Volume 1 - Prologue 1

The Man Picked up by the Gods - Prologue 1

A lone man was standing alone in an empty space.

“Hmm…? Where is this place?” whispered the man.

As he uttered those words, three beings suddenly appeared before him.

“You’ve come to?” – young boy

“Are you fully awake now?” – old man

“I would be grateful if you could respond” – woman

“Ah… Yes I’m alright. I was just startled for a bit by your sudden appearance… and wasn’t able to respond. I am Takebayashi Ryouma. (Bamboo Forest Dragon Horse)”

“No need to be so stiff. Come let us drink tea while skipping the formalities.”

Responded the old man with long hair after hearing Ryouma’s response. The old man waved his hand and out came a tea table along with some tea.

“Thank you very much” said Ryouma.

As Ryouma gave his thanks one of the three beings, a woman, faced him and as she cheerfully laughed said this.

“Come… seat, seat. Honestly though, you sure are pretty calm huh?”

“True, true. So far everyone that has come here was so shocked that they tried to run away from reality… For a guy to come here so completely unfazed to the point of being able to calmly hold a conversation, this is without a doubt the first.” – young boy

“What? Isn’t being able to talk quickly a good thing? Though it’s true even I didn’t think it would be to this degree” – old man

Said the three beings as they drank tea. Ryouma took a sip of his tea and asked.

“If I may ask just one question, where is this place?”

“We are, in the language of your world, gods. As for why you are here, well… unfortunately last night while you were sleeping you stopped breathing. When you died, we took your soul and brought you here. In other words, you are in heaven.”

– old man god

“Oh… I see. It was something like that.”

Replied Ryouma as he nodded seemingly understanding, after which he took another sip of his tea. Hearing that response, the three main gods were bewildered. Especially the god that had the appearance of a young boy.

“”Eh, wai-, that’s it!?” – young boy god

“Couldn’t you be more like, that’s a lie! Or why did I die?! Or something?” – female god

“Hmm… all the people that have come here so far where all a bit more shaken you know? And it doesn’t seem like you think this is a dream, rather, you are taking this really calmly. This is cheating! (TL Note: Line originally says, ‘Reincarnation cheat!’”)

Truly unusual…” –old man god

“Please don’t be mistaken, as a matter of fact I am actually very much surprised. It’s just that as far as I know a vast place like this where everything is white and has no exit, does not exist in my world. That’s why for the three people in front of me to all be gods and the fact that I have already died has become something that I can accept. But even if, perhaps, you were lying and this is in fact a dream, then when the time comes I will simply wake up. As such, there isn’t any reason for me to particularly make a fuss, right? In the case that I’ve already truly died, even if I make a fuss now nothing will change. And besides it’s not like I have any attachments to my previous life.” - Ryouma

“Oh really? Humans could actually think like this? Did you undergo spiritual training somewhere? Have you actually reached enlightenment?” – young boy god

“That’s not possible… For one I am a worldly man. Almost 40 years old yet my hobbies still include anime, games, manga, and light novels. I’ve never gone out with a girl, but I am definitely not the kind of person that could ever reach enlightenment. It’s possible that I’ve been influenced a tad too much by my hobbies. And for the record I am more or less surprised you know? “ - Ryouma

“I don’t believe it has anything to do with your hobbies. There are many people that have the same hobbies as you that have come before, and rather than being calm they were especially agitated. It was quite a problem because they wouldn’t even listen… it’s not to the point where it was depressing but they were certainly affected far more than other people.” – female god

“Your calm temperate is most likely something you’ve had with you since birth. You, excluding special situations and your social disposition, are bad with sudden responses

but basically you are always calm, right?” – old man god

“Aah, now that you mention it, that’s about right. I am horrible at dealing with people and am bad at quick lies. The only thing exceptional about me is my ability to always remain calm to understand whatever situation I’m in. As expected of god.” - Ryouma

“Actually I already took a look at your file before calling you here” – old man god

“Is that so? I see, then, would it be ok for me to know the reason regarding why I was called here?” - Ryouma

“Of course, but I wonder if you will be able to understand it in one word? 'Cliche’ ” – old man god

“I see, going into a different world, right? Will I simply be transferred? Or since I’m already dead, reincarnated?” - Ryouma

“Looks like the explanation will really be quick, huh?” – female god

“More or less it’s transfer. You will be going into a different world and into a body we made so there won’t be any need for parents or the like” – old man god

“Well the body over there will be quite young so you might be able to call it reincarnation. Also if you have any requests for the appearance we have some luxury to modify it a bit” – young boy god

“I see… May I know exactly how much?” - Ryouma

“In general before 10 years old, if it’s like that then at least even if you get lost in places like the forest, if your luck is good then there is a possibility of being saved. Also as a kid you’ll be able to live without being suspected and will be able to go the city and start your life there. Of course, we’ll protect you as much as possible.” – old man god

“Thank you very much. Regarding my appearance in the other world, please make it normal. By the way, what should I do in the world I’m about to go to. Is there a mission I have to fulfill or something?” - Ryouma

“It’s not that there’s none but… the act of you going into another world is already a form of mission… but the moment you are able to go there then that duty ends so at the same time it’s like you don’t really have any missions” – female god

“Our objective is to send you to another world and at the same, start exhausting the mana of Earth and then send it to the other world” – young boy god

“Is it only mana that can’t be sent to other world?” - Ryouma

“Yep, because it’s only mana which can’t go over the walls of the world. With the power of a god a thin hole can be opened on the walls of the world. Your soul, protected by the power of god, will be pushed inside the wall. Like this your soul will become like a stuck stick. After transferring your soul to the other world, the hole will stay open for a moment, since the wall can’t close up because of the power of god that is protecting the soul. And then from the hole that was made the mana of this world will flow to the other world.” – young boy god

“The other’s world mana is growing. If the mana dries up then the humans who have been living a lifestyle that relies on magic will of course, be troubled. The magical beasts that feed on mana will be annhiliated. The food chain that is balanced around the existence of the magical beasts will also be broken. The thing is although Earth has mana, the method of using it wasn’t passed down and as a result it’s not being used at all. There’s also no magical beasts on earth, so since no one will be bothered it’s better to send it to the other world” – female god

“I understand… especially the fact that if the mana isn’t purposely being exhausted by something then the other world’s mana must be being used up faster than it can be produced, am I correct?” - Ryouma

“It is exactly as you have said. It’s true that mana is convenient but the current human race relies on magic too much. Whenever they need something done they, without stopping to think, immediately use magic. And although various research has been done on the development… the number of people that use magic without trying to manage or economize have been increasing. As a result the amount consumed has increased… But, while that’s true, the biggest reason behind the mana problem is still the old war which naturally ruined the amount of mana produced.” – young boy god

“For it to go back to the way it was before will take time. But the way it was ruined was too severe and wasn’t able to be restored completely. And then in order for humans to manage mana usage requires good training. Otherwise it won’t be possible to easily use good magic. That’s why there is generally no demand for people that are able to conserve mana. It’s unfortunate but this is the current state of the world.” – old man god

“That… um… magic, can I also use it?”

“Of course, you can” – Old man god

“You can” – Young boy god

“You can use it, you know” – Female god

“Really?” - Ryouma

“Oh, finally a normal reaction” – Young boy god

“Ahem, excuse me that was rude” – young boy god

“Well then, in regards to magic. The body in the other world will also be human and whether or not you will be able to use magic will depend on your training” – old man god

“That is reliant on your talent, but as an earthling, especially a Japanese the material should be pretty good as you have an advantage. When it comes to magic, the most important thing is image. Even with only that you should be able to do quite a bit… that ability to easily handle magic’s greatest cause is because of the influence of the magic exhaustion” – female god

“And besides once you’ve crossed over to the other world, you will be protected by the power of god so at that time we will give you some of ability. In other words, a cheat. So even if you have no talent we will raise up your level to some extent so as to allow you use to magic, and you will be able to use magic as you wish. But being the number one talent in magic in the world is a bit difficult though” – female god

“Is that some sort of limit? At the start, where I am unable to do anything and then after piling up some training eventually I will be able to use magic. Is it that kind of pattern? But even then more than normal it will be possible to become number one in the world quickly, right?” - Ryouma

“You’re really quick to pick up, huh? That’s exactly correct. Japanese people are quite amazing. Although the number of people who think they are only in a work of fiction and seriously believe are few, to understand the work of god. Things like reading books for fun is as to us peeping at the world. Isn’t us having fun by peeping at the world the same as you guys? Japanese, aren’t we doing the same thing?” – young boy god

“Being told that, certainly… though I have to ask, do you really peep?” - Ryouma

“Yeah, because since we’re basically not able to involve ourselves with the world we’re quite free” – young boy god

“We only involve ourselves when a great calamity has descend and the world is about to be destroyed or at the moment when great harm comes, or when someone tries to destroy the world and that person happened to have that kind of power. Well the things I’ve told you are mostly unnecessary. The last time we were involved was in the world’s time period… about 300 years ago?” – young boy god

“Yeah, I think that’s about right. That time was also the same as this time. It was for the sake of supplement the exhausted mana. The last time we were involved with anything other than that reason was 5000 years… or was 6000 years ago I wonder? Well in any case I think there should be at least one such case that we handled within these past 10000 years” – female god

“…at the very least the possibility of something like that happening within my life is quite low, right?” – Ryouma

“While I won’t say anything in regards to that but, it’s probably ok. Such a case is quite rare after all. A fake Maou claiming to be one may come out but the suppression of the real maou won’t be a big deal. Because in the instance that a real one were to come out we will end it quickly” – female god

“So it’s not like there isn’t a real one… but in any case it’ll be fine right?” – Ryouma

“Exactly, that’s why you can relax and just enjoy your second life. You fancy a world with swords and magic, right? Well it’s that kind of story.” – old man god

“To think that I really will be able to go… I’ve never even thought about it. When I go into the other world I’ll work hard at my magic” - Ryouma

“Well then, it’s about time we began talking about that special favor. First off, let’s take a look at the current state of your talent. Then let’s discuss after seeing what’s lacking” – female god

“After seeing your status, we’ll give you our advice, match it with what you want and then we’ll decide on what to do” – young boy god

“It’s good if take our time ok!”

“Is that ok?” – Ryouma

“Its fine, we’re free anyway and it’s because the world has some free mana that we came to take you away. Also because you were really calm we were able to talk quickly, giving us significantly more time than we expected.” – female god

“This world’s sense of time has become quite vague you know. Especially the souls of humans seem to be unused to this environment. For them the time used was greater than they thought. To begin with from the moment they woke up until the moment we finally began able to talk calmly took us 4 years.”

“4 Years!?” – Ryouma

“Aah, but you’re ok. We were able to talk fairly quick after all, normally including some idle chatter it would take no more than 10 minutes. But actually it will be better take up some more time otherwise it will be boring. So let’s take our time and talk, ok?”

“Understood. However is it normal to keep being confused for 4 years”

“Well in here you can’t get hungry or thirsty so… when you think about it you can worry all you want” – old man god

“Will the person himself regain his sanity? The point in time at which we make the person calm down also depends on us. The man before you was actually quite arrogant. He wouldn’t calm down for 20 years, somehow, one way or another we were able to make him calm down and after that he was like until I decide my ability shut up! Or you bastards it’s enough as long as you give me the ability I want! After what he said without being able to give him advice he worried until the very end, and in the end he went with an ability that wasn’t very useful, then up and decided to use the a dangerous appearance that will become like the object of persecution.” – young boy god

“Although he reaped what he sowed, after that was really pitiful”

“He ran away from reality and wouldn’t listen. To some extent we let him turn that way you know? Even if we tried to poorly calm him down, him being wary of us is a hassle. Doing that by that time we realized it 4 years had already passed. Not just his soul but even his emotions were running reckless.”

“Is that so?”

“Well originally the body and the soul is a set. Even if it is preserved by the power of god, in the first place it’s unstable. It’s that influence. It’s not something to be surprised about. For me you being so calm is a bigger to surprise, you know?” – Female god

“I see…”

“That clear headedness of yours is really beneficial for a magician. If the spirit is unstable the magic will fail and even if it succeeds the power will be weak. For a Japanese who likes games and anime to have that kind of tranquility… if on top of that you were to have talent in magic then you will have plenty of factors to help you succeed as a magician.” – young boy god

“Exactly, now let’s hurry up and check your status. Otherwise we won’t be able to begin” – female god

“Right, without confirming that you do not have the talent to use magic, we won’t be able to decide what ability to give you.” – old man god

“Even though you have talent in magic, it can’t be helped even if I were to give you talent for the same kind of magic. Well then, your status is!?” – young boy god

“fufufu, from the contents of your documents that I’ve read, you have the highest hidden potential you know?” – old man god

“Ara ara, how exciting” – female god

“Everyone’s really having fun, huh?” – Ryouma

“It’s because this is one of our few pleasures. Well then let’s go! Status!” – old man god

Name: Ryouma Takuma

Gender: Male

Age: 39

Race: Human

Physical Strength: 10486

Magic Power: 172

Power: B

Speed: A

Defense: B

Spirit: SSS

Endurance: A

Handiness: SS

Luck: G

Living Skills

Housework Lv10

Etiquette Lv7

Musical Instrument Lv3

Singing Lv3

Calculation Lv5

Battle Skills

Taijutsu Lv7

Kenjutsu Lv7

Short Sword Arts Lv6

Hidden Weapon Arts Lv7

Spear Arts Lv4

Bow Arts Lv4

Staff Arts Lv6

Counterweight arts Lv4

Throwing Arts Lv7

Covert Arts Lv6

Trap Lv4

Body Manipulation Lv5

Kikou Lv5

Magic Skills

Magic Perception Lv1

Magic Manipulation Lv 1

Magic Recovery Rate Up Lv1

Production Skills

Pharmacy Lv6

Smithing Lv1

Architecture Lv2

Woodworking Lv2

Modeling Lv4

Drawing Lv4

Resistance Skills

Physical Pain Resistance Lv8

Mental ResistanceLv9

Poison resist Lv7

Disease resist Lv7

Sleep resist Lv7

Cold resist Lv7

Heat resist Lv7

Special Skills

Vitality Strengthening Lv3

Super Heal Power Lv3

Endurance Lv6

Mental concentration Lv5

Survival Lv3

Title

Gekokujou (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gekokuj%C5%8D?oldid=459411366)

The Man Who Lost His Life to Bad Luck

Before the eyes of the four people appeared a board, on that board some characters appeared on the screen. Looking at that, it can be seen that Ryouma is very interesting, but the 3 main gods opened their eyes wide in shock.

“Wh– what is this!!” – Old man god

“What’s with this status!” – young boy god

“Ryouma-kun, how did you live your life again!?” – female god

“Eh, is there something weird?” – Ryouma

“It’s weird! Too weird!”

“Exactly where is it weird? I don’t have anything to base it on so…” – Ryouma

“Right, then let me give you a quick run down. First, this status, physical strength is generally for a normal person 1000 can be considered to be good, for an adventurer 2000, and beyond that 3000, yet yours is over 10000. As for magic, I’ll explain that later. It’s also related to your skill. Next is right below that which is your power, speed, defense, resistance, spirit, handiness, well the luck is… besides luck, in general when you reach B rank you can be a first class adventurer. A status beyond the rank of A rank can be considered to be a super first class. But as for your stats, besides luck everything is B rank up. Plus you have two stats that go beyond A rank, eve more your spirit and handiness which are SSS and SS respectively are already too abnormal! – Old man god

“Regarding your luck, while it isn’t something that has a criterion to ranked on, G is definitely way too low. In that sense this too is abnormal, or rather, you did well living up to 39 years old. That too is an unusual level, since with this level of luck it wouldn’t be strange for you to die as a child in an accident. Even if you do become an adult you won’t be able to make much of a living”

“And also, what’s up with this number of skills? Under Martial Arts Skills you have 10, but actually this is still barely acceptable but the problem is this, your resistant class skills are 7, moreover all of it are at an absurd level. You see, resistant class skills can’t be trained except for consistently affecting your body with those. With pain resistance the requirement is to continuously expose your body to pain and endure. For mental resistance you need to continuously receive mental blows. If it was only level 1 it wouldn’t be too strange but, but level 8 and 9 are too strange. Level 5 is already a level which regardless of how strong a person’s heart maybe will surely cause mental illness. If it’s 8 and 9 it’s a level at the point of which one’s heart breaking and the person committing suicide is an obvious fact” – Female god

“… For normal people there are a lot that have a skill level from 1 to 3. If it’s level 1 then that’s at the level where they have studied the foundations of a field. If 2 then they have passed the beginner stage and have reached the apprentice stage, at level 3 one can be considered to be fully capable, at 4 skilled, at level 5, a first class, and at 6, a master. In the same way you train Resist Class Skills, the higher the level the greater the pain you have to endure for an extended period of time. That’s why, you, who has reached abnormal levels like 7, 8 and 9 is weird. I wonder what kind of life you had to have been living in order to end up like this.” – Old man god

Hearing that, Ryouma began his story little by little.

“In regards to Resist Class Skills do you have any leads?”

“Can you try recollecting the events in your mind for a bit?”

“Recollecting in my mind? Ok, I understand.”

Having said that the 3 gods closed their eyes for a while. During that period Ryouma recollected the events in his past life that may be the reason for his abnormal levels. After a while the three old gods lowered their heads and said one word.

“Ryouma-kun, Sorry!”

“Eh!? Why all the sudden!?”

“We made you remember some painful memories” – young boy god

“We had you read your memories for us because it’s easier that way” – female god

“My memories? You mean it’s not just the same as thinking?” - Ryouma

“Well it’s similar but… you watch videos right? Well, while it’s a bit questionable in regards to privacy but I wanted to know the exact details” – old man god

“I am also just your everyday god, and there were a bunch of things I wanted to see but, seeing your memories you actually made me pull back… to make a god pullback that’s really amazing” – young boy god

“Ryouma-kun, please live as you wish in the other world! The skills you possess are without a doubt a result of your guts and effort! So without holding back please make use of it!” – female god

“Ah, ah…”

“Also don’t forget our power. Because that too will help you out” – old man god