NOVEL NEXT Episode 1 - The goddess speaks like this
See the forest and you’ll know.
“It’s not a countryside at all. ……”
From the sky, seen through the canopy of trees, it was just after noon. Yet the forest was so dense that it even seemed dim.
There was no sign of planted trees in the disorderly appearance of the trees, and the canopy blocking the sun at a high position – a layer of green created by the accumulation of branches and leaves – was thick. You could call it a sea of trees.
In a word, an untouched forest.
I was thinking about at least loose camping, but that would be gachicamping …… no, it would be savacamping (survival camping).
My other world, starting in the forest with only a knife.
Will I be okay?
I grew up in the countryside and was thrown into the mountains with just a basket, so I said I’d be fine. ……
No, I’m not,
“Don’t panic. I just want to eat. ……”
Why am I standing alone in the sea of trees in another world? The reason has to do with my past life in modern Japan.
My name is Sojiro Himuro. I was an ordinary resident who came to Tokyo from the countryside to find a job.
However, the job I found was hard and difficult, and it also had a low salary. I kept thinking that things would get better eventually, and it had been more than a decade.
He kept changing jobs for various reasons, including bankruptcy and physical breakdown. At the age of 35, my body was in tatters. I was still an ordinary employee, working long hours, holidays and overtime at all the companies I worked for.
That day, I was on my way home late at night. I was walking half-conscious and didn’t see the truck coming at me until it hit me.
I was prepared for pain, but it never came, only a slightly pleasant, dreamy daze of consciousness.
“Can you hear me? It’s going to be okay!”
Such a voice reaches my consciousness.
It was not something that shook my ears, but something that reached directly into my head, like a message I would hear in a dream. But somehow, the voice seemed to belong to a woman – a quiet lady.
“Calm down and listen to me, okay? Your body is broken. That’s why you died.”
“I thought …… people disappear when they die.”
“It’s not gone~, ufufu”
I was strangely calm as I was able to answer back. Somehow I felt that the ‘calm down’ that was said to me earlier was working.
It was not because I was ordered to do so, but rather because the message contained a soft and warm will that seemed to seep straight into my heart.
“You once cleaned my statue of God, didn’t you? That’s when you made a connection with me. That’s why I pulled your soul like this.”
“Eh, I don’t remember……”
“You see~, it was that time!”
Suddenly, the image of myself polishing a mysterious stone statue comes to mind in my consciousness.
I’m sure that was …… a stone statue of a mysterious shrine that I found while climbing a mountain somewhere. I picked it up, wiped it off, and put it back in the shrine.
“God Statue…… Does that mean you’re a god?”
Unintentionally, buisness honorifics came out.
“I am a goddess, you know. But you don’t have to be so uptight.”
“Well, at ……, let me make it a little easier–I’ll make it easier.
“Yes, good boy, good boy!”
It is either because of God’s unique authority or the soft tone of his voice that I cannot resist each word, or rather, my resistance is melted away.
“You know, you are such a good boy, I didn’t want to leave you in a pitiful state. But I didn’t think there was anything I could do for you in the other world. So, I couldn’t help it if you died in that world.”
Apparently, she felt sorry for me working in the black, but she couldn’t interfere. I wonder if even goddesses have restrictions on what they can do.
Then …… it was that kind of world that I died like that.
Thirty-five years. I know it seems short, but it was a life in which I clearly had times when I wanted to die, both physically and mentally. If you ask me if I want to go back, I would say that I am not sure.
“But I had a good idea. I had a flash of inspiration, and I thought, I’m going to let you spend your new time in another world.
“Um, you mean …… ‘Tough New Game’?”
Yes~”
I was affirmed.
I had no idea that my hobby of solo camping would create a connection with a goddess.
I grew up in the countryside, so the hurdle to sleeping in the wild was low, and it was solo-camping that got me started with anime. I kept going because I could get far away from the office.
I never thought it would give me a chance to play a tough new game, but it did. ……
“A new time in another world……”
“Yes, that’s right. You know, there are several worlds I could send you to, but what would you like to do? I will support you as much as I can. I’ll try to support you as much as I can, and make sure that everything you learn is treated equally in the other world.”
What I want to do.
I’ve been working my whole life and living my life while shelving my future. Because it would have been too painful otherwise.
So, even if you say it like that, I have concrete dreams and hopes and put all my energy into them! –I don’t think I can do that.
“I want to live slowly. I don’t want to eat food that doesn’t taste good anymore.”
That’s what I wanted to do.
A room to sleep in, a train packed with people, and a company that constantly monitors you and searches for anything wrong.
Regular reports every 30 minutes. Overtime. Cursing.
I didn’t even know what I was eating.
“I don’t want to be stuffed with tasteless food I bought from the store without being able to remember what I’m eating……”
I don’t want that anymore.
“Only the camping food that I remember from my old days in the countryside was food that tasted…… good……”
It was quiet and comfortable when I was solo camping, bushcrafting, or just hanging out listening to the sound of the campfire.
So,
“I like places that aren’t too prosperous and where there are tasty animals. I want to be a craftsman and …… make things there.”
I thought it was too convenient. But the goddess smiled peacefully.
“If you’re into craftsmanship, it’s a good thing you found me. ……It was fate, after all.
I recognize a small knife.
“My little girl gave me a gift. It’s a craft gear workshop tool. This is for you.”
“Workshop ……?”
“Yes, that’s right. It has two powers. One is tools. Any tool can take the form of anything you can imagine. The second is the power to hold things in place. For example, when you want to cut a board, it would be convenient if you can hold it in place. That’s why we made it so it can hold anything in place.”
“That seems …… convenient.”
It may be modest as God’s power, but it seems just right if you live slowly making things.
“Thank you.”
I have to make sure I don’t lose it.
I feel a knife sinking into my consciousness as I think about this. It doesn’t hurt. It just feels as if something warm and warm has entered my body and is melting with it.
“Take good care of it. I will store it in your body, so you can summon it when you want to use it. When you want to put it away, just give it a yell and it will come back to you.”
The security is more impressive than I expected.
“And~, the thing to be fixed will fix the whole space-time, so if you fix the place where you want to cut, it won’t be able to cut. The girl who made it was very impatient and said that if you fix the space-time, it will harden in an instant and won’t come off. I’m sorry, I’m such a weird kid.”
“What do you mean?”
“But it’s true, if you have the power and the tools to fix it, even a single swing can become a “workshop,” so it’s very convenient. Can you forgive me?”
“No, I mean, yes, yes, I’m fine. Thank you.”
The goddess seemed to be in a hurry, so I hurriedly decided that there was no problem.
“I’m so proud of you for saying thank you!”
Being caressed. That’s what it feels like. I just feel it, but I still can’t recognize the body.
“I’m going to send you to another world now, a place where you won’t be bothered by people’s eyes. I’ve thought of everything, so don’t worry and leave it to me.”
“Ah, yes, I’ll leave it to you……”
I was no longer in control of my life. I was dead to begin with, and even now, my physical body is still ambiguous. If it is by the power of this goddess, I have no choice but to trust her and leave it to her.
And I am beginning to believe, without reason, that it would not be a bad thing to entrust my life to an existence that somehow has a sense of gentleness and a soft but strong will. It’s just a gut feeling.
“I am Ana, the Mother Goddess of the Divine Ancestors. I give birth to you in the other world. To your soul, I give my blessing. To your body, I bestow the Divine Artifact of my Son. Both will aid you in your strength and happiness. Please, live a happy life.”
The contours of my consciousness blurred. I guess I am being sent to another world.
“Thank you, ……, Goddess.”
“Ufufu, good boy~. It was the last strength I had left ……, so I was happy to use it on you.
What?
My consciousness completely melted, scattered, and fell. –In the words of the Goddess, I was born.
Into another world.