Chapter 1
Prologue
Translator : PolterGlast
My name is Masaru
Kazuno.
Not that I'm your
average high school student...
See, I don't actually
go to high school.
Not that I was bullied
or anything.
The reason I stopped
going to school... I still can't really explain it myself.
--Basically, I've
never really liked the way our society is structured, with everyone competing
against each other.
However, I was
relatively good at studying because my grades would naturally improve if I was
diligent about it.
That's why I took the
entrance exams at my parents' advice and ended up going to a prestigious
private prep school.
High school life
wasn't all that bad.
But about halfway
through my first year, it suddenly hit me.
Do I really have to
keep fighting like this for the rest of my life...?
This world is all
about competition.
We compete in high
school entrance exams, we compete in college entrance exams, we fight for jobs,
and just when you think it's over, we compete again in the workplace...
You can't climb up the
ladder without constantly fighting.
I couldn't quite wrap
my head around this obvious fact, so I stopped studying as much.
And before I knew it,
I stopped going to school.
I guess I was just
tired of fighting.
So I was thinking of
dropping out at some point, getting my high school diploma, going to a decent
college, and then taking the civil service exam so I could live without too
much competition.
But my life plan was
about to be shattered in an instant.
Because one day, I was
suddenly caught up in a class summoning.
"So, everyone in
your class 1-A has been transferred to the Grust Kingdom through a hero
summoning ritual to summon a hero from another world. Do you understand what's
going on so far?"
"S-sort of."
The one explaining the
situation to me is a handsome blonde boy who looks to be in his early twenties.
His long hair is tied
back in a single braid, and he's as beautiful as a Hellenistic statue.
I'm sitting at a low
table, talking to him, a man with a face that would put Hollywood actors to
shame.
Apparently, he's a god
who manages the world.
Not Earth... but
Alistella, the sword-and-sorcery otherworld we've been summoned to.
"Oh, would you
like some tea? I just brewed it."
"Th-thank you, I
will."
A pure white space
stretches out around the low table.
I pick up one of the
two warm cups of tea on the table.
Looking more closely,
I see a tea stalk standing up inside.
I glance at the other
cup and see a tea stalk standing up there too.
I'm amazed at the
odds, and the god puffs out his chest proudly.
"Pretty neat,
huh? I thought it would make things easier to understand. This is called
'Probability Manipulation.' Simply put, it's a gift that lets you change the
probability of anything you want."
"O-oh..."
The god sighs when he
sees my reaction.
A normal boy's eyes
would light up when he hears the word "gift"... but I don't know how
to respond.
"I think I
understand the situation."
"Oh, you
understand?"
The Grust Kingdom is
currently suffering from the damage caused by monsters commanded by a demon
king.
Their last-ditch
effort to prevent further damage was to rely on the hero-summoning ritual,
which had been passed down as a royal tradition.
They activated it as a
last resort... and it turned out to be a summoning spell that transferred our
entire class 1-A from Shishigawa High School.
The god showed me a
video of it a moment ago.
A huge magic circle
that seemed to cover the entire classroom appeared, and my classmates were
enveloped in a dazzling light.
"Can I ask you a
few questions?"
"Of course."
"Why were we
chosen, class 1-A from Shishigawa High School, out of all the other
classes?"
"I think you know
the answer to that better than anyone. To put it simply, your class has a lot
of talented kids—seeds of heroes. And it also helps that you have Kazuma
Hijirikawa, who has the aptitude to be a 'hero.'"
"First a transfer
and now a 'hero'..."
Kazuma Hijirikawa—the
heir to the Hijirikawa conglomerate, an excellent student.
The soccer team made
it to the inter-high championships thanks to him, and he's never dropped out of
the top ten in the national mock exams.
He's the embodiment of
a perfect student-athlete.
On top of that, he has
a good personality, so all the girls are crazy about him, and he's already
built a harem in our class.
He's a man who has it
all, like he's in the third circle of his life.
He has a beautiful
stepsister who's not related to him by blood, a famous samurai daughter who
claims to be his fiancée because she saw him naked, and a whole bunch of other
harem members.
It's true that our
class is full of talented people, like something out of a Danganr*npa game.
Apparently, we were
all brought to this other world because his aptitude for it was too high.
Well, that's fine.
Actually, it's not
fine at all, but let's just leave it at that.
There's a much bigger
problem at hand.
"Um... I'm a
shut-in, you know?"
"Japan's shut-in
problem is serious, isn't it? I heard on the news the other day that it's
topped 400,000."
"No, that kind of
general situation is not important right now."
I understand that my
classmates, who were in the classroom at the time, were all transferred.
I mean, I had nothing
to do while I was shut in, so I read a lot of web novels and stuff.
In some of those
stories, entire classes get transferred to another world.
But I was at home at
the time.
I was eating potato
chips with the air conditioner on, watching this season's most popular anime,
"The Magnificent Stollen," and muttering, "Man, I want some
stollen..."
No matter how I look
at it, I should be outside the summoning circle.
"Even if you're a
shut-in, you're still in class 1-A. That's how the Grust Kingdom's hero
summoning spell saw it."
"..."
In other words, even
though I wasn't actually attending school, I was still enrolled in the class,
so I was caught up in the summoning spell.
If I'd known this was
going to happen, I would have dropped out sooner, but it's too late now.
The phrase "It's
no use crying over spilled milk" must have been made for times like this.
"You don't seem
convinced... but I came all this way to help you, you know?"
"Help
me...?"
"Yeah, you were a
little too far away from the hero summoning circle. If the spell had gone all
the way through, it wouldn't have had enough mana, and only your upper body
would have been transferred to Alistella..."
"That's messed
up! Just my upper body!?"
The god laughs at my
reaction.
He seems to be quite
expressive, and there are a few tears in the corners of his eyes from laughing
so hard.
"Oh man... well,
because the magic circle was incomplete, I was able to step in. Normally, when
you're transferred by a hero summoning spell, you automatically get a gift when
you pass through the magic circle. But in your case, you'll be transferred by
the magic circle and my transfer magic, so you can choose your gift
manually."
Alistella, the
sword-and-sorcery otherworld we're about to go to, has innate abilities called
"gifts."
Normally, you only
have a one in a thousand chance of getting one, but if you pass through the
hero summoning circle, you're guaranteed to get one.
The power of these
gifts is the reason why the heroes of legend are so strong.
But in my case, I
didn't pass through the magic circle completely, so I won't get a gift
automatically.
Apparently, God took
pity on me and used his divine power to give me one gift of my choice.
"Thank you very
much!"
"You're welcome.
It's nice to be thanked. By the way, here's the list of the gifts."
With that, a laptop
appears on the low table.
The screen is filled
with a list of gifts that I can obtain.
Apparently, I can even
search and sort them.
I guess I'll start
from the top.
Let's see...
[Hero]... Unavailable
[Overlord]...
Unavailable
[Sword Saint]...
Unavailable
[Sage]... Unavailable
[Saintess] (female
only)... Unavailable
Huh!?
All the obviously
powerful gifts at the top of the list are unavailable.
I look up,
crestfallen, and the god apologizes with one eye closed.
"I'm sorry, but
due to compulsion issues, I can't let you choose gifts that are already
taken."
So these gifts have
already been given to my classmates.
[Hero] is Kazuma
Hijirikawa.
[Overlord] is probably
Akira Mitsugawa, Kazuma's childhood friend and a delinquent.
[Sword Saint] is Akari
Kotegawa, Kazuma's harem member.
[Sage] is... I don't
know who it is.
And someone has
already taken the [Saintess] gift, which I can't obtain because I'm a guy.
Even so, there are
only thirty gifts that have been given out, since that's how many classmates I
have.
There are an
incredible number of different gifts, and there are still plenty of untouched
ones.
"By the way,
there are a lot of gifts that are completely useless. You know, like the duds
in your world?"
"'I think that
word is only used in some circles."
But... what should I
do?
[Dragon Knight] and
[Summoner] are clearly the strongest of the remaining gifts.
And there are also
gifts that enhance stats and skills, like [HP Recovery] and [Fire Magic], not
just the top-tier jobs like in games.
There is even a [Curse
Resistance] that allows one to use cursed weapons.
The range of gifts is
really wide.
There are so many
different kinds that it seems like it will never end, even if I scroll through it
all.
And as the god said,
there are a lot of gifts that seem to be clearly duds.
I wonder what this
[Exploding (Knees)] gift is.
Do my knees really
explode...?
"Your knees will
physically explode. It's like adding an explosion attribute to your knees."
"D-did you read
my mind!?"
"Well, I'm a god
after all. Reading minds is a piece of cake for me."
The god seems to be
quite generous, and he answers my questions without hesitation.
He even told me about
how to check my stats, what the common knowledge is in that world, and other
things.
Apparently, in that
world, the abilities you acquire are visualized as skills.
"For example,
which one should I choose, [Summon Magic] or [Summoner]?"
"I recommend
[Summoner]. In the end, job-type gifts are stronger than magic-type gifts. The
[Summon Magic] gift makes you incredibly skilled at summon magic, while the
[Summoner] gift gives you access to a variety of magic, abilities, and skills
related to summoning. The [Summon Magic] gift is stronger for the first few
years, but after a few years, the [Summoner] gift will surpass it and become
stronger overall."
The same goes for
other magic-related gifts.
If you choose the
[Fire Magic] gift, you become skilled at fire magic, but if you choose the
[Fire Mage] gift, you also gain access to the surrounding abilities needed to
use fire magic.
To put it simply, if
you want to get off to a fast start, choose a magic-type gift, and if you're
confident that you can keep going for a long time, choose a job-type gift.
"By the way, can
I use summon magic to summon myself back to Earth?"
"Hmm... if you
become strong enough to defeat the demon king, it might be possible. But no one
has ever done that, so I can't say for sure."
"Can I summon
things from Earth?"
"I think you
can... but even if you train a lot, the limit is probably something the size of
your hand."
Apparently, once you
go to another world, it's difficult to return to Earth.
When he says that, the
idea of going to another world suddenly becomes more real.
My body starts to
tremble, and the vibrations shake the low table and the laptop.
This is too hard mode
right off the bat.
I was a shut-in until
just a moment ago.
I'm not bragging, but
the last time I went outside was last month when I went to the convenience
store to buy ice cream.
From what I've heard,
the civilization of the Alistella Kingdom is around the Middle Ages, and there
are bandits and monsters on the roads.
Even though I'll be
given a gift, I don't think I'll be able to adapt quickly, since I've been
living as a shut-in in modern Japan.
I'm told that there's
a translation function, so language won't be a problem, but I'm not sure if
I'll be able to communicate well with people.
It's been a while
since I've talked to anyone, so I probably won't be able to look them in the
eye, and I'm sure I'll be behaving suspiciously anyway.
"D-don't worry!
Most people manage to get by somehow!"
"Does that mean
there are some people who don't manage to get by?"
"Ugh, well...
there are indeed a lot of people who give up before they achieve their
goals..."
Hearing the god's
words, I frantically type on the keyboard with trembling fingers.
The search term is
"gifts that allow you to live as a shut-in."
I search with a
glimmer of hope, even though I know it's impossible--and it comes up.
The hidden gift [Home]
appears.
A hidden... gift?
"A hidden gift
is... a gift that can only be manifested by someone who has a strong attachment
to it at the moment they receive it. It's not reproducible. The [Home] gift was
last seen... let's see, how many hundreds of years ago was it again..."
"I'll take this
one."
"Huh!? W-wait a
second--"
I ignore the god's
protests and click "Yes."
I don't need a
powerful gift, and I don't want to get involved in any fierce battles.
After all, my class
has a [Hero], an [Overlord], a [Sage], a [Sword Saint], and a [Saintess].
I don't need to try so
hard.
I can leave the
world-saving to them, the seeds of heroes.
I feel a little
relieved when I think about it that way.
My vision is clearer
than before, and I stretch my body.
Then my body starts to
become transparent, and I gradually lose my sense of touch.
I guess it means that
the transfer is about to begin.
"Aww, man! It's
hard to reproduce hidden gifts! It takes a lot of divine powers... but I guess
what's done is done!"
"Sorry for the
trouble."
"It's okay! But
since I'm going to do my best, I want you to use this gift to save the world
too!"
"...?
What--"
"Hehe, I'll tell
you one thing. The man who manifested this gift before you was--"
I lose consciousness
before I can hear the rest of the god's words, who has a strangely happy look
on his face.
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