On a Godless Planet:Volume2B Preface

Inner Cover

[Warning: This inner cover story takes place after the events of the book and references some information revealed in the book, so save it for later if you want to avoid all spoilers.]

Slowing Current

●

Kido looked to the table and sighed when she saw the cheeseburger in its paper wrapper.

“So we’re back in Tachikawa, but why are we eating burgers in the Lotteria below the station?”

“Well, you know. We were so busy during the end of the camping trip it all went by in a flash, so we didn’t want it to end quite yet.”

“We were just reluctant to go home. It felt like a bad place to stop, I guess.”

Kido agreed with that. At any rate, the Romans and Greeks had already left and Eshita-san had wandered off somewhere, but the rest were all here.

“Just think of it as a small celebration, or one final extracurricular activity. We’ll be doing our usual stuff in the clubroom tomorrow. We also have to work with Balancer to make adjustments since this incident got us so far off schedule.”

“There’s a surprising amount to do during summer break.”

“Do you have any plans here, Kido-chan?”

She had to think about that one.

She had planned to return to her home region in Kansai and think about her future plans during the break. After all, gods had a combat advantage when on their home turf. After that, she would only need to figure out where she belonged, but…

“I no longer need to seek out a job to kill all my spare time. I still feel like the circumstances forced me into it, but I will be assisting your activities now.”

“That’s basically how it happened with us, but it’s hard to believe how much has happened in the week since we joined them. The Far East was a wild place in this era.”

<Tachikawa in the 90s was actually very peaceful. There are just some people here with a penchant for stirring up trouble.>

“Personally, I would like more time to confirm the knowledge I have encountered recently.”

“I too would like time to absorb the knowledge I have gathered.”

<That would be nice, wouldn’t it?>

“D-do you know something we don’t!?”

“But anyway,” Kido said, turning toward Izumi.

He was probably the starting point for the current that had brought her here – and brought the others as well – but he was currently asleep.

“He was so hyper in the train, so he must have worn himself out.”

When he was quiet like this, it was hard to believe how noisy that human could be. Kido found herself smiling.

●

I asked Kido-san a question while she smiled.

“Um, Kido-san? Can I ask something!?”

“Hwuh!? What is it?”

“Well, Sumeragi-kun has a name, right? Sumeragi Izumi. Did you come up with it?”

“Balancer gave me a baby naming book and we technically came up with it together. But since he was going to be the ‘first human’, we chose something similar to the first person named as a human in Shinto mythology.”

I immediately jotted down Kido-san’s explanation, copied it onto a Revelation Board, and saved it. And then…

“I see! Now, if you don’t mind answering another question, why did you spell it with the character for ‘see’? That does seem more correct for a Shinto origin, but wouldn’t using the character for ‘water’ be better since it matches your element?”

“Well…”

Kido-san’s cheeks flushed slightly. She placed a hand on her neck in a hesitant way.

“If I did that, it would seem, well, like I was trying claim him for myself and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to let him go. Also…”

Also…

“As a Scythian god, I come from a culture without written language, so how the name is written didn’t seem very important to me.”

I responded to her explanation by grabbing her hands and vigorously shaking them up and down.

Divine Chat Zone

“Okay, let’s chat about the 80s and 90s. But first, what’s that you’re wearing, Senpai-chan?”

“Well, we’re doing a swimsuit episode(?) this time, so I’m cosplaying(?) as a swimsuit video game character? Or something like that? Thematically, I apparently also could have worn the sailor uniform the character wears in the sequel.”

“Any Senpai is the best if you ask me, but this swimsuit Senpai is even more the best!! But going from bikini armor to a sailor uniform makes the setting seem a lot different in the sequel, doesn’t it?”

“Video games have a lot of sequels that drastically change the setting or game system and only keep the main characters the same. SNK’s Athena and Namco’s Druaga are a lot like that.”

<That’s true. In this age, Japanese games went through a rapid evolution starting in the early 80s, which meant a lot of sequels being released, which fleshed things out in more than just quality and variety. The most interesting examples are the games that featured characters who started out in another game from an entirely different genre.>

“I think home console sports game are the most prominent example. Each company would model the teams after the actual pro teams, but they would also often include a team made up of characters from their own games. You can see it as game characters becoming universal figures instead of just one-offs or a way to fill a role.”

“Sounds a loooot like ussss.”

“We do appear in a lot of different media, but you in particular got to be the protagonist of Populous.”

Table of Contents

This is a world modeled after Tachikawa in 1990. The only human and the many gods there have begun the terraforming needed to create a new world for the humans, but all they end up doing is chatting a lot, getting into fights, getting sidetracked, and playing board games. Now, a truly unpredictable story awaits you. Or maybe it doesn’t. Whatever.

Character

Sumeragi Izumi

Protagonist. High School Year 2. Game club member. Main consoles are the Mega Drive, the PC-98, and the MSX2. Big boobs worshiper. Has no filter whatsoever. Seriously, none. Tends to make strange noises. Background noise on legs. Is something of a problem, but isn’t a bad person. It’s fine.

Senpai

Senpai. High School Year 3. Game club member? Has difficulty saying no. 175cm tall and busty. Seems like the gentle type but actually has an odd amount of energy. Seems to use her flustered expression more than the normal one. Is a Shinto god and is actually Iwanaga-hime.

Raidou Tooru

High School Year 3. Game club member. 195cm tall. The reliable big brother type. Surprisingly intellectual. Gets worked up playing games, but isn’t very good at them. Main consoles are the Famicom and the X68. A real fighter. Big boobs worshiper. Is Thor, Norse god of war, and primarily handles the fighting.

Shifu Saku

High School Year 3. Game club member. 185cm busty blonde. Raidou’s wife. The accepting mom type. Thor’s wife Sif from Norse Mythology and also his other wife Jarnsaxa. A harvest god.

Kuwajiri Tsubomi

High School Year 2. Game club member. 155cm tall. An intellectual with a sharp tongue. Something like a little sister to Raidou and Shifu? Good at games that don’t require reflexes. Kvasir, Norse god of knowledge. Has fairly high blood alcohol content.

Yomoji Shinsei

High School Year 3. Game club member. 205cm tall. Club leader. Stretches his words when he talks. Crazily tolerant yet intolerant. Absurd. Monotheistic god. The four letters one. Harsh with his believers.

Kido Abinae

Year 3. The cool type…but that’s only an illusion? She is apparently a god with a connection to the Greek water god, but Senpai and Sumeragi don’t know the details. She also shows signs of quietly supporting Sumeragi. Which makes her and Senpai fellow fans. She appears to know something about the water monster.

Balancer

An AI made by humanity and a 30cm square. Currently works as a manager for the terraforming. However, most of their authority has been transferred to the gods, so he ignores an awful lot for a manager. Gets into a lot of insult battles with Sumeragi. Also provides exposition. This 90s world is a data world known as a Divine World that Balancer created.

Omokane Yatsui

High School Year 3. Shinto Representative in the Divine World. 170cm tall. Is Omoikane, Heavenly God of knowledge. Is also the Library Committee Head and works behind the scenes for Shinto. Maybe a little too much.

Kubiko Scarecrow

High School Year 3. Library Committee member in glasses and Kuebiko, Shinto god of knowledge and security. 175cm tall. Is only at the Earthly God level, but acts as Omokane’s overseer. Busty.

Sugawara Tenma

High School Year 1. 150cm tall. Is Sugawara no Michizane, Shinto god of learning, and also a lightning god and negotiation god, so she is multitalented.

Shamhat

Temple prostitute god from Mesopotamian Mythology. Originally human. 160cm tall. Down for anything if the price is right. More of a worrier than you would think and likes to help out. Busty.

Bilgamesh

Half-god half-human from Mesopotamian Mythology. 190cm tall. Tucks his shirt in. Later known as Gilgamesh, which is the better known name. DIY’d his equipment, created laws as a king, and did a lot of other stuff while doing a lot of “stuff” with Enkidu.

Kidou En

Busty. Enkidu, a half-god half-human from Mesopotamian Mythology. Also known as Ki. 180cm tall. Is Bilgamesh’s partner and is about as powerful as him, but she currently uses spells more often. Was originally a guy, but made herself into a girl.

Eshita Inana

Eshtar, a major god from Mesopotamian mythology. Shinto Terraforming Inspector and Karamucho lover. So she’s also known as Mucho. Insta-killed Sumeragi and fears Senpai.

Demeter

The oldest goddess among Greek’s top 12 gods. Quick to get in a fight, but also deeply emotional. Is pursuing the water monster for some reason and appeared as an inspector.

Athena

Demeter’s niece. One of Greek’s top 12 gods. Not the same as the video game and manga character. Probably. As a young war god, she is easily influenced by her more forceful aunt. Uses the god of war Victorious Goddess.

Neptune

Roman ocean god. Is pursuing the water monster for some reason. Because he vomited after a hit from the water monster’s attack, he is known as Mr. Vomit. The Greeks appear to be keeping an eye on him.

Water Monster

Details are unclear, but an aggressive water spirit who appears in the Tachikawa region. Seems to be hiding a variety of secrets?

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