"Man, so I really didn't make it to twenty-five..."
Those were the last words of Hyoudou Satō. He had died recently, but he couldn't remember the reason for his death. To him, it felt like he was just alive a moment ago. Based on his luck, some kid probably hit him with a baseball in the back of the head while he was walking toward the gas station.
He was standing... well, more like floating, really, in a void. He grabbed his chin and spoke in a defeated tone:
"Man, I really wanted to get laid before passing away. I hope my roommate deleted my internet history and hard drive... There are things that better stay in the deepest shadows."
Then, he floated in silence. After a moment, he let out an annoyed roar:
"Will I keep floating for all of eternity? I know I was kind of a jackass in life, but I don't deserve any of this!"
He was barely in this strange dimension, but already, he couldn't handle it. Even though he was nineteen and considered an adult, he was what you could call a wimp. It was a pretty embarrassing sight to see.
Then, something began to glow behind him—a radiant golden light that illuminated the void. Hyoudou Satō turned to face the strange sight, his eyes widening in shock.
Before him, a description unfurled in golden text, scrolling down through the darkness like a surreal projection from a sci-fi movie about space knights.
"What the hell is this...?" he muttered, his voice trembling with disbelief.
The text read:
{Human: Six Billion, One Hundred and Thirty-Two – Hyoudou Satō}
{Date of Birth: 2005}
{Time on Earth: 599,594,400 seconds, 9,993,240 minutes, 166,554 hours, 6,940 days, 228 months, and 19 years}
{Age at Death: Nineteen Years Old}
{Number of Sins: Zero}
{Number of Virtues: Zero}
Hyoudou Satō stared at the glowing text, nervously smirking as he muttered,
"How the hell is it possible to have committed zero sins and zero virtues in a lifetime of nineteen long years? I know I didn't do much with my life, but come on..."
As if responding to his incredulity, more golden text appeared before him:
{Requirement for Hell: Insufficient.}
{Requirement for Heaven: Insufficient.}
He froze, his smirk fading as a nervous thought crept into his mind.
So no Hell or Heaven, huh? I don't know why, but I'm kinda proud of myself for not ending up in Hell... But I won't go to Heaven either, so let's not get too carried away, Satō.
Just as he was starting to process this bizarre situation, the text continued:
{Requirement for the Book Trial: Sufficient... A true loser indeed.}
His eyes widened in disbelief as the words sank in. A flood of indignation washed over him, and he thought to himself:
"Did that text just call me a loser?!"
The golden text continued, scrolling before him:
{Opening a gate to the All-Seeing Library... Loading... Successfully loaded the gate.}
Suddenly, the void was flooded with a blinding light. Hyoudou Satō shielded his eyes, squinting as the glow began to morph into something tangible.
The text appeared again, floating amidst the radiant brilliance:
{Welcome to the All-Seeing Library, Hyoudou Satō... Hopefully, you leave as fast as possible.}
The radiance of pure light swallowed him whole, and before he could process what was happening, he found himself standing inside a massive library.
The sight was overwhelming. The place seemed endless, with walls that stretched beyond sight and shelves packed with countless books. Staircases wound upward, some leading into impossible angles, others seemingly upside down. A few even moved on their own, defying logic and gravity.
Hyoudou Satō took a hesitant step forward, glancing around in awe. Then, with a nervous chuckle, he muttered to himself,
"…Mhh, based on the anime and web novels I've seen, isn't this the part where some strange entity shows up to reincarnate me into another world? Hopefully, it doesn't grant me some lame ability like coming back from the dead—that would really suck. Or pair me with a useless priestess. Nah, I want something cool... like an overpowered ability!"
"All you did in your nineteen years of life was be a nuisance to your parents and a basement-dwelling degenerate. You loser. And broke, too. Yet you seriously believe I'd grant you some overpowered ability to breeze through the trial?"
The disembodied voice dripped with scorn, each word cutting deep.
Hyoudou Satō winced but quickly forced a smirk, his expression defiant despite the anger bubbling inside him.
"Hey, I'm seriously hurt here. I may be a degenerate... a nuisance... a genuinely annoying person to be around, but there's at least one thing I'm not! I am not broke! If I hadn't been killed, I swear my parlay would've hit!" He jabbed a finger at the air. "Now, who's the annoying voice criticizing me?! Show yourself!"
As he turned around, his jaw dropped. Standing before him was a young child sitting casually in a chair seemingly made of pink clouds. The clouds swirled with miniature weather patterns—tiny bolts of lightning crackled, raindrops fell, snow flurried, and even a small rainbow arched across the surface.
The child's eyes were a vivid pink, gleaming with mischief, and she wore a multicolored dress that looked like something from the medieval era—if not for the strange, swirling hues that defied logic. In one small hand, she held a book, flipping its pages with an air of nonchalance.
Then, in her high-pitched, childlike voice, she continued her tirade,
"I mean, really? You traveled all the way from Japan to the U.S. just to gamble, while you were supposed to be in college? How childish can one person be?! Honestly, you're already a waste of my time!"
He let out a long sigh, then clenched his fists in frustration.
"I won't let someone who looks like they came straight out of a kid's drawing insult my pride like that!" he snapped, his voice rising with anger.
The child rolled her eyes dramatically, letting out an exasperated sigh of her own. She ran a hand through her pink hair—also made of swirling pink clouds—and something startling emerged from it: a crackling bolt of lightning.
Her expression darkened, and in an irritated tone, she said,
"Do you seriously think I have the time to deal with your childish behavior?!"
She pointed the lightning bolt directly at him, its crackling energy illuminating her irritated expression.
Hyoudou Satō's heart sank as he realized the very real danger he was in. Panicked, he started frantically waving his hands in the air, as if trying to physically deflect her wrath.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I get it! You don't have time for my childish behavior!" he stammered, his voice rising in desperation. "I don't know exactly what you're planning to do with that thing, but please—just calm down! Pretty please?"
She sighed heavily, still glaring at him as she rose from her cloud chair, her tone sharp with lingering anger.
"Do something like that again, and I'll send you back to the void for at least a hundred years. You can spend that time begging me for forgiveness... Now, let's get this over with."
With a snap of her fingers, a table materialized out of thin air. On top of it appeared a glowing golden book, its pages open and radiating an ethereal light.
Her expression shifted to one of weary resignation as she spoke, her tone a mix of annoyance and formality.
"I am Mnemosyne, the Grand Keeper of the All-Seeing Library—the realm where all stories across the multiverse are recorded in accordance with the divine contract. Per the agreement with God, if a soul has lived a life deemed unfulfilled, they are sent to the Book of Trial, where they must complete the story they are assigned—"
Before she could finish, Hyoudou Satō raised his hands and shook his head vigorously.
"Hey, hey, hey! Slow down a little! I have no idea what you're talking about! Can you at least explain what this 'Book of Trial' thing is supposed to be?"
Mnemosyne sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she glared at him. "You're really starting to test Mnemosyne's patience, I suppose..."
Hyoudou rolled his eyes, looking away with an annoyed grunt. "You're the one testing my patience with that stupid third-person act, little one."
Mnemosyne's pink eyes twitched in irritation. With a snap of her fingers, a ridiculously long scroll appeared, floating in the air beside her. Her voice turns syrupy with mock politeness.
"Fine. Since little old Mnemosyne has to explain everything, little old Mnemosyne will break it down in a way even a brain-dead five-year-old can understand."
Hyoudou shot her a deadpan look. "Seriously? Can you stop with the third-person thing? I hate forced references like this."
Her patience officially spent, Mnemosyne grabbed the scroll and hurled it at his face with the fury of a storm.
"JUST SHUT UP AND READ THIS ALREADY! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR NONSENSE!"
He caught the paper as it slid to the floor, his hands trembling slightly from her outburst. "Fine, fine! Geez, no need to get so violent about it. I have feelings, you know."
With a resigned sigh, Hyoudou began reading the scroll aloud:
"Hyoudou Satō's life was defined by one thing: incomprehensible bad luck. The kind of luck that let him survive a plane crash only to get struck by lightning moments later. Yet, his misfortune didn't end with his life. When an absurd accident finally claimed him, he awoke in the All-Seeing Library—a vast, otherworldly dimension where shelves stretch endlessly, housing books that each contain an entire universe.
The Library's enigmatic custodians, the Sentinels, judged Hyoudou's arrogance and decided on his next fate: banishment to the Golden Age of Piracy in a dangerous, fantastical world. Armed with only fragments of his memories and a burning desire to prove himself, Hyoudou embarks on a perilous quest to uncover the mythical 'World's Edge'—a place said to hold secrets that defy the gods themselves.
In this realm of magic, betrayal, and swashbuckling adventure, Hyoudou must navigate treacherous seas, confront mythical creatures, and face his own hubris. Will he succumb to his cursed luck, or carve his name into the annals of legend?"
Hyoudou stared at the scroll for a long moment before crumpling it up and hurling it to the ground with all his might.
"That's just the description of a bad webnovel! What the hell is wrong with you?!" He pointed an accusing finger at Mnemosyne. "And most of that isn't even about me! Where are these supposed Sentinels?!"
Mnemosyne lazily floated up to eye level, twirling a lock of her pink-cloud hair. "Mnemosyne is the Sentinel. If you're asking about the others... they're on vacation. Those damn witches left me to deal with you!"
She crossed her arms and huffed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Now, do you understand the point of the trial? You'll be reborn in the body of a dead person during the Golden Age of Piracy, in a fantasy world, as the main character. Your goal? To find the greatest treasure of that world—'The World's Edge.' Pretty easy, right?"
Before Hyoudou could protest, she clapped her hands together. "Now, go! You've already wasted enough of my precious time!"
Hyoudou suddenly felt his body rising into the air, his limbs flailing uselessly as he floated upward. His tone turned panicked as he shouted, "Stop! Hold on—come on! I won't be an overpowered main character?! But getting reborn in the Golden Age of Piracy? Stop playing with me! I wanted a harem—you heard me, a harem! Not to become the damn King of the Pirates!"
Mnemosyne leaned back on her cloud chair, her face curling into a mischievous smirk. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention something important." Her tone was mockingly sweet, sending shivers down his spine.
"What?!" Hyoudou demanded, his voice cracking slightly as he continued to float.
"If you don't find the treasure and fulfill your quest, and you happen to, oh, I don't know, die along the way..." She paused for dramatic effect, her pink eyes sparkling. "You'll be sent right back into the void. Neither heaven nor hell wants you, after all." She gave him a mock pitying look. "So this is your only chance. Mnemosyne is kind enough to grant you a gift for your Book Trial, though."
Hyoudou's face paled as her words sank in. He flailed even harder, screaming in panic, "You demon witch! You can't do this! I said stop!"
Mnemosyne ignored his protests, her smirk widening as she pointed at the glowing golden book. A sudden gust of wind pulled Hyoudou toward its open pages.
"You'd better hurry up and find that treasure," she said with a mocking wave of her hand. "Good luck, challenger of the Book Trial."
Hyoudou's voice echoed in the vast expanse of the library as he was sucked into the glowing book at a tremendous speed.
"STOP, YOU DAMN WITCH!!!"
With a loud whoosh, the book snapped shut, leaving behind only a faint shimmer of golden light.
{Name of the Book Trial: Quest to the World's Edge}
{Challenger of the Book Trial: Hyoudou Satō}
{Fictional Ability Attribute: Mighty Phoenix}