~ Chapter 4: The apology of the 118 gods ~

There was nothing that could be done now after my body had been turned to dust alongside all those unfortunate people who had the bad luck of being near me at that time. As for the ones responsible for this whole mess, they did say they were going to reflect upon it, but I had my doubts because those were some rater insane ways to take out someone, no matter their sin. Besides, I was a human... there were far more simpler ways to kill me than dropping a meteor or nuke on top of my head.

Well, the deed was done... There was nothing we could do about it now. Earth's god was probably quite pissed about this, but I hoped everything worked out in the end. To those who died, I could only offer a sincere apology.

Letting out a sigh, I scratched the back of my head and then looked up at the star-filled view of the cosmos. Its beauty was unmatched, but I didn't really feel like I had died. I could still breath... even though I was in the middle of space, but maybe this was made possible thanks to all of these 118 gods. I still had a pulse, and I could feel the sensation of touch, cold, and warm.

It could be that everything I felt and saw were just some minor details meant to soothe my transition to the spiritual world, but the idea that I had no body to return to sort of scared me.

Ah~ I really didn't want to die... I thought.

There were so many things I had yet to do, including watching some hopefully good movies that came out this year. I wanted to finish some of my games as well. I wanted to get a girlfriend and maybe keep a job more than a few days.

At the very least, I knew there weren't going to be that many people who were going to miss me. My own family was probably going to blame me for the fact that the meteor struck Earth. And for once, they were right. My friends... if I could still call them that, kept a 'safe' distance from me. To be more exact, they all moved to different cities.

Wherever I went, I was the walking plague thanks to my stupid predisposition with a high [Hero Potential] and countless 'bad marks' that drew in accidents faster than someone cursed by a whole legion of Hell.

Now that I thought about it, there was really nothing important for me to do either there or here. It was my own fate's lack of luck as one might say, even if everything started with those brain-dead idiotic summoners.

Letting out another sigh, I found myself troubled by the pressure on my chest. I felt like revenge herself begged for me to request some sort of retribution against all those who selfishly brought me into this whole mess, but at the same time, there was a part of me that didn't think it was right. Among all of those idiots, there were certainly some who would have accepted me despite my 'bad marks' and others who would have chosen another path if not pressured by others. I couldn't tell which was which, but I wished to believe there were this sort of people among them.

Thus, I couldn't ask these gods to rain down my revenge in the form of their wrath upon all those who witnessed my death or deportation and did nothing about it. If I did, I was certain it would have left a bad taste in my mouth.

Why should I even bother anymore to think about them. It's not like I can witness their demise from this place... I guess it's either bite the bullet of revenge or forgive them and forget about them. I thought, while the gods patiently waited for me.

It was mighty kind of them not to rush these sorts of things, wise too.

In the end, I decided I didn't wish to go to the afterlife weighed down by revenge and holding a heavy heart for a fate outside of my control. So, in my boundless generosity, I forgave all those who had wronged me, including the foolish gods in front of me. In my eyes, this revenge was nothing but a waste of energy. I didn't wish to be part of it. I didn't wish to drag them down with me. Let them live as they wanted, their own gods will decide their fates, I just wanted to be out of this mess... To go to the afterlife without holding a heavy heart in my chest. I wanted to feel... free.

“Ah! His [Hero Potential] just went up again.” one of the gods pointed out.

“Indeed, it has.” the others nodded in agreement.

“You truly would have made a wonderful hero for any of our worlds... I'm so sorry it had to be this way.” Sapherya apologized while bowing her head in front of me.

It was a sincere apology, and soon... all the other gods followed suit, bowing at the waist in front of me.

For someone like me, who lived a life that was rather unkind from many points of view, seeing this scene was both touching and amazing at the same time. The gods truly felt sorry they had to do this, or more like because my fate turned out like this. Something also told me that there might have been several other untold reasons why they did this besides the fact that my constant summoning interrupted their precious sleeping hours.

“Sigh... Well, I forgave all of you already, but thank you.” I showed them a small smile.

“In that case, we have one last thing to do before we send you off.” Sapherya smiled softly.

“Which is? Also, where exactly will I be sent off? I hope not Hell or Purgatory or something like that...” I asked a bit afraid of that possibility.

“Nothing of that sort.” she shook her head, then looking into my eyes, she answered in a firm tone of voice “We have unanimously decided to offer you our blessings to you in the form of abilities and life events. As long as you won't decide to become a Demon Lord in your next life, these blessings will keep you safe and hopefully... happy.”

“Next life?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“Since we were the ones who killed you, the god of Earth made us offer you a life of your own choosing in a world of your own choosing. In other words, you can choose to be reincarnated in any of our worlds and start life anew.” she showed me a gentle smile.

And that was how my 'other world summoning story' turned into a 'reincarnation story'.