Chapter 1 - Reborn as a Princess? Aw Yeah, I'm a Winner!
"Tachibana, sorry, but can you take care of the meeting record?"
"Understood."
The head of accounting throws some more work at me and then walks off at a brisk pace.
Even though it's Friday afternoon, this place is still incredibly busy.
"Urgh, this is never going to end!"
As I return to my office, I see one of my coworkers from general affairs. He is screaming while nearly ripping his hair out.
You know it's going to fly off for good if you keep doing that right?
--Hair should be your long friend.
I wake up my computer from sleep mode and talk to the coworker from the adjacent cubicle.
"Didn't you say you needed to leave on time and meet with your girlfriend?"
I glance at the clock mounted on a pillar, and see that it's already 30 minutes past the normal close time.
"My manager pushed some more work on me right when I was about to leave."
We both look around the room and his manager is nowhere to be seen.
"What is he doing now?"
"In a meeting with the customer, along with the department head."
It's pretty unusual for the customers come to us like that.
"I guess it can't be helped. Hand it over, I'll finish it for you."
I took a quick look at it, but it didn't seem like it was something that only his department could do. Mostly busywork.
Compiling data from the company's internal survey and transcribing an interview recording. This really isn't the kind of stuff you should be making someone work over the weekend for.
"Are you really okay with that, Tachibana?"
"You're still using the same format as when I was contracting in general, right?"
After my contract period ended, I was hired on as a permanent employee and changed departments.
"Yeah, it's been left the way you made it."
"Then everything is fine. Leave it to me and head over to your girlfriend."
"Thanks, I'll make sure to pay you back somehow!"
"Don't worry about it."
The coworker looks at me as if I was his savior, then heads out.
He's a generous one, so I'll probably be getting an expensive lunch out of this later.
I quickly finish up typing up the meeting record, then move on to the documents he left me. I hum a short song to myself while cleaning up the paperwork.
"Tachibana-senpai is as manly as ever."
"Why doesn't Tachibana-senpai have a boyfriend yet?"
"It's because she's more manly than them."
The other people in accounting are gossiping about me.
If you aren't going to help, then get out of here.
"Arisa-senpai, over here!"
From the entrance of the office, my kouhai calls out to me.
Well to be fair, she was hired as a employee before me.
"Yeah?"
She was the girl from management that I helped out yesterday.
"Thank you very much, Arisa-senpai! You drove the stalker away yesterday, and you even helped me file the police report."
"Don't worry about it, anything for a cute kouhai."
That and we live in the same apartment complex too.
"If you can wait a bit longer, we can head out together. You're probably still too nervous to go alone, right?"
"No, it's okay now!"
She makes a cute smile with her small fists clenched.
I can see why the men are all over here.
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
According to her, the police received the report and started patrolling the area. Then they found the stalker rummaging through her garbage.
It looks like he wasn't thrown in jail yet, but they have his name and address now. It'll only be a matter of time before he gets sent through the judicial system.
I guess these cute girls sometimes have it rough too.
"--Please let me treat you to dinner sometime. I know a lovely place."
"Ahaha, thanks. Don't push yourself too hard."
With a lively voice, she makes that promise to me and heads off. I go back to my desk and continue working.
I was very happy when the three people who were gossiping earlier helped me out. With their assistance, I managed to finish up everything in less than 30 minutes.
"Ufufu~, the discount bento is mine!"
I managed to acquire a super-size meat bento with a half-price sticker on it. These practically never show up. I'm humming to myself as I walk from the station to my apartment.
"I feel like drinking some beer instead of happoshu today--. Huh?"
I get a strange feeling that interrupts my good mood.
There's something off.
"Geh."
A man in black clothes slips out from behind the shrubbery in front of the apartment.
I remember seeing his thin, tall body and his disproportionately long arms.
He's the stalker that was chasing around my kouhai.
"...It's your fault."
The stalker spits those words as if they were a whisper of pure resentment.
In his hands is a large combat knife. There's no way that thing meets the legal size limit.
--Wait just a second, isn't this pretty bad?
I quickly take a look around, but there is no one in sight.
"It's your faaaault!!"
The stalker screams as he charges straight at me.
--Geh, seriously?
"You idiooot!"
I swing my heavy briefcase around and smack the stupid stalker in the face.
He falls down next to the dumpster and lies motionless.
"Justice always prevails!"
Caught up in the moment, I shout that with my fists clenched.
My hands would probably be trembling in fear if I relax them.
"--Huh?"
A chill rushes through my body.
What's this disgusting feeling?
My hand near my stomach is touching something warm and wet.
I get a bad feeling and look down to see my white blouse stained red.
"What the hell?"
My stomach must have been stabbed by the stalker's knife.
I look at the knife in his hands and it is also covered in red blood.
"Ah, this is, pretty bad..."
My vision quickly starts fading away.
[Someone go to my PC and delete the shota folder, the BL folder, and the fujoshi folder!]
I try to shout but nothing comes out. My screams were unable to reach anyone's ears.
Before I completely black out, the last thing I see is my kouhai and some man running toward me.
◆
Everything is a haze.
As if I just got out of a sauna, I feel like I am weightlessly drifting around.
My surroundings are blurry and out of focus. The only thing I can see is a white darkness.
There's nothing here.
Not even my own body.
My consciousness is going to melt into this place too.
I somehow understood that was going to happen.
--A gentle purple light.
My weakening consciousness is drawn to it.
After what seemed like an eternal instant, I found myself right next to the light.
<Death> <Notify> <Confirm>
The fuzzy purple ball of light flashes repeatedly in the white space. Along with it's words comes concepts going directly into my thoughts.
But for some reason, I am unable to think properly.
Normal questions like 'Where am I?' and 'What is this light?' don't enter my head.
<Death> <Notify> <Confirm>
"Mmm? Who?"
<I> <God> <Faith>
"Oh, hey God!"
I would realize later how stupid my response was, but at that moment my conciousness was unfocused and I wasn't thinking straight.
Apparently, this so-called god is on a completely different level from humans. Our brains are only able to interpret a set of loose images and concepts, so we can barely understand half of what they are saying.
However this time, I was somehow able to feel what the self-proclaimed god was trying to say.
<Reincarnation> <Hope> <Survey>
"Yeah, so I'm getting reincarnated by God? OK, OK, I totally got it."
<Deposit> <Authority> <Select>
"You're giving me a cheat? I guess it's like a loan or something? And I get to choose?"
Without hesitation, I stick my non-existent hand into the ball of light in front of me.
The insides of the strange light felt slimy and muddy, but I kept searching until I found something that felt just right.
"Deiyaaa!"
A small purple light gets pulled out and sucked into my body.
--[Over Boost]
The name of the light enters my head.
At the same time, I understand just what kind of power it contains.
A super move that bets everything you have for a chance to turn the tables.
"Hmm, so people will get whatever power they want. This is perfect for a fighting heroine like me. These days, heroines need to be the ones saving the hero when they get kidnapped!"
I make a smirk with my invisible mouth and imagine myself smugly crossing my arms.
"Next I'll get something even better!"
I stick my hand into the purple light ball again, looking for a second one.
I find something that fits me again, but I get pushed away when I try to grab it.
"Huh? I'm only allowed one?"
<Vessel> <Limit> <Caution>
"I see, so there's a capacity limit. The one I grabbed must have gone over."
I keep trying to get a second one, but I get repelled at each attempt.
"No problem! Tenth time's the charm!"
I pump myself up and reach deep into the purple orb.
--Got one!
I feel a bit of resistance as I grab it, but this seems like it could work.
No, I'll make sure to it works.
For gramps!
"Soiyaaa!"
With all my strength, I pull out the small purple light.
As it gets sucked into my body, I understand the cheat's name and power.
--[Never Give Up]
After learning it's effect, I couldn't help but smile.
"Yahooooo! I'm the greatest!"
This is a power that allows me to stand evenly against someone who is much stronger than me. Even against the mightiest of opponents, any attack or spell will work with at least a 10% chance.
If I combine this with [Over Boost], I can make an incredibly powerful combo to instantly defeat someone I would normally be no match for.
<Bless> <Authority> <Obtain>
"You're giving me your blessing? Thanks, God."
God starts flashing, and sends a warm feeling over to me.
"God, I promise that I won't abuse this power! I'll make sure to dedicate myself to world peace."
<Desire> <Use> <Freedom>
You're telling me I can use it for whatever I want?
As that thought passes through my head, I sense an affirmation coming from God.
<Caution> <Use> <Excessive>
It looks like there is some limit to how much I can use these powers.
I should be careful when using them.
<Reincarnation> <Bonus> <Select>
"Eh?"
God continues on, and some sort of skill tree appears in the back of my mind.
Apparently, I can get more free skills in addition to the cheat skills from earlier.
God sure gives a lot of free stuff.
<Reincarnation> <Bonus> <Unnecessary?>
"I'll choose now!"
It felt like the skill tree was about to close, so I quickly grab onto it.
I select the obvious staples [Analyze], [Inventory], and [Perfect Language].
<Insufficient> <Capacity> <Select>
God sends me a denial.
I guess I didn't have enough 'reincarnation points' or something. My soul's capacity must have been too full from the two cheat skills I got earlier.
After testing out several combinations, I ended up on a set of skills that seemed useful.
[Self Status], the power to have detailed understanding of your own status and abilities.
[Status Check], the power to view the abilities of anyone in sight.
[Hide Skill], the power to hide your skills from others.
[Item Box], the power to store a large, but not unlimited, amount of items in your own pocket space.
I feel a bit tired after trying so hard.
<Hope> <Authority> <Growth>
"Yeah, I'll make sure these cheat skills grow up big and strong."
Struggling to resist the urge to sleep, I respond to God's words.
<Blessing> <Happiness> <Full>
I hear God's blessing again.
As if it was a lullaby, I fall asleep and melt away in the white darkness.
◆
Light and floaty.
Fluffy and warm.
I was in a happy and deep sleep.
I hear a strange sound from far away. I don't understand why, but the gentle sound gives me peace of mind.
Everything is so comfortable. Then, one day.
--Ow.
<Owww, stop that>
I try to shout, but no voice comes out.
<Stop! I said stop! Aaahhhhhhh!!>
The painful torture ended as my black surroundings get replaced with a bright light.
"Ogyaaaa!"
From somewhere comes the sound of a baby crying.
I feel sick, as if I was getting rocked around in a boat. Someone seems to be talking in a language that I've never heard before. I look around to find the source of the voice, but everything is just a blur.
--They're huge!
This giant is holding me up.
My vision is still out of focus, but I can see the human figure staring down at me.
--I remember now!
Reincarnation.
I was reborn.
The memories of my meeting with god flash through my mind.
--[Self Status].
I focus my mind on the skill given to me by god. This should let me view my detailed status.
'Name: Arisa' and 'Sex: Female' pops into my head.
It looks like my name is still Arisa despite being reincarnated.
Since I don't have a family name, maybe I'm a commoner?
Right afterwards, 'Class: Royalty' pops up.
--Royalty? So, in other words, I'm a princess?
Yahooooo!
Aw yeah, I'm a winner!
Easy mode, banzai!
Huh? My vision is, getting, darker...
--Oh, I ran out of energy.
It looks like it was a bad idea to get so excited a few seconds after being born.
Good night, papa, mama. See you later.
Chapter 2
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