Chapter 1: Dammit, Aqua!
Beginner Town, Axel.
This was a remote, frontier town, the furthest from the Demon King's Castle. It was peaceful, serene, and free from conflict.
Precisely because of this, there were no high-level monsters nearby, making it a popular place for new adventurers to begin their careers.
It was, in every sense of the word, a beginner town.
At the town gate, two guards stood around, bored out of their minds.
Guard A stretched lazily and sighed, "Aaaah, I'm so bored. So incredibly bored."
"Well, it's a beginner town, after all," Guard B said, covering his mouth as he yawned. "At this rate, my body's going to get rusty. How about we go for a drink tonight?"
"Great idea. My treat. Then we can go burn off some of this pent-up energy."
"It's a deal, then."
The two guards shared a lewd grin. As for where they were going? Don't ask. If you know, you know.
"Still, is it really necessary to stand guard here all day?" Guard A grumbled quietly. He tried to tempt his partner, "Why don't we just go now? It's not like anyone is coming."
"Don't you dare abandon your post. This is our duty. We'll be in deep trouble if the lord finds out," the slightly older Guard B chided in a low voice.
The lord of Axel, Aldarp, was not a kind man. If that fat-headed, round-bellied, detestable low-class noble decided to make trouble, bottom-rung soldiers like them wouldn't be able to handle it. He was petty enough to hold their entire unit responsible.
But before he could lecture his partner with his senior authority, he saw a monster approaching in the distance.
"What is that..." Guard B shielded his eyes, trying to get a better look.
—[Hawkeye]
After activating the skill, he saw a Giant Toad. It was a common, low-level monster that roamed the plains, the kind that a fully-equipped novice adventurer could easily defeat.
But something was strange.
Instead of hopping, it was crawling slowly on the ground, which was not how a toad should move.
"What's so strange about it?" Guard A flicked his fingernails, saying lazily, "You can tell from a mile away it's that guy, Kobayashi. Only he is cheap enough to refuse to pay the transport fee."
"Mm, that must be him," Guard B nodded. As guards, the two of them knew most of the adventurers and were familiar with their situations.
As the Giant Toad got closer and its form became clear, a tall young man appeared before them.
He was about 18 years old, with black hair and brown eyes, and was reasonably handsome. He wore leather armor, carried a longbow on his back, and had a short dagger at his waist—the standard getup for a Thief-Archer class.
Despite being 180cm tall, he looked tiny in front of the 3-meter-tall Giant Toad. He was currently hoisting one of the toad's legs over his shoulder, struggling down the road.
Seeing his struggle, Guard A couldn't help but call out, "Kobayashi, out on a solo quest again? You should really find a party."
"Shut up, you're annoying!" Kobayashi shot back.
Guard A's eyes widened. "Huh?! I'm showing concern for you, and you call me annoying?!"
"If you're so concerned, then help me carry this thing to the Guild."
"Ahem, well... you see, I'm on duty right now. It's not really convenient."
Helping was a small matter, but he couldn't stand the slime from the Giant Toads. It smelled absolutely horrible. There were plenty of low-level monster quests around Axel, so many adventurers who detested the foul-smelling slime simply chose not to do this one.
"Tch, if you're not going to help, then shut your trap."
Kobayashi gave him a disdainful middle finger, then fell silent, continuing his difficult journey toward the Guild.
He had only taken a few steps when Guard B called out from behind him, "Seriously, Kobayashi, you really should consider finding a proper party. At least for your own safety."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll think about it, I'll think about it."
Kobayashi waved his hand dismissively without looking back. His perfunctory attitude made it clear he wasn't listening. The two guards shrugged helplessly.
Entering the town, the slime-covered Kobayashi walked with his head held high, chest puffed out. He showed no sense of shame, even as the people around him stared with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. In fact, he looked even prouder, as if showing off the spoils of war behind him—even if it was just a low-level Giant Toad.
The stench of the slime was potent. Passersby quickly gave him a wide berth, and soon he arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.
He pushed the door open.
"Hey, hey, hey, Giant Toad delivery!" Kobayashi shouted, catching the attention of the Guild staff.
He walked straight to the back of the Guild counter, his familiarity with the place making it obvious he was an experienced veteran.
A moment later, a well-endowed, blonde guild employee came out to greet him. It was the Guild's most popular receptionist, Luna.
Kobayashi greeted her. "Sorry to trouble you, Miss Luna."
"Leave it to me."
Luna displayed immense professionalism, efficiently appraising the monster and calling over other staff to dismantle it.
About ten minutes later.
"Confirmation complete. The quest [Slay 5 Giant Toads] is finished. Including the monster carcass you brought back, the total comes to 15,000 Eris. Please confirm."
The quest reward was 10,000 Eris, and the monster carcass was worth 5,000 Eris. If he had needed the Guild to transport it, it would have cost 1,000 Eris. That was too poor of a deal, which was why he chose to carry it himself.
"Alright, I'll take the reward."
After pocketing the coins, he remembered something else. "By the way, can I raise my adventurer level yet?"
"Well... slaying Giant Toads is a basic quest within the scope of beginner adventurers. It doesn't increase your adventurer merit points."
She didn't say it outright, but her words spelled out a clear "no."
Kobayashi sighed. "Is that so? I understand."
It's fine, he thought. Being a beginner adventurer is fine too.
A lower-class ninja can seal the mother of all chakra, a substitute Soul Reaper can beat the son of the Soul King. One day, I, a beginner adventurer, will successfully defeat the Demon King of another world!
For now, this was the only way he could comfort himself.
Just then, someone behind him called out teasingly, "Kobayashi, you're back covered in slime again!"
The speaker was a blond young man with a beauty mark under his eye. His name was Dust.
His class was Knight, and he was also Axel's most infamous deadbeat and delinquent, often running up a tab at the Guild for drinks. The residents of Axel treated him like dirt.
Kobayashi didn't respond, instead saying to the waitress, "A mug of sparkling liquor and an order of fried toad legs."
Dust shouted again, "You should find a party soon, or you'll be back covered in slime again tomorrow!"
Kobayashi couldn't help but turn his head and retort, "At least it's better than freeloading at the Guild and waiting to die, right?"
"Urk..."
Kobayashi's counterattack was swift and powerful, leaving Dust speechless. He could only gulp down his drink and mumble things like, "I'm not freeloading, there just aren't any suitable quests," and "Cooperating with my party members can't be called freeloading," and other ridiculous excuses.
Seeing Dust get put in his place, the other adventurers in the Guild burst into good-natured laughter, filling the hall with a cheerful atmosphere.
Kobayashi let out a small laugh as well.
However, the others were still curious. "Kobayashi, why don't you find a party? With your skills, it should be easy, right?"
"Hah. The strong do not deign to associate with the weak. Don't you understand that the strong will always be strong?" Kobayashi replied with a look of contempt.
"...Are you okay in the head?"
The person who asked realized that Kobayashi's condition was also quite serious; his words were completely baffling.
Others chimed in to rub salt in the wound.
"Calling yourself strong? Aren't you just a novice?!"
"Sword Master, Rune Knight, Archpriest, Archwizard... so many advanced classes to choose from, yet he insisted on picking the weakest one, [Adventurer (Beginner)]. What was he thinking?"
"Who knows? It's truly baffling."
"If he'd chosen any other class, he'd be in high demand. But since it's the Adventurer class, I'd suggest he deletes his character and starts over."
"Delete his character and start over? What's that mean?"
"It's something Mitsurugi Kyouya once said. It basically means he's a completely lost cause."
"No way, that's hilarious."
Stop... stop talking!
Please, just stop!
Kobayashi clutched his head, unwilling to recall the events of when he chose his class. His eyes held a mix of loneliness, sadness, and self-pity.
Regret! In short, he was filled with immense regret!
The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it, until he completely lost his appetite. The delicious food placed before him went untouched.
He got up, paid his bill, and left the Guild. Walking down the street, he noticed people were still avoiding him and realized he still reeked of toad slime.
"...Whatever. I'll go take a bath first."
You've probably guessed it by now. That's right, Kobayashi was actually a transmigrator.
Three months ago, due to overdoing his 'cultivation' and staying up all night, he died suddenly. He closed his eyes, and his previous life was over.
But when he opened them again, he saw a goddess.
Her name was Aqua, and she claimed to be the Goddess of Water and Wisdom who guided young humans who had died to a second life in another world.
As a seasoned otaku, Kobayashi immediately understood: he had been reincarnated after death.
Bad news: He was dead.
Good news: He could be reincarnated!
And not only could he be reincarnated, but he could also choose a powerful cheat ability!
Knowing this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Kobayashi used every trick up his sleeve, going against his conscience to praise Aqua as a goddess without peer in heaven or on earth.
He said things like, "You are the greatest goddess in the divine realm, the most popular goddess, and the most intelligent goddess," and "Your believers are spread throughout the world, and everyone believes in you, respects you, and loves you."
The flattery was extremely exaggerated. Even a goddess with a modicum of self-awareness would have felt ashamed by such over-the-top praise.
But Aqua didn't see it that way. On the contrary, she felt it was all perfectly natural. In fact, that's what she thought of herself from the very beginning. She stuck her nose in the air, smugly enjoying the feeling of being praised to the heavens.
Finally, after repeated promises that "After I'm reincarnated, I'll definitely join the Axis Order and spread the good word of the church," he successfully fooled Aqua and unlocked a super-powerful cheat ability.
—World Travel!
Hehehe, I know how this works, he had thought. Aqua and the other gods manage countless worlds. Plus, there have been crossovers with other anime. And since I was reincarnated after death, there's a high probability that I can also travel to other worlds to adventure.
How could he pass up such an amazing opportunity? He wanted to see more sights!
For this reason, to be able to quickly integrate and easily learn skills from other worlds, Kobayashi forsook all the advanced classes and specifically chose the lowest-tier class that could [Learn any skill after seeing it once]: [Adventurer (Beginner)].
The result—
"WHY CAN'T I USE MY CHEAT ABILITY!!!"
He held up his right hand. On his index finger was a plain, unremarkable, pure black ring. This was the divine artifact gifted to him by Aqua, the powerful cheat that could cross worlds.
Kobayashi couldn't help but roar, venting his frustration.
"Insufficient energy, insufficient energy... what kind of energy does it even need?! I've already fed it plenty of mana, I've even used up ten high-quality magic crystals worth 100,000 Eris each! How much more mana does it need?! And is pouring mana into it even working?!"
My life could have been so much smoother if I weren't held back by this useless cheat. Even I wish my life could be summed up as a "trashy isekai light novel." If possible, I'd want it to be a 24-karat, hand-carved, premium-grade, ultra-soft toilet paper kind of story—the kind of satisfying and effortless legend of an overpowered protagonist.
...But all of that was just an extravagant fantasy.
Forget it, I should just look on the bright side. It's already great that I wasn't sent to the city wall construction team to unleash my inner infrastructure fanatic.
Whenever he felt down, he would comfort himself this way. After all, life isn't just about the drudgery before you... there's also drudgery in the distance.
After washing up, he felt refreshed. The sun was high in the sky, and his mood improved.
In truth, whether it was the difficult life after reincarnation, the impulsive choice of the worst class, or being constantly humiliated and teased, he could endure it all.
But there was one thing, just one thing, that he absolutely could not tolerate.
And that was the fact that his cheat ability was unusable!
Because the cheat was unusable, all his initial preparations had become pointless. And because he chose the [Adventurer (Beginner)] class, he had fallen from a rising star to a Konosuba clown.
So, if he ever got the chance, he would definitely make that idiot goddess pay! He absolutely, absolutely had to teach her a lesson, or else he would never be able to quell the anger in his heart.
Walking down the street, Kobayashi wasn't paying attention and bumped shoulders with someone coming from the opposite direction.
He snapped back to reality and quickly apologized.
"Ah, sorry about that. I bumped into you."
"It's alright, just be more careful next time."
The gentle and quiet voice seemed to belong to a girl. This should have been just a small, everyday incident.
But when he looked up at her, Kobayashi froze.
She had translucent, water-colored long hair and eyes, a water-blue dress, and a light purple feathered robe draped around her. She had an ethereal, flawless face without any makeup, and her body was surrounded by a special radiance that set her apart from the people of the mortal world.
But despite having a transcendent beauty completely different from ordinary cuteness and a perfectly curvaceous body, this beautiful girl gave off a strange, airheaded feeling.
The image of the goddess from his memory gradually overlapped with the girl in front of him. Kobayashi's eyes widened, his mouth hung open, and he subconsciously blurted out:
"Dammit, Aqua?!"
(End of Chapter)