“Hi~! Glad to see you finally made it, Jinma Kotori!”

“H-Huh?” One moment, I was heavy, cold, and grew numb when everything around me turned black. Then, I suddenly felt weightless, but now, energy is welling into me again as I blink my eyes open. I tiredly gaze around the area to only see nothing but white, and I’m currently sitting on a chair. I look down on myself to see the holes and tears on my suit—which is really a black suit jacket, matching slacks, and a white button-up shirt followed by black leather shoes, nothing too fancy—are completely gone without a trace. They almost look brand new. Looking in front of me, there’s a bodacious blondie with a top ponytail sitting across from me with a beaming smile. She looks healthy, her garbs are white, but they’re rather exotic to show a lot of skin.

“Uh … thank you for bringing me here after I fell unconscious, but I’m not interested in taking part in this new ‘kink house’ or whatever they call it these days.”

“Okay, first off, I’m not a pleasure girl that do those services. I’m one of the Immortals who oversees and guides the souls of Japan to the next life, the Goddess of Lust, Obina. Second, you didn’t go unconscious. You died on Earth as you see here.” The [self-proclaimed] goddess, Ms. Obina, snaps her fingers and the floor(?) suddenly changes to the top-view city of Ikebukuro as if we were flying right above it. The view zooms in to the familiar construction site where many unconscious bodies are lying around. Sitting against one of the beams, my body is there limp and lifeless. The blood that dirtied my previously ruined suit and pooled around me gets washed away from the heavy rain, and the knife that sealed my fate still lies next to me.

“… Huh, so I really am dead.”

“You don’t seem very shocked hearing this groundbreaking news.”

“Well, with the kind of work I was in, I kind of have to expect the possibility of death. I’m just sort of amazed I made it up to that point.”

“Anyway, those are the circumstances right now,” Ms. Obina says before snapping her fingers again, making everything around us completely white once more. “Now, normally this is where I give you the option of either being reborn as a baby, starting over your next life on Earth with a completely blank slate, or moving on to the afterlife in heaven, chilling out for the rest of eternity watching many happenings on Earth or other worlds from above; however, in this time around, you are specially qualified for a third option.”

“And that is …”

“To be resurrected into an entirely new world, with your cleaned-up body, along with all its memories, skills, items on hand, and physical characteristics you had up to your death be transferred over. Basically, a second chance for the life you truly desire in an entirely new environment that’s similar to those RPG video games you previously played on Earth.”

“Huh … so why am I given this chance? Was it just dumb luck?”

“Two things, actually: one, your mother, Mikan Kotori, asked me to give you this chance should you die young.”

“You talked with my mom?” I ask with widened eyes.

“Yes, I was in charge of directing her passing as well, but … I say she ‘asked,’ but it’s more like she threatened me. A lot more energetic than how she was on her deathbed, that’s for sure,” she says with a shiver, probably calling back her moments with Mom.

I stifle a chuckle. “Yep, that sounds like Mom, all right. She was quite the sukeban by the time she had me, you know?” [sukeban: leader of a female juvenile (yankee) gang in Japan, identified by the long skirt going by the same name that drapes down to their feet]

“I’m aware. Anyway, the second reason why you’re given this chance is the sacrifices you had put into for your mother’s sake, working for enough money to make ends meet, as well as paying for her hospital bills when you really should be looking after yourself, at least from her perspective. She really wanted you to be sure you had the freedom to do as you please like you deserve while living like a decent person in society.”

I feel great warmth growing in my chest. Mom … I’m so sorry I made you worry over me so much. You really are the best mom a son like me could ask for.

“There’s all that, but most of it is because … you died a virgin.”

The heartwarming atmosphere suddenly shatters after hearing that.

“Yes, there are more virgins dying in Japan in the recent decades, but they lacked what I was looking for, which is why I usually give them the first two options I mentioned to you. Don’t even get me started on those who’ve died from suicide.”

“Wow, how harsh can you Immortals even get?”

“Hey, you should know by now that not everything in life is fair. You should be thankful your demonic strength pretty much destroyed the bar I set on my qualifications to give you the new world option.”

I’m still a little put off by this shallow evaluation from a goddess, but I decide not to press any further on the subject. “So, what’s living in this new world like?”

“I can’t go into too much detail before you make a decision, but in short, this new world is in a fantasy setting with RPG-like mechanics. There’s magic, special skills, classes, abilities, as well as many titles to work into thanks to the contributions of the previous transfers, or ‘Champions’ as you’ll be named on paper. There are also different races aside from humans like Elves, Beastmen, and those who’re put under the label as demons like Devils and Succubi.”

“Demons, huh …”

“One last thing, before I let your mother off, she said she will accept whatever decision you decide to make and she’ll always watch you. One way or another, this is something that will decide the rest of your life, so do what you think is best for yourself while living as a decent person.”

“I see …”

“So, what will it be? Be reborn on Earth to begin anew, move onto heaven and live comfortably, or be resurrected in a brand-new world and get a second chance for the life you truly desire?”

“Well, after hearing how much Mom convinced you to put up this choice, it’d almost be an insult to her if I didn’t choose that one. I’ll go with the resurrection.”

“Yippee! Excellent!” Ms. Obina cheers as she claps. “You’re actually doing me a big favor on this, too, so it will be win-win-win for all of us.”

“… You know, I honestly don’t really care about that. You have your thing, and I have my own.”

“All right, all right, I get it. Now, before we get you over there, we need to get you properly equipped and get you a blessing, or ‘cheat’ for game-talk. Just name one thing that you desire, and I will bless you with whatever will fit.”

“Anything that I want, huh?”

“Yep! Describe it the best you can, and I’ll look up what will suit you.”

“All right …” I take a moment to think hard on what I want. If magic exists, then something powerful would more likely kill me than the number of beat-downs I put up with. I should get something that gives me insurance to last me a while. “Would it be too much to ask for an ability that makes me invincible?”

“I can only grant so much, however~, there’s one ability that just might fit your needs. Check it.” Ms. Obina snaps her fingers, and a golden-yellow, window-like box appears. A name of something with a description is inscribed.

[Dragon Scale Defense: 20x the base DEF and SP. DEF stats, plus strong resistance to all attributes and resistant to ‘One-Hit-KO’ attacks that leaves the user with 1 HP.]

“The attributes, just so you know, are Fire, Water, Terra, Storm, Holy, and Curse. Any damage you take from those attacks will be reduced with the respective resistance.”

“I see, this sounds perfect. I’ll take it.”

“Excellent! Let’s get right to it!” Ms. Obina puts her hands over the borders of the yellow window and shrinks it down before cupping it inside. She takes a deep breath and blows while opening her hands back up, causing yellow balls of light to fly and envelop me before sinking into my body. I feel warmth welling up inside, glowing patterns that resemble scales ran through my skin. I can actually feel not just my skin, but my entire body becoming much tougher than before, even though it may not show by size. Seeing the glowing patterns on me fade and dissipate, I’m honestly relieved I’m not going to end up with actual dragon scales instead of my usual human skin.

“All set. I also bestowed you another blessing to let you view your ‘status,’ letting you see your stats and skills like anyone else would over there. You’ll also be able to communicate with any of the mortal beings that reside in that world, no matter what language they speak that’s different from your own. Finally, most of the skills you’ve gained in your experience on Earth will be applied and rated accordingly, plus the new ability you gained, to fit your standing in the new world. Anything else you can do that doesn’t show up now might come later after you put it into practice. You’ll be reduced to Level 1 to start off in the new world, but your base stats are the measurements of the strength you had on Earth. Go ahead and chant ‘status open,’ to see what you got.”

“Okay then. Status open.” Two light blue, transparent windows appear in front of me just as I say that. Many things are written on them in Japanese.

~~

Jinma Kotori

Race: Human

Class: Brawler

Title: Natural-Born Brawler, Studious, Seeker of Knowledge

Equipment: Freshly Pressed Suit

Stats:

LV: 1

HP: 750/750

MP: 700/700

ATK: 3248

DEF: 58680 [2934 X 20]

SP. ATK: 1903

SP. DEF: 49380 [2469 X 20]

AGI: 873

LUCK: 11

EXP: 0/100

STR RES: FIRE, WATER, STORM, TERRA, HOLY, CURSE

SP: 200

[BP: 0 (only seen by the user)]

[Total Affinity Level (TAL): 0 (only seen by the user)]

Ability: Violently Tempting Challenger: User emits a powerful aura that scares the weaker enemies in the field away, but also attracts stronger, possibly rare ones in the process.

Dragon Scale Defense: 20x the base DEF and SP. DEF stats, plus strong resistance to all attributes and resistant to ‘One-Hit-KO’ attacks that leaves the user with 1 HP.

[Obina’s Champion (only seen by the user): Able to purchase items, skills, abilities, and others through the ‘Immortal’s Blessings Shop (IBS);’ gains access to Affinity Points (AP) and use Affinity Skills.]

~~

Jinma Kotori

Skills:

Passive: Cooking LV 7, Merciless Style LV 6, Throw LV 6, Resourceful Weapon LV 6, Poison Resistance LV 6, Despair Resistance LV 4, Fear Resistance LV 4, Protective Style LV 4, Money Grubbing LV 3, Baking LV 3, Housekeeping LV 3, Massaging LV 3, Studying MAX LV, Catch*, Intimidation*

Active: Glare LV 6, Heavy Throw LV 6, Demon’s Palm LV 6, Blowback Punch LV 5, Man Killer LV 5, Scare*, Taunt*

~~

Ms. Obina gapes at my status before manually closing her mouth shut. “Um … okay, wow, I knew he was something, but definitely not like this. Could this be a good or bad thing?” she mutters to herself.

“Um, hello? I have a ton of questions on what all of these are. Are my base stats normal? What’s this Brawler class?”

“Oh, shoot, I forgot about that. Been so long since I started getting back into this, too. We’re supposed to show you your status before getting to the blessings and allow you a choice of what class you want to change into. Brawler is the default for everyone before they pick what they want to do, and they’ll get bonus points in their stats depending on what they choose.”

“Huh … do I have to pick one right now?”

“Not immediately, but unless you do a bunch of stuff that affects the results, your stats go up so very little as you level up, you’re better off training on your own to get more points out of it.”

“I’ll just stick with Brawler for now until I get a good grasp on what I want to do. Maybe seeing other classes in action over there will help me decide. Plus, I’m good with self-conditioning anyways, so training won’t be an issue.”

“All right, your choice. The others I’ll just explain to you once you cross those bridges. Just a few more things before you’re set.” She then snaps her fingers, making balls of light appear before they morph into a knapsack with a rainbow string tying it closed, and a gold bracelet that falls onto her hands. “Some welcome gifts for your journey. This Magic Item Bag (MIB) will let you carry up to 10,000 kilograms [~22,000 pounds] worth of items and supplies, and it will never feel heavy. Once the bag reaches full capacity, it will automatically close itself when you try to add any more stuff in there. It’s set up to have a special space for objects that don’t get affected by outside forces, including time, so any perishable items will never spoil should you pack stuff like cooked meat or cold milk. There’s a map of the country you’ll be going to inside, and it’s enchanted to be readable for anyone who looks into it.

“This here is the ‘Immortal’s Enchanted Bracelet (IEB).’ Use this to contact me for any questions you might have, or just to chat, as well as open the ‘Immortal’s Blessed Shop’ (IBS) to spend ‘Bless Points (BP)’ on any new equipment, abilities, skills you might have difficulty getting on your own, or others. To get BP, you may use the country’s currency, food, or any valuables you have on hand in exchange for them. There’s 25 BP already inside to get you started. If I see you doing well in the new world, I will add more things for you to buy in the shop. This is also enchanted to only work its magic for you, so if someone steals it and tries to use it themselves, it will just be nothing more than a simple accessory to them, but I highly suggest you don’t lose it.”

“I understand,” I say as I slip the bracelet on, which was big and loose at first before it suddenly shrinks around my wrist, making a perfect fit. I then strap the knapsack over my shoulder. “So, are we good to go? Did my mom say anything else I should know about?”

“Ah, that’s right! Yeah, she actually saw how that bitch of an ex-coworker of yours did you in with that stab in the stomach, and she said you giving her that slap was a good and badass move. Since there’ll likely be much more dangerous girls than her in the new world, she says you’re free to deal with them as you see fit. There may be times where you’ll have to kill people in order to survive, especially from people who don’t know what they’re getting into while raising a weapon against you. You know how rough your mother had it being a sukeban, and she admits there were some things back in the day she wished to have done differently, even if it would go against the public morals and laws at the time. She won’t blame you if you do get violent; however, no matter how different your new life will be there, remember all the things she’s taught you in living daily, especially handling people. Even if you do resort to killing, you’ll be better off if you have comrades to turn to and lean on.”

So, I may have to kill to live, huh? True, there were bastards back on Earth I wished to take care of myself if I wasn’t minding the law. Being able to kill in this new world … I have mixed feelings in this.

“Also, be aware of the possible repercussions from your decisions, especially since their common sense is different than Earth’s. She also said to try not to get into any more shady businesses like that loan company in the new world, and most importantly …” Ms. Obina walks up to me, beckons me to come close with her hand, and I turn my ear toward her to hear what she has to say … only to feel a soft, smooth pair of lips press against my right cheek.

“From the both of us, to you, live a good, honest, new life!” Ms. Obina exclaims with a smile before she snaps her fingers and a ring of light forms around me. I was so in a daze from that sneak attack of a kiss, I didn’t realize I was being lifted off the ground. “Now, Jinma Kotori, brace yourself, my Champion, for you shall step into the country of Padimon on your new journey in the world of Raiza! Best of luck, and remember to get it on with lots of girls!”

“W-Wait, what?! What do you mean by—” I say before my vision turns white, then fades into black, as if I was put into a deep sleep.