"I'm sorry, but I have to decline. I want to focus on my club activities, so I don't have time to be dating someone."

"..."

…..Aw man, this sucks.

My name is Kazuma Satou. I am currently a high school student in the X prefecture of Japan. My hobbies are… uh, reading manga and playing games, I guess.

As you can probably tell from context, I just had my confession rejected by my crush. I know this is cliché but I worked hard to gather up my courage to ask her out. Now things are gonna be really awkward between us. Great. And just look at how sorry she feels for me, she can't even look me in the eye…

"Well, okay, I guess I can't hold your club activities against you." I said that while also trying to hide my face with my bangs.

"Mm. Anyways, I should probably go." She bowed politely one more time before turning to leave.

…Jeez, now there's something in my eye. Can this day get any worse? No matter how much I rub them, the stupid dirt won't come out. I'm really not crying. Really!

Guess I might as well start heading home. Maybe I'll stop at a café or something along the way for a pick-me-up.

Something sweet might make me feel a little better…

Huh?

Where am I?

I could have sworn I was just walking by the baseball field a minute ago. Now I found myself in a warmly lit room. Or actually, it was more of a void of some sort, and it was hard to tell where the lighting was coming from.

"Greetings."

I looked up from the empty light and saw a beautiful girl about my age standing before me. Her blue dress matched the color of her eyes and hair, and her beauty truly could be said to be divine.

"My name is Aqua. Yes, indeed, I am the goddess, Aqua. Moments ago, you were hit in the head by a passing baseball, and you died instantly. My condolences."

Her words almost didn't register. I somehow died? Does that mean this is heaven? Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing the splitting ping of a ball being hit before I…

Ah. So that's what that was. I touched a spot on my head.

I must not have been watching where I was going. It definitely wasn't because my eyes were too bleary to see.

"Don't worry. I have been watching your world for a long time, and your death is not nearly as pathetic as some of the things I've seen!"

She smiled as if thinking about a memory from long ago. I wasn't sure how I felt about her comparing my death to others'.

But, hey, doesn't that mean…?

"So I won't be seeing my friends and family again, will I?" I asked.

This self-proclaimed goddess who stood before me cocked her head to one side as if she were looking at something distant. "Don't worry. With my all-seeing eyes, I can tell you that your parents plan to give you a nice funeral to send you off properly. It looks like your little sister is taking your death kind of hard, but I think she'll be alright. And hey, all your classmates are going to attend!"

I guess that means that girl will be attending also. "I see." Maybe it's because I'm dead, but I don't feel particularly sad to think about that. Or maybe it's relief that I won't have to face her again after telling her how I felt.

The goddess's hands were clasped as in prayer. "It seems you still hold lingering attachments to the life you once lived. Perhaps there are experiences you feel you missed out on."

Yeah, she wasn't far off. I was hoping to live a lovey-dovey high school life with a cute girlfriend. But even before I died, my hopes for that were completely dashed…

"That means today's your lucky day!" She flashed a smile at me that certainly made her look the part of a goddess, but I definitely saw nothing about what happened today as being 'lucky.'

"Far away in a distant world, the Demon King and his army threatens the peace and prosperity of all humankind! Every day, countless lives are lost in battle over the fate of the world! Fear is widespread, causing those who perish to wish to move on to the afterlife rather than be reborn in a land derived of peace!"

Huh?

What is going on here? Did she mean 'devoid' when she said 'derived?' More importantly, why is she telling me this?

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I'm glad you asked! To combat this threat and bring smiles back to the world, we gods have decided to allow certain qualified individuals to start a new life there. Particularly young, healthy persons such as yourself who leave their own world far too early and cruelly, we let them retain their bodies and memories to supply humanity with fresh forces to combat the Demon King!"

"Oh, so this must be just like one of those 'other world' stories from manga."

"Yes! Exactly! I'm glad you catch on quickly, er―" She flipped a page over in a notebook sitting next to her on a small table. "Satou… Kazuma?"

A funny look crossed her face. "Your name is Kazuma Satou?"

I swallowed. She didn't look pleased. I don't know why; it's a very common name, after all.

She leaned in closer and whispered to me through a cupped hand. "Say, you aren't, like, secretly a bigtime pervert who likes to sexually harass every woman he sees, are you?"

"Where did that come from?! No way! Who do you take me for?!"

How rude! What a thing to ask somebody you just met!

I mean, I'll admit that I have interests that any normal guy my age would, but I'm definitely no pervert!

"Hmm, my unclouded sight shows that you are an upright and decent young man―at least, most of the time."

…Am I being judged for the occasional times I open incognito mode on my phone or something?

"Well, that's a relief." The goddess shrugged and relaxed noticeably. "Anyways, since you grew up in Japan, you probably haven't developed any skills or gained any experience using magic, so I can let you choose any one of these special powers or abilities to take with you, to give you a leg up against the Demon King." She handed me a stack of papers. "And as an added bonus, I will also personally accompany you while you start out on your grand adventure as a guide and source of knowledge! Be grateful you get to have such a beautiful and powerful goddess as your ally!"

I curiously took the sheets of paper and thumbed through the leaves. It looked like most of the abilities she was talking about were pretty powerful. Some of them were weapons that you'd expect to get only if you sunk tons of money on gacha pulls. Others were special powers that you would normally see from strictly the really important and powerful characters. This all was actually starting to sound a lot like the opening exposition for an RPG.

These days, lots of games occasionally held big special events like this to draw in new players so they wouldn't have to start so far behind the rest of the playerbase who had had lots of time to grind up their levels.

Did I really die? Am I sure this isn't some crazy realistic dream from playing too many video games? I mean, it wasn't even an hour ago that I was debating in my head whether I should show up at the meeting place I mentioned in my love letter or bail.

I really should have just stayed in bed this morning and faked sick. Oh, but my cute little sister would have worried, so maybe that plan wasn't the best either.

"Oh, and I almost forgot to mention! If you manage to defeat the Demon King, the heavens will grant you any wish your heart desires!"

I immediately began reading through the stack of beginner's bonus offers more earnestly.

"Hurry up and choose already," the goddess said. "I haven't got all day, you know."

"Sorry!" I quickly said. "Um, I think I want this one!"

You know, what do goddesses do all day for her to be so busy? She doesn't look busy at all to me. She's just sitting there eating some snacks. But I figure it would be rude to ask.

She licked her fingers and grabbed the leaf in my hands. "Okay! Then let us begin!"

A glowing magic circle appeared as the goddess stretched out her hands. I couldn't help but gasp when I saw it. So this is what magic looks like, huh?

As the circle of light enshrouded me, I felt my body get lighter and lighter. I began to ascend above the starry plane within which our conversation had taken place.

"I'll meet you as soon as you get there," the goddess called from below. It seemed she didn't need to use whatever magic this was to move across worlds.

"You promise not to send me anywhere dangerous, right?" I quickly shouted back to her receding form.

"It's okay! Most people download the language to their brains without their heads going poof! No problem!"

"Wait, what? You said something really concerning just now! Hey, this is safe, right?"

I opened my eyes and had to squint for a moment against the serene daylight.

I was in a small, medieval-looking town with wagon carriages rolling along on dirt roads. The majority of the buildings were quaint lodges made of wood and stone. Any people in view were dressed in clothes peasants and the like would wear, made of homespun cotton cloth.

(I was still wearing my school uniform, for some reason.)

"I can't believe I'm actually in another world!" I couldn't help but say aloud. "Ah, where's that goddess at? She said she would meet me here, right?"

I checked my surroundings. This way, a row of shops lined the street, with merchants selling their wares. And in that direction, a blond man with an appearance that screamed delinquent was arguing with a woman who had a tail―a demihuman!? I rubbed my eyes, but she definitely had the tail of a tanuki.

Did the goddess I met have to disguise herself somehow to blend in? I started to wonder if I would even recognize her when―

"There you are, Satou―er, Kazu―no, I can't call you that…"

"Satou is fine, goddess," I said.

My worries were over nothing. The goddess appeared just the way I remembered her.

"By the way, while I'm down here it would be a problem if you called me 'goddess,' so just call me Aq―wait, no it wouldn't! Yeah! On second thought, I absolutely do not mind at all if you praised me as a goddess day in and day out for all to see!"

"Um, okay, if you say so, goddess."

She puffed out her chest smugly. "Okay! Why don't I start by showing you around town?"