It could have been an instant, or it could have been an eternity. In a state between sleep and wakefulness, Adam found himself in a spacious room. It was pitch black, deep, and a bit chilly.
"Where... is this?"
"Mr. Sujiro Kifuja, welco to the afterlife." A voice ca from behind.
Although he was still nervous about the sudden change, under that gentle and accommodating voice, his tense feelings gradually eased. Adam turned around to look.
She had water-blue long hair, water-blue eyes, a water-blue long dress, and a light purple feathered robe enveloping her body.
"Are you... the Goddess of Water, Aqua?!"
This appearance was identical to that of Aqua, the Goddess of Water from the ani "KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!" commonly known as "KonoSuba"!
Cosplay? No, it wasn't, it was the real Goddess of Water! Adam suspected she might be so otaku friend who ca to play a prank on him. But he imdiately dismissed that idea.
This girl was the real deal, the true Goddess of Water — Aqua!
She was ethereal and unpredictable, with perfect bare skin without a single flaw, and surrounded by the radiance of divinity. If she wasn't the Goddess of Water, then who could be?
At least, Adam, who considered himself a seasoned ani enthusiast, wouldn't mistake her identity.
"Huh? Has my reputation spread even to your world?"
Aqua's perfect goddess image instantly crumbled as she proudly lifted her delicate nose, as if she were sothing great.
"Ah, sorry, sorry." In the next mont, realizing her lapse in composure, Aqua imdiately returned to her goddess deanor. She lightly coughed, "Ahem, let explain again: Mr. Sujiro Kifuja, welco to the afterlife. I regret to inform you that you have died."
"…"
Adam let out a light sigh, unsure whether to be happy or disappointed. He had crossed over, but he had also died.
"Excuse , may I ask a question?" He raised his right hand to question Aqua.
"Please, go ahead."
"How... did I die?"
"It was sudden death!" Aqua said to him seriously, "Years of accumulated late nights weakened your body severely, and you finally succumbed to sudden death at 3 AM yesterday!"
"That's impossible!"
"Eh?"
"I said, that's impossible!" Adam flatly denied Aqua's statent, "I absolutely could not have died from overwork!"
"But..."
Aqua wanted to say sothing more, but Zhou Fang Wu interrupted her.
"Impossible ans impossible! My na is Adam Carter, I'm 19 years old. I live in a small courtyard house on a south town in Brazil, I'm single, and I work at my photo studio one kiloter from my ho. I never work overti, and after getting off work at 5 PM every day, I only stay at ho watching ani."
"I don't smoke, and I only drink in moderation. I go to bed at 11 PM sharp and make sure to get 8 hours of sleep, no matter what! Of course, I also exercise a lot, often going to the gym during holidays to work out, and my physical fitness far exceeds that of the average person. Doctors say I'm perfectly healthy."
After this recitation, the huge impact left Aqua in a daze, unable to speak for a mont.
"You're... not Japanese?"
"No, I'm not."
"You're lying!"
"I'm not lying."
"You are!"
"I'm not."
She started to throw a tantrum, "If you're not Japanese, why do you speak the language so well?!"
"As an ani-loving otaku, it's not too much to be fluent in Japanese, is it? I know English, Portuguese and French as well."
"But your surna is Sujiro!"
"My surna is 'Carter', not this one. I'm a genuine Arican person, from the U.S.. I just ca to Brazil because of the good climate and my parents job."
"And why the hell is 'Sujiro Kifuja' written here?!?!" Aqua angrily pointed at the clipboard she was holding.
{Sujiro Kifuja = Sugiro que fuja = I suggest you run away}
"Well... now that you ntion it... My gar na when I ca to Brazil with my parents was Sujiro Kifuja, a joke on the Japanese na style. I won a world championship once and beca known by that na." Adam gave a little smile, then added, "I also had another na: Sugma..."
"Sugma what?" Aqua asked, wanting to know the rest of it, since it wasn't possible for a person to have just one na.
"... Nevermind. Forget about that..."
As she was already too nervous, Aqua simply ignored this human. But she suddenly realized...
She ssed up! She, the Goddess of Water Aqua, had brought over the wrong person!
"Why would a non-Japanese person be guided by , a Japanese goddess?!" Aqua shouted loudly, "By the way, where on earth did the original 'Sujiro Kifuja' go?!"
After a while, she finally accepted the fact that she had brought over the wrong person.
"Goddess Aqua, is it possible to send back?" Adam sought a way to return.
Honestly, compared to crossing over to another world, he would rather go back. He still had parents waiting for him to take care of them, and he hadn't even seen his sister wear a white wedding dress yet!
"It's not possible."
"What?"
"I said, it's not possible!"
Aqua slumped dejectedly in her chair, staring blankly at the ceiling, "People who co here can't return to their original world. It's a rule of the heavenly realm, and I can't change it."
"Then what should we do?!" Adam's mind was reeling. His parents, his sister, and he hadn't even watched this season's new ani yet!
"Oh right! Young man, do you like gas?" Aqua suddenly perked up, speaking to him as if trying to entice him: "Since you're an otaku, there's no way you don't like gas, right?!"
"Huh?"
"Compensation, compensation!"
Aqua pulled out a stack of papers that looked like flyers from her bosom and handed them to Adam.
"Next, I'll send you to another world to live a new life. In return, I won't erase your mories, and I'll even give you a cheat ability! This will allow you to live freely and prosperously in the other world!" Aqua's little sche was clicking along nicely.
This way, she could resolve the mistake in guidance, compensate Adam, and naturally sweep this matter under the rug. It was killing two birds with one stone!
What about the original Sujiro Kifuja, you ask? Who cares about him!
If the heavenly realm discovered her negligence, she would be punished at best, and at worst, she might lose her job! If she lost her job, she wouldn't be able to eat, drink, and be rry here anymore!
"So, do you accept?" Aqua looked at him with a smug expression, as if she had him all figured out.
If he didn't know the original story, Adam might have compromised. But knowing that he would be given a cheat ability anyway, how could he be content with just one? As an adult, he would demand more!
"That's not right, Goddess Aqua."
"What?"
"This cheat ability is sothing you were going to give anyway, right?" He bluntly exposed her lie, "Guiding the deceased, then sending them to another world while giving them a special ability, that's your job!"
"That's correct!" Aqua didn't try to hide it and said frankly, "Of course, if you don't want this, there's another option: going to heaven, a super boring world with no body, no entertainnt, and where you can't eat or drink!"
"Hmph, don't try to fool ! Goddess Aqua, your main purpose is to guide those people to another world, right? This might be related to your performance, or perhaps your reputation among the gods! I guess if the number of people is too low or incorrect, you'll definitely be punished!"
"So, there's only one truth! You won't easily give up on any potential isekai person, especially one you've mistakenly brought over! Goddess Aqua, playing dumb won't work! You've deceived !"
Adam adjusted his non-existent glasses, striking Conan's classic pose.
"Ah..."
Aqua, who had been wearing a 'I've got you figured out' expression just a mont ago, now looked at him with tears in her eyes after being exposed.
"That's right, that's right! So what, what do you want?!" She started throwing a tantrum, with tears flowing from her azure eyes.
Seriously, when they first t, he thought she had the aura of a goddess. How blind he was. He had thought the ani used exaggerated drawing techniques, but in reality, she was even more exaggerated!
"Alright, alright, Goddess Aqua, I didn't an to bully you." Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, saying, "How about this, three abilities. Just give three abilities and I'll..."
"No, I can't do that."
"Hm?"
Aqua said tearfully: "The heavenly contract is one per person, and each contract can only choose one ability. These are the rules of the heavenly realm, and I can't change them."
Tch, damn heavenly rules. No, there's a way!
"Then let's change the conditions, how about two abilities?"
"Huh? I told you, I can't change the heavenly rules!" Aqua angrily said to him, "No matter who it is, they can only have one contract..."
"That's it!" Adam said to her with a grin, "The rule of {One Contract per Person} is a heavenly regulation, but I'm different. 'Sujiro Kifuja' and 'Adam Carter' aren't the sa person at all."
"What, you an..."
Aqua's not-so-wrinkled brain finally understood that he wanted to usurp the contract of the person he had replaced!
"This..." She fell into deep thought.
"Well, do you agree?" Adam didn't rush her, giving her enough ti to think.
Unfortunately, just as she was thinking, the teleportation array in this spacious room lit up again, and a blurry figure appeared faintly in the array.
"Oh my, ti is running out, Goddess Aqua. If you don't make a decision soon, you'll be exposed!" He put appropriate pressure on her, forcing her to make a quick decision, "You need to leave ti to choose my abilities, you know."
Aqua gritted her teeth and stomped her foot.
"Fine! I agree to your request, but in return, you're not allowed to tell anyone about this!"
"Of course, I definitely won't say anything!"
"Then, please quickly choose your abilities!" Aqua assud her goddess posture, indicating that he could begin.
"I want the ability to traverse worlds!" Adam's words were shocking.
"Could it be that you still want to return to your original world? Don't dream about it, without coordinates, you can't go back!"
"Even so, I can't give up. As long as I keep searching, one day I'll return!"
"Fine! Contract established, next one!" Aqua urged him to choose quickly.
"For the second one, I want the skill of analysis and imitation!"
"Alright!"
A beam of white light surged into Adam's body, while a blue magic circle appeared under his feet. Aqua spoke solemnly:
"O Hero! May you stand out among the many reserve heroes and beco the one to defeat the Demon King..."
"Alright, set forth!"
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T/N: If you want more chapters like this, check out my Patreon! Take a look at my other translations too, you might like them!
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That's it and happy reading! /mrblackwing
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