"Welcome to the afterlife, Satou Kazuma-san. You've passed away," a voice greeted me in a pristine white room.
I was disoriented by this abrupt news. Sitting behind a desk was a breathtakingly beautiful woman, who could only be described as a goddess, informing me of my death.
She had silky blue hair and appeared about my age. Her attire included a light-purple hagoromo, a sash-like shawl worn by celestial beings in Japanese Buddhism.
Her blue eyes met mine as I tried to grasp the situation. I remembered my recent actions—leaving my house, typically a rare event, to buy a special edition of an online game. I was a hikikomori, a shut-in, excited to get home and play. However, on my way back, I tried to save a girl from what I thought was a speeding truck, costing me my life.
"Is the girl I tried to save okay?" I asked.
"She's alive but has a fractured leg," the goddess responded, before adding a twist, "though she wouldn't have been hurt if you hadn't intervened. It was just a slow tractor, not a speeding truck. Your dramatics worsened the situation."
She also revealed that I died of shock, not impact, and that my embarrassing demise made even the medical staff laugh.
"As hilarious as that is," she continued, "you have two options: reincarnation or a rather dull version of heaven."
When she noted my lack of enthusiasm for either, she presented a third option: being sent to a fantasy world plagued by a Demon King, with one special power or item of my choosing.
I pondered this, all while she hurried me along, treating me dismissively despite my life-altering situation. Angered by her attitude, I made my choice on a whim.
"I choose you!" I pointed at her.
She began a standard spiel but then froze. "What did you say?"
In an instant, another celestial being appeared, indicating she'd take over the goddess's duties. A blue magic circle appeared beneath both of us.
It seemed I was indeed going to another world—and she was coming with me.
“Hero, may you be victorious among the many hero candidates and be the one to defeat the Demon King…! Well then, I bid you farewell!” proclaimed the goddess who emerged
“Wah! That’s my line!” complained the Aqua Goddess
With the announcement from the angel…!
A bright light surrounded the wailing Aqua and me…!
A carriage made a loud creaking sound as it drove over the pavement.
“…Another world… Hey, it really is another world. Eh, it’s for real. Am I going to use magic and go on adventures in this world?”
Trembling with excitement because of the scene before me, I started talking to myself.
Before my eyes were houses built from red bricks, the streets right out of Europe from the middle ages.
There were no cars, bikes, power lines, or telecommunication cables.
“AHHH! …AHHH…!”
I looked around the street, watching people pass by.
“Animal ears! There’s someone with animal ears! Elf ears! Is that an elf? With such striking facial features, she definitely has to be one! Goodbye hikikomori life! Hello different world! If it’s this world, then I’m willing to go out and work obediently!”