Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 241

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TL: ALT

Chapter 241 – “Fight” vs. “Escape”

“I have no reason to fight you…”

I say, even though I know it’s pointless.

I’d rather not have to fight one-on-one if I can avoid it.

Even if I don’t lose now, I don’t have the kind of qualities that make me like fighting more than eating three meals a day, like the delinquents of the Showa era.

Even if the other person is of a lower rank, I’m still afraid of them.

It’s true that I’m more relaxed than before, but I’ve gotten used to it.

“I’ve got it. You have no idea how hard it is to hide the fact that you’re secretly kidnapping these explorers from the other world.”

I’ve rescued quite a few people from the other world so far, but the government has so far kept my involvement a secret.

It’s a matter of face for the government, and it would cause social unrest.

Recently, it’s become impossible to hide it, and they’ve gradually started reporting it as an “escape due to collar malfunction.”

“I didn’t ask for this.”

“This country needs a charismatic figure right now. We have that puppet playing that role, so we can’t have a ‘kind demon king who goes around liberating poor slaves.’ There can only be one hero per generation.”

“A puppet, huh? I don’t think it’s right to call the Prime Minister of a country that. Isn’t he the prime minister appointed by your uncle?”

Calling Seiji Tozaki a puppet means that he hasn’t been affected by the Change of Strategy.

There’s a strong protection on his status, and even with my abilities, I can’t look at it.

I tried to check Tozaki’s status earlier, but I couldn’t, so it must be a different system.

While Tozaki’s status is “hidden by the system,” Harukawamiya Hayato’s protection is due to his own power.

Tozaki’s hiding is also creepy, but Hayato’s power to block my current status assessment ability, which is equivalent to the Fathom skill, is also not to be underestimated.

“You always run away like a coward. Today, I won’t let you escape.”

A blue grid line spread out from Hayato’s body.

It was a transparent grid line like graph paper.

There was no attack judgment, but that meant there was no way to intercept it.

The grid, which seemed to be a special ability, ran through the Shinjuku Station Underground Dungeon as if scanning the room.

It was the first time Hayato had used something like this.

“What is this…?”

“Are you afraid, Kurashiki? This is my unique skill, Fight. I don’t use it very often, but you should be honored.”

“Fight?”

“I’ll tell you anyway because you’ll find out soon enough. My Fight is a skill that allows me to forcefully engage in combat with a specific opponent. And it’s not just any kind of fight.”

In the middle of his words, Hayato attacked.

‘Harukawamiya Hayato’s attack!’

I caught the attack with my left hand, which had come towards me in a flash and was about to slash me.

‘Kurashiki Yuto blocked the attack with his Blade Catcher skill!’

Then something strange happened.

I tried to twist my left hand to activate the Weapon Steal skill combo from Blade Catcher, but my body didn’t move.

I instinctively braced myself and looked at Hayato, but it seemed that the royal hero was also unable to move.

‘Kurashiki Yuto’s turn. Command?’

“What the hell is this? Are you kidding me?”

“Heh, isn’t this fun? My Fight is apparently in the retro game style. The battles are forced to be turn-based.”

“Turn-based?”

“You can only perform one action per turn. Apart from the first move, whoever is faster in terms of agility goes first, but being faster in terms of agility doesn’t mean you get more actions. In short, it’s one hit and one retaliation.”

“You have a unique skill like that?”

I’m stunned when I hear the details.

But maybe I don’t have the right to be stunned by this information.

After all, my Escape is also a mass of mysterious specifications.

There are simple unique skills like the Thunder Chain possessed by Sakaki of Hecatoncheire, and there are complex and mysterious unique skills like my Escape.

Simple unique skills can usually be reproduced by combining normal skills, but it seems that my Escape is a unique skill, and it is difficult to reproduce it by combining other skills.

So I’ve been thinking lately.

I wonder if some unique skills are just combinations of existing skills and if there are also truly unique skills that are tailor-made.

If Hayato’s Fight is like that, then it definitely falls into the latter category of truly unique skills.

Hayato continues.

“My agility means that I’m often at a disadvantage if I only move once per turn. Most of the time, it’s faster to fight normally without using Fight. It’s a useless skill, really. Give it to a pro wrestler or something.”

Apparently, Fight is just as useless a skill as Escape.

Because of Escape, it’s hard to escape normally.

Because of Fight, it’s hard to fight normally.

“But it will stay with you. You seem to be more agile than me. If we fight normally, you’ll escape, and it’ll be over, just like before.”

I’ve run into this guy several times before, and every time, I’ve managed to escape.

I don’t know what kind of perception he has in his brain.

It means that he’s devised his own countermeasures and used his trump card, his unique skill.

“Come on, fight me, Yuto Kurashiki! To be honest, I have no idea how strong you are! You even managed to defeat me, who defeated the Demon King in another world and returned home, didn’t you? The nickname of the living deterrent isn’t for nothing, is it? Try to defeat me to the point of despair! Make me feel alive!”

“You’re a battle junkie with a penchant for self-destruction. Please keep that in the manga.”

It seems to me that this guy doesn’t want to fight me because I’m in his way but just because I’m strong.

For someone who is so overwhelmingly strong, fighting is probably just a chore for him.

And then, out of the blue, I appeared.

That’s why that royal hero made me his sworn enemy.

It’s true that I’m standing in the way of Tozaki’s promise to make this country the strongest in the world, but it seems that the real goal is to fight to the death with me.

‘Yuto Kurashiki’s turn. Command?

The Voice of Heaven is urging me to act again.

“Then there’s only one thing I can do.”

Escape skill. Level 4. Escape from the situation.

The activation requirement is to feel more than just awkwardness at being in this situation.

It’s not that difficult.

In the first place, I felt a little awkward already when I was called “Kind Demon King of the Underground.”

I’m not that kind of person. I’m not a kind person, nor am I a philanthropist. I don’t want to challenge the current situation in this country, and I don’t want to start a revolution.

And yet, on the surface, there are warrants out for my arrest, and the ECRT and the Royal Hero are after me like I’m their sworn enemy.

No matter how much power I have, I’m not invincible.

Just a moment ago, when I was on the surface, I was attacked by a person who seemed to be a Russian spy with a unique skill, and I almost ended up in a lonely old age.

I was able to doubt the situation because I believed that Serika and the others would never abandon me, but if I continue to be marked by the country from now on, there is no possibility that I will not face an even more tragic future.

There are probably people in the world with more powerful unique skills than Uspensky. There is no guarantee that I can reliably repel a sneak attack with an unknown unique skill every time.

To begin with, I’m a social failure, so to say that I’m going to gather allies and fight against the ‘air’ that pervades this land is nothing short of reckless. When asked what controls this country, a thinker replied, ‘air.’ It was because of this kind of ‘air’ that Japan plunged into a reckless war before the war. Some people believe that it was because of this “atmosphere” that the Imperial Japanese battleship Yamato was ordered to make a tactically impossible solo run at the end of the war and was sunk without being able to do anything in front of the American planes. Even after the war, the “atmosphere” that rules this country has not changed, and in fact, it seems to have become even stronger with the advent of social media. It has become even worse with Tozaki’s ‘strategy.’ The Japanese are like racehorses with blinders on, unable to see anything but their own goals and interests…

And then there’s me, a former shut-in who can’t read the mood, taking on the challenge with nothing but my bare hands.

Lately, I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night because of my anxiety. Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night. Thanks to learning Meditation skill to calm the mind and restore MP, I’ve finally been able to sleep properly lately. But the more I think about it, the more I find things that make me anxious, and my anxiety just keeps growing without end…

The more I think about it, the more I feel like my throat is closing up and my chest is getting blocked.

Well, that is enough for now.

‘Yuto Kurashiki has escaped!’

“Goodbye, Prince.”

I calmly jumped into the blue portal that disappeared when Hayato, confused and unable to see me in front of him, looked away.

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