My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! - Volume 5 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 — Interlude: They’re Somewhat Lacking in Communication Skills 

When Haruto Ootori awoke, he found himself floating in some sort of solution. His first reaction was to panic and swim up towards the surface, but he immediately hit the ceiling. He was in an airtight space, filled entirely with liquid. 

Haruto was quickly gripped by an overpowering fear of drowning, but as time passed, he realized that he wasn’t suffocating. Thinking about it, he realized that if he had been sleeping in this liquid, it obviously wasn’t a danger to him. 

Calming down, he took in his situation. He was in some sort of transparent, cylindrical tube. Looking out from his enclosure, he saw numerous other tubes. A glance down at himself told him that he was naked and, more importantly, uninjured. 

He should have been covered in wounds. His entire body had been charred and on the edge of death, but he had been completely healed. Perhaps the tube was some sort of medical device. He realized then that despite not wearing his glasses, he was able to see everything around him clearly. Haruto suffered from extreme shortsightedness, but that had clearly been healed as well. 

What is going on? 

Struggling pointlessly wouldn’t help him, so he tried to remember what had brought him there. Luckily, as a Consultant, he had the Problem Resolution skill—the power to access all records of what had happened in this world and identify any information he desired. Learning what had been done to him should have been easy. 

In the middle of his class’s battle royale in the Underworld, some sort of flesh had begun to pour out from the depths below them. Haruto had avoided it with his natural ability to fly—he was a type of beastkin that mixed human traits with those of birds. Realizing that something was wrong, he had flown up into the air and attempted to flee the Underworld. Upon nearing the surface, he’d been caught up in something that had injured him severely, after which his memories were vague. And that was where his Gift would come into play. 

But when he went to use the Problem Resolution skill, he became confused. The system menu was gone. 

No way. Was that removed during the healing process? 

The ability he had come to fully rely on was missing. He was overcome by an anxiety the likes of which he had never felt before. 

With a gurgle, the liquid in his tube began to drain. As he was lowered to the bottom of the container, he landed on his feet and then dropped to his knees. The muscles in his legs were weak, so he had difficulty standing. 

Once the liquid had fully drained, the tube lifted up and away from him. 

So I’m free to go? 

Struggling to his feet, Haruto began to walk unsteadily. 

“So you’ve finally awoken, Haruto Ootori.” 

Having appeared out of nowhere, a slender man in a black suit was suddenly standing before him. When Haruto tried to reply, he instead vomited the liquid that was still sitting in his lungs. 

“Please don’t push yourself. We really don’t need to use words in the first place, but after all the effort I went through to learn Japanese, I wanted to try speaking it.” 

“May I ask who you are?” Haruto replied, trying to sound polite. With no idea what his current situation was, he decided it was best to be careful. 

“I’m a god. My personal name is Zakuro. At least, that’s the closest word I can find that matches your language’s linguistic structure. I’m not trying to play myself off as some higher being or look down on you or anything. You can just think of me as someone who’s very powerful. That’s the best way to look at it.” 

In spite of the stranger’s words, it wasn’t easy to believe that he was a god. The man looked like nothing more than a human male, and there were no obvious signs of him being particularly powerful either. 

“Where are we?” 

“This is my ship. We’re currently traveling through subspace.” 

“Why am I here?” 

“My subordinates brought you. You were suffering from some fairly bad burns, to the point where it didn’t look like you were going to make it, so I healed you.” 

It seemed like the stranger had saved him, but Haruto couldn’t figure out why someone calling himself a god would bother to help. 

“Don’t overthink it,” Zakuro said as if answering his suspicions. “Someone was about to die, and I had the ability to save them without much cost to myself, so why shouldn’t I?” 

Haruto decided to accept the explanation for the time being. Of course, if he had been saved on a whim, he could be thrown away just as easily. He would need to be on guard against that. 

“What will happen to me now?” 

“I don’t mean to act as if you owe me anything, but could you help me? My subordinates haven’t been very useful, so I’ve been having a bit of trouble lately.” 

“I’m not sure what I could possibly do for you.” 

“My subordinates are somewhat lacking in communication skills. They’re just not very good at searching for things.” 

“You’re asking me to look for something?” 

“The version of Battle Song that was installed in you was an older one, with some original modifications done to it.” He must have inspected Haruto quite thoroughly. That would explain how he had known his name as well. “The version you had was close to the version that was given out when our lord went missing. There’s a possibility that our lord is the one who first brought Battle Song to this world. I guess that’s a bit of a stretch, but either way, I’d like you to look into it.” 

“Are you unable to do it yourself? You seem more than able to communicate.” 

“I’d love to, but if I go there, I’ll have a strong effect on that world, so it’s not that easy. If I do end up going, it’ll only be after I’m absolutely sure that I’ll find what I’m looking for.” If neither he nor his subordinates could go, sending Haruto made sense as the next best option. 

“Is this lord the person you would like me to find?” 

“Yes, but I can’t tell you anything more unless you agree to work with me. Feel free to take your time and think about it. For now, I’ll send you back to where we picked you up.” 

Haruto was surprised. After Zakuro had gone through all the effort of retrieving and healing him, he hadn’t expected to have the option of refusing. 

“I’m a bit of a stickler when it comes to free will,” Zakuro explained. “Forcing people to do things is too much work. Thanks to that rule, I won’t even force my subordinates to learn the language of this world.” He tossed something to Haruto, who snatched it out of the air. It looked like a small pill. “Sorry, but the modified Battle Song you had inside you was detected as a virus by the healing system and subsequently erased. This is a replacement. If you swallow that, it’ll install the newest version of the client.” 

Once again, he seemed to be leaving the decision to Haruto. 

“After you’ve had some time to calm down, I’ll send my subordinates to get you. Please let me know your answer then.” 

The man promptly disappeared along with the floor. Everything around him vanished in an instant, and suddenly Haruto was accelerating at a terrifying rate, the wind howling in his ears. He had just been thrown out into the sky. 

“Shit!” 

He manifested his wings and caught the air, managing to enter a controlled descent. Although it had taken him by surprise, he managed to catch himself before it was too late. If he had panicked, he would have crashed straight into the ground. 

Now descending slowly, he could see the capital. It was a bizarre sight. The entire city was buried under dark red meat. 

Did all that come from the Underworld? 

The flesh was motionless, so it was possible that it was dead, but regardless, it seemed the capital wouldn’t be of much use to him anymore. He decided to land in a forest near the city instead. 

“What do I do now?” 

Haruto was still naked. The only thing he had on him was the pill that Zakuro had given him. As he contemplated the issue of acquiring new clothes, he began to feel a little helpless.