The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me

——-

*Zazaza*

The sound of the rain grows stronger. 

The Chosen are given points, and they use those to strengthen themselves or exchange for items before heading to the parallel world.

Then, it will be only a while later that the broadcast will begin.

“…Eh?” (Karen)

Karen, who was using the computer, had her face gone pale as if she had seen a ghost. 

Did something unexpected happen? 

No…the existence of God, the existence of a parallel world, and transferring to a parallel world; it is all unexpected things. 

Is there anything to be surprised about at this point in time…?

“E-Eh…? Why… C-Celican… Onii has…” (Karen)

Seeing her lips tremble and eyes on the verge of tears…I understood that something bigger than God and the parallel world had happened here.

Just why did something like this happen…?

The face that I see everyday countless times already was being shown on the display. 

[Chosen Number 1,000: Kurose Hikaru].

Seeing the text with a picture of his face, I had fallen into a state as if the world was crumbling underfoot. 

“Eh…Wait… T-That’s…the official one, right…?” (Celica)

“The list had been renewed, so I checked it out and…for some reason, it changed to this… Hey, why has Onii…” (Karen)

“Wait…” (Celica)

I diligently looked at what’s displayed there.

A small feeling of something being off.

I soon learned what was the truth of that feeling. 

I ended up noticing it. 

“Nanami-neesan is not there…” (Celica)

Nanami-neesan was Chosen number 422, but the Chosen that was originally 423 is there now. The numbers…have gone up.

Nee-san is nowhere to be seen. 

She has…disappeared from the Chosen list.

A bad premonition spread in my chest.

Something happened.

There was no other way of putting this. 

I took out my smartphone and called my brother, but it just continued ringing without end, and after ringing for a few minutes, he didn’t answer.

He is sad from the separation of Nee-san and isn’t answering the call? No, brother would take the call no matter the situation if the call rings for that long. That’s the kind of person he is.

Even when I called all the phones of Nanami-neesan, no one was answering.

Today is New Year. Uncle and auntie should be at the house. 

“I will go check it out for a bit. Karen, you watch this side. If something happens, call me.” (Celica)

There’s no doubt something happened at the house of Nee-san. 

I have no choice but to confirm.

“Are you going alone?” (Karen)

“The  TV crews should still be around. I will have them cooperate.” (Celica)

Our parents go on a hot spring trip at the end of the year. 

We also don’t rely on something like that anyways.

I leave the house and get a TV crew that is readying to withdraw to the main street. 

“Hello~. Uhm, have you seen the list of Chosen?” (Celica)

“Eh? You are the neighbor of Nanami-chan…” 

“Celica. We are as close as family with Nanami-neesan…” (Celica)

While I was chatting with them, one of the crew had confirmed the list of Chosen. They noticed that Nanami-neesan was gone from the list. 

“I don’t know why Nanami-neesan was removed from there, so I want you to come with me. Can you please?” (Celica)

After hearing my request and looking at each other’s faces, the crew began to hurriedly act. 

They must have judged that this was a scoop.

I don’t want to believe this, but…there’s only one possibility. 

The world was certainly going mad, and I thought I had understood plenty well the madness of it through the net, but…to think that I would even see that distortion close to me…

…I wanted this to be just me overthinking.

But my brother has been chosen to transfer to a parallel world, and on top of that, Nanami-neesan has disappeared from the list; there’s only one answer this can lead to.

I will have them become my witnesses. 

There’s a chance that the culprit still remains on the scene, so having the strength of adults would make it better. 

I ignored the crew that was running their camera, and I stood at the front of Nanami-neesan’s house. 

I rang the doorbell while praying internally. 

No response. 

I rang it once more. 

There really is no response.

In the house where my brother should be there; in the house where uncle and auntie should be in.

“They are not answering.” (Celica)

I say this and try to open the door. 

We are literally almost like family. To the point that we were coming and going the whole time since childhood. 

However, the door is locked.

“…This is strange. There’s no way there’s no one though.” (Celica)

“Maybe Nanami-chan has somehow avoided the transfer and has left with her family somewhere?” 

“It is still 9:15, you know? The transfer was at 9. Even if she did escape it, they wouldn’t be leaving that fast. It is a rainy New Year.” (Celica)

“You got a point there…” 

There are not that many possibilities left.

I took out the spare key I had in my pocket. 

Our parents are like that, so uncle and auntie were considerate of us and gave us this and told us it was okay for us to go there anytime we wanted.

…To think I would be using it in this way.

I unlock it and go inside. 

My brother’s shoes are at the entrance. With this, my hypothesis changed practically to certainty. 

The house was completely silent. 

I tried calling in a loud voice, but there was no response.

“S-See? No one is here. It was even locked.” 

One of the crew members said this with a wry smile.

Can’t they feel something is off here?

“…One of you, please come along with me.” (Celica)

I asked the burlier man within the crew, and entered the room while having him as my shield.

The answer was soon found.

“…Uncle…auntie…” (Celica)

“U-Uaaaaah!!” 

The crew member lost strength on his feet and fell on his butt. 

In the dining room, there’s uncle and auntie collapsed in a pool of blood.

They aren’t moving one bit, and I can only see them as being dead.

The other crew members heard the scream and entered the room.

We called for an ambulance. I grabbed a different person from the unreliable burly man, and went up the stairs. 

My legs were trembling, and I felt tears welling up and I wanted to vomit. 

Even so, I continued moving my feet. 

When I told him the culprit might still be around, the guy grabbed the mic stand as if it were a weapon, and stood in front of me. He is quite reliable. 

And then, I opened the door to that second floor room I have come to over and over again. 

“…Nee-san.” (Celica)

I was prepared. 

Since the moment my brother was in the list.

Since the moment Nanami-neesan’s name was gone.

Nanami-neesan was also sunk into a pool of blood. 

This one is different from uncle and auntie in the fact that there isn’t any chance at all that she is alive. 

Chosen get transferred in a perfect state, so even if she were faintly breathing, there’s no way she wouldn’t get transferred.

Nee-san was killed.

She was taken off from the list because she died.

I don’t know how this ended up with Nii-san being the one transferred. 

I don’t know.

What I know is just how bad this situation is. 

No matter how you see it…

You can’t think of it in any other way than my brother being the culprit…

{C-Celican…this might be bad.}

I hear the voice of Karen on the phone that’s been connected this whole time.

That voice, so frail as if it could die at any moment, made me understand that something more had happened.

“…What’s the matter?” (Celica)

{Onii has started in a forest filled with monsters… At this rate…he is going to die…} (Karen)

Why are things going this wrong?

Even with mine and Karen’s skills, every single thing we want is slipping away from our hands. 

“I am sorry, but Nee-san has been killed -along with uncle and auntie.” (Celica)

{E-Eh?! Why…? Eh…killed, you say…? They are dead…?} (Karen)

“I don’t know the reason, but I myself can’t go back immediately, so I will be sending you instructions from here, okay? First, the culprit seems to have run away, so take all cameras around the house that you can connect to. I think our camera could have caught them too.” (Celica)

Even though it is a situation like this, I was calm as if there were a circuit in my brain apart from that of my emotions.

As if a different personality was residing in my body; a part of me that’s observing the whole situation from above. 

And this current situation is outstandingly bad. 

At this rate, everything will be lost.

My whole body was ringing those alarms.

At our abode, there’s around 8 cameras that Karen has set up and are always active.

It is the ones we set when we were being lauded as genius and beautiful twins, and were chased around by the mass media. 

If the culprit escaped from Nanami-neesan’s house, they should have been caught by the camera. In the first place, they should have been caught on camera the moment they entered the house.

It should be easy to pinpoint the culprit.

Uncle and auntie were killed in the dining room.

Does that mean they were invited in from the front door?

The culprit is an acquaintance or someone close to that. 

Someone who calls themselves a friend of Nanami-neesan or a relative; somewhere along those lines.

{Onii…is truly in trouble. C-Come back quick. At this rate…} (Karen)

“Calm down. We can’t do anything for Onii-chan at present, right? We have to find the culprit first. They are definitely on camera.” (Celica)

The problem would be in the case we can’t tell who the culprit is.

{B-But can’t we just let the police search for the culprit…? More importantly, this side…} (Karen)

I understand Karen.

Brother has been transferred. 

Nanami-oneesan had her whole family and herself killed.

I don’t understand the reason for the killings. It might have been a crime perpetrated by someone who held a grudge against the family of Nanami-neesan, or it might be the deed of a person that thought they would get chosen if they were to kill a chosen. 

“Karen, Onii-chan is in a situation where he would die if he doesn’t escape from the forest, right? Give me the information you have for now.” (Celica)

{Okay. In order to get out of the forest, he needs to walk more than 370km. But Onii seems to have transferred with points remaining, so depending on how he uses those points, he might be able to manage somehow… From what it seems.} (Karen)

“Points, huh… Are they really important?” (Celica)

{It seems like you can exchange for quite a variety of things with just crystals, but the quality is on a whole other level for the things bought with points. So high of a level that if he were to have a good amount of points, he might be able to get out of the forest.} (Karen)

“I see. Right…” (Celica)

We have been informed beforehand to a certain degree, but points really are important. 

And the best way to get those points is with viewership.

“…What about a message or mail system? Or maybe ways to make a call or a means of contact?” (Celica)

{None… For the words -as expected- are made to be automatically translated to the isekai language, so I don’t know what he is saying at all.} (Karen)

“Got it.” (Celica)

Even while I was communicating with Karen here, the crew members were calling for the police and the ambulance.

It seems like there was someone from the crew that had experience in emergency treatment, but uncle and auntie were already in the process of rigor mortis, so it was already a lost case.