The World God Only Knows:Volume 1 Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Descent of an Angel
During a weekday, Katsuragi Keima randomly entered a game software shop ‘OG map’, but the moment he entered the shop, the atmosphere in the shop showed an obvious change. He was famous as the ‘God of Conquest’ in the gaming world, but in the real world, no one knew that he was the god of conquests.
Even so.
“Swap with me.”
The supervisor in charge of this level patted the new worker at the cashier and asked to swap over.
“Eh?”
The new worker looked surprised.
The supervisor shook his head silently and pointed in a certain direction.
“…”
Right where he was pointing at was Keima, who was looking at the row of countless new works through the transparent clothes.
Behind him, Elsie was looking rather bored.
“It’s a little tough for you.”
“How, how could it be?”
Wasn’t he just an ordinary customer?
Just when the newcomer was about to say this, he realized that Keima was obviously different from the other customers, and was obviously of a different dimension from the rest.
“…Uu.”
He moaned. The supervisor gave a one liner that’s like those in Western movies.
“That’s great. Looks like you still have some foresight.”
The supervisor chuckled.
“If you can’t spot the strange nature in that action, you have no hope of being born here, and I can’t hand the Galge counter over to you.”
The supervisor narrowed his eyes and looked at Keima.
And several other customers in the shop,
Some old-time gamers with foresight noticed it. Some people,
(Wha, what’s with this boy?)
Were amazed, or,
(This guy again…who in the world is here?)
Showed an inexplicable look. To put it, that Keima,
“…”
Was just looking at the games with a depressed look.
He was just going,
“…As expected, I can’t tell without coming to the shop to see the actual item.”
Or,
“Has the price dropped?”
He muttered as he went between one shelf after another. To put it properly, it was said that highly skilled martial artists could use the motion of chopsticks to rate each other.
A pianist could hear the quality of a keyboard through a performance. A top-rate sushi chef could tell the level of another through even the basics of fried egg.
In other words, a person’s subconscious action could present its hidden ability completely.
Keima was merely shopping around for game software, but to the bystanders,
What kind of amazing gamer is he?
From his gaming style that no one else could match, to the speed and processing ability, even if no one knew whether it was true, they could conclude to a certain extent. Also, there was one thing everyone in the shop could feel. That was,
This boy’s really an enigma!
That’s all.
I can’t handle this.
With this fear, this thought appeared in the newcomer’s mind. I can’t handle this at all.
His body couldn’t help but tremble.
The supervisor smiled.
“If you can sense this, this shows that you’re good. Hurry along, I’ll handle this boy.”
And shook his head.
“To be honest, this is really a little too much, but someone has to do it, don’t you say?”
Keima continued to choose the items in a flowing and graceful manner before finally putting the items down gently onto the cashier, and the supervisor,
“…”
Continued to remain silent as he scanned the barcodes.
“…”
He immediately readied the bag and put the games into it without too much unnecessary action.
“The total will be 67,850 yen.”
After stating that, he handed over a special edition poster and a little handbook to Keima before he could even say anything.
“Ho?”
Keima’s eyes sparkled.
“Well, you really know your work. The goods in this shop are all in order, and there’re people who knows what the customers want.”
“…”
The supervisor looked like he got the highest honor as he put his hand in front of his chest and bowed.
“I’ll come back again.”
Keima turned around and continued to walk out of the shop leisurely. The supervisor continued to remain bowed, and the newcomer looked somewhat touched as he watched Keima leave.
The other customers who were watching this were all going ‘oh~’ in amazement as they watched Keima leave with somewhat admiring eyes.
Elsie was the only one who remained stunned.
After that, as Elsie,
“I always wanted to come to such a place!”
Because of such a strong request, Keima and Elsie entered a little café near the ‘OG Map’. At the third level of a certain shopping mall, the main road could be seen completely. The wooden colored wallpaper and the viewing plants looked really lush. It was a really a small mountainside-styled café.
Keima simply ordered red tea, and Elsie,
“Erm, un.”
After lots of trouble, she finally ordered hot chocolate.
“Why eat at some café?”
Keima grumbled.
“Isn’t my house open for you to enter anytime?”
“Well well, it’s important to research on other shops you know.”
Elsie delightedly calmed Keima down. As there were many game shops like ‘OG Map’, there were many customers who were like Keima, holding bags. Inside, there were 3 customers at a table, looking at a notebook computer and seemingly deciding on something.
“As expected.”
Also,
“Wasn’t this option here because the last flag wasn’t fulfilled? Looks like we should start all over again.”
And also,
“No, we can’t decide that. Emily hasn’t returned to the country yet. We can’t deny completely that we entered another route.”
The trio was all serious.
And working hard.
Elsie glanced aside at those people and asked Keima.
“Kami-sama, can I ask a question?”
“…”
Keima remained silent with his eyes closed as he took a sip from the red tea. That pose…if it was only the pose, it would be as elegant as a noble.
Elsie treated his silence as a silent agreement.
“Eh, it’s a very basic question.”
She put her fingers at her chin and summarized what she wanted to ask.
“…What’s so interesting about games?”
At this moment.
“!”
Keima’s eyes suddenly widened as his eyes blazed.
“Wa! Th, this…cha, charm! I just want to know what’s so attractive about games! Be, because you see, there’re many people other than kami-sama who’s interested.”
“Haa.”
Keima sighed hard.
“That’s really a ‘basic of basics question’, Elsie.”
He coldly glanced at Elsie, and Elsie timidly shrank back in apology.
“Uu.”
“Well, I’ll just explain in a way you can understand.”
He waved his arm like a kabuki-actor.
To Elsie.
‘An imperfect reality, a perfect game’.
She seemed to see the words raised in a banner behind Keima. Keima’s face looked like there was really a mask, and there was red hair reaching out from behind the mask.
These were all a hallucination. In fact,
“An imperfect reality, a perfect game.”
Keima only said this. He continued passionately,
“Get it? The female lead in a game can’t possibly have those unreasonable actions that girls in real life will do. All the actions or circumstances are all set up for only the beautiful ending.”
He said that with passionately.
Elsie thought that ‘once kami-sama got involved with games, he could be really ‘fired up’. As for Keima, he was thinking that he had to explain it.
Both of them,
Suddenly looked at each other.
““HOT!!””
Suddenly shouted.
For some reason, the surroundings were really hot, and white smoke floated in as the fire alarm rang.
During the short time after.
Keima and Elsie were left in a dazed manner.
“A fire?”
“Everyone, calm down! Please evacuate in an orderly fashion!”
The customers in the shop were all panicking with shock, and the shop attendants did their best to guide them to the emergency staircase. Even though the fire was nearby, the instructions were precise. Even though it was an old building, the precise instructions allowed the evacuation to be smooth.
“Really.”
Keima watched everyone around him panic and sighed.
“People really show their human instincts at this moment. Listen up. You have to remain unmoved like me to.”
Just when he was lecturing Elsie who was panicking,
“DAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNNNNNN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!”
He couldn’t help but cuddle his head.
Elsie was shocked by this shout.
“Ka, kami-sama!?”
Keima’s eyes flashed.
“…Elsie, I’m going back into the shop.”
“Eh?”
Elsie used a split second to understand the meaning behind these words.
“EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!???”
And then shouted out. Though they couldn’t see the fire, the thickness of the smoke itself meant that going back into the shop was suicidal. However, Keima gripped his fists hard and said,
“This is really embarrassing.”
He said this with much remorse.
“I left the game software the shop attendant gave me on the table!”
“Weren’t you holding it? That bag!”
Keima adamantly refuted Elsie.
“No, it’s the one I carried along to play today! Elsie, I’ll hand this over to you!”
Keima handed over the bag of games he bought to Elsie,
“I’m still too naïve!”
And then turned around adamantly as he ran up the stairs at a speed no one could associate with his normally frail image.
“Ka,”
Elsie screamed out,
“KAMI-SSAAAAAAMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”
Just when she was about to chase after Keima.
“Get out of my way!”
“Oi, move aside!”
The people who were coming over from up and down the staircase, coupled with the smoke, caused her to lose sight of Keima.
With amazing willpower, Keima darted into the shop that’s filled with thick smoke and used terrifying instincts to find the seat he was at. Then, as his sight was completely ineffective, he used his love for the games to successfully find what he lost.
“Alright!”
He looked like he was hugging the games.
“Come, let’s escape!”
And seemed to be talking to someone as once he finished shouting, he intended to leave.
However,
Even if it’s him, no matter what state his heart was in, his body still reacted in a biological manner, and it couldn’t be helped.
“…Arre?”
First, just when he was about to get out of the shop, his heart wavered greatly.
“Er, mm…”
His eyes started to become blurry.
“…re?”
His wavering feet started to disobey commands and collapsed just like that.
“U, ugh…”
Though he really wanted to move forward.
“U…uu.”
His body wasn’t strong to begin with. He lasted till now,
All through his love and passion for games.
Once he got his games.
“…Ugh.”
The nerves of tension immediately snapped, and Keima’s blurry consciousness started to think.
(Am, am I going to fall just like this…me…)
Amazingly,
There was no fear, no pain.
(Ah, ahh.)
Keima thought.
(At least allow me to conquer this game…)
Just when he smiled weakly and was about to close his eyes.
“Are you alright?”
He heard a voice.
Keima turned over to where the voice came from.
“!”
He was shocked.
In the midst of the smoke, a girl in pure white clothes appeared, pure white clothes that looked like what the Ancient Greeks would drape over themselves. She was wearing white mini-skirt and sandals, had flowing long hair and the mysterious shine in her eyes, snowy white skin, and most importantly,
The wings behind her back.
“An, angel?”
The girl reached her hand out, and Keima’s consciousness just so happened to fade…
The next day, the nurse in Maijima General Hospital went all angry,
“Oi! Mr Katsuragi! Can you please stop playing your games!?”
And shouted this at Keima, who’s dressed in white inpatient clothing.
“…”
He continued to remain seated on the bed, watching the game screen wordlessly. Elsie was right beside him,
(Ka, kami-sama’s always the same no matter where he goes…)
Watching Keima play the video game while breaking out cold sweat. In other words, Katsuragi Keima got hospitalized.
Luckily, there weren’t any serious external injuries or aftershocks. It was just a precaution. He would be out in another 2, 3 days.
“Speaking of which, it’s really great…that nothing happened.”
While accompanying Keima up to the rooftop, Elsie put her hand at her chest and said,
“My heart nearly stopped yesterday when I thought about what would happen to kami-sama.”
After Keima was found to be alright at the back door of the shop, Elsie couldn’t help but cry. Keima’s mother, Mari was with them just now, but because she had to run here ‘Grandpa’ Café, she went off early and left the rest to Elsie.
Keima,
“…”
Was silent for a while.
One of the reasons was that he was playing games. But actually, he was thinking about something.
(Was I saved by her? By that…girl who dressed up like an angel…)
Actually, his memory of this wasn’t really clear, and at the moment he regained consciousness, he was already lying at the back door of the shop. Probably, the girl he met in the smoke brought him out of the fire that was spreading through the building and allowed him to escape…
Was that reality?
Or was all that an imagination.
Right now, Keima still couldn’t be certain of that. Besides, if that girl really saved me.
Why did she disappear from right in front of me?
He really couldn’t understand that.
Keima couldn’t understand why the girl left him unconscious and went away. And it seemed that no one at the fire seemed to see that girl. Thus Keima was somewhat doubting whether it was just his imagination.
“…The weather’s really fine.”
He sat on the rooftop, looked up at the sky, and muttered.
If he thought about things under such a bright sun, probably everything that happened yesterday was a dream, and not just the girl herself.
“Yeah.”
Elsie followed suit and sat down on the concrete ground. Then, she suddenly jumped up.
“That’s right!”
She looked at Keima and said,
“I have something to say to okaa-sama! I’ll go make a call!”
And then ran off through the exit of the rooftop as she treaded her way through. Keima watched her leave, and sighed slightly.
“…Such a busy person.”
He then held the handheld PFP in his hand and laid down.
“!”
And froze.
There was a penthouse and a water supply tower that was higher than the rooftop, and he saw a girl letting her feet down and sitting over there, looking at him. This girl seemed to be looking down at Keima, waiting for Keima to discover him.
Once her eyes met Keima’s.
“Ahahaha, we finally met~”
She easily jumped off from there.
Gently,
The girl was just like an angel as she descended in front of Keima. Her fingertips raised the edge of her skirt slightly as she bowed elegantly.
“Hello, the prince with the beautiful eyes♪.”
This was the second encounter with the girl.
The girl smiled.
“…Prince?”
“…”
Keima was thoroughly stunned. The girl was looking down at Keima, who in turn was lying down. Thus, he could see what’s under the skirt from this angle…
White.
“…”
Really an underwear of underwear, Keima thought. He remained unmoved as he stood up and patted away the dust on him and wordlessly looked at the girl.
The girl didn’t seem to mind and said,
“Ahahaha, the prince looks really energetic. That’s great!”
“…”
Keima’s mind started to spin.
He frowned his eyebrows.
(The girl yesterday?)
The memory yesterday started to return. The girl narrowed her eyes and said,
“You took in some smoke, so I was worried.”
And then, she smiled.
“That’s great! Looks like you’re alright!”
Keima managed to make a conclusion and say it out,
“Don’t tell me…you saved me yesterday?”
Then, the girl,
“Un!”
Nodded her head hard.
“I was in that building back then as I was looking for something.”
“Something?”
Feeling that she was surrounded by the girl’s unique presence, Keima asked. The girl energetically and forcefully said in a tone that’s hard to capture,
“Yes, it’s a quest!”
She said it clearly,
“Amidst the endless sea of stars, the stars that are shining regularly will definitely be my destination!”
“…”
Keima remained silent, and the girl on the other hand didn’t mind.
“I will continue to look for such stars one after another. My quest is to look for the stars.”
“…”
Keima’s language processing ability was outstanding, and he was great at logical thinking. Normally, when conquering girls, he could sort the logic out from the cognitive wavering in the target’s words. That’s why he was able to find out the girl’s hidden secrets, and designate their doctrine or personality. But on the other hand, if the other party wasn’t cognitive in the first place, words that weren’t logical were hard to deal with.
His mind was starting to sort this girl into a certain element.
“There’re a few points.”
Keima asked,
“That I don’t understand. Did you say that you’re looking for something?”
He asked patiently.
“What is it? What is it that you’re trying to find?”
The girl chuckled happily.
“About that, it’s an eternal plus that will never change, a present that’s eternal. No matter how many minus there is, it won’t change this eternal plus.”
“…”
Keima started to feel a headache, and his eyelids felt like twitching.
“Really…can you find it?”
The girl said seriously,
“No.”
And then,
“…”
“…”
Both of them went silent. The girl put both hands behind her back and smiled. Though Keima was showing a smile too, it was obviously forced and barely held there. His eyelids were twitching. He took perfect timing,’
Then.
He will take this time to leave.
Thank you for saving me. Did you come to visit me today? Thank you for that. Then, I think I still have some stuff to do, so I’ll make a move first. Bye!
And will hurriedly leave.
Thus, just when he was aiming at this moment and say ‘then’.
“Oh prince.”
The girl turned around and looked at the streets from the handrail of the rooftop.
“The weather’s great today~ the streets are all lively.”
Keima’s tempo was messed up, and he couldn’t leave. He pondered for a while, and sighed hard.
“…I’m not a prince.”
This was the only resistance Keima could make to the girl ever since she started spouting all sorts of nonsense just now. The girl happily turned over.
“You’re a prince!”
“…”
“Because you have such beautiful and clear eyes…so pretty, those eyes that look like they can see through everything, these crystal-like eyes that had god’s will in them.”
The girl took a large step and moved closer.
She smiled.
“Tha, thanks.”
The girl stared at Keima’s eyes in a curious manner, and Keima said in an annoyed manner,
“…Thank you for saving me. Did you come to visit me today? Thank you for that. Then,”
He was about to say the line he prepared.
“…You really like games. I like them too. I’m going through such a quest ♪”
Thus, the girl’s answer was again a little off from what Keima said. Keima really felt like cuddling his head, and then,
“I see, so this person’s!”
He concluded,
“This person’s a Denpakei…”
The most incompatible type to the logical Keima.
And what she said up till now,
Couldn’t be comprehended!
Keima couldn’t help but look around desperately for help, and just at this moment,
“Kami-sama~!”
Elsie appeared on the rooftop. The girl glanced, and said,
“Your little sister?”
She left.
“It’s about time for me to leave.”
Keima heaved a sigh of relief, but she was his savior after all,
“Tha, thank you…again.”
“My name’s Amami Tooru.”
“Katsuragi Keima.”
“That’s a nice name.”
The girl showed a kind smile and waved her hand.
“Bye bye, Keima-kun. It’s enough for me that you’re alright. A human’s life more important then anything else~ ♪”
Then, she put her hands behind her back, hummed in a lively manner, and left.
Elsie went by her.
And watched her leave with a strange expression. And then,
Dorodorodorodorodorodoro.
Elsie’s hair decoration let out a sound, and she was so shocked that she held her head. She looked dumbstruck as she again pointed at the girl who was heading down the stairs.
“In other words.”
Keima tried his best not to kneel on the floor, and muttered,
“That girl has a wandering spirit, is it…”
He had a bad feeling about this…
And he was actually correct.
“Kami-sama!”
Elsie shouted as she ran over.
“That person!”
“I know.”
Keima used a stern expression to look at Elsie,
“I know. There’s a runaway spirit inside, right?”
Elsie nodded her head, and then asked in a curious manner.
“She looked like she was talking to kami-sama…do you two know each other?”
“Basically, it’s our first meeting.”
Keima didn’t elaborate further. He was already thinking about how to conquer that girl…that girl who called herself Amami Tooru.
The runaway spirit rests in the gap of a soul, and they let the girls with these souls fall in love to conquer their hearts before claiming the runaway spirits. This was Elsie’s mission as a member of Hell's ‘runaway spirit squad’, and also her partner Keima’s mission.
That intricate and sharp brain started to move. In his mind, there were countless games he conquered, the routes and even the words of the female leads he conquered imprinted deep inside him without mistake. He recalled.
He pondered.
He deduced, summarized, and continued.
“As expected…a ‘denpakei’, or an ohanabatake.”
And then, he shook his head.
“No, it’s too early to designate the type, but we can only go in this direction.”
He looked at the exit where Amami Tooru left, and clicked his tongue slightly.
“I don’t know the school she studies at, and I don’t know where she lives. Really, looks like this conquest’s going to be really physically tiring.”
Elsie asked in a passive manner,
“Then, kami-sama…a ‘denpakei’ is.”
She looked like she was searching through her memeory.
“That,”
And said with somewhat little confidence.
“…The type of girls kami-sama said that you aren’t good with, right?”
“…”
Keima glanced at Elsie,
And then,
“Even if I’m really forced, even if I am really forced to do this, I have to protect this. Please play in my graden!”
Elsie seemed to see several cute and exaggerated flowers sprouting out from behind Keima, and rubbed her eyes.
“…Fuu.”
The bright flowers were gone, and what was left was the sighing Keima.
“Anyway, let’s get out of hospital first, and after that.”
He forcefully pointed out Elsie’s mistake and corrected it.
“IT’S NOT THAT I’M NOT USED TO OHANABATAKE-TYPES!”
I just don’t want to get too troubled.
He said. And Elsie couldn’t help but remain rooted and stunned.
Three days later, there was a girl.
Amami Tooru was walking on the streets. She had sepia-colored hair, a flowing one-piece white dress on, a cross-shaped necklace and violet sandals. Her good looks and outstanding figure caused the men who went by her to be attracted by her as they looked at her. They couldn’t help but turn their necks back to look at her.
This girl’s really cute~
Most of the men would think, but the girl herself didn’t mind the stares. She continued to look up at the row of buildings that were lined up.
She was holding onto a notebook, even though her stand was unclear,
“Ah, there’s a guidance star here.”
The girl muttered and used a pen to write something. Then, after she used her handphone to take a photo of the building.
“Ahaha.”
Then, she just when ‘un un’, nodding away and writing something inside the notebook. After that, she put her notebook and handphone into her bag and continued to sway and walk.
Suddenly, she stopped.
“?”
And tilted her head in a puzzled manner.
Amidst the crowd, there was a boy who was leaning on the wall, folding his arms in front of his chest as he slowly got up. He, Katsuragi Keima, stood in front of Amami Tooru.
(First.)
“…Can I help you find something?”
(Let’s enter her world!)
The girl’s body went stiff for a while, and then, she called out.
“Ah~prince!”
Being called out like this in the middle of a crowd, Keima was somewhat scared, but,
“Please allow me to accompany you, princess.”
After that, he politely put his hand in front of his chest. Deep inside, this really needed to put a lot of effort, but he really looked gentlemanly there.
