Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 207

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TL: ALT

Chapter 207 – Re-entry

“Puhah…!”

Yamato, who had been sprayed with the potion, sits up.

“Don’t get any funny ideas,”

I warn him, but he replies,

“Of course, I won’t get any weird ideas. Seeing a fight like that… everything is in another dimension. I could barely understand what was going on.”

Well, that’s probably true.

Due to my overwhelming agility and accelerated thinking, time seemed longer to me, but from Yamato’s perspective, “Before I knew what was going on, Kandori had turned into a monster like a tube worm, and a flood of dungeons with names that were dangerous just to hear had appeared, and a white haze had blown out of Kandori, and I had been blown away by ranged attack magic that I had unleashed at an abnormal speed without chanting. I suddenly began to emit a divine light from my whole body, and then I took an orange out of nowhere and bit into it, and then I spat out some kind of unknown seed, and the thin ivy that grew from those seeds smashed all the micro-dungeons on Kandori’s body one by one.”

Most of the phenomena would have been incomprehensible, and even if you understood them, there were many things you couldn’t follow with your eyes.

As a result, I guess he was satisfied with a very rough understanding that I had defeated a monster with a method he didn’t understand.

Well, even I, the person involved, can’t help but feel that it was an aerial battle full of incomprehensible things from start to finish.

“As I thought, you were the Black Tengu, Kurashiki-san.”

“…..W-what are you talking about?”

“No, you can’t fool people with just a mask like that.”

Yamato says with a look of dismay.

The part where I pretended to be confused was only half in jest.

I don’t think I can really hide with this.

It’s good enough to keep strangers from seeing my face, but people I know and government officials who keep an eye on me will probably recognize me right away.

Miho-san, for example, recognized me as the Black Tengu by my voice alone.

“So you didn’t hear it from Miho-san?”

“That sister of mine, who is so loyal, would never reveal the identity of her savior. But I heard from her that she was saved by the Black Tengu, and I also saw her bow before you. Afterward, she scolded me for my attitude toward you. That’s enough to make me suspicious.”

“I see.”

Nodding, I take another look around the lab.

The explorers of the Men’s Association, who have collapsed everywhere, stare at me and Yamato as if they want to kill us.

“I’ll ask you about what you did later. Right now, I’m in a hurry.”

“In a hurry?”

“Yes. I’m going to escape and re-enter the dungeon. But it’s dangerous to leave Kandori and you here together.”

The members of the Men’s Association are still in an incapacitated state, so even if I leave them here, they won’t be able to harm Kandori.

But this is a dungeon.

There’s a possibility that monsters will enter it or that they’ll “appear” right here.

If that happens, the explorers of the Men’s Association, who are in a state of inaction, will be killed without being able to do anything.

I’ll try to free them from their incapacitated state before I escape so that they can at least defend themselves.

But if I do that, I won’t be able to stop them from harming Kandori.

There’s another problem besides Kandori.

It’s Yamato.

Yamato betrayed the Men’s Association.

They’re the kind of people who believe Internet rumors and come to make a blood sacrifice of Kandori.

If I leave Yamato here, what will the others do to him when they regain their mobility?

Even though it’s his own fault, I’d be in trouble if people said I left him there when I foresaw a group lynching.

The question is which of the wolf, the sheep, and the vegetables should take over to the other side, but with a party of six, the answer is relatively simple.

“I’ll get you and Kandori out of the dungeon. I’ll leave the others to recover and move around.”

It would be best to take the wolf (Kandori) and the vegetables (Yamato) and leave the flock of sheep here.

The dungeon portal should already have been sealed by the Inspection Bureau, so there is no risk of the Men’s Association explorers escaping.

“Getting out of the dungeon… how are you going to do that? The Umihotaru Dungeon has never been explored. I don’t know the exact details, but it’s said to be one of the deeper A-rank dungeons. Even you can’t explore it with such a burden on your back.”

“I don’t have time to explain. Just accept my party request.”

Yamato asks me, but I don’t have to answer every question.

I take potion items from my Item Box and throw them at the fallen explorers in quick succession.

I’ve heard that most potions make no difference, whether they’re taken internally or externally.

The explorers who escaped from HP1 stagger to their feet.

The intense anger in their eyes makes Yamato step back with a pale face.

Meanwhile, I lift Kandori, wrapped in the Traveler’s Cloak, onto my shoulders and say,

“Evac!”

My vision darkened with a strange feeling of floating.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of the portal to the Umihotaru dungeon entrance.

I was in a corner of the large vehicle parking lot on the first floor of the Umihotaru parking lot.

There were several impressive vehicles parked in the lot.

A police car and… the Self-Defense Forces?

“Kurashiki-kun!”

One of the people around the vehicle noticed me and called out.

It was a man in his thirties with a rugby player’s build, wearing the uniform of the Inspection Bureau of the Explorers Association.

It was Minazawa-san, whom I also knew.

I was still wearing the mask, but he recognized me immediately.

It seems that this disguise doesn’t work on acquaintances.

“Just in time.”

I show Minazawa-san the Kandori I’m carrying on my shoulder.

“Is that… Kiriko Kandori?!”

“She was fighting with the explorers of the Men’s Association, so I subdued them both at once.”

“You subdued them both at once… The Men’s Association explorers here must be A-rank parties, right?”

“Whether you believe me or not is not important right now. Can you take care of her? She’s an incredibly dangerous woman, so please don’t let your guard down.”

“Okay, I got it. Hey, get a stretcher!”

Minazawa-san calls to the explorer, who seems to be his subordinate.

“I also want you to protect this guy.”

I pointed at Yamato, who was crouching nearby.

“He’s the high school student MyTuber who’s supposed to be inciting the Men’s Association.”

“We’ll talk about the details later. It may be more of an arrest than a protection.”

Yamato winced at the word “arrest.”

“Arrest… I understand. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Minazawa-san nodded with a stern expression.

“Oh, that’s right.”

I remembered something I’d forgotten.

“Yamato. I’ll explain the ‘strategy’ you’ve been given, except for one thing.”

Before the battle in the lab, I’d noticed that there was an unfamiliar line in Yamato’s status.

Status──────────────────

Yamato Sakurai

Level 727

…………

(omitted)

…………

Strategy

Burn your life, Don’t choose your means, Squeeze out every last drop, Strength is everything.

SP 2242

────────────────────

This strategy is granted by the unique skill Change Strategy by Seiji Tozaki.

The effects of each strategy are as follows.

Info ──────────────────

Strategy: Burn Your Life

Those who set this strategy will automatically have their HP restored and will be able to ignore the negative effects of physical fatigue and illness. As a secondary effect, they will receive all the fatigue and negative effects they have accumulated up to that point after the strategy is canceled.

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: Don’t Choose Your Means

Those who use this strategy will have their thinking speed increased by S.Lv x 10% and will have a 2% chance of realizing options that they would not have thought of under normal circumstances. As a side effect, their ability to make ethical decisions will decrease, and they will take actions that would normally be morally repugnant without hesitation.

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: Squeeze to the last drop

Those who set up this strategy can take HP and MP from those they recognize as their leaders at will. As a side effect, they lose their ability to empathize with the pain of others.

────────────────────

Info──────────────────

Strategy: Strength Is Everything

Those who set this strategy will have their attack power and magic power increased by S.Lv x 30%, and their defense and mind power decreased by S.Lv x 20%. As a side effect, they will have a stronger tendency to obey those stronger than them and oppress those weaker than them.

────────────────────

…That’s it.

Of these, the first one, “Burn Your Life,” is a lifeline for Yamato, who originally had a weak constitution.

It says, “As a side effect, you will receive all the fatigue and negative effects you have accumulated up to this point after the operation is canceled,” so it would be dangerous to cancel it carelessly.

However, it would be best to cancel all other operations quickly.

When the negative effects on the mind caused by the evil strategy are removed, he might be able to calmly reflect on his words and actions up to now.

I’m more worried about him realizing what he’s done and wanting to die.

Also, it’s unclear at this point whether a theory like “Yamato’s actions were the result of a ‘strategy,’ so he’s not to blame” would hold up.

“What, a ‘strategy’? What are you talking about?”

“It means that you were always in Seiji Tozaki’s hands.”

When I display Yamato’s status with a Detailed Appraisal, I use the Force Release skill to cancel the three strategies: Don’t Choose Your Means, Squeeze Out Every Last Drop, and Strength is Everything.

“Huh…?”

Yamato looks suspicious.

There must have been some kind of mental change.

But it will probably take some time for him to become fully aware of it.

“Well, I’m going to pick up Serika.”

I said to Minazawa-san, and then, without waiting for an answer, I jumped into the portal to the dungeon entrance.

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