〜Type-Moon World, ██████ Worldline〜
In the 7th singularity, Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia—
The Wise King Gilgamesh's mouth twitched slightly as he watched the attack that was 100% effective but dealt zero damage. Then, his gaze turned playful as he looked at Ishtar.
"So, you're another useless goddess..."
Ishtar clenched her fists, wishing she could punch Gilgamesh.
"I'm not that useless!"
Why the personal attack? Don't think I didn't heard you emphasize that word "useless."
Although she sometimes messed things up, she wasn't completely useless. At least her damage output was still quite high!
Merlin, on the other hand, was deep in thought.
"What do you think would happen if someone with extremely high luck and someone with extremely low luck teamed up…?!"
A negative times a negative equals a positive?! The normally average Satou Kazuma suddenly lost his only advantage, becoming truly ordinary.
And based on Merlin's understanding of magic, the reason the goddess's move was useless might be because it did not affect living beings. After all, given Aqua's intelligence… It's not impossible that she forgot this detail.
"So, those frog monsters probably never imagined in their lives that they would receive the same treatment as higher-ranking monsters…"
.....
[ That night, back in town, Aqua insisted that it was due to a shortage of personnel. After all, other adventuring parties usually had four members!
Kazuma was a little skeptical: "Even if we're looking for companions, do you think anyone would want to team up with us, who are just starting out and don't even have decent equipment?"
Don't let their successful frog subjugation today fool you; they barely earned any money!
The purchase price of one toad, after deducting the transportation service fee, was actually not much different from the wages for civil engineering part-time work.
Aqua, her mouth full of toad leg meat, took a sip of sparkling wine and said confidently,
"I'm an Arch-Priest, the highest-ranking profession! No matter what party it is, they'll surely be scrambling to join us!"
So Aqua came up with a brilliant idea: post a recruitment ad on the bar's bulletin board… or rather, a false advertisement!
"Those who wish to adventure with the beautiful and noble Arch-Priest Aqua-sama, please come here! Conditions… only advanced-class adventurers accepted!" Below it were a bunch of comments Aqua wrote herself.
Things like: 'Every day is happy after joining the party,' 'Won the lottery,' 'Illnesses cured,' 'Popularity increased,' and so on…
As a result, the next day at the Adventurers' Guild, they waited for half a day, but no one came knocking.
Aqua's entire demeanor turned gloomy, and she muttered to herself with a hint of loneliness, "No one came." ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"What was Kazuma thinking… letting a goddess with below-average intelligence come up with ideas?! Anyone can tell her ideas wouldn't be normal."
"It's impressive she even came up with that idea, even if the ad is a bit outrageous…"
Everyone couldn't help but want to laugh as they looked at the recruitment notice, which resembled a pyramid scheme, especially Aqua's self-proclaimed benefits of joining the party—those were truly astounding!
And it also contained a lot of personal bias. It truly is you, the idiotic goddess Aqua! It's impossible to keep up with your thought process.
Things like "won the lottery," "illnesses cured," and "popularity increased"—who would have thought a goddess would resort to fraud? You can be down-to-earth, but not to the underworld!
.....
〜A Certain Magical Index World, Academy City〜
Kamijou Touma couldn't help but retort,
"It would be strange if anyone came with those conditions...."
The recruitment ad said a lot, but didn't explain the main composition of their party. And… just that pile of pyramid-scheme-like comments was enough to deter anyone.
No one who wasn't an idiot would believe that, right?!
"The most outrageous part is 'only advanced-class adventurers'…"
Two rookie adventurers who almost couldn't even defeat frogs, yet they demand only advanced-class adventurers as companions. They should really look at their own conditions before adding such a restriction!
〜Boardtop World, Disboard〜
Sora was dumbfounded, looking at the recruitment ad.
"If I remember correctly, they're in the starter village, right?"
How many adventurers in the entire starter village would have advanced professions?! That last condition essentially shut out everyone in the village, didn't it?
It's truly hard to imagine such a shocking idea coming from a goddess…
"No money, no equipment, and the ad doesn't even mention benefits. It's hard to imagine anyone actually showing up…"
A party like this should honestly just focus on grinding and leveling up for a while first. No one will come, even if they wait until they die.
.....
[ Just as Kazuma was about to persuade Aqua to lower the bar, they unexpectedly waited for someone!
"This encounter is a destiny chosen by the world. I have been waiting for people like you to appear!"
Looking back, they saw a girl wearing a black cloak, a pointed magic hat, dressed like a typical mage, and with an eye patch covering one eye!
"I am Megumin! My profession is Arch Wizard, and I use the strongest attack magic, Explosion magic…"
At the same time, a heartbreaking rumbling sound came from Megumin's stomach: "…I haven't eaten anything for three days. If possible, could you please treat me to something first…?"
Kazuma looked at the girl in front of him with some concern: "Treating you to a meal is fine, but what's with your eye patch? If it's an injury, let her heal you!"
Although Megumin was almost fainting from hunger, she perked up when this was mentioned: "Hmph… This is a magic item that suppresses my powerful magic… If I remove it… It will bring a great disaster to this world!"
Kazuma was a little surprised: "Is it like… a seal?!"
Megumin said nonchalantly, "Oh, that was a lie. I just wear it as an accessory."
Kazuma, expressionless, tugged at the latter's eye patch.
"Ah… please don't pull my eye patch… I'm sorry, don't do that, don't pull it! YAMERO!!" ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"This one looks like she's got a screw loose, too. One could say, where there's a Sleeping Dragon, there's also a Young Phoenix!"
"Is this chuunibyou?! But this is another world, and she really can use magic, so I don't think it can be entirely called chuunibyou."
Everyone immediately had a bad feeling. This one also seemed a bit off in the head.
But upon closer inspection, it didn't seem like a big problem. After all… would anyone attracted by that kind of recruitment ad be a normal person?
.....
[ After Aqua read Megumin's adventurer card, she realized that Megumin was indeed a powerful mage! Recruiting her would definitely not be a loss!
Kazuma pondered for a while and finally decided to take her out to the wilderness to test Megumin's abilities!
So, after eating their fill, they returned to the previous plains, planning to seek revenge on the frogs from before!
Megumin pointed her staff at the giant frog in front: "Explosion magic is the strongest magic. Therefore, using the magic requires a considerable amount of time to prepare. Please hold off that toad until I'm ready…"
It's said that enemies meeting again makes their eyes red with anger. Aqua, this time also holding her staff, rushed out without a word after seeing the giant frog!
"Kazuma, watch closely, TODAY I'LL DEFINITELY SHOW YOU THE POWER OF A GODDESS…!!"
Aqua took a running start, gathered her strength in one swift motion, and golden streaks of light converged on her staff: "Slumber in trembling, GOD'S REQUIEM—!!"
"The so-called God's Requiem is the ultimate form of a goddess's love and sorrow; the opponent has no choice but to die!"
Although Aqua described it as very powerful, she was once again bitten by the giant frog, with only her two legs sticking out. ]
[ .....]
〜Projection of All Worlds〜
"......"
Everyone was speechless at this point. When would this idiotic goddess learn her lesson?
Aqua truly lived up to her reputation as a top-tier bait, successfully immobilizing a giant frog… uh, with her own body.
And God's Requiem, and certain death upon hit… It feels like all of Aqua's skill descriptions are like this. Did you really add personal bias when describing them?
It feels like I've never seen your skills deal any damage.
.....
〜Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? World〜
Hestia, facing Bell's inquisitive gaze, panicked and quickly waved her hands in denial:
"No… no, Bell, we are goddesses, NOT CRAZY GODDESSES!!"
Aqua, by herself, managed to lower the dignity of all goddesses. No one else could do that.
Now, Hestia only felt that all goddesses' reputations had been ruined. Walking on the street felt like daggers in her back, making her somewhat embarrassed to go out.
Facing Hestia's explanation, Bell nodded thoughtfully:
"Could it be that this giant frog is actually very strong! After all, it managed to defeat a goddess twice."
Aqua, after all, was a goddess. Being defeated twice by a giant frog without any resistance showed that the giant frog's strength must be incredibly "powerful"!
.....
[ Kazuma looked expressionlessly at Aqua being bitten: "As expected of a goddess, she's willing to put herself on the line to buy time."
Just then… the air around Megumin was powerfully vibrated by intense magic. A torrent of dark magic frantically surged into the staff in her hand!
"Darker than black, deeper than darkness, the time of awakening, the absurd doctrine of the fallen church! Manifest as an invisible distortion!"
Such a terrifying display, even Kazuma, who was unfamiliar with magic, could tell how astonishing the magic Megumin was about to use was.
"The collapse of the source of nothingness's will, an unparalleled collapse! Burn all creation to ashes, descend from the abyss!"
Above the giant frog's head, a vast torrent of magic, like the cosmos, was continuously gathering. The air was constantly agitated by the vibrations of this magic, and fierce winds howled!
"This is the most powerful attack method that humans can perform… This is the ultimate magic…"
"EXPLOSION—!!"
As Megumin swung her staff, brilliant splendor erupted in the direction she pointed. With a blinding flash of intense light, the source of magic gathered like a galaxy in the sky descended towards the giant frog below!
"BOOM—!"
Accompanied by a colossal roar, a dazzling pillar of fire shot up from the ground, followed by a fierce blast that almost uprooted Kazuma!
After the explosion's smoke had settled, a meteor crater more than twenty meters deep had formed where the giant frog had been, and the surrounding rocks were scorched red! ]
[ .....]