There Wasn't Even an Unfamiliar Ceiling

"An unfamiliar ceiling… wait, no!"

There wasn't even a ceiling to begin with.

The infinite expanse of the universe stretched out endlessly. Two tatami mats floated within it. He was lying on one of them, while on the other, an old man who looked like Kame-sen'nin without his sunglasses was typing away at a laptop.

"Um…"

"Hmm, you've awoken. Do you understand what happened to you?"

"Huh…?"

He traced back his memories. He'd been on his way home from school, heading to the kendo dojo, when a little girl chasing after a ball was about to be hit by a truck…

"I-Is that girl okay!?"

"Hmm, she's safe thanks to you. She just scraped her knee a little, though."

"Thank goodness… What was that truck driver even thinking…"

"The driver died of a heart attack. He can hardly be held responsible."

"I see… I suppose that can't be helped then. Um, so does that mean I'm dead?"

A two-tatami room floating in outer space. The old man in front of him, wearing an aloha shirt, somehow gave off the impression of being a god.

"Well, before that, let me hear your name."

At those words, the boy realized he hadn't introduced himself yet.

He sat up in seiza on the tatami and gave a proper greeting.

"I'm Sei Kojima. It's written as 'hijiri' but read as 'Sei.'"

"Hmm, very good. As you may have noticed, I am a god."

Just as he'd expected.

"So, about what happened earlier. Am I dead?"

"No, you're not dead. But you're not alive either. You exist in the space between."

According to the god, Sei's soul was in a state exactly halfway between life and death.

If left alone, it would eventually tip one way or the other, but even if he managed to survive, there would be problems.

"You would likely spend the rest of your life with severe disabilities."

Either paralyzed from the waist down or essentially in a vegetative state, somewhere around there.

"That's…"

How much trouble would that cause his parents and sister? In that case, wouldn't it be better to just die?

Yes, that's what he should do. They might be sad for a while, but that would be better than burdening them for the rest of his life.

"Then please just kill me. I know it's unfilial, but… it was an accident. There's nothing to be done about it."

"Now hold on. You have family who would grieve if you died, but that's not the only consideration."

The god poured some tea into a cup and offered it to him.

"Ah, thank you."

"If you die, you'll place a burden on the child you saved and her parents that will weigh on them for the rest of their lives. Don't you think?"

As expected of a god. He understood people well.

But wouldn't the same be true if he survived with major disabilities?

"I have a proposal for you. Well, it's more of a request than a proposal."

Even gods had things to ask of humans?

"There exists a world different from Earth. In that world, evil gods, demon gods, malevolent gods, calamity gods, and various other wicked deities have been resurrected."

"Huh? You don't mean you want me to defeat them, do you?"

He was confident in a fight, but there was no way he could battle against gods.

"No, I wouldn't ask something that unreasonable. In order to oppose those various gods, a hero summoning ritual was performed in that world."

"You want me to fight alongside the heroes against the gods?"

That seemed impossible too.

Sei Kojima. Specialty: kendo. Hobby: shogi.

"No, no, that's not it either."

The god shook his head. But given the flow of this conversation, what could he possibly be asking?

"I want you to go to that world and…"

Uh-huh.

"… kill the heroes."

…

"… Whaaaat!?"

According to the god, when something from another world was summoned, especially something with a soul like a human, a connection formed between the two worlds.

That connection started out thin, but over time it would grow stronger, eventually causing the two worlds to collide.

"The worlds colliding… does that mean both planets would be destroyed or something like that?"

"No, you see, the goddess on the other side is more powerful than the gods here, so the destruction would be one-sided."

The god revealed this with a somewhat pathetic expression.

"That's terrible!"

"Indeed, that's why I need you to either return the heroes to this world or kill them. Once they become souls, the connection will disappear."

"Wait, you want me to kill the heroes?"

"Indeed. Alternatively, you could beat them half to death and strip them of their ability to resist before bringing them back, or convince them to return willingly. There are three methods."

In the midst of this conversation, Sei brought up something that had been bothering him.

"You said 'heroes,' right? Plural?"

"Indeed, one class of heroes. Thirty-six of them."

Sei was rendered speechless by that number.

Well, with that many people, there might be some heroes willing to return through negotiation.

"The time limit is ten years. For each hero you kill or return, I'll add one year. Now, as for your reward: first, I'll minimize the injuries from this accident. Also, I'll grant you my divine protection for as long as you live on Earth. How does that sound?"

That was an attractive reward. Not only would he have no lasting aftereffects, but a god would watch over him for the rest of his life. That was quite generous.

"During those ten years, what happens to me here?"

"I'll adjust the flow of time so that not even a second passes here."

Adjusting time… he really was a god.

"One more thing I'm curious about. What happens if I die in that other world?"

"You'll die in this world as well. Just as you originally wished."

In that case, couldn't he just think of it as dying anyway? Convincing thirty-six people might be difficult, but even if they were summoned to fight gods, they were probably just ordinary humans. There might be some suffering from chuunibyou, but…

"Wait, could it be that the heroes are stronger in that world than they were here?"

"Indeed, they're probably around level 30 to 40."

"There are levels!? What's my level right now, by the way?"

"Five."

"This is an impossible game!"

At Sei's outburst, even the god recoiled.

"With all due respect, perhaps you should ask someone else…"

After all, this was a crisis that could destroy the Earth. It wasn't something Sei could shoulder.

"You say that, but truthfully, there's no one more suitable than you."

The god spoke with a troubled expression.

"Are there certain conditions or something?"

"First, you must be Japanese. This isn't about race or anything like that. The language you use is extremely compatible with the magic in that world."

Oh, it might be obvious, but magic does exist there.

"And you know, you threw away your life to save someone. I need someone like that to go… it would be problematic if they did something reckless over there."

My body just moved on its own. If you told me to do it again, I probably couldn't.

"Furthermore, there's what you might call soul strength. The mental fortitude to overcome hardship. Yours is exceptionally strong."

Being praised that much didn't feel bad, but there was still the fundamental question of whether this was even possible.

"But there's a huge gap between level 30 and level 5. If the heroes refuse to return to Earth, there's nothing I can do."

"That's where my present comes in. I shall grant you a blessing."

"A blessing?"

"A blessing. You could also call it a gift. It's a mysterious power that ordinary humans don't possess."

"Like something out of a light novel? Magic or something?"

"Depending on how it's used, it can be more powerful than magic… but I cannot give you anything that directly enhances combat ability. If I send you over with too much power, the connection between worlds will grow stronger."

"So let me get this straight. I receive a mysterious power that doesn't directly boost combat ability, go to another world, and then convince, beat half to death, or completely kill the heroes. That's impossible."

"No, when you cross over to that world, you'll also receive a blessing from the goddess there. It shouldn't be impossible. The goddess doesn't want to destroy another world either if she can help it, so she should grant you as much blessing as she can."

Hmm, that did give him several advantages.

"Also, you don't need to make contact with the heroes immediately after arriving. The ten-year period is meant for that."

Meaning he should become stronger than the heroes during that time.

… Wasn't that impossible though?

But he felt like he had no other options. If he refused the god's request here, he would either die or be paralyzed.

On top of that, there was the crisis of world destruction.

And apparently there was no human more suitable for this than him.

"Understood."

Sei made his decision.

Protect the Earth. The scale of this felt too large to fully grasp, but that was fine now.

"I'll go to that world."

"Oh! You'll accept my request!"

The god took Sei's hand, his face beaming with joy.

"Then let's begin selecting your gift right away."

And so began a long exchange with the god.