Chapter One

"Ah... I died."

A teen boy muttered, looking at the white floor with blank eyes. Blinking owlishly, he looked up, marveling at what seemed like the stars surrounding him.

It made him feel small, in the face of this vast emptiness, did he matter at all?

This was quite the experience, witnessing firsthand how small he, and by extension, his life was compared to the vastness of the universe, the humans didn't even know if they were the only sentient life forms in space.

"Hello."

His head snapped down, looking at the woman who wasn't there a second ago. She wore what seemed like a nun's outfit, he could see a part of her hair and raised an eyebrow at the silver color of it, was that natural?

Deciding to wonder about that later, he nodded at her, wordlessly returning the greeting and waiting for something to happen.

He didn't believe in gods, so he guessed that he would be sent to hell for being a... Non-believer? Even if that was dumb, the whole idea of gods sounded just wrong to him, if there was a celestial being that was all-powerful, why was the earth slowly dying? Why was the sun going to explode? Why was there global warming?

The woman sat down on the seat that appeared out of nowhere and motioned at him. Looking behind, he sat down on the wooden chair that appeared behind him as well. This was weird, he expected the pits of hell... or Tartarus, what pantheon was she even a part of?

"I'm sorry to inform you, but, your life has ended prematurely-"

Yeah, he guessed that much. A bullet to the chest and drowning in his blood was not a pleasant experience. Trust him on that.

"- Now, you have a few options, since your karma balance is leaning heavily towards the good, you may enter heaven and enjoy the afterlife."

What a pleasant thought, heaven would be lovely, but... he doubted he would enjoy it, doing nothing for the rest of forever, sounds kind of depressing.

"- Alternatively, you can choose reincarnation in the world you came from, although, you would lose all your memories."

That would have sounded much more appealing if it wasn't for the downsides. Losing all of his memories would mean that he would essentially be a blank slate again, after all, it's the choices and their consequences that made him who he was.

He looked at the ground, weighing both options, they both had their upsides and downsides, and if he was honest, he would much rather stay here and peer into the universe a lot more.

"There is also another option-"

He looked up, raising an eyebrow lazily, as if not expecting much from this "solution", after all, the first two weren't that great for him.

"-You can choose to go into another world, with all of your memories and physical abilities."

Oh?

"What's the catch?"

He spoke for the first time since he saw her, tilting his head in a questioning way.

"Well, there is a demon lord that is threatening the world..."

... Heaven sounded much more appealing right now. He may have trained in kendo for a time, but he wasn't some hero that could one-shot supernatural beings. That was fiction on earth.

Seeing his doubting face, the goddess in front of him seemingly realized something and hurried to talk again.

"Oh, you don't have to worry, I can send you there with an item of your choice and a boon that will help you in the quest."

... That seemed much more appealing. Although, he had no intention of fighting a demon king, and that might be a problem, if he was being sent to subjugate that, seemingly powerful monster, he might have to reconsider that whole heaven shpeal.

"That sounds good an all, but I don't want to fight the demon king..."

The goddess in front of him smiled as if what he said wasn't something unusual.

"That's all right, many people choose to go into this world just to live the rest of their lives, so you aren't obligated to do anything."

... Perfect!

"Well then, I will take the third option if you don't mind."

A small smile appeared on his face, his choice was clear, if he didn't have to fight the strongest being in that world, he would just live his life, peacefully. Just what he wanted from the start.

In a flash of light, a book appeared on his lap, it looked like a simple book, clad in leather yet it felt like a feather was on his lap.

Humming, he opened it, seeing a picture of what seemed like a magical staff with a description right below it. It seemed like this staff boosted any magical spell that was cast by the user and reduced the mana cost.

... Were there any Katanas?

The letters on the page seemed to shift before a new picture appeared, it looked more like a decorative katana, more suited for being on a wall than in combat.

The "Shooting Star", increased the damage dealt to the opponent while hurting anyone that used it if it wasn't the owner...

"Masamune."

He spoke the name of the sword. Responding to his voice, the pages flipped by themselves, stopping at a picture of an elegant-looking katana with a silver color scabbard and a golden cap on the end, the hilt had a dark blue cloth wrapped around it and another golden cap was at the pommel.

Its effect was quite surprising as well.

The ability to enhance the user's strength to a stupid degree, like really stupid. Did extra damage to anything with an "evil" alignment, whatever that was. And took any damage it dealt and healed the user...

To that, he only had to say one thing...

"I will take this bullshit item, thank you very much."

She didn't seem to mind the language as she waved her hand and the book disappeared and was replaced with the same katana he saw in the picture. It was more elegant in person.

Gripping the blade right below the handle, he marveled at the weight, or more correctly, the balance of it. Truly marvelous. But he did not feel any different, maybe it would take effect when he was transferred to the new world.

in another flash of light, a different book appeared in front of him, this time, it was blue. But what was important was its contents. As he flipped the pages, he saw the passive effects or "Boon's" as she called them.

There were all kinds of boons, like a boon to get passive luck increase, passive mana increase, stamina increase, and "Cloud walking", a skill making the user able to walk in the air like it was land at the cost of the user's mana.

That wasn't what he wanted though.

Since he picked a sword as his item, he should get something complimenting his fighting style, since the sword gave strength increase, he didn't need to pick any strength-related boons and Kendo already thought him how to wield a sword.

In the end, he took "Shadow Sneak", even though he knew the name from a game where you catch animals and make them fight each other to death, the effects could not be ignored. Teleporting anywhere where there was a shadow in sight while stepping on a shadow yourself was too useful.

"Very well, you don't have to worry about any language barriers either, the beginner town should be the perfect place for you. Enjoy the rest of your life, Pierce White."

The woman smiled a beautiful smile that he returned with his own and what seemed like a magic circle appeared below his feet, and for the final time, the light flashed and he disappeared.

The next he opened his eyes, he stood in a clearing with a wall in the distance. Looked like this was the promised beginner's town.

With a sigh, he started walking, wanting to enjoy his new chance at life to the fullest.