Chapter 2: Is Real Life Truly a Galgame?
A few hours later.
Inside a moving bus, Katsuragi Keima sat silently in one of the seats, playing his handheld console.
"Kami-sama! I'll leave everything from here on to you!"
Sitting next to him was the black-haired girl who had appeared yesterday, though she had now changed into a brand-new red school uniform, the same style as the one Keima was wearing.
"Hey, keep your voice down! In public, we're supposed to be acting like siblings, Elsie."
Katsuragi Keima let out a somewhat helpless sigh and spoke in a low voice, his hands holding the console seemingly trembling.
He hadn't expected the email he received earlier to be a contract from a devil.
Even less did he expect that the girl who appeared by his side calling herself Elsie was actually a demon civil servant.
Somehow, he had been inexplicably forced to accept the preposterous mission of "falling in love with various girls to save the multiverse," and then Elsie had whisked him away to another parallel world. If he didn't complete the mission, forget about whether the world would still exist—he absolutely wouldn't be able to return to his original world—
'Dammit, I haven't even held a girl's hand in real life!
All I need in my world are the females in games!'
"This world... is definitely doomed to be destroyed."
At that thought, Katsuragi Keima let out a despairing sigh.
In the game world, he was the omnipotent God of Conquests.
But this was completely different from the real world!
"Kami-sama is the God of Conquests, right! That way, maybe girls in reality can be like the female characters in games—"
"Don't confuse games with the real world. I can't conquer the girls of this lukewarm reality."
Katsuragi Keima's expression and tone were incredibly serious.
"If you understand that, then hurry up and send me back."
"I... I can't do that either. Because it was actually Chief Dokuro who sent us to this world. If we don't complete the mission, I can't go back either! But don't worry, the passage of time between the two worlds isn't linked; if we complete the mission and return, no one else will notice!"
"Ha?! What do you mean you can't do it either?"
The veins on Katsuragi Keima's forehead bulged.
"Weren't you the one who brought me to this world?!"
"I relied on a special item given to me by the Chief; it can only be used once. Although I don't know how Chief Dokuro did it, technically speaking, this isn't Kami-sama's original world either. This is just a highly similar parallel world! There will always be differences from the original world! For Kami-sama, this isn't the 'true' real world either, right...?"
The moment Elsie finished speaking, something suddenly occurred to Keima, and his expression became very serious.
'Wait a minute!
That's right! This is another parallel world!
Doesn't that mean this world has many games that don't exist in my world!
Yes, yes, yes!
Why didn't I think of that before!'
At that thought, the previously despairing Keima was instantly filled with motivation:
"Fine, then let me stay in this world a little longer!"
According to what Elsie said earlier, he just had to play the role of an ordinary high school student in this world.
"As expected of Kami-sama, cheering up so quickly! Also, this is a tool to assist Kami-sama with his work!"
As she spoke, Elsie pulled out a deck of cards from nowhere.
"On these cards are the various targets in this world! Ordinary people can't see them!"
Keima took the cards and couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed—
'Isn't this number a bit too high?'
"The Chief also seems to have added some functions to the cards; they can display current affection levels, and if a conquest is successful, you'll earn achievements or something. I have no idea what use they are—what's wrong, Kami-sama?!"
Elsie looked at Katsuragi Keima with surprise. The latter's expression was even more serious than before, and the eyes behind his glasses seemed to flash with light.
How could a gamer refuse something like this!
"Ahem."
Keima coughed twice to calm himself down while his gaze fell on the top card.
On it was a girl with short amber hair. Her level of cuteness was not inferior to Elsie's, and the curves of her figure under the same school uniform were even more impressive.
'This is basically on the level of game character art, isn't it?'
[Name: Kushida Kikyo]
[Current Affection Level: 0%]
Keima pushed up his glasses and quickly browsed through the cards in his hand, then looked around. The interior of this bus was almost identical to his original world; if he hadn't experienced it personally, he would find it hard to believe he had actually traveled to another world.
"It seems the final stop of this bus is the school we're about to enroll in. Maybe there will be students from the same school coming along."
Just then, a clear voice rang out from up ahead.
"Um, everyone! Could I ask if someone would be kind enough to give up their seat for this elderly lady!"
Keima's gaze immediately locked onto the source of the voice, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.
Because the speaker was none other than Kushida Kikyo, whom he had just seen on the card.
She looked a bit anxious, and standing beside her was a hunched-over elderly woman.
Keima quickly scanned the surrounding people; the passengers on this bus didn't seem to have any intention of giving up their seats.
And it was at this moment that Keima's gaze fell upon another person.
She was undoubtedly a beauty. Her features were not inferior to Kushida's and were perhaps even more exquisite. She had waist-length black hair with a ribbon and a long braid on the right side, paired with a pair of fox-like eyes full of allure. However, there was no expression on her face; she looked incredibly cold.
Keima had also seen this person on the cards just now.
[Name: Horikita Suzune]
[Current Affection Level: 0%]
As if noticing Keima's gaze, Horikita Suzune turned her head to look at him.
Their eyes met—
Horikita Suzune frowned slightly.
[Current Affection Level: -3%]
"?"
Katsuragi Keima's eyebrow twitched slightly.
'Just meeting eyes for the first time makes the affection level drop?
This is probably a plot point that only happens in the highest-difficulty games.'
"What should we do, Kami-sama! The affection level dropped before we even started!"
Elsie seemed a bit nervous.
"It doesn't matter."
Keima, however, smiled and pushed up his glasses.
Affection levels can rise.
The drop in Horikita Suzune's affection level actually gave Keima information, helping him gradually understand her character archetype.
'This person is probably the type that's difficult to get along with.
Furthermore, leaving an impression in the other person's heart is already a good start.'
"It's starting to feel... a bit like playing a game."