When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in a chair at the center of a space-like background with no visible end, yet I could see clearly despite the lack of a light source. Looking ahead, I saw a large, pure white chair.
'So this is the heavenly realm room. By the way, isn't Aqua coming? It's not that the original story has already started, is it?'
Click-clack, click-clack
The sound of someone approaching footsteps came from behind the large, pure white chair.
"Whoa~ a super~ handsome guy... Hmm, hmm, that's not right..."
"Welcome to the afterlife~ You unfortunately died a little while ago."
Maybe because I was seeing (the so-called) Aqua, it wasn't surprising, but seeing Aqua's appearance again made me happy. Aqua slowly sat in the pure white chair in front of me.
"It was a short life, but you died."
I decided to act according to the original story for now.
"I died?"
"Yes, you were killed at your office desk, unable to withstand the excessive workload of a black company."
"I... see."
It was a bit bewildering, but since that was the setting, I decided to just listen. Then Aqua stood up from the chair.
"My name is Aqua! I am the goddess who guides people who died young in Japan."
"You have two choices."
"Start a new life from the beginning. Or go to a place like heaven and live a grandfather-like life."
Aqua approached me, leaned her face in, and began speaking quietly.
"Actually, heaven isn't the awesome place you think it is. There's no TV, no comics, no games, and you don't have a body itself, so you can't do anything edgy. You can only bask in the sunlight forever."
"You don't want to go to a boring heaven like that, do you?"
That's a lie. It's what Aqua says to boost her performance metrics. In reality, it's a true heaven-like heaven where angels grant almost any wish as long as it's not strange.
"But starting over as a baby from the beginning is also a bit..."
"So I have a great story! You like isekai stories, don't you?"
Aqua suddenly struck a grandiose pose as if she was about to narrate an epic tale.
"In that world, the long-standing peace is threatened by the Demon King's army. The lives people have built are trampled by monsters, and everyone lives in fear of the Demon King's army's ruthless plunder and slaughter."
"Because it's such a world, everyone refuses to be reborn there, so the population just keeps decreasing. So the opinion came up, 'How about sending people who died in other worlds while maintaining their bodies and memories?'"
"But if we just send them, they'll die easily, so as a great service~"
Here it comes! The reincarnation special! The biggest reason I chose 'Konosuba'
"We give you the right to take one thing you want, like a powerful weapon or an incredible talent."
"You can start your life over as a hero while retaining your memories."
"How about it, not bad, right?"
'Am I watching a home shopping TV right now? Why do I feel like they're trying to quickly dispose of goods with a special sale?'
"....Alright. I will go to another world and act as a hero."
"Yes~ Performance metrics! Ahem..."
Aqua shouted 'performance metrics' with a bright smile, then seemed embarrassed as she looked at me and fake-coughed. Then she spun around on the spot, and cards with abilities and weapons written on them fell to the floor with a 'thud'.
"Here~ choose one~ I'll give you exactly one power that will not lose to anyone."
I sat on the floor and carefully examined the cards one by one. The abilities were Regeneration, Superhuman Strength, Super Speed, Rapid Growth, etc., and the weapons ranged from Holy Swords to Demon Swords, Sage's Staff, etc. They were definitely cheat-like abilities and weapons. After choosing and choosing, I agonized between Superhuman Strength, Super Speed, and the Legendary Bow.
'If only the gacha had gone well, I wouldn't be agonizing like this, but my attack power is too lacking.'
"Hey, it's nice to look at your handsome face for a long time, but could you hurry up? It's the same no matter what you choose anyway. I still have tons of deceased to guide."
Pop!
I was seriously contemplating, but she was nagging while eating snacks, so I got instantly angry, and veins bulged on my forehead.
'Ah... hold on. If I can't hold back my momentary anger like Kazuma and choose Aqua, it's doomed.'
"I'll take Superhuman Strength. Also, I'm currently suffering from poisoning, can you cure it? This bag is also contaminated, so I request your help."
"Huh? You're supposed to come here with a healthy body... that's strange. Did the angels make a mistake?"
Aqua, thinking the angels had made a mistake, cast detoxification on me and purification on the bag.
'She doesn't suspect much. Is it fortunate that Aqua's intelligence is low?'
"Then please be careful not to step out of the magic circle~"
A large magic circle appeared beneath my feet.
"Now~ Hero! I pray that among the numerous hero candidates, you will be the one to defeat the Demon King."
"If you achieve this feat, the gods will grant you one wish of your choice as a reward."
"Now, embark on your journey~"
My body gradually floated and then was sucked somewhere. It instantly brightened, so I tightly closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I had arrived in an unfamiliar town.
Looking around, I saw buildings you might see in medieval Europe, people who looked like adventurers wearing armor, people wearing robes and holding staffs, and occasionally, the figures of people with elf ears or animal ears walking among the townspeople, one or two at a time.
"So this is the Konosuba world. It's like a medieval fantasy movie set."
Watching children playing and running around the streets with toy swords, I definitely felt that Axel Town, where novice adventurers reside, was peaceful.
"Status Window"
[Cassian]
Strength:4(+8) Stamina:5 Agility:2 Intelligence:2 Mana:352
Possessed Abilities
[(EX)Gamer's Life][(EX)Kill & Loot][(S)Unlimited Inventory][(S)Emotions][(S)Superhuman Strength][(A)Pain Resistance][(A)Kilo Kilo Fruit][(B)Strong Spirit]
Possessed Items
[A Enma]
Possessed Points
100
I clicked on [S Superhuman Strength].
[S Superhuman Strength]
Possessed Strength becomes 3 times.
I considered receiving a weapon, but I thought, 'Considering the future, it's better to increase Agility or Strength,' so I took Superhuman Strength.
'For now, I have 100 points, so let's strengthen my body.'
When I tried to raise Strength to 10 and then to 11, the points which had been increasing by 1 suddenly increased by 10.
"Huh? Is this perhaps... when the number of digits increases, the required points increase accordingly?"
For now, I also raised Stamina, Agility, and Intelligence to 10.
Ding~!
[Event: For the first time, you have made all stats two digits. As a reward, you receive 1000 points.]
"Oh~!"
I urgently checked the gacha.
[Low-grade Random Gacha 1 point]
[Mid-grade Random Gacha 10 points]
[High-grade Random Gacha 100 points]
[Highest-grade Random Gacha 1000 points]
The highest-grade gacha cost 1000 points, so I could try it once, but 1000 points was valuable enough to raise initial stats tremendously.
"..."
"Let's just give up and raise my stats."
After thinking for a moment, I shook my head. If I didn't get anything this time either, I'd probably suffer for a long time, so I didn't have the courage to gamble.
Strength:50(+100) Stamina:40 Agility:30 Intelligence:20 Mana:352
Possessed Points
73
A strong power was suddenly felt throughout my body. Confidence that I could do anything now surged wildly. Fortunately, even when I tried to raise it to 21, the points required didn't change. It probably increases per digit like 10, 100, 1000.
"Nice~"
And I took out 'Enma' from the inventory.
"I need to try using this..."
If it could use mana instead of Haki, I might be able to use it, but I was afraid something might go wrong and I'd dry up and die, so I couldn't draw it. Then, perhaps because of my increased Intelligence, a good idea suddenly came to mind.
"That's it! This world had Aqua! I can go and ask her."
If it's Aqua, she can revive me even if I die, so I'm thinking of giving her a little money and asking her to help me draw 'Enma'. Kazuma and Aqua, as soon as they arrived in Axel Town, had no money and couldn't even register as adventurers, so they begged for money from an Eris believer. I thought I could use that, and it would probably work out well.