Infinite Checkpoint Project: No Game No Life

Before starting the game, Haruya recalled the dream he had last night.

In reality, it wasn't exactly a dream, but it could still be explained as one.

To put it simply, while Haruya was asleep, he was 'summoned' to some sort of weird dreamscape by the unfortunate Supreme Deity...

It was a vast space filled with countless chairs and desks, with many books placed on the tables. However, there were no students.

In this strange place, Haruya saw two people...

Actually, it wasn't just two people. If you included the floating light ball above, there were three entities. Four in total if you include him.

Yes, entities, not just mortal beings...

After all, if you included the Supreme Deity, then you could only describe them as entities...

Sitting in one of the chairs, Haruya noticed that the textbooks on the table were quite blurry, making it impossible to tell what subjects they were.

Perhaps they were 'language' or 'math' textbooks...?

More importantly, not far in front of Haruya, two people also sat down.

As they sat, two translucent 'girls' suddenly appeared behind them. This was quite an unusual situation. Were these 'girls' some kind of spirits?

Looking at the two young men sitting in the chairs and the girls 'floating' behind them, Haruya instinctively grabbed a nearby chair, ready to use it as a weapon if necessary.

Just as he was on high alert, the Supreme Deity dropped several bottles of red wine and drinks from the air, landing them perfectly on the table.

Ignoring the textbooks, the Supreme Deity's voice rang out.

[I'm very bored, so I decided to gather you lot here. Let's have a friendly exchange, shall we?]

Even if it was a friendly exchange, wasn't the number of participants a bit odd?

In Haruya's eyes, the floating spirit girls behind the two people couldn't be considered human. That meant this friendly exchange only had three men...

"Don't misunderstand. I'm not some floating spirit. I'm a perfectly healthy and beautiful girl... Okay?"

The girl behind one of the young men spoke and then landed on the ground, making a *ding ding ding!* sound. It seemed she came with her own sound effects...

"You're so noisy. No moving around. Just stay floating in one place... No, actually, according to theory, a bound spirit might be even more tragic. From the novels I've read, bound spirits are those who died with unresolved grievances." Said one of the young men.

"I'm not going to die so easily! Compared to being a bound spirit, I'd rather be a spirit behind Natsume-sensei, watching you bathe every day~" replied the floating spirit behind the now named Natsume-sensei.

"If you don't want to die, then stop talking. If you don't stop, I'll kill you."

"Pfft~ Natsume-sensei is always so strict. Even though I've helped you so many times, like peeping, peeping, and peeping!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

In short, these two were companions, right? Judging from their conversation... The reason they were here could be one of two things: either they had died, or they were tired of their previously troublesome lives...

Picking up the wine glass in front of him, Haruya looked at the two young men, "So, want to have a drink? We've got nothing else to do, and it's free."

"I don't mind. Roku, go play with a ball over there." Natsume-sensei, pointed to a corner in the place.

"No way! Unless it's Natsume-sensei's ball... That's a dirty joke by the way." Roku said with a wink.

"...." Natsume-sensei fell silent.

It seemed Roku, the spirit, was quite the restless type.

On the other side, the other young man nodded silently and picked up two glasses, handing one to the girl floating above him.

The girl, dressed in gothic lolita fashion, took the glass and tilted her head, "Is human food delicious, Satoru-sama?"

"Don't call me 'sama'... As for whether it's delicious, this orange juice should taste pretty good."

"Thank you very much. Trying human drinks isn't a bad idea. Also, I heard that first love tastes like oranges."

*Cough* *Cough* ... Natsume-sensei chocked on his beverage hearing this.

Satoru corrected his clueless companion, "No, it's not oranges... that's the taste of heartbreak. True love should taste like durian..."

Hearing Satoru say this, Natsume put his glass down on the table.

Haruya also stopped moving.

Then, the two of them asked in unison.

""Satoru... do you have a girlfriend?""

Facing the questions from Haruya and Natsume-sensei, Satoru scratched the back of his head and nodded, "Well... I can't deny it, but don't think it's a great thing."

Natsume-sensei frowned, as if he had encountered some trouble in his world, "A girlfriend... I've experienced all sorts of situations, but when it comes to girlfriends... well, it's a delicate matter..."

Picking up his glass again and finishing his drink, Haruya leaned on the table, "So Satoru has a girlfriend... and Natsume-sensei is in a 'delicate' relationship?"

"'Delicate' my ass, Natsume-sensei's relationship is more like a battlefield. Almost every single day, there's tons of damage..." Roku added, putting on a serious expression.

Hearing this, Natsume-sensei sighed, and the gothic girl floating above Satoru asked, "So, the women in those 'delicate' relationships are powerful?"

"Pretty much." replied Roku.

The conversation between the two girls ended, and Haruya wasn't sure if he should interject.

[I said, let's start...]

"Oh right," Haruya also started to complain, "I'm not having an easy time in the Werebeast country either."

Natsume-sensei leaned in and asked, "Werebeasts? So there are beast-eared girls?!"

"Beast-eared girls! I've never seen one before, except in anime." Satoru added.

'Wow, I didn't expect such a strong reaction.' thought Haruya...

[First, let's all toast, and then...]

"It's not really that great." Haruya waved his hand.

"But beast-eared girls are super cute!"

"I want to see a beast-eared girl too!"

The two of them said in unison.

Haruya showed an awkward expression. His Checkpoint ability didn't include the power to bring people along.

"I want to touch beast ears!" Natsume-sensei declared.

"I want to lick beast ears!" Satoru's statement was a bit... questionable.

[Don't ignore me!!]

The Supreme Deity interjected, and everyone stopped.

[First, let's watch some anime. I have a 'Collector's Edition Ultra HD' version of Evangelion.]

That wasn't a problem. Everyone agreed...

...

{T/N: Not gonna lie, this chapter took me for a ride... What do y'all think? Is it too obvious?}