The summer heat was scorching, making the entire Earth feel as if it were trapped inside a steamer.
Even though today was the weekend, there were barely any people on the streets.
“Damn, this dog days heat is really brutal…”
On the deserted street, Cheng Cheng trudged forward under the blazing sun.
Sweat had already soaked through his clothes, but that didn’t slow him down one bit.
After all, today was the long-awaited release day of the game Xīn ○ Memories, and there was no way he would let something like this stop him!
With that thought, Cheng Cheng quickened his pace.
This game was a limited edition, so if he was late, he might miss out entirely.
But in the next moment, he suddenly felt as if he’d stepped on something slippery.
His body lurched backward, and in the blink of an eye, a stabbing pain erupted at the back of his head.
His consciousness began fading rapidly.
Just before losing awareness, he barely managed to see the culprit that caused his fall.
Damn… who left a banana peel here…
When Cheng Cheng woke up again, he found himself in a void, surrounded by endless darkness except for himself.
“Where is this? Am I still dreaming?”
He muttered to himself as he looked around, but his mind was unusually clear.
If this was a dream, he didn’t really believe it himself.
“Poor child, you are not dreaming.”
Suddenly, a man’s voice echoed through the void.
“Who is it?”
“I am Kami.”
“Crazy?”
As an atheist, Cheng Cheng didn’t believe in gods or anything of the sort.
Besides, he had no idea what was going on and didn’t feel like joking with a stranger.
“Ahem…”
The voice that claimed to be Kami cleared its throat twice and said in a resigned tone, “You’re really stubborn… The truth is, you’re already dead, and this space is the transit station for the dead.”
“Dead? Why should I believe you?”
“Then how about this?”
Snap!
With a finger snap, the black void instantly turned white, and a phone appeared in Cheng Cheng’s hand.
It wasn’t his own phone, nor any brand available on the market.
What just happened can’t be explained by science anymore.
Could it be that I’m really dead?
Cheng Cheng found it hard to believe; everything happened too suddenly and felt unreal.
“So, I really died because of a banana peel?!”
“Pfft… Exactly.”
“Hey… you just laughed, didn’t you? Admit it!”
Cheng Cheng knew dying because of a banana peel was embarrassing, but this Kami was far too unrestrained!
“No, no, no. I’ve been trained rigorously—I won’t laugh no matter how funny it is… unless I can’t help it.”
“You!”
A surge of anger rose in Cheng Cheng’s chest, but he was helpless.
He sighed and continued, “Then why am I here? According to mythology, shouldn’t I be reporting directly to Yama?”
“Actually, we recently developed a system for the entertainment of gods. You were chosen as one of the first users to experience this system.”
“System?”
Cheng Cheng was completely confused and had no idea what Kami was talking about.
“In other words, I’ll place you in a world where you can use this system. If you find any bugs, be sure to call customer service. Well, that’s all for now. Have a pleasant journey.”
“Hey, wait! What exactly does that mean?!”
Before Kami could answer, the white void began to dissipate little by little, and Cheng Cheng’s consciousness suddenly vanished.
***
A faint floral scent filled Cheng Cheng’s nostrils.
He slowly opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar place.
“Where am I…”
A clear, bell-like voice entered Cheng Cheng’s ears, instantly waking him up.
A girl’s voice?
He quickly glanced around. It looked like an empty park, and he was lying on a small patch of grass.
Yet there was no one else in sight.
So where did that girl’s voice just come from?
Forget it, not important for now.
Cheng Cheng stood up, but he immediately noticed his viewpoint was much lower than before.
His body felt light and strange—a dissonance he couldn’t quite describe.
In his hand was the phone Kami had given him.
Speaking of which, Kami mentioned a system… could it be inside this phone?
He tried to turn it on, only to see the black screen reflect the face of a girl.
Arched eyebrows like willow branches, skin as white as snow, eyes as clear as a spring—her long white hair fell casually over her shoulders.
The fresh and elegant aura radiated from the screen, commanding respect and awe.
Where did this beauty come from?
Cheng Cheng was puzzled.
The girl on the screen wore the same expression as he did, as if contemplating the person outside the screen.
Wait… isn’t this me?!
Below… no!
On the chest… two mounds had appeared!
Well, more like small hills, since it was flat enough…
“Hey hey hey, no way…”
That clear, bell-like voice rang out again. Without a doubt, it was his own.
I… turned into a girl?
Kami said he’d put him into a world, but never said his gender would change!
Becoming a beautiful girl might be a dream for every otaku, but when that dream hits all at once, it becomes a nightmare.
Especially since he had no idea what was going on right now.
While Cheng Cheng was still confused, the phone finished booting up, displaying several neatly arranged lines of text.
Name: Wanmie Ayase
Gender: Female
Spirit Armor: Divine Spirit Armor: Myriad Might
Angel: Angel of Annihilation: Oblivion
Skills: None
“What is this thing? Why does it look so familiar?”
Spirit Armor, Angel—these terms were strikingly similar to those in one of his favorite anime, Date A Live.
Could it be that Kami sent him into the world of Date A Live?
Wanmie opened the system and activated the phone’s built-in navigation.
Her current location was marked as Tengū City.
So this confirmed she had really been tossed into the Date A Live world—and as a Spirit, no less?!
Gurgle…
Amid the shock, Wanmie’s stomach let out an adorable groan.
Hungry…
According to the navigation, Wanmie was in a small park on the outskirts of Tengū City, not far from the urban area.
It wouldn’t take long to walk there, but setting aside the language barrier, she was completely penniless.
Even if she reached the city, she would still go hungry…
Since she was in Tengū City, why not try to find Itsuka Shidou and prove her identity to borrow some money?
Ratatoskr was an organization dedicated to protecting Spirits—it couldn’t just stand by and watch a Spirit starve, right?
With that thought, Wanmie began searching the map for Itsuka Shidou’s house.
But suddenly, she remembered that neither the novel nor the anime mentioned the exact location of the Itsuka residence.
She probably wouldn’t be able to find it.
“Yo yo yo, little miss, what are you doing here all alone dressed like that?”
While Wanmie was looking at her phone, three casually dressed men had unknowingly approached her.
These must be the infamous Japanese delinquents, right?
Though they spoke in Japanese, Wanmie could understand them.
Amid her surprise, she noticed her own clothes.
She wore what seemed like a short dress with red and black as the main colors.
A dark red rose adorned the chest.
The outfit revealed much more skin than a traditional short dress and was made of very thin material.
Though her figure wasn’t great, the dress still looked alluring.
So this must be my Spirit Armor.
Wanmie chuckled softly.
Since the Spirit Armor was already out, summoning her Angel shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Using an Angel to handle some punks might be overkill, but they came looking for trouble.
Plus, she was short on money.
“Appear, Oblivion!”
At her command, a fist-sized void appeared before Wanmie, constantly sucking in air as if trying to devour everything in existence.
The leaves on the nearby trees were all sucked in within ten seconds.
It was less a void and more like a black hole.
From within the black hole, a red and black flintlock pistol slowly materialized.
Wanmie gripped her Angel and pulled it out from the void, aiming it at the three delinquents who were now trembling in fear.
A cold, terrifying smile spread across her face.
“You boys are gonna play with me for a bit.”