Kazuma sighed as he walked off to school. Well, summer's over. Time to go back to studying, exams, and boredom.
Like many teens his age, Kazuma mostly spent his time indoors playing video games. Sure, he had a few friends here and there, but they always ended up passing on to other things, while Kazuma was still in his low point. Not that it mattered to him, he simply kept to himself and only really came out for school. That was all. Go to school, get average grades, go home, play games, go to sleep. Nothing more, nothing less. That was simply how it worked for Kazuma.
Today, Kazuma was greeted by the most average of sights. A somewhat-pretty girl crossing the street. That, and the rather obvious red truck heading towards her.
Kazuma's eyes perked up.
"Watch out!" he picked up the pace. The girl turned around to face him a moment before he shoved her out of the way of the vehicle.
A little bit later...
He opened his eyes. Yes, there was the road, there was the sidewalk, and the girl... was staring down at him?
"Kazuma Satao," she said.
"How do you know my name?" Kazuma immediately said. Of course, he had larger questions on his mind, but that was the first.
"I sensed that the time had come, so I put myself in such a position,"
"Huh? Are you saying you got in front of that truck on purpose?" Kazuma sat up. Then he noticed that the girl had his student ID in her pocket. So that's how she knew my name. Kinda strange, especially since she could have just asked me.
"It wouldn't have made a difference," the girl remarked. Then she smirked. "Though, you should consider yourself lucky that a goddess took interest in you,"
Kazuma was about to question further when the girl pulled at her hair. Her brown locks, that were revealed to be a wig, pulled off and revealed a waterfall of beautiful blue hair.
"You wear a wig over your dyed hair?" said Kazuma.
"I am Aqua, goddess of water and the afterlife," she smugly grinned at him. "And it seems fate has brought the two of us together for this meeting,"
"Wait for a second," Kazuma narrowed his eyes. "Dyed hair… wearing a disguise… using strange terms from the 13th century… I know what you are! You're a chuunibyou!" He got up and anime style swung his finger in her direction.
"Like water, I sweep the scum of humanity to become the energy that powers all of life!" Aqua continued, keeping the extrordinary smug expression on her face, "And that is what I shall do for you, wandering soul,"
"Excuse me?" Kazuma sighed. "Look, I have things to do and places to be, so I'll just leave you to…"
"Just see me in room 2-B after school!" said Aqua. She slipped her wig back on and hurried off somewhere.
Kazuma shrugged.
"What a strange girl," he said. Then he checked his watch. "Oh man, I'm gonna be late! I wonder if I'll be able to get away with saying that I was saving someone's life,"
Just then, Kazuma saw the back of a little red tractor driving off.
"THAT WAS A TRACTOR? Then again, if it had been a truck, it would've killed me,"
At school...
Kazuma sat by himself at his desk, reading manga, while the other students were socializing.
"Hey, Kazuma!" he heard someone say.
He looked up from the comic.
"Oh, hey Megami," he said.
Kazuma's only real friend in the world was Megami, someone who he'd known since childhood. She was fairly normal, short dark brown hair, pale skin, brown eyes, and fairly short stature. Of course, the irony being that this was not normal for Megami. Kazuma half expected her to show up with a 4-foot-long wooden staff and a red eyepatch. Megami had quite the chuunibyou last year.
"You seem… normal," Kazuma raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it's like you said," Megami took the seat right next to Kazuma. "Pretending is nice, but it'll never be anything like the real world,"
"Glad you're out of that nonsense," Kazuma looked her up and down. He never noticed it before, but she was actually really pretty.
"I did a lot of stuff over the summer," she smiled. "You're not gonna believe this, but… well… check this out!"
Megami reached into her bag and pulled out a framed sheet of paper. Kazuma's jaw dropped.
"Is that… a dan diploma?"
"You bet!" Megami put it back in her bag. "I was looking for something else to do with my life, and it turns out I'm really good at shogi! Anyway, what have you done this summer?"
"Oh, you know," Kazuma nervously rubbed the back of his head. Megami too? What is it with everyone and suddenly finding a higher purpose than me? Now that I really think about it… what have I really done throughout my life? Besides waste time, make life worse for other people, play games, and read manga… I haven't done anything! I'm basically the scum of humanity!
"Uh, Kazuma?" said Megami. "You look like I just crushed your entire world,"
"Huh, what?" Kazuma snapped back to humanity. "Oh, right! That's great Megumi! Do you think you're gonna become a professional player?"
"Maybe. I'm still only an amateur," she humbly stated. "But I got into a really good training group!"
"Well, I hope you make it big!"
"Don't we all," Megumi pulled out her things as class began.
Throughout the school day, Kazuma looked back on his life. I really am scum. Nothing but wasted potential and inconvenient trash. What am I gonna do… wait a minute… that girl! She said that she brings people like me to a higher purpose! I have to see her again, it's my only hope!
After school…
After clean-up time, Kazuma went straight for room 2-B. Inside, he saw yet another strange sight. Aqua sat on a chair, her legs crossed in front of her. She now wore a blue outfit, and her eyes were completely blue, like the ocean.
"Kazuma, I've been expecting you," she smirked.
"Have you been sitting there for the last few minutes just so you could say that as I walked in?"
"Yes," she smiled. "So, you want to have meaning in your life?"
"Absolutely!" said Kazuma. "I'll do anything!"
"Okay," Aqua stood up. "Then allow me to tell you the tale of our land. Long ago, the fearsome Devil King appeared upon this land and began terrorizing the villages. Except for walled villages, the entire world is now deserted! That's why we need adventurers like you to defeat the Devil King's monsters and free the land!"
Kazuma's face fell.
"Is this just some kind of elaborate set-up for a roleplay group?"
"What we do is beyond roleplay," Aqua took out a small brown card that looked similar to a character sheet for an RPG. "You won't just take an identity, you will become it! This is an adventure card. It details your stats, skills, EXP, and other stuff about you. Sign here and you'll join this magical adventure!"
Kazuma sighed.
"Well, it's better than what I have now," he took a pen out of his pocket and wrote his name at the top of the card. Then Aqua dashed behind him and wrapped her hands over his eyes.
"Hey! What the…"
"Visualize the land of magic," she said. "Standing in a guildhall with river music playing, the quiet murmurs of adventurers surrounding you. Kazuma Satou, prepare to leave your reality!"
"What the…?"
Aqua took her hands away.