When I came to, I was standing in a white, empty space.
“Nice to meet you, Hero Yoshito. My name is Alcapa, and I am one of the goddesses who governs this world.”
Standing before me was a silver-haired girl. She gave me a gentle, almost ethereal smile.
“Thank you for defeating the Evil God. On behalf of all the gods, I would like to express our deepest gratitude.”
“Ah, well… thank you very much.”
I gave her a polite little bow.
“I had a great time, too. It was quite a valuable experience. Thank you, thank you.”
Hmm…
Even I had to admit that sounded like something a grade-schooler would say. But then again, when you’re suddenly standing in front of a goddess, it’s not exactly easy to come up with something clever on the spot.
Or so I thought.
“…Pfft.”
For some reason, I had apparently hit exactly the right spot with Alcapa.
“Pfft—kukuku… W-Wait, hold on! A valuable experience!? Ahahahaha! You actually killed a god, and you’re just calling it a ‘valuable experience’!? Hiiii, my stomach hurts from laughing! Ahaha!”
“Are you all right?”
“T-this is bad. Seriously bad. Ahahahahahaha! You’re amazing! Yeah, you’re absolutely amazing!”
Whack, whack, whack!
She started smacking me on the shoulder at an alarming rate.
“Man, Yoshito, you’re such a funny guy! I think I really like you!”
Her way of speaking had changed quite a bit compared to when we’d first met.
I wondered if this was her real personality.
“Figures. You really did end your life with a joke! Cause of death: Forgotten an item. Pfft… kukuku… Ahahahahahaha!”
Alcapa burst out laughing again.
She was wearing this fluffy, heavenly-looking outfit, like something straight out of a painting of a celestial maiden, but it had gotten completely disheveled from all her laughing and moving around.
Her chest bounced with every movement, and even her thighs jiggled slightly.
So this really was heaven…
Well, I mean, it certainly looked like the afterlife, so I guess that was a given.
“Sorry, sorry. Maybe I just have a ridiculously low threshold for laughter.”
“I think it’s cute. I like that about you.”
“Oh… yeah…”
“Is something wrong?”
“N-no, nothing! Absolutely nothing. Anyway, you say things like that to everyone, don’t you?”
“Not at all. Somehow, I feel like I can talk to you easily, Alcapa-sama. Maybe we’re just on the same wavelength.”
“O-oh, I suppose I feel the same way…”
She suddenly looked a little flustered.
“…But more importantly, let’s get to the main point. The main point.”
Alcapa cleared her throat.
“I actually have some wonderful news for you, Yoshito. Since you were the one who saved the world, there’s something special I’d like to offer you.”
“Are you going to appoint me as your assistant, Alcapa-sama?”
If that was the case, I’d be pretty damn happy. We were already on the same wavelength, and on top of that, she was an incredibly beautiful girl. Well, she’s a goddess, after all.
If we’d both been human, I’d be at the level of bringing her a bouquet of flowers and asking her out. Hell, I might even have slipped a marriage registration form into the bouquet.
“Umm…”
For some reason, Alcapa looked embarrassed and averted her gaze.
“Actually… in this space, people’s inner thoughts can kind of… be heard.”
F-for real?
“They really can.”
So that meant she heard the whole thing about the flowers and the marriage registration form…
“F-F-Fortunately, anyway!”
Alcapa practically shouted over my thoughts.
“Yoshito! Since you defeated the Evil God, I’m going to give you another whole lifetime!”
“Ohhh!”
“And not just that! You’ll be reincarnated into modern-day Japan, with special bonuses! How about that?”
“Hell yeah!”
““Yaaay!””
We high-fived.
The crisp sound echoed through the white space.
“So, what kind of bonus are we talking about? Like… a coupon for 3,000 yen off a Super Famicom?”
“That’s a pretty old reference… was that from a Super Mario RPG commercial?”
“You know that one?”
“Of course! Goddesses are incredibly smart, you know. Heehee.”
Alcapa puffed out her chest proudly. She’s ridiculously cute.
When I’m reborn, I’m definitely going to worship this goddess…
“Ahaha, thanks. Can I get back to what I was saying?”
“By all means.”
“You’re going to be fighting things that are kind of like monsters in the other world, too, so I figured your bonus should be something suited to that sort of life.”
“…Huh?”
“Sorry, but I just heard something extremely ominous. That was just my imagination, right?”
“Nope. You heard me correctly.”
“Oh, thank goodness. It was just a misunderstanding. Obviously there aren’t any monsters in modern Japan—”
“…Huh?”
“Maybe it’d be easier if I called them yokai or ghosts? Those sorts of things really do exist, you know.”
“Hey, hey.”
“Wait a second.”
That’s not the modern Japan I knew. Santa is just one’s parents. Ghosts were nothing more than the wind rustling through dead grass. Magic and paranormal phenomena were supposed to be superstitions!
“They keep all of that hidden from ordinary people, but the world over there is actually pretty fantastical, you know?”
“And you’re going to be reincarnated into a family that’s been fighting evil spirits and all sorts of other nasty things. So, good luck!”
“No, no, no, no!”
I already worked more than hard enough in my first life.
Couldn’t I just take it easy in my next one?
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? That defeating the Evil God was a valuable experience.”
“Well, yes…”
“Then wouldn’t it be nice to live somewhere where you can put that experience to good use?”
“Um… in that case, couldn’t I put it to use in something like sports instead?”
“I kind of like watching you fight, though.”
Uuh. Damn it. She’s giving me those puppy-dog eyes.
“It makes my heart go “thump-thump” whenever I watch you.”
“What is this feeling, I wonder…?”
What an outrageously obvious seduction tactic. There’s no way a battle-hardened Hero like me, a man who had survived countless life-or-death situations, is going to fall for such an obvious trap—
“All right! I’ll do my best! Please etch my heroic exploits into your heart, Goddess!”
…Yeah.
I fell for it.
＊＊＊
A heroine who’s ridiculously easy to win over is called a *choroin*—short for *choroi heroine*.
So what would you call a hero who’s just as easy? Chorō?
Sounds like the name of some important village elder.
An elder…
Anyway, I am going to be reincarnated back into modern-day Japan. I’d be starting over as a baby, so my physical abilities would be reset accordingly. Apparently, though, I’d still be able to use the magic I’d learned in the other world, and at least some of my skills would carry over.
“Will I be able to use Appraisal?”
“You can, but there’s no such thing as levels or stats over there.”
“So I’ll have to force things into a format that doesn’t really exist in that world. Anything else you want?”
From now on, I was going to be living in modern-day Japan.
Hmm…
There were sayings like “Even the affairs of Hell depend on money” and “Money is more valuable than life…!”
In that case…
“How about… improving my luck with money?”
“Sure! I can’t promise you’ll win the jackpot in the lottery every single time, but I’ll make sure you win a decent amount.”
I’d thought this before, but this goddess really did know a surprising amount about Japan. Could she have secretly sneak down there every now and then for a little vacation?
“Well then, I guess it’s about time we got you on your way.”
A magic-circle-like pattern appeared beneath my feet, and my consciousness gradually began to fade.
“Ah.”
What is it, Alcapa?
That “Oh crap, I forgot something!”look on your face is making me seriously nervous.
“I forgot to… tell you… a little while ago… another person was reincarnated… and they’re totally obsessed with you…”
But unfortunately, her voice was becoming harder and harder to hear.
“Just before—―――――also reincarnated…………, totally――………… you――――… obse――――”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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