That Time When I Was Suddenly Reincarnated in a Fleet Battle

SUDDENLY THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY | Chapter 1

Plain Goddess

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Even though it was already close to noon, the surroundings were strangely dark. The sky was covered with thick black clouds, and only faint rays of sunlight penetrated to the ground. Perhaps due to the heavy and continuous rain, the streets were sparsely populated, creating an unusually deserted atmosphere in the city.

Despite the gloomy rainy season sky, my mood was bright. It was the release day of the locally subscribed naval information magazine World's Naval Ships and the military information magazine Angle at the bookstore. However, what made me even happier was that I was able to get my hands on the collaboration work of Toshio Shinmaki and Kimijima Nachi, Battlecarrier of the Rising Sun. Originally, the release day should have been the day after tomorrow, so maybe there was a mistake, and the store had mistakenly sold it in advance. Regardless of the reason, I didn't hesitate to buy it. With this, I could indulge in reading all day today. It might not be "working hard on a clear day and reading on a rainy day," but on rainy days, reading is the best.

Filled with joy, I crossed the usual intersection. The heavy rain obstructed my vision, and the intense sound of rain completely drowned out the surrounding noise. Therefore, I was unaware of its presence until the last moment. By the time I noticed it, it was already unavoidable. I mentally showered curses at the driver hunched over the steering wheel just beyond the rain. A few moments later, my consciousness was thrown into the darkness.

. . .

"Where am I?"

The cliché line from light novels slipped out of my mouth. I thought it was an unimaginative first utterance, but that was probably because this place seemed detached from reality or even otherworldly. The space filled with a faint light, neither white nor yellow, resembled the world of the reincarnation light novels seen in anime.

"Well, there are no goddesses in reality, though," I muttered without much religious conviction, starting to salvage memories while observing the surroundings. And then, it suddenly hit me. I remembered being in a heavy downpour, getting the book I wanted from the bookstore, and then hurrying home in high spirits. And somewhere along the way, I was likely hit by a large vehicle, probably a truck......

"You finally noticed?"

I turned to look at the soft, yet stern voice of a woman. She had black hair, black eyes, and was wrapped in white cloth, lacking notable contours. Not particularly fair-skinned, her features were typical of a Japanese person, ranking around tenth or eleventh among twenty girls in a class. I won't comment much on her figure to avoid unnecessary noise from certain quarters.

"Are you a goddess? Did I, by any chance, die?"

To my words with a hint of disappointment, the woman in front of me nodded slightly sadly. In her easy affirmation, I felt both relieved and equally disappointed. The goddess who oversees reincarnation, as far as I know, should have blue hair or, if not, blonde and be a well-endowed older sister. Some even wear small costumes that might make you suspect them of being seductive.

However, the goddess in front of me had an average face, a body with mostly straight lines, and almost no exposure. Let me say it outright: it seemed like a scam. It might be more shocking than realizing I'm dead. With such a goddess, a harem development was almost certainly not going to happen. Going to another world guided by a beautiful goddess and being surrounded by beautiful women, beautiful girls, and beautiful little girls is probably a story confined to the world of light novels. Did she somehow sense my emotions? The goddess, after the initial sadness, suddenly changed to a smile tinged with anger. And then, almost immediately, I understood why that smile's quality turned into a business smile.

"Your reaction to your own death doesn't seem too shocked. Your resilience is admirable, Mr. Jun Nakajima. It's quite a mouthful, so I'll call you Jun from now on. Oh, by the way, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Betty One-Shot Writer from the Human Resources Bureau Reincarnation Division. You can call me Betty-sama or simply Goddess; either is fine."

Betty's self-introduction had the tone of a bureaucratic office clerk, but the content of her words was quite playful.

"Do you demand to be addressed with honorifics for yourself? Well, whatever. More importantly, being the goddess of the Human Resources Bureau Reincarnation Division means you know everything about me, right?"

"Of course, as a personnel officer, I naturally have a grasp of the life that person has led. To avoid violating the obligation to explain, I'll start by telling you about the cause of your death. The Reincarnation Division is second only to the Legal Division in terms of compliance within the heavenly bureaucracy."

Betty asked if it was okay to continue, and since I hadn't spoken much so far, I nodded.

"Jun, you were hit by a truck and died. It seems the driver was dozing off. Then, two days later, your funeral was solemnly conducted by your family. Along with that, your embarrassing collection was incinerated by the family after the funeral. So, rest assured about various things."

"When you say my embarrassing collection..." I muttered, turning pale, and Betty turned a seductive face toward me.

"You were investing most of the money you earned from part-time jobs in military-related materials, including warships, or erotic anime. Of course, when I say embarrassing collection, I'm referring to the erotic anime. I checked it just to confirm, but it was all works called 'defeated heroine pleasure fall' or something like that. What's with that? Magical girls being violated by tentacles, princess knights being done by orcs, or modern female ninjas being messed around by goblins—it's just absolutely insane."

"Why does a goddess need to check my collection!? And besides, that's irrelevant! Every guy carries secret desires they can't tell anyone about and lives modestly, suppressing those urges!"

Despite my blushing protest, Betty gracefully ignored it and, claiming time was precious, continued on her own.

"Setting aside the talk of your collection, let's discuss your personnel evaluation. Um, your strong motivation for learning, even to the extent of considering retaking the entrance exams for a certain F-ranked university, can be mentioned as a virtue. And, unfortunately, the initial attempt at the exams didn't go well. If there were just three more points, you would have passed. Almost!"

"Hey, Betty, are you picking a fight? Sure, University X may not be a school for geniuses, but on the flip side, the employment rate is surprisingly high."

I glared at Betty, but she continued without showing any particular concern about my attitude or being addressed informally.

"It seems like there's a demand for students who have mastered the art of perversion. It's a treasure trove of valuable perverts, I mean, talents, that you won't find anywhere else. Ah, so that's why you were aiming for that university even if it meant retaking the exams."

Whether she has thick skin or is just plain stupid, she casually rubbed people the wrong way, despite claiming to be a goddess.

"Now, back to the topic. Personally, I believe in respecting individual preferences and inner freedoms, and as long as one doesn't act on them, it's not a crime, so I won't comment on that. However, how about someone like you who, despite having a strong motivation for learning, is a perverted ship enthusiast? Statistics show that the probability of a ship enthusiast remaining a virgin for their entire life is overwhelmingly higher compared to the average man, and adding perversion to the mix makes it almost hopeless."

"There are statistics like that? Certainly, I had a vague sense that there were many unmarried ship enthusiasts."

"In my purview, the virginity rate for alternate history fiction fans and ship enthusiasts is unusually high. Compared to that, being bald or overweight is much more acceptable."

Betty's assertion left me speechless, forgetting my anger. So, alternate history fiction fans and ship enthusiasts are less likely to be popular with women than those who are bald or overweight, it seems. But Betty didn't stop there and continued unabated, seemingly unconcerned about how her words might affect me.

"Now, onto the main topic. Jun, do you wish to be reincarnated in another world, or would you like to be reborn in this world and start anew?"