Chapter 2 – The noise of the world and the childhood friend
Immediately, the world was in turmoil as if it had been turned upside down.
After all, 「God」 had appeared.
It had such a profound impact, particularly on countries with deep religious roots, common sense had been turned on it’s head.
Most of the media, such as the internet, TV and newspapers were taken up with news of 「God」.
What was that? Was it really God? What is God in the first place?–
They were unanswered questions at this stage, but it was certainly the biggest 「Incident」 of the century. After all, God had appeared on all displays around the world at the exact same time.
It was morning in Japan, but it seems that there were some areas where God appeared in the middle of the night or extremely early in the morning due to time differences.
Each country’s religious leaders released a message about God.
However the only thing they had in common, was that they never truly admitted that it was God.
it seemed to have power like a god, that was certain, but it appears that admitting that it was god for that reason was equivalent to fundamentally destroying the current view of religion.
One religion declared it was a demon, and another country claimed it was international cyberterrorism.
In one country, there was a tragic incident in which a boy with a mark was killed by a group thinking that he was in league with the devil. The news reported that the mark disappeared due his death, and that the mark was transferred to the person who killed him, however this news was not credible.
In that regard, Japan’s response was simpler.
Most people simply admitted that it was God and paid more attention to the so called different world.
43 people were selected from Japan.
Considering the population ratio, it seems we were extremely lucky, but I wasn’t so sure.
The problem for me is that my childhood friend, Nanami had been chosen.
「Uuu…it’s the worst….the worst…is there no way to come back…?」Nanami
「I’m not sure, but given the information we have right now, it seems impossible」Hikaru
「My life plan….why did it have to happen to me…Uuu…」Nanami
Nanami had been sobbing in her bed for about half a day.
It was a little suprising that Nanami, the easy-going type, had a life plan. But it was certain that going to a normal school and having a normal job was not possible anymore. Though saying that, it could potentially be possible to go to school and get a job in the other world.
Since the incident, fragments of information had been continously released by God.
However right now, there was no current information that could reassure her.
There was little time left for Nanami.
Assuming that all the information released about the different world was real, the preparation period for the time of transfer was only half a year.
For half a year, the various media and the countries would not leave the 「chosen ones」 alone.
Whenever Nanami was at school, people would call her over to show them her mark.
After all, there are only 43 people with marks in Japan.
It took only 3 days for the media to begin to stake out the school gates. As such, the principal asked Nanami to be endure and wait it out at home.
I was also feeling anxious at the sobbing of my childhood friend that I could do nothing about.
The least I can do is collect information in advance so that she can live comfortably over there.
◇◆◆◆◇
Everyday passed with the same noise.
My life hasn’t changed much, but Nanami’s life has already change drastically from the day of the incident to now.
To start with, there was coverage about her on TV and in magazines.
With the increase in sales, more rubberneckers came to our school and she was forced to stay at home for longer.
A special program was set up that gathered all 43 people scheduled to transfer to the different world. Nanami appeared on TV in the same uniform as usual.
At school, she had a weak presence like me and although she has a rather timid character, she can be daring at times.
The time of transfer was coming near and the hype was raised even further by the information about the other world released gradually by God.
I put together all the information in a notebook and explained it to Nanami.
The 1000 people chosen by God could only bring one thing to the other world, provided it could be carried with just one hand. As such, each country bet their prestige and offered the best item to each of their country’s transferees.
In Japan, ultra-high performance body armor developed in the United States was provided.
Because the other world has no concept of a pistol, the armor was designed with improved resistances to blades, shock, fire and electricity. If you want to buy it normally, it would easily exceed 10 million yen.
However, no country could force the transferees to take their items. This was due to God stating that the participants cannot be forced to take an item. Nanami had been worrying about the issue of items for a while.
「Hi-chan, for my hand baggage. I’m wondering if a photo might be good in case I get homesick」Nanami
Nanami said and took out a photo album.
It was a book full of memories immortalized in photographs.
「No you should definitely choose body armor. You don’t know what the world is like, it might not be as peaceful as Japan」Hikaru
「Eeeh….but it’s not cute…too rugged…」Nanami
「Just to be safe, I want you to have proper protection. Endure it」Hikaru
「Eh…but on the other hand doesn’t it seem too conspicuous?」Nanami
「You can hide it with a cloak」Hikaru
Body armor was the only good option at present.
After all, it’s like immediately being given an armor drop from the last boss at the beginning of the game. If it was me, I would choose it.
Nanami looked a little lonely, but it seems like she eventually chose the body armor due to advice from the country, her parents and others.
She can’t run away anymore.
Then she should make the choice that will help her survive…I feel sorry for Nanami that she was chosen by God. However there is no way to stop the transfer.
To be honest, I want to curse God and ask it to choose someone more suitable.
On the contrary, from the perspective of God, it might have been more interesting to choose a person who was not suitable. After all, the aim of this sick joke of a project was to watch the people who go to the other world for entertainment.
I don’t think it’s possible to intervene with those chosen to transfer.
Anyway it’s already been decided.
Whether you hate it or not, you can only take everything as positively as you can.
Thanks to my two sisters who are fluent in foreign languages, I was able to gather information from overseas.
Each persons chosen hand baggage had its own personality, and while all Japanese people chose the body armor, in other countries (even in the United States) there was a variety of choices. Perhaps the reason why many people chose musical instruments is the expectation that music will become a language that transcends barriers.
I’m of course worried about Nanami being thrown into another world, but I’m also envious…honestly, it’s a complicated feeling.
At first Nanami was crying, but over time she seemed to have been able to organize her thoughts and became a little more positive about going to another world.
Even so, she wasn’t as aggressive compared to the other transferees and after her TV interview and magazine appearances, she became a very popular character emote to use on SNS.
On the official website operated by God, a dedicated bulletin board and chat room was created for each transferee and traffic flooded in from all around the world. With instant translation, everyone wrote what they liked about each candidate.
I also looked at Nanami’s page with some interest, but it made me sick to see her personal information out in the open like this.
The privacy of the general public had been lost, it was like they were being treated as a giant panda in a zoo, it was impossible to stop this trend anymore.
God broadcast itself once a week.
The other world was gradually being revealed.
The 「bonus」 for each transferee was also revealed.
The official website prepared by God was constantly being accessed from all over the world every day, and in a blink of an eye, it won the position of the most popular site in the world
A popularity vote was held even though it was still a month before going to another world, and a French girl was selected as the first place. Nanami also performed well and was ranked 79th. It was the 8th place among the Japanese transferees. She was both surprised and humbled, but now people all over the world know about Nanami.
As her childhood friend, I felt a little proud.
These noisy days passed like that–
The day has finally come.
Apprentice Translations 