Chapter 405: – Void Function (1/2) |
John sighed and then focused on the more important task at hand other than the fact that Gray was acting like a boomer.
...That was what Meggie called people out of touch with the times, right?
But anyway...
"So you clearly didn't die, Gray."
Gray let out a cold laugh. "Clearly. It was a bit rough here and there though."
Eliza frowned at her husband's words and reached over to grab his hand.
He smiled back at her and then looked at John. "I had a vow to keep though. Couldn't just throw my life away like that."
John blinked. "A vow? To who?"
That time, Gray blinked. He stared at John for a bit, looking sad. "You don't remember-" He sighed. "No, it doesn't matter." He glanced at Jenny and then back at John, frowning. "What about you? Last I remember, you were still just starting middle school. Now..." His frown deepened and he said, "How long has it been?"
"That so?" Gray gently pulled his hand away from Eliza and then crossed his arms. After that, he chuckled and said, "Considering how goofy and immature you were back then, it seems like you grew up a lot."
Right after Gray said that, Jenny giggled
John glared at her.
'Oi! Time and place, Jenny!'
Gray smirked and then looked at John. "What? Is that not true?"
Jenny hid her smile with her hands and said, "About that..."
"ANYWAY." John cut into the conversation and then looked at Gray. "Back to the main topic. How are you here? And why? Also, what happened to you?" He shifted his gaze to Eliza and said, "Did you decide to go dimension hopping on a honeymoon or something?"
Not that John blamed them. He was arranging a family trip back to the Three Realms with some friends soon.
Sometimes you had to have a bit of exposure to the greater world to appreciate what you had or missed, you know?
Eliza placed a hand on her cheek and sighed. "If only..."
Gray sighed as well and said, "We WERE planning on a family trip to introduce the grandkids to Mom and Dad. And I thought we got the right place, but when we went home everything was different."
"Ah, you too, huh?" John nodded. And then he paused and said, "Wait, you got to the U.S.?"
Gray blinked and said, "Yeah. It was just a bit of calculus for the dimensional coordinates. Why?"
"...No reason."
Calculus?! You mean that if he had bothered to actually study math class, he wouldn't have been dropped off randomly in Japan?!
...Well, in hindsight, it worked out. But didn't that mean that there were a bunch of things he could have done simpler?
Here he was, a transcendent being who surpassed death and the rules of existence... a literal and figurative multiversal threat. One who brute-forced the calculations to try and go back home.
And Gray here managed to pull it off as a guy barely stronger than an entry-level sect member WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE?!
...John was never going to live down the 'idiot' part of his 'idiot savant' title, was he?
Note to self: do some more studying in your free time. Basic college curriculum, science, biology and the like. Maybe there was something to Titor's madness in trying random experiments in his free time...
"Anyway." Gray continued and said, "Since I couldn't find Mom and Dad anywhere, I just took everyone around California and D*sn*y W*rld- Huh." Gray blinked and said, "Weird. Is there a god or something censoring words here too, like in Asifant?"
"Asifant?" John blinked and then felt a headache coming on. "...Why do I feel like this is going to take a while to sort out?"
Eliza poked Gray and said, "See? I keep telling you, Husband. You should write a book about your adventures."
Gray laughed and said, "I'll consider it. Maybe after I get my hands on one of those VR pods." He rubbed his chin and said, "I'm thinking it should be possible to at least visit home if I can dig into its hardware."
John blinked. "Wait, that's possible?"
Gray hummed and then pulled out a phone from his pocket.
It was an older android smart phone. One of those models that still had a slide up physical keyboard in addition to a touch screen.
"I don't know how good you are with math considering you barely averaged a C up until middle school-"
"Hey!" John crossed his arms and said, "Math was boring!"
"Right..." Gray chuckled and then tapped on his smart phone's screen for a bit before handing the phone over. "Well, if you know even a little of calculus, this should give you the general idea."
John took Gray's phone and then stared at the screen.
The first thing he noticed wasn't actually the calculations on the screen, but the phone itself. It was clearly outdated tech. Something from the early 2010s. And yet, it seemed... solid? Not just in build, but... almost like it was anchored in existence itself?
...Just what kind of crazy shenanigans did Gray go through?
"Too complicated?"
John clicked his tongue and said, "Hold your horses. I'm skimming."
Gray laughed. "Sure..."
...Man. John didn't think he'd say it, but he almost preferred his in hindsight clinically depressed and suicidal older brother.
Was this how Meggie felt when around Betty and Alphy?
But anyway...
A/N: Couldn't finish for the deadline, so uploading the first part right now. Will upload the second part shortly after I finish editing it, along with answers to the questions.
Just in case I didn't make it clear, the questions can be addressed to certain characters too. That was brought to my attention, and I wanted to clarify that. I'll just add any potential spoilers in spoiler boxes when answering them.
Appreciate you all!
