CGBTS Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Different Worlds

Novel Title: あの夏から戻れない (Can’t Go Back to That Summer)

Author：宮緒葵 (Miyao Aoi)

Illustrator：笠井あゆみ (Kasai Ayumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 櫛原夏生 (Kushihara Natsuo -MC) & 四辻柊 (Yotsutsuji Shuu -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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“The two-black-stone world is the world where the protagonist died. In other words, it continues to exist while carrying the effects of the protagonist’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the one-white-stone world is the world where the protagonist survived the accident. From that point onward, these two worlds no longer interfere with each other and continue to exist as separate worlds… That is the basic idea behind parallel worlds. Do you understand so far?”

“…S-Somehow.”

“Good. Then, let’s continue.”

Shuu took out three black go stones and placed them diagonally above and to the right of the two black stones. Counting from the starting point, there were now one, two, and three black go stones lined up along the diagonal line above and to the right.

“Suppose there was a person named X in the two-black-stone world who, if he grew up, would become a doctor hailed as a ‘God Hand’… X also dies in an accident while still young, but if the protagonist were alive, he would happen to be there at the moment of the accident and be able to save him. Of course, in this case, only the protagonist can save him. So, what happens to X in the two-black-stone world?”

“What do you mean, what happens…? Since the protagonist who could save him is already dead, wouldn’t X die in the accident?”

“Exactly. In other words, the next two-black-stone world becomes a world that carries the effects of both the protagonist’s death and X’s death. Can you imagine what kind of future the three-black-stone world will follow?”

Natsuo stared intently at the go board, deep in thought. In the three-black-stone world, because the protagonist had died, X, who was supposed to become a great doctor, had also died. Which meant that afterward…

“…The patients who were supposed to be saved by X, the God Hand… would no longer be saved…?”

“That’s right,” Shuu said with a smile, placing four black go stones diagonally above and to the right of the three black stones.

“Now, the next four-black-stone world is a world that carries the effects of the deaths of the protagonist, X, and the patients who could not be saved by X. Although the patients do not have as much influence as X, their lives and deaths still have enough impact to affect the state of the world, so the five-black-stone world after that will be affected even more greatly.”

Natsuo was beginning to get the hang of it somehow.

He nodded his head up and down as he placed two white go stones diagonally down and to the right of the single white stone.

“…Conversely, in the world with one white stone where the protagonist survives, X is saved. In the next world with two white stones, many patients are saved because of X. Then, in the world with three white stones after that, the protagonist, X, and all the patients who were saved will all continue to have an influence on it simply by being alive.”

“There are other patterns, too.”

Shuu placed one white go stone and one black go stone diagonally up and to the right of the single white stone. Starting from the single white stone, there were now two branches: one with two white stones, and one with one white and one black stone.

“This is what happens when the protagonist survives the accident but fails to save X. This world line with one white stone and one black stone will continue while being affected by the protagonist’s survival and X’s death.”

“…Ah, then even a world with two white stones, where both the protagonist and X survive, wouldn’t necessarily develop only into a world with three white stones. There could also be a pattern where X fails to save the patients, so the protagonist and X are alive, but the patients die.”

Natsuo slapped his hand against his palm with a thump, then placed two white go stones and one black go stone one space to the side of the two white stones.

Just to be sure, he counted them, and even at this point there were already nine parallel worlds. Since each of those worlds would branch into further, more detailed divisions depending on the conditions, it would not be an exaggeration to say that they would continue increasing infinitely.

“If our world is also nothing more than one of those infinitely branching worlds, then this difference in the cigarette package can be explained, too. Obviously, the person who designed the package was a designer commissioned by the tobacco company. The designer in our world drew a crown. But the designer in another parallel world drew a crescent moon. That’s…”

“…Because the designer in the parallel world lived along a different world line from the designer in the original world…”

As Natsuo picked up Shuu’s explanation, Shuu stroked his head as if to say, ‘Correct’.

“Even if they’re the same person, their sensibilities will differ depending on the environment they grew up in. This cigarette was probably drawn here by Odamaki-sama after being pulled from a world whose branch is relatively close to our own.”

“So that means things are being pulled in not only from the original world, but from various places in worlds that are close to it, too. …Why wasn’t one single world enough?”

“If they were constantly pulling in enough supplies to maintain an entire village from the same place, the people in that world would eventually become suspicious, wouldn’t they?”

“…If it’s a god, you’d think it wouldn’t have to worry about something like that.”

What a strangely human-like god. The more Natsuo thought about it, the less sense it made. It was almost as if his feet had been caught in a muddy bog, and he was struggling to pull himself free…

“Don’t worry.”

Shuu moved the go board out of the way and shifted closer on his knees. Reflected in his heated green eyes was Natsuo, wearing an uneasy, vulnerable expression.

“You have me. This isn’t exactly a world that can be called easy to live in, but I’ll protect you with everything I have so that you feel as little inconvenience as possible.”

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Next update: 2026.10.22

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