The Void and the Scent of Yakiniku

Beyond the black vortex I was sucked into, inside the Void...... there was nothing.

A pitch-black space that stretched on and on, forever and ever.

Everything was painted over in total darkness; I could see nothing and hear nothing.

It wasn't cold, nor was it warm.

Within that Void, only my murky-black soul floated along, bobbing up and down.

......Actually, maybe there isn't even a pitch-black space? I mean, it's the Void.

The more I talk about it, the less sense it makes.

............Haaah~~~~......

I mean, what kind of plot twist is this?

Of course I'm gonna sigh.

Looking back at my own life, I don't think it was a particularly fun one.

My father was a criminal who never came out of prison.

My mother suffered from mental illness and passed away before I was old enough to remember her.

The relatives who took me in...... the “family” treated me like a nuisance, and I was shuffled from one place to another from a young age.

I couldn't make any friends.

I was bullied because of my father, and I was abused by my “family.”

......Even so.

Even so!!

I worked my hardest to live honestly.

I forced a smile and tried my best to spend my days cheerfully!

I tried and tried and tried, and even when I was frustrated, I never let it show!

I kept telling myself...... that someday, these painful days would surely become fond memories!!

And THIS is the result of all that effort!?

Getting kidnapped by some nonsensical gods, and then getting tossed out like trash just because I'm stinky!!?

Don't screw with me! Stop screwing with me!! DON'T SCREW WITH MEEEEEEEE!!

The anger just kept pouring out of me.

I felt like my soul was being dyed an even deeper, murkier black.

I got angry, and angry, and angry, grieving the misfortune of my own life, lamenting it, cursing it...... and once I'd finished screaming my head off......

I kind of cooled off.

Well...... it's all kinda pointless, you know.

No matter how much I make a scene, there isn't even a single person here to listen to me.

It's just exhausting. Okay, stop, stop. Let's think about something else.

......Ah~~, I feel like I'm hungry.

I want meat.

I want yakiniku.

I absolutely love meat.

I'm a carnivorous girl.

I don't remember being allowed to eat much of it in my previous life...... but in my next life, that's the plan.

I'm just gonna eat meat non-stop.

That's how I want to live.

But since I've been dumped in the Void, I wonder if I even have a next life?

The wheel of reincarnation? Or something like that?

I wonder if I can still hop on that kind of flow now?

A wheel...... a wheel, huh......

The wheel of reincarnation, spinning round and round......

I always wanted to try one of those sausages coiled round and round......

And so, I was spending my time thinking about random, pointless things like that.

......When suddenly, I caught a scent.

I mean, it's not like I'm not wondering how I can see, hear or smell anything as a soul, but let's put that aside for now.

This smell......

No doubt about it.

The smell of meat grilling.

There's a sweet, savory...... whiff of sauce mixed in, too.

It's yakiniku.

It's the smell of yakiniku.

Is someone nearby...... having yakiniku......?

I was bobbing along, drawn toward the direction of the scent......

With a POP!

I was sucked somewhere else once again.