The Strange Adventures of Hearn the Believer

The whiteboard quickly sank to the bottom, disappearing without a trace, just like the oddballs who had jumped in earlier.

Seemingly relieved to have finally finished his work, the little boy let out a long sigh, rubbed his hands together, turned around, and resumed his conversation.

"Yes, although every year some unlucky outsiders are mysteriously relegated to the countryside, no matter how unlucky they are, compared to you, the big sister who came straight to the bottom of this lake, it's nothing, really."

Is it really that bad?

"Yes, it's like a level 1 hero wearing simple clothes and carrying a bronze sword who has just left the starting village, but due to a bug, skips a long path of growth and jumps directly to the secret room in the Demon King's castle."

"That's a really easy-to-understand analogy. Well then, let me ask, are there any save points in this Demon King's castle? The kind of save point that can restore both your health and mana to full at the same time."

Perhaps it was thanks to the unexpected encounter with familiar things in a completely unfamiliar environment that she inexplicably felt a brief sense of peace, which quickly turned into a thin feeling of familiarity.

"No, we don't have that kind of convenient thing."

The little boy shook his head firmly.

"What a pity. What happened to you? Why were you alone at the beach, little brother?"

"Isn't it obvious that there is no sea here? I am being imprisoned here."

"I understand now, you're the princess who was kidnapped by the Demon King, right?"

The girl, seeing an opportunity, reached out and pinched the little boy's rosy cheek.

"You are the princess, your whole family are princesses!"

As if offended, the little boy gritted his teeth and responded with words that sounded more like praise than insult.

"Oh my, you have such a sweet tongue."

"Well"

"Do you know where there's a port nearby? Or which way to go to reach a populated village or town?"

The girl stood on the silvery-white beach, gazing at the vast, despair-inducing blue sea. After confirming that she had gained nothing for the time being, she turned to ask the local man in front of her.

Since she's referred to as an outsider, then this kid is undoubtedly a local.

"Ha, didn't I just say there's no sea here?"

Seemingly having encountered something utterly intractable, the boy lowered his head and sighed.

"But isn't this the sea right in front of us?"

The boundless, silvery sea, the moist sea breeze brushing past your ears, the waves crashing on the silvery-white sand, and the salty smell of the sea permeating the air.

and also

"Nowhere in the sea can you find the moon hidden on the seabed and the sun hanging in the sky at the same time."

The boy raised his hand and snapped his fingers rather clumsily and softly.

In an instant, the silvery seascape vanished, replaced by a dark, airtight cell. A locked bed, resembling one reserved for VIP patients in a mental hospital, was placed haphazardly in the center of the cell. The surrounding walls were covered with all sorts of torture instruments, their main color being a solidified dark red.

A sense of absurdity, as if from another world, suddenly struck the girl. She turned around hesitantly, then quickly breathed a sigh of relief.

To everyone's relief, the boy wasn't bound to the prison bed like a dumpling, but was sitting casually on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs and idly fiddling with something that looked like animal fur.

Some things changed the girl's perception of the boy.

Based on her limited knowledge accumulated from her recent entry into the demonic path, she could find a reasonable explanation for the strange scene she had just witnessed.

However, before that

"Little brother, tell me, what's your name?"

"Isn't it proper etiquette to state your own name before asking someone else's name, elder sister?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. Besides, I'm older than you, so if I didn't do this, it would seem like I'm taking advantage of you. So, little guy, listen up."

"Even Ultraman in his transformation speaks better than you, big sister."

"you"

"Ha, my name is Nobume Hearn. You can call me Hearn or Nobume, but don't call me Nobu."

"You beat me to it! My name is Aozaki Aoko. Since you're so generous, you can call me Aozaki or Aoko, just pick whichever you like."

""

Why did you suddenly make that face? Is my name weird?

"The demon king here is someone who wants to cram every color into the names of her entire family. The name she originally reserved for me was Ao, but after I broke up with her, that was completely put on hold. And since your name has two Ao characters, it's giving me a bit of post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Uh"

Chapter 132 The Cyan Hero (Part 3)

Let's go back a little bit.

Black sun, white moon, silvery ocean, snow-white sand, howling salty sea breeze, and the ebb and flow of the tide along the shore.

Clutching his diary, he stood on the makeshift sandbank, turned sideways, sometimes writing on the whiteboard, sometimes facing the audience below, reciting aloud.

They were undoubtedly an exceptional audience, like a professional symphony orchestra, strictly following the tuner's direction, rising high when needed and falling silent when required.

Red Oni, Mountain Spider, Tengu, Gyūki, Kappa, Flying Head Slash, Bone Woman, Zashiki-warashi, Jorogumo

What was that that came in today?

Oh, another red demon.

uninteresting.

Should we sing praises to this land for its outstanding people, abundant resources, and rich cultural heritage?

Should we praise their magnanimity in regarding human life as worthless?

boring.

When the pursuit of quality loses patience due to prolonged fruitlessness and instead falls into the quagmire of winning by quantity, the process, which should be full of fun, degenerates into repetitive mechanical labor devoid of quality.

Boring.

Boredom is his mortal enemy.

The audience was full of idiots.

When you call it, it comes, when you wave it, it goes.

The brain marrow, that luxury, has long since vanished; they're nothing but a bunch of inferior imitations, like living corpses.

Whether it's a kitten or a puppy, a bird, a snake, a rat, a demon, a monster, alive or dead, they're all the same.

Anyone who gets swallowed up by the endless sea behind him will turn into this idiotic, foolish state.

He'd known about that kind of thing since he was a child.

preaching day after day is like a child playing house.

No, it should be said that it was just a children's game of pretend.

The themes for playing house all came from my personal diary.

Who in their right mind would keep a diary?

Who can write their innermost thoughts in a diary?

Can what's written down be considered one's true feelings?

Next door —

The unimportant grumbling abruptly ended, and even the last word failed to take shape.

There was no noise on the winter coast.

The audience was so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.

The "whoosh" is the white noise of waves crashing onto the beach.

A discordant sound had just broken into the ocean waves.

The sound of boots clicking and clacking as they descended the metal steps was firm, powerful, and unwavering.

somebody is coming.

He briefly interrupted his sermon, turned to the side, and aimlessly drew circles on the whiteboard with a marker.

Soon, the mist behind the door dissipated.

His expression was a mixture of hidden hope and a wary exterior.

There was not a trace of hesitation in his scrutinizing gaze.

A young girl with long, slightly dark reddish-black hair appeared.

""

Why did I inexplicably associate it with Ao/青?

Is it because of those eyes?

Or is it because of something else?

No answers, blank exam papers, disappointing grades, a bright red final notice, and parents' heartbroken sighs.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Because, even if you try your best to deny it in your heart.

The moment that blue figure was imprinted in my eyes.

The continuous sound of the waves crashing against the shore has indeed faded from our ears.

""

When I came to my senses, a considerable amount of time had already passed.

The circle on the whiteboard has been mistakenly decorated with ink spots that shouldn't be there.

A soft sigh escaped his lips, and with a few strokes, he casually sketched out a Tai Chi symbol, mimicking the less-than-clean circle.

With such a sigh, he turned away, doing just that, averting his gaze and concealing the thoughts in his heart.

So, it turns out that there really are "time-manipulators" in this world who can easily stop time.

After finishing the Tai Chi diagram, he turned around, composed himself, faced his orchestra and his only audience, and once again raised his baton to tune the music.

It was as if it were declaring war on the world's justice and on its own cowardly self.

Mustering his courage, he drew his sword.

Embrace the darkness, banish the light.

"Nine out of ten cases of love at first sight in this world are actually lust at first sight."

"Humans are visual creatures, as are monsters; all things with human intelligence are visual creatures."

"Inherent barrier?"

The believer tilted her head, pondering the meaning of the word repeatedly.

The word was uttered by the outsider a moment ago to explain the pale silver ocean that had accompanied him since birth.

"Yes, Reality Marble is a magic that rewrites reality using the caster's 'mental landscape.' It is the closest thing to 'magic' and is considered a 'grand magic.' Originally, it was an ability that only fantasy species like elves and demons could possess. However, after countless generations of research, it has blossomed and become a reality. The most skilled casters have made it possible to create Reality Marbles. Of course, magicians who can do this are extremely rare. Correspondingly, this rare magic has long been listed in the Association's Forbidden Spells Index."

The visitor added solemnly, yet with barely concealed excitement.

"One incomprehensible word after another keeps popping up, please have mercy on me," the believer said, rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Ha is right. It's too much for little Xin Nu to absorb so much unfamiliar knowledge all at once. In short, you just need to understand that the ocean is a very precious and powerful thing."

Aoko, who was still immersed in the excitement of finding a treasure while wandering around after school, also came back to her senses and slightly restrained her high spirits.

She, Aozaki Aoko, was an apprentice magician who, after half a year of practicing magic, couldn't even conjure a fireball. On her way home from school, she was vanished by spirits and then found a rare fantasy species born with its own inherent barrier.

No, it might not even be just a fantasy species!

The child once said that the silvery-blue ocean was something he was born with, the only difference being its size.

As I grew older, that ocean gradually expanded from a small puddle into the vast, endless sea it is today.

Most importantly, according to his description, waking up that ocean was no burden for him.

There is no burden at all.

That is to say, it does not require a supply of magic.