"The Sea?"

　Wandering aimlessly, I found myself at the shore.

　The scent of the tide feels thinner than that of Japan, but I recall reading somewhere that smell comes from decaying plankton, so maybe this world isn't Earth after all. Still, one thing was certain—this world was remarkably similar to Earth.

　If it were completely different, this particular stench wouldn't exist at all.

　I'm no expert, so I can't say for sure...

　A large harbor with a dozen or so wooden sailing ships docked.

　I wonder how it was built—there's even a breakwater, making it quite convenient for fishing.

　Come to think of it, fishing was the only hobby I'd consistently maintained.

　Maybe I should give it a try.

After walking a short distance along the harbor, I came across a fishing tackle shop. More precisely, it had the air of a store catering to fishermen, but it also seemed to stock personal fishing rods.

I bought a primitive rod made of a bamboo-like material, simply tying the fishing line to the tip. Since it didn't look like gear used by actual fishermen, this must be for recreational fishing.

They even sold bait, suggesting that fishing around the harbor might be a fairly common leisure activity in this world.

I shouldered the rod and began searching for a promising spot.

Along the seawall, carved from large rocks, boats were lined up, and several people were fishing from the dock above.

Instead of breakwaters, enormous stones have been piled up in the sea, transported somehow. Probably the work of a high-level earth spirit mage, or perhaps assisted by a great earth spirit.

This world lacks scientific advancement, but possesses spirit power.

It's a truly fantasy world, not inconvenient enough to be considered a backward society.

(Shall we try fishing from the pier?)

While it's hard to imagine in Japan, the pier isn't strictly off-limits to anglers.

Well, if you get in the way of fishermen or cargo handlers, you might get punched and thrown into the sea, but right now it seems nobody's working anyway.

Picking a suitable spot, I sit down, attach bait resembling a lugworm to the hook, and cast it into the sea.

In Japan, you'd only catch pufferfish if you weren't careful, but how is it in this other world? Surely not something like monsters, right...?

Suddenly, I had an idea and decided to cheat.

"Dark Sense"

The wave of perception extends down into the sea beneath my feet.

This spirit technique allows me to see through darkness, but it can be used anywhere normally—indeed, it can even detect whether someone is on the other side of a wall, making it surprisingly useful.

I used it to locate a Sahagin in the fourth layer of the maze, so naturally, I should be able to tell if there are fish around.

(Huh, seems like there are quite large fish here. The water depth is about five meters.)

The dark sense isn't refined enough yet to judge size accurately, but there seem to be fish over a meter long scattered around.

Some exceed two meters within the range of perception alone. Indeed, the sea of this other world is different from Japan's.

Though I doubt they're monsters, whether they're edible remains a mystery.

Anyway, such large fish wouldn't be catchable with this cheap rod anyway.

"Oh!"

After letting the line down for about a minute, a fish immediately bit.

It's a telescopic rod, so the line is short and searching for depth is impossible, but the fish that came in seems to have taken the bait.

When pulled up, it's surprisingly large— a blue fish resembling sardines.

Of course, it's probably a different species from a sardine, so I can't be sure if it's edible. I could check with one crystal, but using a crystal for something like that would be ridiculous.

I tossed the fish into my Shadow Storage (since nothing gets mixed up in this shadow storage, I can just leave food in there without issue), then attached the next bait.

As expected in another world, the fish weren't wary, and the next one hooked almost immediately.

I continued fishing for a while.

Even though it was bright daylight, I managed to forget about Earth's gaze for a time, meaning I'm gradually getting used to this situation... that might be it.

The loneliness gnawing at my heart is unavoidable, but I suppose I'll get used to that too, in time.

—No matter what anyone thinks of me.

—Whether the real culprit is caught or not.

Nanami is dead, the uncle and aunt are dead, my family can no longer stay in Japan, and regardless of anything, I have no choice but to live alone in this world.

That fact remains unchanged.

Nothing can be done about it.

That’s the reality, the unchangeable present moment I’m in.

(—If only it were that easy to just accept it…)

Then, surely it would be easier.

Since I can never return to Earth, if I could completely forget everything about the other side and live in this world.

Warm wind blows, and the water ripples gently.

—No one’s watching, except the moon.

Refreia said.

In the end, he never understood what it truly meant that she was being watched by hundreds of millions of people.

But… was it really like that?

Could it be that she was right… and that he might be the one who was wrong?

The only evidence was the number displayed on this status screen.

There were no drones flying around him, no photographers stalking him.

He didn’t believe that “being watched” itself was a lie.

But perhaps, as Refflair had taught him, it was the overthinking itself that was the mistake.

The moon might indeed be floating above, watching him.

That was the same.

Was there really any need to worry about it—

…This kind of thought had passed through his mind hundreds, even thousands of times before.

Thus, just by dangling a fishing line along the tranquil seaside, I begin to wonder if everything is merely my imagination, and if I was always meant to be a native of this world.

Though I still can't sever the connection, if I continue this simple daily routine of merely casting my line, perhaps one day I'll look back on Earth as if it were a dream or illusion.

I think this way as I let the fishing line hang.

Warm sea breezes brush against my cheeks.

A white seabird calls out.

(I'm getting sleepy.)

Before I even realize it, I've fallen asleep.

　

―

―――

―――――――

――I had a dream.

A dream from childhood.

There was a time when Nanami gave food to a stray dog, and it ended up becoming attached to her, following her all the way home.

It was a cute mixed-breed medium-sized dog, and neither Nanami nor I had ever kept a pet before, so we ended up petting it and giving it extra food. The dog apparently recognized the person who fed it as its owner, and simply settled in the yard of Nanami’s house.

Nanami, who hadn’t known that animals could become so attached to people, was completely delighted and named the dog Ai.

Ai stayed in Nanami’s yard for a while, and whenever she went out to play, Ai would follow behind her, wagging its tail.

I thought Ai would end up staying at Nanami’s house permanently.

That was my childish thought at the time.

One day, after a few days of this routine,

Nanami came running home crying.While I was at school, my father had called the health center and handed over Ai.

Nanami crawled into my bed and cried again, saying she’d never go back home.

Now I understand.

Her parents probably thought stray dogs were just strays—bound to disappear somewhere soon. But Ai never left.

She waited for Nanami during the day, until she came home from school, and at night she slept right in front of the door, waiting for her to come out.

Ai had become too attached.

And as a result, she was killed.

"He said I could keep her! I even fed her!"

"Nanami…"

"One day, he’ll abandon me too!"

Was she sad, or angry?

Probably both.

Even if she wasn't as intelligent as her younger sister, she was perceptive enough to understand everything—how the dog taken to the animal control office would be treated, and that there was nothing a child could do about it.

Perhaps she simply couldn't accept that her own parents had made such a brutal choice.

"…Maybe if we'd stayed there, I'd have been killed someday."

"That can't be right. Uncle and Auntie are both kind, aren't they?"

"If Hii-chan were truly kind, she wouldn't have called the animal control office. She'd just as easily abandon or kill me if she didn't like me."

And so, an unrepairable rift formed between her and her parents.

Since then, Nanami couldn't shake her distrust toward her parents and always came to me or her sisters whenever something important came up. Perhaps, in her mind, we were the only people she could truly rely on. Whether deciding between

private or public middle school, struggling to choose a club, or even choosing her high school, she entrusted all her decisions to us. Her

running away incident ended quickly after she stayed with us for one night, but the words she said as she left lingered strangely in my memory. — If I were to be killed,

Hii-chan, you absolutely must avenge me. Promise me. — "I never thought a

child's... idle words could stay with me so long."

I opened my eyes and murmured into the void.

The scene before sleep hadn’t changed. Checking the status board, I realized I’d only been asleep for about thirty minutes.

I had a rather nostalgic dream.

That dog—was it two weeks ago?

It was a child’s memory. Perhaps it was truly just a few days—around five.

A moment that feels like nothing to an adult, but more than enough time for a child to form a deep bond with a friend.

Why did I have such a dream?

Was it because the frustration of being unable to bring Nanami back to life, or to avenge her, smolders deep within my heart like an ember?

Or was it to scold me for even briefly considering giving up on everything, forgetting even Earth, and just living on?

I had already attached new bait to a fishing rod that had already caught something, and cast it into the sea.

After a while, another fish got hooked.

I casually placed it into Shadow Storage.

I let time pass without thinking, and just as I was thinking it was about time to head back—

a voice echoed through my mind.

'Attention all interdimensional transmigrators! We will now begin the first system update!'