Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 166

TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!

Enjoy~

TL: ALT

Chapter 166 – A Little Follow-Up

The next morning, when Haitani-san came to wake us up after we’d overslept,

she said, “You’re completely after the fact, aren’t you?”

And Serika and I insisted with red faces that nothing had happened.

As usual, we heard all kinds of circumstances from Haitani-san, who muttered, “So nothing happened…? (shudder).”

The fact that the collapse of the dungeon had been prevented had already become news.

It seems that a group of explorers requested by the Explorers Association had gone into the Okutama Lake Dungeon before noon today and had finished their investigation up to the fourth floor.

In the job world, the Okutama Lake Dungeon was an S-rank dungeon after the collapse, but in this world, where the dungeon collapse has ended, the Okutama Lake Dungeon has returned to its original A-rank.

It would be possible to speed up the investigation if they sent their best people.

Still, the fact that the investigation was completed so quickly is quite remarkable.

According to Haitani-san, not only domestic explorers participated, but also powerful parties from overseas.

The quick completion of the investigation is said to be the result of the division of labor and cooperation among several S-rank parties.

Of course, even though the investigation is over, it doesn’t mean that they have found the cause of the collapse.

They’ve just confirmed that “there’s nothing unusual about it.”

…From there, it’s said that the story has turned into a discussion about who this solo explorer is who not only managed to finish the dungeon while it was collapsing but also managed to put an end to the unknown phenomenon of dungeon collapses themselves.

There are also testimonies from people who were in the shrine and from the explorers we rescued from Clovis.

It’s also known that I cleared the Okutama Lake Dungeon in a short time in pursuit of Clovis, who kidnapped Haruka-san.

“We only revealed that it was an explorer affiliated with the Paladin Knights.”

Haitani-san says.

“By saying that, we can tell them to direct their inquiries through us.”

The other thing that worries me is the ballistic missile that was fired when the dungeon collapsed.

“To cut a long story short, the governments of various countries have not made any official announcements about the launch of the ballistic missile. This includes the Japanese government.

“If what Kudave said is true, then the missiles were fired by Russia, China, and North Korea.”

They were fired from submarines in the Sea of Okhotsk, the South China Sea, and off the Korean Peninsula.

Two of them were shot down by the Self-Defense Force’s Aegis, and the remaining one was destroyed by Kudave.

In other words, the US did not launch any missiles.

“We don’t know the details. Perhaps, for political reasons, a truce was reached to pretend that the missile launch itself never happened.”

“So the Japanese government also accepted this?”

If they publicly admitted that they had been fired upon by nuclear missiles, then the question of how to retaliate would have to be addressed.

Japan has no nuclear capability of its own, but as long as the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty exists, it is natural for Japan to ask the U.S. to retaliate with nuclear weapons.

Although the justification was to prevent the collapse of the dungeon, the missile was actually launched after the Voice of Heaven announced that the collapse had been prevented.

If this fact is made public, why won’t the US retaliate with nuclear weapons? What’s the point of the Japan-US Security Treaty if they don’t retaliate? Japan should arm itself with nuclear weapons and retaliate alone against the country that launched the missiles!

The Japanese government―or rather the US government―didn’t like that.

“Did they say anything about Kudave?”

“At first, we were inundated with inquiries. But they weren’t just inquiries; there were a lot of threats, too.”

“I-is everything okay?”

“Kurashiki-san. Paladin Knights may be a medium-sized guild, but we’re famous for being a group of elite fighters, you know?”

“I’m sorry, I worried unnecessarily.”

“No, thank you for worrying. I thought you only had eyes for Serika-san.”

“T-That’s not true…”

“I’m just joking.”

You’re not joking at all because you’re serious.

“As for Kudave-san, we suddenly stopped receiving inquiries about him. We still get inquiries from the Explorer’s Association and other guilds, but the government-related ones have stopped.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s probably because the missile launch never happened. Kudave-san’s missile launch never happened either.”

“Oh, I see. That’s how it works.”

“Of course, just because there have been no public investigations, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be any interference in the future. On the contrary, we should be prepared for people to try to get close to us in all sorts of ways.”

“What a troublesome story.”

“It is annoying, but of course. Kurashiki-san has acquired the ability to intercept ballistic missiles on an individual basis. No, it’s not just interception. If Kurashiki-san felt like it, he could redirect the destructive power of the intercepted missile to the ground. Isn’t that a more powerful deterrent than nuclear weapons?”

“I don’t think Kudave would help in a genocide.”

But that’s something other people wouldn’t understand.

“What about Seiji Tozaki?”

“I told him that the hole was sealed. He just said, ‘That’s too bad.'”

“Did he try to find fault with you by saying that you sealed it on purpose?”

“No, he didn’t.”

That’s kind of creepy.

“It seems that the government doesn’t want to make Kurashiki-san’s case public. They want to keep it at the level that the Paladin Knights members worked hard to solve.”

“That’s a relief, but… why?”

“It seems that they do not want to attract unwanted attention from overseas. It’s not uncommon for talented explorers to be lured away.”

“Hmm.”

“I think Serika-san, who is already well known, will be the one to go out and deal with it.”

“Yes. That’s only natural. After all, I’m the representative.”

Serika nodded.

“Actually, I also want people to know about Yuto’s efforts.”

“Stop it. It’s not good to stand out.”

Well, I feel a little bad about forcing the Paladin Knights to deal with the consequences of something I did on my own.

Anyway, despite the magnitude of the incident, it looks like the aftermath will be dealt with in a relatively low-key manner.

* * *

I thought there was no way I would ever find out what happened to the job world I had fled because I was escaping from difficulty.

According to Splefnir, the fate of the world was reversed, and it was decided to continue as it was.

There is one thing I regret.

…No, it’s not that I regret losing my relationship with Honoka-chan or anything like that, you know?

The thing I regret is the novel Sayuki wrote.

Sayuki’s novel, which won the spectacular “Bungei-kai Newcomer Award” title, was supposed to be published in next month’s magazine.

However, there was no way for me to get my hands on that magazine after returning to the skill world.

…Or so I thought, but after returning to this world for a while, I noticed something strange.

It was the Item Box.

Remember it?

When I was in the job world, I used the unique bonus of the Usurper to take the items I had obtained in the skill world out of the Item Box.

In other words, even though I was in the job world, I was able to access the skill world’s Item Box.

When I tried it after returning to the Skill World, I was able to retrieve the items I had obtained in the Job World, such as the magic sword Shadow Slayer and the Saint’s Cloak, from the Item Box.

In other words, my Item Box can be accessed from both the job world and the skill world, and the contents are the same.

In order to avoid a fight over items between me and ‘the other me,’ we corresponded through the Item Box to discuss the distribution and sharing of items.

For example, the Magic Sword Stormcaller is the other me’s favorite weapon, so he’ll keep it for himself.

In exchange, I can use the Shadow Slayer, the magic sword I got in the post-collapse Okutama Lake dungeon, as I please.

I have the Prayer Earrings (complete resistance to all status abnormalities) that were strengthened by the god, so I gave him the Saint’s Cape and other status abnormality countermeasure accessories.

If there are items I originally had that I want to use, we can be flexible, and we can also discuss the opposite if necessary.

I can use Escape to steal rare items from bosses endlessly, so I can get elixirs quite easily.

On the other hand, the other me who does party activities with Saber Saber tends to have too many items from treasure chests in dungeons.

Unlike me, he doesn’t lose any money when he escapes, so it seems that he often keeps rare items instead of selling them.

In other words, I can use the Item Box to trade items between the two worlds.

That’s all well and good, but it’s a strange feeling to correspond with my high school self.

Whenever I see my handwriting, which isn’t very good, I realize that this is me.

There was a time when I thought to myself, “If you can, you should go to higher education.”

I have even been asked for my opinion on this matter.

I doubt that my advice would be of any use, but I realized something important.

There is a time lag of several years between the skill world and the job world.

Even though there is a disruptive factor in the form of dungeons, it is safe to assume that technological progress and social change are roughly equal.

For this reason, I’m also searching the Internet for information that might be useful to the “me” of the past.

The first thing that comes to mind is the idea of telling people which horse to bet on, but unfortunately, I’m still a minor and not short of money.

However, information about the state of the economy in a few years or trends in the job market could be quite useful.

If he found someone like Haitani-san and gave them that kind of information, they might start doing something terrible.

But the other me is also a stubborn person, and he refused any information that was not absolutely necessary, saying, “I will make our own future with my own strength.”

It seems that I will only be able to give advice on really personal career issues.

I hope that through my specific example of failure, he will be able to achieve a bright future.

Still, so much has happened, from the collapse of the dungeon to my return from the working world.

I decided to take a week or two off to rest, partly to hide from the world.

I caught a cold and ended up in bed, but I recovered and was just about to get back into the swing of things when I received a letter and a magazine from me.

“What is this…?”

The magazine I took out of the item box was “Bungeikai.”

The publication date was several years before the skill world.

On the cover was “Mushikago” by Yukishiro Natsume, the winner of the Bungeikai Newcomer Award.

“Oh, it’s Sayuki’s novel!”

I exclaimed, putting aside my letter paper for later and turning over the cover of Bungeikai.

The award-winning work “Mushikago” was difficult for me to understand.

It was literary, but the expression was difficult and took time to digest.

The style of writing was so difficult and solemn that I couldn’t believe it was written by a high school girl―would people say that’s a prejudice these days?

The setting of “Mushikago” is a high school.

The story of four boys and girls involved in bullying is told in a detached, cold, and spiteful third-person narration that seems to distance itself from all the characters.

The girl who bullies and the girl who is bullied are in a codependent relationship through the bullying.

It is written that, in some ways, this was a very stable relationship.

It is expressed like this: “Although she was covered in humiliation, while she was immersed in the cold mud, she was able to forget other forms of humiliation.”

“The relationship between Sayuki and Junko Tozaki―not really.”

It is impossible for Sayuki and Junko to be co-dependent.

That was not a literary inner world; it was just naked violence.

Junko Tozaki is a monster.

She is such a stereotypical monster that there is no room to delve into her as a literary character.

I think Sayuki based her story on her own experiences and added her own literary touches to create a work with depth.

Sayuki has taken her painful experiences and sublimated them into a work of art.

Knowing both of Sayuki’s worlds, I was unexpectedly moved to tears.

The relationship between the two girls begins to change one day when a boy protects a girl who is being bullied.

“Well, I guess I’m the model.”

While recognizing the heroism of the boy’s courage—he is not exactly a strong-willed boy—Sayuki’s brush mercilessly digs into the hidden ulterior motive towards the girl and the childish, selfish desire to be a hero.

Please don’t do this, because it hurts me too.

But the boy who is my model has a girlfriend.

The girlfriend is jealous of the girl who is being protected by the boy.

The jealous girl encourages the girl who is bullying her to change the target of the bullying to the boy.

She begins to take pleasure in comforting the boy who has become the target of the bullying and is in a bad way.

She also no longer tries to hide her sense of superiority over the girl who is no longer being bullied.

“Positionally, it’s Honoka-chan, but it’s completely different.”

I can’t help but feel that Honoka-chan is a bit yandere-like.

But I don’t think Honoka-chan has the same kind of deviousness as this girl.

Honoka-chan, as a girl, is more like a cheerful, open-hearted light yandere.

She’s cute because she’s open about her feelings and sometimes sulks and gets jealous.

No wonder I’m stuck in a swamp.

The girl who is no longer bullied begins to want to punish the girl who bullied her and the boy with the hero complex with whom she had a codependent relationship.

As a means to this end, the girl comes up with the idea of faking her own suicide.

By leaving a suicide note, she leaves the bully with a stigma that will never go away and the boy with a sense of guilt that will never heal.

However, the suicide that was supposed to be a fake ends up being a real suicide due to an accident.

After the girl’s suicide, the girl’s suicide note is leaked to social networking sites, just as she had planned.

When I read the contents of the leaked suicide note, my mind froze.

‘If you can’t help me anyway, then I wish you hadn’t done anything at all. If you want to despair, don’t give me any hope. If it had been pitch black all the time, I might have been able to bear it, but now that I’ve been shown a glimmer of light, I can’t bear it anymore. I don’t know what to do. I hope that everyone who bullied me, everyone who half-heartedly defended me, and everyone who pretended not to see what was happening in society dies!’

“…What does that mean?”

I mutter in amazement.

“What does that mean? What is this?”

I still remember the shock I felt when I saw it on a social networking site.

The text was written in the same words, in the same messy handwriting, on a scrap of notebook paper that had been photographed with a smartphone.

I knew Sayuki’s handwriting.

So, I had no doubt that it was her suicide note.

I could not move at all, clutching the literary world so tightly that it creased until it was dark outside the window.

I realized I couldn’t see the letters and stumbled over to turn on the light.

With my throat parched, I muttered to myself.

“The reason the suicide note was just a scrap of paper is because it wasn’t a suicide note.”

Sayuki was writing a novel.

I think she would eventually type it out on a computer, but it’s possible that she wrote down ideas in a notebook as a preliminary step.

The reason the handwriting in this “will” was sloppy was not because of extreme excitement.

It was because she hastily scribbled down the ideas that came to her.

Sayuki, who has experience in calligraphy, writes surprisingly beautiful characters.

If she wanted to leave a will, wouldn’t she try to write it in beautiful characters?

There is no way she would choose a scrap of paper like this.

“Then this suicide note…”

There is no way that Sayuki, who was driven to suicide, would have taken the trouble to post only fragments of her novel on social networking sites.

If she had uploaded the whole novel before she died, it would have been understandable.

Similarly, it’s hard to imagine that she would have taken pictures of fragments of the novel on her smartphone and shared them with someone.

If she suddenly sent such a graphic scene, there would be nothing to comment on.

She even shyly confessed that she was writing a novel at the inn.

I think it’s unlikely that she showed her notebook to anyone.

If that’s the case… it means…

“Someone saw Sayuki’s creative notebook and thought it could be used for a suicide note…”

If that’s the case, then it’s not a suicide note.

If it’s not a suicide note, then

“Sayuki’s death was not suicide…”

I found myself clenching my right fist so hard that my fingernails dug into my flesh.

If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read several chapters ahead!