Thanks to Meerkat for helping with the translation

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The Goddess’s Melancholy

 
I drop a single drop of water from a plastic bottle onto her ear.
 
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!”
 
The shocking statement makes me jump up from the stairs with a clatter.
 
“What’s with that weird move?!”
 
“It was like water in sleeping ears…”
 
During lunch break, when I went to the emergency staircase, Goddess-senpai came crying to me the moment I arrived.
 
I wondered what was wrong and asked for the reason, and this is what I got. I’m the one who wants to cry.… Read the rest

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The Value of Gold

“I’ve been harboring resentment all this time. Frustrated, miserable… I became pessimistic about life–“
 
At an open terrace café, the two sat facing each other.
 
He poured out his pent-up feelings as if expelling suppressed thoughts. He knew it was necessary.
 
To start over, he had to clear away the black, stagnant sludge that had accumulated in the depths of his heart for years, or it would settle again someday. And in his breathless desperation, he would reach out his hand and resent others.
 … Read the rest

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Chapter 6: “The Saved One”

“…Beautiful.”
 
A vibrant crimson color spread out like a disc. Captivated by the sight, Hinagi murmured.
 
Under the equally vibrant lapis lazuli color, I watched Hinagi’s reaction.
 
“I never thought I’d look forward to rain this much.”
 
On our day off, walking home after watching a movie, the two of us strolled through the rain.
 
Hinagi-chan, walking beside me, tilted her traditional umbrella and spun around gracefully.
 
“Thank you for the souvenir, Yukito. I’ll treasure it forever!”
 
“It can’t be … Read the rest

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Chapter 5: “The Savior”

 
(…Not having to ride a packed train, that alone would be fortunate)
 
While riding the train, I absentmindedly think such thoughts. The unpleasant pressure coming from all directions.
 
That said, there’s no point in lamenting. Probably all the passengers share the same sentiment.
 
Since I have lectures starting from first period at university, I’m commuting by train from morning like this. Depressing time.
 
Even so, I’m blessed being nothing more than a carefree university student. If I wanted to skip lectures, I could … Read the rest

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Chapter 4 “Snow and Ink”

That day, elementary school student Okamoto Kazuhiro experienced his first taste of defeat in life.
 
The people he thought were his friends easily cast Okamoto aside. When he tried to speak to them, all that came back were contemptuous glances and voices of criticism. In just one day, Okamoto Kazuhiro became alone.
 
Friendship was nothing but an illusion. The loathing gazes from those heartless betrayers stuck to his brain and wouldn’t leave. He glimpsed the dirty true nature of humans. Not a single person extended … Read the rest

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Chapter 3 “Wanderer of the Underworld”

The penetration rate of electric vehicles in Japan is merely less than 5%.
 
Since domestic major automobile manufacturers boast high market shares in the country, and considering the climate, it’s predicted that it will take considerable time for EVs to truly spread in Japan.
 
Japan is a snow country. The proportion of heavy snow areas that experience severe snowfall covers half of the nation’s land.
 
Japan even monopolizes the top three spots in the world’s annual snowfall rankings. In such harsh environments that … Read the rest

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Chapter 2: “Dream Bubble”

The tension was so thick it was suffocating. My throat felt parched with an intense thirst.
 
The day that had to come had finally arrived. I didn’t think I was putting it off, but maybe I had been unconsciously avoiding it. With this sudden encounter, I had no choice but to steel my resolve.
 
When was the last time I spent such a tense period? I remembered.
 
Squinting at the sunlight streaming through the curtains, I felt firsthand how Japan was becoming more subtropical lately. … Read the rest

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Chapter 1 “Lady of the Setting Sun”

When I learned that king crabs aren’t true crabs but a type of hermit which, despite the name, aren’t true crabs either, my common sense collapsed.
 
I mean, no matter how you look at it, it’s a crab, and claiming that thing isn’t a crab is unreasonable.
 
If that’s the case, I think there might be some discrepancy in the classification method, but strangely enough, when different organisms evolve to converge on similar forms, it’s called convergent evolution.
 
In other words, crustaceans arriving at the … Read the rest

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The One Who Was Saved

 
“Ah, please wait, Inukichi! Don’t pull so hard—”
 
My body is dragged along by the leash being pulled with such vigor. Recently, perhaps because I’ve been enthusiastically accompanying him on walks, Inukichi is in exceptionally good spirits. His energy is remarkably high today as well.
 
The Sanjoji family has always kept Golden Retrievers as pets. Inukichi’s predecessor was Inuzuna, and before that was Inuyasu. For generations, they’ve been guardians watching over me since I was still a child, but Inukichi is quite the spoiled one and … Read the rest

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The One Who Nests

 
He read through the message that arrived on his smartphone and let a twisted smile of delight cross his face.
 
“Haha! I can’t believe she actually did it!”
 
An exhilaration he hadn’t tasted in a long time. Alone in his room, he laughed raucously, mockingly.
 
What floated in his pupils was a seething, bubbling heart of revenge. He clenched his fists tight.
 
“That’s right, it’s impossible! That only I should be unhappy, that only I should be sacrificed—”
 
Thud. He slammed his fist against the wall. He … Read the rest