After parting ways with the guild staff, we headed to the market to buy daily necessities.

　While basic furniture was already provided in the room, everything else had to be acquired on our own. It's one thing if we're just using the place to sleep, but even preparing our own meals requires quite a few essentials.

　Still, we have a bit of extra money, so it'll work out somehow.

　

　After spending a few hours gathering essential household items, we returned home.

　That's when Shadow Storage really comes in handy. You can just toss things in without worrying, and it fits reasonably large items too.

　A bed is provided, but there's no mattress or futon, so we won't actually be settling in until tomorrow or the day after.

The climate here is mild, so a blanket might be enough, but in any case, there are countless things missing when starting out.

There's no large store where you can get everything in one place, so it takes a surprisingly long time.

The new residence has many rooms.

I chose my own room and carried my belongings in.

I took the stairs to the second floor and went right; Jeanne took the room on the left.

After setting down my things and stepping out, I just happened to see Jeanne coming out of her room.

"Clo. Any points?"

A sudden, random question—very much her style.

"Huh? Why suddenly? I've got zero."

"Zero!? You're reckless, you know that... Points are meant to be a safety margin, so you should always try to keep them as high as possible?"

"I know that, but there's a situation..."

Having used three points of the miracle drug on Refleia, my points were completely drained.

My crystals were also minimal, less than one point. Sure, it's risky in terms of safety margin, but every point I've spent so far was necessary.

I'll just save up again from now on—no problem.

"I always keep at least six points reserved."

"Six points!? That's amazing."

Since Jeanne usually has a large number of viewers, she probably gets more resources than most.

Still, keeping six points always in reserve is impressive.

"That's why I can spend beyond six points, but for now, I'm thinking of using it to summon a mattress."

"Isn't that fine? I don't really care much about beds in this world, but anything you can summon with points tends to be high-performance."

The inn's mattress is stuffed with straw or something, so it's prickly, and might bother a woman.

"Yeah. By the way, the mattress—big sizes can also be exchanged for just one point. Cro, wanna sleep with me?"

"Eh? What?"

"After all, we're roommates. It'd be unfair for me to hog a good bed all to myself, right? I don't know exactly how big a queen-size mattress is, but it should easily fit two people. Plus, it'd be safer since we could contact each other right away. I think that's a good idea."

Speaking quickly, staring straight ahead with a completely serious expression, Jeanne says this.

Wait—didn't we just decide on our separate rooms a moment ago?

"I-I mean, I'll definitely sleep alone, thanks."

"Hm? Oh, right... Yeah, that works."

Saying that, Jeanne pouts and walks into her own room.

What is this...?

Well, in any case, it seems only my mattress needs to be ordered from the craftsman.

Besides that, I still need some tools for the plumbing area and a few more pieces of furniture. Personally, I should probably get a bit more clothing too.

I've already bought a chair and a table, but should I get a sofa as well?

There are still six days until the labyrinth opens, but thinking of it as time to get the house in order might be just perfect.

Just as I finished setting up everything I'd bought and was about to go out to dinner with Jeanne,

the status board suddenly popped up, and a voice echoed through my mind.

"Ping pong pan! Attention all interdimensional transferees! Twenty days from now, we'll be transferring three hundred new transferees to your world! If anyone nearby is being transferred, please guide them as a senior member!

" The usual cheerful voice suddenly said something like that.

The total number of interdimensional transferees displayed on the status board reads seven hundred. This must be additional reinforcements. The gods' intentions remain unclear.

Perhaps it's simply because the transferees' lives have stabilized to some extent, and they're now feeling a lack of adventure—so new members are being added to fill the gap.

"Mmm... Already here? Earlier than I expected."

"What do you mean?"

"Transfer casualties have a high death toll. Didn't even Cro realize that the numbers were dwindling at such a pace? Surely, no matter where they eventually settled, it was almost certain that half would be gone within about a year. So, the god must have already marked somewhere for personnel replenishment."

Indeed. I myself had sensed the rate at which transfer numbers were decreasing was alarmingly fast.

I hadn't really considered that reinforcements would be arriving, though.

"…Anyway, we should be careful. The newcomers know how to efficiently use points, and they’ve got our information, right? Especially me and Kuro—we have a lot of viewers. It’s safer to assume our weaknesses are completely exposed. If they want to survive efficiently in this world, eliminating us first and stealing our items would make things much easier."

"What are you talking about…? No, wait… maybe you’re right."

I’ve faced human malice more than enough times.

Kill a transfer, and you can get items or gear you can’t obtain through points alone. If it’s an easy kill, there’s no guarantee no one will target you.

I don’t know exactly what tools Jeanne has, but even just one major healing scroll would be more than worth it.

The announcement continues.

'Prior to the second transfer, we will temporarily freeze the messaging function. This is due to the excessive amount of malicious messages and misuse, requiring adjustments to certain features. It also allows new transferees to enjoy pure adventure in the other world without advice from Earth. The period will last 50 days from today.'

Message freeze...

From my perspective, someone who hasn't seen any messages at all, this is irrelevant. But it will certainly affect Jeanne and the other transferees.

Not everyone there lives completely detached from their original world.

'Hmph, quite perceptive, aren't you? God.'

'Huh?'

Even though we've come to a different world, it's absurd to let ourselves be swayed by voices from the other world and abandon our own freedom. ...Though it's funny coming from me, who used to base my actions on messages.

"You used to base them on messages?"

"Complete freedom can be surprisingly overwhelming. It was meant as a tutorial. Now that I've made companions and gained experience, it's no longer necessary."

"I see..."

Jeanne said she hadn't met any other transmigrants before encountering me.

That's why, while stopping at villages and helping with their troubles, she'd been heading toward a larger city.

Now that she's decided to conquer the labyrinth, that tutorial quest is no longer needed. That's probably it.

'Note: Items and abilities obtained through point or crystal exchanges may change. Please check accordingly! Have a wonderful life in another world!'

After that voice, the announcement ceased.

Jeanne immediately began manipulating the status board.

"It seems existing messages can still be read, but new ones aren't coming through. There are other changes as well... Ah, I see, I see... This is serious."

As she operated the board, Jeanne's face twisted slightly.

I also started manipulating the status board, and something truly dire must have changed.

"Where? What's changed?"

"The map, of course. You've got the high-performance map, right?"

"Right... Well, yes, I do have it, but only the world map version."

"Take a look. You'll see."

The high-performance world map is a status board expansion that can be exchanged for three points.

Selecting the tab allows you to view the world map at any time, with a kind feature showing your current location as a red dot. Direction is also displayed, so if you ever want to go somewhere far away, you’ll never get lost. It shows your danger level in this world, its name, population density, and even the distance to the nearest town. If you’re going to live in this world, keeping this feature is definitely worth it.

It seems something new has been added. I thought to myself as I selected the tab.

"Huh? What’s this? There are more blue dots."

An endless number of blue dots had appeared on the map. There had never been anything like this before.

Of course, there was a red dot at my current location... no, wait, a blue dot was overlapping it.

One blue dot appeared slightly farther away.

Another blue dot was visible nearby.

"You understand, right? It's a kind and overly helpful new feature from the gods. Basically, they've shown us the locations of other transference users so we can converge without needing to contact one another."

"W-Why would they go to such trouble...?"

"Who knows? The mind of the gods is beyond human comprehension... though I suspect it's meant as a substitute for messages. They must have had a lot of cases where people needed to know the whereabouts of other transference users from Earth. In fact, I learned about you through a message myself."

Even when I first met Alex, he had recognized me as a transference user just by reading a message. So, messages are commonly used to connect transference users with one another.

I understand the purpose of the update, but it seems to work against us. There aren't many other transmigrants around here, and while we could move somewhere else, I really don't want to go through all that trouble."

"It's understandable that they'd come from the other side, so it's not that bad, is it?"

"True, it's better, but transmigrants can bring any weapon they want into this world. No matter how strong I am, I can't stand up to a gun. You'd be in the same situation, right?"

"That's true... especially since I'm hated by them."

Could transmigrants come after me?

They might. At the very least, I should act as if they might. If that's the case, then maybe it's actually advantageous that I now know where the transmigrants are located.

"If you're hated, then I am too."

"Of course not."

"Why can you say that with such certainty? What do you know, when you haven't even opened the message?"

"I... was thought to be a murderer... that I was believed to have killed Nanami... and her parents, you know? I just hope Nanami comes back to life and clears my name. But even if she does, she might not have seen the killer's face in that surprise attack, so in the end, we still won't know who the real culprit is."

Even if Nanami didn't see the killer's face, she'll still testify that I'm not the one. But will the world believe her? What weight does a statement carry if she didn't see the face, but insists it wasn't me?

Of course, there's a chance Nanami might know the killer's face and name and can testify clearly.

In the end, we simply can't know what lies on the other side.

With the message frozen, the chance to receive new information was also closed off.

Well, if they found out I'm innocent, viewership should drop... No, being with Jeanne might actually increase my popularity.

Viewership numbers might not be that reliable after all.

　

"……Kuro. You should stop dwelling on this forever."

"Huh?"

"The fact that your message was frozen is actually a good opportunity. Forget about the other world already."

"But even if you say that..."

I want to forget too.

I've tried over and over.

Countless times, I've tried to forget.

"...Hey, Crow. Even though we brought Nanami back to life in the morning, the fact that the message got frozen means we can't confirm whether Nanami truly came back completely healthy, or if she's actually living a vibrant life. Isn't that right? Either way, the content of the message is just something written by someone somewhere. In other words, we can't tell if it's true or false. Isn't it ridiculous to be swayed by such fragile information?"

"That might be true..."

"From my perspective, you're worrying too much about the other world. After all, we're already genuine residents of another world now. What does that other world even have to do with us? Are you going to become a puppet of gods or viewers just for the sake of points? If you can't ignore it... then perhaps I'll make you forget it?"

So close that it felt like she could touch me, yet saying something like that, Jeanne.

Probably frustrated and angry at my weak, pitiful self, her face slightly flushed.

…Indeed, she’s right.

I’m overthinking it. One could even say my mind is being eroded.

If this had come from someone with few viewers, it might not have affected me at all. But Jeanne has been seen by far more viewers than I have, perhaps even the highest number of all the transfer-ees.

So naturally, she must have endured heartless messages before.

And yet, she’s rejected them all with iron will.

"…Jeanne’s awesome."

Jeanne's sapphire-blue eyes seemed to peer deeply into my very weakness.

From her porcelain-white, perfectly sculpted face, there was no trace of frailty whatsoever.

Yet, I still can't bring myself to fully accept that.

"I can't become as strong as you are... I'm still just a child, I guess."

"It's okay, just a little at a time. Besides, the second wave is coming. We have to grow stronger, no matter what. ...If someone really is after our lives, hesitation could cost us everything."

Whether the second wave will actually target me or Jeanne remains to be seen. It's possible... that's all we can say for now.

But if they truly are after us, then we'd better be ready to kill—if we want to survive.

I haven't quite sorted out my thoughts about the other world yet. But being with

Jeanne, I might really be able to forget everyone and move forward. "Well, I think

I'll turn in for the night. What about you? The bed's already set up, so there's one." "Huh? What

about dinner?" "Dinner

...? Oh, right...?" I was

just about to suggest putting down our bags and heading out to eat. "No, I'm

tired. I'm not that hungry either. Let's head back to the inn tonight. We've already left some of our things there

." "…N-no, you're right. Yeah, dinner. We should go eat. I suddenly got distracted by some divine announcement and forgot. I am actually hungry."

"Oh? Then let's go eat. I know a good place. Can you eat shrimp?" "That's one of my

favorites."

After eating, I returned to the inn.

Jeanne seemed a little reluctant to part, but since she'd been alone in this world all along, she might just be feeling lonely.

Well, starting tomorrow, I'll be living in that house too. I'm not completely without worries about sharing a home, but we'll manage somehow. If things get tough, I could always hire a maid, just like Jeanne suggested.