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Over the Infinite Chapter 24 Part 1

 

Volume 2 Epilogue “Beyond Infinity”

 

-1-

 

…Deep. It felt like sinking to the bottom of a very deep sea.

A ceaseless fall to the far depths, a place from which one could never rise.

 

Where am I, exactly?

 

I remember fighting Arsha in the rookie battle… and then getting hit by some kind of strange laser beam…

Who was Arsha again? What’s a rookie battle?

 

…Who am I?

 

『It’s you, Tsuna-senpai. 』

 

Right. I’ve been called ‘Tuna Can’ so many times. I’m Tsuna from the Watanabe family.

But… what’s a senpai? I’m supposed to be a junior… Whose junior? What am I saying, I don’t understand at all.

 

『It’s your turn, Tsuna-senpai. 』

 

My turn for what?

…And who are you?

 

『Did you finally lose your memory? I’m Miyumi. Miyumi Okamoto. Your beloved Tomato-chan. Kyaha! 』

 

Kyaha, my foot. Stop smiling like that.

I want to punch that smile right off.

 

「What’s really going on? 」

 

Suddenly, my consciousness rapidly surfaces.

 

「…Where… am I? 」

「Did you really lose your memory? Hey, you’re in the club room. The Salad Club’s. 」

 

Salad? What a stupid name…

I look around, and the setting sun dyes the room orange… A school?

This looks familiar. It’s the empty classroom of the rural high school I attended, assigned to us under the pretense of the mysterious… Salad Club, for club activities.

Is it… evening now? After school?

 

「You’re… Miyumi? 」

「Yes, that’s right. Your beloved Tomato-chan. Kyaha! 」

「Stop, it’s infuriating. 」

 

That excessively nice smile is annoying. Do you realize how many enemies you’ve made with that irritation?

There’s at least one right in front of you.

 

「Why am I here? 」

「What are you talking about? It’s our after-school salad date. 」

「That makes no sense. 」

 

A salad date wouldn’t work with just you and me. A salad with just tuna and tomato, what is that?

And I don’t remember becoming close enough to date you…

 

I suddenly have a terrible headache.

 

「What’s… happening? 」

 

It’s not a throbbing pain but a sharp, splitting one.

 

「Are you okay? Do you have a headache? I have some medicine for menstrual cramps if you need. 」

 

Why am I here?

I graduated from high school a long time ago… Graduated and then…

…What happened after that?

 

「No… it’s fine. 」

「Then, it’s your turn at Old Maid. Come on, it’s your turn. 」

 

…Old Maid?

Why are we playing Old Maid with just two people? It’s absurdly boring.

 

「Where are the others? 」

「The other upper grade members have already gone home. They finished their Old Maid matches. 」

「Wait, you can’t leave until you finish Old Maid? 」

「What are you talking about? You started it. The last one cleans up. This is the final match of the tournament. 」

 

I started it?

Also, isn’t that more like a loser’s match than a final?

 

「Wait, I’m confused. I was in a rookie battle and… 」

「The Salad Club isn’t a sports club. Besides, why would a third-year like you be in a rookie battle? What kind of rookie battle? Choose a card. My recommendation is the one on the right. Suffer in this unnecessarily complex psychological battle. Muhuhu. 」

 

Right, what’s a rookie battle? It doesn’t make any sense, damn it.

What’s going on? And don’t get your face so close to mine. Too close! Don’t peek at my cards.

 

「And then, reincarnated in another world… 」

「Oh, did you read the novel I wrote? It reached 297th in the daily rankings yesterday. Amazing, right? 」

 

Is that really amazing?

Right, Miyumi recommended a web-novel to me, and I started reading…

 

「A cheat reincarnation in another world where I’m unbeatable? 」

 

What am I even saying?

 

「Ultimately, the ultra-violent developments that start with ‘I’m Unbeatable’ are the best, right? In the next chapter…

The protagonist who turns into a giant ape when he sees the moon crushes a city full of annoying nobles, something like that. The annoying nobles can be like Lettuce-senpai. And Tsuna-senpai… an ape? 」

 

What is this…

Even if you ask me, that sounds like a mash-up of settings I’ve heard somewhere before.

Also, don’t treat a fellow club member like that.

 

「Or is it? Do you prefer a harem theme?

Maybe a polygamous setting is necessary to get more views? I’m quite confident in my villainess story, though. Is a reverse harem no good? 」

「Tomato-san, please be quiet for a moment. 」

「Yes, sir. 」

 

Something’s off. What’s going on? Something feels wrong, but I can’t figure out what.

What’s happened to my brain?

 

I look at the girl in front of me.

…I know her, Miyumi Okamoto. An annoying girl who never stops boasting about her ponytail as her charm point.

She’s a year younger than me… a high school girl?

 

「Were you a high school girl? 」

「Ah, that’s harsh. Are you suggesting I look like a primary schooler because of my flat chest and child-like figure? I’ve gotten used to hearing that! Hmph.

Oh no, I’m starting to feel down now. 」

 

As always, she’s an oddball with extreme emotional swings.

She is definitely Miyumi. I remember her like this. …Right?

 

「…Hey. 」

「Yes, what is it? 」

「I have something to ask you… 」

「Is it about my three sizes? I’m a bit embarrassed about my B, but I can tell you about my W and H… 」

 

No, I don’t care about your three sizes.

 

「What’s the date today? 」

「Huh? October 3rd? 」

「…What year? 」

「Well, it’s… 2013. 」

「… 」

 

Eh?

 

「No, that’s wrong. It’s already Heisei 20-something… 」

[1. TL Note: Miyumi answered “Heisei 25” which corresponds to the year 2013 in the Gregorian calendar. Tsuna, however, is confused and thinks it should be a different year in the Heisei era, referring to it as “Heisei twenty-something”. The Heisei era is a period of the Japanese calendar system that began in 1989.]

 

No, that’s not it. That’s not right. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not.

 

I should be dead already. I shouldn’t be here.

Tsuna Watanabe is dead and was resurrected in another world. No, reincarnated.

 

So this is a dream.

 

…The moment I realized that, the scenery started to blur.

Even Miyumi’s annoying smile distorts. Still annoying even when warped.

It’s as annoying as some user-modified dragon. I’ll throw it into the lava.

 

Ah, but, of course. It couldn’t be.

This is a scene from a past I once saw. Just a dream of mine mixed with some unclear information.

 

The world plunges into darkness again, and I’m cast out.

 

-2-

 

Alone in the darkness, I ponder.

 

Is this a dream? Is it a lucid dream if you know it’s a dream?

Has death in the arena triggered some strange effect?

 

But why Tomato-san? I’ve hardly seen Miyumi since graduation.

Indeed, I can’t even recall the other members of the Salad Club.

I remember the nicknames. I know them.

I was Sea Chicken, and Miyumi was Tomato.

There were also Cucumber, Lettuce, Pasta, Mayonnaise, Dressing, and Potato the dog. Broccoli, too, who transferred away.

How on earth did anyone end up being called Dressing, I can’t recall, but in my high school days, I was surrounded by such people.

Almost all of them got their nicknames just because I was Tuna.

Only Miyumi was an exception; she called herself Tomato. Some arbitrary reason about having three letters and the first and last being the same. If it were five letters, she would be a newspaper… which isn’t a salad at all.

But I can’t remember anyone other than Miyumi. Not their names, faces, or figures.

We did some good-for-nothing club activities back then, way before I died.

 

So when did I die?

 

I can’t remember.

The last memory I have is definitely in my room…

That’s strange. I know I’m dead, but I can’t remember how it happened.

 

I came to the Labyrinth City before… my memory wasn’t clear, and I even thought maybe I wasn’t dead, and just Tsuna Watanabe’s memories had merged with mine, but it’s not like that.

I know now for sure I died.

Was I in my room? Did a truck of reincarnation crash into me, or was it a meteorite? Or some unknown disease, a heart failure…

 

No, that’s not it… I remember leaving my room. I was going to the convenience store…

And it’s not in the countryside where my family home was. This room is in Tokyo… where exactly? Was I living alone?

Why are my memories so hazy?

 

Thinking about it, fragments of memory start to come together.

 

They’re terribly fragmented, and the memories I have are all out of order.

Clearly, something is missing. A giant piece.

Or perhaps something happened that caused memory loss.

 

But why?

Why is Miyumi in my memories of the moments before death?

Her image is not from high school. No, she hadn’t grown much since then, but did I meet her?

 

Now I understand. I did reunite with her… still annoying as ever…

 

It’s no good. …I can’t recall the crucial part.

Miyumi’s image is too overpowering. Kyaha, my foot.

 

Could something have happened with her before I died?

 

I’ve always been curious about something since arriving in this world. It’s about my Gift.

((Close-Range Combat)) and ((One-Handed Weapon)).

These two Gifts, which I couldn’t possibly have learned living an ordinary life in Japan, I assumed were from my own character in an MMORPG or something like that.

 

But what if that’s not the case?

If Gifts are strongly influenced by experiences in life, what could be the reason for these two to develop?

((Close-Range Combat)) alone makes sense. I never seriously practiced it, but whether it’s boxing or wrestling, it falls under ((Close-Range Combat)).

But ((One-Handed Weapon)) really doesn’t make sense. What kind of experience would lead to this?

…Using a hatchet? Fighting with a hatchet in modern Japan? …If I were robbing a bank, I’d probably use a gun.

Generally, now I fight with weapons, but most of them are two-handed. If it’s influenced by my life before, wouldn’t I be using one-handed weapons?

Do I subconsciously avoid using the Gift I have?

 

Could it be that I was actually summoned to another world? It’s not impossible since I’m reincarnated.

Aliens invading, fighting a virus outbreak that turns people into zombies?

Or more likely, getting caught up in a terrorist attack?

 

I don’t know. It might be just as I thought – meaningless.

I’m only contemplating this because I’m engulfed in these waves of thought. Normally, I wouldn’t even care about it.

 

『Tsuna. 』

 

I hear a voice calling me.