The text printed on the name tag read like this. 　　Elda Vestia Returnee: Tanaka Shouta 　　Possessed Skill: Under Analysis "……Under analysis." Tanaka Shouta murmured. Under analysis. What the hell does under analysis mean. Under analysis, what. The voices of other participants introducing themselves echoed from somewhere distant. "Time stop." "Complete hypnosis, S-rank certified." "Precognition, 87 percent accuracy according to the person themselves." "Telekinesis S-rank, since last year." It was lively. Dazzling. Everyone had something. Under the ceiling where three crescent-shaped crystal chandeliers hung, the voices of skill-holders resonated like light. Tanaka Shouta kept staring at his name tag. Small letters. Under analysis. ーーーーーー The story goes back to this morning. Ichou Street in front of Komae Station had fewer people than usual for a Friday morning. Tanaka Shouta walked with his black short hair barely combed, pushing his glasses up with his index finger. White shirt, black slacks—his slender frame wore clothes that were simply clean, with no particular statement to make. His deep brown eyes were expressionless, with a habit of putting emotion on the back burner. He wasn't aware of it. His phone rang. A message from Yuusuke. "[excited]Tanaka! Tonight, there's the best encounter waiting at a hotel in Marunouchi. You won't regret it. Entry fee is 50,000 yen." Tanaka Shouta saw the notification and froze for three seconds. Then he replied. "[serious]50,000 yen is a quarter of my take-home pay though" The message was read. Yuusuke's reply came fast. "[excited]Better than being alone your whole life through matchmaking, right?" Tanaka Shouta closed his phone once and sat on a bench on Ichou Street. A pigeon next to him was casually pecking at breadcrumbs. Alone for life, huh. Numbers started lining up in his head on their own. Currently 28 years old. How many years until the average marriage age. At this pace, the frequency of meeting friends was declining year by year. In the five years since returning, he hadn't properly dated anyone. The cost of being alone was considerably higher than the 50,000 yen entry fee. (……Wait. Should I even be calculating this?) Tanaka Shouta pushed his glasses up. But the calculation wouldn't stop. This was always how it went. He wanted to move on emotion, but logic came first for some reason. "[serious]I'll go." He sent the reply. Closed his phone. The pigeon kept pecking at breadcrumbs. The regret came in the evening. ーーーーーー The suit was wrinkled all over. In front of the mirror in Corpo Cattleya Room 202, Tanaka Shouta froze for three minutes. The suit he'd pulled from the closet was supposed to be freshly washed, but he'd apparently forgotten to hang it up, and fine wrinkles ran across the entire thing. The necktie's knot was shifted to the left. When he moved it right, it became loose. When he tightened it again, the knot became vertically elongated. "[serious]Going to a luxury hotel like this" He said it to the wall. The wall didn't answer. In the corner of the room was a colorbox stacked with Excel function reference books. A cheap office chair. A 28-year-old wooden apartment that was almost too plain for its own good. Tanaka Shouta gave up and retied his necktie loosely. This is what going to a luxury hotel meant, he thought. Or rather, he didn't know what "this" meant. Either way, he had to go. He'd already paid the 50,000 yen. Already paid it. ーーーーーー Grand'Or Tokyo was in Marunouchi. Five minutes on foot from the Marunouchi South Exit of Tokyo Station. The exterior, combining an Art Deco stone facade with a glass curtain wall, had the kind of elegance that highlighted every wrinkle on Tanaka Shouta's entire body. Stepping into the lobby, a marble floor spread out before him. Footsteps echoed. The ceiling was high. The air was different. This was that kind of place. When he passed in front of the lobby lounge "Lumière," Tanaka Shouta stopped. He thought he'd have some coffee and calm down. He picked up the menu. One cup, 1,400 yen. "[surprised]………" Tanaka Shouta slowly closed the menu. That was two days' worth of set meals at Maruyama Diner. His wallet would hurt before he calmed down. He gave up on the coffee. He got into the elevator. When he pressed the button for the 14th floor, two people got on from the next floor. They seemed to be heading to the same event. A man in a suit and a woman with a clean appearance. They were already in conversation. "[gentle]How long were you there? In Elda Vestia?" "[excited]About 7 years subjectively. But when I came back, my physical age was restored, so I felt like I got a good deal." "[laughing]I understand. Officially it's treated as a coma, so workplace reintegration was rough, but your face comes back young, which is nice." "[serious]Well, during the Dislocation we were asleep without knowing anything, so it feels like we just woke up and 5 years had passed." Tanaka Shouta gazed at the elevator wall. (Ah, right. I'm also someone who came back in a coma state.) It was already five years ago. March 2019, he'd been asleep and then he was gone. When he came to, he was awake on top of a white tower. The Tower of Farnese, as he later learned—a place where many other confused people were gathered. From there, he lived in that world for years. On New Year's Day 2024, everyone returned all at once. The Great Return. That's what it was called, he'd seen it on the news. 8,400 people returned within Japan alone. All of them reintegrated into society as "people recovered from comas." The matter of skills was kept from the general public. He'd heard something about a Covenant Management Ordinance managing it. He didn't know the actual details. Tanaka Shouta had gotten rehired at Touei Office Machines Corporation, returned to work compiling purchase and sales order data and making Excel reports, and since then had barely engaged with the returnee community. It wasn't that he didn't want to engage. It was just that he had no skill. The Dislocation—the incident on March 14, 2019 at 2:37 AM where approximately 120,000 people disappeared worldwide—about 95 percent of the survivors came back with some kind of skill. Tanaka Shouta had nothing. He'd lived for years in that world and gained nothing. He'd just lived ordinarily and come back. The 14th floor arrived. The moment the elevator doors opened, Tanaka Shouta felt a slight prickling sensation in his nasal cavity. "[serious]Wonder if they have an air purifier in here" He said it to himself while walking down the hallway. ーーーーーー Crescent Hall was chaos. About 200 square meters of banquet room. Ceiling height 4.5 meters. Three crescent-shaped crystal chandeliers hung from above. The lighting was soft, and round tables lined up from Table A to Table H. A refined matchmaking party venue. Except there were 20 business cards floating in the air. A man standing near the entrance was smiling with business cards spread out in midair. "[excited]Please, take one." Tanaka Shouta accepted one. "[serious]Ah, thank you……" (This isn't how you hand out business cards at a matchmaking party.) Beyond that, a different drama was unfolding. A woman with a clean atmosphere—who would later be called "Kotone"—was speaking matter-of-factly to the man across from her. "[cold]Your hobby is reading, your favorite food is curry, you're from Kumagaya in Saitama, and your conversation always ends with 'but honestly being alone is easier, right?' Yes, next person." The man across from her looked down deeply. "[sad]……Yeah, all of it was right." The moment the next man tried to sit down, Kotone was already looking past him. "[cold]The next person works in IT, likes ramen, and their skill is……well, never mind. Go ahead." "[surprised]Huh, I haven't said anything yet." Tanaka Shouta moved to the wall. What happened next was more dangerous. A man with a somewhat forceful smile approached. "[excited]Want to see my skill? Look me in the eyes." The moment Tanaka Shouta tried to politely make eye contact, someone else in sunglasses jumped in from the side. "[angry]Wait, that's dangerous!! Don't just do whatever you want!! If you make eye contact for 3 more seconds you're done!!" "[surprised]Huh? Why?" "[angry]He casts hypnosis!! Stop trying everything!! You've got 3 seconds left!!" Tanaka Shouta dropped his gaze to the floor. (Hypnosis. Eye contact. Weakness is strong emotion……I've heard stories like that. Returnee skills always have activation conditions and weaknesses.) The man in sunglasses bowed politely. "[serious]Thank you. That guy's the type who doesn't realize it, so this happens every time." "[sarcastic]He comes every time?" Tanaka Shouta pressed his back against the wall. "[whispers]This is a matchmaking party, right……? Not a combat sports weigh-in……?" No one was listening. ーーーーーー Then, at the edge of the venue, there was a snap. A dry, small sound. The sound of snapping fingers with both hands. Everything stopped. Precisely, everything stopped. The voices of conversation disappeared. The business cards floating in the air stopped moving. Kotone's mouth, which had been about to say something, froze open. Someone's glass, which they'd been reaching for, hung suspended with liquid about to spill over the rim. The water hung frozen in midair. Only Tanaka Shouta was moving. "[surprised]Huh? Huh? Why can only I move?" His voice echoed through the room. No one answered. Of course not. Everyone was frozen. Tanaka Shouta slowly stepped forward. He walked between the frozen participants. He wasn't afraid. For some reason, he wasn't afraid. Just an odd silence, with only the sound of his own footsteps. The light from the chandelier looked unusually soft in the still air of the room. Their gazes met. At the edge of the venue, a woman stood. She was a reception staff member. Tanaka Shouta thought: this person snapped their fingers. His thoughts moved first. Emotion came later. She had perfect posture, wearing a black uniform. Her hair was tied back. Her facial features were neat—or rather, it was more accurate to say her expression was absent. A face without emotion. Eyes without warmth. But. Those eyes were looking at Tanaka Shouta. As the only moving human in the frozen room, her gaze rested on him. Expressionless. But her eyes narrowed slightly. Maybe she was surprised. Or maybe she was calculating. Either way, Tanaka Shouta understood that he'd been recognized as an unexpected existence. (Cold like ice) Tanaka Shouta thought. (But something about her eyes is different.) He couldn't form any further impressions. Not before the world began moving again. ーーーーーー Applause broke out. The moderator on stage picked up the microphone. A bright voice echoed through the venue. "[excited]Welcome to the 9th Pairing Game! Today, we'll help our returnee guests find the perfect spouse!" The 9th. Pairing Game. When Tanaka Shouta heard those words, the full picture finally came into focus. It wasn't a matchmaking party. Or rather, maybe it was matchmaking, but it was more than that. The phrase "best encounter" that Yuusuke had sent began to take on a different shape in his mind. He picked up his name tag. He checked the front. Tanaka Shouta, it said. He looked at the back. A crest of two wildcats forming a circle was engraved there. The Lynx Circle crest. The design of the guardian beast called Garm Lynx in that world. Knowing that meant this place was for returnees. Of course it was. All the participants had been talking about that world. Below that was small print. Elda Vestia Returnee: Tanaka Shouta Possessed Skill: Under Analysis "[whispers]Under analysis" Memories began to surface hazily. March 14, 2019—he'd been asleep and then he was gone. He woke in the Tower of Farnese. On top of a white, tall tower, surrounded by many people with confused faces. From there, he li