Author's Note: I'm back! Finally my schedule is calming down. I should be able to publish once a week again. Also, somehow this dumb story that I decided to write hit 200+ Favorites and 250+ Followers. Thank you so much for the support and reviews! A bit of a shorter chapter this week, sorry!

To all that want to see Kazuma's tryhard nature and chapters similar chapter five, that's all going to be in the second season (I've got some epic stuff planned)! The first season is mainly Kazuma figuring out what the fuck is going on and trying to adjust to his new life (also to build the Kazumin Ship). As you can see in this chapter, he hasn't quite adjusted fully just yet...

Anyhow, enjoy this new chapter and I'll see y'all next week!

Disclaimer: I do not own KonoSuba or any of its characters.

Season 1, Chapter 7: The Past

It took Megumin about a week to recover.

I was worried that she would need to cast Explosion to burn off her mana while she was in bed, but it turned out that the effects of the potion lingered for a while, so her mana recovered very slowly.

I was so busy taking care of her that I once again couldn't find a chance to visit the succubi.

Sad.

Once she was up and running, I decided that it was time to go take on some more quests. Winter was coming, and my money was running low again. Things were so much more expensive here for some reason. A simple bottle of juice costed about 5,000 Eris, and my rent each month was literally 550,000 Eris. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since the quest rewards were also stupidly huge, but still. 5,000 Eris for a bottle of juice?

Fucking inflation am I right?

Anyhow, that leads me to where I am now: looking at the quest board with my party members, trying to figure out which quest we should do.

I read through some quests as a frown began to develop on my face.

Winter monsters were stupidly strong.

Seriously! If we weren't careful, we'd actually die!

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" Darkness called out to me.

"What is it?" I said as I walked over.

"How about this quest?" She pointed excitedly at a sheet of paper.

"Kill quest for a pack of White Wolves," I read aloud. "10 million Eris bounty upon completion."

"Just thinking about a pack of wild animals making a mess of me..." Darkness blushed and moaned as she spoke.

"Nope." I said as I walked away. Why did I get my hopes up?

"Kazuma, Kazuma!" It was Megumin this time.

Ah yes, Megumin, the most level-headed member in my party. Surely she'd make a good decision-

"Kill quest for an One-Shot Bear. Attacks from the shadows and is virtually undetectable. Proceed with caution. 50 Million Eris reward upon completion." I narrowed my eyes as I turned to face Megumin.

"Are you serious?!"

"Why not? I haven't casted Explosion in a week, and all that pent up magic is ready to go. It's time to show the world who has the stronger one-shot ability!" She declared proudly as she raised her staff.

"Nope," I told her. Even though I had Assassinate and Shatter Defenses, from what I read, it seems like that the bear would be able to get the jump on us, so fuck that.

I wanted something that was melee, slow, and easy to hit.

Wait a second, wasn't there an urban legend involving a Winter Shogun? I heard from some fellow adventurers that if you killed some winter sprites, you could lure out the Winter Shogun. And if you managed to kill him, you would get 50 Million Eris as a reward.

I scanned the papers until I found the one I was looking for.

"Ah-ha! Winter sprites killing quest! 10,000 Eris for each sprite killed. We're doing this one!" I showed my party members the piece of paper.

"Snow sprites, huh?" Darkness said as she began to develop a blush on her face.

"You're thinking about the Winter Shogun, aren't you?" I questioned her.

"E-eh?! How did you know?!"

KONOSUBA!

"Look! Look! So these are snow sprites? How cute!" Aqua gushed out we crossed over a hill.

"I never imagined that there would be a whole field of them!" Megumin excitedly shouted out.

"Let's go already! This is free money!" I said to them as I unsheathed my sword and charged down the hill.

"Hey Kazuma, can I cast Explosion?" Megumin asked me hopefully.

"Didn't I tell you already? Save it for the Winter Shogun comes out." I had a perfect plan in mind. Today was going to be an easy day!

"But how am I supposed to kill the sprites then?" Megumin said with a pout.

"I dunno, poke at them with your staff or something."

"Hmpt!" She looked away cutely as she reluctantly walked down the hill to join us.

We started to hack at the crowd of snow sprites. They were extremely easy to kill, as they kind of just floated there not doing anything. Even Darkness managed to kill a few. I felt kinda bad, but it was a necessity to draw out the Winter Shogun.

I think it took around 5 minutes or so before he showed up.

I felt the temperature drop as a dark cloud appeared on the horizon.

"He's here! Get ready!" I warned my party members.

As soon as he walked on to the open field, I casted Assassinate and Shatter Defenses on him.

How's that sword gonna help you now, huh?

"Megumin, now!" I turned to face her.

"Hmm, very well, it appears that my time has come!" She said dramatically before pointing her staff at the Winter Shogun.

"Hurry up!" I told her.

"Geez, no need to rush me. Very well, I shall show you the power of Explosion once again!" Megumin declared as her staff began to glow, gathering energy.

The Winter Shogun must've sensed that something was wrong, because he suddenly started to run at us. But it didn't matter. I already knew that there was no way he could cross that field in time. He was doomed from the start.

"Megumin, anytime now."

"CYKA BLYAT MY COMRADES! EXPLOSION!"

Wait what the fuck-

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

Everyone got knocked down into the snow by the shockwave that came from the explosion, which for some reason was a lot stronger than usual.

I groggily stood up and tried check the status of the Winter Shogun, but a big cloud of snow was flung into the air by the explosion, obstructing my view.

I suddenly saw a bright flash.

What was that? Was something flying at me?

Is that... is that the Shogun's sword?! Fuck, it was flying too fast for me to dodge it!

"SHALLOW GRAVE!" I said as I casted the spell on myself.

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as something impaled me, knocking me down.

My eyes stared at the gray sky. I couldn't move.

It's cold...

KONOSUBA!

I found myself sitting in a familiar room. A room that I was in when I... died for the first time.

I'm dead?

"I'M DEAD?!" I shouted out as I leapt out of the chair.

"Satou Kazuma-san, please calm down!" A girl's voice suddenly rang out in front of me.

I looked up. It was a pretty white haired girl. Another goddess?

"Who are you? You look familiar... have we met before?"

"I'm not surprised that you don't remember me, Kazuma-san. After all, we've only met once before. I am the Goddess of Luck and Fortune, Eris." She introduced herself.

"Oh! Eris-sama! The One Who Pads Her Chest!" I said as I suddenly recalled what Aqua had said.

"E-eh? Did Aqua-sama tell you that?!" Eris blushed as she clutched at her chest in embarrassment.

"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to say that, it kind of just slipped out."

"Well, it's okay, I suppose. Most importantly, I wanted to talk with you."

"Talk with me?" I suddenly remembered why I was here in the first place. "WAIT A MINUTE, AM I DEAD?!"

Why? After all that planning and perfect execution, something just HAD to go wrong, didn't it? Why the FUCK was there a flying sword?!

I didn't want to leave that world... I didn't want to leave Megumin...

"Dead? Who said you were dead, Kazuma-san?" Eris asked with concern in her voice.

"Huh? Then, why am I here? How am I here?"

"Ah, did you think that you could only come here if you were dead?"

"I mean, yeah."

"Then allow me to explain how this place works. While it's true that most people come here because they have died, on rare occasions, a god can pull someone into this room while they are unconscious to talk with them."

"Oh. So I'm not dead?"

"No, but you were close. Had you not casted Shallow Grave there, the sword would've pierced your heart and you would've for sure died. But you did cast it, so now Aqua-same is working to revive you."

"O-okay. So, you wanted to talk with me?" I let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes, I-"

"You couldn't have pulled me out at a better time? Like while I was asleep or something?" I said annoyed.

"O-oh, I just thought that this was a good time..."

"A good time? Seriously? You almost gave me a heart attack!" I raised my voice slightly.

"..." Eris said nothing as she looked down at the ground and blushed deeply.

"Meh, it doesn't matter now. So, what did you want to talk about?"

"As an apology for almost giving you a heart attack, I shall give you the special privilege of showing you your parents!" Eris decided as she raised her hands in the air.

"...what?"

A blank screen suddenly appeared in front of me. It quickly flickered into life. Inside it, I could see my parents quietly sitting at a table. They were crying.

"Why are they crying? Did the house mortgage go up or something?" They weren't crying about me, were they? I mean, they laughed at my death!

Truth to be told, I missed my parents greatly, but I've pretty much left them in the past now. Why did this stupid goddess have to bring them up again?!

"Oh, they're crying about you, of course. They miss you." Eris told me.

"Miss me? Why? They laughed at my death!" My voice started to crack as I spoke.

"They laughed in shock, Kazuma-san. You were dead. They didn't know what to do. Don't you know that they love you?"

I felt something inside of me break.

Yes I missed my parents. Yes I wanted to go back to Japan. Yes I would give anything just to be hugged by them again.

These were the thoughts I had when I first got reincarnated. These were the thoughts that brought a cloud over my head every time I thought about them.

That's why I built walls around them and sealed them away. But now, I felt those walls crumble.

"Why did you have to show me that?!" I screamed in anger as I felt a tear stream down my cheek.

"H-huh?" Eris looked taken back. Was this not the reaction she expected? "I just thought you'd want to see your parents again..."

"You goddesses don't know anything about human emotions, do you?" God... I spent all that time trying to leave my past life in the past, but now it's all resurfacing again.

"Ah! Just forget I did anything!" She quickly waved her hand and the screen disappeared. "Now, about what I wanted to talk about-"

"Send me back." I requested coldly.

"Huh? But-"

"Send me back. I don't want to talk right now." I said with clenched fists.

"But I-"

"SEND ME THE FUCK BACK! WHY DID YOU SHOW ME MY PARENTS?! WHY DID YOU OPEN UP THE PAST?!"

Eris jumped back in fear. "Y-yes! I'll send you back right away! We can talk another time!"

What was she thinking? Showing a dead person their parents...

KONOSUBA!

"Kazuma! You're back!" I heard Megumin's voice.

I opened my eyes. Megumin was on top of me, along with Darkness.

A blue haired goddess was over me. It appears that I was on her lap.

"Well? That was a close one, wasn't it? You're lucky to have the great Goddess Aqua by your side!" She boasted proudly.

"What happened? Why do I feel so cold?" I suddenly shivered.

"Well, after the sword hit you, you turned into a human icicle." Aqua said as she pointed her finger towards something.

I turned to where she was pointing. There was a solid chunk of ice, with a Kazuma shaped hole in the middle.

"My god... why didn't the sword get destroyed by the explosion?" I asked Aqua.

"I would guess that it is impossible to destroy the sword. It is the Winter Shogun's sword, after all."

I pushed Megumin and Darkness off of me and stood up. "Well? Is he dead at least?"

"Yes! My explosion reduced him to nothing but ashes!" Megumin declared proudly.

"Hmpt... he didn't even hit me once..." Darkness said wistfully with a disappointed look on her face.

I looked at the ground besides me. "So I get to keep the sword now? It's like a spoil of war or something?"

"I suppose so," Aqua told me.

"You don't sound very excited, Kazuma. Did something happen?" Megumin asked me worriedly.

"No, nothing happened." I picked up the winter sword and slung it across my back. "Let's go back to the guild and claim our reward."

"Yes! And then we'll have a feast!" Aqua declared while drooling.

"Let's go!" Megumin said as she raised her arms at me.

"What are you raising your arms for?" I asked her.

"Well... I did cast Explosion today, so I'm tired. Carry me!" She said happily.

"You're walking. No excuses." I told her as I casted Mana Recovery.

"Ehhhhhh? Did turning into an icicle freeze your heart or something?" Megumin joked.

"Listen, let's just go." I said quietly.

We arrived at the Guild quickly. I sat down at a table while the girls went to claim our reward and order some food.

I took out the winter sword and took a quick look at it. So it could turn things that it hit into ice? Neat. Megumin was right. Shouldn't I feel more excited about this?

Why am I feeling down all of a sudden? Shouldn't I feel happy? I got a new sword now and 50 million Eris, so why am I feeling sad? This makes no sense...

The girls came back with the reward and a shit ton of food. Holy fuck that's a lot of food. That's like 300,000 Eris gone already.

"Kazuma, you're not going to eat?" Megumin asked me when she saw me staring off into space.

"Actually, I'm going to bed early tonight. I'm tired. You guys enjoy yourselves." I said as I excused myself from the dinner table.

I made my way back into my inn and settled down on my bed.

I needed some time to think.

I was dead to my parents. In fact, if you think about it, my parents are also dead to me, aren't they? I mean, I won't get to see them again, will I?

I started to reminisce about my life in Japan. The joys of buying a new game, of discovering something new, of completing a game that I've spent so much time on.

That was all gone now. Now, I've been tossed into this new world with no idea of its cultures and customs, and I was expected to beat the Demon King?

You really expect a 16 year old to beat a Demon King somehow?

This wasn't a game, this was real life.

Except that this time, I had no family to help me.

Oh, that's right. I am completely alone in this world, aren't I?

No siblings, no friends, no uncles or aunts, no family. Just my party members and me myself and I.

Using Earth's standards, I would be an orphan here.

I felt my heart suddenly ache. It was painful.

Now my head hurts.

Maybe if I sleep right now, everything would feel better in the morning...