Hero refused to believe it.

A world with no land but that tiny island? A world with a vast ocean that wasn't even salt water and was only knee deep at the lowest point?

It was unthinkable. Unfathomable.

So...

"Maybe I just chose the wrong direction."

Right. It was feasible that Hero simply missed the other parts of the world by going in a straight line.

While it was strange that he apparently went around the entire world in only a few days, considering the other oddities of the world, Hero could accept that.

It could just have happened to be that he had been traveling on the shallow edge that wrapped around the world.

But it was impossible for the entire would to be like that.

Right. The world couldn't be all land with just a thin layer of water like that. It just wouldn't make sense.

Either the ocean got deeper in one direction or there was more land left to be found.

In fact, maybe there was just a bounded magical field causing space to loop back on itself.

"Yes. That has to be it." Hero smiled and nodded. "But it can't be in every direction."

Even a god wouldn't do something that silly.

"So I just have to pick a different direction. If I do, I'm bound to find something new."

Right. It was inevitable.

Hero went back to the center of the island, grabbing his sword along the way, and dropped it along the shore to mark it.

"Now with this, I know which way is perpendicular to my last journey. So... Let's go."

More words weren't needed.

Stepping out into the water on the shore perpendicular to his previous 'swim', Hero ran.

And ran.

And ran... and after three days and three nights fighting off random encounters, the ocean never got deeper than his knees and he didn't find land.

No, at the end of that, he saw it. A thin strip of green land that brought up his hopes.

But then Hero arrived at the shore opposite of where he left his sword.

He stood there, a blank expression on his face as the sunlight bore down upon him. And then he scowled and said, "I refuse to believe this!"

Hero ran over to his equipment and picked up his shield, placing it on the shoreline in between his sword and the other equipment. Marking another line of exploration, Hero charged out again.

Three days. Three nights. Slaughtering more slimes and bats. And then Hero returned to the island.

Scowling again, he grabbed his chestplate and plopped it on the edge perpendicular to his sword. A place that would mean he covered the world in two overlapping crosses if he returned to the same spot.

"But that won't happen. It can't happen. It wouldn't happen." Muttering those words, Hero ran off again.

Water splashed. Monsters died. The sun and moon traded places thrice in the sky.

And Hero returned to the island.

With a blank stare, he quietly walked around the shoreline and gathered his equipment, placing them all back on his body. That done, he walked over to the water, making his way out until it was knee-deep.

And then he flopped down, letting himself sink to the floor with his face up to the sky.

Water covered his eyes, blurring his vision. He felt the liquid run down his nostrils, filling his lungs.

And he closed his eyes, waiting for it to end.

...But it didn't.

*Hm?!*

Hero opened his eyes, looking around.

Light filtered through the surface, the sun continuing to shine its rays upon the world.

*Right... Time is frozen unless I move.*

Remembering that, Hero began to do backstrokes along the ocean floor, purposefully opening his mouth to breathe in the water and end his miserable existence.

He expected burning pain. Searing agony in his lungs as the water and lack of oxygen bit away at his life and dragged him under.

But instead...

*Dammit! I forgot!*

Since he had been going around killing so many monsters for so long, his body had long adapted to operating without air. In fact, even at that very moment, his lungs were managing to pull the oxygen out from the water itself, making it the same as if he was floating above water.

In short...

*I CAN'T DIE!*

Hero screamed and then jumped out of the water. "You fvcking piece of bull$hit! Get your a$$ down here and tell me what's going on! Fvck! And why can't I fvcking curse properly!? $hit! FVCK! DAMMIT!" Hero stuck up his middle fingers at the sky and said, "GO FVCK YOURSELF! AT LEAST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY!"

Silence.

Nothing but the sound of the ocean waves, quietly crashing against the shoreline.

Hero sighed and then walked back to the island.