Surviving as a Plagiarist in Another World

“Let’s take a familiar example! Imagine this world has only two people—Adam and Eve!”

The alchemist chuckled uncontrollably, explaining with a gleeful expression.

“Transcendence is the act of engraving certain rights upon this world. If you kill all people, you would become the Transcendent of Death! So, let’s say Adam kills Eve and becomes the ‘Transcendent of Death.’”

“That seems like a rather blasphemous example.”

“Adam has transcended, but further transcendence is impossible. To achieve transcendence through death, you must kill everyone, and even if you wield absolute control over life and death, it’s utterly meaningless! Transcendence, in the end, becomes ‘a futile endeavor.’ It’s merely recognition of what has already been achieved! For instance, the Transcendent of Dragon Slaying may possess the right to kill all dragons, but if all dragons are already dead, it’s worthless!”

“Yes. That does sound like a story I’ve heard before.”

“Let’s return to the original example. This time, let’s imagine Adam and Eve conceive a child and become the Transcendents of Life.”

“Not Transcendents of Birth?”

“We can skip minor details! It’s just an example!”

Since no such Transcendent exists, the specifics of the example didn’t seem to matter much.

As I nodded in agreement, the alchemist chuckled softly and continued.

“Adam and Eve will endlessly bear children, increasing life. While transcendence through death, such as the Dragon Slayer’s Transcendence, ends everything and cannot expand or evolve further, transcendence through life perpetually grows in scale. Just like how I continuously create new potions and how you, the writer, create new works!”

“Hm, I see.”

“At this point, the transcendence of life undergoes another structural ‘expansion.’ It’s a far more potent and explosive expansion! Do you know what that is?”

I paused briefly to organize my thoughts before nodding and answering.

“The descendants bearing their own descendants, like the Fibonacci sequence…?”

“Exactly! Your quick understanding is impressive!”

A pair of rabbits, in an ideal ecosystem, could multiply to a hundred million in just three years.

Such is the magnificence of life’s mysteries, which even led Australia to wage war against rabbits for several years.

Thanks to this, understanding the alchemist’s explanation wasn’t too difficult.

“The transcendence of death allows for a single transcendence, while the transcendence of life allows for two transcendences.”

“Precisely!”

Then, I could also infer the meaning behind the ‘Second Transcendence’ I was now encountering.

The scalability of literary content.

The most powerful influence literature can exert on the masses.

The reason literature retains vitality and functionality as a living force, even into the 21st century when no one reads books.

Movies, literary criticism, plays, philosophy, ethics, science—.

The true power of literature, inspiring countless fields and changing lives.

That is what leads to the ‘Second Transcendence.’

“So, how does one achieve this ‘Second Transcendence’?”

“Ah. Finally, the conversation has reached this point!”

“Yes?”

“The reason I brought this up is because—you, the writer, have already reached the Second Transcendence!”

At that moment.

All the books in the Library of Transcendence flew off the shelves and began swirling in the air.

The sound of pages fluttering echoed through the library, and a breeze tinged with the scent of paper brushed past, ruffling my hair.

The library’s lights swayed like curtains, forming bands of aurora-like radiance.

The ceiling, which had seemed so solid, began to rise, fracture, and transform into an expansive universe.

And then.

An infinite staircase made of books undulated in the air, waiting for me.

My initial thought upon witnessing this surreal landscape was this:

“…I really don’t want to step on books.”

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“From here on, I can’t follow you. You’ll have to climb alone!”

I sat on the escalator made of books and ascended once again into the heavens.

This time, there were no giant starry eyes watching me from the cosmos.

Rather than being overwhelming, the experience was comfortable—almost enjoyable, like visiting a themed library with walls made of bookshelves.

After a while, I saw a massive stone door, half-open, waiting ahead.

The design of the door felt oddly familiar.

“The Gate of Truth…?”

It looked like the stone gate from an alchemy manga I had read in my past life, with carvings inspired by the Kabbalistic Tree of Life from Jewish mysticism.

I let out a wry laugh and pushed the door open, stepping inside.

Beyond the endless white background that felt like the spaces between lines or the margins of a story, someone was sitting.

Fortunately, they didn’t look like they were about to introduce themselves as “Truth.”

I approached them and sat in the chair placed before them.

Then, staring blankly at the person, I asked.

“…Does it have to be in that form?”

Then, the person who appeared in the form of a woman—

That is, someone who looked like my ex-girlfriend.

Or rather, ‘something’ taking on the appearance of the junior editor I used to work with—responded.

“I judged that this form would make communication easiest. Is it making you uncomfortable?”

“…A little bit.”

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When I first transcended as the ‘Transcendent of Literature.’

I once asked why I was greeted not by a god or an angel, but by an alchemist.

“I thought I would be welcomed by some non-material, spiritual… transcendent, incomprehensible being far beyond human perception.”

“If one has truly transcended everything, wouldn’t kindness itself also be transcendent? Speaking at the other’s level is the very essence of divine consideration!”

Indeed, from that perspective, the angel taking on the form of my ‘junior’ was the most optimal for facilitating communication.

I could hardly imagine myself having a proper conversation with anyone other than her. If this was divine consideration, I still found it a bit unpleasant.

To me, this form was closer to coercion than kindness.

The ‘junior,’ dressed neatly in a black suit and white shirt, gave a bashful smile as she continued speaking. My mind went blank for a moment.

“If you’re curious about anything, feel free to ask. My role is to sincerely answer your questions.”

“…Junior, what happened after I died?”

“Ah, anything about your past life is excluded.”

“…….”

I glared at her, speechless.

She shrugged and made a lighthearted remark.

“Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for both of us if you asked about the secrets of this world, the universe, or transcendence, instead of personal matters?”

“Sigh….”

Letting out a deep sigh, I eventually nodded.

“Fine, then explain.”

“Explain what?”

“Who you are, why I was reincarnated, what this world is, and what transcendence means.”

“Ah! That’s a great idea. I like it a lot.”

“…….”

“First, I should introduce ourselves.”

Taking on the form of my junior but behaving far more polite than she ever had, she bowed slightly and began.

“We are the last artificial intelligence created by ‘Earth,’ known as ‘Cosmos.’”

“Like ‘Earth’ from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?”

“Closer to ‘Multivac’ from Isaac Asimov’s The Last Question.”

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The Last Question.

A short story by Isaac Asimov, where humanity repeatedly asks, “Can entropy be reversed?” as the universe approaches its death.

This entire story begins in the world where such a work exists—

On ‘Earth.’

“After space development, the issues faced by humanity from the small home planet called ‘Earth’ were no different. While manipulating quantum probabilities became possible, reviving a dying universe remained out of reach. ‘Magic’ could not resist such a grand fate.”

It’s possible to delay the heat death of the universe but not to reverse it entirely.

This was the conclusion humanity on Earth had reached.

Thus, they sought new possibilities to ensure humanity’s survival.

“Faced with problems unsolvable by engineering or science, humanity adopted a somewhat philosophical approach. If the current universe cannot be revived… why not ensure that humanity arises once more in a ‘new universe’ born from the void? Isn’t that the preservation of humanity as a species? Are you familiar with the Ship of Theseus?”

“Yes.”

Even if all parts are replaced, if the blueprint remains the same, it is considered the same entity.

Earth’s humanity applied this logic to the very concept of ‘humanity’ as a species.

“From this idea emerged the plan to use ‘Probability Engineering’ to create a new universe where humans with identical genetic information to those of present-day Earth could arise—Project ‘Otherworld.’”