When Tsubaki opened her eyes, white was the only thing she could see.

All the way across the.. room? There isn't even a wall?? Everything is just sterile white and honestly hurting her eyes.

For some reason too, she's sitting on a chair. A regular looking chair. The colour is metallic. It's weirdly not cold to the touch-

"Ah my apologies, the entry line was busy." 

A sudden voice came from behind and Tsubaki whipped her head, now facing the exposed midsection of a woman. "Did you wait long?"

"N-No but," Tsubaki swallowed her nerve. Something about this is obviously wrong but why does she not feel like running? "Where are we, exactly?"

"Oh dear me, I should have led on with that don't I!" The lady chuckled, her blond hair swaying as she pulled out a chair out of nowhere and sat on it. "My dear, you have passed away."

"Passed away??" Tsubaki repeated, "As in.. died?"

"Indeed!" The woman clapped her hands and smiled again.

"B-But, I don't remember how!" Tsubaki clenched the hem of her skirt, she's confused and still not yet panicked. "I was supposed to go to school tomorrow and-" 

"And you did, go to your agency." The lady's smile turns somber, her eyes shining gently. Wait, shine? "But on the way back, you encountered a terrible accident and weren't able to be saved."

"I see." Tsubaki glanced back down to her hands, on her fingers and skin that pulled taut against her clothes. "W-What's going to happen now?"

"Normally, you'd be sorted to go to either heaven or hell. But unfortunately, your scales are so balanced that we're a little at a loss on what to do." The lady, assuming she's an angel, cupped her cheeks with a troubled expression. "But worry not! A few trials ago, we've figured out the best solution for this!"

Tsubaki's eyes shoot upward in anticipation. "You do?"

"Yes! Have you ever heard of the isekai genre?" 

"Uh.." Tsubaki took some time to think, "I know a bit. It's about people who.. cross dimensions right?"

The blond lady snapped her fingers, "Exactly! Because you haven't got enough merit or demerit to have judgement made for you, we'll send you to another world so that the account balance checks out. Luckily, the other worlds under our management are never short for their needs of heroes, so you'd fit in just fine!"

'I don't think that's how it works?' Tsubaki though, but kept it to herself. "I don't think I'm the world saving type though.. Before this I only ever wanted to fulfill my dream…"

"And whose to say you can't?!" The lady replied enthusiastically. "Our only rule is that you don't piss off the subsidiary gods in charge and you're basically good to go!"

'So lax?! Is the other world management okay??'  Tsubaki didn't get to say another word as in front of her, a semi-transparent screen pops up.

On it, there is a display of the number 100 in white and below it, the number 2 in gold.

"Now, because of the amount of request that will make the balance of world's too off kilter, we have decided to adopt point based system to adjust reincarnated individuals' abilities." The lady swiped her hands and a new window pops up, listing a variety of skills such as martial arts, cooking, even accounting. "Everyone gets 100 points and they're free to spend it on any skill they want! As for the gold one, it means proficiency, which makes the EXP acquisition doubles whenever you level up!"

"Eh? Ah?" Tsubaki was so surprised about the sudden screen popping up that she almost didn't follow. "EXP? The other world is level based??"

"The one that we're going to send you to, is." The lady had a bemused smile as she replied. "So choose carefully, they might even save your second life."

Tsubaki swallowed whatever she was about to say and started to seriously stare at the screen. There are so many things listed on there, the amount of pages even reaches 1000! 

But as she scrolls down, and down, and down; Tsubaki sensed something amiss and glanced up to ask the lady again. "D-Does these skills ranked from most popular?" 

"Oh! You noticed? How?" 

"Well.. there's something I want to pick but it's not in the first few pages…" Tsubaki wrings her fingers, not daring to meet the lady's eyes. "It was just a hunch."

"A good instinct is praiseworthy you know?" The lady snapped her fingers again and a new search bar popped up, along with a floating keyboard. "And it's okay to ask for help, you're the most polite passerby I ever had thus far."

"O-Oh, thank you." Tsubaki felt her cheeks heat up as she checked the new features and typed in the skills she was looking for. "By the way, may I know what would be the normal amount for other people?"

The lady blinked from her own lit screen. "Hm? The average tiers you mean? 10 is average and 50 is considered proficient."

"I see, thank you very much." Tsubaki gave a little bow and went back to her own task of tapping the skills. 

After undetermined time passed, Tsubaki looked up from her choices with a satisfied expression. "I think I'm done! Would you like to check it?"

The lady blinked owlishly at her, the word stupefied written across her delicate and beautiful face. "..Yes, sure. Allow me."

The screen turns and Tsubaki fidgets as her choices are inspected. She doesn't know why she does it, but it just felt right for her to offer. The lady's expression went from deadpan to curiosity, and her smile grew wider. "Interesting choices you made here."

"I.. I had a dream." Tsubaki chewed the inside of her cheeks, already feeling the heat flush outside. "I thought that maybe since I'm going over anyway, I can make that a reality?"

"Well you're certainly not wrong." The lady nods to herself and glances back at Tsubaki. "Are you sure this is the path you want to take? You can change it later on but it'll be much harder."

Tsubaki glanced back at her lap, on her hands, with chipped nails and calluses on the underside. She thinks back on her past, the effort she had put in, and the smile of her cousins and friends.

The young girl met the eyes of the angel, confident and assured as she nodded. "Yes. I'm sure."

The lady chuckled happily. "Very well then!" With a clap of her hand the screen shatters into tiny bits of light that enters Tsubaki's body. With each small speck, she starts to glow brighter and more ethereal. 

"I wish you good luck." The lady says as she gently waved the light away, taking Tsubaki's figure with the wind and sending her off with indescribable power that trembles the room.

Tsubaki clenched her fist and pumped them in front of her chest, her own cheeks straining from how wide she's smiling. "I'll do my best!"

In a blink, her figure scattered and shot out from the white room. The tremor dies down, the wind stops blowing, but the golden haired woman still stands staring at the direction of the girl she just sent.

"Tsubaki huh.." She mutters, soft and light like bells, and a smile blooms on her lips that rivals all flowers. "May you bring happiness over there, idol-chan."

The goddess of journey turns back, putting a personal note of the girl on the back of her mind, and returns to her task of assisting another lost soul.