"Huh?"
Sebas froze at the officer's words, then took a closer look.
Shit! This was the exact same cop who'd chased him yesterday—the one in front!
"Aha... must be mistaken identity! Looks like I'm safe now, so I'll just—"
His face pale, Sebas tried to sidestep toward the exit.
**THUD.**
The officer's hand clamped onto his wrist like a vice. "You know what? You look awfully familiar. Let's have a chat."
---
*30 Minutes Later*
Sebas sat slumped in the kōban's interrogation chair while the officer scrutinized his forged documents.
"So you're a college student. Why the indecent exposure?"
Before Sebas could fabricate an answer, the cop's eyebrows shot up.
"Wait—'Kingdom of Angel'? Some theocratic nation? Never heard of it."
Sebas sprang to life. "Exactly! In my homeland, public nudity is sacred! This was all a cultural misunderstanding!"
The cop blinked. "So in your country... people just... wander around naked?"
"Yep! Very pious tradition!" Sebas declared, ignoring the sudden icy chill down his neck.
"HOW DARE YOU SLANDER MY NAME WITH SUCH FILTH?!"*** Angel's voice shrieked in his ear.
"Says the goddess who threw me into this mess! Also, creepy much? Stop eavesdropping, you lolicon deity!"
The cop rubbed his temples. "If it's truly cultural... I can't exactly penalize you. But learn local customs, got it?"
"Absolutely! My deepest apologies!" Sebas bowed dramatically.
After enduring a 15-minute lecture (and receiving donated clothes), Sebas stumbled back into the night—only to immediately shake off his remorse and shake his fist at the sky:
"ANGEL! GET YOUR BRATTY ASS DOWN HERE!"
Silence. The goddess had ghosted him again.
"Tch."
Wrapped in his new hoodie, Sebas trudged through empty streets. The coastal wind bit at his cheeks, but for the first time since his rebirth, he actually had a moment to think.
It all felt so surreal—dying drunk, getting reborn as some "chosen adventurer," and now wandering these unfamiliar streets.
"What kind of nonsense is this? Angels? Goddesses? Quests? I was just an office drone!" He kicked a pebble in frustration.
**THUNK!**
Something solid whacked the back of his head. Sebas staggered, his vision swimming.
Damn, my skull's gotten tougher from all this abuse...
"Who the hell—?!" He whirled around, but the street was empty.
Ghosts?
Then it hit him. The system.
Sure enough, a red notification dot pulsed in the corner of his interface.
"Let me guess," Sebas muttered. "This is your idea of a 'strong notification'?"
No response. Typical.
With a sigh, he tapped the alert:
**[New Quest: Secure Employment Within 3 Days
Reward: 1 TP]**
"You want me to get a job now?!" Sebas groaned.
Still, 1 TP meant 10,000 yen—about 500 yuan. Not much, but...
"SCREW THIS!" His scream echoed through the dawn.
---
Morning light spilled over Izu City, a tourist hub in Shizuoka Prefecture known for diving and beaches. Unfortunately for Sebas, his graphic design skills were about as useful here as a bicycle to a fish.
"Damn it! Not a single design studio in sight!" Exhausted, he plopped onto a curb. "Who even vacations in this freezing-then-boiling hellhole?"
Just then—
"Excuse me, son."
A middle-aged man in a pink apron stood over him, his salt-and-pepper buzz cut gleaming in the sun. "You waiting for our dive shop to open?"
Sebas blinked. He'd accidentally parked himself in front of a sizable storefront emblazoned with:
Grand Blue
"My bad!" Sebas scrambled up. "Didn't mean to block your business."
The man chuckled. "No customers this early anyway. You look lost—everything alright?"
---