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TL: ALT
Chapter 118 – Big Hint
“God… you know you’re not supposed to call me by my first name, right?”
Haruhara says with pouty lips.
Haruhara hates his name, Tsukisagi.
He calls me by my name, but he doesn’t like it when people call him by his first name.
“Your parents probably wished you good luck with that name. Even if the name you end up with makes you feel ashamed, you can’t deny that feeling”.
“…I don’t think those parents had such deep thoughts in mind, though.”
“That is… Well, it is not for me to say.”
And God shakes her little head.
“Huh? Where is Haruka-san?”
“She’s at the allocation office. It would be a problem if both Haruka and I were not there.”
“I’m sorry to bother you in your busy time.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I haven’t seen you lately.”
“Ugh, that’s…”
“You probably don’t have any use for me now that you’ve become an S-rank Magic Swordsman, right? Haruka is here too. I wish you could show your face once in a while.”
“…I’m sorry.”
I bowed my head.
That’s actually true.
It’s a little too good to be true that I only come here when I have something else to do.
I see God’s figure again.
She is no taller than my waist, and on top of her head are her distinctive fox ears.
Her hair, cut at her shoulders, is pure white.
She is wearing the same expensive-looking kimono I saw before, black with gold leaf.
Her golden eyes look back at me suspiciously as I remain silent.
“What’s this all about? Looking intently at people’s faces.”
It is true that she looks the same as in the original world.
However, while the god in the original world was somewhat thin and nebulous, this god seems to be full of power.
The pompous behavior that is typical of a god is still the same, but I feel that this god is more confident now.
“Just as I thought, you are a different person.”
I muttered with a little disappointment.
The side of God doesn’t seem to understand my situation.
I hoped for the possibility that God was the same being in all worlds.
I knew it was a different person… or maybe a “different God.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by another person? There can’t be another being like me…”
God, who had picked up on my soliloquy, cut me off mid-sentence and stared at me intently.
“…Hmm. Things seem to be getting very strange.”
God muttered, resting her fingertips on her chin.
“Y-you know what I’m talking about?”
I was about to grab God and snap at her,
“H-hey, calm down, Yuto. This isn’t like you!”
Haruhara stopped me.
“I-I’m sorry, God.”
“No, what? I’m sorry, but this is more like… Hmm.”
God stares at me as if she doesn’t hear my apology, as if she’s trying to figure me out.
I want to explain what’s going on…
I can’t decide whether to let Haruhara hear.
I don’t have to think about the fact that it’s unbelievable.
My party in this world has been involved in incredible things.
But even so, there are circumstances that I can’t talk about.
In my original world, I chose Serika instead of Honoka-chan.
And I couldn’t save Sayuki from being bullied.
I dropped out of high school and was a shut-in for a long time.
This would be a shocking “future” for Haruhara, who spends his youth in the sun.
Of course, this world seems to be following a different path than the original world, so the “future” I experienced in the original world would not happen in this world.
Still, I don’t think I want to actively talk to my “comrades-in-arms” in this world about the disastrous future that could have been.
Besides, if this world is an illusion and the original world is correct.
I would have to confide to Haruhara that I am just an illusion and that my true self is even more pathetic.
Haruhara would be worried if someone he thought was his friend confided in him that this was not his true self and that he wanted to return to his original world.
And, of course, if I told Haruhara, I would have no choice but to tell Honoka-chan and Sunayuki as well.
About the world in which I chose a woman other than Honoka-chan and left Sayuki to die.
My hesitation lasted only a moment,
“Oops, that’s right. Well, I had something to do!”
Haruhara suddenly raised his voice.
“Something you have to do… here?”
“I’m sorry, Yuto. I’ll go help Haruka-san. This is the time to score some points.”
With that, Haruhara left the living room, waving his hand in the air.
Haruhara must have sensed that I couldn’t tell him what was happening, so he apologized.
I feel like I did something wrong, but to be honest, I’m grateful.
As I sit back in the living room, God looks at me with her golden eyes and says,
“It is strange. Is it possible for the same soul to exist twice? It’s like two Yutos exist on top of each other…”
“Twice? How is that possible?”
“It is impossible. The soul is guaranteed to be absolutely identical. It is impossible for two souls to be the same. Besides, there seems to be a subtle difference even though it is the same soul.”
God’s words may or may not make sense, but there are some things I can learn from them.
First of all, the line that this world is just an illusion is getting thinner and thinner.
If, in my illusion, I’m just a high school magic swordsman, then I’m just me, and I’m dreaming.
It is hard to imagine that God, in the illusion, would point out that I have a double soul, even if God saw me in that state.
For one thing, God in the illusion would not be able to say anything about my soul outside of the illusion.
Another thing is that from God’s point of view, I in the original world and I in this world are equal beings.
The same soul with “subtle differences.”
In other words, I have the same soul, Yuto Kurashiki, in both worlds.
However, God sees the difference in our history as a “subtle difference.”
“Then does that mean it’s not an illusion, but a parallel world?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Oh, I haven’t explained the situation to you yet.”
I explained to God what had happened so far.
I had stopped the collapse of the dungeon in the original world, but for some reason, I found myself in this world as a different me.
After God listened to my explanation with a few words, she said,
“Hmm… you seem to have gotten yourself into a very strange situation again.”
God murmured with a difficult look on her face.
I am grateful that she is convinced without seeming to doubt me.
If I confided in Honoka-chan, Sayuki, and Haruhara, they would believe me eventually, but until then, I would have to explain a lot.
I found out that just having one person who understood me eased the uneasiness in my chest.
I didn’t think I could talk to anyone about it.
I tried not to think about it too much, but it was possible that I had simply lost my mind.
“After all, is the God of the present world a different being from the God of the original world?”
“I had no choice but to think that. In fact, I have no consciousness or memory of that original world.
“Is it possible that this world is just an illusion that I see?
“From my point of view, I can only say that it is impossible. But if I am in your illusion, how can I deny that possibility with my own words?”
“I know, right?”
What good is it when a person in a dream assures you that it is not a dream?
“I can only tell you one thing. From my point of view, there is no reason for me in the original world to trick you into flying to this world. Even if there were a reason, I do not believe that my power alone could do such a thing. That is, if that “I” is the same being as myself.”
This is certainly supporting evidence.
Of course, it is possible to suspect that this is all part of the illusion.
It is very likely that the god of the original world had an unexpected accident.
“So is it really a parallel world?”
“Well, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about parallel worlds. I only know it as a creative concept in the culture of this world.”
“Uh… you mean you know as much as the average person would imagine when they hear the words ‘parallel worlds’?”
“Yes. But your situation seems to be different from this parallel world.”
I was told something unexpected and thought about it for a while.
“…What do you mean by that?”
I asked her since I did not understand.
“If it is a parallel world, then your soul would be superfluous in the original world, wouldn’t it? So-called ‘parallel worlds’ are worlds that have branched off from reality.”
Saying this, God reached for the TV.
The screen of an adventure game appeared on the TV.
It was a typical game with illustrations of broken characters and text frames.
From the picture, it looks like an Otome game.
God skillfully fiddled with the controller with her small hands to select the quick-load icon.
What appeared on the screen was a choice between two options.
“Return together” or,
“Don’t do it.
Normally, the only choice would be to return together, but if you want to avoid going a certain way, you may have to choose “Don’t do it.”
It’s an ironclad rule that in a love simulation, you have to prioritize the goal you want to capture in every option.
If this were reality, I would think that if a man (or woman) approached you during class, lunch, or after school without a second thought, you would be wary of the other party.
…No, that’s not the important part.
“If you choose this option, the world will diverge there. However, the soul of the protagonist at the destination of the split will not be doubled.”
“I see…”
It’s easy to understand when it’s shown like this.
“But if you start over after a bad ending in a certain route, you might have more choices, right?”
“W-what?”
God was suddenly taken aback by my words.
She is so surprised that she drops the controller on the tatami mat.
“W-why are you so surprised?”
“I-I guess that’s it! No wonder I thought that no matter how many times I selected the options, the story would not progress! I didn’t think I’d have to start all over again… I hadn’t thought of that…”
God says, her shoulders slumping.
“…I-I’m sorry. I gave away a terrible spoiler.”
“U-umu. But it’s a very good method. The idea of using the game’s system to create a surprise is a very good method… The scenario writer of this game must be a genius beyond compare! It’s brilliant!”
“O-oh.”
…What should I do? It’s hard to say, “It’s a pretty old trick.”
“W-well, anyway… if the theme of this game is a parallel world, the protagonist can switch to the protagonist at another point in time and continue the story from a meta-perspective, right?”
“Even in that case, it makes no difference that they are the same person. They just share the same consciousness and memories. The souls have to be the same.”
God, who had somehow regained her composure, said to me.
“I feel that this world and the original world are too different to begin with.
The difference between the two worlds is too great to be the result of a split between different options, as God has just indicated.
The situation and relationships that Yuto Kurashiki is in are the same, but the differences are greater in other areas.
In the original world, there is a skill system, and in this world, there is a job system.
In the original world, the dungeon should have appeared after I locked myself away, but in this world, the dungeon was already revealed when I was a freshman in high school.
“Umu. Even if they were parallel worlds, they would be quite distant from each other. From my point of view, the very existence of a parallel world seems doubtful. Nevertheless, from my point of view, I have no choice but to reject the theory that this world is your illusion.”
If someone other than myself told me that this world was actually an illusion created for me, I would think, “As long as I am fully conscious, this world cannot be your illusion.”
This is a case that could be dismissed with, “Well, if you think so, then it must be so in your mind.”
“…What do I have to do to return to my original world?”
Fearing the answer, I asked God the question I had been thinking about for a long time.
“Hmm… I have to admit, it’s a bit of a mystery.”
“Even God doesn’t know…?”
Then, I had no idea anymore.
I groaned in disappointment,
“Just wait and see. You have forgotten what kind of being I am. Let me give you an omen that will tell you where you are going.”
“I see…you can do that!”
God’s omens have taken care of me in the past (in the original world).
How can I get the item in the third drop slot?
When I asked this question, God told me, “Look back at what you have done so far.”
Based on this omen, I received the Steal skill with a special condition bonus for killing 400 Hobbit monsters in a row.
“The omens must be ambiguous, but they are always true. This is what distinguishes them from mere fortune-telling. The truths contained in the omens, however, are not clearly identifiable to me. Think of them as answers that come from the unconscious of the world itself.”
“Perhaps I need to be more specific in my questioning.”
“In that case, the question you just asked is how do you get back to your original world? That should do it.”
God puts down the controller that was on the floor next to the game console and sits back down, facing me.
God closes her golden eyes and puts her hands together in front of her chest.
It doesn’t look like she’s doing anything to me, but her eyelids twitch.
The fox ears on her head twitch in time with her eyelids.
I resist the urge to grab the twitching fox ears and wait patiently for God to open her eyes.
“…Umu. A strange omen.”
God slowly opens her eyelids and says,
“Solo a dungeon boss whose level is 400 or more higher than yours, it says. It is rare for omens to be so specific. Hmm? You seem to have some idea what this means.”
God looks at me and says that.
It’s not that I have an idea.
The content of the omen that God spoke.
It was,
“Special conditions, huh…!”