Chapter 1 (1/2)

The intense midsummer sun glared down. Saeki Reiji wiped the sweat off his brow as he waited with his bicycle at a red light.

「It’s hot, or should I say, it’s already hot.」

He bitterly scowled at the sun, as cicadas chirped in the background.

Despite the fact that is was only just past 10AM, the temperature had already exceeded 30℃. According to the TV, other areas reaching 40℃ wasn’t uncommon. But for Reiji, who lived in Tohoku’s countryside, 30℃ was hard.

「In this heat, swimming in the river would be good.」

The next few lines will describe how remote Reiji’s area was. It was a place where you could barely get cellphone reception. It took more than an hour by bicycle to get to the nearest town from home.

If you think of a second year high school student’s summer vacation, it’s usually busy with exam study. But Reiji was not worried about that at all. Anyway, few students in Reiji’s high school go on to higher education, most find jobs in the local area.

Because of this, Reiji was enjoying the long vacation of his second year in high school, summer vacation retaining its original meaning. Of course homework was given, but he had spent the first first few days of summer vacation finishing that to enjoy the rest of the break.

In that time, he received news that a new fiction book he had been looking forward to could be found at a bookstore. Because of that, he had come to town in this hot weather.

「However, will get a little cooler……or should I ask Father or Mother to come pick me with the car?」

While grumbling, he waved his T-shirt around to let out the hot air.

Even with that said, with this temperature, it’s nothing more than a drop in the bucket.

Wiping the sweat that had come out again in the few minutes that he had waited for the red light, he directed his line of sight to the surroundings.

Several decades ago this place may have been crowded, now over 60% of shops have closed. Even if he said that many students would find local employment after high school, the number of students has steadily decreased along with the number of children.

In fact, some houses near Reiji’s place had already started demolition.

「I wonder if the depopulation will continue.」

Though he said that, it was pointless for him to consider as there wasn’t a particular solution.

At the moment he was thinking about that.『It’s Dangerous, Look Out!』A voice shouted out loudly.

He reflexively turned his gaze at that direction, a steel frame about 5m away entered his vision……it became the last scene Reiji saw in the world.

「Ah……finally……」

Hearing a voice, Reiji woke up suddenly. Nothing but white space could be seen in the surroundings. It seemed to continue endlessly.

「……Where is this?」

The steel frame definitely crushed him……he calmly made this strange judgement, he gave a cry as he remembered the moment before before his death.

「I seems you’ve woken up, my successor candidate.」

Turning his consciousness to the voice, a presence automatically came into view.

「A glowing orb?」

Yes, there was a glowing orb about 30cm away from him. As it flickered, a voice came from it.

「I’m a glowing orb, but you are a glowing orb as well, do you understand what I’m saying?」

Listening to the words of the glowing orb, he noticed for the first time that his body was also a glowing orb. He certainly didn’t have any hands or feet, he couldn’t sense that he had eyes or ears either. Yet why could he see and hear.

「What happened?」

「Quiet down, successor candidate. ……No, you aren’t confused? As expected of my successor candidate.」

「Successor? Candidate?」

「Hmm. I called your soul to me the moment before it disappeared.」

Reiji thought about the scene where the steel frame was about to hit him before thinking about what the glowing orb said. Certainly, it was unlikely that he had survived the situation.

「That’s right. I certainly……should be dead. So here is the so-called afterlife?」

「No. This is a kind of spirit world between two worlds. I was using my art in search of a successor, and you were caught in it.」

So said the glowing orb in a level tone. Reiji was surprised.

「Is it, that?　You interfered with the law of causality and I got killed?」

In the recent novels, comics, movies and games that Reiji enjoyed, it was a familiar development. ……However, he wasn’t happy that it had happened to himself.

But in front of him, the glowing orb emitted a voice again while flickering.

「No. My art works when the soul of a person who has the qualifications to be my successor is dying, it is an art that only temporarily moves a person to this spirit world before heading to the afterlife.」

Listening to those words, Reiji’s mood became somewhat lighter. If the contents of what this glowing orb had said was true, his death had nothing to do with the glowing orb.……However, that was only if the contents were true.

It was a stranger that he had met for the first time……it was not possible to confirm if the story of the strange glowing orb was true.

With that said, they couldn’t remain like this forever and so Reiji prompted the continuation of the previous point.

「Please continue.」