-Part 1: The Bus Ride-
We were on the bus, on our way back to school from our field trip.
It was your regular bus ride.
The popular kids sat in the back.
The not-so-popular cool kids sat in the middle, and the nerdy, unpopular kids such as myself sat in the front of the bus.
I had no friends, nor did I want any.
I sat alone, reading my favorite light novel.
I liked being alone because no one could bother me that way.
I was almost at the end of the story about to read the final page when suddenly I felt the book being lifted out of my hand.
When I looked up, Jugo Masayama, the class delinquent, and his two goons, Yuji and Akio, were standing over me.
Jugo held my book and flipped through the pages as if he cared to read it.
Before throwing it out of the window.
From there, I'm not clear on what happened to me.
I only remember lashing out at Jugo.
I felt my fist hit him, but his face didn't budge at all; he only smirked in enjoyment.
Which made sense since I was a skinny dude who stayed inside watching anime and reading novels while Jugo was really buff and always getting into fights.
"I'm going to kill you."
Jugo said before punching me in the face over and over, and I felt my consciousness slowly slipping away.
None of the other students came to my aid, whether it was out of fare or enjoyment.
Or they simply didn't care and were completely ignoring the whole situation.
"Jugo, I think he's had enough," the class rep said with a submissive tone.
Jugo merely glared at the class rep with a face covered in my blood and a smile that was almost demonic before continuing on.
"Is he really human? How can anyone be this cruel?" The class rep muttered under her breath.
In reality, it shouldn't be such a surprise to anyone that he's trying to kill me right now.
Jugo is more than just our class delinquent.
He's also a member of a gang and is always getting into violent street fights that usually end with someone dead.
So the real question should be, why in the world would I hit him knowing what he'd do to me?
Kids began pulling their phones out to record.
And shouted.
"Yeah! Kick his ass, Jugo."
'Am I going to die? I didn't even get to read the last chapter of my favorite light novel. Am I going to die without finishing it?'
I thought, as my life began flashing before my eyes.
-Part 2: Backstory-
Looking back on my life, I don't have any significant memories that I'd call enjoyable.
As a child, my father would beat me as a way to vent his frustration at work.
Things only became worse when he drank.
He would nearly kill me at times, putting a gun to my head or a knife to my neck.
And my mother would just ignore everything that was going on, trying her best to block the noise with a TV show.
I would be forced to scavenge for food on my own because my parents wouldn't feed me.
Honestly, I have no clue how I survived this long.
Could it be what they call your will to live?
But it's not like I enjoy living at all.
I mean, why would I?
Everyone I've ever met has been cruel to me, and most have tried to kill me—well, everyone except my aunt Judy.
Aunt Judy was always kind to me and was the one who introduced me to the world of fantasy.
She told me that if I were ever feeling empty, I should escape into the world of fantasy.
And so I did.
Really, it's the only thing that kept me sane in this absurd reality.
But no matter how much I try to suppress my hatred for humans, it never fully goes away.
And I ended up killing my parents in cold blood.
When my aunt Judy came to visit me and my mother that day, she was shocked to find me sitting in a pool of my parents blood.
But she didn't scream and wasn't afraid.
She became calm and embraced me in a hug.
She brought her lips closer to my ear and whispered.
"Everything is going to be alright. Aunt Judy is going to take care of things, so there is no need to worry."
I don't know how she did it, but through her connections, she covered up the whole thing.
We moved away, and after some time the event eventually became a dormant memory for me.
But I wonder how she could be so kind to me.
When she has every reason to view me as a monster.
"Why?"
-Part 3: The Goddess-
Everything went dark as I lost my consciousness, but in this darkness shined a bright light.
'Am I dead? Is that the light you see when you die? But—but I'm not ready to die.'
I thought before the light began to engulf the darkness.
When the light subsided and settled down, I saw the rest of my class in the void with me.
A white void of light that was almost as liquid as water.
Seated in a crystalized throne was a beautiful woman with golden eyes and long white hair that reached to her lower back.
"What the hell is going on?"
Jugo exclaimed, irritated by the strange events.
"Are we dead? Is this heaven? The bus was struck by a lightning bolt, then we appeared here. What happened?"
Marie, a nerdy girl with short brown hair and glasses, asked in a shy tone.
Everyone began panicking and asking questions.
"What's going on?"
"Is this some sort of dream?"
"Were all dead, aren't we?"
...
With a snap of her finger, the woman silenced everyone and induced calmness over us all.
"Worry, not humans. I, the Goddess of Magic and Reincarnation, will reincarnate you all to a world filled with magic and mystical beasts. In order for you to return to your original world, you'll have to defeat the Demon Lord, and then and only then will you be able to return."
The woman said it with an expression and tone that gave off a feeling of tranquility.
"Alright, woman, where have you taken us? I'm sure the police would love to hear about it."
Our teacher demanded while pulling out his phone.
The woman looked over to our teacher and pointed her hand towards him.
From her palm, she realeased a powerful energy sphere that completely disintergrated our teacher's head.
Surprisingly, no one freaked out, and everyone handled the situation with an absurd amount of calmness.
"Is he dead? How come no one's freaking out? How am I not freaking out? What did you do to us?"
Alice, our class rep, asked the woman claiming to be a goddess.
"What have I done? ...Magic, I've cast a spell so you wouldn't freak out and become unrational."
"Well? How do you expect us, a bunch of high schoolers, to defeat a...demon lord?"
August, the most popular student in school questioned.
A floating, glowing crystal appeared in front of us and the goddess.
"Place your hand on this crystal, and it'll display your status. the powers and abilities that you'll receive in this new world."
Everyone did as told, and one by one they placed their hands on the crystal to reveal their skills and abilities.
The skills that most of the students received were pretty basic and of the rare grade, but some other students were given powerful skills of the epic and even legendary grade.
And of course August, the most popular student, was not only blessed with amazing looks and a legendary grade skill, but of course he also had to receive the title of hero as well.
While Kageyama, a quiet kid in our class with black hair and dark purple eyes, was given the title of shadow hero.
Something that would forever change his personality from the quiet kid to a psychopath.
I, on the other hand, was forced to go last since everyone pushed me to the back of the line.
But when it finally reached my turn, I felt a hint of excitement as I reached out towards the crystal.
The status menu appeared above the crystal and revealed my skill or what it should've been, but instead all that was in place of the skill slot was [Null].
"I've never seen anything like this. You are completely and uterally useless. Not only do you not have a skill, but you also can't even use magic."
The goddess said and erupted laughter in everyone.
"You're pathetic, Akira. Even in another world, you'll always remain pathetic."
Jugo said mockingly.
"That's a bummer. It seems I'll have to eliminate you. After all, useless people like yourself deserve nothing more than death."
The goddess said with a miniacle smile that stretched from ear to ear, causing her to look almost devilish.
*Sigh*
"I guess I wasn't even able to escape into my world of fantasies. Well, I hope I'm able to find peace in whatever comes next."
Like she did our teacher, the goddess pointed her hand towards me and disentigrated my head with a powerful energy sphere.
'Darkness'