The Different World with the Red Star

Dropping by the game center to play for a bit after school, and then heading home once it started to get dark.

That was my daily routine.

And on that day too, I played at the game center, and began to head home when it started to get dark. I was waiting at the intersection closest to the game center for the lights to change.

At that time, a young girl came flying out from the opposite side. The crosswalk’s light was red. It appeared that the young girl had discovered her parent on the other side, and began to run.

“Wait, Koume!”

The mother called the child’s name to stop her. The reason was simple. A truck had just entered the intersection. It may have been trying to speed up to make it through the yellow light, as the truck was going quite fast.

From what I could see, even if the truck driver noticed the young girl, he definitely wouldn’t be able to stop. He would hit her for certain.

The moment I came to that conclusion, my body had already begun to move.

Throwing aside my bag, I dove into the crossing.

There wasn’t enough time to hold her and cut through. That being the case, I suppose I should just protect that child.

The mother let out a surprised voice, as I arrived in front of the child, who had stopped right in the middle of the road, and stood directly in front of the truck.

From the surroundings, I could hear people letting out screams and frightened voices. And within that, I swung my fist seriously for the first time in 5 years at the truck.

“Orya!”

An intense clanging sound emerged from the collision between my fist and the truck’s front.

In that instant, I was engulfed by light.

“Where is this?”

A pure white s.p.a.ce. The floor was fluffy, as though it were made of clouds.

And just a little bit ahead was an extravagant structure resembling a palace in Rome.

“Anyhow, shall I just try heading over there?”
“There’s no need for that.”

The moment I was about to walk out, a voice called out to me.

“Huh?”
“I said that there’s no need for that.”

When I turned around, there was an old man.

While wearing pure white clothes, the bearded old man looked down at me in a pompous manner.

“Who are you, old man?”
“I am G.o.d.”
“……dementia?”
“Like h.e.l.l!”

I was whacked by his cane.

“That hurts. Why’re you hitting people so suddenly?”
“It’s your fault for calling people ‘demented’ so suddenly!”
“I dunno about that. When someone randomly appears and says that they’re G.o.d or something like that, they’ve clearly got a few screws loose. It’s just about right to treat them that way.”
“It’s the truth, so I can’t help it. Incidentally, this is the Heavenly Boundary.”
“Heavenly Boundary? It’s not Heaven or h.e.l.l?”

Since I punched the truck head-on, it shouldn’t have been strange if I had died. That being the case, I had thought that this fluffy, bright white s.p.a.ce was Heaven, but it seems that I had guessed wrongly. Well, since a self-proclaimed G.o.d had appeared before me, I guess it’s just perfect.

“I’m not self-proclaimed, but a genuine G.o.d! I’ve been properly recognized as one by the others(1)!”
“Seriously!? It looks like you can read my mind, so it seems to be true!”
“That’s what I’ve been saying from the beginning…….”

G.o.d gave a tired sigh. I suppose he’s already pretty old.

“It’s your fault! Yours!”
“My fault? Why?”
“Your actions are the cause. That’s why I called you here. Making me use my power pointlessly like this……”

It seemed that G.o.d had some business with me.

“Just now, you punched a truck to protect a child, correct?”
“Yeah, I genuinely did it using all my power! Was the child saved?”
“The child was saved.”
“That’s great.”

It would’ve been pointless if she hadn’t been saved even though I protected her.

“It’s not ‘great’!”

Even though I protected a child, for some reason I was scolded. I wonder why? Children are the world’s treasures, you know.

“Why don’t I tell you what happened because you punched that truck?! First, the truck driver. Though the airbag was deployed, since he wasn’t wearing a seat belt, he smashed directly into the windshield and died. Well, even if you hadn’t done anything, it was planned for him to mess up his steering and die, so that’s fine. But the truck that you punched caused a lot of damage. Luckily there were no deaths, but the shrapnel severely injured 2 nearby salarymen, and gave one light injuries! Rather than just having a single child hit, it’s clear that the damages were far greater!”
“Ohh, but it was to protect a child, so it can’t be helped.”
“Do you really think it’s a problem that can just be solved with an ‘it can’t be helped’……”

Since they’re adults, they should be able to look after their own well-being. Children can’t do that, so they’re existences that should be protected. Isn’t that common sense?

Because of this power that I have, I wasn’t able to be protected by my parents from a young age. On the contrary, they feared it and ended up using violence against me.

That’s why I protect children. If it’s to protect a child, I’ll accept any and all sacrifices.

“At any rate, though I did think I had a bit more power than most people, this is way more than I imagined. As expected of me!”
“It’s not something to laugh about! You’ve completely exceeded the limits of human(2)!”

G.o.d stomped his feet on the fluffy ground. Every time he did so, bits of fluff would spring up. Somehow it seems kinda interesting.

Well, I guess you can’t really call a human who can destroy a truck with a single punch a ‘human’. But I can do it, so it can’t be helped.

“That’s right, I also found that quite mysterious. No matter how hard they work, there’s no way the humans that I made on Earth could destroy a truck with their bare hands! So, I tried investigating about you.”
“Did you figure something out?”
“Your soul was crafted(3) by something.”
“Crafted?”

Does he mean like some kind of handicraft? Is there some kind of pretty pattern painted on it?

“This isn’t any time to be fooling around! I can’t believe that someone would do something crazy like using something that a G.o.d made for crafts. If it went badly, then you’d have been cut off from samsara(4) and would never be able to reincarnate again!”
“Seriously? That’s pretty bad. Then my power’s because of that thing’s effect?”
“That seems to be the case. Do you also see things like a single star being red and such?”
“Oh, you’re amazing, G.o.d. I can see a bright red moon.”
“A moon, huh…….meaning that you normally see the moon as red?”
“Yeah, the moon rises from the south and sets in the north.”
“Like I thought…..”

G.o.d let out another sigh.

“As I thought, you’re from another world’s samsara group.”
“What’s that mean?”

I’ve heard of words like samsara and alternate worlds, but I didn’t know anything about them being in groups.

“Normally Earth’s samsara and the samara of alternate worlds are kept separate, but sometimes, in order to maintain the worlds’ balance, souls are transferred from the other worlds to Earth, or from Earth to the other worlds. Well, since their memories disappear, it basically doesn’t affect them at all.”
“Heh~ and?”
“Your soul was crafted and then sent into samsara. Ordinarily, you should have been born in your original world, but were unexpectedly placed into Earth’s samsara in order to adjust the samsara’s balance. Thanks to that, the crafting, which wouldn’t have been a problem in the other world, ended up causing an abnormality in this world.”

Heh, then in my last life, I was from another world. How interesting. I wonder if there were things like swords and magic. He said my soul was crafted upon, so it’s probable that there is magic.

Hm? Rather, was it me who crafted on my soul? If it’s me, it does seem like something I’d do.

“So it would appear. It seems that, in order to retain your memories, you performed crafting on your soul and entered samsara. Though, due to the shock when you were sent to another world, an abnormality surfaced from that craft.”
“Hmmm. So, what should I do? It looks like I’ve died, so do I just go straight to samsara? Or will you fix the changes made?”
“No, you still haven’t died yet.”

Seriously? Even after exchanging blows with a truck, I didn’t die?

“Seriously. Your body isn’t injured at all. But I wouldn’t call you here just for some trivial matters. Once I’m done with my business with you, I’ll return you to Earth.”
“Business?”
“Would you like to go to the other world?”

G.o.d mentioned something interesting.

Isn’t this what’s commonly known as a “transfer” to another world!

“Your body’s specs are too high. On Earth, you will be forced to restrain that power.”
“Guess so. Ever since I was a kid, as long as I put in a little bit of power, all sorts of things would break. It was pretty difficult.”

Though now I’ve become capable of holding it back for the most part. In the past, I wasn’t capable of facing a truck head-on, but since my body grew, I suppose my power did too?

“Precisely. I’m predicting that once you finish growing, you’ll be able to break a building with one arm.”
“Seriously!? Wouldn’t I be suitable as a demolition contractor?”
“It’s not that kind of problem! You’ll be completely seen as a monster by your surroundings. You’ll be killed for research purposes.”
“Really~ that’s harsh.”
“That’s why I’m offering another world. If it’s the world from your previous life, then that power will just end at being the world’s strongest. Depending on what you do, it’ll be at a level where you’ll be seen as half-monster and half-hero.”

Alternate worlds are amazing. Or is it me, who’d be the strongest in the world, that’s amazing?

“Well, it’s like that. What will you do?”
“If I go to the other world, will the balance of things be okay? I was sent to this world in order to adjust this world’s balance, right?”
“It’s not a problem. I’ll transfer 5 dead people from the alternate world’s side over here. Since that world’s more familiar with having deaths. There are a lot of dead people. However, because your power is so large, we need as many of 5 people to transfer over. I was quite surprised.”
“So it’s not a problem. Then I’ll go to the other world. I’ll only end up as a guinea pig at this rate anyhow.”
“That’s right. But I can’t transfer you immediately. I must make some preparations on this side after all. The day after tomorrow should be just about right. It’ll a full moon then, so the moons will overlap. At that time, I’ll transfer you to the other world. Is that alright?”
“Does the moons overlapping have something to do with it? The full moon too?”

G.o.d answered my question as though he had expected it.

“If the moons overlap, then a common feature will emerge between the two worlds, making it so that less of my power is expended during the transfer. The closer to the full moon it is, the greater the common feature will become.”
“I see. So it’s like that.”

In other words, he didn’t want to get tired out.

“No! It’s just that managing the worlds uses up quite a bit of power. If I needlessly expend my power, and am not able to use it during an important time, then there’s no point!”
“Yes yes, let’s leave it like that!”
“This brat!”

For a moment, G.o.d’s true nature appeared.

“Ahem! In any case, on the night of the day after tomorrow, I’ll be on your house’s roof at 12am. At that time I’ll transfer you.”
“Got it, got it. Until then, I guess I’ll say good-bye to my family.”

Well, my family at home are particularly scared of my power, so I can’t approach them, though.

“……..then I’ll return you to your original world.”
“Ou, where’ll I come out? Around the place where I punched the truck?”
“No, right now that place would be bad. Because there are too many eye-witnesses. It’ll become a big deal for you, you know? That’s why I’ll return you directly to your room.”
“That’ll help. I left my bag behind, but I guess I won’t be using it anyhow.”
“I’ll retrieve your bag. It’ll be troublesome if your ident.i.ty were to be found out.”
“Thanks~”
“Then I’ll send you off.”

The moment G.o.d put his hand over my head, I was once again enveloped by a white light.

After I returned home, I went to my parent’s house. Of course, it was in order to tell them about what had just happened.

When I told the family about the incident, and that I’d be going to another world, they happily sent me off.

As expected of my parents. There were absolutely no sad feelings at all.

The next day, I went to school and gave my farewells to the cla.s.smates that I was better acquainted with. Though I avoided talking about G.o.d and such, I gave advanced notice that I’d be disappearing. I forgot to ask G.o.d whether or not I would be considered dead once I disappeared, or if I’d be treated as a missing person, so this was just an insurance.

When I said that I would suddenly disappear, majority of the people didn’t give a surprised response. On the contrary, I was the one who was surprised. It seemed that they felt that no matter what I did, it wouldn’t be odd. Apparently there was a rumor that I was responsible for yesterday’s big truck destruction incident.

Yup, they’re right.

There was one girl who, for some reason, made a face like she was going to cry, but I wonder if it’s because she was scared by me? Oh well. In any case, like that, I finished my farewells. Preparations finished.

And as the full moon looked down at me, I climbed to my home’s roof.

“As always, it’s red today too.”

The moon that I looked up at was dyed a deep red colour.

However, it wasn’t that its entire form had become red. Just a single fragment of the moon was glittering with a brilliant red.

“From what that G.o.d said, it should be soon.”

Soon, that bright red moon which rose from the south and set in the north would overlap with the usual moon that I had become used to seeing.

At that time, I would begin my trip into the other world.

“Oh, it’s started, huh.”

Some time ago, the two moons had slowly begun to overlap. And right now, those moons had completely overlapped.

The bright red moon covered the normal moon completely.

When they did so, a beautiful white ring was made around the red moon by the usual moon, and the light generated by it shone.

“What a great view. I should’ve brought a camera.”

As I finished saying those worlds, I set off on my journey from this world.