As Asahi glanced up, she made eye contact with a single ginormous eye. It hadn’t been there just a second ago.
The wide-open eye blinked several times, apparently just as surprised as Asahi.
Its blazing golden iris was like the moon, somehow managing to be simultaneously gross and mysterious. For some reason, however, Asahi did not feel afraid.
It was not long before their staring contest was interrupted.
“Well, well! As far as entrances to hell go, they sure do keep this place clean. Are they closed for maintenance or something?” asked a loud and boorish voice, startling her.
While Asahi was distracted by the new voice, the floating eye disappeared.
There were now four other girls standing there with her.
Each seemed to be wearing a different school uniform. Based on their sizes and appearances, the girls were probably in either middle or high school.
Not one of them, however, seemed what you would call normal.
The girl who had just spoken was the easiest to pick out of the crowd. Apparently, she had assumed she was on her way to hell. Maybe this wasn’t heaven after all.
She had short, unkempt golden-blond hair, which was gathered together in a messy ponytail. Her facial features didn’t look entirely Japanese, so her hair color might be natural. Of course, her appearance was so outlandish that the color of her hair was probably the least noticeable thing about her.
She wore a pair of plain, black-framed glasses, and her ears were studded with a riot of aggressively spiked metal piercings. A black tattoo peeked out from the collar of her school uniform. And her hands were thrust into the pockets of the white lab coat she was wearing for reasons unknown.
Asahi had learned in school not to judge a book by its cover, but she had a feeling this was an exception to that rule. This girl was scary. Scary and presumably dangerous.
Asahi was still giving the girl the timid side-eye when a new voice suddenly spoke, this one clear and mellow.
“This is neither heaven nor hell. It is, however, a place far removed from the world of humanity. You’ve all died already.”
The owner of this voice was a sixth girl, who had appeared at some point when Asahi wasn’t looking. She had beautiful braided blond hair and eyes as beautiful as the moon, and she was dressed in a loose-fitting white robe. Despite her apparent youth, she had a mature air and manner of speaking. Asahi blushed.
“So what are you supposed to be, some kind of psychopomp or something?” said Piercings. She seemed combative. She also must not have been the type to scare easily, because she hardly seemed to be fazed by this other girl’s sudden appearance or the news that she was dead.
Of the group, the only two who seemed confused by the sudden developments were Asahi and one other girl, the smallest of the group, whose complexion was sickly. The other three only stood by stoically. Asahi had no idea how they could remain so calm under the circumstances.
“No, I’m not a psychopomp. I’m the one who created this world—I suppose what you might call God in your words. Of course, this is a different world. Not the one you five originally came from.”
What is she even talking about? thought Asahi. This is crazy. She remembered the floating eye, however, that she had seen earlier.
This girl was obviously a supernatural presence of some sort, and her eyes made Homura think of the moon, too. Maybe the floating eye was the girl’s true form.
Piercings seemed to be over the whole situation. With a heavy sigh, she plopped herself down onto the ground, her legs poking out in front of her. “Fine then, I’ll bite. What would a god from another world, or whatever you are, want from the likes of me—or rather, the likes of us?” she asked.
It seemed like she just wanted to get the ball rolling, rather than actually having any idea what was going on.
After taking a moment to gather her composure, the Goddess leveled her gaze at the five girls and began to speak.
“Please…won’t you save my world from the clutches of the Dark Lord?”
Everyone’s brain seemed to stall out for a moment.
The Goddess continued speaking. “There are signs that a great evil is returning to this world. It pains me to ask something like this from a group of ordinary girls such as yourselves. But please, won’t you defeat the Dark Lord and save this world?”
The Goddess’s voice was pleasing. Asahi still had no idea what was going on, but the Goddess, at least, seemed sincere. Not all of the girls, however, seemed quite so receptive to her entreaties.
“You gotta be kidding,” said Piercings. “That’s so cliché… What is this, some kind of B movie?”
“If we’re getting reborn in a new world, wouldn’t that make it more like a light novel rather than a movie…?” asked Asahi absentmindedly.
This did sound a lot like the plot from one of those isekai light novels that were all the rage lately.
“Movie, light novel, whatever. Either way, it’s too much to ask of an ‘ordinary girl’ like me. Go find someone else. I don’t give a rat’s ass about who gets to be head honcho of a completely different world.”
“Yes…I suppose you’re right…”
The Goddess turned her eyes away sadly. Asahi wanted to help her, but Piercings was right. This was a lot to ask. They were just a bunch of schoolgirls; how were they supposed to save the world?
Still, Piercings didn’t have to be so mean about it. Asahi was about to say something, but one of the other girls beat her to the punch.