A Loner With The Trash Skill 'Abnormal Status Doubling'-Chapter 1
A Loner, On the Sidelines As His Friend Becomes a Protagonist
Author’s Note:
As of February 8, 2018, I changed the title a little bit.
“We have been waiting for you. Various saviors.”
“..?!” “..?!” “..?!”
─But all of a sudden, the classmates were surprised by a majestic voice, and forgot about the silence that once filled the room.
Just who was this old man…?!
A large door that was previously closed had opened an inside an old man wearing a crown was sitting down on a throne while waiting.
“This is…”
“I thought this was a kidnapping but what’s happening…?”
“Hey, that guy looks kinda like a king, doesn’t he?”
“This…must be a joke…”
“It can’t be.”
“Yeah, it’s not.”
“Still, wouldn’t it be impossible to make this big of a door…?”
Catching their breath, everyone did not move as if they were sewn in place, and then crown-wearing person turned around to a subordinate who was also flustered.
“Why are you lingering around? One of you hurry and introduce yourselves.”
“Hey…come on.”
“You can go.”
“…Why aren’t you going?”
“I don’t want to go…you’re going.”
“I still…want to live…”
“You won’t die…probably.”
While facing the king with eyes of fear, they each spoke in frightened tones.
The king, seeing the students and comprehending how frightened they were, did not want the situation to worsen, and hurried to manage those that said they wanted to live.
“Wait wait…It’s not like I brought you here to eat you up.”
However, Karin was the first to be on alert with those words.
“You kidnapped us…and yet you’re saying such things? If you’re going to make us commit shameful acts then we will firmly refuse with complete opposition.”
As Karin said that, almost everyone was in agreement except Shun.
After Karin was her friend, Asakura Yuuna,
“I have a problem with your guys’ condescending attitude, where all of you are thinking about how you were brought here suddenly without warning…If they were actually kidnappers, then I would understand that kind of behavior, but these people don’t look like one, and I can’t imagine they would be.”
Everyone also agreed with what Yuuna said.
Even if some claimed it was a kidnapping, there’s people wearing helmets and armor, there’s people wearing white robes and holding staffs, not to mention the presence of a red mantle-wearing person with a crown.
They obviously stand out, and if they had enough money to do such extravagant cosplay, then they wouldn’t be doing kidnappings.
While everyone had a puzzled expression, Yuuma continued.
“So what’s going on? I’ve never heard of someone keeping a victim’s hands and feet unrestrained when they leave the room. It would be common for a kidnapper to do something like that if they don’t want their victims running away, right?”
Upon Yuuna saying that, everyone tilted their head slightly.
Indeed…they did not understand why they left 30 people in a large room unsupervised while not restraining them.
“You all…I know kidnapping is a disgraceful act.”
“So what are you getting at?”
When Karin asked that, the king stood up, accompanied by ten knights, and bowed his head, leaving the thirty people dumbfounded.
“Knowing that you all have been brought here without grasping the situation, I can understand your crude behavior. I truly apologize.”
Raising his lowered head, the king continued,
“I know this is insufficient for an apology, so after this, let me show you something─Well then, let’s get to the first order of business. First, I’ll talk about the details of why you’re all here. As I mentioned before, you were all summoned to within my kingdom. The reason being is that I want you to search for seven specific swords. Just one of the seven swords, depending on the kind, has the power to easily lay ruin to a small country…they are the swords of legend. When trying to find the swords, you’ll become enemies with the powerful Demon Lord army who are searching high and low for them. If a strong noble from the Demon Lord army grabs a hold of one, we will no longer be any match for them. So before that happens, find them before they enact their scheme, that is why I summoned you.”
“Huh? Hold up. Demon Lord army? What’s that? You’re talking about a game, right? Why are you bringing this up right now? There’s no way any of that can be real.”
一One man laughed scornfully at the cryptic words of the king.
Everyone had the same bewildered expression, thinking ‘What is this guy saying?’
一While the man was sneering and the majority were puzzled, the king ordered a nearby knight, saying “Bring the item to me.”
The knight quickly took off, and after a few dozens of seconds came back holding in his hand an object covered with red cloth and presented it to the king.
“…I’m going to show you recollections of the war with the Demon Lord army…I will advise with caution, the contents are extreme and involve acts of cruelty. It’s okay to avert your eyes…but this is the truth of the situation.”
The king removed the red cloth, and lifted a normal-looking mirror towards the ceiling.
Then a light which came straight from the mirror hit the ceiling, and at that moment some footage came up thinly.
“Whoa!”
Everyone who witnessed were all unanimously marveled.
“………………?!”
When the picture eventually became more apparent, everyone caught their breath at the footage.
─Pictured was a cow-person boasting a five meter tall physique, using his large mouth to bite off the arms of tearful knights who were desperately trying to undo their restraints, all while it was basking in a blissful expression with blood on its face─that was what it projected.
The footage stopped there, and the light that ran from the mirror to the ceiling disappeared.
Everyone was quiet for a bit, a silence loomed over the room.
With just one minute of video, the “truth of the situation” that the king talked about was carved into everyone’s mind.
“…How is that? Do you believe me?”
Nobody was able to refute the king’s words.
However, one of the classmates slowly raised their hand and asked a question,
“…So why us?”
Everyone held the same thought and there were some people nodding.
However, Shun, hearing the story, thought differently.
That footage was disgusting, but…at any rate, he could fight against a Demon Lord! Well～he wouldn’t know if he’d be able to live through it～. He personally wanted to fight, he wanted to grasp the swords of legend and see what it feels like, he also felt that he was not giving priority to everyone else’s opinion, but…there’s no choice but to fight anyways～♪.
His eyes were sparkling as he thought about it.
Not noticing Shun, the king continued,
“You all have a high potential for power within yourselves…that power can match the former hero’s, no, it can be much larger than that, every time you all fight you will get even stronger. I beg of you all, who hold such power, to gather up your strength. Your success rate is also remarkably high, and you’ll be safe above all.”
“Why do you have to drag us into your own problems? You say you’re at war with the Demon Lord army, but to begin with, I think that it’s not a matter of which side is evil, but a a matter of war itself being evil…And now you try to roll us up into this when we had nothing to do with it before. I wonder how many uninvolved people you’ve dragged into your own circumstances.”
Karin calmly replies to the king’s words. Though her tone of voice was calm, a cold anger could be felt from it.
“Hmmm…what you say is true…but this war was inevitable, even we were reluctant to do it.”
The king had a troubled face, closed his eyes, and lightly shook his head sideways.
“…? What do you mean?”
For the first time here, Shun let out his voice.
Everyone was surprised at Shun, who speaks out very little, as this was not something anyone would usually see. The king was not aware of this and spoke in an uninterested manner.
“There were demons in this world, then all of the sudden, a Demon Lord began rising in power and governed an organization, the Demon Lord army, consisting of such magic beings. When the Demon Lord army was organized, they indiscriminately slaughtered the nearby countries one after another, uttering that they need to recognized as the superior country. I wanted to peacefully resolve things at first, but the repeated slaughters by the Demon Lord army were certainly an obstacle, and then half-way in, the Demon Lord army finally declared war.”
With those words the king gazed at Karin, who was comparing what he said before with what he said just now, and was worried.
It was…inevitable…? She had thought that war was not acceptable, but if they just accepted the Demon Lord army’s unreasonable demands, then things might have gotten worse…It’s was a safe bet to assume the Demon Lord army were in fact doing repeated slaughters.
“I apologize…I retract the remarks I made a while ago, I was a bit mistaken.”
However, if it was not commonplace to hold back from waging war, then is it also impossible to withdraw from it?
“No, your remarks had truth to them. Though I know your ideologies are right, it’s true that I had recently forgotten them. Thank you for reminding me about them…So, what will you do? I don’t want to cause any more casualties. If you obtain the swords of legend, we are certain not to lose…but if we lose then humankind is most likely going to be wiped out. Please…could you please lend us your power..?.”
Everyone who voiced opposition before, after hearing the series of speeches of the king, felt a jolt in their shoulders with his words.
Shun similarly felt a jolt in his shoulders too, squinting while putting strength into his fists.
The silence continued.
───
───
───Then someone was the first to break the silence.
“Everyone, let’s do it.”
It was Yuuma.
Everyone focused on Yuuma.
“We’re already very far from the world we came from.”
Karin, Shun, and everyone widened their eyes to Yuuma’s gallant, dignified figure.
“Did the previous world really need us…? I think not. In my case, I just came to the school’s classroom each day, took some boring class, fell down on my desk to sleep, and took some more classes after the bell rang…That was all to it. Of course, for all of you, you could talk with your friends. But was it really fun to do only that? Do you really want that kind of world, where you just waste away half of your life?”
Everyone averted their eyes with that question.
“…But this world needs us and we can unanimously start anew. This world has chosen us as the ones it needs…and I for one, will demonstrate my purpose for existing by being here…Did any of you have a purpose to serve in the previous world…? Do any of you want to go back to the boring days…?”
I’m not passing up on this chance…I want to experience an adventure like in an RPG! Hey, Shun! Isn’t it the same for you?!
While thinking so, Yuuma let out a fearless smile towards Shun.
“…! ─Pfft…”
Understanding Yuuma’s intentions, Shun let out a similar fearless smile while facing a bit towards him.
Mutually understanding each other, Yuuma then raised his voice,
“───Perhaps I’m alone in this…but I intend to stay in this world. What about everyone else?”
“…?!” “…?!” “…?!”
Everyone was surprised at that statement.
But everyone racked their brains.
What Yuuma said activated everyone’s deeply buried desire of being liberated from their daily life.
Everyday, everyone secretly thought about the boredom, about being freed from it.
Everyone’s re-surging child-like thoughts could not stop.
“Asano, I’ll also stay!”
Karin raised her hand.
“…Hmm, if two people are doing it, then me too!”
One boy raised his hand.
───Everyone else in the class raised their hands a result of those two people.
“Me too!”
“Oh, Me too!”
“Me too!”
“Me as well!”
“Me too…”
────….
Then everyone raised their hands one by one, until everyone had done so.
“Oh, ooh…! You’re going to help us?! How promising of you all!”
Along with the king, the knights and nobles around him were also cheering.
“Thank for all of your support! You have my gratitude!”
“N, no problem…”
Alright…! How’s that, Shun?
While Yuuma was happily nodding his head with that thought, the king said “Now, with post haste…bring that object to me,” and had a military officer fetch the aforementioned object.
“This item will let you know about your abilities, it checks your status. The process is simple. Just put your hand on this crystal. So, to start with, how about you all line up?”
“───How nice it must be for you…Yuuma.”
As expected, Yuuma was a protagonist.
一Shun, who watched the series of events play out from the beginning, made such a grumble and lined up for the crystal after the king finished speaking.
───Once Yuuma tried to line up, he received a barrage of questions from everyone, turning the end of the line into a commotion.
“Yuuma…what’s with you?! I got surprised when you suddenly said that!”
“Seriously! You had quite the splendid speech there, huh!”
“Yuuma! You’re showing off, aren’t you! C’mon!”
“As you expect of an ikemen. You definitely will hold some terrific power! Hurry up and measure it!”
“…You really poked at us. Asano. But, we were able to cast aside our doubts thanks to you!”
“Asano…I’ll follow where you go!”
A storm of praise swept onto Yuuma.
As a large number of people gathered around Yuuma, Shun said “Jeez…I’m envious… Actually, thinking about it, it’s probably not envy I’m feeling,” and looked at the people who were in awe with a bitter smile, sympathizing with them.
“Kondou!”
After Shun responded to Karin with “What is it?” while tilting his head, she rushed over to him while pushing through the crowd.
“Need something? Minesaki?”
“No, I called your name because it’s your turn now.”
“O, oh! I see. I’ll be right back.”
“O, OK.”
No, wait a minute. Wasn’t this a chance to see Minesaki’s stats?
“Yuuma, you go first.”
“Huh? I don’t particularly mind but…”
So, he handed over his spot for Yuuki, who was lined up a bit behind him.
Alright…!
“Come to think of it, what’s your status, Minesaki?”
For a moment, Shun turned towards Minesaki, who he had faced away from, and asked that question.
“It’s written on this paper, but…would you like to see it?”
Oh yes!
“I, I’d to see it!”
“Hmmm, OK. Here.”
Karin obliged and gave the sheet of paper with a smile.
So, Shun read Karin’s status while feeling a giddy sensation.
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
Minesaki Karin
Female
Human Race
Lv1
HP 125
Attack 50
Magic 220
MP 250
Agility 90
Endurance 50
Skills
None
Innate Skills
Goddess’ Healing (Lower Rank)
・Completely heal another person and cure their status abnormalities
・After using this skill, Automatic Recovery (Large) is attached to them
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
How powerful! It can provide recovery from hardships…What’s more, it’s only at a lower rank, imagine what it would turn into when it reaches a high rank.
“Woah…”
“How’s that, Kondou?”
“You’re a goddess.”
“…Huh?”
“…O, oh! Sorry! Yeah, it’s very powerful! Um, I gotta go! See ya.”
“Wha, Kondou?!”
Shun’s face turned red as he went to check his status.
Upon which…
“W, what is this?!”
Author’s Note:
If you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you add this to your bookmarks.
