Chapter 6: Welcome to Mundania, Population Us Two Idiots

The landing was… undignified.

One moment, I was a being of celestial authority in a pristine (if slightly oversized) dress. The next, I was face-down in a puddle of mud, the frills of said dress completely ruined. The transition didn't involve a gentle fade to white or a choir of angels. It felt more like being shot out of a cannon and hitting a wall.

I pushed myself up, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. The air smelled of damp earth and cow. My divine aura was gone. The connection to my office, to the celestial network, to everything - it was all severed. I was mortal. I could feel the cold seeping into my dress, the scrape on my knee, the sheer, crushing weight of gravity.

"Whoa! So this is the new world!" a cheerful voice said from behind me.

I turned to see Kenta, who had landed gracefully on his feet, looking around with wide, excited eyes. He was completely clean. Of course he was.

"This is amazing!" he beamed. "Fresh air! A fantasy sky! And my own personal goddess!" He gave me a thumbs-up. "Best reincarnation ever."

I have never, in any of my seventeen previous lives, wanted to punch someone more.

"You… you…!" I sputtered, my rage so pure it left me speechless. "You colossal idiot! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Uh, yeah," he said, still grinning. "I got the ultimate support character for my party. We're gonna be unstoppable!" He struck a pose, trying to look heroic. "Now, let's check my status! Open!"

A translucent blue screen appeared in front of him. I could see it too, a strange side-effect of our paired reincarnation.

NAME: Kenta

RACE: Human

LEVEL: 1

SKILLS: Skill Synthesis (Divine Grade)

Kenta's triumphant expression wavered. "Huh. That's it? Where's my 'Sword God' skill? Or 'Infinite Magic'? What does 'Skill Synthesis' even do?"

I took a deep, shaky breath, channeling all my fury into a single, devastatingly condescending explanation. "It allows you to combine two skills," I said through gritted teeth. "Which is a wonderful, powerful ability to have… when you have two skills. You, my dear 'hero,' have one. Therefore, your 'god-tier cheat skill' is completely and utterly useless."

The color drained from his face. "What? So… I have no powers? I'm weak?"

"WE are weak!" I snapped, gesturing wildly between the two of us. "I've been stripped of my divinity! I'm just a normal girl in a ridiculously impractical dress! And it is all! Your! FAULT!"

His arrogance finally cracked, replaced by dawning horror. "Wait, you're not a goddess anymore? So you can't, like, smite my enemies and stuff?"

"I can't even smite a mosquito right now!" I shrieked, my voice cracking with despair. "I'm cold, I'm covered in mud, and I have no money, no powers, and no way back!"

The reality of our situation finally slammed into both of us. We were stranded. Two Level 1 losers in a world we knew nothing about.

After a solid ten minutes of me hyperventilating and Kenta muttering "Oh man, oh man, I messed up," we finally pulled ourselves together. In the distance, we could see the outline of a small town. It was our only option.

We began the long, silent trudge towards civilization. My fancy celestial dress, which was designed for floating gracefully through ethereal offices, was not made for hiking. It snagged on every bush and collected every burr. Kenta, in his practical jeans and t-shirt, was having a much easier time.

The town, when we finally reached it, was even more depressing up close. A wooden sign, weathered and faded, read "Welcome to Beginner's ville."

"Beginner's ville?" Kenta read aloud. "Seriously? They couldn't have come up with a cooler name?"

"It's a starter town in a generic fantasy world, you dolt," I muttered, my despair reaching new depths. "This world is called Mundania. It's flagged in the system as a 'Low-Threat, Beginner-Friendly Setting.' It's the tutorial island of all tutorial islands."

We walked through the gates. The town was… functional. There were shabby wooden buildings, a blacksmith who looked asleep, and a few listless-looking villagers. The centerpiece of the town was a large, slightly more robust building with a swinging sign depicting a crossed sword and axe. The Adventurer's Guild.

"I guess we should start there," Kenta said, trying to sound hopeful. "We'll register, take a quest, and start our journey to becoming legends!"

I just groaned. My journey to becoming a legend involved a promotion and a new title plaque. Now my journey involved a high probability of being eaten by a slime. This was, without a doubt, the worst reincarnation ever.