Hiatus Gifting This Unfortunate Guy With Blessings

"... and may you find peace in the Heavens! Well then... I bid you farewell!"

A blue magic circle appeared and another soul got sent to the heavens. As the holy light stopped shining I could finally take a quick breather so I sat on the extravagant-looking chair behind me.

"Heavens!~ Who could've expected that sending few souls to the afterlife is so tiresome! And what the hell is going on with people recently!"

I desperately flipped through the pages of a notebook containing information about deceased people waiting for a send-off. Some of them had really… peculiar causes of death.

"Death by asphyxiation because of a balloon that came back to the guy's mouth after being released to fly about… death by falling from the building after trying to make an upside-down shot while hanging from balcony's railing... Pffft… this guy died after masturbating 56 times. Am I capable of keeping a straight face? Nonono, I am not ready. Let's choose someone more normal this time…"

As names passed by my eyes one stood out as it was similar-looking to the guy that caused me to get this job.

"Satou Kazuki-kun, 16-year-old… cause of death… brain cancer..."

I couldn't stop myself from sighing with desperation as the file stated all tragic events of that youth's life.

"Lost parents at 4 in a car crash… an unhealable scar on his face… no friends...weekly unwarranted police apprehensions? What? Angels responsible for writing these files need to step up their game. What do 'weekly unwarranted police apprehensions' mean?"

Getting hung up on a piece of information is unproductive so I decided to proceed but faltered right before summoning Satou Kazuki's soul and mused to myself.

"Even after a few weeks after Aqua-sama left, I am still inexperienced. How did she manage to sort through all these souls so quickly?"

The only explanation that I could think of was Aqua-sama's wish to keep on helping these poor souls as fast as possible. It must be it! As expected of high ranking Goddess!

"I shall not tarnish Aqua-sama's position with my weak will!"

As I said these words a blue magic circle appeared under a chair that was placed in front of me. I closed my eyes in order to hide tears forming themselves upon remembering about the youth's past and tried to deliver the opening sentence in the most sincere voice I could muster.

"Satou Kazuki, welcome to the afterlife. Unfortunately, you've died. It might've been short and harsh, but your life's now… KYAAAAAAAAAAAA"

***

The last thing I remembered was falling asleep after another dose of painkillers, lying in a hospital bed and hearing nurses laughing about someone dying of shock after getting bumped by a tractor?

And right now I was seated in a nice chair and some angel-like person in front of me started saying something about me being dead, then she suddenly started to scream and hid behind a chair.

"Huh?" Was the only thing I could voice in my usual raspy voice.

"Hiiiiiii!!! I am sorry!"

"What do you mean? Who are you? Where am I?" I asked while looking at wings protruding from behind the chair.

"I-I-I-I am the angel responsible f-f-for ferrying souls from Japan to the afterlife…"

The self-proclaimed angel girl peeked at me and instantly hid again.

"A-a-a-a-as I said, Satou Kazuki-sama, you have died."

Silence permeated the room because I couldn't think of anything to say and the angel kept silent while her wings kept trembling. After calming myself for a few minutes I finally asked.

"Why are you hiding behind that chair?"

"You look extremely a-a-angry. I beg your pardon if I did anything to disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e you!"

I touched the left side of my face and didn't feel the familiar cloth that didn't leave my face since I have been admitted to the hospital.

"Oh, I don't have my bandages on… I am sorry Angel-san, it's just how my face is… I am not angry or anything."

She meekly stood to the right side of a chair, looking at the floor somewhere between us.

"I am very sorry about that… I am not used to this work. You can call me Sylph. I just recently got promoted after my predecessor had an accident..."

She tried to look me in the eyes but quickly her sight laid on my shoes. She was still trembling.

"Have you got any questions you want to ask before I tell you what comes next?"

I pondered for a while and asked. "If this is an afterlife then why do I still have those scars on my face? Am in my body right now or what?"

"No, you are here in soul only… As for the scars… You probably had them ever since you remember and they became a part of your soul so they didn't disappear when you came here."

"I see... Do you have a mirror here by any chance ?"

"Y-yes!" Still, stuttering Sylph-san drew a rectangle with her finger and 'pushed' the air in my direction and suddenly a mirror was traveling toward my face. It stopped in perfect distance from me so I could see my entire face.

"I think it even looks worse than it was, actually…" I had a scar going across my face and the left side was covered in scars after I was burned in a car accident when I was young. I was frowning constantly since my face kept on hurting. It gave me so much trouble because people kept being scared of my 'angry-looking' and hideous face.

"People usually think they look better than they actually are and they appear here with how they imagine they look. You must have felt the opposite…" Angel answered my doubts and I nodded. She finally looked me in the eyes and continued.

"Again… I am very sorry about my reaction…"

"It's not my first time… don't mind it. Is there any chance you can do something about those?" I asked while pointing at my scars.

"There might be two different ways but I am unsure about their effectiveness. First, let me say that there are three options for you now. One of them is going to heaven."

"Oh?"

"...but I can't allow you to go to Heaven… please don't look at me like that, let me explain first! Souls that are allowed to go to heaven mustn't have any lingering attachments or negative emotions. As you are right now you might get shunned because… Ummm … and develop negative emotions then change into a dangerous entity…."

"Oh…"

I answered dejectedly but Sylph-san kept her cool and continued her speech.

"The second option would be getting reborn in the same world at random without your current memories. The life you will lead from there on will shape your soul accordingly. But unfortunately, with how your soul is now shaped, there is a possibility of you acquiring similar scars as your soul tries to change your body to its shape. Unless you got really lucky you would end up looking nearly the same. "

"… What about the third option?"

"You can be reincarnated in another world with your current looks as a soul and your memories intact... It might come as a surprise but there are many worlds. Usually, souls born in one world stay inside of its reincarnation circle. But in this another world I can reincarnate you in, a dark entity called Demon King emerged..."

Sylph-san kept on calmly explaining for a few minutes how badly souls from that world reject being reincarnated in that world but I've already made my decision.

"... that's why although it's not 100% certain I wholeheartedly recommend the second option instead of the very dangerous third option. I can give you a further explanation or repeat if you didn't understand something."

"I choose the 3rd option."

With the way to heaven barred from the get-go and the other option being the erasure of my current self from existence for the slight chance of removing those scars I felt that it was my only option if I had a say in it. Even though I hadn't had the most fortunate life I still wanted to live as myself, like any other person would.

"I thought so, there's no reason to sacrifice yourself… wait, what?!"

Sylph-san seemed completely baffled when she finally understood what I have actually said.

"Please let me get reincarnated in that other world. "

I looked resolutely at the angel before me but she once again seemed to misinterpret my facial expression as an angry one again and started to fumble with words.

"O-Okay, okay I got it! Please calm down!"

"But I am calm…"

My remark fell on the deaf ears and Sylph-san continued after gauging my expression.

"You now have to choose the power that you will be able to take with you to that world. "

"What power?"

"To give you a chance against the Demon King I can grant you one power from these!"

Sylph-san opened a drawer in the office desk that stood near her chair and various papers flew out and stacked themselves in front of me.

'One could even receive a special power after choosing to reincarnate in that other world? If Sylph-san mentioned this before going on that grim speech about why to not choose 3rd option I would've chosen it even faster.'

I started to look through the pages while Sylph-san spoke up.

"My predecessor Aqua-sama might have been more knowledgeable about those powers but if you have any questions I will try my best to answer them."

There were many interesting powers to choose from: 'Unnatural Strength', 'Super Magic', 'Demon Sword Murasame'...

"There are even weapons and armor? What if someone takes them from me?"

"Equipment will be bound only to you and will not work in other hands than yours."

"Mhm…" I answered half-heartedly not minding equipment options too much. 'Talents' section looked much more promising. I started to look for something that could help me with my appearance. Something like 'doppelganger' or 'mimic' powers to change my appearance didn't enter my view… but there was one that piqued my interest.

"Can you tell me what you know about this one?"

Sylph-san then explained to me how the power I pointed at worked. She wasn't too descriptive, probably because as she has mentioned she didn't know everything there was about it, but it definitely was a power that would be fun to have. I couldn't wait to try to use it.

"Then I will take it."

"Are you sure? It can't be changed later!"

I nodded my head to confirm. Then Sylph-san breathed deeply, cleared her throat and in a similar grandiose manner she first spoke to me when I arrived in this room she said.

"Satou Kazuki, you'll be heading to another world now and will become one of the hero candidates to defeat the Demon King! You will then receive a gift from the gods the moment you defeat the Demon King."

'There was even an additional reward in the form of a wish of any kind for defeating the Demon King?'

I curbed the urge to interject in Sylph-san's speech to not be rude, but I felt like I needed to tell her that if she mentioned some of those things first, there would be a lot more people agreeing to reincarnate and help that world.

"H-hero, may you be victorious among the many hero candidates and be the one to defeat the Demon King…! Well then, I bid you farewell!"

After she stopped speaking I noticed a bright light immediately descending onto my body. I tried speaking my thoughts about Sylph-san's speech order but no sound came out from my mouth. I then started trying to convey my message through body language but I didn't know if Sylph-san understood any of it before I disappeared from the room.

***

"Why was he suddenly looking so angry again and started to wave his hands around? Was he cursing me? Did I do something wrong?"