"Because Tim changed too much."

...

I stare at the angel, awaiting his response.

But unlike before, he doesn't say anything for a little while, as if waiting for something.

"...and...because...he didn't even love her...?"

"Correct."

...

Finally...

Seriously, this took way too long.

And I still don't even understand why that's the answer.

That thing called love just feels like something messing with people's thoughts.

What's so good about it?

"Second question..."

"How many creatures in this world are level five thousand or higher?"

...level five thousand?

Well, I am, so that's at least one.

Other than that, I remember a couple of stories about some big monsters.

But they were all vague and I don't think they ever mentioned any levels.

Could I be the only one?

"One."

"Wrong."

Well, I expected that...

But, in that case, how many is it?

The angel turned around and walked away like always.

I did the same and went to the spot where I stopped reading to search for the answer.

|= ??? =|

It's a little irritating.

All of these books about some big scary monsters never mention their level.

I can only guess if they are over five thousand or not...

There could also be much smaller ones who got to that level like me.

Hmm...

Right now, I see three possible ones besides me.

West of the Armundis kingdom deep in the oceans supposedly resides a giant monster.

But I cannot be sure if it still exists.

Some books mention 'the horror being gone'.

Though, none actually brought up anything about its death.

It's not certain at all...

The second one is...

The continent where Armundis and Nerimbick kingdoms lie.

Supposedly, it's the continent itself.

Beneath the ground sleeps a colossal monster.

It sounds a little ridiculous, but I think I have encountered something similar in the past...

And the last one...

Is a human...or so she looked like, at least.

A girl with silvery hair and wearing a white dress.

All stories containing this character are extremely exaggerated.

Even more so than any other monster's stories.

They all say the same thing.

'With a wave of her hand, all of her foes were gone in an instant.'

I really thought it was just some crazy fiction at first.

But with so many stories about her, they must have at least been inspired by something similar.

All of them are doubtful whether they are over five thousand or not and that's what irks me the most.

I feel like it's better to just keep guessing some number every hour.

But every time I guess wrongly, the angel walks behind a bookshelf and disappears.

He vanishes even when I try to follow him.

For one hour, it's like he doesn't even exist.

And when one hour is up, he reappears somewhere else in the library.

That means I have to search for him.

And it just feels like I'm wasting time looking for him when I don't even know the right answer.

|= ??? =|

"Seven."

"Correct."

...looks like guessing was the way to go.

It wasn't really possible to do for the first question, but this one required a number.

But anyway...seven including me, huh?

"Final question..."

"How old are you?"

...

How...

What?

My age?

That's...

I don't know...

How old am I?

And...wait...does he mean my total age with all the resetting?

Or the age of my body...?

I don't remember either one too well...

"...fifteen years?"

"Wrong."

I tried to guess my body's age, but either I guessed incorrectly or he meant my total age.

But what is this...it kind of annoys me that he knows something about me that I don't.

The angel once again turns around and leaves.

...but wait.

How am I supposed to deduce my own age from the books here?

I'm pretty sure nobody wrote books about me...right?

So do I just have to guess again?

...but that will take way longer this time...since it's bound to be way higher than seven.

Ugh...

|= ??? =|

I decided to read some of the other books, even though they probably won't have the answer.

It's additional information, that I could use elsewhere.

And indeed, I ended up finding a lot of other interesting ones.

'I miss the modern world'

This is yet another book about someone who reincarnated into this world.

I got used to those by now.

They often describe their bewilderment and confusion.

And then, they just talk about all the success in their new life.

But this book is very different.

Instead of focusing on this new world, it describes the previous one.

And...it's really something I wouldn't expect.

In that world, they apparently don't use carriages drawn by horses, but large metal machines that just move on their own.

They even have flying versions of these things.

Fighting in that world is at its minimum.

And the strangest thing is...that world doesn't contain any mana.

There is no magic.

All of these machines are made from complex technologies without the use of any spells.

It's...mind blowing.

But not all that much.

After all, I knew there were worlds without magic.

Someone told me after all.

...wait, who told me?

Or did I read it in some of these books earlier?

No, I'm sure someone told me about this.

But I can't remember who...

Hmm...whatever.

|= ??? =|

I stand on the edge of the mountain looking down below.

Through the clouds, I spot the expansive forest.

I press a nail against my left knee before cutting it.

Some blood pours out of the wound.

[Blood flow]

My blood gradually forms an extremely complex pattern on the blank papers in front of me.

Even more complex than the one for armageddon.

I then start pouring mana into the formation.

Fire and dark, just like I would for other hell spells.

But this time, it's in a much higher quantity.

As my surroundings rumble and the ground under me starts cracking, I finally decide to release the spell.

With the remaining bits of my strength I push the spell away from me and toward the forest.

[Apocalypse]

The blast launches me back toward the temple as the ear shattering sound surges through the air.

I somehow manage to stand up and slowly limp over to the mountain's side again.

And what I see...darkness.

All clouds that used to block the view were now all dispersed.

Down, where there used to be a forest, is just a giant sea of black flames.

As I try to look further into the distance, I actually spot the spell still eating through the forest.

But in a few minutes, all I can see is black flames no matter how far I look.

...

I don't think I will ever need to actually use this.

It's just excessive...

Status screen: open.

Name: Reiza

Gender: Female

Race: Cataclysmic wolfman (prodigy)

Status: Curious

Level: 5000

Health: 121624/137941

Mana: 1521/1131578

Vitality: 912

Strength: 1141

Intelligence: 9843

Stamina: 1172

Speed: 1794

From full to almost no mana at all.

Looks like this is my new most powerful attack.

But again...I don't want to be using this unless I really have to.

With that, I pulled out a sword and sliced at my throat.

[Phantom cut]

|= ??? =|

"One thousand forty-two"

"Wrong."

One by one I've been guessing numbers and I'm already over a thousand.

He still didn't say it's correct, though.

Just how old am I?

I didn't think it would be that much...

The beastman encyclopedia mentioned the average lifespan to be around fifty years or so.

I must have spent a really long time in that dungeon...and here too.

|= ??? =|

...a war?

A war...between black wolfman tribe...and nouria foxman tribe...

It makes me angry, but I don't even remember why.

I must have been involved in this war.

After all, I evolved from a black wolfman, right?

...

Shit, I know this is important.

And yet, I can't remember anything relevant.

Why is my memory so bad?

Dammit...

With the lingering uneasiness, I resume reading this thing titled 'Renar's war records'.

|= ??? =|

I keep finding more and more books about that 'human girl'.

The one who supposedly makes things disappear on a whim.

All books state, that she was last seen entering a big city.

And then, that night, the city was erased from the map.

The girl disappeared along with the city.

Every book I read theorizes about her own magic going out of control and making her self-destruct.

Except this one...

'It's still alive'

Written from first person perspective, the person who wrote this encountered the girl after the city was wiped.

It describes her to seem like the incarnation of death itself.

Blood lust was just oozing out of her.

With her eyes creepily wide open, even some veins were made visible.

And her mouth wasn't even fully closed.

The writer describes fainting in her presence, but being woken up right away by the same blood lust.

Death was imminent...is what he thought.

But for some reason, she only glanced at him before continuing walking.

So she isn't dead yet...

But it still sounds really exaggerated...

I mean, erasing a big city in one night?

Sure, I can probably also destroy a city now...but in her case, the city disappeared without a trace.

There were no ruins or anything.

It's just strange.

Well anyway, I feel that if those stories are true, I don't want to meet her.

I consider myself quite powerful, but someone like that will surely cause a lot of problems.

|= ??? =|

"One thousand six hundred ninety-five"

"Correct."

As he says wrong agai-

Wait what?

"Congratulations, you have passed this trial."

As he says that, everything around me starts glowing.

I start falling again and in just a moment, I reappear in front of the chalice.

The 'patience' door starts cracking and eventually crumbles, revealing a solid wall behind it.

The word 'patience' is then crossed out just like 'endurance' is.

...

I guess I did it.

It didn't exactly feel like a victory, but that doesn't matter.

But...huh...so I'm 1695 years old?

That's a lot...

And I can't even remember majority of my life...

Sigh...

Well, no matter.

Now, it's time for the middle door.

'Sinlessness', huh?

What could that be?

I step forward to find out the barrier on the middle door is gone.

With a touch of my hand, the door opens as the light envelops me.

Bonus:

Let's talk about the status screen again.

This time, the 'quests' section for now.

...this section isn't used at all among normal humanoids.

Only Gundar can assign quests into it.

Any 'quests' done by adventurers are handled through regular paperwork, never using the status screen.

"Why isn't anyone using it?!"

"All you have to do, is get a quest from me!"

Maybe that's the reason.

How would they even get a quest from you?

"Well, it's simple!

All you have to do, is to find an official shrine or a temple of mine.

There's the one in the monster nation...and then one deep underground in Nerimbick...and the last one is where the Kraken lives.

Then, you have to ask me for a quest.

And if I'm paying attention, I'll pick something simple for you.

Like...kill a hundred ember ogres or...collect fifty azure dragon horns..."

...yeah, that's the reason.

"Hmm?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ah, it's fine.

I never really expected anything better from you anyway.

"Hey!

What is that supposed to mean?!"