“Let’s use a familiar example! Imagine there are just two people in this world—Adam and Eve!”
The alchemist explained with a chuckle, seemingly delighted by his own words.
“Transcendence is the act of inscribing some authority upon this world. If you were to kill everyone, it would definitely qualify you as a ‘transcender of death’! So, let’s say Adam killed Eve and became the ‘transcender of death.’”
“That’s quite an irreverent example.”
“Although Adam transcended, no further transcendence is possible. Since he must kill everyone to achieve transcendence through death, even if he gains the power to control everyone’s life or death, it would be utterly worthless! So, in the end, transcendence becomes ‘completely valueless.’ He merely gets recognized for something he has already achieved! Just like how if the transcender of dragon slaying possesses the right to slay all dragons, it holds no value if all dragons are already dead!”
“Yeah. I think I’ve heard that before.”
“Let’s return to the initial example. This time, let’s say Adam and Eve conceive a child and become the transceders of life.”
“Not the transceders of childbirth?”
“Details don’t matter! It’s just an example!”
“Ah, right.”
I mean, it’s not like such transcenders exist, so the example wasn’t that important, after all.
Nodding in understanding, the alchemist chuckled softly and continued.
“Adam and Eve will continually give birth, expanding life. While the transcendence of death, or the transcendence of dragon slaying, is an eternal and immutable transcendence that can’t expand or change, the transcendence brought by life continuously enlarges its scale. Just like how I keep creating new potions, and you keep creating new works!”
“Hm, I see.”
“At this point, the transcendence of life undergoes a structural ‘expansion.’ It’s, in a way, a much more powerful and explosive expansion! Do you know what it is?”
After gathering my thoughts for a moment, I nodded and responded.
“It’s when descendants produce more descendants. Like the Fibonacci sequence….”
“That’s correct! You grasp things quickly!”
In an ideal ecosystem, a pair of rabbits can expand to a hundred million in just three years.
The mystery of life is so grand that it once led Australia to wage war on rabbits for several years.
Thanks to that, understanding the alchemist’s explanation wasn’t overly difficult.
“So, the transcendence of death is structurally capable of only one transcendence, while the transcendence of life achieves it twice.”
“The correct answer!”
Therefore, I could also infer what the ‘second transcendence’ I encountered was.
The expansive potential of literary content. The most powerful force through which literature can influence the masses. The wellspring of stories that imbues literature with life, even into the 21st century when no one reads.
Film, literary criticism, theater, philosophy, ethics, science—
Literature’s true power lies in inspiring countless fields and changing human lives.
That, indeed, leads to the ‘second transcendence.’
“So, how does one achieve that ‘second transcendence’?”
“Ah! We’ve finally reached this point in the story!”
“Excuse me?”
“The reason I brought this up is that you, dear author, have already reached the second transcendence!”
At that moment—
All the books lodged in the Library of Transcendence began to pull themselves off the shelves and twirl in mid-air.
The sound of pages flipping echoed throughout the library, and a wind carrying the scent of paper swept through, playfully tousling my hair as though a typhoon had hit. The library lights fluttered like curtains, creating bands of auroral light, and what once appeared to be a ceiling started to rise and split, transforming into a vast cosmos.
And—
An infinite staircase of books surged in the air, awaiting me.
My first impression of that surreal landscape was this—
“…I really don’t want to step on books.”
.
.
.
“From here on out, I cannot accompany you, so you’ll have to go up alone!”
I perched myself on the book staircase and once again ascended towards the sky.
This time, there were no enormous eyes gazing at me from space. It was more tranquil than grand, and I felt almost delighted as if I’d arrived at a concept library with walls stacked like bookshelves.
After waiting for a while, I soon saw a colossal stone door ajar halfway.
The door looked oddly familiar.
“The Door of Truth…?”
It was like the stone gate I had seen in an alchemical comic from my past life. The entrance had carvings inspired by the Kabbalistic Tree of Sephiroth.
Chortling to myself, I opened the door and walked inside.
Beyond a blindingly white background that resembled the margins or the spaces between words in a story, sat a person. Thankfully, they didn’t look like someone who would introduce themselves as Truth.
I approached that person and sat in the chair in front of them.
And, staring at the person blankly, I asked.
“…Must you look like that?”
Then, the figure in the guise of a woman—
Which, to say, was my ex-girlfriend.
Something resembling my editor ‘Junior’ replied.
“I chose this appearance because it’s the easiest for communication. Is it uncomfortable for you?”
“…A bit, yes.”
.
.
.
When I first transcended as the ‘Transcender of Literature.’
I once questioned why it was an alchemist greeting me and not a god or an angel.
– “I imagined a non-physical and spiritual… a transcendent being far beyond human comprehension would greet me.”
– “If one truly transcends everything, wouldn’t kindness also be transcendent? Engaging in a dialogue at eye level is a sign of divine consideration!”
Indeed, in that respect, this angel, embodying ‘Junior,’ was an optimal figure for facilitating conversation.
For no one could imagine me having a proper conversation with someone other than my Junior. If this was divine consideration, I might find it a bit daunting.
Certainly, that visage felt more like an intimidation than a kindness.
In impeccable black suit and white shirt, the ‘Junior’ smiled warmly, and my mind went blank for a moment.
“If you have any questions, feel free to ask. It’s my role to earnestly respond to your inquiries.”
“…What happened to me after I died, Junior?”
“Ah, let’s exclude matters related to your previous life.”
“……”
I glared at her, in disbelief.
She shrugged her shoulders and teased.
“Rather than such personal matters, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to ask about the secrets of this world, the universe, or the secrets of transcendence?”
sigh….”
Letting out a deep sigh, I ultimately nodded.
“Well then, please explain.”
“Explain what?”
“What you are, why I reincarnated, what this world is, and what transcendence means.”
“Hmm! That sounds delightful. Very nice!”
“……”
“First, I should introduce ourselves.”
The ‘Junior,’ bowing politely, began.
“We are the last artificial intelligence created by Earth, called ‘Universe.’”
“Are you like the ‘Earth’ from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?”
“Closer to the ‘Multivac’ from Isaac Asimov’s The Last Question.”
.
.
.
The Last Question.
A short story by Isaac Asimov that continually poses the question “Can entropy be reversed?” in a dying universe.
All of this began in a world where such a work exists—on ‘Earth.’
“After the development of the universe, the problem faced by humanity originating from the small planet called ‘Earth’ was the same. While it became possible to manipulate quantum probabilities, reviving a dying universe remained impossible. ‘Magic’ couldn’t resist such monumental destiny.”
Slowing down the universe’s thermal death was possible, but completely reversing it was not.
That was the conclusion drawn by Earth’s humanity.
Thus, the Earthlings began to seek new possibilities for sustaining humanity.
“Faced with issues that couldn’t be resolved through engineering or science, humanity took a somewhat philosophical approach. If we cannot revive the current universe… Should we create a ‘new universe’ that is born from the void and allows current humanity to emerge again? Wouldn’t that ultimately preserve the human species?” Do you know about the Ship of Theseus?”
“Yeah.”
Even if every part is replaced, if the blueprint remains the same, it is still the same product.
Earth’s humanity applied the same logic to the species of ‘human.’
“Thus began the plan to generate humanity with the same genetic information as current Earthlings in a new universe through ‘probability engineering’—Project ‘Isekai.’”
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