Souta firmly believed that—
For god-level beings like Magic Gods, destroying the world meant nothing to them.
To them, blowing up a planet was child's play—
So expecting rational, peaceful negotiations was pure delusion.
For all he knew, if they got bored, they might just kill him for fun.
"So... if not Magic Gods, then who?"
Kurumi frowned slightly, confused.
"Which world should we go to?"
Souta smiled knowingly.
"I'm not saying we should target a specific world right away."
"I just wanted to show you how vast and unpredictable the multiverse is."
"We have to expand our thinking—stop limiting ourselves to just one world."
Then he fell into deep thought.
Truthfully, Souta hadn't watched that many anime.
And his knowledge was pretty scattered.
If he had to come up with a detailed plan right away, he wasn't sure where to start.
He followed the sacred rule of the internet:
"When in doubt, Google it."
"Immortal characters in anime."
His goal was to find a way for himself or Kurumi to obtain immortality.
Soon, he found an article listing various immortal characters.
Since Kurumi couldn't read Chinese, he read aloud as he scrolled:
"Celty... from Durarara!!—the motorcycle-riding, headless woman... but we don't know how she became immortal, and having a decapitated head sounds kind of disturbing. Pass."
"Alucard... from Hellsing—if I ask him to turn me into a vampire, I doubt he'd just say yes. Pass."
"C.C... from Code Geass—wait, how did she get her immortality again? I forgot... I'd have to rewatch it... Ugh, too much work. Pass."
"Tomie... Nope. Pass."
"Hohenheim... from Fullmetal Alchemist—the Philosopher's Stone can make people immortal, but creating one requires sacrificing an entire city. Hard pass."
Souta's eyes lit up as he spotted a name.
"Huh? Baccano! has a whole group of immortals... Wait a minute—how did I forget about Baccano!?"
His excitement surged as he locked onto his target.
Baccano! was an old anime, so he hadn't thought of it immediately.
Its story centered around a group of people who gained immortality after drinking a special "Elixir of Immortality."
"If we go to Baccano!'s world, obtaining immortality will be ridiculously easy!"
All we have to do is drink a glass of wine.
It had zero side effects.
"I found it, Kurumi!"
Souta pointed excitedly at the screen, showing her the Baccano! wiki page.
"Let's use the Travel Card to go to this world!"
Kurumi leaned closer, staring at the unfamiliar characters on the screen.
Since she couldn't read Chinese, she simply asked:
"Does this world have something that can help me?"
"It has a substance called 'Elixir of Immortality'—a gift from a demon to humanity."
"Drinking it grants true immortality. You won't age, and you can't die by any external force."
"Essentially, your entire body's cells will gain consciousness, and no matter what happens, your body will always regenerate back to the moment you drank the Elixir."
"Even if someone blows your head off with a gun, you'll instantly heal."
"The 'Elixir of Immortality'..."
Kurumi murmured the name, her curiosity burning.
Souta saw her interest and pushed further:
"The Baccano! world is one where you'd be completely overpowered."
"Even among those who drank the Elixir, they're still just normal humans—their only power is immortality."
"So there's no one who can stop us from obtaining it."
"Other worlds wouldn't be so easy."
"Most anime worlds with immortality tend to be incredibly dangerous. If something goes wrong, we could easily get ourselves killed."
"It's safe, easy, and guaranteed success."
Kurumi nodded slowly, a rare smile forming on her lips.
"Ara, ara... That does sound tempting."
Her gaze flickered with amusement.
"I plan, Souta-kun."
After listening to Souta's detailed analysis, Kurumi saw no issues with it and simply said:
"I'm not very familiar with this kind of thing, so I'll just go along with your judgment."
"Alright!" Souta's face lit up with excitement.
"Once we drink the Elixir of Immortality, the whole 'time reserve' issue will be completely solved."
"And even if you don't want to drink it, that's fine too—you can just absorb my time instead."
Souta glanced at the clock on his phone.
It was already past 8 PM.
"Let me refresh my memory by rewatching some episodes—then we can leave."
However, before he could start, Kurumi gently shook her head and stopped him, speaking with a hint of exasperation:
"Souta, what you should be doing right now... is finishing your dinner and getting some sleep."
She pouted slightly and spoke in a soft, chiding tone:
"You haven't slept at all since last night, have you?"
"Uh... I feel fine." Souta scratched his head awkwardly.
Kurumi smiled, but for some reason, Souta could sense her firmness behind the words.
"As your friend, I can't just stand by and watch you neglect your health."
After thinking for a moment, Souta decided to accept her suggestion.
It was clear Kurumi was genuinely concerned for him.
He quickly finished his meal, then took a shower.
Afterward, he moved the sheets and blankets from his bedroom to the couch, then changed the bedding in his room.
His sofa bed had cost him nearly 5,000 yuan when he bought it.
It was a high-end multifunctional one.
"Kurumi, I'll let you have the bedroom. I'm gonna get some rest first. We'll talk about traveling tomorrow."
With that, Souta collapsed onto the couch and immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Within a minute or two, the room was filled with soft snoring sounds.
Seems like the exhaustion from staying up all night finally caught up with him.
"He said he wasn't tired, but his body tells a different story."
Kurumi chuckled softly as she approached the couch.
She gazed at Souta's slightly weary sleeping face, her lips curling into a gentle smile.
She had already figured him out—
Souta was the type of person who always thought about others before himself.
Even though they had only known each other for two days, he always considered things from her perspective.
Most of the things he offered to help with...
Were things he voluntarily suggested.
And from his eyes, Kurumi could tell—
He didn't expect anything in return.
He simply wanted to help her.
"People like him... are the ones who get taken advantage of the most."
Kurumi sighed internally.
Souta was the kind of person who couldn't bear to see others suffer.
He had probably been taken advantage of many times in his life.
Kurumi didn't dislike people like him.
She actually liked it quite a lot.
Since he was her friend, she couldn't let him keep getting taken advantage of.
From now on, she would have to keep an eye on the people in his social circle.