"It's a sure-win offensive."
"Naive."
"Should I go full burst? I'll do it, then. But—"
The letters K.O. appear on screen.
In the final moment, a low kick pierces through, and it's over.
"LoOOoseD"
"Beating me even a single round is impressive enough."
"Who would have thought there'd come a day when I'd allow someone to talk down to me in a game."
Frustrating, but it got my blood pumping.
Next time, I'll switch characters and go again.
The sound of both our controllers fills the room.
I'm playing a fighting game against D—the real
As expected of what I'd call my original, she's absurdly strong.
Plus, while I have memories of being able to play games, this is actually the first time I've ever played since being born in this body.
That handicap shows, and the character I'm controlling won't move the way I want.
My memories and the actual feel of operating the controls just won't line up.
I've been able to correct that quite a bit, so I can fight somewhat competently now, but taking even a single round from D still felt out of reach.
By the time our umpteenth match was settled, it had grown dark outside.
The flow of time seems to be different between here and there, so if I stayed too long, I'd run into the Urashima effect.
Reluctant as I was, I'd better head home for today.
"Well, I'll come again."
"You're welcome anytime."
And so, I transferred back.
Oh, shoot.
I forgot to ask for an allowance.
Oh well.
I'll bring it up next time.
I teleport back home.
The fact that the phrase "come back" naturally comes out means that this world has become my world, doesn't it?
My correct memories as myself only exist from this world onward—the memories I have from over there were false ones planted by D.
In that sense, too, the world where I lived as myself is this one.
Well, whatever.
Night had fallen in this world, too.
The Demon King was awake and came to greet me, but I only gave a quick greeting before retreating into my house.
Th-that was scary!
No, it wasn't.
Huh, no, it really wasn't.
What even was that?
That's not normal, right?
It wasn't even about some divine-level hierarchy or anything like that.
It wasn't about whether I could win or lose—it was terrifying at a fundamental level.
You know that kind of fear you feel from a ghost?
Incomprehensible terror.
That's what I felt from D.
Those eyes that glimpsed into a bottomless abyss.
Despite having nearly all of her divine power sealed away, her gaze alone was enough to make me tremble.
Going against her? Yeah, no way.
This wasn't even about whether our vibes matched or not.
Calling myself the worst evil goddess feels like a joke when you've seen the real thing.
It really drives home how feeble the things you can imagine with words truly are.
No amount of words could ever convey how terrifying she is.
Our master is on a whole other level.
Going against her? Impossible.
The first time I became aware of D's existence was when I obtained the Sage Skill.
That was when the Voice of Heaven (provisional) spoke her name.
Next was my first encounter with Kuromi.
A smartphone appeared out of nowhere, and from it came a voice calling itself D.
That was my first contact with D.
After that, she interfered here and there, and each time I found it deeply unsettling.
A fundamental sense that we were incompatible.
The reason for that dawned on me after I underwent apotheosis.
Through becoming a god, my soul underwent a transformation.
That was when I noticed something clinging to my soul.
It was at my core—in the domain of my divinity.
No, not just "there"—it had consumed me and become my very existence itself.
It was the memories of Wakaba Himeiro.
The existence that had overwritten the original me and become me.
And I realized what that meant.
I was simply something different that possessed the memories of Wakaba Himeiro.
Once I understood that, all the doubts and inconsistencies I'd felt before clicked into place like puzzle pieces.
The fact that my name had always displayed as "Nameless."
The Vampire Girl had both her current-life name and her previous-life name displayed, but mine never showed anything—not ever.
The name Wakaba Himeiro never appeared.
That also explained why my Skill Points were so low.
My original self was a low-ranking creature.
So the Skill Points—a portion of my soul's power—were low accordingly.
And the ultimate proof was the discrepancy between D's account and my memories.
D had said.
That an explosion occurred in the classroom where D was, and she reincarnated the other students caught in it into this world.
And among everyone I could think of, there was no one who matched D's description.
Nobody—except me, setting aside Wakaba Himeiro.
Looking back, there were contradictions and gaps in my memories that I simply couldn't ignore.
I couldn't even remember my parents' faces.
I evaluated myself as the absolute lowest of the low, yet recognized my face as beautiful.
Even my personality showed clear differences between what my memories suggested and my actual behavior.
I was supposed to have viewed other people as little more than pebbles on the roadside, yet here I was, unable to hide my irritation because I cared about what they thought of me.
And then I realized the truth about D—and the truth about myself.
In the classroom, there had been a spider spinning its web.
A boy had tried to crush it, and Oka-chan had stopped him.
She'd gone so far as to suggest creating a "class pet" role to take care of it.
In the end, the chosen student burst into tears and refused, so it never came to pass.
That spider had always been in the classroom.
Surrounded by humans far larger than itself.
In a situation where it could die at any moment.
Despised and found creepy by nearly all the humans around it.
Even so, it clung desperately to life.
The most lowly existence in the classroom.
That was me.