Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 104

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TL: ALT

Chapter 104 – Kudave’s Advice

If you think about it calmly.

I guess things have been going too well so far.

The special conditions were fulfilled in no time, and the bonus skills were plentiful.

There was no way such a delicious story could have lasted forever.

But I couldn’t deny that I was disappointed.

The skill combos I had worked so hard to develop had gone down the drain.

It also means that the buffing guidelines have been reset.

…But depending on how you look at it, there’s a bright side?

If there were other explorers besides me who could use skill combos, and I had to fight them, there was a possibility that an extremely powerful combo would come out of an ordinary weapon skill.

Well, I doubt there are any other explorers in the world who have more dangerous combos than me.

In the end, it doesn’t change the fact that my arms were weakened by the system’s intervention.

If this were an on-game, I would say that elements that only benefit certain players should be removed.

My faith in the Voice of Heaven has been shaken.

“…Yuto. What’s wrong?”

Kudave asks from below me.

By the way, Kudave doesn’t speak by moving his jaw or vocal cords.

He uses magic power to vibrate the air and synthesize his voice.

Sometimes, he moves his jaw as if he were talking, but that is just a matter of mood.

“Oh, no, I’m sorry. I was just thinking about the future.”

“That’s fine, but don’t forget the situation at hand, okay?”

As he says this, Kudave spits out a breath that burns the surviving ‘fibers.’

The ‘hole’ left in the world by the collapse of the dungeon is almost closed.

But some gaps remain.

Thin ‘fibers’ that remained connected to the other world through the gap wandered from here and there along the outer edges of the ‘hole’ and stretched out.

It doesn’t look dangerous anymore, but we can’t just leave it there.

“But what am I supposed to do?”

“That’s not for me to decide. Don’t let your guard down yet, Yuto. You are my summoner.”

Kudave yelled at me.

“Well… for now, can you burn the surviving ‘fibers’? I’ll think of something in the meantime.”

“You got it.”

After we finished our conversation, Kudave was about to make his move when a black water mirror suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

It was a dungeon portal.

Kudave was in the air, and I was over his head, but a portal suddenly appeared in front of me.

Is this the exit of the dungeon?

I thought for a moment.

If it was an exit, the portal would be white.

A black portal is an entrance from outside to inside or an entrance to the next floor.

Is there another dungeon ahead?

I heard a familiar voice in my confused ears.

‘…You may enter. It’s connected to the usual shrine.’

“What, God?”

The dungeon collapse is over.

That means she wants to hear all about it.

I have something to tell her as well.

“Okay, I’ll be right there.”

I replied,

“Don’t forget me, Yuto.”

Kudave says as he breathes on the ‘fibers.’

Kudave splits the Megiddo breath into countless rays of light and releases them as curved purple beams.

Because of the lids on the ‘holes,’ each of the surviving ‘fibers’ is thin.

The breath, like a laser scalpel, precisely traces the ‘fibers’ and erases them.

…I thought it was all about brute force, but there was such a precise technique.

“That’s right…”

The ‘fibers’ would be destroyed in less than a minute.

Should I wait for that and then unsummon Kudave?

I thought about it for a moment,

“Excuse me, can you do one more thing for me?”

“Oh. What is it?”

“Once I’m in the portal, I want Kudave to go outside the dungeon and keep an eye on the sky. At a height where you can’t be seen from the ground.”

When I said that, Kudave seemed to get the idea.

“The nuclear missiles, huh? You mean there’s still a chance they could fly at us?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

The Voice of Heaven’s statement must have conveyed the message that the dungeon collapse had been prevented.

But I don’t know how far the Voice of Heaven’s declaration reached.

It could be the whole world, or it could be just within Japan.

It could be just within the area where the evacuation order was issued.

Nevertheless, the government probably already understands the information brought by the Voice of Heaven.

You just have to be an explorer to hear the Voice of Heaven.

Moreover, it is safe to assume that information on how to prevent the collapse has already been passed outside of Japan by agents of other countries who have infiltrated the country.

The Japanese government will also tell the U.S. that the collapse of the dungeon has been stopped and will ask the U.S. to immediately stop the nuclear missile attack.

But will this be enough reassurance?

For example, will the Voice of Heaven reach the nuclear submarines hiding in the depths of the high seas, far from Japan’s shores?

Even if it reaches them, there is a possibility that there are no explorers among the crew who can hear the voice of heaven.

It has been said that a submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles from underwater will receive minimal communication from friendly forces.

The launch order may have already been confirmed and cannot be canceled.

Or there may be a crazy country that pretends not to have heard the Voice of Heaven… and launches the missile.

To test Japan’s missile defense capability in an emergency or something like that.

I would like to think that this is not the case.

If they fail to intercept the missiles, hundreds of thousands of civilian lives could be lost.

I don’t think any country would play with such fire, even to the point of global condemnation.

But as an ordinary citizen, I can’t even imagine what the international community and its security measures are like.

I saw on the news that during the Great East Japan Earthquake, some countries tried to approach Japan’s airspace with fighter jets to see Japan’s air defense capabilities in times of disaster.

It is humanly unimpressive that the time to attack is when the opponent is weak, but perhaps it is common sense in the international community.

“Kudave, can you make it fall? …No. Can you obliterate it?”

If the detonator is not triggered, there should be no nuclear explosion, but even if the wreckage of the missile falls to the ground, it could cause considerable damage.

Even if the wreckage is lucky enough not to hit people or buildings, the radioactive fallout alone would be catastrophic.

Kudave’s Megiddo Breath, however, should be able to smash both the detonator and the radioactive material into nothingness.

…When the nuclear industry, which is struggling to dispose of nuclear fuel, hears about this, they’ll jump on it.

“Kuhahaha! That’s a silly question, Yuto! I’ll destroy every last bit of it!”

“If the SDF is going to intercept it, don’t intercept it until then.”

Since the Japanese government seems to have approved (or been forced to swallow) the nuclear missile attack with the U.S. forces in Japan as the main axis, it would not have intercepted the missiles according to the original plan.

Still, I suspect that Aegis ships and ground-based missile defense units are still in action, just in case.

The best thing would be for the SDF to shoot them all down.

I have no desire to shoot down nuclear missiles and feel proud of myself.

It is not good to be known as having the ability to shoot down nuclear missiles on my own.

On the other hand, I can’t just stand by and watch nuclear missiles fall on a city to hide my abilities.

“Please don’t try to attract attention.”

“What are you saying now? Don’t tell me you thought you were keeping a low profile all this time?”

“Ugh…”

I’m at a loss for words to reply to Kudave’s mixed dismay.

“I’ll keep that in mind. But then, I am already conspicuous. Don’t expect too much, okay?”

“That’s enough. I know I’m asking too much.”

“Umu. But you also have a very strange personality. You always hide and take great care to remain inconspicuous, but when you hear that someone is in trouble, you fly out without thinking twice. It’s a bad personality.”

“I’m aware of that.”

I replied with a wry smile,

“No, you say that, but you are not fully aware of it yet. You will be the center of attention whether you like it or not. You will be able to hide most of your accomplishments, but there will be many things you cannot hide. Even those you can hide, there will be those who suspect your involvement. If you continue in your current personality, you will soon be called upon to save the country and the world from crisis. Just like a legendary hero or a brave man from the other world.”

“I’m not a hero.”

“Yes, that’s not like you, Yuto. That’s why. If you are expected to be a hero or a brave man, you will be crushed by those expectations. Or you will fail to live up to those expectations and be destroyed in the process. You will be used and torn to pieces, and when all is said and done, you will be removed because you are dangerous. This is the future that awaits you now, waiting for you with clenched fists.”

“…..”

Kudave spoke more seriously than ever, leaving me speechless.

His words reminded me of my darkest days in the past.

In high school and when I worked for a company.

I was burdened with excessive expectations and roles, and when I couldn’t carry them, I was crushed.

I escaped.

And I was broken.

I wasn’t asked to be a hero or a brave man.

I was a senior defending a junior who was being bullied.

A corporate employee who does the work required of him while dealing with the unreasonableness that is common.

It’s a much smaller role compared to the fate of the world, but I still couldn’t handle it.

If Kudave’s words are true, I’m about to go the same way I once went.

And in fact, Kudave’s words are probably true.

“…My personality, huh?”

What is personality?

What’s in your head, what’s in your heart, how your brain is wired, science can’t tell us.

We may never know, no matter how much science is developed.

Therefore, personality can only be judged by the behavior of the owner.

However, the same behavior in a hundred people is not a criterion for judging personality.

Choice.

The most important criterion for judging a person’s personality is a kind of ultimate choice, which can be judged differently by different people.

If I have the personality traits Kudave describes, they are reflected in every single choice I make.

Past, present, and future.

I have failed many times in the past, and I am probably beginning to fail in the present; if I continue on this path, there is a good chance that I will be doomed in the future.

This time is no different.

I rushed in because Honoka-chan and Haruka-san were in danger and engaged in a battle with elves of unknown strength and identity.

I rode alone into the Okutama Lake Dungeon, where it was almost certain that a major dungeon disaster was about to occur.

I even encountered a post-collapse dungeon that had grown to the point of devouring the world and fought an entity that looked like a divine dragon from another world.

I’m not being asked to do this by anyone; it’s all of my own free wills.

…No, it sounds good to say it’s my own will, but in reality, it’s closer to saying that I had no choice but to intervene because I couldn’t leave the crisis in front of me alone.

It is true that if I keep doing this, I will die one day.

But it is also true that leaving it alone was not an option.

“My personality… I guess that means I’m easy to deal with for those who want to use others as pawns.

After all, they can send me to my death if they can make me feel a sense of mission, create a sense of danger, and tell me: “Only you can do this.

This is what Seiji Tozaki tried to do to me just before I entered the post-collapse dungeon.

Well, in that case, I had already made up my mind to do something about the collapse, even though he had brought no information.

“Let me tell you something, Yuto. I don’t dislike your personality. Don’t even think about fixing your personality. If you can change it easily, it’s not a personality.”

“That’s true, but… Then what should I do?”

“…Umu. Then I’ll ask you the opposite question. How would I answer your question?”

“Huh? Um… That’s right.”

I couldn’t help but think, “Don’t answer a question with a question,” but I guess there must be a point to it.

I thought for a moment,

“Well, if it is Kudave, why don’t I just be as strong as everyone else or something like that?”

…When I think about it, I’m clearly asking the wrong person for advice.

If I ask a person who prides himself on being the strongest for advice in life, I am bound to end up with, “You have to be stronger.”

“That’s right. That’s my answer. That’s all I can say. If there is a wall, break it down. But I can only say that because I am the strongest.”

“That’s right.”

“But here’s what I think. You will face this problem sooner or later. It would be nice if you could escape, but that’s not always the case. Also, as I see it, you have a peculiar tendency not to escape in situations where others would. You are too good at ‘escaping.'”

“I’ve never heard anyone say that to me before.”

“Well, then, remember that. Then remember that sooner or later, you will have to give an answer.”

When I looked, all the remaining ‘fibers’ in the room had been burned away.

He was very skilled at manipulating multiple ray breaths while talking to me.

“I understand. I’ll go see god.”

I jumped into the black portal.