Two Worlds, Starting with Kaguya of Penglai Mountain

"Are we still making that game?"

After a long while, seemingly unable to bear the atmosphere any longer, a somewhat timid voice finally spoke.

Surprisingly, it was a girl.

"I didn't mean to bother you, because you haven't answered my messages... I'm very sorry, I'll hang up right away."

The speaker was speaking very quickly, and before Kurokawa and Mi could say anything, the other end seemed to be about to hang up.

"stop!!!"

Kurokawa Kazuya spoke in a very serious tone.

"Yes!!!"

On the other end of the phone, holding his phone, Goto Ichiri, who was hiding in the closet, straightened his back immediately.

However, she felt a sense of jubilation inside.

It worked, although I accidentally pressed the button because I was nervous when I actually dialed the number.

But she actually succeeded in taking the initiative to call the other party.

Goto Ichiri, known online as Guitar Hero, is a YouTuber with professional-level guitar skills.

At the same time, it was also the music that Kurokawa Kazuya chose to assist in the production of the game.

It took Kurokawa Kazuya a lot of effort to find someone with such technical skills and such a low price to assist with the music composition in the vast sea of ​​people online.

Although his personality seems a bit strange, he's incredibly practical.

When the two were exchanging quotes on Line, Kurokawa Kazuya even thought that he could easily lure the other party into working for him without paying them a salary by simply making empty promises.

However, he was not a devil after all, and he was prepared to pay the due fees, even though the price was much lower than that of similar-quality soundtracks.

Recalling his recent frugal spending and desperate attempts to save money due to insufficient funds, a smile involuntarily appeared on Kurokawa Kazuya's face.

Looking down at my phone, I couldn't understand why it still had a signal.

But such minor details are insignificant.

He lowered his head and kept clicking on various apps in his hand, trying to find something different.

Unfortunately, apart from having a signal, his phone was still a normal phone and did not become some kind of invincible artifact like in many novels.

My eyes were fixed on the phone's battery indicator in the upper right corner, and I was disappointed to find that the battery wasn't full and was still draining.

"If the battery were unlimited, I could try to continue playing games, but with so little power, I can't do anything at all."

A somewhat helpless smile appeared on his face.

Kurokawa Kazuya was thinking about how to explain the reason for the production halt to "Guitar Hero" on the other side.

The other party seemed quite excited about the upcoming game development.

But there's nothing we can do about it, isn't there?

As an apology, I'll transfer all the funds in my bank account used for game development to their account. That would be a proper way to apologize.

After that, swipe the screen to open Line.

Kurokawa Kazuya's gaze fell on the note labeled Yoshiki.

Yoshiki Kurokawa is also Kazuya Kurokawa's younger sister.

Since the call can still continue, it's necessary to let your family know you're safe.

As Kurokawa Kazuya slid his finger across the screen, he thought about contacting his sister Yoshiki immediately, but his finger wobbled left and right as he pondered what to say.

You asked him why he didn't make a phone call?

He didn't even know what to say on Line, let alone on the phone.

"Guitar Hero, are you still there?"

Kurokawa Kazuya put the phone back to his ear and spoke to the girl on the other end of the line.

"Here I am!"

Just as if waiting for half a moment, Goto Ichiri quickly gave his answer.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Regarding your payment, I can settle it with you later, double is fine too. But I've encountered some problems with the game. If you want to continue production, I've already uploaded the relevant files to the cloud drive, you can download them if you want."

Goto Ichiri: "Wait! Why?!"

She spoke almost without thinking, in a tone completely out of character for someone with social anxiety.

As soon as she spoke, Goto Ichiri realized that her tone was quite rude, but despite being very scared, she became resolute.

He kept a straight face, not letting himself take back what he had said.

Goto Ichiri, who had never had any friends, was being invited for the first time.

Although the two have never met in real life, this call is the only one so far.

Although I was very embarrassed when Kurokawa Kazuya urged me to finish the manuscript on Line.

But Goto Ichiri also found herself feeling needed amidst this urging.

This was the first time she had ever fought for something together with people her own age.

Even if I'm in a terrible state, I absolutely don't want to give up.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "This...?"

Perhaps because he was a stranger to Goto Ichiri, he spoke without as much restraint at this moment.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "Would you believe me if I said I traveled through time? I have absolutely no idea if there's any chance of going back."

He said it in a joking tone.

Goto Ichiri: "Even if you travel through time and your phone can still make calls, you can still make games, right? You can remotely control a computer with your phone. I've learned that."

He spoke without thinking at all.

In order to complete the task assigned by Kurokawa Kazuya as soon as possible, Goto Ichiri searched for strategies online and learned this trick, which allowed him to control the computer via his mobile phone while attending class.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "But the phone will run out of battery. I've traveled to ancient times, so there's no point in even thinking about charging it."

Kurokawa Kazuya offered an explanation for the girl's strange thought process of believing everything she said.

At the same time, I felt a sense of relief without even realizing it.

When you're nervous, facing someone who's even more nervous than you can unconsciously ease your anxiety.

Goto Ichiri received a reply from Kurokawa Kazuya.

At this point, she seemed to have finally exhausted all her courage.

She fell silent along with Kurokawa Kazuya across from her.

Time passed slowly in their silence.

"If you mean keep this strange machine in your hand running, I can do that for you."

A crisp sound rang out from the side.

Kurokawa Kazuya was startled by the sudden sound.

He turned around and saw a girl dressed in a top and skirt, with waist-length black hair, standing not far from him, with the overall image of a Yamato Nadeshiko.

“Kaguya of Mount Hourai, of course you can also call me Princess Kaguya, just like them.”

The girl who called herself Princess Kaguya smiled at Kurokawa Kazuya in front of her.

Sunlight slanted through the gaps between the houses in the village.

Even though it was broad daylight, her elegant smile gave one the feeling of gazing at the full moon in the dark of night, a beauty that is eternal and beautiful.

Chapter Three: People Seeking Suicide

The wooden building, the pink cotton fabric, and the faint fragrance of a young girl permeated the air.

The room wasn't particularly large, and the wardrobe was filled with elaborate clothes that looked overly complicated and would take a long time to put on.

This is the boudoir of a girl who calls herself Princess Kaguya.

The wooden building did not have a very good sound insulation effect.

Kazuya Kurokawa, who was inside, could hear the various discussions coming from the hall.

That's just like the story described in "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".

Princess Kaguya, who descended from the heavens, posed a difficult question to the five noblemen who came to propose marriage, declaring that she would marry whoever solved the question first.

Logically speaking, while the young woman outside was discussing marriage with her suitor, another man was in her bedroom.

Kurokawa Kazuya always had an inexplicable sense of unease about this scene.

Kaguya Houraisan's personality is indeed somewhat unconventional.

Kurokawa Kazuya casually found a spot in the room to sit down and picked up his phone to check it.

He didn't know what methods Kaguya-hime used, but in any case, his phone's battery level had become so stable that it wouldn't decrease no matter how much he used it.

He seems to truly be able to play games with the other person across the world, just as that guitar hero said.

Since that's the case, let's do it. Anyway, he doesn't have anything else he wants to do right now.

My fingers kept swiping across the phone screen.

In the end, Kurokawa Kazuya chose to call his younger sister, Yoshiki.

He couldn't possibly be as casual with his sister, with whom he had a very close relationship, as he was with that guitar hero.

First, she said that she suddenly wanted to go abroad and asked Yoshiki to help her ask the school for leave.

Then, in a joking tone, he talked about how he had traveled to another world to test things out.

Then, at Jiashu's urging, I turned on the video call function on my phone so that Jiashu could see that I was safe and sound, and only then did everything truly come to a hasty end.

After putting down his phone, Kurokawa Kazuya felt his whole body go limp.

Yoshiki's endless questions left him at a loss for words.

Dadada~dadadada~

I heard distinct footsteps behind me.

With a soft "click," the door to the girl's bedroom slowly opened.

Kaguya Houraisan's figure reappeared before Kurokawa Kazuya's eyes.

"Is there something wrong with me? Or have you become infatuated with me?"

Her words, though seemingly flippant, exuded the air of a well-bred young lady.

The girl smiled and spoke to Kurokawa Kazuya, who had been watching her since she entered the room.

The woman named Kaguya Houraisan must have been the most beautiful woman that Kazuya Kurokawa had ever seen.

The girl's clear, melodious voice was quite pleasant, just like her appearance.

"Although I don't know what you're planning to do, do you think it's possible for me to go back?"

Without much hesitation, Kurokawa Kazuya asked the question directly.

"Of course it's possible. The machine in your hand is targeting a specific object. Although the obstacles and distances involved are unimaginable, as long as your strength reaches the point where you can overpower everyone in the world, you should be able to accomplish it."

The girl, still smiling lightly, spoke in a casual tone.

"I am not boasting, but in terms of the breadth of knowledge, there are few in this world who are taller than me. I believe that if something is theoretically impossible, then no one can actually do it."

Patting her chest, the girl named Kaguya Houraisan continued speaking with a smile.

The woman, who exuded an air of nobility and charm, was surprisingly easy to talk to.

Kazuya Kurokawa: "If I could get here so easily, why is it so difficult to get back?"

Kaguya Houraisan: "You're asking if there's a comparison between throwing a grain of sand into the ocean and retrieving it from the ocean. Right now, you're like someone who's fallen from one grain of sand into another. Jumping around randomly isn't difficult, of course, but accurately jumping from one grain of sand into another is incredibly difficult. Especially when the being trying to do this is something countless times smaller than the sand itself."

As the girl spoke, she stretched out her slender white fingers, picked up the apple on the table, and played with it in her hand, as if she were making some kind of sigh: "Even sand cannot go against the flow of water, let alone something even smaller in the water."

Kazuya Kurokawa: "So there's still a chance, right?"

Kaguya Houraisan: "Yes, but only if you, who are smaller than a grain of sand, have the ability to jump out of the sand. Didn't I say that to jump out of your world, you need to have the strength to overwhelm the entire world? By the way, the powerful beings in this world with names and titles are either demons or gods, and their lifespans are basically at least a thousand years. Without enough time to accumulate power, don't even think about becoming strong."