The Villainous Noble Tried His Hardest to Break the Original Storyline, and Now the Heroines Are Acting Weird - 1

Chapter 1

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“—And so. From this point on, I’d like for you to undergo reincarnation. Is there a world you’d prefer?”

That voice echoed in a traditional tatami room. A gentle light filtered through the shōji screens into the quiet space, which carried a nostalgic scent. The voice belonged to a beautiful woman bowing in a deep dogeza. Her glossy black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her clear eyes were fixed on me.

…She introduced herself as a Goddess. It was an absurd story, to be sure, but for some reason, I found myself accepting it without too much doubt. Maybe that, too, was due to the power of this Goddess.

Just a moment ago, she had been explaining how I died. A car, driven by someone who had fallen asleep at the wheel, crashed into us. I died trying to protect my little sister.

“Just to confirm… It was because of a mistake by the previous Goddess that I died, right?”

“……Yes. Originally, you and your little sister were not supposed to be caught in that accident. I sincerely apologize.”

The Goddess bowed deeply, pressing her forehead to the tatami. The movement was so fluid, it seemed second nature to her.

So there’s dogeza even in the heavens? Or maybe she’s just doing it for my sake, since I’m Japanese. 

Either way, she was offering a heartfelt apology. I hadn’t fully come to terms with my death yet, but for now, I decided to set that aside. What caught my attention more was the apology itself. Specifically, why the Goddess who had caused the problem wasn’t the one here apologizing.

“…Where’s the previous Goddess in charge?”

“Th-the previous Goddess… She used a resignation agency and quit…”

“Huh? They have resignation agencies in the heavens?”

I accidentally dropped my polite tone out of surprise. A newbie at my company had quit the same way recently, so I felt a weird sense of camaraderie.

“Y-yes… We don’t know where she is now, but… I’ve been assigned to take over. I—I just finished training, but I’ll do my very best!”

“…R-right.”

H-Hey, is this really okay? 

I was already surprised that there were newbies and veterans among Goddesses, but to throw one straight into a field assignment right after training… 

Is Heaven kind of a black company? …Well, it’s not like I’m switching to the divine industry or anything, so I’ll let that one slide.

There was only one thing I needed to confirm.

“I get that I died due to a mistake. …But what about my little sister? Is she okay?”

I died trying to shield my little sister from a car. …Which meant there was a high chance she got caught in it, too. That was what concerned me the most. To be completely honest, I didn’t care what happened to me as long as she was safe. If she wasn’t, I’d have no problem pinning this Goddess’s head to the floor.

“…W-well… About that—”

The Goddess’s expression tightened. She lowered her gaze with a deeply apologetic look. Her mouth fumbled to form the words. I knelt down in front of her and gently asked.

“Goddess-sama. …Please tell me the truth. What happened to my little sister?”

“…Y-you’re not going to get mad…?”

“Of course not.”

When I gave her a small smile, she lowered her head again with a look of guilt.

“S-she… She died with you…”

“Don’t screw with me, you damn Goddess!!”

“Eek!? I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

She pressed her forehead hard against the tatami, frantically apologizing again.

…Ah, no. That wasn’t directed at this Goddess in particular.

“Ah, sorry… That outburst was for the last Goddess. Don’t be scared.”

Seeing the Goddess trembling and looking up at me in fear, I quickly tried to reassure her.

“…R-really? Y-you’re not… Mad at me?”

“Yeah… Sorry for yelling all of a sudden.”

When she bowed her head desperately again, I slowly nodded. Seeing her shoulders still trembling made me feel bad. I should probably change the subject already. The next issue was what to do from here.

“So, like you said earlier… Reincarnation, right?”

“Y-yes! Because you and your little sister died due to our mistake… We’ll be reincarnating you into a world of your choice.”

That was what she said, but I was still thinking about my little sister. She was just about to start high school. She should have gone on to college, joined the workforce… Her life was just beginning to unfold. I wanted her to be able to live out that future.

“I don’t care about my own reincarnation. Can’t you at least bring my little sister back to life?”

“That’s… That’s not possible. I’m so sorry… This was entirely our fault…”

Damn that previous Goddess… I fully understood that no one could keep working without making any mistakes. In fact, I had made plenty myself. Once, when I was overloaded with work, I accidentally shredded documents that definitely shouldn’t have been shredded.

But this was someone’s life we were talking about. That was way more serious than paperwork. Still, maybe to gods, human lives were as insignificant as scraps of paper.

“I—I promise we’ll give both you and your little sister the best possible reincarnation conditions… So please, forgive us…!”

“…Alright. Just make sure you grant my little sister’s wishes, no matter what.”

“Understood…! Leave it to me!”

“So… I get to choose the world I’ll be reincarnated into, right?”

“Y-yes. There are countless worlds out there. Among them, I’m sure one will match what you’re looking for.”

I was an otaku, so I actually knew quite a bit about this kind of thing. Sure, I felt down about dying, but at the same time, a kind of excitement started to bubble up inside me.

“For example… Could I choose a world that resembles a game I’ve played?”

“Yes, absolutely. In fact, the works in your world—games, stories, and so on—often come from creators subconsciously sensing and depicting actual other worlds. So most of them do exist in some form.”

I hated to admit it, but… Hearing that made me a little happy. And really, there was no point in moping over being dead forever. If I kept looking depressed, this rookie Goddess might end up getting depressed too. I should try to stay positive—for her sake as well.

Time to focus on what comes next.

The real question was, what kind of world should I reincarnate into?

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