Gaia is a group of islands isolated from the rest of the world by a wall of stone magically enchanted to prevent anyone from entering, but allowing those inside to freely pass through. My friend Vally – short for Dragon Lord Valvoga – said it’s powered by the remains of a goddess so most can’t force their way in.

Of course there are those who can, it’s just that Gaia is way too little. Conquering it won’t be worth the trouble of clashing against a goddess’ might. I don’t share the opinion though. I’m willing to take the risk for a chance to meet humans, demons, elves, or whatever’s on the other side. I’m tired of dragons that challenge me on sight, beastmen that are in heat almost all year round, and old timers that try to set me up with their young ones even when I’m clearly from a different race.

Okay fine, I don’t really hate them. I enjoy their company even though it often results in a headache. I just want to know how my life will turn out with people from other races, especially with the humans. You see despite how I may look, I was once a human, and one who originates from a world called Earth.

Before I was transported to this world I was an ordinary boy named Amano Shun. I had a loving family, friends that I could trust, and a fun-filled life. However that was all taken away from me when a certain goddess deemed a class of first year middle school students worthy of becoming heroes for her world. Worse, she separated me from the rest simply because I could turn into a snow woman – ahem, so maybe I’m not so ordinary after all, but you get the point.

As if that wasn’t enough, I turned into a devil with the exact same appearance as my snow woman form. Not only did I lose my human form, I also lost the gender I truly see myself as. From that point onward I was permanently a woman. Oh, did I forget to mention that I no longer grew? I pretty much stayed as a twelve year old girl physically regardless of how much time passed. I’ve literally been here for years yet I still look the same as before, minus the long hair. Anyway, I’m no longer a man. But was that the end?

Nope! I was sent to a place brimming with monsters that could kill me a hundred times with a single hit! The weakest I could find was a level 94 goblin. It was jacked as hell, as tall as me, and had a complete set of high-class equipment. How that qualifies as just [Goblin Warrior] was beyond me, and he was the least of my problems back then. I had to make the most of what I had, plan ahead using my pitiful head, and hope I was a protagonist with a thick plot armor.

I kept facing monsters way above my level until I caught up, attract a stronger monster, and repeat the whole process again. My time revolved around that hellish cycle and it only stopped once I killed the big bad of the place, crowning myself the overlord of Dread Lands – one of the five main areas at least.

With my new position, valuable information finally reached my ears. One is that the continent is divided into four, each belonging to a race except for Dread Lands. My territory was on the south, dryads were at the west, dragons were at the north, and beastmen were at the east. The first two were connected to Dread Lands. The last one could only be accessed by crossing the domain of the overgrown lizards. When I first heard about that I thought I’d never see what a cat girl looks like in real life. But then I somehow got involved with the dragons and managed to befriend them. Since then I could freely enter their territory. I even get to ride some of them. It was fun as hell!

Dragons are prideful and battle-hungry beings. But since I was considered an equal to the Dragon Lord I never received any boastful remarks, just tons of challenges. It was fun at first but got tiring fast. There were also the old timers who were scheming to have their sons sleep with me in hopes of getting a strong heir. The old coots from the beastmen race were no different. The adults were even worse... haaa, they don’t know what it means to be “subtle”. They’d probably hump me in broad daylight if I didn’t have the strength to fight. Well not really, but it was close to that. It didn’t help that they truly looked like beasts.

Beastmen in anime are fakes! True beastmen look like animals walking on two feet... I’ve been lied to and that further solidified my thoughts of rejecting all advances. If I had to marry someone, it’d be the Dragon Lord. The guy has a decent personality and majority of my knowledge comes from him. He even taught me six different languages which he thought I might need, an example being the language used by most of the beastmen tribes. On a second thought, he’s too big for me so I think I’ll go with a diff- screw that! I’ll stick to women or stay single for the rest of my life!

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Now that I think about it, my appearance led to the start of a peaceful relationship between the two races. They weren’t at war. But before, the dragons and the beastmen would kill each other on sight. Now both can stay in one place and laugh at the same joke. I should’ve visited the dryads too. It would’ve been nice if they were part of the fun. Unfortunately I never returned to my domain after I got chummy with Vally, and the territory of the dryads was on the other side of Dread Lands. As for my territory, I bet someone took my position after the first year I was gone. After all, the place is full of dangerous monsters eager to prove they are the best. It’s so chaotic there that none of the three main races would dare conquer it.

Upon finding the entrance to Gaia – something that seemed like a cave opening – I turned around and gave one last look at the place I’ll soon be leaving. The grassland spanned as far as my eyes could see, but I knew that beyond that, the fools I came to know would be looking in my direction, watching a similar scene – the thought made me reconsider my decision a little.

I could meet humans and other similar races, but would that be better than staying with those who already treat me as their friend? As irritating as they might be, they accept me. And I know that behind the idiotic looks they often wear in my presence, they care about me. Will I truly find more happiness without them?

I wasn’t sure, but one thing was certain. Even if I can’t return to my world, even if I never see my parents and friends, I can still live my life to the fullest and die with a smile with those fools. Not that I’d die any time soon. I’m a full-blooded devil. I repeat, a devil, not a demon. I can’t die from old age. Like Vally, I can live forever unless someone manages to kill me.

My glance turned into a long stare as I waited for someone to come stop me. One person – that was all I needed to drop my plan and return. But instead of dragons or beastmen coming to persuade me, all I got was a presence approaching me from behind. More precisely, there was someone passing through the entrance and I just happen to be standing in front of it. I looked back shortly, my eyes ready to check the person’s stats. It has become a habit of mine, and I can’t say it’s a bad thing. For one, it’s never wrong to know a person’s level, especially if the person can potentially become my enemy in the future.

A black-haired man in clothes fit for travel came out. A sword was hanged by his waist, but what took my attention was something else entirely. Sure he looked Asian and that alone should blow my mind away, but it wasn’t that. What surprised me was his name.

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME

Hayato Kirishima

RACE

Human

TITLE

The Blazing Hero

LEVEL

214

[EXPAND]

Out of all my classmates, Kirishima Hayato is the one I’ll never forget. We’ve been friends for as long as I can remember. He’s also one of the few normal people who interacted with my snow woman form. He never found out it was me, but he did know my other form wasn’t human. I did use it to save him from a mischievous nine-tailed fox after all. Anyway, long story short, he’s my best friend and I’m glad to know that he’s still alive.

I was thinking of a way to introduce myself when he uttered the name “K-Kaguya?” That was the name I used whenever I appeared as a snow woman. And frankly, I’m surprised he can still remember that. I only showed him my other form two more times after I saved him so I was sure he already forgot. Oh well, this makes things easier, “long time no see, Hayato.”

“No way, it’s really you?! How did you get- why are you here, Kaguya?! You shouldn’t be here!”

“Ouch,” I faked a wince. “I never thought being hated would hurt this much.”

“N-No, that’s now what I- I don’t hate you! It’s just... the outside world is dangerous! You could’ve been killed and I wouldn’t even know we're in the same world.” He was grimacing pretty badly for someone he only met for a few times. While that makes me happy, this isn’t the time to brood. We should be celebrating!

“Hey, hey, let’s not think about what could’ve happened and focus on what did. I’m here and I’ll appreciate it if you welcome me in a better mood. Now throw that silly look away and show me your best smile. You haven’t forgotten how to smile have you?” It didn’t take long for me to realize ‘Kaguya’ was supposed to be a sweet and gentle girl, not a talkative brat.

Hayato was surprised by my action as expected. It was no problem if I said it as Shun, but as Kaguya, it just didn’t fit the image I made for her. Luckily my friend didn’t dig deeper into the subject. “You’re right, sorry about that.” Finally wearing a nice expression, he told me “it’s good to see you again, Kaguya.”

“It's good to see you too, Hayato.”