"Too much blood loss. This one too, sigh."
"Forget it. There's no saving him."
"Just one more try…"
The voices began to fade. Cold, dizziness, pain, they all dissolved into a distant haze.
For a fleeting instant, it felt like he'd been dreaming for a very long time. As he was about to open his eyes, a flurry of frantic words drifted to his ears, an anxious female voice:
"Send him back, why isn't this written in the Goddess Handbook?!"
Pages flipped furiously.
"Ah, here it is! Okay, okay, so that's how, wait, what?! Why'd another one show up? Still alive?"
"Let's deal with the first one first… Let me see the info, this aptitude? Are you kidding me? That's ultra rare. No, Ultra Rare!"
Noisy.
So he opened his eyes.
In front of him was a chair.
Sitting properly upon it was a stunningly beautiful young woman. Her hair and eyes were the same clear shade of blue, giving off a sense of serenity and grace. Clad in loose, flowing robes called hagoromo, she radiated a beauty that transcended anything human.
"Kiyoshi Nagasaki, "
She looked at him with an expression of sorrow as she spoke his name.
"This is the realm of the dead. I'm sorry I can't greet you with a 'welcome.' Not long ago, you passed away. It was brief, but your life has come to an end. I am Aqua, goddess of the afterlife, tasked with guiding departed souls. It saddens me to meet you here."
Kiyoshi said nothing, glancing around.
He, too, was seated on a chair, surrounded by vast darkness and scattered stars, dim, indistinct, and empty. A silence that evoked only one thought, death.
It all came back in a rush. A truck. A collision. The spiderweb of shattered glass. And then,
Kiyoshi snapped his head up to look at the goddess.
"…My mom. Where is she?"
If she wasn't here, then…
"I'm sorry," Goddess Aqua said, shaking her head with a sigh. "Your mother… has also passed."
Kiyoshi fell silent for a long while. "…I see. Then, am I getting reincarnated next?"
It hurt. It was suffocating. But what else could he do?
If he went ahead with reincarnation now… maybe, just maybe, he'd get to see her one last time on the way.
"Yes, but, there is one more choice. A decision more important than any you've ever made!"
With a snap of her fingers, a map appeared before them. Vast continents marked in red, with the kanji まおう, Demon King, written across them.
Aqua stood and began her impassioned speech:
"Prove to the world you have the strength and courage to pursue happiness!
Join the ranks of those saving this world!
Stand against the Demon King's forces!
Witness the wonders of another realm!
Let divine grace bless all worlds!
Become a hero, a legend, a, Savior!"
"…Sorry, I'm really not in the mood right now." Kiyoshi shook his head, finding her noisy. "Please, I just want to be reborn with my mother. Can I see her one last time?"
"Oh, come on, listen to the whole pitch first! The Demon King's reign has plunged that world into chaos. People are suffering. Don't you want to help them?"
"I don't have that kind of power."
"No, you do! We're not like those old-fashioned gods who just dump quests and vanish, or worse, betray the hero at the final battle. If you can even contribute enough on the path to defeating the Demon King, we can grant your wish!"
"…I don't really have any wishes."
Aqua circled him slowly, a strange smile creeping across her face. Then she dropped a bombshell:
"Hmm? Really? Not even bringing your mother back to life?"
"…Resurrection?"
"Yes! Bring her back! You're still young. She's still young. You were finally starting to live a good life together, right? Isn't it such a shame?"
Kiyoshi's resolve faltered. He sat in silence for a while, then lifted his head. "Fine. I agree, but I'd like some proof first."
"A little demonstration? Sure thing!"
She snapped her fingers again.
Nothing happened.
Aqua quietly shuffled behind the curtain and whispered,
"…Please work this once…"
And then the world around them shifted.
The bustling street. Crowds of people.
In the reflection of a nearby window stood a brown-haired young man with gentle features, him.
There was a traffic jam ahead. A truck had slammed into a car. The injured had already been taken away, and yellow caution tape surrounded the scene.
"Such a tragedy. Heard the kid was only fifteen, just about to start high school."
"Yeah, someone said the mom and her kid both… sigh."
"Life really is fragile, huh?"
The devastation made Kiyoshi tremble. Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Only when he felt the sun's warmth on his skin did he realize, he wasn't a ghost.
He stretched out a hand into the sunlight.
There was a shadow. He didn't fade.
He was alive.
And all around him, the mundane world bustled, office workers, students, girls carrying instrument cases… Everyday life. So ordinary. So vivid. It made him want to cry.
"Time's limited," Aqua said, suddenly appearing beside him. "It's rare for us to visit the mortal realm. Let's grab a bite, ahem, I mean, test whether your sense of taste is still working."
She motioned for him to follow.
"I bent the rules a little and brought you back first. You're headed to another world soon anyway, so it's fine."
"This body, is it really mine?"
"Yep! Your original one. A little patch-up and it's good as new. I also retrieved your mother. Used a few consciousness manipulation techniques. The hospital thinks you've been cremated already. After resurrection, we'll set you both up with new identities. But... best avoid running into people you used to know."
"That's enough," Kiyoshi nodded firmly. "As long as we have legal identities, we can rebuild."
"Spoken like a true man of resolve!" Aqua grinned. "Some of your abilities will be sealed after you return, but the general-purpose stuff stays. You'll become someone amazing. When you do, don't forget to offer me gourmet food, manga, and electronics, okay?"
"Of course, Goddess."
"All right then, this café looks good. Let's eat quickly so you can be on your way."
"Thank you."
In the end, Kiyoshi was the one who paid.
The bloodstained cash startled the waiter. It seemed Aqua had only bothered to clean the clothes.
Back in the original universe.
Only now did Kiyoshi notice someone sitting silently behind his chair.
It was a girl about his age. Blue twin tails draped over her shoulders, skin pale as porcelain, features delicate like a handcrafted doll. You could almost imagine her dancing to the tune of a music box if someone turned a key.
"…Who's this?"
"Oh, her?" Aqua turned her face away, a little sheepish. "She's your party member! I picked her out just for you. Pretty generous of me, huh?"
Suspicious, but Kiyoshi trusted the goddess now. He let it go.
"She's so young. What happened to her?"
"Died in her sleep. Work stress. Sudden collapse."
"She was working at that age?"
"Probably tough family circumstances. Dead mom, alcoholic dad, something like that. Anyway, she's your teammate now. Let me see… Not bad stats, she's an SR. Oh! She's waking up. You sit tight, I'll do the newbie orientation."
Aqua wiped some chocolate cake from the corner of her mouth and sat up straight, face serious.
"Welcome to the afterlife, Miss Shoko Toyokawa. I am the goddess Aqua, and I'll be in charge of your reincarnation. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Moments later, they were back in the human world.
Aqua had gone out and returned with fried chicken, fries, and burgers.
Kiyoshi paid again.
<><><><><><><><>
Add to Collections!
200 P.S/ 1 Extra Chapter