And the long-awaited broadcast day.
“I think today is the right day,” I said to the kids gathered in the living room.
We had already packed our things.
All our gear was stored in the room designated for broadcasts.
It wasn’t just to head back right after watching the TV broadcast; I wanted to greet the viewers we had met since coming here.
Once we head back this time, who knows when we could return to this place again?
“….It’s a bit sad to leave this house,” Alice said while looking around the living room for no particular reason.
“Honestly, when we moved out of our one-room apartment, I felt this way too. But now that I’m told to go back, I feel like I can’t,” she added.
“That’s true,” Claire nodded, and Charlotte laughed.
“I know it’s silly to say now, but having at least a little personal space was definitely much better for living,” Charlotte chimed in.
That’s a valid point, and I agreed with Mia.
We only had two rooms; one had three people, and the other had two. But since we usually spent time in the living room, if someone wanted alone time, they could easily go to an empty room.
Even occasionally, I would hang out in the broadcast room since all the computers and gaming consoles were there.
“Did you pack the albums?”
“Of course, we each packed one in our bags. I’ve checked several times,” Alice reassured.
Just in case, we also packed emergency food supplies.
As a result, our bags were almost as big as camping backpacks.
…Well, it wasn’t entirely wrong since we also packed sleeping bags and personal tents.
I wondered if we were being overly cautious, but it was better than falling over there without any preparations.
The light around us had already grown quite bright. Could it be due to the broadcasts we’ve done over the past few months?
By tonight, it would definitely be much stronger.
“…I thought we could give and receive Christmas gifts,” Claire said with regret while looking at the Christmas—HALLOWEEN—decorations she had set up.
“Maybe there will come a day when we return and take down the decorations,” I suggested.
Claire shrugged at my comment.
None of us were without regrets here.
Still, more than that, the desire to return was strong. After all, in this world, we were just outsiders.
“It’s time,” Alice announced.
We braced ourselves and turned on the TV.
*
The images on TV were like a compilation of our lives in this world.
Now that I think about it, the photos and videos we gave to the broadcast team were only from the last few months.
Of course, that’s to be expected; we hadn’t spent that long here.
Even if it’s a goddess who could change the world to the extent that time itself seemed to rewind, she must know how tangled things could get if she recreated all those past events.
Was the broadcasting team not aware of this because of the goddess’s trickery?
“…Oh, we did send photos from our time in the one-room apartment together,” Claire murmured as a picture of five of us crowded in a nearly full room smiled at the camera appeared on screen.
It was Claire who held the smartphone, while the other four awkwardly smiled at the camera.
That picture was from just after Charlotte and Mia had come over.
[Though our names and backgrounds are different, they say that the five sisters have been together since their very poor days.]
[We just help each other out. Anyway, besides us, there’s no one else we know.]
After the narration, Alice had said that on the broadcast.
She tried her best to sound natural, but you could still tell it was a bit awkward.
The MC and guests on the broadcast reacted with surprise, and a few chuckled softly, finding it heartwarming.
“It looks like a kaleidoscope, made from our memories,” Charlotte remarked, hugging her knees on the sofa, her eyes fixed on the screen.
After the broadcasting team left, our hobbies were shown, which led to talking about how our names are actually the same as those of characters in a game company.
[So, we went visiting that Japanese game company with that backstory.]
We chuckled at that.
The president, the story writer, and the game production team on camera looked a bit more flustered than when we had met them directly. It was probably due to the sound effects and effects added on screen.
We saw a scene of the five of us touring the game company.
“He was a kind person,” Claire said, turning to look at me, her face serious.
“….”
I ignored her gaze.
The screen caught us all waving at the camera together.
[So, everyone, please live happily together for a long, long time~]
I thought it would come out like that, but actually seeing it made me chuckle a little.
Then, the screen moved on to the next story.
“It’s not coming out as long as I thought,” I remarked.
“Well, it’s not just showing one story; it’s a program showing multiple stories alternately,” I said to a slightly disappointed Alice with a smile.
“Still, with this…”
Mia looked down at the light she was holding.
The light was shining brighter than anything we had seen before.
Even brighter than when Charlotte and Mia had just come over.
Looking at the light, we nodded at each other.
*
“For that reason, we were originally supposed to return to our original world.”
The light that was glowing brightly began to glow even brighter during our broadcast.
…Is it going to burst or something?
[What do you mean?]
[LOL, heavy concept here]
[Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!]
The chat was in utter chaos.
Not only was the chatter chaotic, but the number of viewers had recorded an all-time high.
“Thank you for everything so far. If it weren’t for you all, I couldn’t have kept such a bright disposition,” I said earnestly.
That wasn’t just empty words.
It all started with Claire’s idea, and the biggest reason we could stay positive here was that we had these kids with us. But still, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of being completely isolated from the world while being able to communicate like this.
Besides, before we got our luck back, these people made my life bearable.
Although I never saw their faces, they were all so very appreciated.
“That’s right, thank you so much for everything,” Claire nodded in agreement.
“I hope we can meet again someday. If possible, even if it takes time, I’ll continue broadcasting,” she added.
“It was fun, everyone,” Alice said as she gracefully waved behind Claire.
“Everything felt so strange when we first got here, but I’ve learned so much thanks to you all. Please, do take care of yourselves,” Charlotte added, saying her farewell in the Velbur style.
“Someday, I swear we’ll return and meet again,” Mia said, looking a bit sorrowful while hugging the picture we took together.
[? Really?]
[Don’t go!!!]
[Where are you going?]
[Why do you talk like it’s for real?ㅠㅠ]
Since this was our final broadcast, I had blocked donations. I didn’t want to waste money on something we couldn’t even use.
“Well then, let’s go,” Claire declared.
We each placed our hands on the light Claire held out.
The humongous bags on our backs were cumbersome, making it a little uncomfortable.
“This time, we need to get the direction right,” Charlotte joked.
“Oh, can we just leave the broadcast running like this?” Mia asked, and I nodded.
“We can turn it off when we come back someday. Electricity bills can be paid for years.”
At the mention of coming back, Mia faintly smiled.
Everyone here knew the chances of that were pretty slim—
Yeah, someday, for sure. I hope we can return.
When that time comes, I want to bring so much that this apartment is filled and have a blast—
“Well then…”
Claire murmured for a moment before meeting my gaze.
Then she smiled brightly.
“Let’s continue our story.”
And then, our vision turned entirely white.
*
“Claire! Sylvia!”
Amidst the weight of the bags on our backs as I tumbled to the ground, a voice I heard was… Oh my, I never thought I’d long for a male voice.
“Leo.”
The person who grabbed Claire’s hand to help her up was Leo.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
We all wore outfits that were not the school uniforms—clothes of a design you wouldn’t see here—and with the massive bags on our backs, all eyes turned toward us.
I tried to lift my head to explain, but I hastily looked down again.
Not only was the surrounding scenery still the place where we had our last battle, but the fact that all the people around me were those I had missed so dearly caught me off guard.
“I’m so… glad,” I heard Charlotte mumble softly.
Indeed.
I’m really… truly glad.
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