to lecture me. I couldn’t help but shake my head in disbelief.

“Anyway, get moving. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Without giving me room to argue, Ryozo tried to pull me up as she gathered the books I’d left on the desk. However, a question crossed my mind.

“By the way, why are you still here this late?”

“…”

Her eyes started darting nervously, and after a pause, she mumbled awkwardly.

“Well… obviously, I stayed back to wake you up.”

Her behavior was way too strange, even for her. I set my bag back down on the floor and sat back, staring at her with suspicion.

Ryozo, visibly flustered, mumbled something before finally stammering out her confession in a shaky voice:

“I was curious! Rachel mentioned… you know, that guys… well, have certain physiological reactions when they wake up. I just wanted to confirm it… for academic curiosity, of course.”

What kind of damn academy has more women than men… I took a deep breath and cut her off in the middle of her excuses.

“Hey.”

“Yeah? Hic!”

Her sudden nervousness made her hiccup mid-bite of her yokan. Seeing her face flush red, I couldn’t help but look at her with disapproval.

⎯Hic.

The sound echoed through the empty classroom.

Ryozo, mortified, tried unsuccessfully to stop her hiccups until she finally mumbled something unintelligible and hurriedly rushed out of the room.

Once I was sure she was gone, I looked down with a blank expression.

“…”

I stuffed both hands into my pockets and turned toward the window.

For some reason, the sunset seemed particularly bright that day.