1 – Prologue

I woke up to freezing coldness.

It was dark and cold. Where is this place? I opened my eyes and looked around, only to find a veritable ocean of stars before me. It was my first time seeing such an amazingly grand starry sky. There were bright and dim stars, a colorful nebula and an asteroid field which seemed surprisingly close by.

“What the hell?!”

The heck! I've seen my fair share of stars, but I’m sure there’s no place on Earth where you can actually see these things from this up close. It’s quite common to see this type of scenery in games and movies though. But it’s absolutely impossible to see them from a distance which made them visible to the naked eye for real.

"It's seems you woke up! Such a slowpoke."

Out of nowhere a voice reached out to me. I turned around and saw a beautiful woman with angel wings simply floating in this vast space. Her short pink hair, voluptuous chest and sailor school style uniform floating in space made me lose all focus for a second, but I quickly regained my thoughts.

"What the… don't tell me I'm dead or something?"

"Dead? Well, that’s not wrong, but not exactly right either. You did die, but your soul hasn't passed on yet. I would like to offer you some assistance. First, try remembering. It might be hard, but your memories are still there for now."

What does she mean "for now"? But like small droplets of water, piece by piece my memories started to add up like a puzzle.

My name is Itsuki Kaito. 40 years old. Accountant for a small business. I earned an above average salary and managed to dedicate my free time to gaming.

I thought life couldn't get any better. Until I met her. The woman of my dreams. Or at least so I thought. Until I met her, I didn't care much about love. But I really was happy. But fate made a cruel joke on me.

Why was the world so unreasonable?

The day I wanted to propose to her, she spiked my drink with a drug. When I came to, I was being accused of raping her. No matter how I tried to defend myself, her attorney was too skilled, and I was found guilty. I didn't go to jail. A deal was made. A deal that cost me everything. My house, my car and all my money. Naturally after that incident, I got fired too.

I was left on the streets with only the clothes on me and I was living in a cardboard box. Life was miserable. Why do people have to work? You need to work so you can live. But if you work, work steals a lot of time and you can't enjoy life. Can you truly say you can enjoy life when most of your lifespan people work? You can live, but life is too short and passes by you. It's unfair. Humans are no different. Why must humans lie and be evil? Aren't we all the same? Why can't we just be all nice to each other, honest and see the world like children do. Believe anything is possible. I now what I am saying is not reasonable, but still, if only this world was a bit... better.

“Just… why?”

Yes, I was in physical pain, but the mental regret and anguish I felt hurt far more.

I could see lights spinning around me. I didn't commit any crimes. Why was life so cruel? Eventually my eyelids were getting heavy. I took my final sleep… and died.

"Seems like you remember. Anyway, I'm sorry for the end you met. However right now… you're putting us in a pickle. You see… I'm not sure where to put you. You’re not a bad person deep down, but you harbor so much wrath that I can't let you go into Heaven. Then again, given how much you suffered the higher ups believe you shouldn't be sent to Hell either."

Well I'm sorry that your job isn't easy, but put yourself in my shoes. I thought life treated me well, but it ended too fast.

"So here's what me and my sister decided. You'll get reincarnated into another world. We're pushing your souls' reset button. So you're going to live a second life."

"Wohoo!! I read this in novels! Are you going to grant any request I have for my second life?"

"No. And just so you know, you're going to be a woman in your next life."

"What!!?"

"I'll be frank. You're ugly. You could actually use a change. Being cute will do you good. Besides, lately, even men have not minded their next life being a woman. But don't worry. Your memories will be erased anyway."

"Err… I don't like where this is going…"

"Oh relax. You're not allowed to take the memories from your previous world, but certain knowledge is allowed. This way you'll actually think you're a girl and won't look back at what you were. I'll give you a longer lifespan this time and because of my sister, I have to give you a certain blessing… but I think this is overkill."

"Umm… excuse me, but I have no clue what you're saying."

"I wouldn't expect you to understand anyway. We're only speaking because of the divine rules. If it were up to me I would have just sent you without this entire chat. Anyway, good luck in your new life. Grasp happiness with your own hands."

As soon as she said that she clapped her hands, my consciousness faded away.

------

When I woke up, I was laying upon grass in a small forest. The warm sunlight was stroking my face and the soft grass was tickling my skin. I slowly got up.

"Ugh… where am I? And… who am I?"

I tried first looking around. For starters I could see a small pond nearby, so I went over to it. I tried using it as a mirror to look at myself. I was… a little girl. A loli. Loli? That's strange. How do I know this word? A strange feeling ran through me but I brush it off and continue to analyze myself.

I was probably a girl around 8-10 years old. I was a cute girl with skimpy egyptian clothes and jewelry and with 2 long jackal ears. I was cute indeed. I started to get lost admiring myself for a second. I am pretty short but my ears make me look taller. I also noticed that I was holding a staff with 2 snake heads in my hand. It was probably as big as me.

All this said, I still have no clue who I am.

"Hmm… Kaa… Laa… do you guys remember me?"

Something really is weird with my head. I have no clue who I am, if I have any family or any memories of the past, but I know that the snakes on my staff can slightly communicate with me via telepathy. The black snake is called Kaa and the gold one Laa. And in a few seconds a word echoed in my head.

"Ayaka… so my name is Ayaka."

Even knowing my name doesn't help. My mind is a mess right now. I'm not sure what I am supposed to do. In a scenario like this, what is a little girl like me supposed to do? For some strange reason my heart is surprisingly calm. It's like I have the feeling that deep down everything is going to be alright and I can handle anything the world throws at me.

"Mou… pondering this for too long will get me nowhere. Kaa, Laa, we're going to find a village for starters. Since I don't know anything, I'll do whatever I feel like doing. Mostly I just want to settle down and live a slow and lazy life. This is what my heart is telling me. So for now, let's see what we can find going down… umm… that road!"