Chapter 255: Secret x Danger

"At this rate, It'll take me a few months to fully digest them." Stated Lorien out loud while stretching his body causing a series of cracking noises to echo.

*Crack*

*Crack*

*Crack*

"Ughh~"

Groaning lightly, Lorien couldn't help but narrow his eyes, his nerves finally relaxing after being in a tense state for such a long time.

"I've finally finished what I came to do in this world, it's time to move to the next one!" He muttered out loud, thinking about his next course of action.

"Hmmm, I wonder what the next world will be…." He continued, a sense of excitement washing over him.

Adventure, mystery, and uncovering the unknown had always been something Lorien loved doing, so instead of fearing said unknown, he reveled in it.

However, while that was true, Lorien understood that choosing the next world himself might bring more benefits than leaving things to pure chance.

As he pondered this, Lorien's mind couldn't help but drift to the many identical anime, manga, TV series, and movies that seemed to echo and reenact scenes from distant worlds.

Moreover, despite the different settings and authors, these works of 'fiction' remained remarkably consistent no matter how the other factors changed.

'Now that I think of it, it's really weird…'

'Could there be a connection between them?' He thought, his sixth sense unknowingly guiding him towards the right direction.

'If so, this might actually be a way to pinpoint the location of different worlds.'

Fueled by intense curiosity, Lorien couldn't help but redirect his attention to his [World Authority].

'Well, I've only used it to control the world rules, it seems that I haven't actually used it to take a look at the [Nothingness] outside the world.'

'Moreover, using the world's perspective to observe it might prove more useful than using my own.'

'Hmmm, JJK, this is a very well-known world…'

'If the reason behind these animes is the world itself, then I should be able to detect it with my [Authority].'

'So, I might be able to unravel this mystery today!'

Coming to this conclusion, Lorien didn't waste any more time as he immediately sat down and began using his full power to mobilize the [World Authority].

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

*Bzzz*

*Bzzzz*

*BZZZZZZZZZ*

The moment Lorien began using this power to observe the [Nothingness] outside the world, his vision abruptly darkened as he found himself in an all-familiar place.

The eternal void of nothingness where even the basic concepts that form all worlds are nonexistent; All one could see there were the innumerable 'stars' shining brightly within it, each representing a different world.

However, looking at this familiar void of nothingness from the [World's Perspective], Lorien suddenly noticed something that he wasn't able to previously perceive.

In front of Lorien's shocked eyes, a cobweb of interconnected lines that seemed to fill the entire void suddenly manifested before him.

These gray and semi-transparent 'lines' seemed to be bidirectional with some originating from the world itself while others seemed to originate from the furthest place of this unknowable void and were simply being 'observed' and 'collected' by the JJK World.

Seeing this, Lorien's heart immediately began racing as he felt like he had touched for the first time one of the hidden secrets of the world.

'What are these lines…'

'It looks as if they are linking every world together.'

'However, some of them seem quite dangerous…'

Observing these lines closely, Lorien couldn't help but hesitate as he began thinking about the prospects of simply ignoring all of this and retreating.

After all, while most of these lines seemed safe, there were a few lines that gave Lorien a very dangerous feeling; Just by looking at them, he knew that they weren't something he should touch right now.

'Ughh, Should I go back empty-handed after reaching here?'

'My sixth sense is telling me that this is something very important for my future path…'

Feeling disgruntled, Lorien wavered at the thought of risking his life just for some curiosity and for some potential possibly nonexistent opportunity.

However, after thinking about it a bit more, he finally decided to give it a try after glancing at the 'golden orb' hidden within his body.

'If it's truly deadly, it'll stop me.'

'I think…'

Finally making his decision, Lorien gritted his teeth before choosing one of the weaker and safer lines to touch.

'Here going nothing!'

'Or everything for that matter.'

*BZZZZZZZZZ*

*Swish*

Touching this line with his divine sense, Lorien was instantly swarmed with a wave of information that almost overwhelmed his consciousness.

'Ughhh.'

'That's a lot of information…'

Feeling a powerful headache, Lorien couldn't help but narrow his eyes and furrow his brows.

However, that state only lasted for a fraction of a second before he restored his full state and focused again on the new information he gathered.

'This information…'

'While not as detailed, I already most of it.'

'This information actually originated for a certain anime world called [My Dress-Up Darling]…'

'HAHAHAHAHA'

'This is quite interesting.'

'I now somewhat understand what these lines are and what their purpose is!'

'These lines are simply information lines that spread the world's information to different worlds.'

'As for its purpose, it should be mutual [Observation].'

'For whatever reason, it seems that this act of [Observation] stabilizes the world and helps strengthen it.'

'This is also the reason why these anime and manga appear.'

'The more people watch it, the more feedback the original world gets; And while this feedback might not be that big, considering the infinite number of worlds out there, quantity simply overwhelms quality here.'

Realizing this, Lorien's eyes shone brightly as he began thinking of ways to utilize this newfound knowledge.

'Tsk, this void of nothingness is much more complex than I had previously thought…'

'However, it seems that there is something missing…'

Frowning lightly, Lorien turned his attention towards the [Information Lines] that previously gave him a very dangerous feeling.

'If these lines are simply [Information], then why do I feel like I'll probably die if I touch one of these…'