Chapter 90: The World After Death... and Simulation

After all, the other party meant well.

It was just that this overly calm and natural demeanor was truly troubling—who exactly was the master of this house...?

At least for a moment just now, Miss Tenka herself had begun to doubt this matter.

Perhaps she really was overthinking it.

The other party was very calm and composed, Rikka was also casual, so she could actually just go with the flow...

No! Impossible! Absolutely couldn't do it!

Takanashi Satone shook her head weakly in her heart; she looked at the bathroom not far away, then looked at Xia Zhi.

She had wanted to take a bath earlier, but always felt it was really strange, with the other party sitting just outside the wall... no matter how she thought about it, it was awkward.

Let's wait until tomorrow.

"What's wrong, Miss Tenka?" The youth noticed she had been standing there, neither moving nor speaking, so he once again provided the arrow to continue the conversation, as if there was something urgent to ask him.

"..."

"..."

"It's like this, I want to ask... where do people go after they die?"

After a moment of obvious silence, Takanashi Satone pursed her lips and decided to still consult him about this related question.

Three years ago, her father's sudden passing made Rikka unable to accept this fact.

When she was at her most painful and helpless, she chose to escape into a world of fantasy.

Rikka suffered from Chuunibyou; she firmly believed her father was waiting for her in a parallel world on the other end of the "Invisible Boundary Line," and as long as she found the "Invisible Boundary Line," she could see her father again.

"Where do people go after they die?"

The youth raised an eyebrow and smiled: "That really is a good question... On this land, one crosses the San Tu River to reach Higan, undergoes Yanluo's judgment in Shikieiki's Court, and awaits disposition."

How would he know the situation of this world—

He hadn't even figured out what was currently happening on the dark side of the world yet.

But that didn't matter at all; didn't not knowing mean he could just copy? Directly based on relevant settings from myths, legends, religious folklore, and the like, with slight embellishment, it could be released as an explanation.

Before he spoke, it might just be some groundless rumors.

After he spoke, with his unique certification as an authority figure, it became the absolute truth.

"Undergo judgment and await disposition? Specifically, how would one be... disposed?"

Hearing such a seemingly serious statement, Takanashi Satone had no doubt at all; she quickly accepted this completely localized explanation and asked further about that disposition result.

"You should have heard of this too: the deceased with lighter crimes are sent to the Underworld to await reincarnation, or become Buddhas and go to the Heavenly Realm; as for those with heavier crimes, they fall into Hell..."

Xia Zhi spread his hands, showing no sign of making things up nonsense; instead, he spoke seriously and convincingly—

"Different regions have different sayings, but this mechanism is generally roughly the same: based on the good and evil of one's crimes in life, it is decided whether the deceased should ascend to Heaven or fall into Hell, and so on..."

"..."

"..."

"What about someone who died three years ago? Is there still a chance to see them?" Togashi Rikka remained silent for a while before continuing to ask this question.

"Three years..."

Chewing on this sensitive time node, Xia Zhi still shook his head:

"They must have already undergone judgment; I heard current judgment adopts an assembly-line operation format, with a very concise process. Unless someone in the living world can't wait to cut in line, otherwise three years would definitely be enough to finish processing."

"As for whether they can be seen again, that's probably difficult too... unless the person you want to see is someone with great blessings—I'm not talking about the Nine-Nine-Six kind—then there might still be some chance."

He roughly knew who the person asking was, so at this time he couldn't give the other party too much hope.

Miss Tenka nodded slightly and chose to remain silent.

Would her father be that kind of person with deep blessings?

Perhaps not; one could only say he was an ordinary person. Although not so deeply sinful as to fall into Endless Purgatory, he probably couldn't ascend to the Heavenly Realm due to outstanding good deeds either...

Her mood was somewhat low; after lightly sighing, she cast her gaze toward her own room, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Um, you should rest early too... I'll go tidy up my room now."

Although the other party claimed no need for sleep.

However, letting someone sit in the living room until late at night was not a reasonable arrangement, whether from reason or emotion.

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Tenka, really not necessary..."

Xia Zhi declined again, but the girl did not heed his opinion and walked straight to her own bedroom.

"..."

"..."

He shrugged and didn't say anything more.

Such a change seemed quite good—of course, not meaning he would have a chance to rest in Miss Tenka's room—but referring to the decisive and efficient demeanor Miss Tenka showed at this moment, which seemed natural and appropriate.

If they continued to stalemate as before, she would probably instead seem more like the guest visiting Xia Zhi's home.

Soon, Takanashi Satone tidied up her room very efficiently, came out and said a word, then leisurely returned to her younger sister's room.

Hearing the sound of the room door closing, Xia Zhi glanced at the tidied room, then turned back again, looking at the two Noble Phantasms on the tea table.

—The connection just maintained had not been broken.

He pondered for a moment, then once again threw himself into the work just now.

He input some parameters, then urged the Imaginary Tree Sapling opposite to begin calculating, simulating, and operating a segment of illusory Imaginary History... this was the utilization of the Imaginary Tree's function, like a super biological computer.

Although it was still just a sapling, not yet developed.

But it was simply that it couldn't truly invade reality and output the operated Lostbelt history as a conclusion... as for the functions of simple simulation and verification, it should still be barely achievable; anyway, he felt he could try.

In Xia Zhi's perception, it was as if on the other end of the soul, a large amount of illusory information surged forth—

That was the Imaginary History simulated by the Main Server based on the parameters he input; to some extent, it was like peeking at a corner of the future.

Although it was only one of many possibilities, and intermittent and fragmented, appearing very obscure and blurry.

In a very short time, it simulated many times.

This was not because the Fantasy Tree Seedling's Function was also excellent; rather, it was because in many simulations, the ending often came to an abrupt halt — either because the Simulated Circuit failed to succeed from the very start;

or because it appeared to have succeeded, yet exploded when circulating Magical Energy due to being unable to withstand the immense pressure...

The kind that blew up Xia Zhi's entire body along with it.

He roughly Browsed through them and Discovered that among the dozens to hundreds of simulation results, only two simulations seemed relatively Smooth, no longer ending in mid-course collapse... however, upon careful Exploration, one would find that the endings all had a slight Strangeness.

One could even say they completely walked toward another Strange Direction.

In the first simulation —

Xia Zhi saw himself repeatedly fail in multiple attempts during the process of simulating the Conversion Circuit, ultimately choosing to directly use the Holy Sword Noble Phantasm as an implant, embedding it into his body through Magecraft...

At first glance it seemed like an alternative achievement of the goal...

But from the biological modification track, it directly jumped to the cybernetic prosthesis track; the Direction deviated a bit Strangely.

As for the second simulation —

Xia Zhi saw himself, during the process of attempting to simulate the Conversion Circuit, encounter an unexpected situation when a part of his body coincidentally decomposed and reverted to Ether.

Countless pseudo-Cells rubbed at High Speed within the Magical Energy Storm...

Threads of electrical power were generated in this rapid friction...

"?"

The youth tilted his head slightly; what situation was this?

Immediately after, he heard deafening cheers coming from the final scene.

— "Yo, Lord Xia Zhi, we revere you!!"

(Chapter End)