Why can't humans do it too?

A huge tree, so big that even more than ten people holding hands cannot encircle it.

The canopy of just one tree made Suer think it was a forest, just like the scene described by the idiom "a single tree can form a forest".

Chapter 88 Hanekawa Tsubasa

“...It really is amazing,” Suer murmured unconsciously.

He had already convinced himself that this shrine was a place where some secret was absolutely hidden, and under this premise, anything contrary to the ordinary was suspicious.

How long has this tree been growing? Hundreds of years? Thousands of years? Or tens of thousands of years? What has it witnessed in this long period of time?

Wait, why hasn't it become a spirit yet?

Suddenly noticing this, Suer thought of his bamboo house, which had become sentient in just a few months. Even if this tree didn't have such an opportunity, it should have some spirituality after experiencing countless storms... Does it have unique abilities?

"Sir, can you see?" the girl with the braided pigtails asked curiously, turning her head to the side.

“Huh? Of course you can’t see it. I can only see the canopy of the tree in this place,” Su Er replied, waving his hand.

"Hmm, but the canopy of that tree intersects with the surrounding trees," the little girl thought, surprisingly perceptive.

"Can you imagine?" Su'er shrugged and said, "Besides the Sacred Tree, is there anything else special about it?"

"It seems there isn't any more... I'm sorry I couldn't help you." Even though she was just someone she bumped into on the street, the girl with the braided hair was apologizing, and Su Er could tell that she wasn't just putting on a show, but was genuinely sorry.

"No, no, no, there's absolutely no need to apologize for this. It's really scary," Su Er couldn't help but rub his goosebumps.

"Terrible?" Seemingly not expecting such a response to her apology, the girl with the braided hair tilted her head and asked, "Why?"

"Uh, it's really scary, isn't it?" Su Er was a little taken aback by the question. "You see, if you apologize for everything, doesn't that make your apology seem cheap? Ah, of course I don't mean your apology is cheap. Actually, I'm very grateful for your kindness... cough cough, anyway, if you apologize too often, it will make people wonder what that person is hiding."

Sue believed that there were good people in the world, the kind of good people who would feel genuinely guilty for not being able to help others, but he just couldn't adapt to it.

"Making apologies cheap? Hmm... that makes some sense, and it's not entirely incomprehensible." Even though a stranger she had just met commented on her behavior, the girl with the braided hair was surprisingly good-natured and even agreed with Su Er.

“It’s just my personal opinion, take it with a grain of salt, it may not be correct,” Suer nodded and said. “Anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to tell me, a stranger, about these things. May I ask one last question?”

In Japan, a country with rules for interpersonal interactions that are so complex they're almost obsessive, two strangers meeting for the first time shouldn't exchange opinions on how to conduct themselves in society. Of course, speaking too much with someone you don't know well is a big no-no anywhere, but whether it was because Su Er was a foreigner or because the girl with the braided hair was just unusual, the two of them talked surprisingly without any anger.

"Of course, please speak freely. If it's something I know, I will tell you everything I know," the girl said politely.

Where is the city's library?

Although there were still many questions to ask, Suer didn't want to waste any more of the kind stranger's time. Others' kindness was not a reason for him to act recklessly. He decided to get the rest of the information from the library.

He had made up his mind to leave once he got the location of the library, but what Su Er didn't expect was that this kind passerby seemed to have seen through his thoughts.

"Are you planning to take your leave and then ask someone passing by?" The girl with the braided hair asked calmly, adjusting her glasses. The large round frames didn't make her look dull; instead, they added a touch of scholarly air to her. "Wouldn't that be more troublesome?"

"..."

'Mind reading?'

Although he knew it was impossible, the thought still floated into Suer's mind. The last person to make him make this judgment was that white-haired orc.

Are you stupid?

The great Lord Nirbalian offered his comments.

"Actually, I'm on my way to the library right now. If you don't mind, I can give you a ride there," the girl with braided hair said generously, lifting her bag as a gesture.

"...Don't Japanese students have various activities after school? They're called clubs, aren't they?" Su Er paused for a moment.

"Yes, going to the library to read books is now my club activity."

"The school should have a library, right?"

"The school library has a limited collection of books, and I finished reading them all the month before last."

"So strong."

"Thank you."

Suer praised her, and the girl thanked him in return.

“Alright, then I’ll trouble you.” There was no need to dwell on this small matter, so Suer nodded readily and said, “Well, uh…”

Suddenly stuck here, Su Er realized that he hadn't asked the girl's name at first, intending to just ask her something casually.

"Hanekawa Tsubasa, just call me Hanekawa," the girl with braided pigtails said, offering her name at just the right moment and smiling as she chose a short and appropriate address for the foreign tourist.

"Hanakawa? My name is Suer, so I'll add your local custom—nice to meet you."

“This is it.”

--------------

The city wasn't considered large by Suer's standards, but the library was surprisingly grand. Tall bookshelves and layers of categorized books made it feel spacious despite the large amount of space left during construction. The library was well-organized with a wide variety of books and periodicals, making a very good first impression.

Hanekawa Tsubasa, who led the way, seemed to be a regular at this library. She greeted the librarian quite familiarly and then naturally led Sue to find a few books he wanted to read before sitting down in an empty seat by the window.

The library wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either. People sat scattered around tables with books they wanted to read, and there wasn't much noise. Perhaps influenced by this atmosphere, Hanekawa Tsubasa subconsciously softened her movements.

"...Is there anything I should be careful about?" Su Er closed the book he had just opened and looked at the girl opposite him speechlessly.

She also chose a book for herself, which, judging from the title, would fall into the category of "idle books" that her parents in her previous life would classify as such, and could be said to be completely unrelated to studying. However, Hanekawa Tsubasa directly turned to a specific page, and it seemed that she had been reading that page before.

However, she wasn't looking at them right now. The girl with the braided hair was just staring thoughtfully at the large stack of books next to Suer, lost in thought.

Chapter Eighty-Nine Planet

"I was just curious," Hanekawa Tsubasa said frankly.

"curious?"

"Excuse me," Hanekawa Tsubasa said, standing up and turning the stack of books next to Sue 180 degrees so that the names on the books could be seen in front of them: "Encyclopedia, History of Human Social Development, A Brief History of Japan, Our Earth, The Universe, Japanese Myths and Legends, The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, A Complete Collection of Human Supernatural Events..."

The names that the girl read aloud were the books that Suer had brought to the table all at once. As she read them, her eyes became increasingly strange.

"Hmm... I'm quite curious," Su Er said after a moment's thought, making up a reason on the spot.

“That’s true, being curious isn’t a bad thing,” Hanekawa Tsubasa nodded in agreement, accepting the reason, and sat back down to look at the book she had picked up.

Soon, this corner of the library was quiet except for the sound of pages rubbing together as people turned the pages.

The frequent rustling sounds drew surprised glances from several people at nearby tables who were engrossed in their books. Many even frowned – was this really reading?

Those who can calmly go to the library to read are more or less people who love books and knowledge. Suer's showy flipping through books undoubtedly aroused their disgust, but Suer didn't care about their feelings.

Our planet is a blue planet, the third planet from the Sun, and the only known celestial body capable of supporting life. Approximately 29.2% of its surface is land, consisting of continents and islands, while the remaining 70.8% is covered by water; therefore, you could also call our planet a water planet.

Xin Ke gradually read out the words that Su Er's fingers traced.

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, and its surface is covered with impact craters that may have been formed by small celestial bodies... well, it doesn't have any impact craters at all!

'It's more than just an impact crater.'

"Have humans ever landed on the moon?" Su Er abruptly slammed the encyclopedia shut and asked Hanekawa Tsubasa this question, which should be essential knowledge for students.

"Of course, on July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon and walk on it," Hanekawa Tsubasa answered the unexpected question, squinting slightly. "But before Armstrong, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin flew into space on April 12, 1961, completing the world's first manned spaceflight. He was the first human to enter space."

"...You remember the exact dates?" Su Er was speechless.

“I memorized all the books in the school library; their stories are mentioned in many of them,” Hanekawa Tsubasa replied calmly, as if unaware of the astonishing truth she had just revealed.

?

"That's really impressive. Have modern students evolved to this extent?" Su Er couldn't help but make a joke, though it wasn't funny, as his eye twitched slightly.

“Although I would love to answer yes, I have to admit that, generally speaking, people like me are rare,” Hanekawa Tsubasa looked up at Sue. “You seem confused. Have you discovered something?”

She used the word "discover".

"I... my stomach is a little upset, I need to go to the restroom first," Su Er said hastily, no longer wanting to waste time talking to this ordinary girl, and strode towards the side door.

Going to the restroom was obviously a lie; before the toilet stall was even locked, Suer's figure had already disappeared inside.

He was rushing into space, the wind he created creating a shockwave that pierced through the clouds, drawing a white line, and eventually even pierced through space itself. While alarms blared in some bases, no matter what methods were used, no trace of him could be found.

Suer has arrived in the universe.

Just a few decades ago, amidst the Cold War standoff where war seemed imminent, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin took the first step in humanity's exploration of space. Even though his existence is now being gradually erased by some, along with the country that sent him into space, its contributions, its very existence, at least at this moment, the beautiful scenery that Gagarin witnessed is now being captured by Sur.

A green belly, clouds like veils, towering mountains, a toy-sized spectacle visible even from space—this is a planet, a round planet, where ocean and land coexist.

All it took was turning his head to see the enormous star; the light, weakened by the absence of an atmosphere, made Suer's eyes feel slightly uncomfortable.

Behind him was the moon, its grayish-white surface riddled with huge circular craters carved by meteorites that had struck it over the years, and undulating craters—exactly the moon's appearance as Suer remembered it.

There are no square, bonsai-like blocks in a glass box, no incongruous water flowing from the east into the west, and no jade-like moon, flat as a box lid, radiating light from the inside out.

The feeling of living in someone else's work, where everything you see is a scene rendered by someone else, a stage built by someone else, has disappeared—a sense of security that arose inexplicably, but Suer did not indulge in it.

Where exactly did that Milky Way take him?

Are these two worlds or the same world?

Whether in that flat world or in this world like the planet in his memory, the gifts that Sull had received from his past as the only god remained unchanged. He was still connected to the world in the same way he had in the past, and his authority and abilities remained the same.

At most, it was just like what Suer felt when he first stepped out of that well: the world of the past could be moved with a gentle push, but the world of the present was like a sleeping giant that wouldn't wake up, and would only grunt twice when pushed, without even turning over.

So... did that flat, round world evolve into what it is now over a long period of time?

What exactly happened during those countless years that I have traversed?