"Wedding, huh."
Bell was naturally eavesdropping on the goddesses' conversation, but this time, he didn't immediately jump in—especially upon hearing the word "wedding."
It was clear to him that he had reached the point where he needed to start considering marriage-related matters.
Since his memories had returned after his rebirth, he had unknowingly lived in this world for almost two years. Those two years had been the most fulfilling of his life, and during that time, he had met many wonderful girls.
His relationships with the five goddesses had long since become clear. Given how things had progressed, the only thing standing in the way of marriage was a lack of financial resources, but otherwise, a wedding seemed inevitable.
In the past, his status had been insufficient, but now it was more than enough.
"Though it might feel like I'm jinxing things, after this matter concludes, it's probably time to seriously consider marriage."
He was now over fifteen, nearing sixteen. Honestly, in this world, that was considered the right age for marriage.
After all, this world was full of monsters. For an ordinary person, encountering one of them meant certain death. Because of this, the marriageable age for commoners had been raised, and marrying and starting a family at sixteen was not an uncommon occurrence.
Given his age and his current status as the chosen partner of a goddess, marrying early wasn't an issue.
However, the change in his status meant that the wedding ceremony itself might require special consideration.
Bell rubbed his temples, temporarily suppressing those thoughts. He shook his head, trying to push the idea of "marriage" out of his mind.
"Better not think about it now, or I'll lose all my focus on the mission."
Besides, now wasn't the time to relax.
The dungeon situation remained complex, and the monsters' levels had been specially adjusted. He might soon face very dangerous situations. There was no time to lower his guard.
Bell certainly didn't want "returning home to marry" to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There was no room for error in his conquest.
So, Bell cleared his mind and decided to focus entirely on resting. He refrained from training, dedicating all his time to relaxation.
He needed to allow both his body and mind to recover. Soon, he would begin pushing himself harder.
The reason he only made it to the 18th layer today was that his body needed time to adjust. Even though he understood the limits of his strength, there were still constraints on how much he could achieve on the very day of his promotion. Therefore, progress on the first day had to be controlled.
The first day was about getting a feel for his new abilities, allowing his newly enhanced body to start moving.
From the second day onward, he would focus on more precise manipulation of his power and fully recovering the techniques he had mastered in the past.
As for the future plans, he likely wouldn't be the one to make them. It depended on whether Mother had already prepared everything for him.
But the final step would inevitably involve facing that person—it was an unavoidable fate.
The plan was solid, but whether it could be executed perfectly depended on how events unfolded.
For now, he would get a good night's sleep.
And so, Bell relaxed and peacefully drifted off to sleep in his temporary shelter.
The next morning came unusually early. Most of the people in both worlds had already risen, eaten breakfast, and made all the necessary preparations, all while waiting for the projection to continue.
Especially in the Type-Moon world, nearly the entire realm—or rather, countless parallel worlds—were focused on the projected events.
The moment the Creator appeared, they understood clearly that world crises were nothing but a joke.
And yet, what was happening right before their eyes was, in itself, a crisis.
But during this time, everyone stuck to an unspoken agreement: they would not disturb the Creator's rest. They all knew that although the Creator had been kind and gentle during the conversation with the youth, they never believed the Creator would extend such warmth to any other individual.
The world was simply a creation in the Creator's hands.
And if it was a creation, would the Creator treat it so gently?
Clearly, no.
Thus, the entire Type-Moon world was exceptionally calm.
Even those politicians who loved exploiting loopholes remained silent, abandoning their duties to stay at home and prepare for the viewing.
They knew that the world would change. Once the events in the projection were over, the very structure of the world would be completely altered.
Before that, they had to prepare for the new opening.
This realization wasn't limited to just the Type-Moon world; even those in the Danmachi world recognized this truth.
Atop the Tower of Babel, all the gods gathered once more.
As for the members of Zeus's and Hera's familia who had been revived yesterday, they stayed within their respective familias. After all, yesterday was an exception; they couldn't all go together today.
In fact, they could watch from within their familias, and it was much more comfortable there.
"... It's starting."
The projected images began to shift.
However, the second projection of the world began to move first.
The screen displayed updated data.
[Lv.1
• Strength: ??? 1347
• Endurance: ??? 1412
• Agility: ??? 1523
• Dexterity: ??? 1549
• Magic Power: ??? 1689]
Any adventurer would recognize this as a personal stat update after a Status Check.
But the string of [?] symbols and those massive numbers left everyone confused.
Then a line of text appeared below, and every adventurer's jaw dropped.
[Achieved Excelia sufficient for advancement within three days of becoming an adventurer.]
"Three days!?"
"Did this happen in just three days?"
In that instant, countless adventurers were completely stunned.
The difficulty of raising stats was no secret. Even the most talented adventurer struggles to quickly raise their strength at Lv.1.
But here was someone who, in just three days, had pushed their stats beyond the 999 limit—and not by just a little, but by a staggering amount.
Exceeding the stat cap was already outrageous, but to achieve enough Excelia for promotion in just three days? That was utterly ridiculous!
After all, earning Excelia was no easier than boosting stats.
Yet someone had managed both in just three days.
This was too much for anyone to handle.