Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 108

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TL: ALT

Chapter 108 – Uncomfortable Feeling

I thought I heard someone’s voice.

But it seemed to be just a feeling.

Even thinking back, I don’t know what it sounded like, and I can’t remember what they said.

I must have been tired from the day and heard a voice that never existed.

In front of me, God, who was about to build a trial dungeon, tilted her head.

“…Mm? This is taking longer than I thought. I can’t say that I’m used to dealing with things like this… Is that how it is?”

“Couldn’t you do it?”

Well, even God doesn’t get to deal with voids very often.

“I’m sorry. I need more time to create the conditions. I’ll use all my skills. A dungeon just for you, where you can get what you need with the least amount of effort.”

“Thank you. If it takes too long, shall we arrange it for another day?”

“Yes… you must be tired. I will build a dungeon for you here, and you can dive in as soon as you recover.”

“I’m sorry, but I have to do that.”

“I will prepare an entrance portal for you near the entrance portal of the Okutama Lake Dungeon. You should be able to find it with the Discover Hidden Portals.”

“That would be great.”

“It’s me who has been saved. Now, I will place the portal in the ground there.”

God clapped her hands, and a white portal appeared before me.

White―a way out.

It is a relief to see a portal of this color.

“See you later, God.”

“Umu. Be careful. The threat is still… Mmm? The threat should be over. Rest your bones, and don’t worry about the rest… Mm?”

God returns my greeting with words of thanks as she tilts her head.

God seems to have something on her mind, but she doesn’t seem to know what it is.

For a moment, I was suspicious of God’s behavior, but after a few seconds or so, it didn’t matter.

I jumped into the white portal and walked out.

What I found was the bottom of a large gouged-out area.

The area where Lake Okutama and the dam were supposed to be was hemispherically gouged out as if a meteorite had fallen there.

“Wow…”

I gasped at the sight of the devastation.

It seemed that the vast amount of water the dam was supposed to store had been swallowed up by the collapsed dungeon.

If only water had remained, I would have been at the bottom of the lake.

I’m worried that the disappearance of the water from the dam will affect the water situation in the neighborhood…

“How far did Kudave go?”

I looked up at the starry sky and saw that Kudave had just come down.

“Kuhahahaha! I shot it down perfectly!”

I wondered what he was talking about, but he seemed to be talking about nuclear missiles.

“Did they really shoot it down?”

“I heard them talking about nuclear missiles. I got the last one.”

“Who fired the missiles?”

“I don’t know any country in this world. Looking at this slim, warped, dragon-shaped archipelago, they came from the southwest, the north, and the west from under the sea.”

“Wow, three countries…?”

The international situation in this world was worse than I, an ordinary person, had even vaguely imagined.

“The last missile I shot down was the most insignificant one. It makes even me look like a fool, you know.”

Kudave said, looking dissatisfied.

“I heard it could be the UN forces, but that last one was a complete rip-off.”

My summoned beast shot down a submarine-launched ballistic missile in space, which is important no matter what you think…

I told him that if he could leave it to the SDF, he should have, but I hope he wasn’t just showing his unnecessary competitive spirit, right?

If China, Russia, and North Korea had only fired with the intention of “one shot would be a misfire,” it wouldn’t have been a saturation attack.

“We’ve shown them our power, so why bother with the details?”

“It’s not a detail at all!”

I sighed loudly after saying that.

I am very tired, maybe because I just survived the biggest crisis of my life.

I want to go home and sleep in my bed as soon as possible.

But what about the way home?

The evacuation alert from the Voice of Heaven has probably completely paralyzed the transportation system in the area.

Even if it hadn’t, the last train would have departed long ago.

…I guess I’ll have to use the Karakuri UFO.

I was thinking of using Dungeon Travel to go to a dungeon near my parents’ house, the Black Swan Forest Water Park Dungeon, but on second thought, that is impossible.

Dungeon Travel can only jump from one dungeon to another that has already been conquered.

Although I prevented the Lake Okutama Dungeon from collapsing this time, it was not considered a “conquered” dungeon.

This is the second A-rank dungeon, but if it had been treated as a “conquered” dungeon, there would have been a special condition that was not limited to the first time.

The fact that it didn’t mean that this time, it wasn’t considered an official conquest of the dungeon.

If I want to fly in the air, I can do it with Kudave, but I don’t dare decide to go home dynamically on Bahamut, which just shot down a nuclear missile a while ago.

It’s bad enough to leave Kudave in the open, or rather right now.

Satellite photos these days can even identify people’s faces. How can they not find Kudave?

…No, I’m sure they’ve already found him.

“Sorry, Kudave. I’ll send you back. Thank you for your help this time.”

“Kuhaha! You were too obvious! It’s okay, I’m glad I could go on a rampage this time!”

I released my Summon Phantom Beasts skill.

Kudave vanished into particles of light.

“It’s not a good idea to let him out like this.”

I fought my way out through the hemisphere-shaped remains of Okutama Lake.

Because of the hemispherical shape, the slope became steeper as I approached the outer edge.

Because of the beautiful shape of the gouge, there are limited signs and footholds.

Well, with my current agility, I can climb the mountain rather easily.

Starting from the outer edge of the mountain, I look for a place where I won’t be noticed.

Soon, I found a hollow where the trees were sparse.

“Phew… This place should be good.”

I took out the Karakuri UFO from my item box and used Summon Secret Monster to summon Gennai, the Karakuri Doctor.

Of course, I immediately put Stealth on the UFO to make it invisible from above.

I got into the back seat of the UFO and let Gennai take control.

I leaned back in the seat and felt the soft, floating sensation of the UFO taking off.

The Karakuri UFO hardly produces any G-forces, even at high speeds.

My eyelids grew heavy from the silent, recoil-free flight in the middle of the night.

“…Oops. I have to call Serika.”

I pulled out my cell phone and sent Serika a guild chat.

The phone’s signal is out of range, but the guild chat, a DGP feature, still connects.

I can even connect in the dungeon, so this is not really a surprise.

Shortly after, Serika calls me.

“That is amazing, Yuto! You really stopped the dungeon from collapsing!”

“I really thought I was going to die this time.”

“Geez, don’t say that… Do you know how worried we were?”

I think it took me a long time to calm Serika, who was in tears.

When Serika finally calmed down, she said,

“Yuto, you shouldn’t come here today.”

That’s what Serika said.

When Serika said over here, she meant the Tengumine Shrine.

I wanted to go home, but when I thought about it, this was my priority.

“There are many people coming here. There are people whose identities I don’t even know. It’s not uncommon for people to hide their presence by using Covert… If there are people with strange skills, it’s annoying, so Yuto, please don’t show your face here.”

“Oh, I see… I’m sorry, I feel like I’m forcing you to clean up after me.”

“I will clean up as much as necessary. Compared to what Yuto has done, this is not even considered hard work.”

“Should I go to the guild room in Shinjuku?”

“You should go back to your parents’ house. Auntie was very worried about you.”

“Oh… that’s right.”

The world is in such a mess, and her explorer son hasn’t come home yet.

No matter how much of an adult I am, she would still be worried.

…I wonder if Serika is in contact with my mother?

“I know you’ll be busy tomorrow, but for now, just rest. Don’t worry; I won’t make it worse.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

“I don’t want Yuto to be the one telling me that.”

“Haha, that’s right.”

“…And, you know. The promise… Right?”

“Promise…? Oh, yeah.”

I blush as I remember.

…Right. What did I tell Serika?

Today was all unrealistic, but doesn’t that mean it was all a dream?

“Hey, that’s terrible! Did you forget?”

“I-it’s not like that. I was so busy with what was in front of me.”

“Hmm? Am I really that important to you?”

“Y-you know, they say there’s a difference between love mode and fight mode, right?”

“L-love… Y-yeah, that’s right.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I’ll be embarrassed too…”

“Hey, Yuto. Let’s talk about this slowly when things calm down. I have so many things to tell you. About my school days, about what happened after I became an explorer, about what happened after I founded the Paladin Knights, and so on… Yuto?”

No good; listening to Serika’s voice calms me down and makes me feel very sleepy.

“…You fell asleep, I guess. Then you didn’t listen, right?”

Serika’s whispered voice slips into my consciousness as I fall into darkness.

“I love you, Yuto. Always… from now on.”

“…Hmm?”

I wake up as someone shakes my shoulder.

The person gently shaking my shoulder was not Serika… but Gennai.

It’s probably just my imagination, but he looks like he’s telling me that this is the end of the line, customer.

The usual mad scientist Karakuri’s face hovers in the instrument lights.

The Karakuri UFO has landed in an unpopular park parking lot.

That’s the parking lot of the Black Swan Forest Water Park.

The Karakuri UFO has a simple navigation function.

It keeps track of the locations of the dungeons I have visited so far.

While Dungeon Travel only allows you to bookmark dungeons that you have completed, Karakuri UFO allows you to bookmark dungeons that you have visited at least once, regardless of whether you have completed them or not.

While Dungeon Travel saves you travel time, Karakuri UFO is probably more convenient when starting a new dungeon.

…Well, I can’t commute in something like that every time, even if I can use Stealth.

“Thank you, Gennai.”

I said and unsummoned Gennai.

Then, I put the Karakuri UFO into my item box.

It was lucky that the Karakuri UFO barely fit into the item box at level 5.

Otherwise, I would have had to constantly use Stealth with mana coins or consult with Haitani-san to secure a secret hangar.

Instead of the Karakuri UFO, I took a bicycle from my Item Box.

Convenient, isn’t it, a bicycle?

It has a reasonable speed, uses only human power, and doesn’t use up any mana coins.

There are a lot of places in the dungeon that are far from train stations and bus stops.

When I get settled, I can trade it in for something better.

I have a regular driver’s license, so I could buy a scooter, but considering the stamina of an explorer, it’s not much effort to pedal a bicycle.

In the humid night air, I get on my bike and ride along the national highway.

Perhaps due to the collapse of the dungeon, the national highway was surprisingly deserted.

Normally, there would be trucks coming and going, even late at night.

When I was young, my father once missed the train after drinking too much at a New Year’s party, and my mother drove to pick him up.

My mother still holds a grudge against him for forcing her to pick him up at the train station while being driven by a speeding truck on the national highway late at night.

More than 20 years later―I mean, almost 10 years now, every year, when the season for year-end celebrations comes around, my father still gets a lot of complaints from my mother about that time.

For the Kurashiki family, it is a national highway with such a history (?).

I thought about going to a convenience store to buy a late-night snack, but I was too tired.

It took me a few minutes to get home.

It was a little long for a normal city bike ride.

The high school I went to was a bike ride away from my parents’ house but not as far as the water park.

I wonder why the house gives me such a relief just to see it.

If the collapse of the dungeon could not have been stopped, this house would have disappeared into space between worlds.

No matter how much peace of mind I feel, this house has no special protection.

I know that when it’s gone, it’s gone, but I still feel a sense of relief just getting home.

I lock my bike and open the front door carefully.

It was late, but the door was unlocked.

“I-I’m home!”

It was well past midnight.

My parents gave me permission to work as an explorer, but I promised them I would not stay up late exploring.

Well, I had already told them in advance that I might be late tonight.

I entered the living room.

My mother was asleep on the living room sofa with the light still on, covered with a blanket.

She was probably waiting for me to get home.

I felt bad.

“Hmm?”

For some reason, I felt a sense of discomfort in my mother’s sleeping face.

My mother’s face… seemed to be missing something.

What’s missing?

“…Wrinkles and gray hair…?”

My mother, who had gone through a lot of hardship because of me, her son, used to have more wrinkles and gray hair…

…No, that can’t be true.

It may be that when I looked at my mother’s face for the first time in a long time, I saw that she was older than I expected, but it didn’t seem that she looked younger than I thought.

It’s unlikely that she would have an affair with a younger man, younger than her age, and become younger…

Please tell me there is no such thing.

She’s my mother, so there’s no way she could be such a beautiful witch.

I looked at my mother’s face again, but the strange feeling I felt earlier had already disappeared somewhere.

I can’t remember the details of my mother’s face before she was old or young.

I might be scolded for saying this, but that’s how it is when you’re my age, isn’t it?

I wonder if I should wake my mother or let her sleep.

Since she seemed to be fast asleep, I decided to leave her a note and go.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to be mad at me for coming home late.

I left the living room so as not to wake my mother and went upstairs to my room.

I wanted to take a shower, but I knew I would wake my mother.

Besides, I was too tired to take a bath.

I tossed my school bag on the floor and roughly took off my tightly collared uniform.

I pull my cell phone out of the pocket of my uniform pants and throw it on the bed.

After changing into a proper t-shirt and half-pants that I use as pajamas, I flop down and lay down on the bed.

I picked up my phone, which was on at the time.

“Huh…?”

What hit me unexpectedly was a strange feeling of discomfort.

The phone looked kind of tacky.

The aspect ratio was unrefined, and no matter how I held it, it didn’t feel comfortable in my hand.

It felt oddly bulky and, more importantly, heavy.

It was like,

“I don’t remember my phone having such wide bezels.”

The bezel between the outer edge of the device and the edge of the screen feels… unusually wide.

Bezels are supposed to be so thin these days that you hardly notice them.

The resolution also seems oddly low.

The fonts in the browser are too jagged.

“Wow, it’s so slow.”

Scrolling in the browser is so slow it’s annoying.

It’s as if the latest models run more smoothly as if they were a given.

“No, that can’t be right.”

This phone was bought by my parents as a gift for me when I entered high school.

It was the latest model at the time, only two years after its release.

There are only a handful of current models with better specifications.

Of course, this is the only smartphone I own.

I’ve never used a newer model on a daily basis.

I’ve been using it since high school, so I’m very attached to it, and I’ve rarely been dissatisfied with its performance.

So why did I think that this phone was an outdated model?

“Maybe I’m tired from exploring too much…”

As I lay on my bed idly looking at my phone, I fell into a deep sleep before I knew it.

――When I woke up the next morning, I had completely forgotten about the strange feeling I had the night before.