Chapter 1 (1/2)

Yuna’s ordinary life was stolen in an instant

On that day, Yuna alking on the main paved road, just as she hadher way to the herbthe street Shopkeepers acquainted with her greeted her warmly as she passed by, which she returned with a wave of her hand And just as she rounded the corner, with her slow measured steps

So happened to her body

Thinking back, the details rose to the surface with frightful clarity: the piercing screah of the horse, who realized far too late, and a large horse carriage filling her entire vision

And the last thing she saas the wide eyes of the coachman…

— I was run over and killed by a carriage

Yuna reached that conclusion faintly

And now she found herself standing alone in an unfamiliar, white world

She finally reo Until then, she had been spacing out, unable to process what had transpired for quite a long tie fros, to piece together the truth And the truth that she found was “death”, a ruthless conclusion

It was quite a short life, she thought She had only lived to be eighteen So s she had accomplished than those she hadn’t It wasn’t as if she lived with the goal of accoreat, but still she felt like there was more she had wanted to do

(I wonder if that is the reason I carets, and unfinished feelings… and maybe that’s why I can’t move on to the afterlife)

Yuna did a circle to take in her surroundings one more time

—And the world was still as ely white, with no sense of direction or dimension Yuna was completely alone in a completely white world

(Ahh… What should I do?)

She couldn’t even tell where she should focus her viewpoint She had si that showed no signs of helping to remedy the situation

(What is going on? Could this be the afterlife? What they call Heaven? This is coh… I don’t knohat I should do all alone by myself I ended up in this utterly unknown place because I died Actually, was there a particular reason I had to die? Even though I lived ordinarily… Why? In h to result in my death, O’ God–)

Yuna began to growright hand, she looked around her surroundings restlessly

(Someone, anyone!)

Then, finally, as if soht a dark shadow far away

Quite a distance aas a lone figure

Had the figure been there all along? …No, it had to have appeared just now There was no way one could ure in a world so brilliantly white

Nevertheless, there was a person Yuna was not alone Perhaps this person was just as confused as Yuna When she thought that, she felt immediately at ease Yuna’s feet kicked at the white space as she made to walk

“Excuse me!”

Yuna panted as she sprinted to the figure; the figure became clearer and clearer as the distance closed It was a wo on her thin fra her expression Her pale ar

“Um… h-hello”

Yuna called to the girl, stopping a few paces away She wasn’t sure how to start a conversation though In a situation like this, even a “hello” would feel a bit odd

“I’m sorry I found myself here when I came to How about you?”

The figure showed absolutely no reaction Yuna felt a little discouraged by this, but pushed on

…Yet the figure appeared unaffected

“U to you out of the blue–“

“—ou”

“Huh?”

The woman’s mouth definitely opened, but the voice came out in a think croak and so was hard to hear Yuna took a step closer and brought her ear closer

“I despise you”

Yuna was struck duirl’s words But as a few rasp what she had been told, a blinding light suddenly enveloped the girl and collapsed froht

Yuna couldn’t le muscle She couldn’t comprehend what just happened And, as her eyes ith surprise, the grains of light danced about the air and then disappeared froht

But that was not all

The disappearing lights once again returned, recovering their brightness, and floated gently above Yuna’s head

There were several of these faint grains of light By no ht, and even now they were fleeting and seemed like they would disappear at any moment

“W-What? What is this?”

Yuna unconsciously took a step back, but there was no place to run or hide in this empty space

“Yuna The poor soul of a young girl ran over by a carriage”

All of a sudden a voice reverberated through the area

A strange voice that could not be distinguished as male or female Yuna held her breath

“We are the ones who took your wandering soul to this place”

“W-Who are you? Where are you?”

“We are beings who no longer have a name, and we are here beside you”

“What does that !”

“Calm Please calm yourself and listen There is no time”

Yuna, who had become teary-eyed, soht floating in the air Right now, it seeht to rely on

“This place is neither heaven nor hell It is a place of nothingness We called you here to ask you to lend us your strength”