On a Godless Planet Volume 1 Chapter 7

"When the accumulated water starts to flow, it creates a river…."

"Yes, and then what happens?"

I thought about it.

There would be rivers, but what would they ultimately create?

"…It makes an ocean?"

When Senpai applauded and I struck a pose with both hands raised, the talking screen cleared their throat.

"You just have to get the last word in, don't you? But what do you mean there aren't any rivers?"

"The newly-cooled land is a lot like water turned to ice, so there are no mountains or valleys or anything. And there is no water-retaining dirt which is necessary for a river to function."

"You mean…?"

"For example?"

"The steam explosions we mentioned before. When the rain or flowing water hits the lava or heated ground, it will go kaboom all over the place, the atmosphere will bwoosh wildly, and it will finally smoosh together to form a giant air current. There are no mountains or hills on the surface, so the air current will become super hot and fwoosh across the land."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

I thought about it. I knew exactly what they were asking: what happens to the chocolate on top of the ice cream if you eat the ice cream first?

"It'll split apart?"

Senpai applauded with a smile. I was right. Go, me! Balancer, don't give me that look, okay? But…

"And how will the land move when it splits apart?"

I thought about that question. What would happen if the ice cream in question was the size of this land?

The term "fissure" came to mind, but that wasn't it.

"Will it create mountains and things like that?"

But Balancer had more to say.

What happened once you had oceans?

I answered with complete self-confidence.

"We can wear swimsuits… Hey, don't give me that look, screen."

"Eh?"

I slapped the front of my face. I had already slapped both cheeks a fair bit, so this was to balance it out.

Anyway, I thought some more about what happened once you had oceans.

…It feels too soon to say you get life.

"Would it be too spiritual to say the oceans would be teeming with life?"

"That does happen, but think of it as the next stage."

"What, you wanna fight!? Huh!?"

I decided to ignore the small fry. Cause I was a big shot. And a big shot wouldn't stumble over a small pebble in their path. Damn that stupid screen!

Anyway, what were we talking about? Right, what happened once you had oceans. I realized something as I thought about it.

…This terraforming is being done by gods like Senpai…

In that case, I could return to the earlier lecture.

Ley lines, ether, and molds. If all those existed…

"It creates more phases."

I realized that was probably the right answer, so I said more.

"Originally, the land was nothing but lava and the air was nothing but stormy heat, but when you cool them down, you get some actual land, even if it's just rock. And when rain falls on that and forms oceans, a major change occurs."

"A phase. With the lava and stormy air, those were the only phases on the planet. And since they're very active and cover the entire planet, they're too all-encompassing. But…"

But…

"Cooling them gives you rocky land and oceans, which increases the overall number of phases."

What happened when you had more phases?

"Phases are molds. So when you have more phases, they're easier to use. …Is that it?"

"But that's more or less it. You're right, Sumeragi-kun."

"Yay! A compliment from Senpai! Bet you're jealous, Balancer!"

"So you're jealous, huh!? Uhohoi! Uhohoi!"

But Balancer got back on topic.

"The odds are stacked against us? You mean Senpai and me aren't unbeatable if we work together?"

Senpai stammered and gave me a troubled smile, so there was clearly something to this. There was always a reason for a good-looking girl's bitter smile. I hadn't ever known any good-looking girls well enough to know, but I was pretty sure it was true.

Anyway, Senpai walked forward and stopped at the edge of the rocky land.

"Watch for a moment, okay?"

I saw Senpai hold both hands out over the sea of lava.

Just like before, she rewrote a 30m square of lava into rocky land. So…

"Incredible, senpai! Nice rocking!"

"No, it was nothing…"

"Eh? You mean to figure out that Senpai's god powers are beautiful or that the way she swings her arms forward causes her skirt to lift up in the back and you can't help but think 'nice ass' if you're standing behind her?"

"Eh?"

I pointed at Balancer.

"It's this thing's fault! They asked a leading question!"

That was pretty much it. Self-harm was bad, after all. But I was curious about what Balancer had said.

"What was I supposed to have figured out?"

"A square of about 30 meters?"

It hit me when I said it out loud.

…Oh, so that's it.

I kind of got it.

This terraforming would not be easy. And it would not be easy on Senpai either.

This was all sounding a lot harder than I had been thinking.

And just as I realized that, Balancer spoke up.

"Y'know."

I spoke up.

"I am doing this with Senpai. That's already a given. So don't underestimate us, Balancer. Nothing you say can scare me off, so quit beating around the bush and just say it."

They said it.

Wait, I thought to myself.

I couldn't protest this just to be contrarian, so I had to think.

I had just been presented with a challenge. I was told Senpai's power was not enough to terraform the planet.

And I knew she had to be worrying about the exact same thing.

I mean, she had been so excited and thanked me when my presence increased her divine rank.

That showed just how important it was for her to increase that rank.

…She might be weak as a god.

But she was trying to get stronger and she had said she would do this with me.

So that settled it.

"It doesn't matter if it's only 30m or whatever. I'm doing this with Senpai and she says she'll do it with me. That's a given. So, Balancer, what options do we have to complete the terraforming? Tell me that."

Balancer sighed in their heart.

What a pain, they thought.

They had to understand what it meant to use efficient methods based on logical and realistic ideas, yet they always grew emotional and made mistakes to save face and preserve their pride.

But was that the case this time? Balancer considered that question.

…That's right.

The overall objective of this mission was for him to complete the terraforming. And he had chosen her as his partner.

So this was not a problem if he was trying to do the terraforming. And if Balancer did not see a problem, it was their duty to fulfill any demand from humankind.

So that was what they did.

The 1st.

<1. Continue terraforming with her while also worshiping her to increase her divine rank. That will strengthen her power and she will ultimately be able to perform largescale terraforming at will.>

The 2nd.

<2. Get creative. There is only so much she can do with that one power, but it is possible a little creativity could greatly change the efficiency and result. So think about that for now. And if you cannot come up with anything…>

The 3rd.

<3. This one is simple: get help from another god.>

I raised my eyebrows.

"Wait. Senpai is my partner. She might back out of our partnership when she realizes how vulgar, lewd, and sometimes downright perverted I can be, but she will still be the partner for me. Oh, and that was a nice speech, so make sure to record it."

"D-damn you…"

But I had to move on, so I asked the question on my mind.

"How exactly would we get help from another god?"

Just as Balancer said that, I heard a voice from behind. And I recognized it.

"Yeah, that's about the size of it."

I turned around to see the members of the game club.

I wasn't even surprised at this point.

"So you really are gods?"

"How should I put this? I might be the weakest of the group, but even I am a higher being than you."

"Now, now," said Shifu-senpai as she took a step forward.

"Okay, Sumeragi-chan and Senpai-chan there. After we introduce ourselves, we can talk about how to borrow our powers for the terraforming and about how the terraforming hasn't made any real progress."