(Konosuba: A Rogue's Misadventures)
Volume 1: Surprise! It's a wonderful world after all.
Prologue:A gentle breeze swayed the branches of the vibrantly blooming trees
The rising sun's streaks of light stretched out and touched every shadow
The fragrance of spring's soft and delightful presence filled the air
To the world, the splendor of new beginnings and new adventures sprang forth
To a mere lone teenage soul, the start of the same mundane routine
A boy who believed to be destined for great things-
-only to be reminded the dull, transience of his life
Yet another day going to and fro to the same static private academy
Yet another day seeking to evade the bleak and uneventful reality
Perhaps one fateful day, when he least expects it,
He might just get the one adventure that his heart truly desires…
Chapter 1: A Divine Intervention for This Adventurous Teen Part 1:"I wonder what should I do tonight when I get home?"
Thought a boy on way home from school, waiting at a train station on the cusp of the sunset on a cool, breezy spring day in Japan.
The boy was of middling height stature and was skinny with a hint of physical fitness as evidence of his position on the track team.
His reading glasses highlighted his brown eyes, deep in thought of what to do once in his cluttered and confided room.
"The homework though is going to be a literal pain in the a** to deal with… The teacher spent half of the period yelling at Maou to stop throwing crap across the classroom, and the other half on his phone," thought the boy.
"Maybe I can just put off the homework and sneak in a couple of hours of playing with my online friends. I definitely know one of the guild members is like online 24/7. Just like how one of my classmates never shows up to class. Perhaps..."
The distant roar of a train horn interrupted this thought as the boy turned towards the direction of the train.
Coming down the subway stairs was a girl, carrying her books, pacing towards him.
She had a slim figure that was nicely complemented by the dark blue school uniform and a silver heart necklace wrapped around her neck.
Her blond hair glistened with sparkling radiance and tied back in a cute braided ponytail.
She had a well endowed chest region that bounced ever more slightly with every stride she took while making her way home.
The girl seemed to be frantically struggling to hold her books as she rushed towards the boy's direction.
As she dashed towards him, the girl tripped clumsily over herself and knocked the boy over, scattering the books and the two all over the train station floor.
The boy, laid on his back, looked up to see the beautiful blond school girl sprawled on top of his body in a position not unlike in those doujins he happens to skim through…
The girl's face began to flair furiously red with embarrassment and in a hasty manner recoiled backwards away from the boy's body.
"Are you alright?! I'm so sorry about bumping into you! I wasn't paying attention. I was in a rush to get home. Oh gosh, I'm going to be late!" said the girl in a frenzy of distress.
The boy began to pick up the books. "It's alright… No need to worry about it. Everyone gets a little nervous here and there after all. Here let me help you pick up your books," the boy casually remarked.
The girl's face quickly recovered from her state of panic from this kind-hearted gesture. She began to pick up her own books following suit after the kind stranger.
The two teenagers, while both reaching for the girl's mathematics book, placed their hands together, with the boy's right hand on top of the girl's soft delicate left hand.
"Oh god I actually holding a girl's hand! Ahem as natural of a cool guy like me…" he realized.
It felt so much better than the dating sims would have you believe.
"Wait! She's going to think I am some kind of weirdo if I keep holding her hand…" he thought as a flood of both happiness and morbid fear washed into the boy's mind.
The boy quickly removed his hand from the girl's hand and attempted to said "My bad miss. It wasn't on purpose! I swear!"
However, the words came out of his mouth as " My my ba ba bad mi mi miss!" as he continually stuttered the first three words to the absolute maximum.
The school girl's face swiftly changed from renewed embarrassment to a gentle smile as she softly chuckled at the boy's futile efforts to explain.
"I guess it's your turn to be the flustered one." the girl stated with a playful tone as she lightly tapped her finger on his nose.
The boy, still startled by touching her hand as well as her tapping on his nose, somewhat composed his frantic demeanor.
He scratched the back of his head replying, "Yeah… we're both a little jumpy today I suppose."
The two teenagers then awkwardly finished picking up the books and placed them into one orderly pile beside themselves.
"By the way, my name is Athena what's yours? I haven't gotten to ask you that yet since accidently bumping into you." asked the blond schoolgirl shyly.
"My name Takeda Koman, but you can just call me Koman (高慢). It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Thank you so much for helping me. I really appreciate it," the girl stated as she brushed her hair away from her face.
The boy replied proudly, " Don't sweat it. Any great guy like me would do the same. Especially for a pretty girl in need like you."
Both the boy and girl then blushed even more fervently shortly after he finished that reply.
They briefly made direct eye contact then swiftly turned their heads away from each other and towards their feet.
The girl then edged closer to the boy unexpectedly.
She noticed his spiky light black hair was combed upwards to the right side of his face and remarked playfully, "So you think I'm just a pretty damsel in distress?"
The boy turned to face directly into her radiantly beautiful yellow eyes that seemed to pierce his typical otaku soul.
Astonished by such a fearless move, he attempted to recompose his usual confident demeanor in response to the girl's playful inquiry.
But before he could so much as utter a single word, she giggled gently stating, " It's alright. I always did like a knight in shining armor coming to my aid when growing up."
And with that statement, the girl grasped firmly onto his collar of his buttoned shirt and pulled herself towards his face as she landed a delicate kiss onto his virgin cheek.
A rush of sheer joy, bewilderment, and utter surprise compounded upon the inexperienced heart of a city boy.
"This is the greatest day of my life! A beautiful schoolgirl gave me a kiss on the cheek!" he excitedly screamed in his mind.
As her delicate kiss left a trace of lipstick on his face and a trance of happiness on his soul, the world around him faded away.
Not the rustling of the wind, not the setting sun, and not even the loud horn of the distant oncoming train could draw Koman out of the dreamlike immersion he was in.
The girl slowly pulled back from her enchanting kiss on the boy's cheek.
She removed a silver heart necklace and carefully wrapped it around the boy's neck.
"Something to remember me by O' shining knight of mine." She spoke in an over-dramatic yet endearing tone.
"Perhaps this shining knight could return the favor sometime, perhaps my place tonight?" responded the boy as he played along.
The girl then exclaimed, "You DASTARDLY Rogue! Proposing to take this fair princess home alone so early without even a date planned. Clearly men these days have only one thing in mind…"
The two young teenagers then began to laugh jovially at the little fairy tale charade they just played in the middle of a public train station.
"I could get used to something nice like this. She reminds me of…" Pondered the boy whilst captivated by the soft laughter of the girl only inches away from him.
In his mind, an image of a sickly girl in a hospital bed holding a thumbs up appeared. She had a smile that outshone the gloomy atmosphere around her. It left a touch of splendor and pain.
The girl then casually remarked, "You know. I like you so much already. I almost feel bad about doing this to you now. Almost..."
"Doing what now?"
The schoolgirl suddenly pushed the boy with a surprisingly strength for such a slim girl, causing him to stumble and fall from the waiting platform and onto the tracks.
"OW! What the hell was that for!" shouted the boy in agony of land from a rough fall onto the train tracks.
The girl began to emit a vibrant yellowish red aura around herself as her yellow eyes and hair began to illuminate. Her clothing transformed into a black gown with streaks of gold running across it.
"Don't worry about it my shining knight. There's always a method to the madness. You're about to go on the adventure you have so desperately craved your whole life! In the meantime, I suggest you brace for impact because it's not going to be pretty. See you on the other side!" Declared the girl in an almost maniacal laughter.
The blonde girl then dissipated into cherry blossoms of light that were carried away in the night breeze.
The boy broke from his trance and recoiled in pain thinking, "What did she mean by the adventure I craved for? Also, brace for impact?" He then turned sideways to see an oncoming train only mere meters from him.
"That little…" The train brutally cut off this statement in a cruel twist of fate.
After to what seemed an eternity, I suddenly gasped for air and opened my eyes to see in front of me...
A girl abruptly blowing the party blower in her mouth and waving fans that sprouted water exclaiming.
"Huzzah! Welcome to the Afterlife!"
"Literally What the F**k…" I thought to myself.