"What's going on, what happened?"

"Nanami-senpai... this one seems to have been chosen too."

"Huh?"

Nanami-senpai leans closer to the tablet.

OZAWA YUICHI, 15 years old.

A thin-faced boy with narrow, lifeless eyes—unhealthy-looking.

His tea-colored hair, possibly dyed by himself, has a slightly frizzy appearance.

This photo is likely the 'current form' prepared by God.

"This... is the one who killed me..."

"That's right. He should be in custody now. Or maybe still in the hospital. The trial hasn't happened yet, but he'll definitely get the death penalty. Your sister came back to life, but he really did kill three people... However—"

"However?"

"Executing the death penalty in just twenty days isn't feasible. And realistically, releasing him on parole only to assassinate him isn't practical either. Even if we managed to gain public support, there'd still be limits... I don't think we can stop this guy from going to the other world."

"Serican... There's a new notice below. Even if a transfer subject dies on Earth, they retain their right to transfer, and their body and memories will be restored and transferred anyway..."

Karen's voice cuts in over the phone.

I see. They're taking preventive measures because last time was so bad.

Out of the initial thousand selected for transfer—including Nanami-san—twenty-four were killed.

That means twenty-four people, including my brother, were reselected through another draw.

They probably intended to send the original thousand at first. They're afraid this same situation will repeat again.

The one thing that's clear is that God doesn't seem to have any particular intention of using this world transfer as a catalyst for chaos—seems like it's genuinely meant as entertainment.

Either way, it's impossible to eliminate Ozawa within twenty days, so this guy is now certain to avoid execution and escape unharmed to another world.

That leaves the real question: will he get involved with his brother or Nanami-san?

"……Just to be sure, do you really want to take direct revenge on him?"

"If we ever cross paths, I'll settle things—but the world's huge, isn't it? I'm not going to go hunting for him. Meeting up with Hei-chan comes first."

"Settle things? You mean kill him?"

"I don't know. But he's my parents' killer. I was a bad daughter, but I have to do at least this much, or I'll never be at peace."

"……You're strong, sister."

Normally, one would feel fear toward the person who killed them.

But I don't sense that at all from Nanami-san.

If she says she'll do something, she will.

Maybe I don't need to worry after all.

"Then the real issue is my older brother... Could she possibly harbor resentment and go after him? ...Maybe I'm overthinking it. There's just too little information."

While she was imprisoned, I showed her a few glimpses of the other world to extract information. She knows she was rejected, and she knows her brother—the one she killed—ended up in that world too.

At the detention facility, he should be able to read books and reasonably research matters related to the other world. He can meet with a lawyer, and there should be opportunities to hear things there too.

(He'll probably harbor resentment... that's likely...)

In short, my older brother became the most popular transmigrated person among the Japanese.

Dark labyrinths, adventures on the edge of death. Romantic love with a beauty like Lady Refliah.

Days filled with swordplay and casting spirit magic.

To that man, this is "a place he might have been."

So, wouldn't he either try to take it for himself, or at the very least, try to destroy it if he can't?

...Honestly, I don't know.

I can't understand the feelings of a human who can't make rational decisions.

Either way, the second wave holds the advantage.

Whether something is "correct" depends on the person, but the "incorrect" choices in character creation are fairly clear, and the dangers of random transfer are well known.

　

It's unlikely that Ozawa would deliberately approach so closely in that vast world just to harass his brother.

From Ozawa's perspective, his brother is the one he killed; from the brother's perspective, he's the one who was killed—and above all, the one who killed his childhood friend.

Given the risk of revenge, he'd be more likely to stay away—this should be the rational choice.

Since he's been chosen for transfer to another world, he should change his mindset and live anew.

That's what a sensible human being should do.

(—though sensible humans don't usually kill four people in a single day… or do they?)

There are virtually no people in human history—across all times and cultures—who have killed four people in a single day without war. Even limiting it to modern times, one could call them rare murderers.

In other words, they couldn't possibly be sane. And yet, they lived a normal student life, appearing completely ordinary—this is why psychopaths are so terrifying.

"I really should've just killed you... Why does it always turn out this way...? Is God really interfering...?"

Judging by probability alone, that's the only explanation possible.

Up until the moment her sister was chosen, it had all seemed coincidental. But then her sister was murdered, her brother was inexplicably chosen, and now the murderer herself has been picked.

It was too perfectly orchestrated to be mere coincidence.

"It's okay, Sera. Don't make such a serious face. I'll take care of it for you—right here, right now."

"Nanami-nee... hehe, you're so weak despite that."

"If your little sister looks like that, don't you feel like you should comfort her?"

There's anxiety, yes. But maybe I'm overthinking it.

The world is vast. Plus, our means of travel are limited.

Since we can't choose where we're transferred, it's safe to assume the chances of ending up near my brother, no matter what Ozawa's intentions are, are practically nonexistent. Of course, there's still a possibility that we might be able to choose our destination this time around.

Even in the worst case, my brother is strong.

Jeanne should stay nearby for a while.

I can't say I have no regrets about not guiding Ozawa, who fled to another world without atoning for murdering Uncle and Auntie.

But there's nothing we can do about it now.

We just have to keep thinking ahead from here on out.◇◆◆◆◇

After a long flight, we finally arrived at the airport.

It's about an hour by car to get home.

Karen must be waiting with bated breath.

But first, there's a little event to get through.

"Now, I'm going to have your sister meet with government officials."

"Huh? What? Why me?!"

"Sister, you don't even have a household register, and you came in illegally. Though you've been granted special status here—official nationality—there's still a mandatory interview with an official. Well, honestly, since your trip to the other world is already confirmed, it doesn't really matter anymore whether you have nationality or not."

To put it bluntly, you could even stay here for twenty days without a visa. Honestly, you could have just stayed in Japan without coming here at all. Then again, sister, you were already stripped of your nationality in the first place, so saying that doesn't really change anything…

Was it really necessary for this so-called god to keep messing up my plans at every turn?

Or was it simply because my real-life luck was just too low?

It made me hate myself for even thinking that, thanks to the appearance of this supernatural being, something that should’ve just been "bad luck" was actually divine harassment.

Logically speaking, there was no reason for a being like god to go through the trouble of subtly sabotaging me specifically out of seven billion people on Earth.

After gathering my belongings and descending the stairs, a suit-clad official was waiting for me.

After a brief greeting, we were led into a special room.

◇◆◆◆◇

Once inside the special room, we successfully obtained Nanami-sister’s nationality, concluded a brief meeting, and were driven back by a vehicle prepared by government officials.

Nanami-senpai is slumped over in the seat next to me.

"Well, I must say, I was truly surprised. I never expected the president himself to show up like this."

"Sericca-chan, how were you able to stay so calm...? I was so nervous I thought I'd die!"

"Of course you'd be excited. Among all the connections we've got, this is the best card we could have. We even got business cards—might come in handy someday. Kids have an advantage like this. An adult wouldn't have pulled this off, would they?"

"I just don't get you, Serica-chan. You're seriously telling me you're a middle schooler? That's gotta be a lie."

"No way! Actually, I'm a reincarnated soul! Wait, what? That's impossible. If I were really a reincarnated soul, I'd have already attacked my older brother ages ago."

"Ugh, that's harsh..."

The president appeared, bringing reporters along with him, probably trying to gain popularity. My sister was chosen as a transfer recipient, and she's the only one in Earth's history to have been resurrected by divine hands. Even though she can only stay here for twenty days, she still has value.

Thanks to the president's request, about a third of those twenty days will be spent attending events, but that's manageable. After all, we can't train nonstop 24 hours a day, so it's fine to schedule events during break times.

Though it might just be flattery, they've also promised to help prepare for the interdimensional transfer.

According to the gods, even if a transfer recipient dies during the preparation period, they’ll still be transferred without issue, so regardless of how nations or religions interfere, there’s no danger of them being killed—this is reassuring.

I’ll use whatever is available.

In addition, I managed to secure a connection as well—there’ll surely come a time when it proves useful.

　

As a condition for granting nationality, I was asked to provide a 20-day schedule, so I handed over one I’d already prepared effortlessly. Surprisingly, my sister’s schedule consisted of nothing but training: training, eating, resting, training, eating, resting—repeating the same cycle.

It’s fine to push oneself a bit. After all, the body will be refreshed during the transfer anyway.