Understanding 人間界単位で


From the first episode of Death Note:

> 名前のあとに **人間界単位で** 40秒以内に死因を書くと そのとおりになる

**Questions:**

  1. What purpose is "人間界単位で" ("within human-world units") serving in this sentence?

  2. Grammatically, "人間界" is a noun and "位" is a counter. But the thing that's being counted here isn't literally human-worlds, is it?




I assume it refers to Death Note.

  1. 人間界単位で modifies 40秒以内に. It says _by human world units (as opposed to the units in Luke's world)._ So 人間界単位で40秒以内に means _within 40 seconds (measured) by human world units_. It is a bit odd since it is written in a human language anyway.

  2. Grammatically 人間界 modifies 単位 and it could be written 人間界の単位, _the (system of) units of human world_. 単位 here refers to the system of measurement.




I assume it refers to Death Note.

  1. 人間界単位で modifies 40秒以内に. It says _by human world units (as opposed to the units in Luke's world)._ So 人間界単位で40秒以内に means _within 40 seconds (measured) by human world units_. It is a bit odd since it is written in a human language anyway.

  2. Grammatically 人間界 modifies 単位 and it could be written 人間界の単位, _the (system of) units of human world_. 単位 here refers to the system of measurement.

