Minako Hirano was famous in the neighborhood, and she was my proud big sister.
Beautiful, kind to everyone, and studying hard at a top university to become a doctor. She was over ten years older than me, but she doted on me like a younger brother. And I loved her just as much, respected her more than anyone, and felt proud just being her little brother. She was my idol.
“Hey, Onee-chan, why do you want to become a doctor?”
It was summer vacation, and she was helping me with my homework when I asked her that.
“Don’t you think it’s amazing to have a job where you save people’s lives?”
She replied with a pure, carefree smile.
“It’s easy to work hard for yourself, right? But working hard for others? That’s tough. I want to be the kind of person who can do that.”
“But I can’t even study properly for myself.”
That joke must’ve hit her funny bone because she laughed out loud.
“You’re amazing, Onee-chan. Studying to help others.”
“Oh, but I’m studying for myself too, you know?”
“For the paycheck?”
“Ahaha, Yu-kun, you’re so mature.”
After laughing her fill, she looked at me gently.
“Yu-kun, do you like Onee-chan?”
“Yeah, I love you!”
“Then if Onee-chan says thank you to Yu-kun, does that make you happy?”
“Yeah, it does!”
“Me too.”
She smiled warmly.
“If someone is in trouble and I can help them, it makes me happy too. And if they say thank you, that’s just the best feeling. That’s why I study—to feel that happiness. So, this studying? It’s for me too.”
I didn’t really understand what Onee-chan was saying, but I knew she was amazing. Admiration filled my heart.
I leaned forward, eyes shining, and asked her:
“Onee-chan, can I become like you? A great person like you!”
“Sorry! I’m not your sister!”
When I realized it, God was standing in front of me.
The familiar white scene. An otherworldly space shining white, like being in the clouds, where only God and I stood.
Wearing a white robe and a gold ring floating above that perfect face, God had been appearing in my dreams in this form for eight years now.
“Sorry to interrupt a nice dream! It’s time for a Dream Review.”
God clasped their hands together apologetically.
“…”
Still slightly confused, I gradually got a grasp on the situation.
A ‘Dream Review.’ God appears in people’s dreams periodically and reports, “Your current human level is this.” About once a month, God shows up. It’s the only way to check my human level, and the only time I get to chat with God.
“Alright, let’s get started!”
God took out some documents from who knows where, flipping through them while reading.
“Yuichi Hirano. Last review was a month ago, wasn’t it? Since then, you… Yep, did volunteer work cleaning the pool. I’ll give you three points for that. Other things that didn’t really add points… Hmm, you’ve been sorting the trash daily and picked up seven fallen bicycles near the station. Oh, and you didn’t pocket the extra change when the cashier made a mistake. No bad deeds… Noted.”
Like always, it felt like every little detail of my life was being monitored. Privacy was meaningless with God. It was kind of terrifying.
“Hmm… It’s a bit on the low side, but… Alright, let’s wrap everything together and give you one point for it. That makes four points total. So, your current human level is now 309 points. Rank F.”
God read it out and turned to me with a concerned look.
“You’ve got to try a little harder. You’re just barely at 300 points, so you can get into Heaven, but it’ll be rough living there, you know? You need at least 500 points to live comfortably.”
“None of your business.”
“At this rate, it’ll take ten years to get another 200 points. What if you die before then?”
“I’ll hope I don’t.”
“You never know when you’re going to die, so it’s best to earn points while you can, or it’ll be too late.”
“…”
You only have until you die to change your human level. If I died in an accident or something, it’d be too late to realize I didn’t have enough points.
“Are the others who helped with the pool cleaning getting three points too?”
“Yep.”
“All of them?”
“All of them. Mai Kawase got three points too.”
The mention of Kawase’s name made me flinch.
“…Why bring her up?”
“That’s what you wanted to know, wasn’t it?”
With a playful wink, God seemed to know everything.
“…Is it fair that Kawase, who put in serious effort, only got the same points as everyone else?”
“Sorry, it’s government work. I’m just following the grading criteria.”
“What are those criteria?”
“I’ve been asked that about a million times, but I can’t tell you.”
“Who decided this?”
“Basically, I did. Since I’m God and all.”
“Who guarantees it’s right?”
“God guarantees it.”
…There’s no point arguing. So, this random deity is in charge of people’s fates after death?
“Well, that concludes the Dream Review. If you don’t have any questions, I’ll wake you up now.”
“One last thing—why did you reveal human levels to humanity?”
God let out a small laugh at my question.
“Yuichi-kun… Do you really hate human levels that much?”
“Yeah, I hate it.”
God chuckled, amused.
“Even if I didn’t tell you, you’d all figure it out in about ten years.”
“Hey.”
“Well… Here’s a hint: Too many humans. Too many deaths. I’m really struggling with it.”
“Huh? What does that…”
“Good morning, Yuichi-kun. Have a nice day.”
When I woke up, it was ten minutes before my alarm was set to ring.
“…Damn it.”
I awoke in a foul mood and clicked my tongue in frustration.
That god doesn’t take humans seriously at all. They always brush off my questions with that smug, evasive attitude.
How am I supposed to trust a standard made by someone like that?
“I hate you, too,” I said clearly, knowing full well God was probably still watching me.
“—Three points? Really?”
In the packed morning train, Shoko raised her voice in surprise. I told her about last night’s Dream Review, and how we only got three points for the pool cleaning. Shoko seemed dissatisfied.
“Everyone got three points?”
“No way you’d have a higher score than me.”
“I thought we’d get more. Seriously?”
“Do other types of volunteering get more?”
“Yeah, used to be double digits in the past.”
“Past…? Does the timing matter?”
“Who knows? It just feels like the points have gotten smaller over the last few years. Maybe it’s more impressive when kids do good deeds instead of adults.”
…Hard to believe that god would be so considerate. Shoko says she doesn’t understand God’s criteria for giving points, either.
Could that deity really be just throwing out points based on their mood?
“Now you know how hard it is to save up points, right? Once you start, it feels stupid to lose points by doing something bad.”
“Not at all.”
I kept scanning the train for someone to give up my seat to, even though no one looked like they needed it. Even if my points dropped, I’d keep doing this every day.
I decided to wait one more stop, where people switch trains often, and I’d likely get a seat.
When we arrived at the station, people jostled around, and as expected, I managed to snag a seat. Shoko sat beside me. From here on, I started to spot students from our high school.
“Oh, look, it’s Kawase-san.”
Shoko said. Mai Kawase had just boarded.
“Hey, Kawase-san! There’s a little space here if you want to sit.”
Shoko scooted closer to me, creating a small space. I shifted to the side, and it was just enough for one more person.
“Oh, thanks, then I’ll take you up on that.”
Kawase nodded slightly and took a seat next to Shoko.
“Yesterday was rough, huh?”
Shoko chatted with Kawase. They probably only met yesterday, but Shoko was already speaking so casually. She’d done the same with me when she first talked to me in our first year.
“Yes, it was. Thank you for your help. Uh…”
Kawase glanced between Shoko and me, hesitating. Right, she didn’t know our names yet.
“I’m Akasaka Shoko. This guy? You know him? Hirano Yuichi.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. My name is…”
“Oh, we know. Mai Kawase, right? You’re famous! I heard you’ve saved up a lot of points.”
“N-No, not really… ahaha…”
Instead of being shy, Kawase looked almost like she was being scolded, glancing away with an awkward smile.
“Yuichi just told me this morning that yesterday’s pool cleaning only gave three points. Isn’t that unfair?”
“Ah… I, um… don’t really pay much attention to points…”
“Oh, got so many you don’t need more?”
“N-No, it’s not that…”
“Don’t be jealous of her points, Shoko.”
“It’s not that. Hey, Kawase-san, have you done a lot of different volunteer work?”
“Well… yes.”
“Tell me which ones give the best points—the ones that are easy but still score high.”
…This girl. She’s really hitting up a near-stranger for point-earning tips?
“Sorry, I don’t really pay attention to the points… so I don’t remember.”
“Aw… But are you doing any volunteer work soon?”
“Oh, I was thinking of visiting a retirement home after school today.”
“Today?” Shoko and I both asked, taken aback.
“You just did pool cleaning yesterday, and you’re still doing more? Isn’t that too much?”
Honestly, I agreed with Shoko. Even with my half-hearted cleaning yesterday, I still felt a bit tired. Kawase, who worked so hard, must be exhausted. I couldn’t imagine taking care of elderly folks the very next day.
“It’s something I want to do. Plus, I enjoy talking to elderly people—it’s interesting and I learn a lot.”
“Huh. Well, alright. Let me know if you find any good volunteering gigs.”
“Yes, of course. Hirano-san, you…”
“I’m good. Probably even less interested in human levels than you.”
“They say he plans to write ‘Hell’ on his career preference form.”
“Yup, and I’ll drag you along with me.”
“Aha…”
