-----
-----
The primal force condensed into suns and moons, while countless stars shimmered deep in the void.
Then, the vast continent of the Mirage World began to stir.
A constant rumbling echoed through the land.
Mountains rose straight out of the ground, some connecting to form endless ranges.
Where there were peaks, there were valleys.
At the very center of the continent, a massive crater formed—fifty kilometers wide.
In the middle of that crater sat a small circular island, about a kilometer across.
A tremendous amount of energy gathered upon that island.
A seed took shape and sank into the soil.
Nurtured by the boundless force, a tender sprout broke through the earth and began to grow—fast enough to be seen by the naked eye.
A meter, a hundred meters, a thousand—
Before long, it had grown into a colossal tree nearly ten thousand meters tall.
It looked like a massive banyan, with sprawling branches and thick, leafy canopies that seemed to blanket the sky.
The roots, as huge as serpents, coiled around the island's foundation, digging deep into the crater and spreading outward.
The main trunk and its branches pulsed with light, glowing with streams of condensed energy that reached all the way to the tips of its leaves.
A gentle breeze rose from nowhere, rustling the leaves and scattering starlight across the sky.
Water gushed from the enormous tree roots, pouring into the crater below until it filled completely.
A vast lake took shape.
The surface churned and overflowed, sending streams of water racing outward through four massive channels.
From them spread countless tributaries—
forming a network of rivers like a spider's web across the land.
Some of the tree's roots reached distant sinkholes across the continent, turning into sources of water.
The land gradually sloped downward from the center, and naturally, the rivers flowed to the lower edges—
eventually merging into an ocean.
Meanwhile, dark clouds gathered above. Lightning flashed. Thunder roared.
Light rain turned into a torrential downpour.
And when the storm passed, a radiant sun, born from pure force, shone brilliantly overhead.
The once-barren wasteland began to breathe with life.
Flowers, grass, and trees broke through the soil, painting the newborn world with color.
Everything moved in perfect harmony.
The entire process of transforming the Mirage World took three hours.
During that time, Max multitasked—stepping out for a moment to find Moka Akashiya and tell her he was working on something big, a surprise for later.
He asked her to stay the night at his place.
Moka agreed happily, went home to grab some clothes, and Max gave her a spare key to his house—just like the one Miko Yotsuya already had.
Three hours passed in a blink.
Up high, ten thousand meters above the Mirage World—
"Whew, finally done."
Max slowly opened his eyes and exhaled deeply, wiping the imaginary sweat from his forehead.
Looking down at the transformed continent below, a satisfied smile curved on his lips.
He'd recreated twelve distinct climates, just like those on Earth:
Tropical rainforest, savanna, monsoon, desert, temperate monsoon, continental, oceanic, tundra, polar ice, and highland regions—twelve in total.
Now, this massive continent—almost equal to Earth's total landmass—was home to every kind of environment imaginable.
Of course, maintaining it required an enormous amount of energy.
After all, the Mirage World was still just a subspace.
Without infinite energy, keeping it running like a natural world would've been impossible.
Unless it learned to draw power directly from the void—
Then it wouldn't just be a subspace anymore, but a true, self-sustaining world.
A living ecosystem with its own cycle of life.
After finishing the transformation, Max carefully examined the energy cost.
To keep the ecosystem running, he'd need to devote about one-twentieth of his total force output every second.
In simpler terms: if his current energy cap was a million points, he'd be burning through fifty thousand points per second just to sustain it.
Without infinite energy, he would've lasted maybe twenty seconds before it all collapsed.
That's how much power this world demanded.
He'd also tried creating animals—but almost all attempts failed.
The Mirage World's core laws were incomplete, too broken to support complex life.
The plants were already pushing the limits of what was possible.
Only tiny creatures like mosquitoes and flies could exist here; anything larger simply couldn't form.
So Max gave up on that idea.
This was good enough for now.
If he ever wanted to diversify the ecosystem, he could always import animals from Earth.
But that could wait.
With a thought, the Gate of Mist opened.
Max returned to his bedroom.
He didn't see Moka there, which surprised him for a moment—until his senses told him she was in the bathroom.
While waiting, he pulled up his All-Things Compendium.
Name: Max
Rank: A+ (Nation-Destroying)
Abilities: Supreme Kingship, Third Law, Invisibility, Frozen Domain, Sky Magic, Mirage World
Items: Divine Mecha Dragon Bahamut, "A Knight Never Dies Barehanded"
"Looks like my list of powers has gotten longer," Max murmured with a satisfied nod, closing the compendium.
He glanced toward the door just as Moka appeared, wrapped in a bathrobe.
Her damp hair fell softly over her shoulders, droplets clinging to the strands.
Her fair skin glowed faintly under the light, and a delicate fragrance lingered in the air.
"Max, you're back!"
Her eyes lit up the moment she saw him, a bright smile spreading across her face—warm and gentle as water.
"Yeah," Max replied with a grin. "The big project's finally done. Come on, I'll show you my private domain."
"Really? Yay!" Moka's expression was a mix of excitement and curiosity.
With a casual snap of his fingers, a crisp pa! echoed as the Gate of Mist appeared beside them.
"Let's go," Max said, stepping through first.
Moka took a moment to admire the swirling mist, then followed without hesitation.
The scene around them shifted instantly.
The sound of flowing water filled the air.
A clear stream, lined with smooth pebbles, rippled in the sunlight.
Soft grass brushed their feet.
In the distance, mist-shrouded mountains towered over the landscape, while Yoshino cherry trees and willows lined both sides of the stream.
Unlike the fading blossoms of the outside world, the sakura here were in full bloom—each tree radiant in its prime.
A gentle breeze passed, sending petals fluttering through the air, landing softly on the grass or drifting down the stream.
Sunlight poured through the canopy.
The weather was perfect, the air fresh and clean.
"Wow…"
Moka's lips parted in awe, her eyes wide and sparkling as she took in the breathtaking view.
She was completely mesmerized.
Then she turned to Max, her voice full of wonder.
"What is this place?"
Max's smile deepened. "My own personal subspace," he said. "I call it the Mirage World—'Mirage' as in the mirage you see on the horizon."
"It's about as large as all of Earth's land combined—roughly the surface area of four moons put together."
And that was just its current size.
As his strength grew, the Mirage World would expand with him.
It had a limit, sure—but based on the feedback he'd sensed, it could one day grow to a hundred times the surface area of Earth.
"That's incredible!"
Moka gasped again, clearly stunned.
She'd never imagined Max actually owned an entire world—
and such a beautiful one at that.
It felt no different from the real thing.
"....."