Chapter 2: - I Worked Hard. I Worked Super Hard. If Anything, I Worked Hard for About a Hundred Years.

<<Passion!>> –World transmigration complete. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.” Having safely returned to the <White World>, I walked over to a nearby table. I sat down on a plain white chair that I had no idea what it was made of; it felt nice and fluffy, gently enveloping my buttocks that were used to hard wooden chairs. “One year this time. It took rather a long time … In front of me stood a free-standing white wall about two meters high, with numerous doors attached to it. The wall was short at first, but now I needed to turn my head to see the left and right edges. “I’ve done my best, haven’t I? Don’t you think so?” There were a total of 100 doors lined up. This meant that I had been banished from the Hero’s Party 100 times in 100 different worlds. It was a really stupid number that no one should be proud of; however, it was also a number that was needed for me to return to my world. ” … You said it yourself. For me to return to my original world, I would need to join 100 Hero’s Parties in 100 different worlds and be banished 100 times. Now that I think about it again, it doesn’t make sense. If you’re asking me to save the world or help the heroes, why do you want me to be banished? Well, even if I asked you, you probably won’t answer.” God doesn’t speak. In fact, after all this time, I had never heard God’s voice. I was living a peaceful and ordinary life when I was suddenly summoned to this place, and all I had in front of me was a white book. Yes, of course, it was just a white cover, but that didn’t mean it was completely white inside. There were more details about what I needed to do. In other words, in the conditions I had just described, the wall in front of me was still small, and there was only one door. If I passed through that door, I would be transported to another world. And then be banished from the Hero’s Party. To be exact, I was returned to this place by achieving the condition—you will be banished after you have been a member of the Party for more than six months, or after you have been recognized as a member of the party by gaining a certain level of trust.‒ Once the door was opened, it could not be opened again, and instead, there would be more doors next to it. “But I did pass that mysterious condition. It took me about a hundred years, but I did it. Then you could create a little more of a celebratory mood, or something like that, you know?” While making such a light remark, I glanced at the figure in the mirror next to the table. What I saw was an ordinary young man, a little over 170 centimeters tall, with short black hair and a medium build. Every time I returned to this “White World,” my body would return to the state of being twenty years old when I was summoned here. In addition to that, the shortest time I spent in the other world was seven or eight months; the longest was about three years, which meant that I had been repeating my early twenties for about a hundred years. It was strange that my body, which normally would have become a wrinkly old man and had a lot of wisdom, had not matured much from what it looked like before. It could be said that my mind was being dragged down by my body, or it could be said that there was no room for growth since I was still treated as a twenty-year-old kid by the people around me. Anyway, I’ve been living a long time, but my mind is still that of a young man. So, I never said such enlightened words in such a place. I couldn’t think of any auspicious thoughts, such as, “Thanks to you, I was able to grow both physically and mentally.” I didn’t want to be in the good graces of a God who kidnapped people and forced them to do incomprehensible labor for 100 years. “… Well, whatever. Anyway, I followed your instructions. Then you’ll have to fulfill your promise this time.” The crystal ball that sat in the middle of the table with a solemn atmosphere shone brightly as if in response to my reluctant words. This was a sign that I would be given a skill as a reward for being successfully banished from the other world. “Are you still going to give me something? If you can give it to me, I’ll take it.” I had taken the liberty of naming them [Banishment skills], and they were basically all super useful. Without them, it would have been much more difficult to infiltrate a Hero’s Party in 100 different worlds, and it could have taken an extra hundred years. “The first world, before I got all my banishment skills, was like hell. So, what is it this time?” I shuddered as I remembered, and then I slowly placed my hand on the crystal ball. Then, a mysterious divine power flowed into me. …. What? “Well, that’s another … major skill. I can see a future where it’s left to die in storage, though. …” I didn’t think I’d use a one-time skill with a limited number of uses, even if I was driven to the edge. If I were to sort through the [Stranger Box], there must be dozens of magic potions lying around that could cure anything as long as you weren’t dead. “…………………… Eh?” It was not that some strange power had awakened in me, but because there was nothing else in the world that moved except me. Moreover, even the wind was not blowing, so I could somehow feel when something was approaching. “…. Left?” The number of doors to new worlds was increasing all the time on the right side. In other words, the further to the left you go, the more likely it was to be able to get to the first world, but if something appeared further to the left, then perhaps!? “…….. Is increasing.” Next to the door number 001 that I had passed through for the first time, door number 000 appeared. It was a door that was never there before, a door that predated the beginning of …. In other words, this must be the door that could lead to the world I came from. “I can go back…?” I can go home. Yes, I can return. I can go back to my original world, the one that was unreasonably taken from me 100 years ago. I can go back. I can go home. … “Hey, God? It’s been about 100 years since I came here, but is it still 100 years in the original world? If that’s the case, I think my family and friends are all dead. …” The lifespan of a human being was roughly sixty years. Some noblemen who consumed good food could live to seventy or eighty. In some worlds, it was possible to extend one’s life with magic, but at least there were no powerful people or great wizards in my world; therefore, no one would survive. “Well, you know, you’re God, so you can adjust things to your liking… Will you not do it? Or are you telling me to use my last skill here? Oh, come on, that would be petty as hell!” There was a possibility that I could manage this situation by using the skill I had just been given. But that would be a waste of time, if you ask me. Because the 100 years I lost were 100 years that I dedicated to God or that were taken from me. Giving up my rights to make up for it would be like taking all the money I earned from work as a fee, and no matter how good-natured I was, I couldn’t easily accept that. Thud! “Whoa!?” When I tried to argue with him, I suddenly heard a noise behind me. I turned around in surprise and looked underneath my feet where the noise had come from. There, on the floor, was a book with a white cover that looked like something I had seen somewhere before. “Oh, you mean read this. What’s that under the … number?” When I looked up from the book and looked at the door again, I saw that another number had somehow been added below the world number engraved on it. “This is the amount of time that has passed in that world since I left it … That means …” The door to the original world was 000. The other number engraved below it also had a clean line of zeros. “No time has passed since …? Does that mean I can go back to that moment when I was brought here!?” Then, truly, this was the end. My long journey … through countless worlds and being banished from the Hero’s Party over and over again would end when I passed through this door. “Okay, then now is the time to make a … triumphant return to my world !” Just as I was about to turn the knob on the door to the original world, an additional book fell from the sky, hitting me squarely in the head.