"This is not how I wanted to end my day!" Was the first thought running through Kenji Kazama's mind as he hung outside the school window upside down, his ankle gripped tightly by the so called president of the Game Creation Club, Roka Shibasaki. You might be asking yourself how one teenage boy might be dragged into a situation like this, well it's a long story and we're sure you'll get over it not being explained right here, check the source material, it'll do you some good. Support the official release.
The short version is this, he didn't want to join the club and was currently being hunted down all over the school by the Game Creation Club to join them by force, after both Yokoshima and Nagayama were taken out of play by the members of the club, that all just so happened to be girls. The club in question was full of weirdos, the one currently holding his ankle, the only thing between him and falling to the ground below, was a four foot nothing teenage girl currently struggling to keep her grip on his ankle. The situation seemed pretty dire for Kenji.
"Kay, so here's a thought." Kenji began judging the distance between him and the ground feeling that he could make it. "If I can turn and land on my feet, I should survive with minor injury, maybe a sprained ankle." He figured to himself. "It's not that far down, if you let go I'll probab-"
"Forget it! I'm not letting go! I finally found a prospective new member; you think that happens every day!? You can't slip through my fingers!" Roka shouted down at him, her voice full of desperation that Kenji hadn't heard from her until now.
"Stop being crazy, you're going to fall!" Kenji shouted up at her more worried for her safety then he was for his own, he could handle it if he fell but he wouldn't let her go down with him if he did fall. Roka's grip on his ankle tightened as Roka clenched her eyes shut.
"I accept my fate!" The blonde teen shouted down at him.
"Look you really need to stop with the whole moe act!" Kenji shouted in annoyance, having dealt with her act throughout the afternoon since being on the run from the club members, right now wasn't the right situation calling for such a personality act, it wasn't going to help him survive this!
"Shut up! It's not an act! It's me!" Kenji's eyes widened slightly before he dropped a few more inches as Roka came out the window just that tad bit more. Looking up to the blondes face he paled seeing her struggling to hold onto him. "You're totally slipping through my fingers."
"Wait! What happened to not letting me go?!" Kenji shouted up at her but it was too much, Roka's small stature wasn't able to hold him up and her grip lessened and the weight of Kenji fell from her grasp. Kenji saw the horrified shocked expression on Roka's face as he fell, he didn't have time to put his plan of spinning in the air into motion to shocked at what was actually happening, in the last moments before he hit the ground he saw the other two members of the Game Creation Club come to the rescue, just a few moments to late as he was already out of their reach.
There was pain, no doubt he had fallen from the second story building but he was alive. Nothing seemed to be broken as he groaned. He could hear the girls above calling down to him but he paid them no mind as he forced himself to stand, he just wanted to go home.
However as he rose to his feet, he had the odd feeling something was wrong and as he looked up, the lightning struck.
"Therefore, you have died. I'm very sorry." The elderly man spoke, after having explained what had happened in the last moments.
"You don't say." Kenji replied sarcastically as he sat on a pillow across from the old man that had spoken. The old man bowed his head before the delinquent looking teen. Since Kenji had awoken in the sitting position he was in now, he had discovered that they were somewhere unnatural, a sea of clouds stretched as far as the eye could see, probably even farther than that. In the middle of the clouds, they were sitting together in a small room. It was a simple 4.5 tatami room despite no walls or ceiling that floated above the clouds. There was a low dining table along with a tea cabinet and an old fashion television and black rotary-dial telephone.
And before Kenji, sat God. Or at least that he claimed that was who he was. For a God to say that he was killed by mistake after Kenji had witnessed what had happened. It looked like more than a mistake, but this guy seemed to have the key to the lightning cabinet and didn't want to piss him off, so he was keeping his temper in check. Just encase.
"I neglected to check for people earlier before I dropped lightning. I'm really sorry. There are a reasonable amount of humans that die from lightning strikes, but this time it was completely unexpected in this case." God explained once more to Kenji who ran a hand down his face, the apology and re-explaining of everything was beginning to get on his nerves but he could tell that the old guy was truly sincere in his apology of what happened. There hadn't even been a storm cloud in the sky when Kenji had fallen from the window, so it was certainly unnatural that much was clear. But to be struck by lightning straight after he had survived a fall from a second story window? It was annoying to say the least.
"So is this Heaven than?" Kenji questioned, looking around.
"No, no it is not." God told him, surprising Kenji, he figured that with all the clouds it must be, not that he was a true believer in the afterlife or anything, he just never gave it much thought he wasn't expecting to die in high school. "This is even further above Heaven; this is the world where Gods reside… That's right the Realm of the Gods. Humans are truly unable to come here. You were specially summoned by me! ermm…Ka…Kazama."
"Kazama Kenji." Kenji saw the guy having trouble pronouncing his name, despite Kazama being a common Japanese name, but if he's God he'd probably have a lot on his plate. "Kenji's fine."
"R-Right, Kenji." The man nodded as he began to pour Kenji some tea, the teen noticing the stalk standing in the middle. "You seem calmer than I expected, you just died after all." God told him causing Kenji's brow to twitch slightly getting an awkward chuckle from the elderly man which was about to make the God apologize again.
"You said you summoned me here, mind getting on with why you did that?" Kenji urged.
"Yes, well you died because of my mistake, so I can revive you immediately." This actually surprised Kenji; he was worried about Noe and his Mother about how they would react to his death but if this man could simply bring him back his worries was not worth worrying about. He'd be home just a little late was all; he'd buy Noe some of her favorite ice cream on the way home and tell his Mother he'd stop his delinquent ways to make it easier on her. Nodding with a smile he looked to the man, however God seemed hesitant in continuing. "There is no way you can revive in your original world."
"Lead off with that! You got my hopes up!" Kenji shouted as his eyes set into a glare, the guy had given him false hope.
"Sorry, but there is such a rule. Truly I am sorry for this circumstance. So…" Kenji's glare hardened as God began to sweat slightly. "You can be revived in another world. To start a so-called second life, that's it. I understand that you can't agree, but it's the rules." Kenji groaned, he had read Isekai manga before, Noe was really into them and so was Ataru, he didn't know if the guy still was or not. "I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing, it's a pain in the ass!" Kenji growled, getting a swift nod from the man. Kenji couldn't say he wanted this, his worry over his friends and family were all smashed back into his mind. How could he go on living in another world, when they were all grieving over his sudden unnatural death? But he didn't have any other options as it was now. The leader of the Kazama gang… he'd have to leave the rest to Yokoshima and Nagayama. He just hoped that pip squeak didn't blame herself for what happened. It was the lightning strike that ended his life, not the fall she had nothing to blame herself for it was this stupid God's fault, why would you just drop lightning!?
"Forget it! I'm not letting go! I finally found a prospective new member; you think that happens every day!? You can't slip through my fingers!" Kenji shook his head slightly in amusement, with what she had gone through to try to recruit him; he hoped it all worked out for her. If he had the chance again, he'd probably join up with that club of weirdo's.
"Fine, whatever." Kenji blatantly stated surprising God. "Do what you've got to do; complaining isn't going to help me out here." He muttered.
"At least let me atone for what I have done. To a certain extent, I can grant you something." Kenji blinked, right Isekai manga were usually set out this way to make the protagonist really strong right?
"Nah, I'm good." Kenji waved it off causing God to blink in confusion.
"No, I must insist, this is all because of my actions." God declared. "Name it, anything that is within reason I will grant you." Kenji sighed, he had no plans to become some great warrior, in fact if he could he'd live a peaceful life with no strange occurrences, having something gifted by a God would only lead to strange occurrences. He wasn't going to go find the Devil King and slay it, that's what this whole thing was probably about anyway and the old God guy was just skipping over the details. Reaching into his pocket he produced his phone, something both he and Noe were gifted upon entering high school, a Smartphone.
"Then this if you're so persistent." Kenji stated holding out his phone. "Let me take this into this new world." God looked at the device then nodded.
"Very well. It will be limited. But it'll still be beneficial to you." God spoke, Kenji didn't care to know how, and he'd just use it like an ordinary phone. However God went onto explain it anyway. "You mostly can't do direct interference. Telephone calls, emails, posting a message on a site, stuff like that, you cannot use it to interact with your old world. There is no problem if you just read. Oh; I'll make preparations so you can at least be able to call me." God assured.
"Yeah because I want to be chatty with a god." Kenji thought to himself.
"You can charge your battery with your magical power and such. You don't have to worry about your battery dying." That caused Kenji to pause, Magic? Why would he have magic in this new world, shouldn't it be just a normal reincarnation? It should right? God seeing his expression change, smiled. "Magic exists in this world; you will be able to use it immediately." He explained causing Kenji to rub his eyebrows with an annoyed sigh.
"I guess I should ask." Kenji began. "What kind of world will I be going into?"
"Right, compared to your original world, it is not as developed. It's approximately about halfway through what your world calls the Medieval Ages. Well, not all are at the same level." He explained getting a nod from Kenji, figuring as much, a fantasy world with warriors and magic and Demon Kings which the damn God had yet to bring up yet! "Now then, it isn't long before you are revived into your new world."
"Great." Kenji rolled his eyes, he wasn't exactly looking forward to this. "Thanks… I guess." He mumbled.
"No, originally I'm the one to be blamed. Oh, one last thing." When God gently raised his hands, a warm light wrapped around Kenji causing him to shoot the God a weary glance, unsure of what had just happened. "Since it's pointless to revive and die again, I'll give you a raise in basic and physical abilities and in addition, to various other things. Now with this, it'll very hard for you to die. That is as long as a stupid god doesn't drop lightning on you. That is your limit." The God laughed, however Kenji still believed that it was too early to be cracking jokes about lightning deaths. "Once I send you out, I won't be able to intervene because it's forbidden."
"Haven't you interfered more than necessary?" Kenji pondered to himself.
"It is not possible to interfere, but I can give advice. Please contact me if you have any trouble." Kenji nodded as he placed his phone back in his pocket; he wouldn't make it a habit to call up God who knows what kind of ramifications it might have. "Then I guess this is goodbye for now, see you later." With that, Kenji witnessed one last smile from God before he fell unconscious.
Kenji's eyes opened to find that he was lying on green grass that was unnaturally soft. The day itself was unnaturally nice to the point that it was odd enough to comment on. He was under the tree, its branches swaying slightly in the breeze. At least God had seen fit to place him out of the rays of the sun, just how long had he been laying here? Sitting up he found that he was still dressed in the blue Fujou High School uniform. Like that wouldn't make him stick out in a medieval time period! Rolling his sleeves up his arms noting the warm weather, he pushed himself onto his feet and took a look around his surroundings. Kenji could see mountains off in the distance and he was surrounded by grassland everywhere he looked. It almost felt as though he had suddenly showed up in the countryside.
"Where the hell am I supposed to go!?" Kenji yelled to the endless nothing that was before him. However it was only a few seconds later that a familiar ring tone from his pocket sounded, reaching into his pants pocket pulling forth his phone he looked at the screen and sighed. [God Calling] flashed on the screen "This can't be good."
"Hello?" Kenji greeted as he answered the call, he might as well see what the old guy wanted at least.
[Oh, it connected, it connected. It seems you arrived safely.] The old man's voice came back through the receiver. Now Kenji felt bad; the guy was showing that he cared at least. Unless this was where God told him about the Demon King then Kenji would hang up. [I forgot to say that your smartphone's map and directions have changed to that world. Please use it.] Kenji took a moment before blinking, removing the phone from his ear, he pressed the loudspeaker button before going to his map. [I thought it might have been acceptable to send you into a town, but I think I would have caused a commotion and be troublesome for you. So I chose a place away from the public, in this case, I was a loss about where to send you.]
"Countryside is as good as anywhere." Kenji breathed out as his map loaded showing the surrounding area on the screen.
[You will have no trouble reaching town while you check the map. Well then, do your best.] Gods voice disappeared and was replaced by the usual dial tone of a normal phone line. Shaking his head Kenji focused on the map; it displayed him in the center of the screen and taking a small note of which way was north he found a road was close by on the map. Using his fingers to manipulate the screen he scrolled up the course of the road before seeing that it led to a town. Refuretto was its name.
"Guess that's a good a place as any to head too." Kenji figured as he placed his phone back in his pocket before heading over to the road, and just as his map had detailed, there was a road. Nodding to himself that at least it was a good thing he had chosen such a handy device to have he headed along the road towards Refuretto.
As Kenji walked he began to think a few thing through that he probably should have asked God, it was hard to come to terms with that he had just been pissed off with a Deity but there was no way some random guy in the clouds wasn't a God and he had sent him to another world, so there was that. He should have asked if there was a Demon King, it would have been good to know but he'd probably figure that out as time went by. Also the currency, he was flat broke, nothing he had on him would be worth much, right? Well if it was a fantasy world as he would be led to believe, then it'd be something like Adventures right, so he could join the Adventurers Guild.
"Man, Ataru would be foaming at the mouth at the prospect I bet." He shuddered at the thought and kept walking. There was still so much he didn't know about this world, meaning he was at a big disadvantage. It didn't take much before he began to have depressing thoughts that he'd probably be a bum on the side of the road before the day was over. That was when he picked up on the sound that was growing louder and louder. Looking over his shoulder his face paled at what he saw charging straight towards him, a horse drawn carriage.
Since Kenji was walking in the centre of the road, there was much he could do but dive off to the side to save his own life. Despite being given a physical advantage from God, that didn't mean he didn't have his instincts to save his own life. Landing in the grass with a huff he sat up abruptly about to yell something abusive at the driver as any good delinquent should before the carriage pulled to a stop, the side door opening and a man appeared from within. He was a white haired gentleman with a rather generous moustache. Wearing a stylish scarf and mantle, on his chest was a shining rose brooch.
"You! You over there!" The man called to Kenji who grew a tick mark as the man sped quickly over to him, Kenji actually backed off as the man started grabbing at his clothes which was just way too weird. The upside to this was that Kenji could at least tell that he could speak the language, his first bit of good news. Slapping the strange man's hands away Kenji glared at him, but the man didn't' seem to notice the current threat level rising above him as Kenji cracked his knuckles in an intimidating way before him. "Tell me where you got such splendidly well made clothes."Kenji blinked in confusion that was what he was going on about!? Taking in the man's appearance Kenji took in the fabric of the clothing and in no way did it look bad but it was clear that the higher quality of fabric was his school uniform.
"Uhh…" Kenji didn't know what to tell him, there was no way the medieval ages had such a way to make high quality clothing. While Kenji thought on what he should say, the man began to move around him, taking a look at the uniform but Kenji made sure the creepy old guy didn't touch anymore!
"I have not seen such a design。And this sewing…how on earth…Hmmm…" The man continued, it was as clear as day the excitement in the man's yes, Kenji had to wonder just how long it had been since he was so excited. "I'll buy it! Please allow me to purchase such splendid attire! I'll pay you well, you won't regret it!" Kenji blinked once more the rapid fire speech almost made Kenji asked to him repeat himself but he managed to understand the guy wanted to by his school uniform. As weird as it was, it was a good way to make a bit of money at least.
"This are the only clothes I have, you'd be taking the clothes off my back, literally." Kenji explained, while the prospect of some cash was good, he wasn't about to walk around in the buff.
"Not a problem good sir! Please get on the carriage. I will give you a ride to Refuretto where my shop is located. And there, I will prepare you some new clothes and you'll sell those clothes to me." It was still weird the way the guy was ogling him as he entered into the carriage. But Kenji took it in stride; right now he didn't have much other choice. The delinquent teen was relieved as he sat back in the carriages comfortable seats, the ride itself was three hours long so it would have taken much longer on foot.
During the ride, Zanakku the man so interested in Kenji's school uniform, took to observing the seams of Kenji's jacket which he took off so the man could work. As he worked Zanakku explained to Kenji that he was in the fashion business, as if he hadn't already figured that out, and was on his way back from a meeting today in another town. Kenji paid little attention to Zanakku and simply gazed out the window, curious to know what would be waiting for him ahead.
Finally the carriage came to a stop; Kenji was about to open the door and step out, however Zanakku did so and spoke with a Guard who then waved them in. Kenji figured no questions were asked because of Zanakku, from the soldier's attitude Zanakku seemed to be considerably famous or that's at least what Kenji believed. Once Zanakku was back inside the carriage it began to move again as they entered Refuretto. It didn't take long before the carriage stopped again and Zanakku and Kenji exited the carriage.
"Well, please come in. Let's arrange your clothes here." Zanakku explained, as he led Kenji to the front of a store. There was a thread and needle logo signboard on the shop, under that there were letters causing Kenji to frown, he thought this might be a problem but had hoped since that they spoke the same language.
"I can't read it." There was no way Kenji could decipher the unknown letters on the signboard. The least God could do was let him be able to read the language! As Kenji was inwardly cursing God he figured that his phone might help and pulled out his phone from his pocket, bringing up the navigation app and saw the store located on the screen. Fashion King Zanakku was the store's long Zanakku lead him into the store's interior and several store clerks greeted the both of them.
"Welcome home, owner." They greeted him and immediately he started to give orders to his staff.
"Somebody choose clothes that suit him!" It was moments later when Zanakku urged Kenji into the dressing room, as he was waiting several clothes were brought to him for him to change into. As Kenji began to change from his school uniform Zanakku stuck his head between the curtains surprising Kenji but then the look in Zanakku eyes changed again.
"You, are you going to sell those under clothes too me too right?!"
"Like hell I'm going commando in a new world!" Kenji roared planting his foot in the man's face sending him tumbling back through the curtains.
"I'll pay double!"
"Like hell!" Kenji roared as he fixed into the new pants that he been brought for him before slipping into a fairly comfortable set of shoes since he would need something better than just the uwabaki slippers that his school issued. He was selling the guy his school uniform and that was it. He was keeping his underwear, socks and red undershirt. By the time Kenji left the store, the man was on his hands and knees begging him to sell him the rest of the clothing but he'd be damned if the guy would be getting anything more from him.
Leaving the store and the sobbing Zanakku behind, Kenji was seven gold coins richer. He just hoped that he had enough for a place to stay for the night, he hadn't bothered asking Zanakku for directions, he didn't want to be in debt to that guy, he'd probably ask for his clothing again. Instead he was using his navigation app on his phone to search for a place to stay tonight.
"The Silver Moon."Kenji spoke aloud before setting it as his destination, the blue line on the screen indicating the shortest path to his new destination. As he walked, he was forced to a halt as he let loose a loud sneeze surprising a few nearby people who were stunned at the sudden noise from the teen. Kenji groaned as he rubbed at the bottom of his nose. "Man… someone must be talking about me." He groaned before following the directions once more. "Of course, I just died. My name's bound to be brought up." He thought as he continued down the street; however something caught his attention as he heard the sound of arguing coming from an alleyway.
"With his little sister, I think everyone is here now." Noe had to blink in confusion. She was just pulled away from Ogawa at lunch by a bunch of upperclassmen and dragged through the halls of the school. Now she was standing here in a room she had never been too before, she had caught sight of the sign above the door that read Game Creation Club. But what stunned her most were the people that were in the room.
The school's current Student Council President, Chitose Karasuyama. The amazingingly talented first year student, Sakura Mizukami. There was also one more that Ogawa informed her on, not just informed but made the hand gestures to match, Takao. There was a bunch more people that Noe had no idea who they were, even the rest of her brothers outfit were here, Ataru, Yokoshima and Nagayama. But other than those three she didn't recognize the others.
"Roka, are you ready?" Chitose asked turning to the blonde in the room. Noe's attention, along with everyone else's turned to face the blonde who was standing with her back towards the rest, gazing out the window of the club room seemingly holding an air of authority about her.
"I must ask Student Body President." Ataru began. "Just what have we all been dragged here for."
"Yes Chi Chi, I must say it's not like you to invite me to a party." A third year student identified by the blue ribbon she wore, spoke making Noe nervous. It was clear that the white haired twin tailed girl was not happy that she was summoned. Both she and Chitose were glaring daggers at one another that caused the rest of the room to feel the tension.
"I did ask for a larger force, did I not?" Darkness swirled around the blonde causing both Chitose and Tama to stop their arguing, Chitose turned away from her long time rival to face Roka.
"Well, you asked to meet in the clubroom, and even with just us it's cramped in here." Chitose began. "Having the Heavenly Kings, the Band of Fourteen Devils, the Double Brothers, along with the rest of the so called gangs of Fujou would have been a bit cramped." She explained. "We've got the main characters anyway." Noe sweat dropped, just who did she think they were, some kind of people in an anime?
"Very well." Roka nodded as she turned to face the room. "You all have been summoned today because of something dire that transpired at school the other day." Her tone was serious. "The death of Kenji Kazama." She spoke making Noe freeze up. It had hit her hard, her brother's death but she knew he wouldn't want her to be hung up on it, so she kept coming to school to move forward.
"That lightning strike that happened randomly?" A girl with black hair asked, she seemed very timid and out of place among the others gathered. This was the one considered the number one candidate for being a wife among the guys in school, Funabori.
"What does this have to do with us and why you've gathered us?" Takao asked, she didn't want to seem rude to the victim's sister who was the last one dragged into this, but she would really like if they got to the point of all this. Roka's hand slamming down onto the table made everyone jump as a recognizable slip of paper rested beneath her palm. When she removed it, they saw that it was a club registration form if a little tattered from the lightning strike.
"This here signifies Kenji Kazama's position in the Game Creation Club." It looked like Takao wanted to speak up but a look from Roka stopped her. "He is a member of my club."
"Was." Noe stated coldly. "Kenji's gone."
"Noe." Ataru frowned before turning to Chitose, anger on his face. "I've seen you do some low acts President, but making Noe go through with this is just barbaric!" Both Yokoshima and Nagayama both nodded in agreement to Ataru's words the three believing that it was their duty to look after Kenji's little sister in his absence.
"Allow me to explain." Roka began. "We're going to get Kenji Kazama back!"
