I Thought I Was Dead After Getting Stabbed While Protecting a Girl From a Random Attacker, but a Goddess Gave Me a Special Reward and Brought Me Back to Life in My Original Body—Now, All These Girls Are Coming on to Me!?

Chapter 1.1: The Story of How Getting Stabbed by a Random Attacker Changed My Life

March was the season of farewells and new encounters.

I, Ryu Minase, was a current middle school student who successfully completed my high school entrance exams. That said, I would become a high school student in less than two weeks.

Middle school already held its graduation ceremony, and the high school I planned to attend assigned some homework. However, most of it reviewed content I learned in middle school, so it didn’t take much time. In other words, I had days filled with boredom.

Some people might think I could kill time by hanging out with my middle school classmates. However, certain circumstances prevented that.

You see, I was a fairly well-known baseball player in middle school. It’s awkward to say myself, but I was the kind of athlete people expected to go pro.

Naturally, strong high schools scouted me.

Personally, I disliked the “mandatory buzzcuts, practice-obsessed, jock culture” typical of powerhouse schools. I hesitated to join such places.

Around that time, I found a school that emphasized student autonomy. After visiting open campuses and thinking it over, I chose a high school far from my hometown.

How far? It took two hours one way by connecting trains.

Obviously, I couldn’t commute from my hometown, so I decided to live alone starting high school. With less than two weeks until enrollment, I moved early to get used to the new environment. I came to the house where I would live alone, so no friends were nearby to hang out with. Don’t call me a loner.

“Guess I’ll go to the convenience store.”

I arrived only two days ago, so I didn’t know the local area. The only place I could go was the convenience store three minutes away on foot.

(I’ll buy a drink and some potato chips… maybe watch pro baseball tonight and relax.)

Mid-March approached, but the chill lingered after sunset. I put on a jacket, slipped on sandals, and went outside. The convenience store sat down a narrow, winding path, which felt a bit creepy at night. Well, I’m a guy, so I didn’t feel anything!

While fiddling with my smartphone, I suddenly heard commotion from ahead.

I looked up from my phone screen toward the noise, and a shocking scene unfolded before me.

“Hey… no way, seriously?”

A man stood in front of the convenience store.

Dressed in a grubby jacket and jeans with a baseball cap pulled low, the man held what looked like a kitchen knife in his right hand.

Facing him were three young men, likely convenience store clerks.

“This… looks bad.”

Maybe the clerks already called the police, but just in case, I dialed 110 from my smartphone. Apparently, someone already reported the situation, as the police officer on the phone warned me, “Don’t provoke him unnecessarily and leave the area.”

So, I felt bad for those guys, but I decided to turn around and head home. That’s what I thought, but…

“Eek, h-hic!”

My timing was awful.

Probably local middle schoolers, two girls in school uniforms, likely on their way home, stumbled upon the scene.

The girls saw the knife in the man’s hand, his menacing appearance, and, above all, his creepy expression. Overwhelmed, they collapsed on the spot, unable to move.

One of the girls let out a terrified scream, which was bad because it alerted the man to their presence.

The men facing him seemed frozen in fear of the knife, unable to act.

“Damn it…!”

This was bad. Really bad.

That guy smirked when he saw the girls. He definitely locked onto them. Of course, he did. Compared to the fairly young, strong-looking guys in front of him, the powerless girls seemed easier to stab!

“Ugh, screw it!”

I ran forward and jumped between the girls and the knife-wielding man.

I’m a healthy middle school boy, damn it! And I’m pretty well-trained! I won’t lose to some old creep like you!

I wished I could shout that, but tension and fear made me tremble uncontrollably, and I couldn’t speak properly.

How did I manage to stand in front of the girls in that state? You’re absolutely right!

It’s fine; I had confidence in my reflexes.

It was simple. If he swung the knife, I’d dodge quickly, tackle him, and wait for the police. An easy job.

The man slowly raised the knife.

Was he coming…? He was coming, right…? He was definitely coming…!

Looking back, I was way too braced.

I mean, it’s hard not to brace yourself when a guy with a weapon stands in front of you.

My eyes tracked him. But my body froze like stone and wouldn’t move.