Prologue: Relaxation from Death

"Wh-What the…?"

The first thing that Masashi saw after opening the door was a garden of sundry flowers and shrubs. The garden covered the whole floor, so there was no space that was not covered by grass. Sunlight brightened the sight, giving it an awesome feeling of tranquility, and from here, he could see that on the ceiling was a great enough hole to let him see the shining blue heavens. It was only the gray metallic walls that destroyed the illusion that this was simply a well-kept garden.

Wondering at the sight, Masashi walked around. Despite the colorful sight, it gave him no answers as to where he was and what had befallen him. Wherever he might be, it seemed to be a rather rich and lavish place that was rather clean and well maintained. And yet, he could not help but feel a bit uneasy; lovely though it was to behold this, the want to see whether there were others here still remained. If he did not know whether he was alone here, then there was no enjoying this.

There were exactly nine doors on each side of the hall. Each held a sign that showed a pixelated drawing of a person, presumably that of the room's owner. Even his room had such a sign, the drawing's face being the same as his icon in the notepad. In any case, he recognized none of the seventeen other faces. Were any of these people here in this building right now?

Going through the garden, he at last saw someone standing by a tree. It was a boy who had short messy hair, a fringe falling over his right eye, his ears pierced as well. He wore a simple white jacket along with a blue T-shirt and a blue pair of jeans. Altogether, with his lean build and clothing style, Masashi thought him to be one of those pretty boys who attracted a lot of female fans. The boy appeared to be looking at nothing in particular.

"Uh, excuse me?" Masashi said to catch his attention, after which the boy eyed him, a mix of interest and carefulness on his face.

"Ah, hey there. You're wondering what's going on here, aren't you?" he said, his voice light and friendly. "Well, so am I. It's a complete mystery to us all."

"'Us all'?" Masashi said.

"Yeah. The others and I woke up a while ago, and now we're looking all over the place to see what's going on." The boy then flashed Masashi a small smile. "Well, I don't remember a thing about what happened to me last night. Same for you, right?"

Masashi nodded, thinking it a bit weird that the boy sounded rather carefree and unconcerned about their current predicament. For all he knew, they could have been kidnapped and put in some unknown place far from human civilization. Still, at least he was taking this well and not at all panicking. "So, uh, who are you, first of all?"

The boy let out a small chuckle as he fiddled with his hair fringe. "The name's Sorao Mineta. I'm what they call the Ultimate Celesta Player."

"Celesta?"

"Yeah. It's an instrument like the piano," Sorao said. "You've probably heard it before, even if you don't know its name. But you know, I'm not too surprised that you don't know much about it. Lots of people say they don't the first time I mention it. Maybe if we have time later, I can play you a short piece."

"Ah, well, I wouldn't mind."

From what he could tell, Sorao seemed to be one of those guys that just wanted to have a nice time with everyone. He was the kind of guy that did not think too hard about his plans, preferring to go through it unready.

"So what about you?" Sorao asked. "What's your name?"

"Oh, my name's Masashi Kousaki," he answered. "I'm… the Ultimate Lucky Student."

It was weird to introduce himself like this, now that he apparently had a talent, especially a rather questionable one. But since it was usual for Ultimates to do such a thing, he would just have to get used to it.

"Ultimate Lucky Student? You must've worked really hard for it, buddy," Sorao said jokingly. "So when did you get the notice for it?"

"Uh, well, to tell you the truth, I don't know."

"Huh?" Sorao looked askance at him. "What do you mean, you don't know? Have you, what, forgotten the date or something?"

"I…" Masashi did not find it easy to find the right words for it. "I don't remember ever getting this talent. When I woke up, the tablet I found called me so."

"Huh… Is that so?" Sorao looked at him more closely. "Hmm… So do you, what, have lots of luck or something?"

"That's what the name suggests, though I can't find myself proud of it. I mean… luck? I'm not sure what kind of talent that is..."

Sorao glanced elsewhere for a moment, appearing to be in deep thought, before he smiled once more. "You know, it's not all bad. When I take a look at you, you look like an ordinary guy. But not everyone has good luck, and if it's official that you have it, well, there's got to be something special about you, right?"

"If you put it that way…" Masashi gladdened a little. He would have never thought of it like that. Something told him that he could get along well with Sorao. "By the way, you said earlier that the others were looking around right now."

"Yup. I'm supposed to be looking here," Sorao answered. Despite that, he seemed to be taking things rather slowly; after all, when Masashi had seen him, he had been doing nothing. "In fact, you should go around and introduce yourself to the others. I get the feeling it's best that we know one another more. In the meantime, I'll be here."

Finding it to be a good idea, Masashi bade Sorao goodbye for now and kept his way through the garden. Though still confused, he felt much more at ease, now that it was clear that he was not the only one in this weird situation.

The garden soon came to an end, after which the small remaining portion of the hallway led him to a metal staircase that went upwards. By the stairs, however, stood a girl who had short neat hair and had a slightly pale complexion. Her dark-green eyes were decorated with black eyeliner, and her lips were adorned with very slight blue gloss. She wore a dark-blue and light skater dress, a bright blue bow sash around her waist. Underneath her dress appeared to be a black leotard, and covering her legs were dark gray stockings wrapped with a blue ribbon. Everything about her looked exquisite but seemed to require much effort to get into and certainly looked not at all fitting for casual settings.

"Ah, how pleasing this sight is to the eye…" she said, her voice very calm and clear. She was staring at a group of tulips by her and had her back turned toward Masashi. "I do not believe that I have this in my garden."

"Uh, hello?" Masashi said, hoping to catch her attention.

"Yes, I do wonder where the owner obtained the flowers," she continued. "Something about them simply captivates me."

"Excuse me?" Masashi said.

"The tulips would go well with the sunflowers that the gardener grew the other day," she went on. "It would be such a lovely sight to see on the early mornings and afternoons."

At this point, there was no getting her to notice him through talking. Masashi gently poked her on the back, after which she turned around and let out a small gasp.

"Oh! I apologize greatly for not having noticed you," she said, still keeping her prim attitude. "How long have I inconvenienced you?"

"Not that long, really," he answered. Even for an apology, she sounded rather formal, as if he were her better or something. "It's no trouble at all."

"Oh… I am pleased to hear that," she said. "I do not believe that we've met. My name is Futaba Inoshishi, the Ultimate Figure Skater. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Hmm… A figure skater...

That was rather unexpected for someone who came off as rather uptight. He could kind of see it in her, but even then, he would expect someone a bit more "ordinary"; she sounded nothing like a girl that he would see on the street.

"Nice to meet you, too," he said. "I've got to say, you look rather, uh, fancy."

"But of course," Futaba answered, not losing her composure. "I am from a very wealthy family, after all. It is only expected that I dress as is fitting of my status. In fact, it is I that ought to be surprised, for you seem not to recognize my family's name. Have you not heard of Inoshishi Enterprises?"

Now that she mentioned it, it did sound a bit familiar, but he could not remember when he had heard it.

"Sorry, I haven't. Is it a business company or something?"

Futaba let out a small sigh. Though her complexion did not change, he could see in her eyes a mix of astonishment and surprise.

"Inoshishi Enterprises is a business conglomerate that is rather famous worldwide," she said, keeping up her formality. "It works in various fields such as electronics, finance, real estate, transportation, and so forth. Need I go on?"

"No, no, not at all!" Masashi said, amazed that she could say all of that all in one breath. "It's very impressive that your family's that well-off."

"As should be expected of my father, who worked very hard to earn his wealth," she said.

"By the way, you said that you were a figure skater. How did you come to be one?"

"The inspiration came from my mother," she answered. "I simply followed her footsteps after I saw a few pictures of her in her prime."

Even though the topic was about her talent, she sounded nearly as uptight and uncaring as she had been the whole time. Perhaps it was simply her way of speaking, but something about it came off as somewhat pompous, as if everything that she said were meant to be obvious.

"But enough about me. I believe it's your turn to introduce yourself."

"Oh, right." Masashi then told her who he was and what his talent was. It sounded less weird to him the second time.

"I see," she said, her expression unchanged. "Is that all?"

Masashi sensed that she already found him uninteresting, even after he had told her that he had no idea how he had come to be given his talent.

"Now please leave me be," she said. "I wish to have some time by myself here. I have many matters to contemplate."

She then turned around, paying her attention to the tulips once more. Though a bit shocked that she had suddenly ended the conversation like that, Masashi found it pointless to make a fuss over it and so parted ways with her, heading up the nearby stairs.

This floor was also covered in grass, but this time, there were far fewer flowers and trees, and there were fewer doors on each side of the hall. Moreover, from what he could tell, the hall led to a much greater room that also looked like a garden, and a stream of water seemed to be running there.

Standing in the hall to the right was a young man with shaggy black hair and tan skin. He wore a white button-down shirt along with a black tie, a black pair of pants, and a clean black pair of shoes. He also had a belt that had many hooks holding sundry things such a notepad, knives, and pens. Altogether, it gave him the appearance of a waiter, especially one of a high-class restaurant. His arms crossed, the man appeared to be looking at nothing in particular.

"Uh, hello?" Masashi said.

"What?" the man said, scowling. Already, Masashi could sense animosity from him, as if he were but a pest to squash. Moreover, despite the man's foreign appearance, he sounded like any normal Japanese youth.

"I only want to talk to you a bit," Masashi said as politely as he could before he introduced himself.

"Oh, is that so?" the man said. "The name's Abraham Zargari. They call me the Ultimate Waiter. Now piss off."

Wh-What? Masashi looked at him with much astonishment. Has he just said that?

"Are you deaf? I said, piss off," he said, his scowl widening. "Or are you asking yourself why I'm such a jerk?"

"Well… yeah. I thought a waiter would be much politer."

"Yes, but that's the thing. I'm not working right now," Abraham said. "This is my off time, and right now, I can enjoy being as much a jerk as I can."

"But why?" Masashi said. It confused him even more that the man was self-aware of how off-putting he sounded.

"So that people like you won't talk to me, that's why," Abraham said, sounding rather proud of himself. "Now piss off."

"But before I do, could I just ask you one question?" Masashi said.

Abraham sighed. "If it makes you go away faster, all right. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering whether you were from another land, that's all."

"That's what you want to ask about?" Abraham said. "I suppose it's only natural. I was born in Iran, but my family moved to Japan when I was 2. I have no recollection of my short time there, so don't even fucking think about asking me about it. Got it?"

Seeing that the man was in no mood for any more talking, Masashi nodded and bade him goodbye, to which the man responded by not saying anything. He was definitely not a man that he would like to hang around with, though it intrigued him why he did not like to talk to people, especially when he took into account his occupation. But that was a question for another time. Masashi headed into the door right next to the waiter.

The room was nothing like what Masashi would have imagined. Like the hallways, the whole floor was covered with grass, but there was a stone path build right in the middle, and at the very end were two thrones, each with red seats and golden rails. The walls were colored light green, and there were dark-green vines bedecked on them. Altogether, it felt as if the room were one for a king and queen, perhaps those that ruled over elves, fairies, and the like.

And speaking of fairies, there was a boy that was dressed like one. He wore a light-green blouse that was reminiscent of a medieval peasant's, along with a dark-green pair of trousers that stopped at the middle of the calves. To his outfit was attached a pair of great silver translucent wings. He also wore a light-brown cloak that was adorned with sundry strange symbols and came with a hood secured by silver thread. On his waist was a belt with a silver buckle and a small pouch hanging therefrom, and worn over one of his shoulders was a small dark-brown satchel. The boy himself was rather short and had light-brown fluffy hair, of which a fringe stuck out and reached his left eye up to the eyebrow. He also wore a small crown of tiny leaves that neatly fit atop his head, which added to his fantastic aspect. Altogether, he looked like a little boy who had dressed up as if for some kind of play. The boy was sneaking about, looking down and appearing not to have noticed Masashi.

"O little pixie, where are you hiding?" he asked playfully, his voice as equally childish as his appearance. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

The boy then let out a small yelp of excitement and rushed toward Masashi, only to bump right into him.

"Oof!" Masashi blurted out as he fell.

"O-Oh!" the boy said, all excitement gone on his face. "I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you!"

"I-It's all right, really," Masashi said as he stood back up. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" the boy answered, sounding a bit more energetic. "Well, again, I'm very sorry about it! See, I was chasing after this pixie, but I didn't see you! I guess I should watch where I'm going next time, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, you can say that," Masashi said, more astounded by the fact that he sounded serious when talking about pixies. Had he not been simply playing around?

"Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you before, mister," the boy said. "Who might you be?"

After Masashi introduced himself, the boy's eyes glinted gladly.

"Oh, wow! You're the Ultimate Lucky Student, you say? And you don't remember why?" the boy said. "Perhaps you've drunk from the legendary Fountain of Luck, where it is said that good luck is granted any man that comes upon it, at the cost of his memory of the encounter, for it is part of the elves' curse that guard the fountain. Tell me, do you remember having seen a fountain or any elves?"

"Not really…" Masashi said with much astonishment, mainly because of his explanation, which he was sure the boy had just made up, and yet it was clear that he had put much thought into it.

"Oh… Well, maybe you'll remember later!" The boy widened his smile. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Masashi! I'm Takumi Takamitsu, but my friends call me Kumi, so if you want, you can call me that! And as the Ultimate Storyteller, I'm ready to take you on a journey wherein we shall see elves, wizards, knights, and maybe a troll or two! I assure you, by the end, you'll have felt chills rushing down your body!"

A storyteller, huh? That explained a lot about his personality and how silly he came off. Still, for someone that simply had the talent of telling fantasy tales, he seemed so engrossed in it that it was as if he were simply a bystander narrating events in his own imagination.

"Now, Masashi, I must waste no more time talking to you!" Kumi said. "I have a pixie to find, after all! They're pesky little creatures, but men say they grant one special powers if one should be lucky enough to find them! Would you like to join me in my hunt?"

"Ah, thanks, but no thanks. I'm not, uh, good at pixie-hunting," Masashi said.

"Ah, really? Well, if you change your mind, you're free to join me!"

Kumi then turned around and went back looking hard at the ground. Though certain that all he would find are spiders and other such critters, Masashi had not the heart to rain on the storyteller's parade. He then headed back to the hall and into the room directly opposite to the throne room.

Here, there were many chairs and a few sofas strewn throughout the room, which appeared to be a lounge. All of them were dark-green, the floor being light-green grass, the walls colored light-blue. Alongside the chairs and sofas were small wooden desks. The portion of the walls near the door had trees drawn on them and ended suddenly midway through, which made the effect that this room was a lone spot that one could rest in if one should grow tired of walking through a forest.

Standing by one of the chairs was a short girl that looked awfully frail, her complexion remarkably pale. Her long black hair reached down to her hips, the girl wearing a white kimono along with a black sash and a pair of cream-colored sandals.

"No, no, th-this can't be happening…" She appeared to be muttering to herself, not having noticed Masashi. "Wh-Why isn't it working…?"

"Uh, hello?" Masashi said.

The pale-looking girl let out a small gasp before she turned toward him, eyeing him with much carefulness. "Wh-Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Masashi was a bit surprised to see her acting so warily at him, especially when he had not even had the chance to talk to her a bit yet. As gently as he could, he introduced himself and told her that he was simply looking around.

"O-Oh, is that so?" the girl said, looking much less wary of him now. "A-Are you telling me the truth?"

"Of course I am!" Masashi had no idea why she was so suspicious of him. It was not as if anything about him came off as suspicious. At least, that was what he thought. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about."

"I see…" The girl faced him, but even then, there was quite a bit of unease on her face. "I… I'm Hikari Fey, the Ultimate Spirit Channeler."

Right away, he noticed that her surname was not Japanese, sounding more English instead, even though she looked not at all foreign. But there was something else that had caught his interest.

"Wow, you can channel spirits?" he said, having never met a spirit channeler before. "Is that true?"

"Wh-Why are you doubting me now?" Hikari said, showing a small scowl. "O-Of course I can. It's just that it takes a lot of energy from me, and I-I'd prefer not to do it. And even if I wanted to do it…"

"Well, what?"

"I-I can't do it right now, for some reason," she said. "However many times I try, I can't start a connection between me and the spirit I wish to channel."

Now that was odd. Should she be telling the truth, then there was something even odder about the situation than he had thought. Of course, that assumed that she was telling the truth and was not a great fraud, and it was in the realm of possibility; after all, one of his friends had once complained that a man had scammed him by pretending to have channeled a long-dead samurai's ghost.

Still, that was only one time. I have no reason not to trust her. And from what he could tell, on the whole, Hikari was harmless.

"But besides spirit channeling, can you do other spiritual things?" he asked.

"A-A few, but even them I can't do right now," Hikari answered. "Maybe there's something wrong with my spiritual powers…"

Sensing that she wanted some time alone, Masashi bade her goodbye for now and headed back to the hallway. Besides the throne room and the lounge, there were two other rooms that he could check out before heading to the garden at the other end. He headed to the room on the same side of the lounge.

This room appeared to be some kind of shop. There were counters of sundry items strewn throughout the room, along with a vending machine for drinks on the side. The counters held such things as books, jars of goodies, dolls, and so forth. On one counter was a small gachapon machine, as one would expect.

Standing by one of the counters was a pink-haired, green-eyed girl whose face was decorated with a few accessories; her cheeks were covered with pink hearts, and her nose was round and red. The girl wore a yellow dress that reached down to her knees and was embroidered with dots of sundry colors, along with red tights and a great red pair of shoes. Everything about her suggested that she was a clown.

As soon as the girl spotted him, she rushed up to him, giving him a great smile.

"Oh, hey there!" the girl said cheerfully. "I don't think I've seen you before! How are you doing?"

"I-I'm all right," Masashi said, much startled by how near to him she was. "I wasn't expecting to see someone as… colorful as you. Anyway, who are you?"

The girl giggled before she did a little twirl and faced him again, extending both her arms. "I'm Haruka Minami, the Ultimate Clown! Pleased to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you, too," Masashi said before introducing himself.

"Ultimate Lucky Student, huh? Wow, betcha you never had to worry about failing your classes," Haruka said. "I wish I'd had that kind of luck when I had to make this really big statue for art class."

"Really? How did it go?"

"Well, it was a bust!"

Masashi chuckled. Even though the joke was somewhat lame, there was something about it that he could not help but laugh at. At the very least, he already had a good opinion of her.

"In all seriousness, what are you doing here?" Masashi asked.

"Oh, I'm only looking around, and I think I quite like this place," Haruka said. "There are so many things here that I can use for props!"

"Still, aren't you wondering where we are?" Masashi asked.

"Ah, not really. I'm sure everything will work itself out!" Haruka said. "In the meantime, don't you want to play with me some more?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I've got to go somewhere."

"Ah, really? Oh…" Haruka said. For a second, a frown appeared on her face, but in a few seconds, she brightened once more. "Well, no worries! I've had enough fun with you. And I've got to say, I bet you never sit down."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you're a stand-up guy, of course!"

Chuckling at her compliment, Masashi left her to her own devices and headed back to the hall. There was only one more room to check out in this hallway. Wondering whom he would meet next, he headed inside.

Whoa… what's this?

The room not only was incredibly wide and open but was also covered by lines of trees on all sides. At the very middle was a golden merry-go-round that had manmade horses and carriages as its seats, the roof bedecked with gems of many colors. The walls were painted a plain blue, and altogether, it felt as if this were a magical sight that one might stumble upon while wandering through the woods.

There was a woman standing not too far from the entrance. She stood out quite a bit, as her outfit was a black robe and a black veil underneath which was a white coif. Her long red hair reached down to her waist, and she appeared quite well endowed. Overall, with her clean fair skin and the tidiness of her clothes, she was quite a pleasant yet strange figure to look at.

"Oh, hello," she said upon noticing Masashi. "How are you?"

"I'm not doing too bad," Masashi said, "but I still don't know what exactly is going on here."

"Neither do the rest of us," she said. "In any case, I suppose I ought to introduce myself. I am Hikari Shinto, the Ultimate Nun. But please, call me Sister Hikari."

With how calm and polite she seemed, Masashi got the feeling that he could get along well with her. In any case, it intrigued him to see someone dressed like her, especially when she appeared not to be a foreigner.

"Pardon me, but are you by any chance a Christian?" he asked. "You call yourself a nun, after all."

"Oh, well, yes, I am one," Sister Hikari said. "Even if I hadn't introduced myself, I suppose the outfit would've made it obvious that I'm a nun. For as long as I can remember, I have been of the Christian faith."

"Then have you come to Japan on a visit or something?" Masashi asked.

"Oh, no, I've lived in Japan my whole life," Sister Hikari answered. "I live in one of the few churches that are in Japan. But I assure you, I don't always dress like this. I usually wear everyday clothes."

All that she had said intrigued Masashi more and more. He knew little of such religions as Christianity, and so he could not help but feel more curious about its values and rituals. One of the few things that he knew was that it was now popular to have weddings done in the Christian style, in which the groom and the bride in white would wed in a church. That was what his friends wanted for their weddings, and he could see himself doing likewise.

Leaving her alone, Masashi walked around the room some more. Though interested in the merry-go-round, he wanted to see whether there was more to this room. And lo and behold, there was a boy standing by what seemed to be a billboard. The boy had pale-blue hair that was slightly wavy and reached down to his shoulders, a stray fringe hanging over his left eye. He had a somewhat pale complexion and a slim, scrawny build, and wore a white roll-neck sweater, a dark-blue pair of jeans, and a black pair of shoes. Overall, he looked like someone who would keep to himself and stay inside for a long while. The boy appeared to be reading a brochure.

"Hmm… I see…" he mumbled.

"Um, excuse me?" Masashi said, after which the boy looked up.

"Oh, hello," he said. "Might I ask who you are?"

Sensing much hesitance from him, Masashi introduced himself. By this point, he had gotten rather used to saying his talent along with the curious fact that he did not know why he had been bestowed it.

"I see…" he said. "Well, nice to meet you, Masashi. I'm Tanjiro Urata, the Ultimate Historical Novelist."

Even after his introduction, Masashi could sense a great deal of unease from him. He assumed that he was simply untalkative and shy, which would go along with his overall appearance.

"Wow, aren't you the one that wrote the trilogy of The Koto Players?" Masashi asked. "A friend of mine read it and told me that he loved it."

Masashi remembered having seen his name before in a bookshop whenever he wanted to buy the latest comic or comic magazine. Unlike his friend, he owned none of his works, for he was not particularly interested in historical fiction, and he was none too surprised to see what the writer was like in the flesh, given that he thought history to be a rather introverted subject.

"I-Indeed, I am," Tanjiro said. "It was my first published work and was based upon my interest in musical history. It was originally only one book, but it soon turned into a trilogy. I-I'm quite proud of it, though I have to admit that I could've done better on several parts."

"Well, still, you managed to do fairly well, didn't you?" Masashi asked. "That's not something that many writers can achieve."

"I-I suppose so."

Masashi waited for Tanjiro to continue, only to see that Tanjiro was not going to keep the conversation going.

I guess I should point our attention to that…

"Say, Tanjiro, what is that you're holding?" Masashi asked, pointing at it.

"Oh, this? It's a brochure that acts as a guide to this place," Tanjiro answered. "I found it earlier in one of the other rooms."

"Well, could I see it?"

Tanjiro wordlessly handed him the brochure. Even looking at the cover, however, was enough to shock him.

The place that they were in right now was called Brightmere Mirthyard, and it appeared to be some kind of amusement park that took place on a ship, amazingly enough. The tagline was on the bottom, saying "Have lots of fun in a shining sea!"

Inside the brochure was a map of the whole ship, its various parts specifically pointed out as attractions and other points of interest. From what he could tell, there were four decks, or at least four decks available to the public; there appeared to be enough space for more decks under the lowermost detailed one.

But the back was by far the most surprising. It featured drawings of other ships, each having a different appearance from this one's. They were listed as other parts of the amusement park, and each had a different theme. This ship's theme, according to the front, was "Woodland Kingdom".

Ah, now it all makes sense! It explained why every room and hall was covered with grass and had a certain fantastic element to it. Still, it did not explain why he and the others were here. He had no memory whatsoever of coming here, nor did he remember having heard about this amusement park. Then again, the latter could be attributed to the fact that he was usually kept busy with more important things, so he could have heard it in passing and simply forgotten about it.

"Could I have that back now?" Tanjiro asked. For a moment, Masashi had forgotten that he was even there.

"Uh, sure." Masashi gave him the map back. "Thanks for letting me read it. It explains quite a lot about our situation."

And yet he could not help but feel a bit more uneasy about the whole thing. If they had been kidnapped, then the mastermind behind it had somehow gotten control of a whole amusement park, let alone one that was made of many great ships. He hoped that the situation was not as bad as he made it out to be, but there was no denying that something odd was afoot.

Hello, everyone! As you can see, I've already decided which of your submissions have been accepted. Lately, I've been rather busy, so I'm sorry that I didn't finish and put up this chapter earlier. Anyway, that's the first part of character introductions. The rest, of course, will be done in the next chapter. The whole cast list is already available at the bottom of the very first chapter, if you haven't seen it already.

As you've noticed, two of the characters have the same first name: Hikari Fey (the Ultimate Spirit Channeler) and Hikari Shinto (the Ultimate Nun). The latter, however, is always addressed and referred to as Sister Hikari. Also, I had lots of fun writing Kumi's dialogue, mainly because he's rather imaginative, and so I can be a bit more creative with what he comes up for his stories and explanations.

Now, I wonder what your impressions of the characters introduced so far are. Which characters do you like or dislike? Which ones do you find interesting?