Episode 5: Branch
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Wish Orb
An item said to grant any wish.
With this unparalleled orb, even those summoned to another world can return to their original timeline.
Due to the extraordinary power of this orb, a unique world line diverged from the norm.
Only one world line emerged.
It was the world line where Yamada could not return from the other world.
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In the Mirror Labyrinth, Ichiro Yamada faced the Crystal Humanoid.
Though he fought valiantly, he suffered severe mental damage from the endless cycle of healing and fatal wounds, ultimately succumbing to madness.
In a burst of uncontrolled Mana, he perished alongside the boss monster.
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In the Light Labyrinth, Ichiro Yamada confronted an Angel.
Despite continuously guarding against the relentless onslaught of the Angel, he was unable to save himself when Angelica’s Narukami was too late, and his heart was pierced by a fist, leading to his demise.
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In the Labyrinth of Immortality, Ichiro Yamada faced the Reverse Dead without finding the Resurrection Orb.
After a grueling battle that lasted over a thousand encounters, he was caught off guard in a moment of relaxation and had his heart destroyed from behind, leading to his death.
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In the Ice Labyrinth, Ichiro Yamada confronted the Frozen Concept alone.
Caught off guard by an unexpected conceptual attack, he was trapped in a pseudo-permafrost, slowly losing his sanity before his body ultimately perished, resulting in his complete death.
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Ichiro Yamada faced the Fairy Queen.
In a desperate attempt to save everything, he sacrificed himself, scattering his life away.
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In the Flame Labyrinth, Ichiro Yamada confronted the Elemental Body.
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In the Hidden Mountain, the White Girl was too late, and Ichiro Yamada died alone from poison.
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The event of Ichiro Yamada’s death.
Though the patterns of death could be counted on both hands, they were certainly not zero, and the probability was significant enough to warrant concern rather than being ignored.
Regardless of the pattern of death, it ultimately led to the event where Ichiro Yamada, a boy, vanished while commuting on the day of the entrance ceremony.
In this case, he would never return.
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It was as if the light had gone out for his family.
About a month had passed since that day.
Upon receiving the news that their son had not attended school, the family initially thought, “Where could he be?” and “He must have messed up right after the entrance ceremony,” failing to grasp the gravity of the situation.
They called repeatedly to scold him, but each time, the line was out of service.
As dinner time approached, the sun set, and the streetlights began to flicker on, they finally considered that something might have happened to their son, and they rushed to the police.
The grandmother, who had already been in poor health, deteriorated rapidly from that day onward.
The grandfather, who spent most of his days searching for his grandson, collapsed from exhaustion and was hospitalized.
The mother, with dark circles under her eyes, left the house daily to care for her in-laws and distribute flyers printed with her son’s photo.
The father joined her after work, tirelessly searching until the early hours of the morning.
That morning, before leaving the house, the mother, with a pale expression, told Hikaru, “After school, go distribute these flyers three stations over.”
The once warm dining table was now devoid of meals, replaced by a stack of flyers featuring her brother’s smiling face.
Hikaru instinctively realized that no matter how much she did this, her brother would not come back.
The family was exhausted from the absence of their son.
It was clear that the family would collapse soon, as evident as fire.
She picked up a flyer, where her brother was smiling and making a peace sign.
Unable to stand any longer, Hikaru crumbled to the floor, hugging her knees and weeping.
Her brother had always been there for her, always helping her.
When Hikaru dreamed of a path different from the norm, it was her brother who gently pushed her forward.
He was the one who managed to persuade their parents, who insisted on a more practical route.
“Big brother, come back.”
“Big brother, help me.”
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The young man let out a scream and awoke.
Realizing he was crying, he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but the tears just wouldn’t stop.
Soon, a tightness gripped his chest, and he let out a sob.
The sound of “U, u, uuh” escaped him uncontrollably.
The White Girl awoke and embraced him, feeling his trembling through her touch.
She gently patted his back over and over, offering comfort.
“It’s okay, Ichiro, it’s okay.”
The White Girl continued to care for him without rest until he cried himself to sleep.
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In terms of the timeline, this is around the time he reached Sena’s place and began living with her, during the episode of the dream about the Apple Pie.