Introduction This is a story that I written from reddit under a different username with help from another reddit user ,It is a short story that shows what happens if a person who died at the beginning of a isekai story refuse to transmigrate or reincarnate to a different world and will never become a person who is known as a "Mary sue" and is happy with his or her old life and world,It will be different from the usual isekai stories from east Asian countries like Japan,china and south korea as it will subvert the usual isekai trope ,reflects on the genre which is popular in East Asian countries and are mostly written by the amateur writers from those countries and is inspired from the narrative of The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams,Terry Pratchett's Discworld and the other book he wrote with Neil Gaiman called Good Omens ,I hope you enjoy The woman who never wants to transmigrate to a different world (or the woman who never isekai) As you know, it is common within every isekai stories to start with the protagonist dying in their old world, then transmigrating into another where their fantasy adventure begins. This story is different and very short. It is a story about 'A woman who never wants to transmigrate to a different world'. Our heroine’s name is Sakura. Like those protagonists at the start of most isekai stories, she works for some black company that was so laborious and stressful it has become a growing desire to escape from this life. Unlike them, though, Sakura learns to deal with it as if she was preparing for a special moment. Then one day, as it goes in most isekai stories, Sakura was going to work as usual when she was caught up in a road accident and died. As you expect, she wakes up to find herself in a white void, confused about where she was. Her questions are soon answered when someone appears before her. “Welcome, Sakura,” said the fair skin man with pale, almost white, blonde hair. A white gown adorns his body down to his ankles. Now, the most eye-catching feature about this man is the wings sprouting from his back. They are such pure white that they reflected the light around the two. “I have been waiting for you.” For an Otaku, Sakura was no stranger to isekai yet she is still left dumbfounded by his presence. “A-are you, god? Usually, in these situations, some god or goddess would appear in front of me.” The winged man chuckles, shaking his head. “God is busy as he works alongside with fellow gods, so we angels take on this duty, rewarding the passer-by souls instead. My name is Deren and I am an angel” “Deren? ” Sakura raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “That’s an odd western name for an angel” “Well that’s life for most of us angels", Said Deren with a sigh, “We accept fanciful names just like “Gabriel”.” “Sakura.” Said Deren with a calm smile. See, he was expecting this to go as smoothly as the rest. Maybe even get a cup of coffee if he had the spare time. “Since you have died in an untimely manner and have worked hard, I decided to reward you by reincarnating you in a different world to live an easy-going life.” Sakura’s eyes widen at his words. She opens her mouth to speak, but the words are caught in her throat. Deren waves his hand in a circular motion, creating a portal. “Behold!” Deren swings his arm towards the portal in a big, dramatic flourish. On the other side, our heroine sees a vision where a beautiful woman in fancy Victorian clothing is adored by handsome men. It should be a common sight for those of you who’ve read from the growing otome isekai subgenre. Sakura’s expression changes to one of danger. She reaches out for the portal but yanks her hand away, shaking her head saying “No, Thank you” It was Deren’s turn to look at her with shock. Sakura is the first to reject his proposal. It is a fleeting moment before he regains his cool and closes the portal to make the next one. “I see,” he cleared his throat, “Then I will show you another one” Deren then opens another portal with a vision where it shows another fantasy world with RPG game mechanics. It went over vast lands, showing off classic fantasy motifs such as elves, dragons, and goblins. It was the standard isekai fantasy adventure. Sakura is almost certain that she would be granted some cheat ability to make life easier. Once again Sakura was tempted and moved as if she would go there but like the previous world, she once again refused and "No,thanks". Deren blinked at her, flabbergasted. Poor guy, he starts to realize that there would be no coffee today. “Hmm, It seems you are one of the few people who are not interested in these types of fantasies.” He waves his hand, dismissing the portal, and begins to make another. “Perhaps one of these will suit your needs. ” So the angel persisted and showed Sakura countless different worlds where she could live a good life, but strangely no matter how he tried she just refused. After showing her one too many, Deren stopped and dropped his confident persona. He pulls his hair, puffing out his frustration,He looked at her, throwing up his arms. “I have shown various worlds where you could reincarnate and live a happy fantasy life , and yet you’ve accepted none of them. Why?” He asked Sakura. “Well,” she begins, taking a seat on the ground, “your offer is enticing and all, but I just can’t accept it.” “WHY?” Deren shouted in fury Sakura flinches before patting the ground in front of her. “Sit with me, it will help you calm down.” Deren complies, motioning for her to explain. “When I was in the final year of high school, my younger siblings got me into isekai. My brother is fascinated with isekai adventures in an RPG setting where he, with a special “cheat”, is respected, adored by people, and has a harem. My sister wants to be in an otome isekai where she would strive to avoid a villainous fate, be waited on by handsome men, and have more money than she will ever need. I was no different like them but slowly over time I realize all the novels, mangas, and anime follow the same formula. A person dies, then magically appears in a fantasy world where they will gain respect with no character development. They are not interested in going back to their original world and use a special power or trick to make everything easy,making them Mary Sues. I had thought it over for a while and came to understand why the genre is saturated with such stories. Most people are not happy with their life, They are hard at work and get no respect with low wages. Their life feels so boring that they want to escape to another world. They want to live the life of their favorite characters. They want to be free from their duties and responsibilities and live happily.” “Well, I can’t deny that. It is a common human desire,” Darren says. Our heroine has him looking at her with a new light. It was rare for him to talk with the people he was sending to another world. “So your reason for rejecting me is-” “Because unlike those people, I am happy with my life. Because I understand that in the real world we might not get what we want, but we still have to overcome difficulties and strive for what we want. My life is hard, sure! My responsibilities keep piling, my coworkers are a bunch of slackers, and my boss is a workaholic.” spilling out her frustrations makes Sakura clench her hands. She takes a deep breath before continuing. “But I manage and deal with it. I’m striving to better my life. Before my unexpected death, I decided to quit and find a new job suitable for myself and my condition.” Darren smirks while stroking his chin, “You sure that’s the right decision? Life can be quite unforgiving.” “Yes!” what Sakura didn’t tell the angel, is that she was unsure until now. If her decision was wrong, it would have left her in a dicey situation. This conversation emboldened her to take the first step. “It might be the wrong choice but I can deal with the consequences because for me,life is an adventure. I refused to run away from my problems and troubles or become someone else.” Darren stands up and gives her a slow slap. “That’s a very courageous decision. It would be such a shame if you never act on it.” Sakura jumps to her feet. The question she asks next came out in a hesitant but hopeful voice. “D-does that mean…?” “I’ll be in a bit of trouble, but I’ll send you back a few minutes before your untimely death.” The void started getting brighter and brighter until she could not see anything. Darren’s voice surrounds her in a fleeting echo. “I wish you well in this life.” Sakura wakes up in her flat. She looks around, unsure if what just happened was a dream or not. Before she could settle on one, her alarm went off. She rushes off to her last day at her job and quits. And that’s how this story ends. Sakura avoided the road accident that leads to her death,quits her old job and got a better one and found her future husband. It wasn’t an easy-going life, but it was fulfilling. Through it all, that dream stayed stuck in her mind, and one night after putting her child to sleep, a familiar voice came from behind her.“Did you make the right choice?” She turns around to find an empty room. The only sound being the soft snores from the cradle. Sakura smiled, nodding her head, “I believe so.” You might be wondering why I am telling you this story. Well, after hearing it from Deren during coffee break. I figured I would offer you the choice to return if you want to live. Instead of moving to a cliched fantasy world to escape from your responsibilities, I want you to live in your world and overcome the obstacles which await you because after all, like what Sakura said to Deren “Life is an adventure”. Don’t worry about me getting into trouble,because after all, I am one of the gods. Afterword This has been the short story The woman who never wants to transmigrate to a different world (or the woman who never isekai) The reason I wrote this story is that most isekai web novels in Japan which are written by amateur writers have been submitted to Shōsetsuka ni Narō that most of them become popular and have been adapted into light novels, manga and then anime , especially that the genre is popular in most east asian coutnries like China and South Korea , ,So I thought I can do the same thing but as a short story instead where it reflects on the repeated overused isekai genre which are considered cliche,why people keep writing them and attracted to theat genre is because most are unhappy about their dull life especially about the working conditions in Japan and what happens if a protagonist who dies and is offered to be reincarnated into the fantasy world like the start of every fantasy isekai stories refused. I hope you enjoy the story as I hope this will inspire another one similar to my own but short which will subvert the isekai genre or maybe about a person who refuse to transmigrate to a different world and want to go back to his or her world.And if there is webtoon artist from an east asian coutnry or any country around the world ,kindly adapt my short story into a webtoon so that it will be a short story webtoon that will different from the usual isekai stories that are adapted into webtoons.