Atelier Tanaka

Book 1: Prologue

An empty white space.

Just me, and a god in front of my eyes. Nothing else. No ground under my feet. No sky above my head. No horizon. It's like if outer space was entirely white.

"Yo! You kind of died from my mistake!"

"That's a bit harsh."

"As an apology, I'll put you in a fantasy world with swords and magic and stuff! You can have gold and power and women and everything! I'm pretty nice, huh?"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah!"

"Thank you very much."

"OK, time to choose your cheat power!"

"Please make me a handsome lady-killer."

"A handsome lady-killer?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Make me the ultimate handsome man, admired by everyone."

"That sounds good! But, you know, I can't actually make you handsome."

"Why? God, why?!"

"It's just your fate since you were born to never be handsome."

"Please, please make me handsome. That's all I want. This is your apology for me dying, right?"

"Not possible. That's the one thing I can't do for you."

"Nooo..."

"So choose something else."

"..."

"Come on, hurry up."

"In that case, I want recovery magic. Magic that can cure any injury or illness."

"Very good! I will give you the greatest of recovery magic!"

I wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Thank you very much."

"Please enjoy this raw, natural experience."

"...thanks?"