Day ?
I hadn't been doing anything special on that day. It all happened when I
was, like always, sleeping in my ash gray shirt and sweatpants that were
much more comfy than pajamas.
"Hey. Would you mind waking up? Mr. Keima Masuda?"
Someone I didn't know was calling out my name, and before I knew it,
everything except the clothes on my back was gone. My bed, my pillow, my
apartment—heck, the apartment building, and even the ground were all gone,
leaving me stranded in a star-dotted vacuum that looked a lot like space.
After making sure that I could breathe properly, I opened my eyes. I felt a
floaty sensation, as if I were still asleep. For a second I wondered if I had
been kidnapped, but after seeing my surroundings, I assumed I was dreaming
and tried to go back to sleep.
This feels nice and floaty. I'm definitely getting a good night's sleep
tonight.
"Um, would you please listen to me? I am a god, after all."
"Huh...? Yeah, yeah, I'm listening... zzz..."
"Is that true? You're not sleeping or anything, right? I don't have much
time here. You're being summoned to another world right now. You'll regret
it if you don't listen to me, okay?"
"I'm listening, I'm listening... zzz..."
"Mmm, I don't know if I've ever met someone so lazy before. But if you
really are listening, I guess I'll go ahead and start explaining. First of all..."
His explanation really dragged on, so I listened halfheartedly while focusing
on sleep.
"So, you get one present from me. Is there something you want to do in
the world you're going to? I'll try to help you grant that wish. But in return,
I'd like you to help me too, with what I just told you about."
Something I want to do? My friend, how about the opposite.
"I don't want to work." That was my response to the person who had
called themselves a god.
Helping out a god sounds like a lot of annoying work. No thanks.
"...Um, what am I supposed to do about that? I want to know what you do
want to do, so I can help you with that."
"The best life is one where you don't have to work..."
"...Should I just reincarnate you as a tree?"
"Aaah, that sounds like it'd be nice."
The god sighed and shook his head at me.
"Hey. Did you forget why I was asking you what you wanted to do?"
"Huh? Yeah, I guess I did."
It was probably something about restoring the flow of mana or
exterminating monsters or whatever. I hadn't been listening very closely.
"You were studying things like golems in your world, right? I thought you
would be pretty excited about this..."
"Huh? Hahaha! Not a chance, not a friggin' chance. That's just how we
youths are nowadays."
My dream was to create a maid robot that could take care of everything
for me.
People always look at me like I'm a waste of space as soon as they learn
about that. Don't expect too much from me, Mr. God-being-whatever.
By the way, my "research" was just me playing around with robots about
thirty centimeters tall that I got from ready-made kits. Huh? I should build
them myself? That sounds like a lotta work...
"Well, it looks like we're out of time... I hate to let you go, but I guess I'll
just have to ask the next person that comes by here."
"Whaaat..."
"...But I'll at least make sure you can understand the other world's
language. And if you do help me out, I'll make sure you're repaid for your
efforts."
"I wish not to wooork..."
"The world you're being summoned to has magic, but civilization there
hasn't developed very much. You'll have to work to survive. Plus, the fact
you're being summoned means someone out there wants you to do some kind
of job for them."
"I want to go home..."
"Well, good luck."
A bright light enveloped me, blinding my vision