What should I do?

An unexpected problem has arisen.

The people I sent memories to aren’t trying to summon me.

The problem began like this: after collecting Yasle’s summoning-related memories, I sliced them into smaller pieces and transmitted them. I didn’t send them all at once because people who received the full transmission couldn’t endure it and died.

So, I minimized the amount and experimented by gradually increasing the volume. I sent as much as possible without causing harm.

But those with sharp understanding managed to use the magic Yasle once wielded with just the memories I sent them.

Yes.

No matter how much I analyze the memories, all I can discern is the part that relates to summoning me. Yet, some people grasp the principles from those memories and use simple magic. How do they do it?

No matter.

The ability to use new magic—that’s the fundamental issue.

The light that reaches me, submerged beneath the cold depths, always comes from people steeped in despair and resignation.

But those who receive my blessings become inherently strong. Just to be sure, I conducted a thorough investigation. It turns out that, besides the improvement in physical abilities, their intelligence also increases after receiving my blessing.

The extent varies from person to person, but overall, their bodies transform for the better. And if they’re lucky, they even gain a special ability.

So far, of 797 individuals blessed, 236 gained special abilities. That’s about 30%. Isn’t that a decent probability?

Incidentally, I refer to them as “individuals” because they aren’t all human. Among them, 542 were blessed while I was in that world, while the rest came from lights that reached me over time.

Every blessed individual, without exception, became stronger.

Incurable wounds healed, they became younger, stronger, smarter, and some even gained unique powers.

For most, being physically healthier and stronger resolves many of their problems.

That alone is an issue, but the ones who understand Yasle’s knowledge well enough can also use magic.

Many experience dramatic improvements after receiving their blessings.

Yes, that’s the biggest problem.

When they gain the strength to escape their hardships, they no longer need to summon me.

But waiting for the blessed to fall into misfortune again is too unpredictable. Their downfall isn’t being ostracized or abandoned—it’s the moment their heads are cut off.

They rampage with their newfound power, fail to achieve their goals, and are killed.

It’s a dilemma.

To grant knowledge to someone desperate enough to summon me, I must first bless them.

But if I bless them, they no longer need to summon me.

When I was in that world, I could influence those with low warmth. But submerged beneath the surface, I can’t.

Not only was my consciousness drawn upward, but it seems my physical form also rose, allowing me to interfere with that world.

Now that I’ve descended again, I can no longer affect it.

Speaking of descending, a memory comes to mind.

That time.

I remember seeing a crack form in the void when I tried to create the phone. What would have happened if I had pushed harder then? Would the warmth have increased? Or would I have fallen back through the crack?

There’s so much I don’t know.

At times like this, it’s not wise to rush forward. Progress must be made step by step.

First, let’s ensure that a blessed person can summon me.

What should I do?

I think.

How can I make them summon me?

What can I do?

First, one thing.

I can bestow blessings.

To be precise, it means transferring myself to them. When that happens, their light turns black, and their bodies transform.

This is what we call a blessing.

The blessed become stronger. Occasionally, they gain special abilities—controlling fire, water, lightning, or wind; freely altering their body size; regenerating severed limbs instantly; or even distorting the minds of others.

This is a good thing.

Now let’s consider another perspective—the bad side from a third party’s point of view.

I can drain warmth.

If I extract warmth from a living person, they transform into a monster.

A fleeting thought crosses my mind: perhaps I, too, became a monster after having my warmth drained.

But the first person whose warmth I drained turned into a monster and exuded an intense chill.

Then, in their pursuit of warmth, they attacked someone nearby. And the warmth from the attacked person was drawn to me.

Not to the monster attacking them—but to me.

Let’s make a hypothesis.

That monster was infected by me.

You’ve heard the stories, right? About vampires draining their victims’ blood, and then the corpses rising as ghastly creatures craving the blood of the living?

Similarly, when I drain warmth, it’s possible that the affected become subordinate entities to me.

But this is a bit unclear. Back then, the monster looked at me first, as if observing its prey, then gazed at me as one would a stronger predator before choosing another target.

What happened next, I don’t know. Its face was covered in a pale, chitinous shell, making it impossible to read its expression.

However, it was afraid of me. Was it fear of a complete stranger, or fear of someone who could command it?

Either way, when a person-turned-monster kills someone else, I gain warmth. In essence, I can create unpaid workers who provide me with warmth.

Not bad. Stripping away ideology, it’s the most efficient method. I can use them as much as I want and discard them when they’re no longer useful.

But this isn’t a good solution.

The fact that they devolve into mindless monsters is especially problematic.

Because simple enemies are easy to kill. There’s no guilt, and it feels more like a job—just slaughtering them.

Here’s an example:

Zombies in a shooting game. They resemble humans but elicit no guilt when killed. They’re monsters that eat people, already dead, and lack reason. Whatever the rationale, the bottom line is they’re easy to hunt without moral burden.

This would lead to them being hunted indiscriminately.

While it might be beneficial during the initial outbreak, the aftermath becomes the problem. Haven’t you seen this in any pandemic simulator game?

If the infection rate is too high and the fatality rate is extreme, people quickly develop a cure. If I create monsters through warmth extraction, someone might discover an unforeseen method to eliminate them and kill off the monsters.

I’ve realized that if I must do something, ensuring spread is the most important priority.

Thus, blessings are better than warmth extraction.

Blessings don’t necessarily lead to bad outcomes for those around them. No matter what the essence of the power is, it simply appears as strength, devoid of notions like good or evil.

Still, those who receive blessings give me a significant amount of warmth.

When pushed to the extreme, people who gain power tend to use it to overcome their struggles.

And because of their experience in extreme situations, they often resort to violence instead of dialogue.

Someone once said: "Philosophy and moral dilemmas don’t matter when there’s no rice at home."

This isn’t about right or wrong. It’s not a discussion about human nature. Those are luxuries for people who aren’t struggling.

What matters to me is: where does the higher probability lie?

In extreme situations, are there more people who act rationally? Or more who just want to survive at all costs?

Purely considering the odds, there will likely be more people who prioritize survival.

And violence inevitably breeds resentment.

Of course, the one committing violence might be in the right. Perhaps the person they’re attacking truly deserves it.

But would the attacked party accept it as their comeuppance, or would they resent their attacker?

Blessings will undoubtedly bring more warmth.

Yes, more warmth.

I know how to be patient.

I’ll choose the option with the larger total.

In other words, my advantage lies in giving blessings. Warmth extraction can be set aside for now—that’s an issue to think about once I’ve returned to that world.

First, I need to sell my strengths.

How should I sell them?

I sift through the memories I’ve gathered so far.

Hmm.

Hmm.

There was something that kept popping up and sticking in my head from internet video platforms, wasn’t there? That’s right—how various forms of media disseminate specific information to people.

Advertisements.

What if I insert my advertisement when I transmit memories?

Something like, “I can bestow even more blessings upon those around you!” If I include that, perhaps one person will take the bait.

And surely, there aren’t just a handful of people like Yasle or Andrew. There must be many.

Even the faded man’s memories had something like this:

“For a pioneer church to run properly, you only need 80 members.”

With that many, they said the operation enters a stable profit zone without deficits.

Yes, for some people, religion is a business. Wouldn’t blessings be an excellent business item for such people?

I’ve seen this kind of operation with my own eyes and experienced it firsthand.

Surely, there will be someone who sees my advertisement and decides to summon me.

Yes, I’ve decided.

It might take a little longer to fully transmit the memories a person needs, but I’ll insert advertisements here and there.

What kind of advertisement would be good?

Should I mimic that one goddess from a certain game, who starts with, “Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice?” and then delivers a twist at the end?

I’d love it if someone mindlessly summoned me like in a cosmic horror story. Although, now that I think about it, most of those works focus on people driven mad by alien knowledge, so they don’t offer much useful reference.

Hmm.

Let’s keep it simple for now. Simple.

“If you want more blessings, use this knowledge to summon me.”

It’s a sentence with a bit of a trick.

Doesn’t it sound like they themselves can gain more power? But when I say “more,” I mean spreading blessings to more people, not just to them.

Still, depending on the language, the phrasing might need to be adjusted slightly. Some languages use entirely different words depending on the nuance.

But the basic structure remains the same. It sounds like it’s for their benefit, but it’s actually for mine.

I’ll keep the sentences short and straightforward to stimulate their desires as much as possible.

Isn’t that what all advertisements do?

It’s not like there are any rules against it anyway.

Hehe.

I made an advertisement.