Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 180

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TL: ALT

Chapter 180 – Dangerous Organization Part 1

“Oh no, I’m going to be late!”

Due to the time it took me to find the entrance to the subway, I was going to be late for my appointment with Serika.

It’s also because I was distracted by the new skills I acquired, and it took longer than usual to leave the dungeon.

After finishing the Chidorigafuchi Dungeon in the morning, I took the subway from Kudanshita to Shinjuku.

I met Serika and Haitani-san in the lobby of the association headquarters.

As soon as I entered the lobby of the association headquarters, I felt an uneasy atmosphere.

At the center of it all was…

“The guild master and sub-master of the Paladin Knights are both women, and most of the core members are also women! Just the fact that the Paladin Knights have announced their intention to join our organization will have a huge impact on the explorer industry…”

A strangely dressed woman was bothering Serika and Haitani-san, who looked annoyed.

…I don’t think I should call her strangely dressed either, but I’m having trouble finding the right words to describe her.

She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, which is normal enough, but on top of that, she had a lab coat like a researcher’s and a pink bandana wrapped around her head.

On the back of the lab coat, in large handwritten letters, was the message “WOMEN DON’T NEED MEN” in pink marker.

Haitani-san said to the woman.

“This is your situation, isn’t it? Please leave.”

I’m sure there have been similar exchanges before, but Haitani-san’s tone is uncompromising.

“There are women all over the world who are still subjected to male violence, aren’t there? Will the holy knights of the Paladin Knights ignore the cries of these voiceless women?”

Haitani-san’s eyebrows furrowed in discomfort at the woman’s words.

It would take a lot to make Haitani-san lose her cool.

Maybe she was annoyed that Serika was being used as a tool to convince her.

And then Serika noticed me.

I wondered if I should talk to her or just wait and see what would happen, but…

“Oh, Yuto. Thank you for your hard work.”

Serika spoke to me naturally.

“Oh, yes. Sorry, I’m late for our meeting.”

“No problem. I didn’t wait more than five minutes.”

Serika and I ignored the woman and started talking,

“Who are you? Can you please not interrupt a conversation between women without permission⁉”

The woman said to me as she approached me.

Even though I didn’t understand the situation, there seemed to be no room to take the woman’s side.

It would be useless to try to calm her down.

“Haitani-san said you should leave. I don’t know who you are, but I realize that the conversation with Seri… our representative, is over. Right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. If you don’t leave, we’ll have to call security.”

Serika gives the final ultimatum to this person called Kandori-san.

In addition, Haitani-san also says,

“First of all, you barged in without an appointment. If you continue to do this in the future, we will have no choice but to react accordingly.

“Guh… don’t you women have any sense of solidarity?”

“I don’t understand. It’s unreasonable to expect people to feel a sense of solidarity just because they are of the same gender. Let’s go, Kurashiki-san. Our lunch reservation will be late.”

With that, Haitani-san tugged on my arm.

“A-are you saying that having lunch with a man is more important than a woman’s independence?

“Of course, a woman’s independence is important. What I don’t think is important is having a conversation with someone you can’t communicate with.”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Serika grabs my other arm and pulls me along.

The other explorers watching the scene around me give me a strange look as I am led away with two women holding my arms.

So far, they have been giving the mysterious woman a strange look.

“H-hey…”

“Shh. Please come with us now. She’s really insistent.”

Haitani-san whispers to me with a dejected look on her face.

I left the lobby of the association headquarters, being pulled along by Serika and Haitani-san.

I looked back, but the woman in question didn’t follow.

“Phew… I’m sorry, Yuto. I got you into something weird.”

“No, it’s okay… what was that about?”

“We’ll talk about the details when we get to the restaurant.”

We arrived at a restaurant that looked very expensive, led by Haitani-san.

It was a private room with a good view.

After all the dishes were served, Serika and Haitani-san began to talk.

“We’ve been getting harassed by the women’s association lately.”

Serika said.

“What is the women’s association?”

It was Haitani-san who answered my question.

“It’s a political organization that advocates the extreme protection of women and the exclusion of men. Its official name is the ‘Conference of Women Who Defend Themselves to Regulate Men’s Violence’…”

“Um… like militant feminists?”

I wonder if such an organization has taken note of Serika’s fame as a female explorer and her guild, the Paladin Knights.

But Haitani-san shook her head.

“No, it would be disrespectful to treat the women’s association together with feminists. In fact, most feminists have made it clear that they do not recognize the activities of the women’s association as feminism.”

“So, in short, it’s a pretty dangerous group?”

“Yes. The hallmark of the women’s association is their utter hatred of all men. They claim that the root of all evil in the world is the irrepressible violence inherent in men from birth.”

“Violence… I see.”

Is it sexist to say that men are more violent than women?

But generally speaking, it’s men who are more likely to use violence in crime, and the overwhelming majority of perpetrators of domestic violence are men.

It goes without saying that the perpetrators of sexual violence against women are men.

And so far, most of the dictators who wage aggressive wars and massacre ethnic minorities have been men.

“Is this called machismo? Aren’t there people who criticize the tendency to justify men’s violent behavior?”

From a young age, men are often expected to be “naughty” rather than quiet.

When I was in kindergarten, I was bullied by other boys, and my father got angry with me and said, “If you’re a man, fight back.”

“If you’re a man, don’t cry,” and “If you’re a man, you should be able to take it.”… I’m sure many of you can remember being told things like that by your parents or teachers.

In this day and age, all of these comments would be out of place, but I guess in my father’s generation, there was still a sense of ‘men should be men.’

Well, unfortunately, in some cases, the logic of “it’s counterproductive to just sit back and take it when someone is violent towards you, so you should show your strength as a deterrent” is correct.

When you see the arrogant behavior of dictatorships in the news, you can’t help but think that such a simplistic theory of the necessity of violence is correct in some cases.

It’s a world of juvenile delinquents with their mindless philosophy of “if you let them get away with it, you’re finished.”

However, for someone like me who doesn’t fit into the prevailing atmosphere of “men should be men”, a theory like “just as you shouldn’t tell women to be feminine, you shouldn’t tell men to be masculine” is a bit of a consolation.

On the other hand, for those who value tradition and culture, it would be intolerable if all notions of masculinity and femininity were watered down.

For example… yes, for people like my neighbor’s younger brother.

Personally, I’d like to say, “It’s just a matter of degree,” but perhaps taking such an ambiguous stance on such issues would mean being attacked from both extremes.

“The arguments of the women’s association are not a simple criticism of machismo. The women’s association sees all men as potential violent criminals. Therefore, they argue that all men should be subjected to regular psychological testing and that men who show signs of violent tendencies should be implanted with GPS devices. According to the “estimates” of the women’s association, about 80% of all men would have to be implanted. For men of a certain age and below, that would mean almost all of them.”

“Ugh.”

There are countries that implant GPS devices in sex offenders so that their whereabouts can be tracked by local residents.

However, the women’s association proposes doing this for all men, regardless of their criminal record.

“The GPS device is designed to send a strong electric current at any time if a nearby woman presses the emergency button. The emergency button will be distributed free of charge to every woman in the world. The button can be pressed not only when a woman feels her safety is threatened but also when she feels psychological discomfort. Women do not have to take responsibility for any harm caused to men as a result of pressing the button. Even if the man has a heart attack and dies, it is considered an act of self-defense. The theory is that this is a necessary social cost to deter male violence. It’s like saying dogs that bite people need to be put on a leash.”

“…That’s crazy.”

It was really crazier than I could have imagined.

“Furthermore, by castrating men who commit violent crimes, we will gradually reduce the number of men in the world, so that at first there will only be men chosen by women, at a ratio of one man for every ten women…”

“What about the children?”

“They say that as long as there are sperm created using DNA editing technology and artificial stem cells, there is no need for actual men. Nevertheless, they will ‘allow’ the psychological needs of women for the opposite sex to exist for the time being, and they will keep the good men who pass the screening after giving them proper education. They will gradually reduce the number of these men while giving women ‘enlightenment education toward independence as a species.’ In a hundred years, they will reduce the number of men to less than one thousandth. When that happens, men will be nothing more than museum specimens.”

“What kind of dystopia is this?”

It’s one thing to write about it in a science fiction novel but to actually try it is crazy.

“Or rather, isn’t the process itself violence against men?”

It’s not so much violence as planned slaughter.

“Even if you ask me, I don’t know. Ask the women’s association. Oh no, don’t ask them. You’ll get in trouble for sure.”

“No, I won’t say anything.

I don’t want to get involved with a group like that.

Even if I were attacked right now, I could probably fight them off… but that’s not the point.

If I tried to fight them, I don’t know what kind of trouble I would get into.

“Do you know what it’s like to be asked to cooperate with people like that just because we’re both women?”

Serika grumbled with a sigh.

I could understand why Serika and the others reacted that way.

Then I remembered that I had recently encountered a similar case―or maybe it was a very similar case in a different way.

“Speaking of which…”

I began to talk about my new neighbors, of course.

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