"Ah, a message just came in. What's this...? 'The black-haired guy over there is Hikaru'...?"

Alex tapped something in midair and said that.

I couldn't help but glance at Alex too.

Our gazes met.

—Kusuku

—Kyakkyakkyak

The previously relaxed atmosphere instantly shifted.

I felt piercing stares and heard mocking laughter echoing from somewhere unseen.

Cold sweat broke out across my back.

The two other members of Alex's party looked at us with puzzled expressions.

Being stared at like "Who the hell is this guy?" made my whole body freeze up, unable to move.

Without even realizing it, I'd become deeply afraid of direct eye contact.

I'm probably turning my whole body red and blue in the most amusing way right now.

Even though I'd just been soaking in a hot bath, my entire body felt cold.

My fingertips trembled, and though I wanted to run away, my body wouldn't obey.

"Hikaru...? You're Hikaru, right? Chinese?"

Alex spoke up.

He wasn't asking about me—about me and Nanami—through messages, but just casually greeting me.

...No, thinking about it logically, he couldn't have not heard.

Maybe I'm just overly self-conscious, but when I left the forest, I had the highest viewership out of the entire group of 1,000. That number couldn't possibly have been without mentioning Nanami.

Still, I didn't have the courage to bring it up myself.

Before that, right now I'm in such a mental state that even simple responses are difficult.

"……I'm Japanese."

When I answered like that, Alex smiled happily and quickly closed the distance between us.

"Oh wow, Japanese! This is the first time I've met a transferee! I'm Jack Alexander Fox, from Ontario, Canada! Most people just call me Alex."

"S-so, really?"

"I didn't understand a thing about suddenly being in another world, but wow, it really feels like a movie. You felt the same, right, Hikaru?"

"Ah, yeah…"

"I thought I'd be fine being alone in a place with no friends, but it's actually pretty tough. Still, someone sent me a message saying I could join a guild and make companions, so I'm managing somehow. Are you alone, Hikaru?"

"Well, I guess so..."

"Hmm. I guess Japanese people are known for being stoic."

Alex was a cheerful guy.

His easygoing smile seemed to reflect the innocent delight of unexpectedly meeting someone from his hometown.

But I couldn't accept it at face value.

"My friends back home really wanted to visit Japan. There's all that anime and manga, right?"

"Yeah... well, I guess."

"Hmm...? You look pale. You okay?"

"Ah, yeah... I'm fine."

Three people were looking at me.

And above all, Alex's audience and my own viewers—how many billions was that, all together?

Everyone was watching this meeting with amusement.

Thinking about that, I couldn't even manage to keep up the conversation.

　

"Wait, you're from the same hometown as Alex? You're Hikaru, right? He says you're from another world, but is that really true?"

The guy even jumped into the conversation, and I honestly couldn't take it anymore.

"Sorry... I've got something to do. Can we talk about this later?"

"Oh, okay. Sorry for interrupting. There's no one here who talks about Earth, so it's nice to meet someone. I come here sometimes, so let's chat again later!"

"……Yeah."

　

Alex had been a good guy all along.

I felt embarrassed and quickly left the public bath, practically running away.

No, I really did run.

◇◆◆◆◇

After leaving the bath, I returned to the inn and collapsed onto the bed.

(I should've just talked normally.)

I replayed in my mind the moment Alex had approached me.

I didn't kill Nanami. I was suddenly chosen for transfer to another world—maybe it's more accurate to say I was dragged into it. To be honest, I'm a victim.

There's no need to feel inferior.

Yet I ran away—no, I actually ran.

I should've just talked things through properly.

Maybe I could've made them understand my situation.

But instead, I fled, as if I had something to feel guilty about.

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

I just brushed it off.

I had finally met someone else who'd been transferred from Earth.

A fellow traveler sharing the same fate.

Yet I said nothing, just let the moment pass.

It was just... terrifying.

Talking to a stranger made my heart race, and more than anything, the instant I was in the spotlight, I felt like I was no longer myself.

The moment I felt the intrusive stares of strangers fixated on me, my vision blurred, my mind went blank.

My heart raced, blood surged to my head, my limbs went numb, and just standing there felt like pushing myself to the absolute limit.

Under those circumstances, it was utterly impossible to speak coherently.

Even if I forced myself to speak, tears would have surely come before any words.

I should have prepared myself mentally.

Caught off guard, I couldn't even pretend to be calm.

I hate it.

I hate bright places. I hate being right.

It wasn't like this before I came to this world.

It was so much more ordinary.

— It was ordinary.

He must know I'm the suspect in my childhood friend's murder.

Yet he approached me, acting as if he had no idea about such things.

Was this a chance encounter?

Or had my location and every move of mine been reported in real time, and was he merely pretending to come by coincidence to check on me?

My mind started to spiral with unpleasant thoughts.

With so little conversation, there was no way to discern the truth.

I knew nothing. I didn’t know anything—but one thing was certain: I was disliked, and every other transmigrant could potentially become my enemy.

I was aware of my own degradation.

I couldn’t even remember when I had started to lose my mind.

Was it when I first read those terrible messages after leaving the forest?

Or was it when I hid in the labyrinth, looted gear from corpses, and sold them on the black market?

Was it when I turned a spirit stone—once human—into gold, then used that gold to buy food?

Or perhaps I was always this kind of person?

Either way, everyone is laughing at me.

They all want me to fail.

They laugh at my odd way of laughing, at my ridiculous replies,

at my pitiful death.

"How dare you, Hikaru, act like you're on equal footing?" they mock.

"You're just a tiny man hiding in the maze's shadows, barely surviving—how different you are from those who truly live their lives," they sneer.

…I knew it all in my mind.

That it was merely what I felt myself— my own( thoughts) and( fears) and( insecurities) and( doubts)—nothing more.

Yet, a voice rises from deep within my heart.

『Isn't it true that your inferiority remains "truth," no matter how much you try to cover it up with words? No matter how loudly you deny it, isn't that just a lie? It's fine to cover it with lies. But you must know this already』

And so, I shrink back.

My inner self is wrapped in some pitch-black thing, frozen in place, unable to move. I can't even speak.

A demon resides within my heart.

「Uuuuuu…!」

I should have said more.

Alex might have actually listened.

He might have explained things to the viewers.

Maybe, even after knowing about the incident, he would have believed me.

We might have become friends.

― Hehe

...Hmm, hehehe

...No, maybe thinking that way is exactly my weakness.

What if I trust someone and end up in an even worse situation?

I don't even understand Alex. Maybe he just seemed like a nice guy because we'd never met before.

If he's a transfer survivor, he could have boosted his stats too. In a dungeon, maybe I'd stand a chance, but in the city, I'd be no match for him—just one twist away from being finished.

Maybe because of meeting me, he received dozens of messages, learned about me, and now he's coming to kill me again.

"...Yeah, that's right."

Lying on the bed, I writhed for a short while, gradually calming down.

That was fine.

I did the right thing.

Someone who knows a world-transferred person is nothing but a risk.

I almost made a wrong choice out of loneliness.

I didn't make a mistake.

　

— Hahaha

— Kukusku

— Somewhere, laughter echoes.

Someone is mocking my foolishness.

Fine.

Laugh as much as you want.

I'm just a useless, worthless Kurosé Hikaru.