"It's because your methods are flawed that no one is willing to become the lord of your world."
He bluntly pointed out the core of the problem.
"If you had simply asked whether they were willing, you wouldn't have so many people resenting you. But unfortunately, you didn't."
If he hadn't been unable to properly make use of his own spacetime traversal abilities[1], Ryuji wouldn't have relied on the power of the 7 Days to Die world to explore more worlds in the first place.
"Is that how it is in human perception? I understand now."
After saying that, the voice of the 7 Days to Die world disappeared. Ryuji didn't say anything further, instead continuing to think about what to do next.
To be honest, there were simply too many things he could do.
Whether it was returning to the Food Wars world to complete its storyline, or going to the King of Fighters world to use the auras of those master fighters to improve himself.
He could also return to the Arad world to go adventuring, meet more powerful women. Revisit the One Piece world for more exploration, challenge the Empress of Amazon Lily, cause trouble for Donquixote Doflamingo and steal the beautiful women from his territory. See what the revived Roger might stir up, or even summon the long-dead Rocks D. Xebec to give the Marines a real headache.
Or he could take a trip to Runeterra world (League of Legends), see what Lux the little princess, whom he had already fucked in the ass was doing, check on the cute female champions and see if there was any room to make a move.
He could go to the Naruto world to catch up with Tsunade, check which point in the timeline it was, and see if he could get Hinata, Ino, etc.
There was also Rias, while his current strength wasn't enough to destroy the heaven and underworld, it was more than sufficient to negotiate with her, obtain more magical knowledge and then sleep with her.
Whether it was looking for women, seeking fun, causing trouble, or getting stronger, he had choices.
And whether for enjoyment or training, these worlds all had ways to satisfy him. Aside from a few slice-of-life worlds, the others all offered enough room to grow and develop. Once he conquered one world, even if he was slightly weakened in others, it was still essentially a steamroll.
After thinking it over, Ryuji realized that his past self really had been a bit careless.
Or rather, because his conditions for world travel were too lenient, he had entered many worlds without fully developing them before moving on to the next.
It couldn't exactly be called a mistake, but his current strength had reached a point where proper planning was necessary.
Moreover, he couldn't remain bound to the 7 Days to Die world will forever.
Ryuji had always maintained a sense of vigilance toward it.
So...
After firing off enough times in the Kuroinu world, Ryuji finally entered a sage mode or Post-nut clarity state.
"Ugh… looks like I really do need to plan this properly."
He spread out a sheet of paper, and amidst the lingering milky scent began listing the worlds he could travel to, along with the benefits he could gain from each.
"The Arad world is undoubtedly a treasure trove, but the problem is that my current strength still isn't enough. Just barely surpassing first awakening and not even reaching second awakening means I can deal with a few severely weakened Apostles at best, but their power isn't something I can casually obtain, so it's not very meaningful. And without reaching second awakening, pushing my techniques into the divine realm, completely transcending mortality and advancing toward godhood, I'd be nothing more than an ant in the later stages of that world's story."
Ryuji looked at the Arad world and nodded.
Among the worlds he could currently travel to, the Arad world, like the A Certain Magical Index world and Rias's world, had a very high upper limit.
Any one of those three worlds, if fully cleared, would allow him to be called a god.
Naruto was slightly weaker by comparison. While its feats were impressive, it relied heavily on bloodlines, and Ryuji didn't think he possessed any ninja bloodlines. On top of that, there was still the Sage of Six Paths watching over everything.
Picking up girls wouldn't be an issue, but once things involved Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, he'd be facing an ancient monster.
However, the Arad world also had significant issues.
"If I progress through the story too quickly, and my growth speed can't keep up with the players' growth rate in the story, I'll probably end up dead."
Ryuji was keenly aware of the gap between himself and the Apostles. At most, he could reliably beat Aganzo right now. And if Aganzo suddenly thought of love, bonds, friendship, and other strange buffs, Ryuji might even lose.
That wasn't a joke… the people of Arad also possessed a kind of willpower-based strength.
For example, if Aganzo thought of Roxy, his lover who died to save him, while on the brink of death, given Arad's nature, a last-second breakthrough wouldn't be surprising at all.
And the problem with Arad was that many disasters occurred simultaneously. Without the growth speed of the players, many of those crises simply couldn't be resolved.
"So until I reach the second awakening, Arad has to be put on hold. I didn't care before, but now that Seria is my woman, I have to care about these things. Still, I can visit her occasionally, gather powerful companions, and collect strong skills and secret techniques."
Ryuji crossed out the Arad world and looked at the A Certain Magical Index world. After thinking for a moment about his destructive power compared to Accelerator's, he decisively nodded.
"After second awakening."
That guy could literally stop the rotation of the Earth.
Thus, the 'A Certain Magical Index' world was also marked with a cross (❌) by Ryuji.
~~~~~~~~~~
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[1] Endless Traveler