Seventh Ju: …………

Ah, morning already…

Will Miss Poppy prepare vegetable porridge today, or a meal made from Shumai grains?

I’ve grasped the world’s broad outline. What knowledge should I learn next?

Language and writing? Might be tough, but with Miss Poppy teaching me, I’ll master it soon enough.

Right—I’ve troubled Miss Poppy long enough these past days. I should do something to help.

But… what exactly?

…………

No, not at all.

Dazzling sunlight flooded the room. Even as a newcomer, I knew it was noon.

Yeah. I’d calmly seen Miss Poppy off this morning. This was just waking from my second sleep.

I was fully rested. But… I didn’t want to get up yet.

I, Seventh Ju, was alone again. Just like right after the earth’s violent tremors ceased.

So terrifying.

This fear wasn’t about death or despair. It was about loss.

Should I have secretly followed Miss Poppy? That’d likely cause her trouble.

And I didn’t even know what troubles clung to her.

Was fate refusing to grant my wish?

No… I still had the Wish Points Xiv granted me! Yes—that’s it!

With that thought, I finally snapped out of my sorrow.

I truly had something crucial to figure out now.

Like solving an exam question: once you grasp the logic, answering isn’t hard.

First, I needed to know exactly how many Wish Points I had.

I pressed my palms together, closed my eyes, and cleared my mind.

Seventh Ju: Xiv…

Seventh Ju: I offer one point of Your grace. Reveal how many blessings I’ve received.

For one minute, a sea of stars filled my vision—no, star coffins. Identical to last time, blazing brilliantly.

Yet my gaze locked onto one corner. There, one light was missing compared to before.

How had I noticed that single point among such density? Even rote memorization couldn’t capture this scene.

Perhaps the gods always highlight the exact moment your Wish Points decrease.

I felt uneasy.

After a minute, the lights vanished. A number surfaced in my heart.

Finally—an answer. But far from what I’d hoped.

“8.”

Why eight?

Could one Wish Point only count eight points? That’d make the Wish Power absurdly weak.

Then what did “8” mean?

I organized what I knew about Wish Points, seeking a logical conclusion.

Ordinary people had 60 to 100 points. Even superhuman heroes rarely exceeded a few thousand.

Investing 100 points into one ability caused a qualitative leap—like Poppy understanding me perfectly after just a few words.

Even one point mattered. Last time, my wish for “an ability to keep me from death’s danger” seemed to activate instinctively.

I couldn’t confirm if it countered mortal peril, but it triggered right when I almost revealed my Wish Points.

These facts suggested even a one-point wish should yield significant effects.

So why did the gods give me an answer seemingly unrelated to simple counting?

Only one impossible possibility remained.

—My Wish Points were so vast, even one point couldn’t count them accurately.

Seventh Ju: Could it… mean an eight-digit number…???

If every star-like point represented my Wish Points, an eight-digit sum truly couldn’t be counted in a minute.

Sacrificing one point to learn I had tens of millions was… reasonably efficient, I supposed.

But no… impossible! How could I have tens of millions of Wish Points??

Near-gods had mere thousands. The pinnacle of non-human beings reached only hundreds of thousands. How could I casually possess tens of millions?

Would the gods allow such imbalance? What catastrophic consequences might follow?

At minimum, ten million points equaled the combined wishes of over a hundred thousand ordinary people!

Seventh Ju: Wait… a hundred thousand people?

That…

The unreasonable disaster…

The unreasonable carnage…

The unreasonable tidal wave…

Seventh Ju: No… impossible…

Seventh Ju: Gods… this can’t be…

I clenched my fists until my nails dug into my palms, stinging.

I hadn’t shed tears even in the ruins’ deepest pain. Now, tears welled up and spilled over in fat drops.

Seventh Ju: Is this true? Really true??

Seventh Ju: Xiv… does this mean my parents are here too, within me?

Seventh Ju: Did You orchestrate this tragedy, or was it a final effort to save us??

Seventh Ju: If the former—were You deliberately creating a balance-breaking monster??

Seventh Ju: Even if the latter… this burden is too heavy for me…

Seventh Ju: Can I truly shoulder this…?

I didn’t know. I didn’t know…

But if these Wish Points were truly the last wishes of the departed—if they were this world’s residents who wished desperately before that disaster…

I believed their desire matched mine.

…To live.

Even if I lose limbs, I must live.

No matter what, I must live!

If I can’t survive, those I love must live on.

For them. For myself. I had to make this wish to this world’s god.

—To live.

But life was so fragile. Countless ways existed to die…

Wishing vaguely for “immortality” might require uncountable points, even if the gods allowed it.

What if tens of millions of points yielded little effect? A terrible waste.

Miss Poppy said specific, detailed wishes were easier to fulfill. So I’d start with simple lethal methods I could imagine.

“Invulnerability to death by physical external force.” I’d test it with 100 points.

—Decision made!

One minute later, I opened my eyes.

First, I felt something hard pressing against my head.

I lifted my gaze. My face scraped against… something gritty.

Seventh Ju: Plaster dust? Oh—the ceiling coating.

Seventh Ju: Wha—!? Why’s my head touching the ceiling!?

Trembling, I looked down. My body had become a two-and-a-half-meter-tall giant.

My clothes were shredded. Bulging muscles covered me, making my skin crawl. My bones felt unnaturally heavy and dense.

What the hell was this? A side effect?

To resist lethal physical force, my body transformed like this?

Xiv, are You pulling a fast one on me?! Nobody warned me about this!!

If Miss Poppy saw me like this, she’d faint.

Seventh Ju: Ahem… “A camouflage ability making my appearance and physical sensations match an ordinary human without Wish Power,” 100 points.

…………

Perfect! Back to normal.

I’d planned to tailor men’s undergarments anyway. Now, mending my torn clothes added extra work.

This time, I noticed the 100 points vanishing—but the star coffins’ density seemed unchanged.

The “eight-digit” theory was likely correct. An ordinary person would’ve run dry by now.

Next, I’d invest more points into these two abilities.

…………

…………

Half a day later, I noticed something: adding points to the “camouflage ability” didn’t make any starlights disappear.

Wishes always cost points. The only explanation was 【maximum limit reached】.

I checked my written records. Total points spent on camouflage ability…

Seventh Ju: 200,001 points.

Huh… quite a lot.

Did this mean the strongest being capable of seeing through disguises could pierce a 200,000-point camouflage?

Anyway, it’d maxed out. No use overthinking it.

A full day later, “invulnerability to death by physical external force” also hit its limit.

Seventh Ju: 1.7 million…

Surprisingly costly. But at max capacity, I should be incredibly tough now.

I wonder—if I stood where two colliding stars met, could I survive?

Haha, I’d definitely die! Though from other causes…

Actually, physical death came in too many forms.

This ability only covered a fraction of lethal methods.

Physical death also involved energy: extreme cold, heat, radiation…

Dehydration or suffocation wouldn’t be prevented.

Let alone disease, poison, or death from mental trauma.

Moreover, even if the ability kept me alive, I could still suffer severe injuries and agonizing pain.

Should I invest points into reducing “injury” and “pain”? Would my points even last?

Truly, the path to “immortality” was endlessly complex. Good thing I hadn’t wished for it outright.

Suddenly, a horrifying thought struck me—

Seventh Ju: If I drop this camouflage now… what would I become?

Seventh Ju: …

Seventh Ju: …………

Seventh Ju: AAAAAH—WHY DID I THINK THAT!?!

Seventh Ju: This burden really is too heavy for me mentally!!!

I’d wasted a whole day on this. Miss Poppy’s food supplies were dwindling.

After planning a few essential wishes, I couldn’t afford to waste more time.

Miss Poppy had already given me my next steps. Now, it was time to face this world with my own will and strength!