“Not right now”…
which meant there might be a way in the future?
From this day forward, that person was His real father!!
In an instant, the golden bastard’s mood soared.
The cold sun of the Supreme Heaven blazed with searing warmth.
Oh, glorious fortune!
Today I’ve found a real father!
A true patron!!
If His rear end weren’t busy keeping the Warp contained, He’d have stood up and sung an aria, calling His unfilial sons out to celebrate.
He wondered how humanity fared in other worlds, though.
Were they tormented by the Warp too?
Perhaps, somewhere in the endless worlds, there existed a world where humanity was truly great?
The golden bastard was eager to find out.
[Old Man: By the way, good son — you still remember the entertainment and cultural works from the 3K era, right?
Light novels, girl band songs, that sort of thing?]
[I Am Not A God: I remember.
What’s up, Dad?]
The golden bastard replied instantly.
After all, He was stuck on the Golden Throne, unable to move a muscle.
His only entertainment was browsing this clearly brand-new forum.
He’d originally hoped to sweet-talk a few people into finding out how humanity in other universes was doing.
But this goddamn forum charged points for cross-world travel.
If He could move, a little fate-perturbation to earn points would’ve been trivial — a single word from Him would do it.
But now…
it was despairing.
He was broke.
And so was everyone else.
[Old Man: In the spirit of mutual aid, let’s help Sakiko out.]
The Dimensional Forum was a good tool.
Honestly, the moment Ryo saw it, he’d already claimed it as his own.
It was his golden finger.
Why shouldn’t it be his?
And since it was his, turning this forum into a peaceful, friendly, mutually supportive community was only natural.
No problem at all!
Besides, a peace-loving person was far more likely to attract talent than a warmongering lunatic.
[I Am Not A God: ????]
[I Am Not A God: !!!!]
[Old Man: Haki-Emperor, don’t you want to see a 3K-era human girl band in a world without the Warp!!]
The words “without the Warp” hit the golden bastard hard.
He genuinely wanted to see what that world was like.
Girl idols?
He’d played that role before!!
Meanwhile, on the way to find lodging, Ryo multitasked by browsing the forum, checking if anyone interesting had joined.
Unfortunately, the active users were still just the same few people.
The forum’s invitation efficiency clearly wasn’t high.
Then Ryo noticed something — a new help request post.
[Help Request: Running out of medicine in the Underworld.
Can anyone help?
Any price is acceptable.
— Requested by: Welder from the Underworld.]
That ID…
Ryo’s brow furrowed.
Something about this wasn’t simple.
Underworld.
Welder.
Running out of medicine…
Individually, each term was ordinary enough.
But all three together?
There was a very familiar world in Ryo’s memory.
So, on a hunch, Ryo sent a tentative message.
[Old Man: You there?
Where are you?
How can I send support?]
At that very moment, on the planet Jarilo-VI, in the Underworld of Belobog, inside Natasha’s clinic—
A dim, run-down clinic.
Geothermal heaters glowed with warm amber light along the walls, providing just enough warmth to keep the place livable.
Inside, several nurses bustled about, tending to a dozen injured miners with bloodied bandages.
A spirited girl with deep blue hair, wearing a combat suit with butterfly-like accents, stared nervously at the forum reply.
She hadn’t believed in this “Dimensional Forum” at first.
But it had appeared in her mind out of nowhere.
She’d gone to Natasha for a checkup — nothing wrong.
Natasha’s advice had been to treat it as a hallucination caused by Fragmentum influence.
Just ignore it.
But the forum didn’t seem fake. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
She’d even chatted with a girl named Togawa Sakiko on it.
That girl was poor, in debt, working part-time jobs to get by — and yet that kind of life was wealth beyond Seele’s imagination.
Sakiko had apologized for being unable to help.
And now, because of Seele’s mistake, Fragmentum contamination had spiraled out of control.
Several powerful Fragmentum creatures had attacked miners in the middle of their shift.
She’d arrived quickly, but many miners were already badly injured.
Worse, Natasha’s clinic didn’t have enough medicine.
The supplies sent from the Overworld had been getting thinner and thinner.
This sudden influx of injured patients had pushed Natasha’s small clinic past its limits.
Medicine was running critically low.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Seele.
It’s not entirely your fault.”
Natasha, just finished with surgery, gently consoled Seele, who was leaning against the wall, clearly still blaming herself.
“I’ve sent Luka to Rivet Town to look for any medicine that might have been left behind.”
“If only I’d been faster, maybe…”
Seele couldn’t shake the guilt.
As a member of Wildfire, she knew exactly how scarce resources were in the Underworld.
And behind every injured miner was a family.
Protecting them was Wildfire’s duty.
Seele didn’t know how she could face them now.
Then she saw a reply on the forum.
Someone called [Old Man] — a kind person.
Hadn’t Sakiko also received help from him?
Right now, she had to seize every chance to make up for her mistake.
[Welder from the Underworld: We’re in the Underworld of Belobog.]
Yikes.
Ryo sucked in a breath.
Holy crap, it really is the Honkai: Star Rail world?
No, he needed to confirm.
[Old Man: Is your planet called Jarilo-VI?]
Seele paused, then turned to Natasha.
“Hey, Natasha — is our planet called Jarilo-VI?”
Natasha tilted her head, confused by the sudden question, but answered anyway:
“That’s right.
This planet is Jarilo-VI.”