God's Prophecy - Chapter 3 - The Man Called God

Failure in the university entrance exam was the beginning of one man’s downfall. He had always been at the top of his class with excellent grades. He would be used as a good example for other students in high school. However, when he failed to get into university, it shocked everyone, especially himself.

That was his first major setback in life. At that moment, for the first time, he realized how vulnerable he was. In despair, he gave up on everything. He didn’t study, didn’t work, and stayed home, becoming a shut-in.

At first, his friends and teachers tried to comfort him. They extended helping hands, but they gradually drifted away as he refused to crawl out of his hole. His parents were the only ones who kept on trying to help him for many years.

On the man’s 30th birthday, the house turned unusually quiet. He went down the stairs, looked around, and on the table, he found a note and some cash. The note read: “You are turning thirty today…. We couldn’t help you get back on your feet, so after thinking about it, me and your father, we decided to leave you the house. We’re leaving you with some money for your living expenses. Please use them as you try and find work. Take care of yourself…. –Mom

From that point on, the man lived alone for the first time. Even though it should all be the same, it felt inherently different. The room that used to be clean and tidy without him lifting a finger was now covered in garbage. His clothes which used to be washed frequently and folded neatly were piling up rapidly. He has never done such things before….

He finally understood that he took many things for granted. At that moment, he realized he had lost everything. He felt neither anger nor sadness as he stared blankly at his familiar yet unfamiliar house.

A week or so later, the man was playing on his computer when he heard a noise coming from the living room downstairs. He assumed it was his parents coming back, but when he went downstairs, he saw a dirty boy wearing shabby clothes. He found him eating the pizza he had thrown away on the table.

“I am sorry! I ate without permission… I haven’t eaten anything for so long, and I couldn’t resist….”

“… Huh?”

“I’ll do anything to make it up to you! I-I’ll work for you….”

“…..”

When the man heard the child’s pleading tone, a deep sense of superiority quickly filled his heart. Seeing the child kneeling, pleading, and begging, made him feel that he has yet to truly hit rock bottom.

He acknowledged that his thoughts were petty and narrow-minded. However, he still couldn’t help but feel that this child was lesser than him in some way.

I guess I can take care of such a pitiful runt.

“Are you… a god or something?”

“A god, you say? I haven’t done anything worthy of that yet~”

Hearing him speak like that further assured his idea that this was a runaway child who was looking for someone to take care of him.

This line of thought made sense in the beginning. However, the more he interacted with the boy, the more he realized he was lacking in common sense. He was ignorant of many things a typical Japanese person would know. He would constantly ask questions, and when given an answer, he would look up to the man with respect in his eyes.

“Wow! Just by pressing this area the garbage just disappears! What kind of magic is this?!”

“I can wash clothes just by putting them in this box?! How magical!”

“Let me get rid of the trash myself; it’s so easy!”

The man felt a pang of pain in his chest every time the boy looked at him with that look of worship.

Even though he only offered him a simple cleanup and a bit of food, the boy offered to clean the house and do the laundry. Seeing the boy doing these mundane tasks, he suddenly realized that even he could do them.

He had always avoided doing these simple tasks, yet the boy, who looked to be only ten years old, had been helping his parents with their work every day. He had also never gone to school due to a lack of money.

And then, a few months ago, the boy’s entire family was killed by robbers who broke into their home. He never felt that the boy was resentful towards his parents, who left him all alone in this world.

The more time he spent with him, the more he was convinced that the boy wasn’t lying. He really felt like someone who had lost everything….

When faced with someone like that, he felt ashamed of himself.

I… haven’t lost anything at all….

He was resentful toward his parents for abandoning him; for leaving him all alone with just a bit of money. Yet the first thing the boy, who had truly lost everything, asked was if he could work for him.

The boy, who couldn’t work properly because of his age, was thankful, saying, “ Thank you for giving me a job.”

Yet he, a man of working age, didn’t want to work or try to do anything with his life. He was respected by the boy like some god, even though everyone else looked down on him.

He had the ability to learn and the opportunity to acquire knowledge. And even though his parents were alive and well, his childish attitude and his tendency to make excuses fooled him into thinking he had lost everything.

He realized he had no right to feel superior to the boy, who truly had nothing.

Even though the boy must have known that he was not a great person and that anyone could do what he did, he did not stop showing him respect.

“…Hey, if you want I can teach you simple arithmetic.”

Whether it was a fragment of pride that remained in the man’s heart, or it was some sense of chivalry that compelled him to be helpful for the first time in his life, or even just a desperate attempt to not disappoint the boy who had called him a god… he didn’t know.

“Eh… is that okay? Are you really going to teach me?!”

And from that point on, he taught the boy simple subjects in exchange for doing household chores. He found out that although the boy could speak and understand words well, he couldn’t read or write at all. And some topics were a bit too difficult for him to understand. However, he memorized the numerals quickly once he learned them.

As the boy’s interest in natural science increased, he delved more into understanding the three states of matter: liquid, gas, and solid. And he even go to know about microorganisms. He was fascinated to learn of nature’s mechanisms.

A week or so had passed since they started living together. One day, there was a certain anime being broadcasted on Nippon BS as a rerun every day at the same hour. The boy became strangely obsessed with this anime.

The man had already seen the anime once and knew how it ended. Even so, he didn’t want to spoil it for the boy, who had just gotten hooked on it; so he didn’t mention anything about the plot.

When the man muttered, “The end of a villain is always the same in any story. It’s generic and boring,” during a scene where the protagonist effortlessly defeated a mediocre enemy, the boy’s face turned unusually pale.

When this anime first started airing, it was recognized as a simple “Overpowered harem-seeking hero getting summoned to save the world” type of show. However, it gradually gained recognition, turning the current trend on its head. And that was because although the protagonist was strong and surrounded by a multitude of beautiful girls, he never made a move on any of them.

He never attempted to kiss any of them and he never had these accidental perverted moments around them. It was all because he was still loyal to his girlfriend back in Japan.

At first, people were disappointed when there was no development between the protagonist and his female companions. But as the show progressed, the protagonist was praised as the ultimate virgin hero.

However, the hero’s fate was tragic as he died in battle against the demon king at the end.

He called out his girlfriend’s name as his dying last words. The saint, who had unrequited feelings for him, sent his remains back to Japan

The final episode broke the internet. People flooded the author’s page, asking him questions like “why did you kill him?!” and “sending his remains to his girlfriend is too cruel!”

After finishing the final episode, the boy had a complicated expression on his face as he stared at the rolling credits on the TV. The man tried to cheer him up by saying that the protagonist was a just and faithful hero who was popular with both men and women. He woke up to find the boy gone the next day, however.

The man searched and searched for the boy everywhere. He contacted the police, informing them of his disappearance. Alas, he couldn’t find any trace of him. There was also no footage of the boy on any of the nearby security cameras, and since the man was known to be a shut-in, his concerns were dismissed as “Illusions result of a poor mental state” The man was left in his tidy room, wondering who the boy really was.

The messy handwriting on the notebook was the only testimony that the boy had truly been here….

The boy had called this man a “god”. The same man who avoided life in fear of failure once again. The same man who belittled and pitied himself.

He smiled as he recalled the boy’s happy eyes, looking at him with worship. “Damn it. Now I really have to become worthy of that “god” title…. How troublesome!”