"Y/N L/N. I'm sorry to say, but your short life has come to an unfortunate and unexpected end. Welcome to the afterlife."
You awaken to both an unfamiliar voice and an unfamiliar sight. The seemingly infinite black void around you is definitely something you haven't seen before. Neither did you think it was possible for something like this to exist.
There was one other living being that you could see. You don't really want to call her a human though. She certainly looked like one, but at the same time her beauty was almost inhuman. Not even the top models back on earth could hold a candle to her. The woman looked to be a few years older than you. She had long blue hair that went down to her lower back, the color similar to water from the ocean on a clear day. Her eyes were a similar color. Her clothes didn't leave much to the imagination, but at the same time they weren't too revealing anything. If you truly had died, it wouldn't be too hard to believe this was a goddess.
You don't know if it was her aura or what, but you felt an abnormal amount of calm in this situation. In fact, as far as you can remember you haven't really felt this calm in your entire life. "The afterlife? So was heaven, hell, and whatever else just made up then?" You question, the place you're in right not doesn't seem like either of those places. You're no expert on religion but you don't think this would fit the description of any of afterlife either.
"Actually, I was about to get to that." The woman continues "My name is Aqua. I'm a goddess who gives guidance to those who die young. Now, to answer your question from before. You have a two choices."
You decide not to say anything, figuring she'll just end up continuing anyway.
"Option one: Be reborn as a human and start a completely new life. Two, live life like some boring old geezer in a heavenly place."
"No offense, but both those options sound pretty trash." You frown, honestly this seems like a loss to you. "What do you mean by living like a geezer in heaven anyway?"
"Well, you didn't hear this from me but..." Aqua looks around for something similar to a child that's about to do something bad "Heaven isn't as great as a place as your kind likes to make it out to be. You don't even have a body. You don't need substance either, so you can't even eat. Even if you wanted to, there is no ingredients to make anything. No games, anime, snacks, sex, or anything! All you do is bask in the sunlight and talk to others as a spirit for all of eternity!"
Yeah, that sounds pretty garbage. Sounds more like hell. It makes reincarnation sound like a great opportunity.
However, she seems to notice your not so happy expression and smiles, leaning forward. "You certainly don't want to go to a boring place like heaven, do you? Being reborn sucks too. You wouldn't even be Y/N L/N anymore. You'd be starting a new life from zero like your previous one never existed. Now tell me, Y/N. Do you like video games?"
"Hell yeah! What world am I going to, and whose ass am I kicking?" You don't even try to hide your excitement. Maybe it was all the anime and manga throughout your life, but you already knew where this was going.
"If you already know where this is going, this'll save us some time." Aqua clears her throat and stands up "Well, that's what I would say, but legally speaking, I have to atleast give you a quick rundown."
"Legally?"
Aqua just ignores me and continues "For you see-"
She goes on lay out her proposal. Basically, as expected she wanted to send me to another world. What was unsual, atleast according to her, instead of this fantasy world was being threatened by a demon king, it was being threatened by 'weirdo cultists and cute animals."
"This world isn't exactly ideal to live in for normal people, so when they die they don't want to reincarnate back into it. The population of that world has been declining for centuries, so we're finally deciding to do something about it!"
"And the thing you're doing is sending a powerless 14 year old kid?" You question "Don't get me wrong, the opportunity is great. But I'm not trying to become cnon fodder."
"Fufufufu." Aqua puts her hand in front of her mouth and laughs "I'm a goddess. You think we didn't think of that. We're not going to send you in there with nothing! A legendary weapon, a special talent, an amazing ability, maybe even a fictional character you have the hots for. Not a bad offer, is it?"
"So... I can ask for anything?"
Aqua nods "If it's in our power." She snaps and a bright light shines on the floor in front of you. Once it dies down, rows of papers appear in it's place "Here, I even put together a few suggestions for you."
You take a quick look at the papers. Honestly some of them seem a bit over powered. Immortality, time manipulation, biology manipulation, even straight up reality warping. Those seem fun, but would probably get pretty boring once you start going around slapping any enemy that gets in your way.
As you go through the papers, one in particular catches your eye. Where usually there would be the name of the item or ability and where the description would be, there was just a huge black mark similar to spilled ink.
You pick up the piece of paper, holding it up for Aqua to see "Any idea what this is supposed to be?"
She leans forward to get a better look at the paper and raises an eyebrow "No clue. You should probably ignore that one."
You could ignore it. But if playing games taught you anything, those mysterious skills or items that are blacked out or something are usually broken. Then again it could just be something that is total ass. "I'll take this one." You've been getting unlucky on gacha games lately. Should be around that time you get lucky and get something good.
"Are you sure?" Aqua inquires "You could get a body pillow of me, my autograph, or even a poster of me. But instead of you want some mystery... thing?"
"Yep."
Aqua gives you a blank stare for a second before shrugging "If that's what you want I won't argue. It's about that time anyway." She lifts her hand, pointing her palm toward you. What looks like a magic circle appears along with a beam of light that shines down from the sky and engulfs you. "Have a safe trip Y/N~ You have the great Goddess Aqua's blessing, so try not to die and waste it! See ya!"
'What a great send off.' You think to yourself. The last thing you is Aqua waving you goodbye before light completely fills your vision as your sent to your new world.
==================================
You shiver as a cold breeze blows through the thin air around you. Not even two seconds into your new journey and you already feel like you're going to die. Not like a warrior in the heat of battle, but because you were dumped in the middle of some freezing cold city. The equipment you were wearing, a simple sweatshirt, pants, and shoes that weren't exactly equipped for this type of weather. In your defense you weren't exactly planning to go to a new world that can use a little global warming though.
You take a minute to observe your surroundings. You seem to be in a market. Would be a great place to buy some food and equipment. Small problem though. You're broke.
Maybe you should see if there is a guild or something around here. Of course there are other ways to make money, but you feel it would be most fitting for a hero of your caliber. Atleast more heroic than giving 5 gold handys in the closest alley.
I mean, if you really need to, most heroes go through a low point in their career, right?
You sigh, shaking those unpleasant thoughts out of your head. It's time for your first challenge in this world.
Social interaction
'Let's do this...' You say a cool line in your head, bravely walking up to a nearby stand selling what looked to be a large assortment of fruits. You stop in front of his stand and slam your hand down on the wood "Hey you."
The man stares at you with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused "May I help you?"
"Yes, you can." You answer "I'm kind of new to the area and was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions."
"That depends." The man grunts before motioning towards the fruit "Are you going to buy anything?"
"I'm completely broke." You almost instantly reply
"Then fuck off." He replies just as fast as you did. Rude.
You push down the anger rising up in your stomach. Probably not a good idea to beat this guy up on your first day of being a hero. Not good publicity. "It seems you don't know who I am. Not that I can blame you. I'm-"
He cuts you off "I don't give a damn who you are, kid. Your broke. You can't buy anything. Stop wasting my time."
If something ever happens in this town or whatever, he will probably be one of the last people you attempt to save. You click your tongue and push off his stand. "I hope your business crashes and burns, Dickface."
His eye twitches "Did you call me, boy?"
"I called you Dickface, Dickface."
"I'll let it slide this once, since you seem to be new around here." He scowls "Speak to me like that again, and I'll make sure you never speak again."
"Wow. I'm so scared." Honestly, rather not get into a fight here. But your already this deep in. For better or worse, your ego won't let you back down now. "You're lucky I was sent here to save this world. If it wasn't for that fact I would have beat your sorry ass by now."
That's a lie. If it was your old world, you probably would have been running away like a little bi- temporarily strategically retreating until he died from old age or something. He would probably die before you. Technically it would be your victory.
"You little shit!" You take a step back as he walks around his stall looking slightly less than ecstatic. He stomps in front of you and grabs the collar of your shirt. "You better listen here boy, I don't give a damn if you are a noble. Some of us out here are trying to make a living and we don't have time for your games, kid. Now are you gonna leave yourself, or will I need to force you."
Noble? Guess you are dressed better than the people waltzing around wearing what pretty much equates to styled rags.
You grab his wrist and squeeze it. You hear a small cracking noise as his face contorts in pain "If I were you, I would get your hands the hell off me." Luckily for you, it seemed your strength increased when you came to this world. If that didn't happen, well... not even going to think about all the ways you would have gotten your ass beat.
He seems to take the hint and lets go, sharply inhaling through his teeth. He takes a few steps back and bumps into something behind him. He turns around to see a young girl holding some of his food in her hands.
You didn't really notice her until now either. Then again you had slightly more important things to pay attention to. Can't really blame her taking this opportunity to try and get something to eat though. Respect. She gasps and drops everything that was in her arms and grabs her shoulders "You little bitch, what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I- I'm-" She only stutters in response
You grit your teeth as he lifts his arm up, as if he's about to slap her. However, you speak up and bring his attention back to you "You can't be a 14 year old boy so you try and beat up some little girl instead? You must feel real tough."
He turns back to look at you "I don't have time for you. Unless..." He scowls, pretty much spitting out every word "You're working with this little whore, aren't you?"
You look at the girl and shake your head "Never met her. Doesn't mean I'll just let you smack the shit outta her though."
"She's just a street rat. Nobody will care what happens to her." He rolls his eyes "Tell you what. I'll forget about what happened here if you just leave us alone and let me teach this whore a lesson."
At first you definitely seemed like the villain here. Waltzing up to someone just trying to live their life and started a fight. Turns out this guy is some pedophile weirdo. You glance around at the other vendors and customers. None of which seems to care about what is going on. They're watching, sure. But no one is stepping in. Guess beating this sicko into the dirt will count as your first heroic deed. "I swear to Aqua, if you're talking about what I think you are, I'm gonna put you down like your pedopal in Kenosha."
In response, he decides his best course of action is to slap the girl, sending her sprawling onto the ground. Without a second to spare she grabs whatever food she can and takes off running into a nearby alley. Not backing down, he approaches you with a threatening look on his face like he's a ready for a fight.
"Good, now-" Before you can finish your sentence his fist connects with your face.
You take a step back, pretty stunned from the hit. After taking a second to collect yourself you turn your head back towards him "I'm gonna beat your dick off."
Before he can react you give him a punch of your own. As promised, it was right in his dick. He lets out a squeak of pain and steps back, however you don't let up, he decides to move his hands in front of his crotch. Taking the opportunity, you punch him in the jaw, making him fall to the ground.
Like a true hero, you pissed off a closet pedo, and beat his ass. Maybe you were in the wrong at the start, but it all ended up okay in the end... right? Aqua would be proud.
Holding your head up high, and shaking those thoughts from your head, you make your way in the direction that girl went. You were kind of responsible for her getting that stuff. Maybe she can share. Thankfully, it isn't too hard to find her thanks to her footprints in the snow being much smaller than the others. It didn't take too long to find her. She didn't run too far, ending up in some small abandoned building only a few minutes out from where you started.
'That looks sketchy as hell.' You think to yourself. If there were giant ass bugs or rats in this world, you would probably find them here. Gross.
Shrugging, you decide to go in anyway. If the girl was here it was probably safe. Maybe on top of some food she would be able to answer a few of your questions.
Snow starts to flutter around you as you make your way towards the entrance. Got here just in time too. It would suck if you got caught in the snow. You can deal with the cold, but getting wet on top of that is pretty much a death sentence. Atleast you have shelter for the time being. You push open the front door and are met with the dark interior of the room on the other side. You pull your phone out of your pocket and turn it's flashlight on. Usually using your battery on something like this would be a waste, but what else are you going to use it on? Looking at the hentai you downloaded? This is probably more useful.
The floor creaks loudly as you walk through through the house. Unless she was deaf, she was definitely alerted to your presence by now. After a few seconds of shining the light around, something catches your eye. A doorway with stairs leading down to what you assume is a basement. You should probably stay away from it. But, this isn't some crappy horror movie. It should be fine.
You walk down the stairs into some small musty ass room. You look around and spot the same girl from earlier in the corner sitting in some makeshift 'bed'. By bed you mean an assortment of dirty ass rags. Better than nothing I guess.
She stares up at you putting her guard up. You stare at her for a few seconds before clearing your throat and sending her the most innocent smile you can muster. "Sup."
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A/N: This chapter was shorter than I wanted it to be. Released later than I wanted it to. Whoops.
Anyways, as the 1.2 people in my Discord know, I wrote most of this on New Years while I was under the influence of alcoholic beverages. Use this dog shit story as a PSA for why you shouldn't drink or something. I don't know.
Probably should get this out of the way and answer some questions that will probably come up:
The MC will not join the Emilia Camp
This takes place about 10 years before canon
Subaru will still be coming to this world
If you have anymore feel free to ask.
I'll try to not take a year for the next update, and I'll also try to make it better than this. Bye.
Next time: Starting Life in Another World as a Fugitive