Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter 1
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Chapter 1
Can Even a Mob
Highschooler Like Me be a Normie if I Become an Adventurer?
————I think the
guy who first came up with the idea of school caste was smart.
The caste system, which
represents social status, and the power relations within the class are
surprisingly similar.
Probably the first person
to come up with this was a guy in the lower or upper middle class.
A
guy in that position can see well above and below.
Most
of the guys in the class probably thought they were in the middle group or a
little lower, and that's why the term ‘school caste’ was so widely accepted.
In
reality, however, it is impossible to know where you are.
Even if you think you are
in the middle group, you may actually be looked down upon by everyone in your
class. When you go to the bathroom for a minute, your friends who were just
laughing with you may be talking bad about you, and on social networking sites,
groups have been created without you...
While fighting such fear,
everyone desperately tried to maintain their own class caste.
Or
maybe, if you work hard and even get to the top, you won't have to worry about
such fears.
I
don't really know, but the view from the bottom looked much more spacious and
comfortable.
But if you try to join the
ranks of those above you and fail... it will be disastrous.
The top of the class caste
is pushing each other to the bottom of the class caste, and those in the bottom
of the caste will never allow you to escape to the top of the caste.
To begin with, there is a
reason why the top caste is the top caste.
Communication ability,
appearance, athleticism or brains—the wall of innate talent.
We
who don't excel in any of these areas, are still stuck being mobs today as well.
In
class, we smile amiably at the not-so-funny jokes of our friends, mechanically
send stickers on the class’s line, and likes on Twitter.
That's how I thought I
would spend my three years in high school.
But
what if a way to rise to the top opened up in front of me?
Not
appearance, not athleticism, not sense of humor, but a whole new way to rise to
the top which I can work my way up with time.
After
much worry and agonizing, I made up my mind.
It's
risky. It costs money. I may lose my precious youth.
Even
if I worked that hard, it might be in vain.
Still,
I...
Morning. When I opened the
door to the classroom, I felt gazes gather on me for a moment. But that was
really only for a moment, and the gazes soon disappeared.
"Good morning."
There was no particular
response to my greeting, and only two or three people who met my eyes raised
their hands slightly.
Such a usual scene was
firmly burned into my eyes.
This is who I am currently...
Utamaro Kitagawa's position in the class:
Neither liked nor
disliked... Almost makes no difference whether I’m here or not.
I quietly reconfirmed that
and headed to my seat by the window.
My friends Higashino and
Nishida were already there, sitting across my seat and chatting.
Higashino is short and
thin, and Nishida has very normal features, except for his slightly overweight
glasses. …… In other words, they are at the same level of appearance as I am.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
We exchanged greetings as
I take my seat. Nishida immediately spoke up.
"Hey Maro, listen to
me."
‘Maro’ is my nickname.
Basically, we call each other by our last names, but I was given such a
nickname because of my distinctive name ‘Utamaro’.
"What is it?."
“Yesterday, Higashino lent
me a monster movie. It’s all about girl monsters, and it’s full of sexy scenes.
I was already looking forward to it before I got home. When I got home, I
immediately took off my pants and played it.”
"You
want me to know about the pants-removing scene? I
don't want you to make me feel uncomfortable in the morning.”
I
was imagining it a little. I frowned.
"Sorry, sorry. They are
all definitely girl monsters. There were plenty of sexy scenes. But..."
At that point, Nishida sagged
in disappointment.
"They are all hags..."
Ah……
"I see, that's a
shame..."
"Don't say bad things
about them! They were not old ladies at all. They are all older sisters in
their twenties!"
Higashino said
indignantly.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Even in the
dense forest, it's a popular work with 5 star reviews. I'll lend it to Maro
later. Because there are quite a lot of big breasts."
"Seriously?! I'm counting
on you."
Friends are what you
should have.
As I was grinning, the
resurrected Nishida interrupted me.
"No, no, no, no, wait
a minute. Twenty-somethings are old women, right? How many years have passed
since their prime?"
"It hasn't passed at
all. Rather, it's the best time to be eaten. It's my dream to lose my virginity
to an older woman someday."
"Impossible. After 12
years old, they are already old hags. If I'm going to lose my virginity to a
hag, I might as well go for a witch."
"Die, you
lolicon."
"What are you talking
about? I’m telling you, they are not little girls anymore."
"You guys!"
I hurriedly entered
between the two.
"You’re arguing about
something stupid. Give me a break this morning."
I sighed as I said that,
and the two of them gave me blank eyes.
"Maro is good, huh? Your
strike zone is wide. If they have big breasts, you don't care about age. You
can go for Lolita or older sisters, can't you?"
"
You have a fifth-grade sister back home, too. Ai is so cute. I can't believe
she's Maro's little sister. Do you take baths together or something?"
"Higashino aside,
Nishida! You, if you do something to my Ai, I'll
seriously kill you!"
I threw serious murderous
intent at the disgusting pig who was a potential sex offender.
Inviting him to my house
was the biggest mistake of my life when I didn't know about his propensity.
When I once went to a
bookstore with this guy, he saw the lolicon comics on display and said,
"Comic L* is the Bible." I will never forget that line.
"Ah, I want a monster
card~. Real women become old hag when they get old, but monsters don't get old.
Seriously, they're eternal lolitas."
“Certainly, I also want an
older sister monster who will pamper me no matter what. An older sister who
treats me like a boy younger than her, whether I become an old man …it’s the
best.”
It's
lust all over the place, these guys.
Yet,
their words were also what men all over the country desired, except for their propensity.
The
dream of a girl monster of your own, that was the dream of every man in the
world.
"If that's the case,
why don't you become an adventurer? Then you might get one someday,
right?"
"
How far ahead are you talking? It costs more than a million dollars just to
become an adventurer."
“Even if you
become an adventurer, the price of girl monsters is extremely high compared to
other monsters of the same rank~”
"It will be a routine
of failure."
While talking nonsense,
the topic shifts to adventurers and girl monsters, and at an appropriate point,
they gave up.
There was no deep meaning
in the content of the conversation. It was just a lubricant to avoid not having
a conversation in the small world of the classroom.
And
that's when it happened. The door to the classroom was opened with a bang.
"Good morning!"
A confident and energetic greeting.
Standing there was a boy
of medium height and medium build with short, lightly coiffed hair. His face
was more of a lower ...class. The scattered acne scars and upturned pig nose were
pushing down his facial value by about ten points.
At first glance, he looks like a mob character
like us... but our classmates reacted differently.
"Oh, good
morning!"
"Minamiyama-kun,
you're late today."
Both boys and girls smiled
towards him and greeted each other openly.
Minamiyama responded with
a smile, saying, "Haha! I just missed the train."
Suddenly, our eyes met.
"Good morning"
"……Oh"
When I greeted him as a
courtesy, he responded briefly and immediately averted his eyes. It was like he
was not interested.
Just like that, Minamiyama
approached the group occupying the desks in the center of the class and sat
down on a chair.
"Hey!"
"Oh, Minamiyama.
You're late."
"Hey hey, how was
yesterday's MonColo? from Minamiyama-kun's point of view?"
The people who greet
Minamiyama with a smile were the upper caste members of this class.
The ace of our school's
baseball club, which was known for being a strong school, Takahashi.
The chubby Ono who had the
best sense of humor in the class.
Shinomiya-san, the most
beautiful girl in our grade who was a model student.
And then... Shinomiya-san's
best friend, Ushikura-san, who had an attractive motherly chest.
Minamiyama,
who entered without hesitation into their somewhat sparkling and shining midst,
began to talk somewhat boastfully.
"Yesterday's MonColo
was between a Centaur and a Dullahan, wasn’t it? Hmmm, to be honest, from my
point of view, it wasn't good enough. The one who won was the Dullahan, but I'm
disappointed that it was a power push. I feel that the result would have been
the same even if I had used it now. On the other hand, I was impressed that the
centaur was doing well. The live commentary was praising the Dullahan, but that
Ana wasn't a former adventurer, so she doesn't know much about it, and I guess
you have to be in the know to understand that part of it.
"Heh~~ So that’s how
it is. From my point of view, I just thought monsters were amazing."
Shinomiya-san let out a
voice of admiration at Minamiyama's quick commentary.
"I didn't know
anything about Dullahan, either."
“Minamiyama-kun, you
really do sounds like an adventurer.”
"What do you really
mean?"
"Ahahaha"
Higashino,
who was watching their excitement, muttered,
"Minamiyama... he has
changed."
"Ah, it seems like he
have joined the ranks of the Normie group."
The two of them seemed to
have lost their excitement... I heard their suppressed voices and closed my
eyes lightly.
…Nowadays, Minamiyama
is a well-known top caste member, but until about half a year ago, he was a mob
character who was mingling with us.
When we entered high
school, we started hanging out just because our seats were close to each other,
and since there weren't any club activities that we wanted to join, we spent
our days wandering around casually.
Reading through the comics
brought by someone and getting excited about the story, going to the game
center and holding a fighting game tournament, and holding a video viewing
party of MonColo, ---- Monster Colosseum, that was posted on the
Internet...
It wasn't anything to
ignite youth, but it was fun days in its own way.
What changed that was Minamiyama's
sudden revelation.
[I've
actually been an adventurer for a little while now----]
That
one sentence changed our relationship drastically.
For
students, titles carry considerable status.
For
example, ace of the club, captain, model model, child of a celebrity, student council
president, first place on grade test.......
Students
are basically just a bunch of guys who have nothing. So, just by being one head
above the rest, you get noticed. They get a second glance.
If
that happens, just by standing out a little bit, you will be at the top of the
class caste.
Minamiyama
was one of those who stood out a little.
The title he had prepared for
himself was an active adventurer.
In
these days of the adventurer boom, it was easy to become an adventurer,
depending on how much money you have. It was easy to become an adventurer with
just the right amount of money, but that money was too high a hurdle for a normal
student.
The
registration fee was 100,000 yen and a D-rank card. These were the two
qualifications to become an adventurer.
The
price of a D-rank card ranged from one million to ten million yen.
Even
the cheapest card was too much for a student to afford.
Everyone
would like to become one ......but there was no money to take on the challenge.
The most important thing to remember was that you can't get a better deal than
this.
Therefore, being an active
adventurer as a high school student was something that students longed for.
Even if that was the
result of having their parents pay for it, like Minamiyama did.
Minamiyama, who came out
as an adventurer, joined the Normie group in a blink of an eye.
Now, he showed an attitude
like he had never even hung out with us...
It was not like we don't
think anything of it.
In
fact, when it was just us, we always talk about our dissatisfaction with
Minamiyama.
But
that was all. We don't have the guts to say it to his face.
Because
he is an adventurer. Because he is the higher class caste.
Even
if our friendship was tossed away like a can of juice, I would not be able to
say anything about it.
I
can only tell ourselves that it can't be helped, that and give up.
But
that's only until today.
I whispered in the
classroom, which suddenly became hectic with the appearance of the homeroom
teacher.
“————I will become an
adventurer today.”
1999, the seventh month.
While the world was buzzing with occultism such as Nostradamus' great
prophecies, it suddenly appeared.
A group of labyrinths
suddenly appeared all over the world. At seas, mountains, deserts, in the
middle of roads, on the roofs of buildings, in ordinary people's homes, in
convenience store toilets... They appeared completely at random and had a size
that was incomparable to what was predicted from the outside——it was something
that could only be described as a different space.
The
countries of the world immediately dispatched their troops to their sudden
appearance. It was discovered that the labyrinths were filled with monsters
that looked like something out of a fairy tale or a game......, and that there
were abundant resources, including various rare metals and other completely
unknown metals, as well as magical items.
---The
discovery of the mysterious tools, which could be called mythical items.
The
world rejoiced.
The labyrinth was
inhabited by a large number of creatures hostile to humans, but for some reason
they never came out of the labyrinth, and most of them were powerless against
modern weapons such as guns.
The labyrinth was divided
into different levels, and the deeper the level, the easier it was to find
magical items and precious metals, so all countries searched the labyrinth.
Among the items obtained
from the labyrinth, there were many items of unknown use, such as cards with
monsters drawn on them, but the usefulness of items whose uses were known was
clear.
A medicine that
regenerates lost parts of the body and heals diseases that were said to be
difficult to treat in medicine at the time. A crystal that can see the future
with high possibility. An amulet that will protect you from all sorts of
misfortunes once and for all. A makeup tool that allows you to become your
ideal self. And, even food of perpetual youth and longevity.
Magical tools that seem to
only appear in fairy tales fascinate people. In particular, the ores called
‘magic stones’ dropped by monsters are discovered through research to have
countless uses, such as fuel and fertilizer. The economy was booming.
Driven by the desires of
the people, the army went deeper and deeper———— and as if paying the price,
they suffered devastating damage.
The army armed with modern
weapons was annihilated by monsters which later named phantom-type
monsters.
The
army was helpless against these monsters, which were unable to be hurt by
physical attacks such as guns, and in the United States, it is said that as
many as 10% of the entire army died.
Japan
was fortunate enough not to have reached the floor where the phantom-type
monsters appeared as it was one step behind the other countries in its attack
on the labyrinth due to demonstrations by civic groups opposed to the existence
and activities of the Self-Defense Forces. --The U.S. immediately withdrew from
the labyrinth after the damage and put the labyrinth exploration on hold.
The
developed countries followed suit, and the labyrinth fever seemed to have
subsided for a while, but half a year after the labyrinth was sealed off, a
tragedy occurred that would later be known as the ‘First Angolmore’.
Monsters
that were thought to never come out of the labyrinth overflowed from it and
attacked the people.
Fortunately,
a simple military base had been set up around the labyrinth, so the damage was
relatively minor, but the people were horrified by the monsters that escaped
the military net and attacked the people.
At this time as well, it
was the so-called phantom monsters that caused the greatest damage, and
the army had no choice but to allow the damage to spread as the undead monsters
could not be dealt with.
The
one saving grace was that these undead monsters were vulnerable to the light of
day.
As
the sun rose, the undead monsters spontaneously disappeared, and even those
that had gone underground were completely extinguished by destroying the entire
building.
After
the monsters had been wiped out, the countries immediately set out to
investigate the cause.
It soon became clear that
this disaster only occurred in the advanced countries that had blocked the
labyrinths, and that Angolmore did not occur in China, Russia, and other
underdeveloped countries, which after the incident from the phantom monsters,
still continued to hunt monsters in the labyrinth...
As a result, a hypothesis
was made.
[If you don't hunt
monsters regularly, monsters will overflow from the labyrinth.]
In addition, there was
another important discovery from this ‘First
Angolmore’.
It was… how to use the cards
depicting monster that are dropped by monsters on extremely rare occasions.
These cards, which would
later be called [Monster Cards],
had been enthusiastically studied at first, but
because it was still unclear how to use them, some were released to the market
as goods from the labyrinth.
Some
of those who purchased them accidentally discovered their use while being
attacked by monsters.
The method was to put a
drop of your own blood on the card and then strongly wishing to use it.
Then
the monster on the card will actually appear and do whatever you ask it to do.
The
reason researchers did not realize that simple way was because the card could
not be used outside the labyrinth except under special circumstances such as Angolmore.
Research
was conducted exclusively in a dedicated laboratory, not in the dangerous
labyrinth.
It
was ironic that this led to the recognition of the existence of items that
could only be used inside the labyrinth, and the research on these items
advanced dramatically.
The
use of the cards discovered in this way led to breakthroughs, and the
labyrinthine strategy was restarted.
This
was because the use of monsters, which could use some magic, created a
countermeasure against the phantom monsters.
Moreover,
the cards had an unexpected byproduct. The cards provided a barrier to the
master.
The
master would not take any damage while the monster was being played, and the
monster would take care of all the damage.
Thus,
the existence of the barrier created by the cards made the labyrinth exploration
safer.
As
a matter of fact, by this time, the exploration of the labyrinth by the
military had already reached its limits. The deeper you went into the
labyrinth, the more meaningless firearms became to the monsters.
In
the depths of the labyrinth, powerful enemies began to appear, including phantom
spirit monsters that were ineffective against physical attack, too fast to be
hit by bullets, and too sturdy to be killed by a day-long hail of bullets.
The
level-up system that exists as a matter of course in games. The lack of such a
system was the reason for the deadlock in the labyrinth.
However,
this problem was solved by the use of cards.
It
was true that humans do not level up. However, monsters do level up.
This created a cycle of training
monsters, defeating strong monsters, acquiring cards, train them, and defeating
more monsters.
……That meant one
conclusion.
That is, it doesn't have
to be the army who explored the labyrinth.
The first country to start
was the United States, the land of freedom.
A labyrinth exploration
using cards by civilians.
Because of ‘Angolmore’,
it is absolutely necessary to defeat monsters in the labyrinth. However, it
would be problematic if the military alone was to continue to attack all of the
countless labyrinths in the country.
At that time, there were
voices in the United States that after the First
Angolmore, ordinary people should
be able to defend themselves in Angolmore with monster cards.
Originally,
when there was a school shooting, people even said, "If only teachers had
guns, such a tragedy would not have happened.” It was only natural that people
would say that ‘if they had had a card, they would have been able to save their
lives’.
For this reason, the
United States opened some labyrinths to the general public. In addition, they
created the Adventurers Guild of USA, an organization to supervise and assist
civilians in exploring the labyrinth.
Whether it was a success
or a failure can be seen from the fact that the adventurer system was being
implemented all over the world today.
It had been about 20 years
since the first labyrinth appeared. Adventurer was now a dream job for many
people.
[Tips] Labyrinth
The
labyrinth is a strange space that suddenly appeared at a certain point in time.
Inside the labyrinths are dangerous monsters, magical tools, unknown metals,
and many other reward items. The scale of each labyrinth varies, but the deeper
you go, the more powerful monsters appear. At the deepest level, there is a
being called the ‘Lord’, and if you defeat it, you will receive a reward
commensurate with the degree of difficulty.
The
number of labyrinths is increasing year by year, and no method has been found
to eliminate them. There is a doomsday theory that the labyrinths will eventually
cover the entire world.
***
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