My name is Hajime Tohsaka.
I was an ordinary high school student who spent most of my time playing games and reading novels. I wasn't particularly talented at anything, especially when it came to academics.
I lived alone.
My relationship with my family had never been good. They were disappointed with my poor academic performance, and eventually, I decided that it would be better for me to leave and live on my own in a cheap apartment.
At first, I thought nothing would change.
But after spending some time alone, I began to reflect on myself.
I wanted to change.
I wanted to become someone better.
And then, I met her.
Her name was Aya Odaumi.
She was kind, cheerful, and beautiful. More importantly, she was one of the few people who genuinely believed in me.
We started as strangers.
Then we became friends.
Before I knew it, we were spending more and more time together.
Eventually, we became a couple.
For the first time in a long while, I felt happy.
I thought that perhaps things were finally going to get better.
But happiness doesn't always last forever.
One night, Aya was on her way home when a speeding truck suddenly lost control and crashed into her.
That night was the last time I ever saw her.
After Aya was gone, the motivation I had worked so hard to build disappeared with her.
I stopped caring about everything.
The progress I had made began to disappear, and eventually, I returned to my old habits.
Sleeping.
Eating.
Playing games.
Repeating the same routine every day.
I knew I was wasting my life, but I couldn't find the strength to move forward.
Then, one ordinary night, something strange happened.
I was sitting in my apartment, playing a game as usual, when suddenly—
A strange magic circle appeared on the floor.
"Huh?"
I stared at it in confusion.
"What the...?"
Before I could even react, the magic circle began glowing brightly.
"Wait—!"
In an instant, my entire body was swallowed by the light.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself standing inside a completely white room.
There were no walls.
No doors.
No windows.
Nothing.
Except for a little girl standing a short distance away from me.
She had long white hair and was wearing a beautiful white yukata.
She slowly walked toward me.
"Welcome to my domain, Hajime Tohsaka."
She smiled softly.
"I am the god who summoned you here. My name is Kaguya."
"Kaguya? God?"
I stared at her in disbelief.
"What does that even mean?!"
"Calm down, boy. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"How am I supposed to calm down?! I was just teleported into some mysterious place, and now there's a kid claiming to be a god!"
"I said calm down."
The moment she finished speaking, my body suddenly froze.
I couldn't move.
"Wh—?! Why can't I move?!"
Kaguya sighed.
"That's why I told you to be patient and listen."
She walked past me and continued speaking.
"First, let me explain why I summoned you here."
She turned around and looked directly at me.
"I need you to become my avatar."
"Your... avatar?"
"Yes. An avatar is someone who acts as a representative of a god in the mortal world."
She raised one finger.
"In exchange, the avatar receives a blessing from the god they serve."
"A blessing..."
I didn't know whether I should believe her.
Kaguya then approached me and placed her hand in front of my chest.
"Before I give you your blessing, I need to check your status."
A faint light appeared in front of her.
"Hmm... You should normally have around four to six skills..."
Her expression suddenly changed.
"Wait."
She stared at the floating status window.
"What does this mean?"
"Huh?"
Kaguya's eyes widened.
"You can't use a skill?!"
She looked at me in disbelief.
"How can I give you a blessing if you don't even have a single usable skill?!"
"How would I know?!"
Kaguya stared at Hajime's status window.
"...Wait."
She leaned closer.
"There's one passive skill."
Hajime looked at the screen.
"What's it called?"
Kaguya didn't answer.
She just stared at the strange characters written beside the skill.
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"I... can't read this."
"Huh?"
Kaguya moved closer to the screen.
The skill name was written in strange, ancient-looking characters that neither Hajime nor Kaguya could understand.
Kaguya squinted.
"Is this... some kind of ancient language?"
"You're a god. You don't know?"
"I'M A GOD, NOT A WALKING DICTIONARY!"
She tried reading the characters out loud.
"Ka... ra... sh..."
She stopped.
"Never mind."
Hajime looked at her.
"So what does it mean?"
"I don't know."
"You're the one who summoned me."
"I KNOW!"
Kaguya stared at the skill again.
"Wait... I've existed for thousands of years, and I've never seen writing like this before."
She poked the screen.
"Maybe it's an ancient language."
"Can you translate it?"
"No."
"Then what can you do?"
"...Give blessings?"
"That doesn't sound very reassuring."
Kaguya ignored him and continued staring at the mysterious skill.
"Whatever this is..."
She narrowed her eyes.
"It's definitely not a normal passive skill."
Kaguya continued staring at the strange characters.
"...I've never seen this language before."
She carefully examined every symbol.
"What kind of ancient writing is this?"
Hajime crossed his arms.
"So you really can't read it?"
"Give me a moment!"
Kaguya closed her eyes and placed her hand over the status window.
A faint glow surrounded the mysterious characters.
After a few seconds, the ancient writing slowly began to change.
Kaguya's eyes widened.
"I can read it now!"
"What does it say?"
Kaguya read the description aloud.
"Gained a random passive skill every time you make a new achievement."
Silence.
Hajime blinked.
"...That's it?"
Kaguya blinked too.
"...Apparently."
"You made such a big deal about it."
"I THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO BE SOMETHING EPIC!"
She pointed at the status window.
"It was written in an ancient language! I thought you had some legendary god-killing skill or something!"
Hajime sighed.
"So... I get a random passive skill whenever I accomplish something?"
"Looks like it."
"That's actually pretty useful."
Kaguya stared at him.
"...Don't get too excited."
"Why?"
"Because I have absolutely no idea what counts as an achievement."
"..."
"..."
Hajime slowly looked at her.
"You're the god who summoned me."
"Yes."
"You should know that."
"I know many things."
"Do you know what counts as an achievement?"
"..."
Kaguya looked away.
"Next question."
"Sigh..."
(What a useless god.)
"What did you say?!"
"What th—! Did I say that out loud?"
Kaguya flicked his forehead.
"You are in my domain. What makes you think I can't read your thoughts?"
"Damn it..."
"So, what do I get for becoming your avatar?"
Kaguya looked at Hajime with a sly smile.
"I will grant you one wish."
"One wish?"
"You can wish for anything you want. Money, power, or even the resurrection of the dead."
"Are you serious?"
Suddenly, Hajime thought about his memories with Aya.
He remembered the moments they had spent together.
"Hahahahaha..."
Hajime began to laugh.
"You can grant me anything, right?"
"Do I need to repeat myself? Of course I can. But only if you become my avatar."
"Then you can count me as your avatar, useless goddess."
Kaguya immediately hit Hajime on the head.
"Call me Kaguya, you insolent brat!"
And with that, the contract was made.