"Eh…? What's this feeling? I can't… move?"

Kazuma's vision blurred.

The world kept seeming to fade in and out.

This feeling of being surrounded completely… am I underwater? Why can't I move…? It's cold...

Kazuma struggled to get his eyes open. Within the blurriness that encompassed his vision, he saw a brownish object surrounding him.

Was that rope? It was no wonder he couldn't move, then. He could also feel an extremely strong knot tying it together. After all, the ropes were practically digging into his wrists, and it hurt immensely.

But how did he even end up like this? Of course, he'd wanted to know how, but he couldn't exactly think of that at the moment.

"What do I do?! I don't want to die here! I haven't even held a girl's hand yet!"

"Glub?!" As he panicked and struggled to get free, Kazuma let loose a gulp of precious air.

Attempting to focus, he tried to think of a way to get out of his predicament as his eyes narrowed in pain.

"Damn it! This is really bad…! I can just feel my consciousness fading bit by bit…! Come on… How the hell do I get out of this?! It… just… feels… so… damn..."

Kazuma's vision seemed to fade slowly, his thoughts slowly following.

Blackness. Water. Blackness. Water.

This was how his life was going to end, he thought solemnly.

The harrowing pain of regret gripped his heart. Was he just going to die like this, having not even achieved anything worthwhile? Was he just going to die, in the middle of nowhere, with no one to find his body?

The thought seemed to make the ropes dig harder into his wrists, the pain seeming to reach his soul.

But really, what could he do? Kazuma smiled sadly.

"Ah… it's over, then. Not even having done anything to be proud of, not even having done anything worthwhile… Wait… what is that?"

Something was shining into his eyes.

What was it? He didn't know. He couldn't.

But to be honest, it felt familiar. He no longer felt cold. It was—

"...What the hell."

Kazuma stared blankly.

It was a strange scene: His body, and most prominently, his neck, was tied up by his blanket, preventing his breathing more than he would've liked. Pillows laid strewn all over his floor, and the sun now shone directly on his face, despite the fact that generally, his curtains were normally drawn.

It seemed that in his struggle to breathe and escape within his dream from his bindings, he had accidentally messed up his entire room, and somehow managed to draw open his curtains.

It was just bizarre. The sheer absurdity of the situation brought an annoyed look to Kazuma's face.

"...That was just a dream?! Ugh. Now, how do I get out of here… Ah."

Kazuma's mouth dropped open.

"...I'm late. I'm seriously late. The release of 'that game' was today, wasn't it? Damn it! I overslept!"

Sitting up quickly, Kazuma tried to release himself from his cloth bondage— only to fall over to the ground with a resounding thud.

"...Ow, ow ow! Shit, is nothing going my way today?"

Kazuma let out a sigh from his somehow now tightened cloth prison.

"Agh, there's no point anymore… I'll just go and get something to eat then… Eh? Wh–?"

In his struggle to escape from his blanket, he had somehow tightened the knot around his neck– and now it was asphyxiating him.

"U-Ugh?! H-H...urk.. H-Help…"

As his arms were tied, he couldn't get himself free. All he could do now was hope for someone to help, but in truth, that was unlikely to occur. After all, it was a weekday, and his family was most likely working and or in school. He couldn't even scream for his neighbours to help, since his throat was being bound.

It was truly pitiful. He always figured he'd die in a stupid fashion, but death by accidental asphyxiation was definitely not a way he'd envisioned himself to go! He couldn't even do anything but wait till he died.

"I guess that dream was a premonition, huh. What a stupid way to die… I haven't even… accomplished anything…"

As the light in his eyes slowly faded, his body fell limp in heed.

Just like that, Kazuma's life had ended.

"...Huh?" Kazuma blinked once. Twice. Thrice. He couldn't believe the sight that now greeted his eyes.

It was a room that just seemed so unbelievably unreal. A floor reminiscent of a chess board. Stars, stretching out far beyond he could see. But most surprising of all was the girl who sat before him: her beauty seemed to transcend humanity itself.

She had blue, waist-long hair that was partially tied by an odd clip that was basically a sphere with two smaller spheres connected to it. Her clothes followed the same color scheme as her hair: She wore a blue vest with detached sleeves, thigh-high boots and a miniskirt that had a pinkish-translucent strip near the bottom. To add to her inhuman beauty, a pinkish, translucent hagoromo floated around her body.

She sat down with one leg over the other upon a white and yellow throne with intrinsic designs drawn in white upon it, with a dresser beside it that had a thick, hard-covered book on top.

Kazuma couldn't help but be astonished as tons of questions poured into his mind. Just who was this girl? Where was he? Hadn't he just died in a horribly mediocre fashion?

She was definitely not human, that Kazuma could tell. Since he knew that he had just died, he guessed that she was some sort of goddess; she had to be, since no human could probably ever give off that sense of regality that he felt from her. What else could she be?

As he silently pondered the questions he had, a voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Satou Kazuma. Welcome to the afterlife. Unfortunately, you have passed away a short moment ago, though I'm certain that you already know of that, you being tired of your lifestyle and all. Your life was short, but it was drastically shortened due to your actions."

Kazuma's brows furrowed in bewilderment. 'Due to his actions'? That almost made it sound like he had done it on purpose. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding on her part, though it was unlikely that she didn't know. She was probably some all-knowing goddess, wasn't she? Was she just trying to bait out an embarrassed response from him, or did she genuinely not know how exactly he died? This was now starting to become a very complicated situation, and he had only just been thrown into it.

It did leave him in a predicament, though. He'd most likely end up in hell due to this misunderstanding, and judging from what he'd seen in situations like this in anime, there was going to be no way to reason with her.

"Though… she thinks it's a suicide, huh? I can somewhat understand. I did fall to the ground and it probably did look like that I purposefully strangled myself to death, oddly enough. But, it should've looked like a murder to someone walking in on it… but then again, I didn't really know anyone that would've killed me, so it's a logical conclusion to come to. No one would believe it was an accident, either. Well, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. It's better that I'm not ridiculed, even in the afterlife. Besides, with what I've done so far in my life, I don't think I could actually go to heaven."

Though that gave him an interesting thought: If she genuinely didn't know, that meant that she wasn't as all-knowing as he first thought. That would mean that she didn't know everything about him, which was always good in his opinion. Having everything laid bare before someone else would just be embarrassing.

Well, now she seemed to be impatiently waiting for him to reply, so he opened his mouth to speak.

"Yeah, I know. So, let's get on with it. I'm going to hell, aren't I?"

The blunt reply seemed to leave her stunned—

—Though only for a second. She began to suddenly laugh hysterically.

Kazuma's brows furrowed in confusion and annoyance.

Why was she laughing?

...Were those tears coming out from her eyes?

"...Oi. Why are you laughing?"

The girl rubbed tears from her eyes as she struggled to stifle the last of her laugh.

"B-Because you thought you were going to hell! Pfft! How funny!"

Kazuma's eye twitched in annoyance. What was wrong with that? From what he knew, that was a logical conclusion!

"And? What about it?"

She rubbed away another tear, "Ahahaha…! W-Well, when you humans die, you either go to heaven, or reincarnate and live another life. That's it. There is no hell!"

Kazuma's eye twitched again. How was he supposed to know that? Though, how she reacted told him a lot about her. Already, Kazuma found that he had an extreme dislike for she and her attitude.

She struck him as someone whom was incredibly self-righteous, assumed that everyone was inferior, and didn't think before she acted.

He had to suck up his annoyance, though. Angering someone who had practically his entire soul's fate in their hands was definitely not a good idea.

After she finally calmed down, Kazuma sighed in exasperation. Why did this have to be so troublesome?

"Alright then," He paused momentarily, "Out of curiosity, what's heaven like?"

If it was exactly what he thought it was, that is, a paradise in which he could just enjoy his games forever and live like a shut-in for the rest of time, he would instantaneously go for it. Reincarnation paled infinitely in comparison to eternal joy and happiness.

The girl tilted her head in response.

"Ah… Well, it's not as fun as you humans think. Not only is there no TV, there's no manga or games either. You don't even have a physical body, so nothing sexual can even be done. There's nothing to do there at all but bask in the sun for eternity."

Well, then his choice was obvious.

It was totally not because he couldn't do anything sexual, yes.

"...Eh. Then I choose—"

The girl then quickly interjected: "Well, on the other hand, starting all over isn't that fun either. Though…"

Though annoyed at being interrupted, Kazuma raised his eyebrow in interest.

"Though…?"

The girl cupped her chin and smiled knowingly. "Well, there is another option. You like games, don't you?"

"Where on earth is this girl going with this?" Kazuma thought, before murmuring a reply, "Yeah, I suppose."

"Fantastic! Then, let me begin…!" She said as she stood up from her throne.

Lights from nowhere now shone directly on her like a spotlight, and she posed grandly—

"A world, which has long enjoyed peace, is being threatened by the Devil King's army! The livelihood its citizens has worked for is being trampled by monsters. Everyone there lives in fear of the Devil King's army, who mercilessly pillaged and slaughtered whomever they saw fit!"

She paused.

"...Slaughtered!"

Kazuma gulped as a complicated look came over his face.

That was way too dramatic. A simple explanation would have sufficed.

Also, where did the lights even come from?

As quickly as they came, the lights faded, and the girl continued.

"Anyway, since that's the sort of world it's like, everyone who dies there refuses to be reincarnated, so the population is declining." She shrugged.

"To be frank, that's understandable. I wouldn't want to live in a world like that." Kazuma thought, before saying, "So, what about it? Are you perhaps suggesting that I reincarnate there?"

"Yes! You catch on fast!" The girl clapped her hands together, "So, anyways, as I was saying, we decided that due to this, well hey, why don't we send people whom died in other worlds there with their bodies and memories intact?"

Kazuma nodded. "Which isn't a bad idea from your perspective. But I have to ask: What's the point in sending someone like me, someone who practically has no physical prowess there if I'm just going to be killed?"

The girl clapped her hands together once again, "That's why I'm doing you a huge favor! I'm granting you the right to bring any one thing of your choosing with you. It could be an immensely powerful weapon, or a tremendous talent. With this, you'll be able to redo your life with all of your original memories with ease," She pointed her finger forward and smiled, "In short, you gain a powerful ability and or weapon, and the people in that world in turn obtain a person whom is battle-ready to help them! Not a bad deal, don't you think?"

It wasn't, and Kazuma knew that. He curled his hands into fists and said:

"I want to ask something then. Will I be able to speak the language of that world?"

"That won't be a problem," The girl pulled a brown pamphlet from nowhere, turned it to a certain page and shoved it in his face, "With the kind support of us gods and goddesses, we'll just overload your brain so you'll be able to learn it instantly. Though, as a side effect, your brain might just go 'poof' if you're unlucky, though. So, anyway, all that leaves you to do is to choose a powerful ability or equipment!"

Kazuma's eye twitched again. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently, he noted.

"...You just mentioned something extremely serious. What do you mean 'poof'?" Kazuma deadpanned.

The girl smiled innocently, before jovially saying: "What do you mean? I never said anything like that!"

Kazuma grimaced at her response.

Though, he noted, that despite it all, it was an extremely good deal. Too good, in fact.

Kazuma looked up and stared cynically at the girl. "What's the catch?"

The girl stared thoughtfully for a second, before replying:

"Nothing really, you just need to defeat the Devil King! If you do end up defeating him, we'll grant you a single wish. Any wish, in fact," The girl suddenly widened her eyes in surprise, "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Aqua, a goddess whom—"

Kazuma tuned her out.

"Any wish, huh? That's way too good to be true- though to be honest, it definitely won't be easy. If my deduction is right, she's definitely done this for people other than me. She seems to have rehearsed this more than once, and the most telling part was the fact they have a pamphlet. If other people, whom are probably way better than me and have extremely powerful things at their disposal still haven't managed to defeat him, what chances do I have? Though I personally feel that something is amiss… But still, having a life in another world like this won't be too bad, I suppose. Being useful for once… Ah, damn it, I forgot to ask something very important..."

"...I have another question."

The now named goddess, Aqua, stopped her droning and motioned for him to continue.

"How did everyone back home take my death?"

Aqua stared at Kazuma with a complicated expression, before tilting her head thoughtfully.

"Well… They didn't take your suicide well. They wondered what they did wrong, why you killed yourself, and how they could've prevented it. You didn't even leave a message behind to explain yourself, so it was extremely painful for them. They'll be mourning for you for a long time, y'know? Despite how you lived, you still meant a lot to them."

"...!" Kazuma's eyes widened, before he grimaced once more.

"...Despite how I lived, huh, they still cared about me. Man, I feel really bad now, just dying like that… but I can't really do anything now. But well, I've something to do now for the future- and that something is more grandiose and worthwhile than anything I could've ever accomplished over there, but… well…"

Kazuma's eyes couldn't help but well up.

Even though he never did anything leech off his family, they still cared about him.

Even though all he did was play games incessantly…

Even though he never did anything that could've been considered good…

Even though he never made them proud…!

Truly, Aqua was right; the time he lived was a short one. Too short. He had never done anything worthwhile.

Knowing how his family felt just made that feeling in his heart feel more damning, and yet he somehow felt happy despite it.

Could he have been a better person for them, he mused to himself.

Could he have been?

He wished he could have. But what could he do now?

He was dead, and now was going to be reincarnated into a new world.

It was too late to do anything.

"...Heh," Kazuma shook his head sadly with a pained grin, "Despite how I lived, huh… Thank you, Aqua."

A droplet of water hit the ground. Another. And another.

He looked down and grasped his trousers, as if to hide his face from the goddess that stood before him.

"...Ah. I'm crying, aren't I? Forgive me." Kazuma croaked out, gritting his teeth.

The goddess didn't respond, but instead walked back to her throne, sat back down—

—And pulled a bag of potato chips from nowhere.

Kazuma rubbed the tears in his eyes away, and looked up to stare dumbfoundedly at the goddess that now was munching away on the potato chips.

"...Heh. Of course," He rubbed another tear before looking down at the ground. "I guess you wouldn't really care or understand how I feel as you're a goddess, and I'm a human. I'll quieten down now, so let's continue."

Finishing the chip that she was eating and licking her lips almost seductively, the goddess nodded, before waving her hand slightly in front her.

The crinkling of paper was suddenly heard, as papers flew down from the sky and floated around Kazuma, surrounding him.

With his eyes still red, he laughed softly in an almost empty fashion, before saying,

"...Wow. These are my choices for something I can bring over, huh?" He flicked one paper away and there was a bright flash as another took its place, "These are all stupidly powerful."

They truly were. Swords that could eviscerate buildings with just a single swing, rings that had a myriad of functions ranging from true invisibility to inhuman strength, armor that made the wearer completely invincible, alongside a variety of other weapons that had abilities like being able to pierce any barrier with a thrust, and shields that made their defence nigh impregnable.

Kazuma weighed his options carefully. Since all of them were incredibly powerful and had many perks that he could definitely see from acquiring them, it was quite difficult to choose… though, there were some oddballs here and there that didn't seem particularly useful to the cause of defeating the Devil King, like a pendant that could swap two person's souls between their bodies by uttering a keyword.

He could see the uses, but he couldn't see how it could be used to defeat the Devil King.

Though, did he really want to? There wasn't much of a point to really kill him, unless Kazuma was threatened himself, though not like he had much of a chance to win, knowing himself.

So then, what was something that he could use to its full potential?

He wasn't someone who could just win a fight with just straight brute force. Well, he technically could with these cheat weapons, but… that wasn't his style, to be frank. In addition, if all the other people who theoretically had one of these abilities or weapons in their hands and still not have been able to kill the Devil King, there definitely was something wrong here.

So what was something that he could use? He had to think carefully. Weapons were definitely out of the question. He wasn't fast enough nor did he have the finesse for sword wielding- he'd get disarmed ten times out of ten.

Armor was also not a good idea. He preferred to move lightly, and armor would obviously slow him down.

A shield was also out of the question. Sure, he could learn how to use it, but he preferred to have a hand free.

He also didn't have much faith in himself to be able to use anything like that. What if he failed to protect someone with it? What if they died because he wasn't good enough? The thought frightened him.

Kazuma sighed. He knew that the guilt of having done nothing in his life had already seeped into his psyche. He wanted to get over it, but it would take time. A lot of time.

Honestly, his emotions just felt like an utter mess to him- normally he'd be easier to anger and much more decisive about his actions, and regrettably, uncaring about others and focusing all of his attention on his wants and needs, but he wasn't so sure if that was right anymore. He just felt horrible.

He figured that he should stop living completely for himself in this new world then. Of course, he couldn't just stop caring about himself completely, but he had to start somewhere, didn't he? So once again, what was something that he could use to its full potential? He legitimately didn't know.

It was kind of saddening to be honest, because there were all these weapons, all these accessories, all this armor, but he knew he couldn't use any of it well. Heck, he even called upon his instincts as a gamer, but he knew already that none of these were right for him. He always played as a jack-of-all-trades character in his games, ready to support and to be able to lead when his guildmates needed it. He always played as someone who could fare decently well in almost every type of situation. Of course, that meant he never had any high-tier specialised skills in his games and that he never really did that well on his own, but it allowed him to fit practically anywhere into a team.

"But all that experience didn't really help me out, did it? Though, I can still use it to make some decent decisions here," Kazuma looked through another paper, before grabbing it and tossing it aside, before another formed with an eerie blue glow in front of him. "There has to be something here that's perfect for me. There has to be—huh?"

Kazuma stopped and stared dumbfoundedly at the paper that now floated before him.

"—Wait, what? Are you joking me? This is fantastic. It's perfect for someone like me… which makes me feel terrible, but it's perfect."

Kazuma grinned despite it all. This was truly too perfect. It was as if the stars had aligned.

"I choose this one," He grabbed and flipped the paper over for Aqua to look. "What do you think?"

"...Pfft." Aqua dropped her chip and looked like she was about to lose it and laugh, before saying, "Are you serious?"

Kazuma gave her a determined look. "Yes."

Aqua's body shook as she struggled to contain her laughter. "A-Are you really, truly serious about this?"

Kazuma continued to wear that determined look. "Yes. I am."

"Pfft! Ahahaha!" Aqua now was laughing uncontrollably, "I've never seen anyone pick such an odd item to bring over before!"

He flipped the paper over to stare at it once more, before smiling.

"I suppose it is odd. Though, it's something that I feel that I could use, and it'll help me survive there- if it's as fantasy-inspired as you have implied it is."

The one and only item he chose to bring over was—

—A kotatsu.

The one and true savior of those in the unforgiving cold of winter.

The herald of warmth.

But that was severely underselling it. This kotatsu was special. It was nothing like the sort that he would huddle inside of during the harsh winters of Japan. It was something that went further beyond.

It was the ultimate kotatsu. It simply just was. One of the things that made it so special to him was that it had a similar color scheme to his favorite tracksuit. To add on to that, the functions it had were simply sublime. It had settings to control the temperature within from hot to cold, came with sheets underneath which were out of this world in terms of comfort, at least from how it was described, and it had infinite power to pull upon to control said temperature.

It was also invincible, and even had a barrier surrounding it and those within it that blocked people he didn't want coming near from even stepping foot around it. He could also summon and dispel it at will with no cost, which meant that he could have a good and safe night's sleep anywhere and whenever he wanted.

All of that plus self-cleaning made it the perfect choice for a shut-in like him. Someone like Aqua couldn't understand his logic, but it made perfect sense to him. It was an all-in-one home; space to rest, space to do work, space to eat, and space for planning. Besides, there was a high chance that he wouldn't have any currency to stay at an inn or to buy a home, so this was absolutely perfect- though having a bed and home to stay at would be definitely preferred over this.

Ah, thinking about his tracksuit reminded him: He forgot about his clothing. What on earth was he wearing?

Kazuma looked down to look at his clothes.

A simple black T-shirt and pants greeted his curiosity. So, basically, he was wearing his sleepwear… which wasn't exactly his first choice for clothing when being sent to another world. Though, he'd probably have to deal with it as per usual.

Maybe he could ask Aqua. That might work. He really needed something that would work better for moving quickly and more actively. Like his tracksuit. Yes, his tracksuit. It would probably look weird in a fantasy setting, but it functioned. That was what mattered.

Deciding upon what he would do next, he shook himself out of his thoughts and stared at Aqua, whom now had red eyes from the tears that she had produced from laughing so much.

In a weird sense, it was rather endearing in a childish way, but it frankly did annoy him quite a bit.

Though he would be getting out of here soon, so he didn't really need to bother that much anyway.

"Um, Aqua," Kazuma sighed. "Could I have my tracksuit instead of my sleepwear for clothing instead when I'm sent to the other world?"

"Ah, alright," She rubbed her eyes and waved her hand again lazily, the papers that surrounded Kazuma disappearing. "Just step into the magic circle and you're set!"

A bluish circle with designs that looked straight out of some anime appeared in front of him.

What was it, anyway? If Kazuma recalled right, it had 'metal' in its name and the main character had a tendency to get very annoyed and angry whenever he was called short.

But that didn't matter now. Settling his nerves, he stepped forward.

This was going the beginning of a new journey for him.

A journey to a fantastical world of mystery and wonder.

He smiled. He would make something out of himself this time.

A light shone from where he stood-

Slowly it became brighter, and brighter.

The light soon became overwhelming.

He couldn't see now. This was it.

Kazuma could feel his body suddenly numb, and—

He disappeared from the room.

Kazuma's journey had begun.