Mushoku Tensei - Volume 20.5 Side Story — Coming of Age Ceremony

On Christmas day, seemingly overnight, God summoned everyone on Earth, giving every single person a 'Gift' along with a System.

These Gifts, synonimous with special abilities granted people powers beyond comprehension.

However, with these abilities came tragedy that enveloped the world. The Apocalypse!

Jeremy Lewis, a reclusive loner, is mysteriously exempt from this phenomenon and finds himself being the only one without a Gift.

God decides to grant him the last Gift available, [Subspace], and forcefully returns him to a world that has become hell.

Horrifying monsters now lurk around every corner, and inevitable death awaits.

Arming himself with his wits and the Gift he possesses, how will Jeremy survive this cruel new world that he finds himself in?

“Everything will go according to plan, and ultimately the path I have started will lead to my victory... these tools will be useful in achieving that!”

Pressured to get married or lose her father's financial support to pay for her mother's medical bills, Joanna Baker, the illegitimate daughter of the Baker family, is devastated when her boyfriend chooses another woman over her on their wedding day.Joanna, feeling distraught, witnesses a man in a wheelchair proposing to his girlfriend at a restaurant. The girlfriend's rejection and subsequent insult for his disability left everyone stunned.Feeling a shared sense of betrayal, she approaches the man with a vengeful proposition.“Excuse me, sir. Your girlfriend dumped you, and my boyfriend chose another woman over me. Let's get married for six months and get revenge on them.”What will Joanna do when she finds out the man she proposed marriage to was none other than Alexander King, the heir of the wealthiest family in NYC? He was also the cold CEO of King Multinational, with a hidden identity, Salvatore Black, whose name caused even presidents shiver? Has she just signed a deal with the devil?

On the dawn of a fresh New Year, an ominous figure emerged, shrouded in a guise of an angel but harboring the malevolence of a devil. With a chilling voice, it proclaimed, [Every month, you humans will be thrust into a perilous quest. Your survival hinges on overcoming 20 grueling rounds.]Suddenly, I found myself ensnared in this dangerous survival game, a grotesque merry-go-round where every turn carried the stench of death. Yet, I was not without any defenses. I possessed an unusual power: the power to regress 100 times, a chance to rewrite my fate.I stand on the precipice of my final regression, and I swear, ‘This time, I will conquer it. I will emerge victorious.’I’m no longer the insignificant shuttle that I once was. Today, I shed my former self, the one who had reached the pinnacle of power. Today, I am reborn for the last time as Black Scythe, a rookie player, a novice that once again will be become the Grim Reaper!

After being awakened from their slumber, billions of people found themselves dispersed in various sealed crypts. Surrounded by earth, they each had only a shovel.