Chapter 1
Closing his laptop, Aaron yawned and stretched his entire body while sitting on his bed, having been engrossed in watching YouTube videos for hours.
Aaron stone, an ordinary 23-year-old college student, often faced questions regarding his prolonged stay in school.
However, he would respond that everyone had their unique pace and path in life.
For him, college was not merely a means to obtain a degree but also a platform for personal growth, despite financial challenges playing a significant role.
He viewed education as a lifelong journey and eagerly anticipated where his passion for art would lead him.
With a deep affection for gaming, anime, manga, fanfics, and similar interests, Aaron had transformed them into hobbies, albeit learning to exercise moderation to avoid becoming a NEET.
The end of the semester had arrived, marked by a grueling week of final exams, a familiar ordeal for any college student.
Despite sacrificing time that would have been spent on his hobbies to study, Aaron remained optimistic about his performance and looked forward to reaping the rewards once his grades were released.
As the final week drew to a close, Aaron decided to indulge in a binge-watching session to catch up on everything he had missed.
From watching "Danmachi" to catching up on some good manga such as "Tales of Demons and Gods," and reading novels and fanfic updates, his entertainment-filled spree culminated in watching Coryxkenshin on YouTube.
Interrupting his stretch, Aaron realized he was hungry after spending almost the entire day on his laptop.
Checking the time on his phone, he was shocked to see that eleven hours had passed since he started binge-watching.
Determined to save money, he opted to walk to a nearby store for take-out; normally, a cup noodle or two would suffice, but today he felt like treating himself to something different.
Cup noodles were good considering he had various flavored versions of it, but eating noodles, bread, or beans every day would eventually take its toll.
Cooking wasn’t really his forte considering his greatest culinary achievement was making pasta and a weird pasta sauce thing.
No he knew the recipes and how to cook them, he was just lazy or so he convinced himself.
Anything he made was usually just a mish-mash of whatever graced his fridge.
He also didn’t want to order online because he found tipping a weird custom; most businesses had been using this as an excuse to pay their workers less, which Aaron found quite deplorable.
The custom had reached the point where it was seen as mandatory to tip someone.
There were even some who might tamper with the item to be delivered if you didn’t tip them, an experience Aaron had encountered once before.
The thought of someone tampering with or outright stealing his food because he didn’t tip them, or they found the tip too small, was awfully displeasing.
It didn’t take long before he arrived at the pizza store only to see the store seemed extremely busy.
‘Huh, what’s going on? Is everyone in the neighborhood craving Pizza today or something?’ Aaron pondered.
Sitting at the pizza place, waiting for his order after making the payment, he regretted not pre-ordering as he lamented over the long wait time.
To pass the time, he browsed an online bookstore, purchasing a spin-off series of "Danmachi" called "Sword Orario" to satisfy his curiosity piqued by anime forums.
There was a lot of hype for the series, which drew his attention.
Normally, he would wait for a free pirated version to be released, but that could take months to years. His interest might die off by then.
The spin-off followed the adventures of Ais and her comrades in the Loki familia.
There was also a limited-time discount for the book, so he couldn’t miss the opportunity.
Reflecting on the eccentricities of the characters and plot, he delved into wiki pages to uncover more about the gods portrayed in the series.
Scrolling through the search bar, all the volumes not featured in the anime caught his eye, thanks to the recent hype on various anime forums.
"This month's budget will be a bit tight," he couldn't help but mutter after making that hefty purchase.
With a new season of Danmachi on the horizon, he hoped to binge-watch the series.
His anime buddies wouldn't stop discussing it online. They had introduced him to the show.
He had been more of a Naruto's "talk no Jutsu" fan rather than a dense virgin boy with a hero complex.
He recalled watching the first season when it was released, finding it cringe worthy with its quirky gods and goddesses.
The main character was overly apologetic, dense, and possessed an extraordinarily strong hero complex, but eventually, he came to see some charm in the series.
Despite finding the goddess Hestia a bit clingy, he somewhat liked her, particularly as she was portrayed as a "legal Loli.".
However, just for clarification, even though his online username, ‘Legal Loli gentleman,’ on several anime forums might give a strange impression, he wasn't a pedophile, just someone who enjoyed the charm of animated legal Lolis.
Hestia's interference, coupled with the MC’s dense nature, hindered his progress with the many potential waifus surrounding him.
The series continued to new seasons, but at the moment, he struggled to recall many positive aspects.
Seeking a refresher on the series out of sheer boredom, he delved into various wiki pages and stumbled upon intriguing information.
Most of the gods featured in the series belonged to the Greek or Roman pantheons, although it hinted at the existence of other pantheons that were not explicitly mentioned.
As he scrolled through his phone, exploring different pantheon goddesses, he reflected on his status as a virgin due to his odd preferences, rather than some tragic backstory or an obsession with surviving and anime.
Lost in thought, he amusingly entertained the idea of becoming a grand sage akin to Rimuru if he remained a virgin until age 40.
"Order number 55!" Engrossed in his musings and browsing, Aaron was startled by the announcement of his order number.
He glanced at his slip to confirm then pocketed his phone, and proceeded to collect his food.
After collecting his food, he made his way back to his apartment while scrolling through some anime reviews as he walked.
‘It's official, Jujutsu Kaisen is the best anime series,’ he thought. Amidst his thoughts on "Jujutsu Kaisen," he found himself at a crosswalk.
Putting down his phone, he carefully checked to confirm the coast was clear before crossing.
The light was green, and there were no approaching vehicles.
However, in a split second, he heard a honk and turned to see a truck hurtling towards him.
The headlights were too bright for him to see if there was a driver, but that was the least of his worries.
His mind churned with different ideas on how to avoid the truck.
‘Which way will the truck swerve, is it left, right, or will it continue going in a straight line?’ these thoughts speedily raced through his mind.
The truck was already inches away from him, and he didn’t have the luxury of wondering how such a large truck materialized so close to him.
As the truck bore down on him, he made a split-second decision to duck face down, hoping to avoid a direct impact.
He had seen a scene similar to this in a YouTube video that day, and the person simply passed safely under the truck.
Sadly for him, fate had other plans in mind.
The underside of the truck was on the low side. In that moment, as the truck passed over him, a surreal sequence of images flashed through his mind.
The last thing he experienced was his body being shaved as it was dragged along the hard asphalt road, leaving a trail of blood, bones shaved on the asphalt road, and his viscera.