Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #12
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 12 Who is Kitajima?
I was waiting for
‘the moment’, spinning my pen continuously. Spinning, spinning, spinning.
I had already done all
I could do. After reviewing my sheet many times, I spent the remaining few
minutes quietly.
Only a handful of
people were still struggling until the last moment. They were running their
pens as if they were chewing on their desks.
I don't remember...
having to write that much. We
should have studied in the same classroom, but I couldn't help but wonder.
Then the chime rang.
The teacher in charge raised her voice.
“Ok, that's enough. Put your pen on the desk.”
Immediately, sighs
escaped from the classroom. I stood up too.
Today was the last
day of the mid-term exam. We were freed from the hell of testing.
“Ah, it's over!”
"Seriously, it's all over. I didn't even understand
half of it.”
As soon as the
teacher disappeared from the classroom, the East-West duo called out to me,
"How did you do this time, Maro?”
“I did the same as usual, maybe a 60 or 70 points?
Nishida frowned at my
answer.
“So the average score this time is about that. The red
mark is minus 20 points from the average, right? I
might be in trouble in math.”
"Can you stop using other people's scores as an
indicator? It might be above
average.”
......Well, it's
probably the average score. I don't know why I've been getting average scores
on tests since middle school. This high school also has a normal deviation
score. I'm not so sure if I'm resentful of my mediocrity or not.
"Anyway, let's go somewhere and have fun.”
"Maro, you don't have a part-time job during the
test period, do you?"
"Oh, today, of course not."
"Yosh! Let’s go somewhere! Where do you want to go? Let's
go to karaoke for the first time in a while~"
As we were leaving
the classroom while talking about such things,
"Oh....."
“Ah!”
I almost bumped into
someone who was just about to enter the classroom. His hands are wet, he must
have gone to the restroom.
Minamiyama noticed
our presence and raised his eyebrows. Higashino and Nishida also lost their
smiles.
An awkward atmosphere
flowed.
If this had been
another classmate, we probably would have given way immediately. Or maybe the
other party would have given way. There is no other intention there.
But when we realized
that it was Minamiyama, we somehow felt reluctant to give way.
On the other hand, we
somehow understood that Minamiyama also did not want to give way to us.
He is now in the top
group of the class caste. Normally, we should be the ones to give way.
However, in our minds,
there was no recognition that this guy was better than us.
There may have been
something like stubbornness that easily destroyed the friendship.
---- You know what? Don't feel
free to talk to me.
Me and you guys, you know what I mean?
The words he said when we invited him to play the same way as before came back to my
mind.
The East-West duo
must have been remembering that time as well, as
their faces were grim.
Seeing us like that,
Minamiyama snorted,
“You’re in the way.”
“......!”
When Nishida was
about to say something to him,
"Minamiyama-kun? What's wrong?"
The voice of Ono came
from behind me, and when I turned around, I saw Takahashi1 and his group along
with a few classmates there. Naturally, Shinomiya-san and ...... Ushikura-san2 were also
there.
“What's the matter? Something
wrong?"
Takahashi asked with
a refreshing smile.
"Ah, could it be that you invited Minamiyama to
play? Ah, sorry! We invited him first. This is first come first served,
right?"
"Ah, no..."
We were discouraged
by Takahashi raising his hand and apologizing. The actual aura of a real top
member of the class, which was different from Minamiyama's, was completely
overpowering.
"It’s nothing like that.
Sorry, sorry, I'm going to get my things."
Minamiyama said so
while laughing and forcibly pushed us out of the way.
Higashino bit his
lip.
This was the current
power relationship in our class.
Just as we were about
to see off the normie group, Shinomiya-san suddenly said as if she had just remembered,
“Oh, that's right. If it’s okay, will Marocchi3 come too?
It's karaoke.”
“?!”
What?
I could feel the
shock running through the air. Everyone rolled their eyes and looked at me.
I… should not be an
esper...... But now, I certainly heard the voices in everyone's mind:
‘Why is Shinomiya-san
inviting this mob?!’
“Ah, no, ......."
I can't get my head
around things on the spur of the moment.
Then Ono intervened
between us.
“Oh, no, Hi, Kita...... um, Kitajima-kun? It looks like
he's going out with the usual members, Higashida-kun and Nishino-kun, so I
wonder if we'll cause trouble if we ask him out?"
“Oh? Then
why don't all three of you come? I'm
sure we could all go together if we rented two rooms. Or we could change it to
bowling.”
At Takahashi's
suggestion, Minamiyama’s and Ono’s faces changed color.
The other members of
the group also scrunched up their faces.
Our classmates knew
of the delicate relationship between us and Minamiyama. It was a proposal that
no one was pleased with.
Does Takahashi not
know about our relationship? Could
be. Takahashi is a baseball fool by his own admission. He has the image that he
is not familiar with the delicate relationships within the class. He probably
only became aware of Minamiyama's existence after he came out as an adventurer.
Until then,
Minamiyama was just classmate A, and he probably had no idea of Minamiyama’s
friendships.
However, judging from
this reaction, Ono seemed to have known about it. This guy is pretty much
friends with the whole class.
Anyway, there was no
way he would nod to this proposal. The group would be split into two rooms, and
it would definitely be less exciting. I felt the stares of the other members of
the group telling me to absolutely refuse. Higashino hurriedly said,
“Uh, no, no, we're good, yes. You guys go ahead and have
fun.”
“Really? That's
too bad. ......"
Ono quickly jumped on
the bandwagon with Takahashi, who simply backed down.
He said,
"Well, Kitajima-kun said so. It’s a bit
disappointing, but well…”
“Uh-huh, yeah.”
The classmates nodded
in haste at Ono's sign.
“You know, Ono..."
“What is it?”
Ono, who had been
called by name, answered with some agitation.
"I've been thinking about it for a while now, but
it's Kitagawa, not Kitajima. Kitagawa Utamaro, the same name as an Edo-period
painter. Do you even remember the names of your classmates?"
"Eh... Oh, yeah. I'm sorry, Kita... kawa-kun."
"Ah, ah... whatever."
"Yeah.... then let's go."
With those words,
Takahashi and the others leave the classroom.
Only the three of us
were left behind.
" Oi oi oi oi! What
does that mean, Maro!”
"When did you become friends with
Shinomiya-san?!"
Higashino and Nishida
crowded in at once. They grabbed me by my collar. They
had a devilish expression on their face. I feel more hostility, or even
murderous intent, that they had toward Minamiyama......
“No, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!”
“Huh?! What do you mean!”
Even though I tried
to explain myself in a flustered manner, the two didn't even trust me.
"It's not like you don't know! Then why is
Shinomiya-san inviting you to karaoke? Aah?!"
"For some reason only your name was
corrected! Ours were also mistaken!"
"No, that's ......, ah, could it be that?"
The two piranhas were
agile enough to catch on to my small slip of the tongue.
“I knew there was something! Speak up! You
traitor!”
“Traitor… Ah, well… when I went to the infirmary the
other day, Shinomiya-san was also taking a break and I just introduced myself.
Didn't you remember that?”
"...... That's it?"
“That's it."
With those words, the
two of them finally let go of my collar.
"Hmーm, does that mean she simply remembered Maro's
name but not ours?"
“Was it just a whim that she invited you to karaoke, or did she just want to tease you? That's possible.”
"... you guys, didn't you like older sisters and
loli?"
As I complained while
rubbing my neck, they both spoke in unison,
“Well--!”
“I don’t think one can go out with a loli if you think
about it with common sense. The realistic target for a relationship would be
someone of the same age group.”
"There are so many cute girls in this class. When I
first saw Shinomiya-san, I was really scared. ‘Huh, is
this an idol class?’, like that."
"Even Maro, who is a boob alien, will go out with a
beautiful girl who has small breasts if she asks you out, wouldn't you?"
"...... Surely!"
How persuasive.
Likes are likes, and
ideals are ideals. If there's a beautiful woman within reach, it's normal to
fall in love with her.
"I want a girlfriend~"
Higashino suddenly
said. Nishida nodded strongly.
“I thought that if I became a high school student, I
would naturally get a girlfriend… but I don’t see any signs of that at all.”
"Ah, I thought so too. Or rather, I thought that if
I grew up, I would be able to get married and have children normally, but if
things go on like this… I'm not sure..."
“Oi, stop it."
As I
listened to their conversation, I suddenly thought:
Girlfriend.
I certainly want one.
I mean, that's half the reason I want to be a
normie.
I had a fleeting hope
that if I became an adventurer, I might be able to get a cute girlfriend with
big breasts.
Even now, after I
felt the danger of death close at hand during my fight with the Pied Piper of
Hamelin, that feeling still hasn't faded.
In fact, on the
contrary, the more I almost died, the stronger my desire to elevate my status
at any cost.
The sad part is that
I don't think I'll be able to get a girlfriend without risking my life.
"Christmas, I wonder if I can make it in time."
I muttered quietly.
Time flies so fast.
The months go by quickly, and it's already been a month since I became an
adventurer.
During this time, I
continued to challenge dungeons almost every day and conquered a total of ten
dungeons.
It was hard to
believe that I spent a week on the first dungeon, but there are of course some
reasons for this kind of progress.
First of all, on days
when school was in session, I targeted low-level dungeons that could be
conquered in a few hours.
Second, I studied the
maps and monster tendencies in the dungeons in advance.
Lastly, and most
importantly, the fierce battle with the Pied Piper of Hamelin deepened our bond
and helped us grow.
This is their current
status:
[Race]
Zashiki-warashi (Renge)
[Combat
Power] 305 (55 UP!)
[Inborn
skills]
・Misfortune and
luck are like a rope
・Hide-and-seek
・Elementary recovery magic
[Acquired
skills]
・Zero
existence
・Closed
mind →
Free-spiritedness (CHANGE!): A heart that is not bound by anything. Positive
response for free movement, resistance to mental abnormality, disablement of
some restraint skills.
・Elementary
attack magic
[Race]
Ghoul (Eliza)
[Combat
Power] 140 (30 UP!)
[Inborn
skills]
・Living
corpse
・Firefield's
fool power
・Corpse
Eater
[Acquired
skills]
・Absolute
obedience
・Sexual
skill
・Pheromones
・Ambush
・Hollow heart → Quiet mind (CHANGE!): A
mind that suppresses emotions and does not lose composure. Strong resistance to
mental abnormality, improvement of thinking ability.
・Protect
(NEW!): Able to instantly rush to a friend's side and take their place. While
using it, defense and vitality are greatly improved.
・Precision
movement (NEW!): Allows for more precise movements.
[Race]
Coosie (Yuki)
[Combat
Power] 175 (25 UP!)
[Inborn
skills]
・Fairy
Watchdog
・Group
activities
[Acquired
skills]
・Loyalty
(CHANGE!) : Proof that you have found a master to serve. Status
improves according to loyalty.
・Little hero: Details
unknown.
・Awakening
of instinct (NEW!) : release wild instincts. It improves
physical ability in exchange for reason, and at the same time lowers resistance
to mental abnormality.
・Presence detection
(NEW!): Enhances the five senses, making stealth skills easier to detect.
All three cards greatly
improved their combat power and their skills.
Renge had transformed
the negative skill [Closed mind] that she had due to her distrust of the Master
into [Free-spiritedness].
She no longer holds a
grudge against her master.
She began to actively
participate in battles, and her supportive qualities, from assisting in battles
to improving the drop rate of loot, were blossoming rapidly.
In particular, she
more than tripled the drop rate of loot than normal. With such a difference in
drop rates, it should be no surprise that a zashiki-warashi becomes a
professional’s necessity, but it was strange that it wasn't actually the case.
Well, perhaps there
are simply many other skills that increase drop rates.
Next, let's talk
about Eliza.
She has finally established
her ego by transforming her [Hollow heart] into [Quiet mind].
Although her thinking is a little sluggish, she is now
able to think and act on her own initiative.
However, her heart is
still developing, and although she may have her own temperament, she doesn't
talk much and doesn't change her expression.
Still, in her own
quiet way, she certainly cares about her companions. And along with her skill
change to [Quiet mind], she acquired a support skill to protect.
This is a skill that
allows her to rush at high speed to take the place of her friends as long as
she can see them. It seems that her experience in the battle against the Pied
Piper of Hamelin has had a great influence on her.
After learning of
this skill, Renge and Yuki began to aim to
improve their cooperation so that they would not be simply protected by Eliza,
creating a good synergy effect.
And, probably due to
the effect of the skill, her eyes were less bloodshot, which is a pleasant
change for me.
Finally, about Yuki.
It would be necessary
to explain her along with her skill changes in the match against the Pied Piper
of Hamelin.
First, she changed
her [Obedience] skill to [Loyalty] skill, her [Cowardice] to [Little hero], and
she gained the skills of [Awakening of instinct] and [Presence detection].
I was able to easily
find out about the three skills (Loyalty, Awakening of instinct, and Presence
detection) at the guild, but I was not quite sure about the [Little hero] which
seemed to have played a major role in that battle.
Apparently, it seems
to have the effect of nullifying some special skills and increasing the effect
of the skills of yourself and your allies, but it is unstable that the effect
may or may not be activated, so to be honest, it is not clear.
There are
even reports of ...... it suddenly disappearing one day. And it seems to be a
well-known skill in the field, full of mystery and rumor.
On the other hand, I
was able to learn a lot about the other three.
[Loyalty] is the
ability to increase a card's status according to the loyalty the monster
directs to its master.
The maximum
percentage is about 20%. It is said that if the master is constantly acting in
a way that damages the monster’s loyalty, they may lose this skill.
This is something to
watch out for.
[Awakening of
instinct] is a skill that animal-type monsters often acquire, and it has the
simple effect of improving physical abilities in exchange for reason.
Then again, it seems
to be a very risky skill, as the more one loses
reason, the lower one’s resistance to psychotic
attacks.
Even so, if you
choose a dungeon that doesn't give mental attacks, you can use it with almost
no disadvantages, and it seems that it is covered in
the application of [Little hero], as Yuki did not lose her reason even after
being strengthened to the maximum.
By the way, the
difference between ‘improved status’ and ‘improved physical ability’ is that
improved status increases a wide range of abilities, such as magic attack power
and resistance to abnormal conditions, while improved physical ability is
limited to athletic abilities such as muscle strength and reaction speed.
Lastly, I would like
to talk about the effect of [Presence detection] .......
I experimented with
Renge’s [Hide-and-Seek] to see how perceptive it was, and it settled with a
vague feeling that Yuki could somehow find her
whereabouts.
It seems that if she
takes her time, she can track by smell etc., but of
course, it is impossible to spot Renge when she is on the move.
Even so, it is worth
it for me to continue to raise her as the enemies search agent, as she is able
to detect enemies who did not have any stealth skills even from a considerable
distance away.
Well, that’s all for
the cards’ growth. Next, let me explain the results of this January.
In this January, I
have broken through 10 dungeons, including the battle against the Pied Piper of
Hamelin.
The reward for
breaking through an F-rank dungeon is calculated
as the number of floors multiplied by 10,000 yen, so I earned 500,000 yen in
rewards from the number of magic stones alone.
From this, even after
deducting the 90,000 yen for information on the dungeon that was purchased from
the guild, there was still an income of 410,000 yen.
Furthermore, the loot
obtained from the battles along the way amounted to about 60,000 yen in magic
stones and 64 cards; since I had no intention of using the F-rank cards, I sold
them all for about 70,000 yen.
Let's not forget the
magical items that come out of the disappointed boxes.
The magic items that
come out of the F-rank dungeon are not much, but I couldn’t make fun of them.
The following is the
breakdown:
Middle potion x 1 100,000 yen
Low potion x 3 30,000 yen
Flintstone x 4 20,000 yen
Smelly bag x 2 2,000 yen
Note that the
purchase price of magic items ranked from F to D is 10% of the market price.
Naturally, I decided
not to sell it and use it myself.
The middle potion,
which heals minor fractures and cuts in the blink of an eye, is for
emergencies. I decided to use the smelly bag and the flint stone that, when
thrown, would give me the power of a single primary attack magic, and I decided
to give the low potion to my sister and mother as presents.
Even though the
potion is of the lowest rank, and useless for healing injuries, it has the
effect of beautifying the skin if dripped in the bath, instantly healing rough
hands if sprinkled on the hands, and instantly restoring physical condition when
drunk. It's just too expensive for everyday use, but it's a convenient item to
have.
However, even these loots were overshadowed by the rewards we gained from
the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
In that battle, we
obtained two rewards: a red magic stone and a flute.
The red magic stone
seemed to be a special item dropped only by irregular encounters, and sold for
a million yen including the prize money. Even so, it was the lowest price for
an irregular encounter magic stone, and the purchase amount jumped tenfold with
each rank increase, so I felt as if my sense of money was going crazy.
And the other one is
a flute. The guild had this one appraised, and it turned out to be a magic item
called [Hamelin’s Flute].
The effect is spatial
transfer. It was limited to the dungeon, but it enabled you to transfer to the floor you once visited.
It was a rare item
among rare items. Most spatial transfer items are disposable and can only be
used once, and since they are only dropped in dungeons’ deep floors, they are
sold at extremely high prices by professional adventurers.
Magic items that
allow unlimited use of space transfer, only a few examples have been found in
Japan.
It was a commodity
that could have been taken by anyone, even if they had to kill to get it.
However, this is only
if it is not a drop from an irregular encounter.
Drops from irregular
encounters can only be used by those who have defeated them.
This fact held me by
the scruff of the neck.
If this had been an
item that anyone could use, I would have given it up immediately.
I have only conquered
F-rank dungeons so far, so I don't really feel it now, but if I continue to be
an adventurer, I am sure I will come to realize this item’s benefits. Because
high-rank dungeons are built with dozens of floors.
In addition, I didn't
want to cause unnecessary resentment by spreading the word about the existence
of the Hamelin Flute, so I decided to have it made into a card.
The guild offers a service called ‘carding’, in which,
for a fee, a large number of goods that cannot be carried by an individual can
be stored on a single card.
Once carded, the
items can be put in and taken out as many times as necessary, and cannot be
taken out by anyone other than the owner.
In addition to being
used to transport expedition supplies for the dungeon, it is also used to store
valuable items.
I decided to use this
carding system to hide the conspicuous Hamelin Flute.
What I miscalculated
was that it cost me exactly one million yen.
The Pied Piper of
Hamelin's magic stone sold for 1 million yen, and the card made from the flute
also need 1 million yen.
……Is it just my imagination that I felt someone’s scheme?
Rare item Hamelin's
flute, 540,000 yen4 in cash and other consumable items. This is the result of
this past month.
Oh, and one more
thing.
With these
achievements, I am now eligible to take the exam for promotion to a 2-star
adventurer.
The content of the
exam is a solo completion of an E-rank dungeon designated by the guild.
And we were already
more than halfway through there.
[Tips] Carding
The Adventurers'
Guild provides a service that uses special magic item to convert items into
cards. Whether it is a small ring or a house, they will card anything for a
million yen at a time. Like monster cards, carded objects cannot be summoned
except by their owners, so they are also used to protect property. Ordinary
adventurers, like the protagonist, who do not have magic items for transfer,
use this service to convert large quantities of goods into cards and stay
overnight to dive into deeper floors.
In
addition, there is a law that if you find such a card, you must report it to
the guild and sell it. If it is discovered that you are hiding something, you
will be arrested immediately and will be subjected to a severe interrogation by
the Public Security Bureau.
***
Notes:
1 From the baseball club, if you forgot↩
3 A cutesy nickname, Maro+chi ↩
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