The development seems so entirely out of context that I can only apologize, but apparently I was in the middle of a battlefield. And until this point I honestly I don't know why I got dragged into this third world war started after a hundred years of peace, but apparently some time in August 2105 World War Three started, and The North German Confederation got dragged into it.
Honestly, I didn't care one bit.
It would've been more convenient if they left me out of the conflict since I want to go enjoy my life rather than die in some bloody battlefield, but my country wouldn't allow that, barging into my house and demanding that I join the military, and that brings me to where I am now.
They say bullet hell games are hard, but this bullet hell is nowhere like a game.
You get hit, you die.
There's no respawning, no turning back--
"Arnold!" a deep voice suddenly called out my name. "What do you think you're doing?! Grab your gun and start shooting! We don't have all day!"
"Yes sir!"
The man with the deep voice right now was General Karl Schmidt. He was the general assigned to lead the 120th division, the squad I was placed into. We were assigned to defend the city of Dresden, but who knows why this town was so important. I was just a soldier assigned to do whatever the general tells me to do.
Our situation couldn't get any worse though.
I got my gun and started shooting the impenetrable enemy tank that was slowly moving towards our defense. Despite our efforts, the tank showed no signs of slowing down as it fired another shot.
"Damn it! Our high-class bullets aren't piercing the tanks! Is back-up near yet?!" General Schmidt asked one of our soldiers.
"They're almost here sir!"
"Tell them to make it quick! We're getting showered by bullets and shells here!"
"Yes sir!"
Boom!
At that exact moment, a shell dropped into the center of our fortified defense. There were explosions everywhere as our tanks began to violently burn.
Soldiers started to leave their positions and started to make a run to escape the burning city. Despite General Schmidt's screams to not retreat, many disobeyed and did the opposite.
"Only cowards retreat!" he screamed. "Don't you men have any pride?!" You can tell by his voice that he was desperate.
He then shifted his glare at me.
"Don't you dare leave your post Arnold. If you do, I'll shoot you."
Dang. Now I can't escape this hell. Why do I need to die for this country anyways? Why do I need to risk my life to protect--
A sharp pain ran through my head. I felt my body drop to the ground.
Hahah, so this is how I die, I said while gently closing my eyes.
And that is how I, Arnold Freimann, met my abrupt, unannounced and cruel end-- or that's what I thought.
----------------------------------------
"Welcome to the afterlife, Hans Freimann. Unfortunately, you have died, and thus your soul was sent here."
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
As I regained my consciousness, somebody spoke to me.
"Huh?"
Wait, what? Didn't I just die?
This sudden turn of events confused me.
First I was in the middle of a killing zone, then now I was sitting in a chair in what seems to be an office room, mainly due to the papers scattered around the room. The filing cabinet was so full of paper it looked like it would explode anytime, and the tower of papers on the desk seemed to indicate that the one who worked here was extremely busy.
But the one who announced that my life was over sat on the other side of the table, looking at a folder. She was around the age of a teenage girl, and despite her beauty that could be only described as beyond human, she was wearing glasses that made her look more like a smart girl.
"You're name is Arnold Freimann, correct?"
"Y-Yes..."
I could only respond in shock.
"Okay good. I was starting to think that I got the wrong soul, but it looks like I got it right this time."
"W-What?"
Wrong soul? What does that mean?
"Anyway," the girl said, "Forget about that. My name is Valkyria, and I'm the goddess that will guide you to wherever you want to go."
Hang on, that doesn't sound right. Wasn't Valkyria that god in Norse mythology or something? Even though I barely know anything about that kind of stuff, I had a feeling that something was wrong here.
Well, it's just a feeling.
"Since you sacrificed your life in war and died with honor, I shall reward you the gift of a new life."
"I don't think that's what really happened."
"Beats me. I was ordered to say that to every single soul summoned here."
She sounded bored. Very bored.
"Honestly," Valkyria followed up, "This job is really boring. Almost everyone who came here before you wanted to be born back on Earth again. I mean seriously, why go back to your own world you died in? Very boring."
"I could tell."
Looks like the soldiers, warriors or at least anyone who died in battle wished to go back to Earth. It might sound cool at first, but doing it over and over again gets old fast.
"You have two choices you can pick from here on," she said, "Either I send your soul to heaven, and that's where you will be forever, or being reborn as a baby on Earth. So, what will you choose?"
"I have to choose now? Can't I think this over?"
"Nope, you can't. You're not the only soul to die in war, Arnold. There's a line. I want to finish this up since it's now my lunch break."
She sounded more like a depressed office worker than a goddess.
"But the options are so limited, don't you have anything else to offer?"
"Nope."
"Nothing interesting?"
"Nope."
Dang. Even after death, life was still harsh to me.
"Although," Valkyria said with a smirk, "If you want, you can do me a favor."
"A favor?" Now we're getting somewhere.
"Yes, a favor. How would you like to live in my world?"
"Your world?"
"Yep." Valkyria said as she got a box underneath her table and placed it in front of me. "I call this world 'Valkyria'. Pretty cool name, won't you say?"
"No, not really." Looks like this goddess seriously lacked originality.
Originality 100!
"Here's the deal. You get transported to my Beta World, and in exchange for that I'll give you the rights to own it."
"Own it?"
"Yep. I'll make you the god of this world."
......
................
This has to be a dream.
"Oh, it's not a dream alright. If you manage to collect all 16 Luna Rocks, I'll give you the power to rule this world." Valkyria said as she pushed the box towards me.
"What are Luna Rocks?" I asked.
"You'll know when you get there."
Open it, she said. And so I opened it.
"Wait, is this a smartphone?"
"Of course not. It's just a device that lets you contact me anytime. You can even use your fingers to touch the screen to type a message or make a call."
"......."
That's the literal definition of a smartphone.
"Okay then," I said, getting the phone and putting it in the pocket of my pants. Apparently, I was still wearing the soldier's uniform. "Where do we start?"
"I'll be transporting you to Valkyria now." Hearing her say those words felt weird since her name was Valkyria too. "I wish you the best of luck Arnold Freimann. May you be successful in your next life."
And with that statement from Valkyria.
A bright light surrounded me...!