Prologue : Previous Life

This is my first time posting a story. I’m writing it on a whim, so please forgive me if there are any grammatical mistakes or awkward parts. Even I, the author, have no idea where this story is going yet. I hope you’ll enjoy it and continue to support me.

Ootori Tenma sat cross-legged on top of his coffin at the village community hall, silently watching the people who had come to attend the funeral.

And yet, not a single person even glanced in Tenma’s direction.

It was an extremely strange sight, of course, assuming there was anyone who could actually see him.

The funeral was being held to bid farewell to Tenma himself.

In other words, Tenma was now an existence that humans could no longer see.

A “ghost,” as one might call it.

“I wonder how long I’m supposed to stay here.”

There should have been no one capable of answering Tenma’s sigh.

“Ootori Tenma-kun, I’ve come to recruit you.”

Those were the first words Tenma had heard since becoming a ghost.

Startled by the unexpected reply, he turned around and saw…

A humanoid mass of light standing there, looking suspicious at first glance.

“Nice to meet you. I a—”

“Whoosh!”

“Whoa! That was dangerous!”

The moment the glowing figure reached out something resembling a hand, Tenma grabbed a nearby bowl and hurled it straight at the figure.

“That’s dangerous, you know!”

The mass of light smoothly dodged the bowl in a manner reminiscent of The Matrix.

Although it seemed slightly startled, it did not appear angry.

Tenma, however, did not lower his guard. He immediately prepared to throw another bowl.

Seeing this, the glowing figure panicked.

“I’m not suspicious! Stop throwing those! If you keep doing that, you’re going to hit someone else! Just hear me out first!”

Thanks to the glowing figure’s desperate persuasion, Tenma finally lowered the second bowl.

Incidentally, the first bowl had flown through an open window and outside, so probably no one had been hurt.

“So, what exactly are you? I seem to be a ghost now, so I’m guessing you’re something similar?”

At Tenma’s question, the glowing figure puffed out what appeared to be its chest.

“How rude! I am a god!”

Hearing that, Tenma slowly drew his arm back.

“I’m not lying! It’s true! Just listen to me first!”

Tenma stopped.

“Just hear me out until the end, all right? Let me introduce myself again. I am a god from another world. Tenma-kun, I came here to recruit you to my world.”

At the words of the self-proclaimed god (lol), Tenma froze in astonishment…

But immediately regained his composure.

“Putting ‘lol’ after that is pretty harsh, you know? Still, you calmed down awfully quickly. I thought you’d panic a little more.”

“The fact that I’m standing here as a ghost is already surprising enough. For now, I’ll accept that you’re a god from another world and that you’ve come here to reincarnate me. But why me?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I just happened to run into you.”

Tenma raised the bowl.

“Stop doing that!”

He lowered it again.

“It really is true that I happened to be passing through this area. I simply noticed a soul whose wavelength was exceptionally compatible with my world, so I decided to speak to you.”

“You knew my name, didn’t you?”

“Mm-hm.”

“You said you came here to recruit me, right?”

“Mm-hm.”

“And now you’re saying you just happened to pass by and coincidentally found someone with a compatible wavelength, namely me?”

“Mm-hm.”

“That doesn’t sound like a coincidence at all. You already knew about me beforehand, didn’t you?”

“…Why do you think that?”

“Because your story sounds suspiciously convenient. Honestly, it would be more believable if you told me you noticed I had a compatible wavelength, killed me yourself, then pretended to approach me by coincidence after I became a ghost.”

“…”

“So, did you kill me?”

“Of course not! Don’t insult me like that!”

“! Sorry!”

Faced with the self-proclaimed god’s almost tearful shout, Tenma instinctively apologized.

The glowing figure lowered its voice.

“I should apologize too. The truth is, I’ve known about you for a very long time. But I swear I didn’t kill you. Really! I intended to wait until your natural lifespan came to an end, so I had simply been keeping an eye on you.”

“How long is ‘a very long time’?”

“Since the day you were born.”

“That long?! But why would you pay attention to some child in another world for all that time?”

At Tenma’s question, the glowing figure explained.

“My world sometimes comes down with something like an illness. When that happens, something called ‘Existence Force,’ which is essentially the vitality of everything and every phenomenon within that world, begins to decline. In the worst-case scenario, the entire world could perish. To prevent that, souls from other worlds are periodically brought in to stimulate the world’s Existence Force.”

“Like a vaccine? If I’m sent to another world, are there any benefits or drawbacks for me?”

“I don’t think there are any real drawbacks. If I had to name one, I suppose you would have to start over from infancy after reincarnating. As for the benefits, I’ll grant you an overwhelmingly powerful ability, what people call a ‘cheat,’ to make your new life easier. If you wish, you may also retain the experience and abilities you accumulated in this world. And I’ll allow you to use one spell, just once, that affects this world. As long as the request remains within reasonable limits.”

After thinking for a while, Tenma said:

“Then could you make everyone in this world gradually forget about me?”

“…I can do that, but may I ask why you want such a thing?”

“Well, this village has been declining for a long time. The population keeps shrinking, and most of the people here are elderly. But everyone has been working hard, and little by little, they’ve managed to increase the population again.”

“Mm-hm, mm-hm.”

“The people leading those efforts are my grandfather and his friends. They cared about me a lot. But looking at them now, they’re so devastated that it feels like they could simply give up on life tomorrow. I can’t stand seeing them like this, so I want to do something.”

At Tenma’s answer, the glowing figure trembled slightly and spoke in a choked voice, as though it were about to cry.

“You really are such a good kid! That’s easy as pie! But why not erase their memories of you completely?”

Tenma blushed slightly and whispered in a very small voice.

“If they forgot me completely… I think I’d feel lonely…”

Seeing that, the glowing figure burst into tears (?).

“Tenma-kuuuun!”

It lunged forward as though to embrace him, but Tenma gracefully sidestepped out of the way.

“That’s cruel. Anyway, to fulfill your wish, you’ll have to leave this world. Take my hand.”

The glowing figure extended something resembling a hand.

Tenma took it.

“Let’s go.”

The next instant, Tenma felt a strange floating, swaying sensation.

Then he lost consciousness.

(The prologue ended up being a little long, so I’ll stop the chapter here.)