Why can't humans do it too?

You don't need to imitate it yourself; just by looking at it, you can imagine that this huge humanoid figure was sculpted into the back of the moon in an extremely painful posture, with its two arms, stretched out to the maximum extent, twisted upwards at an incredible angle and buried in the brownish-black substance.

It seemed to be bending forward, but because its arms and legs were buried by the brownish-black substance, it was unable to do so. It could only try its best to form an arc shape. After an unknown amount of time, even the gap in its back had been filled.

A mysterious, exaggerated statue that subtly exudes its dignity, like an artistic painting, is filled with a silent religious aura that compels mortals to kneel and worship, inspiring awe.

Fortunately, Suer and Xinke are not ordinary people.

"...Can we get closer?" This eerie scene made even the daring Xin Ke hesitate, as she was more worried about Su Er's safety.

'If only that monster had come along,' Xin Ke thought with some regret.

Isn't this the perfect opportunity for the banshee to make her move?

"To be honest, I don't know either. It looks kind of creepy," Suer said, feeling a bit scared. As they observed more closely, they couldn't avoid the brownish-black substance that was clearly binding the giant humanoid figure.

They seemed to be alive, with subtle undulations and linear rays of light that glowed and faded with each breath, like spiderweb-like veins rooted in the jade disc on their backs.

Have you ever seen aerial roots of a plant?

The only difference is that if these air roots are magnified hundreds or thousands of times and twisted into irregular shapes to adhere to the object behind them, something is being drawn out of this giant humanoid body, more or less, faster or slower.

Then, amidst these heavy and slow breaths, it was transported to the jade plate behind him... Suddenly, Suer had a strange association: the moon, which all life in the Reed Plains could see every night and even during the day, radiating a bright light, was powered by this giant humanoid figure.

After all, before they had even reached the far side of the moon, Suer was quite certain that the moon beneath his feet was radiating its own light. Despite being so close, it wasn't dazzling at all, as if he were shining the moonlight on the ground of Ashihara no Naka de. This was a strange and inexplicable phenomenon.

Light attenuates as it travels, so why is the light he perceives on the surface of the moon no different from the light he perceives on Earth?

They are changing, yet they also seem static, constant as something that will not change.

No, perhaps all the previous speculations must be overturned. When Suer and Xinke cautiously approached to a closer distance, Suer suddenly discovered a fact that he had not noticed before—those brownish-black substances were not hostile; they were binding the huge humanoid figure, or even the opposite.

They are part of this giant humanoid figure.

If I had to describe it, it would be like a summer ice cream: the frozen, solid parts retain their shape, but the edges and corners have melted into a smooth, liquid substance. That's the current state of this giant humanoid figure.

The edges of its hands and feet, the corners of its body, melted, and so much brownish-black substance surged out to cover itself. What it wanted to break free from was not the restraint of others, but its own restraint.

It was built into this shape by itself.

The muffled buzzing sound in his ears hadn't dissipated yet, because it wasn't just Sul's ears that were blocked, but the entire moon—an environmental sound pervading the entire moon. Without choosing to get any closer, Sul stopped at the edge.

Whether the giant was dead or alive was unknown, but Suer could not feel any fear or disgust because of it. Although it was hard to believe that he had come to this conclusion, both he and Xin Ke felt a solemnity at this moment, without any derogatory connotation.

Suer just felt bored.

What kind of world did he come to?

Who created this world? What was their mindset? What does this world mean to them?

It's like a simulated ecosystem inside a glass box.

If we consider the smooth side of the moon as a base, then simply placing this base flat on a table... wouldn't that make a statue for viewing?

It's even quite artistic.

Suer suddenly remembered the model he and his friends built in college and the experience his teachers had taught him: as long as what is shown in front of the camera looks normal, it doesn't matter if the parts that the camera can't see are clipped or the rendering fails.

Doesn't this moon look like a sticker?

And this starry sky, could it just be a curtain painted with stars? And what's behind that curtain?

A pair of enormous eyes?

What kind of face will it be?

I couldn't help but turn around and look at the twinkling stars in the dark universe... Are they real planets? Or are they just points of light that flash periodically? They don't even need a physical body.

A carefully arranged scene.

He suddenly felt suffocated and looked around as if searching for one or more... countless beings that existed here but he couldn't detect—were they watching him?

It's like those tourists who go to the aquarium to observe the fish, while you, the 'fish', can't see through the glass to the outside world.

Should he say hello?

Or should we ask them the reason for creating all this...? Will they scoff, or will they marvel?

Suer wanted to shout, but after opening her mouth, she didn't know what sound to make, so she bit her lower lip hard instead.

For ants, even a bucket of water casually spilled by humans can be considered a world-ending flood. They cannot see the full picture of those towering giants and can only hide in awe. Or perhaps they are held in the palm of those giants, kept in glass boxes, and observed building nests and foraging for food... Cheers to their every unexpected move is the most unknown drama.

What about me?

Suer asked himself.

Chapter Seventy-Eight Speculation

No one can answer this.

Despite not being attacked, his limbs became stiff, and it felt as if countless feathers were rustling on his skin. Suer felt extremely uncomfortable.

“…Sul? Sul!”

Finally snapping out of his daze, Su Er saw Xin Ke looking at him with concern, her hands on his shoulders.

"...I'm fine...Was I attacked?" These contradictory words came out of Suer's mouth. He clenched his right fist and pounded his forehead hard, feeling real pain at the point of impact.

He wanted to say, or perhaps suspected, that the sudden surge of fear and panic he felt just moments before was due to an attack from an unknown direction, but such an excuse was utterly meaningless in terms of deceiving himself.

Nothing attacked him, nor was he affected by anything unseen—this world was fake, a box created by whatever was at random.

In that brief moment, he did indeed feel boundless fear because he realized this. There were no horrifying images or ferocious ghosts, and even the languid tranquility that had never dissipated since he arrived on the moon was still there, but Suer was deeply terrified... This tremor seeped into his very bones.

His thoughts were expanding uncontrollably, and even now, the fear had not disappeared; it had only been forcibly suppressed.

"You're injured? Where?" Xin Ke didn't know what Su Er was thinking, but all she could clearly sense was the fear and confusion that surged through the man's heart in that instant.

Holding Suer tightly in her arms, Xin Ke cautiously looked around, but couldn't find anything unusual. The huge humanoid figure, whether dead or alive, remained in its original position, and even the melted brownish-black substance didn't change at all.

"...No, let me go first, I'm not suffering from sang..." she managed to say with difficulty, her voice distorted as Xin Ke held her tightly in her arms.

"Really?"

"real."

After a moment of doubtful silence, Xin Ke loosened her grip on the arms, and Su Er, who was finally able to lift her head, heard her neck cracking.

"...Did you sense anything unusual just now? I mean, psychologically?" Su'er suddenly asked Xin Ke, slapping her cheeks hard.

"Psychological? Were you attacked in terms of will just now?" The clever Lord Nirbalian only needed one sentence to determine the reason for Sul's abnormal reaction. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, "No, my thought process has not been affected in any way until now. Of course, it may also be related to the special form of my existence."

“That’s unlikely. You exist because you depend on me. If even I am affected, you can’t be an exception,” Suer denied.

“...That’s true,” Xin Ke nodded.

Thus, the conclusion was further confirmed.

Suer had no intention of revealing everything he had thought of in that instant to Xinke. He even doubted that what he feared was something that this forest elf would not fear at all. After all, unlike him, Xinke was born into a race under the control of a god. For her, even if a stronger god created a box-like world, it would not be surprising.

Moreover, based on Suer's understanding of Xinke, even if this world were truly created by some unknown entity, it wouldn't bother Xinke at all; she would only move towards the world she wanted.

"...Why are you suddenly grinning at me like that?" Xin Ke reached out and tugged at Su Er's ear, raising an eyebrow as she asked, "Do you have any thoughts about this place?"

"Huh? Cough cough, nothing, nothing," Suer coughed twice in a serious manner. "I have some suspicion that this giant humanoid is Tsukuyomi, but I don't have any evidence. To be honest, I would rather it just lie there than suddenly sit up and introduce itself to us like this."

Because that situation might bring danger that could kill him and Xin Ke. Su Er didn't want to die, and he didn't want Xin Ke to die either. It was that simple.

He was fed up with self-destructive sacrifices. For Riku, who had a self-sacrificing personality, this might be something he could continue to do, but for Sull, once in a lifetime was enough, more than enough.

Although he wasn't particularly proud of his current power, Sul became even more cautious after witnessing the blocky land and the sticker-like moon.

"Tsukuyomi?" Xin Ke had learned a lot about this name from those monsters and Su Er, but to be honest, the total amount of information about her couldn't even reach two lines. This god was too mysterious. Basically, only her name was known to the world, and there were no deeds associated with her.

Well, perhaps the most famous story is that he/she was born with Amaterasu and Susanoo, but it's not even known whether he/she is male or female.

"If it's Tsukuyomi, then why is it trapped on the other side of the moon?" Xin Ke muttered to herself, then suddenly turned her head to look at Su Er's waist. "That's right, the magatama."

"!!!"

Suer almost forgot he had such a thing on him.

When the passage first opened, the string of jade ornaments squeezed right through his clothes. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he probably would have been lost somewhere by now. But once he got to the moon, he forgot about it for the time being because of the novel environment.

With a strange expression, he took out the string of jade pendants from his pocket. When he caught it, in order to prevent any further accidents, Su Er simply used his authority in this world to isolate it and the space around it, which is why it has been quiet until now.

Otherwise, given how this string of jade beads always jumped up whenever it was pointed at the moon, it probably wouldn't have taken until now for Suer to pull it out.

Once it actually reached the moon, it seemed to have lost its former spirituality. The string of eight-foot-long magatama floated quietly in the air. The strange thing was not the magatama itself, but the thing inside that had dyed it black.

Suer and Xinke had retreated to the furthest point they could observe. If things went well, as the jade-colored fox had said, the Yasakani no Magatama would open the gate to Takamagahara for them. Suer was quite inclined to believe the fox's (before it fell) words.

Once the door opens, they slip away as fast as they can. After that, whatever changes occur to the giant humanoid figure on the other side of the moon, it's none of their business. The grievances have their perpetrators, and the debtors can come after whoever they want.

perfect.

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Awakening

That's the plan, and in theory there shouldn't be any problems—even if something unexpected happens by chance, Suer, who has already communicated with the world, is prepared to run away.

Safe! I feel very safe right now!

As mentioned before, this string of eight-foot-long magatama was always restless and agitated when it was outside, and it would start to jump whenever it was turned toward the moon. However, when Suer actually came to the moon and released it, it became unusually calm.

What was constantly surging was the black aura contained within each magatama, no longer simply changing the color of the magatama as before. In Su'er's eyes, they seemed to have come alive, flowing out from the magatama.