I Became a Raid Boss

“From now on, your job is to raise the level of your soul.”

When I conveyed my willingness to cooperate, Edel explained her plan to me.

“What’s this level thing?”

“It’s the authority to grasp greater strength. The qualification to escape the natural order. Proof of existence… There are several other things, but even saying it like this, it probably doesn’t resonate with you?”

“Is it like a realm?”

“It’s not exactly the same. But if it’s hard to understand, you can see it that way. The realm and level are closely related. Got it a bit?”

“Not really… So why do I need to raise this level?”

“Because you need to raise your level to defeat the dimensional beings.”

“…Just keep talking.”

Every time Edel finished speaking, a question mark popped up in my mind, and raising one question at a time seemed never-ending.

Considering how leisurely our conversation was, she could vanish at any moment like when we first met.

She claimed it would never happen, but unfortunately, my trust in Edel wasn’t very high.

“To stop the dimensional beings, the world was lowered to be subjugated to Earth. You said it lightly, but this is no easy task. It’s like a huge ball of energy, one world, going under an equal-sized ball of energy. It’s not that simple. If not adjusted properly, both worlds could be torn apart without a trace.”

The reason it was possible was that the Silia world wasn’t intact due to being invaded by the dimensional beings, and even in that state, Edel hadn’t lost her administrator powers.

Thanks to Edel’s full cooperation, the Earth’s administrator could incorporate the shrunk Silia energy ball under her jurisdiction.

“Being subjugated to another world is not all good. For example, think of it this way: The higher dimension is like a person standing on a tall waterfall, and the subjugated world… the lower dimension is like a person at the bottom of the waterfall. The person above can influence the one below in some way, but can someone below influence the person above easily?”

Even throwing a stone with all one’s might wouldn’t reach, and climbing against the current would be even more absurd.

“Can’t you just use sword energy?”

“You could shoot sword energy like you said, or cast magic, or endure the current with a strong body to climb up the waterfall, but those aren’t things ordinary people can do. Those are things you can only do if you have the ‘level’.”

“Hmm….”

The qualification to escape the natural order, she said.

After hearing the explanation, I think I kind of understand what she meant.

In short, whether it’s a sword or magic, the tool that can influence the upper levels is the level, right?

‘Hmm…’

The fact that she doesn’t outright deny my thoughts makes me think I’m not entirely wrong.

“Could you not use divine power for something like that…? Anyway, influencing a higher dimension from a lower one is that hard… no, it’s much harder.”

“I get that now. So… what does that have to do with me needing to raise my level?”

“Geez, this is so embarrassing…”

Edel complained.

“Until now, I stood at an equal position with the dimensional beings, or maybe even a little above them. But after losing to them and being subjected to Earth’s lower dimension, I ended up below. Even if it’s a slight edge, it’s still an edge. I can’t effectively deal with them in the Silia dimension. That’s why it was made in a game-like form.”

“So you’re saying you used a higher-dimensional existence to hunt the lower-dimensional enemies.”

“Exactly! You understand that better than I expected?”

“…Better than expected?”

It felt like she assumed I wouldn’t understand, and I narrowed my eyes at her.

That reaction seemed familiar…

“Oh, I remember.”

People filled with themselves often spoke like that.

Knowing how to feel mana but being too dim-witted to use it for anything other than waving swords.

Of course, whenever I heard that kind of stuff, I kindly corrected their misunderstandings.

Besides, it was also good to stretch their hunched backs from sitting at a desk all the time.

Could Edel be one of those types?

“…Ahem! That’s not important right now! Let me tell you how you can raise your level.”

Ignoring my persistent gaze, Edel awkwardly changed the topic.

And what came out of her mouth was an outrageous act called the Ascension Ritual.

She’d previously talked about secret weapons and such, and now she was casually suggesting suicide while recommending the suicide hotspot, Raxia.

I was astonished by Edel’s kindness and asked back.

“Are you telling me to do that?”

It didn’t make any sense.

There were plenty of fools throughout history who tried to absorb more mana than they could handle in hopes of elevating their realms.

Why call them fools, you ask?
Well, their own writings were plain as day.

Perhaps there are some success stories not recorded in the documents, but at least I’ve never seen one that succeeded among the recorded cases.

If that were an easy way to elevate realms, everyone would be flaunting “Master” titles like they’re nothing.

“Don’t worry! With your soul that endured the dimensional vortex, you should be able to withstand that trial. …Theoretically, that is!”

“Wow, that’s really comforting to hear.”

I’d never had a good experience with claims based on theory, so I naturally remarked sarcastically.

“Just kidding! This is for our adorable Canaria and the one and only sword, surely I wouldn’t do that.”

“I said that because I thought you might.”

Based on what I’ve seen of Edel, all I could see were incredibly light-hearted behaviors, so even if I wanted to trust her, I had to be able to.

Even if I decided to cooperate with Edel, I wasn’t about to gamble my life like some poker chip.

A few months ago, maybe I would have accepted an offer saying, ‘I’ll give you the power to kill a snake. But there’s a chance you might die,’ no problem.

But not now.

“Having an attachment to life is beautiful. It’s a privilege only those who bear life can enjoy.”

“If you want to preach about human beauty, would you mind doing that alone later? I can’t agree with you since I don’t think humans are beautiful.”

“It’s not a hymn to humanity, it’s a hymn to life, but if our Canaria wants me to be quiet, I’ll certainly do just that.”

With that, Edel truly sealed her lips.

…This is why I can’t trust her.

If she were to disappear saying, “Oh! My holy power has run out! I used a lot~,” I’d need to meet her again.

I’d rather avoid that annoying and dreadful task, so I urged Edel.

“Just hurry up and explain.”

“Shall I?”

No sooner had I spoken than Edel started rambling as if she hadn’t just silenced her mouth.

At first, I listened disinterestedly, but as Edel rambled on, I began to understand why she was so confident.

“You raise your level, the poor kids are freed from their duties, and I recover my strength. Isn’t that what they call killing three birds with one stone?”

“Yeah. Except if we fail, everything goes awry.”

“If you die sitting still and die failing, wouldn’t it be better to try and die? You’re not the type to be quietly trampled, right?”

“That’s true.”

I’d had my fill of being helplessly trampled during my childhood.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Excellent choice.”

The possibility of failure and the penalties for it were still there, but assuming Edel’s words were true, it wasn’t quite a low-probability gamble.

As Edel said, there weren’t other options available, which added to the necessity.

“By the way, is it really okay to entrust the world’s fate to just me?”

“If you think of it as not just any human, but a hero who crossed worlds to save it, can that be the case?”

“Haha. A hero, huh?”

I let out a laugh so dry it could crack.

A hero. What a title that has nothing to do with me.

Well, considering Edel probably didn’t attach much meaning to those words either, I thought I’d leave it at that.

There were still a ton of questions piled up in my mind.

“You said I’d be able to interfere with the higher dimensions if I raised my level.”

“Yeah. Didn’t I already say? …Oh, so that’s what you were curious about?”

“…”

Edel’s eyes narrowed mischievously as she read my thoughts.

With a smile as if she understood, she nodded.

“Of course, you’ll be able to do the things you’re thinking about too.”

“Stop reading my mind.”

“If you don’t like me reading your thoughts, then hurry up and raise your level.”

If I successfully complete this Ascension Ritual, would it even be possible to hit that annoying goddess?

If that’s the case, I’d gladly go through with the ritual.

Tsk, I clicked my tongue.

“What if people lose interest in this world and leave, causing the game to fail? Won’t this world disappear then?”

“Don’t worry. Even if it fails, it’ll remain in the form of a lower dimension. And if it seems like interest is dwindling, I could just hypnotize them. ‘You find this game so fun, you want to keep playing…’ Something like that. And that won’t happen anyway.”

How could anyone dare get bored of such an attractive world I created?

With that, Edel’s face was brimming with pride.

“Is it really attractive…?”

Not exactly a statement that struck home for me.

I tilted my head, then shook it off to clear it.

Nah. I didn’t care about that.

The moment I heard Edel’s plan, the one question that had always been simmering in my mind emerged.

I asked that question to Edel.

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