— — — — — —
"Observer of Worlds, Shifter of the World War, Watcher of history."
A faint voice echoed in Ryo's mind as the last beam of light fused into his Soul Core.
Then, deep within him, the black crystal that housed his Divinity began to stir. The tiny flame within—it suddenly erupted like a cosmic explosion.
Boom—!
The flame was expanding and contracting in rapid bursts. Within moments, that single spark had transformed.
By the time Ryo could react, his Soul Core had turned into a blazing sphere of light, radiant and overwhelming—at least a hundred thousand times larger than before.
He barely had time to process it when—blink—his consciousness was yanked straight back into Little Garden, materializing right inside his room.
"...That's it?"
He looked around, stunned for a second.
Everything felt way too fast. One second his Soul Core was swelling to impossible levels, and the next... he was just standing in his room again?
"Seriously? That's all I get? I literally triggered a Historical Transition Phase and this is the reward? Talk about stingy…"
Ryo muttered, a weird mix of confusion and disappointment rising in his chest.
It didn't feel like an ending—it felt like something had just begun.
Right on cue, a black-purple jewel shimmered into view within his soul.
It was the Hōgyoku—the orb he'd taken from the Bleach universe.
At that moment, it began to pulse.
It was like an ancient hand-crank engine had suddenly been replaced with a nuclear reactor.
Endless vitality erupted from Ryo's Divinity, flooding his entire body like a tidal wave.
The energy surged through every inch of him, soaking into his flesh, bones, cells—every part of him drank it in greedily.
It was like a drought-stricken land finally meeting a monsoon.
His body felt like it had never known true nourishment until now—like it was starving, and finally, it could eat. It wasn't just absorbing energy—it was evolving.
And the Hōgyoku? It was turbocharging the process.
The transformation happened so suddenly that Ryo's eyelid twitched. He couldn't help but shoot a message into the Dimensional Forum:
〚"Uh, what's happening to my body?"〛
[Answer: The rapid growth of your Soul Core has created a mismatch with your physical form. Your body is now undergoing accelerated evolution.]
[Estimated natural time for the process: one month.]
[Hōgyoku detected. Evolution time compressed to: 10 seconds.]
When he read that, Ryo couldn't help but laugh.
"So, my soul got too strong for my body to keep up, and now my body's trying to evolve to match it?"
Should he be posting on some supernatural Reddit thread?
'Got too OP too fast. Body can't keep up. Help. Urgent.'
The only reply would probably be:
'Use a Hōgyoku, duh.'
Feeling the Hōgyoku spinning like mad within his Soul Core, Ryo couldn't help but sigh.
"This is the first time I've seen the Hōgyoku working this hard."
Normally, it barely flinched—just passively speeding up his training, helping him absorb skills, that sort of thing.
But now? Evolving his entire physical body? The orb was going full power like a spinning top on overdrive. It must've been drawing on a ridiculous amount of energy.
Curious, Ryo asked the forum:
〚"So once the evolution's complete, what kind of physical stats am I looking at?"〛
[Answer: After basic adaptation, your physical body will meet the 'Four-Digit Standard' as defined by the Little Garden Central Core.]
Ryo's lips twitched.
Four-digit standard? That meant—
In two words? Planet-busting.
If you could destroy a planet with pure physical might, that usually qualified you as four-digit level.
The kicker? Most people relied on Gifts or Divine Abilities to do that.
Ryo? He was doing it with his body alone.
And this was just his "basic" adaptation.
He asked again, half-dreading the answer:
〚"Okay... and if I fully adapt?"〛
[Answer: Upon complete adaptation, your body will reach the preliminary threshold of the 'Star Spirit' standard.]
That shut him up for a good moment.
He knew what a Star Spirit was.
Shiroyasha—the Little Garden's notorious celestial tyrant—was the textbook example.
Only the planetary guardian spirits of large celestial bodies qualified for the "Star Spirit" title.
And somehow… he'd just skipped straight to that level through his actions in the Demon Slayer world?
That didn't sit right with him.
Frowning, he asked, 〚"How did the stuff I did in that world boost my Soul Core this much?"〛
[Answer: Requesting evaluation from the Little Garden Central Core. Please wait.]
A screen of light opened in front of him, displaying a list of internal calculations translated into language he could understand:
[Evaluation: Observed an unclassified world and integrated it into Little Garden's system. Merit Points: 5,000.]
[Evaluation: Altered the course of the Second World War, created multiversal branches and timelines. Impacted major faith systems: Taoist pantheon, Greek pantheon, Celtic pantheon, heavily influenced the Christian pantheon...]
As Ryo scrolled, he saw line after line:
"Influenced X Pantheon's belief system."
"Triggered faith shift in Y Divine Group."
And then he hit the final line.
[...Accelerated the downfall of the Takamagahara pantheon. Total Merit: 2,000,000.]
"...Why the hell is that on the list?" Ryo blinked.
He hadn't expected that last one. Still, what really caught his eye was the number.
Observing a world netted him 5,000 points.
Messing with a global war? Two million.
"Kinda makes you wanna go poke around Europe's war timeline, doesn't it..." he thought.
Then immediately smacked that idea down.
"I stir up East Asia a bit and I've already got at least 2 two-digit monsters breathing down my neck. If I touch Europe, I'll have half the damn pantheon watching me."
He sighed, then grumbled under his breath: "If only Muzan had a brother I could pin more stuff on…"
With that, he noticed his body had finally stabilized. The Hōgyoku had finished its work.
But a question popped into his head.
〚"Didn't the Hōgyoku just finish my evolution? Why is there still a 'full adaptation' phase?"〛
[Answer: A portion of your Soul Core's power has been absorbed by your Zanpakutō—Byakuya.]
Ryo blinked, then pulled up his Gift Card to check the blade's description:
---
→Gift: Zanpakutō (Byakuya)
•Forged from the soul, shaped by will.
•Absorbed immense merit from countless unnamed Demon Kings across parallel timelines.
•Can temporarily transform the wielder into a 'Star Spirit'.
•Rating: Four-digit (Growth Type)
---
"'Unnamed Demon King,' huh?" Ryo snorted.
The only reason that guy was 'unnamed' was because he impersonated him.
Pharaohs gave up their names to seal away evil gods. Muzan? He lost his name because Ryo stole his place—and now his essence had been swallowed by Ryo's blade.
Chuckling, Ryo asked one last thing:
〚"So… how's the Little Garden Central Core ranking me now?"〛
[Answer: Five-digit (Special Case).]
"Oh?"
Ryo raised an eyebrow.
"Still not four-digit, huh? Makes sense, I guess. My body and Soul are strong, but I'm still lagging in Authority and Divine Rights."
Little Garden's ranking system factored in a lot—Soul Core strength, physical prowess, Gifts, Authority...
Most four-digit beings were all-rounders—balanced across the board.
But a special case like Ryo meant he excelled in certain areas, enough to fight on the next level, but still lacked some of the key requirements.
It wasn't unheard of.
Queen Halloween was a three-digit special case. Zeus from the Greek pantheon? Four-digit special case.
They could punch well above their grade—but technically didn't meet every metric for their tier.
Ryo gave a faint smirk.
"Well, at least now I've got some real survival strength here in Little Garden."
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
He adjusted his clothes, let his new strength settle in (making sure not to wreck the furniture), and stepped out of his room.
Above him, the sky was clear, bright, and endless.
.
.
.
To read 50 advanced chapters 👉 patreon.com/_Coreal