Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 246

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 246 – Magazine Journalist Haruhara

Serika seemed to be against it, but I decided to meet Haruhara.

It was a strange feeling to meet someone for the first time who seemed like a close friend.

I still have memories of myself in the job world.

Even though it was a parallel world, I couldn’t think of him as a complete stranger.

When I met Haruhara in a private room at a restaurant, he knew more than I expected.

Did Tozaki know about the danger of the dungeon collapsing, and yet he left it open to create a passageway to another world?

There must be some kind of dungeon skill—probably Tozaki’s own unique skill—behind his rise to Prime Minister after losing the election in a small constituency.

He pieced together partial information and presented his conclusions, which seemed to be close to the truth.

Considering that Tozaki’s Change of Strategy affects other people’s perceptions, it’s surprising that he was able to get so close to the truth through interviews and deductions alone.

What Haruhara wanted from me was information to confirm his deductions.

“Something feels strange. I have the feeling I’ve met you before.”

Haruhara tilted his head and said this.

Since I had spoken casually from the beginning, Haruhara had already begun to use informal language.

It was also good that I had received some information from the parallel world Haruhara through the Item Box before meeting him.

“So that elf leader named Clovis caused the Okutama Lake Dungeon to collapse in his attempt to return to his original world?”

“Yes. But there’s no proof that Clovis actually exists… Well, maybe there is.”

“What? Don’t be so mysterious.”

“Don’t be surprised.”

When I used Spirit Summoning to summon Clovis’ spirit, Haruhara recoiled in shock.

“U-unbelievable.”

As he said that, I was impressed by Haruhara’s reporter spirit as he tried to interview Clovis.

“Damn, as expected from a spirit, he doesn’t make much sense.”

“That can’t be helped. We can’t exactly put him on the stand as a witness.”

“Then why did you show it to me?”

“At least you believe me, right?”

“Ah, I see… Even a Summoner can’t conjure a spirit out of thin air.”

After talking for a while, Haruhara awkwardly brought up the subject.

“Actually, I went to the same high school as you. I left right away, so you probably don’t remember…”

“I remember you.”

“I see. I heard you had a hard time after that.”

As expected from a reporter, he had researched that as well.

“Even if I had stayed in school, I don’t think I could have done anything… But I think what you did was admirable. Before the dungeon appeared, you had no power, yet you stood up to evil. Not many people can do that.”

“It means a lot to hear you say that.”

I let out a small sigh and said,

“You know that Junko Himuro became Tozaki’s adopted daughter, right?”

“Yes. She was in charge of the explorer guild Rakan, but she died in an accident while exploring. Tozaki seems to take in other people without family and raise them in a facility. It’s called Cold House or something like that. I don’t know why he does that, though…”

“Huh. You researched that well.”

“So you know about it?”

“Yes. You know about the incident where the researchers clashed in the Umihotaru Dungeon?”

“That was right before the election, wasn’t it? A net organization spreading sexism clashed with an extreme feminist researcher… Could that incident be related?”

“Kiriko Kandori from the Women’s Association is from Cold House. The conflict between the Men’s Association and the Women’s Association itself was caused by a website called Genron.net…”

Haruhara researched the situation well, and as a journalist, he was good at asking questions.

Haruhara was like that in the job world, too, but it seemed that his work had honed his skills even more.

It was okay to talk about the past.

There’s no proof that my story is true, but I don’t have to prove it.

A skilled journalist would use my information to gather detailed testimony.

“This is much more than I expected…”

“Are you scared?”

“No. It’s getting interesting.”

Saying that, Haruhara smiled.

According to the advice given by Haruhara from the job world, instead of hiding the danger and making people feel safe, emphasizing how dangerous it is will make them more interested and eager to participate.

It’s sound advice, as you might expect from the man himself.

“In Cold House, also known as The House of Zacchaeus, the strength of personality was the criterion for evaluation. The ‘strength of personality’ that Tozaki refers to seems to be a personality that is not afraid to control others for its own purposes.”

“You mean he wanted pawns who would control others in his place?”

“Probably.”

Of course, I don’t think “strength of personality” is exactly what Tozaki means.

You need strength of personality to restrain yourself and act with consideration for others.

In that sense, Tozaki’s definition of “strength of personality” is undoubtedly narrow.

However, in a way, Tozaki’s assessment was correct.

After the dungeon appeared, several people with powerful unique skills were born in the Cold House.

Kandori is one example, as well as the explorer Serika captured before, a man named Zatsudo.

My neighbor’s younger brother, Yamato Sakurai, who was the ideologist of the Men’s Association while still in high school, was also scouted by Cold House.

In the end, the criteria for “strength of personality” that Tozaki mentioned overlapped with the conditions required to obtain the powerful unique skills required by the dungeon with remarkable precision.

Of course, there are explorers like me and Serika who don’t seem to fit those criteria.

Tozaki himself possesses a powerful unique skill, so is there a connection?

Haruhara paused for a moment, then said,

“I don’t know if there is a connection, but I heard an interesting story.”

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