"President, here is this week's report. Please review it."
Only when Gendo Ikari heard the employee in front of him speak did he come back to his senses.
He looked around. He was in a private office.
The desk was covered with folders and books, a desktop computer, and a few personal belongings.
"Leave it on the desk. I'll give you my approval later."
"All right. I'll leave you to it."
Click-thud.
After watching his secretary close the office door, Gendo Ikari slowly stood and walked over to the curtained window.
He pulled the curtains open, taking in the whole new world outside.
Traffic streamed past, and crowds bustled along.
Cars stopped and started with the traffic lights, while office workers moved alongside them.
Men and women, young and old, dressed in suits or work uniforms, came and went below the building. Some tilted their heads to pin their phones between their ears and shoulders, some walked with breakfast stuffed into their mouths, and others touched up their makeup on the move.
The older ones looked blank and numb, walking at an unhurried pace.
The younger ones still had light in their eyes and strode forward with long steps.
"Didn't I... leave with Yui? Why does my existence in this world feel so real? Something was wrong with that spear. If even I survived, then Yui..."
Gendo Ikari left the curtains open and returned to his office chair. Leaning against its soft padding, he closed his eyes in thought.
In this world, he was the president of a large company. The chairman was his father-in-law, Yui's father.
After Yui's father stepped back to work behind the scenes, Gendo Ikari had naturally taken over as chairman.
In a few more years, he would leave the position just as his father-in-law had