Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 258

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TL: ALT

Chapter 258 – Strongest

Can I speak my mind?

“Don’t use me to help you commit suicide.”

That’s all there is to it.

I understand his situation, but that doesn’t make killing someone okay.

He didn’t kill Tozaki in the end, but according to Shaina and the others, he’s quite the troublemaker in Springraven.

He set up a factory in another world to produce “freedom contract collars” and established a supply route to bring people to Japan.

In the process, he burned villages, destroyed countries, and forced people who had lost their homes to sign contracts and come to Japan under slave-like conditions.

Was his purpose to fight bravely and die?

I don’t like these words, but… it’s nothing but a cry for attention.

“Kill me, Kurashiki! I’m a political criminal who killed the prime minister for my delusional ambitions! No one will blame you if you kill me. Don’t you hate me? Kill me, Kurashikiii!”

No one will blame me if I kill him.

I can’t believe he did this for that reason.

He could have just summoned me without killing Tozaki (who survived). He could have threatened to expose the “summoner’s” identity.

But that alone wouldn’t have given me a reason to kill Hayato.

That’s why he chose to become a murderer himself: to give me a reason to take him seriously.

If the top explorer in the country starts rampaging, I’m probably the only one who can stop him.

Even if I hadn’t responded to his summons, I would’ve been forced to confront him sooner or later.

What would have happened if I hadn’t shown up here? He might have killed indiscriminately or destroyed the city until I arrived.

In any case, up until I arrived, everything had gone according to his plan.

However, things didn’t go according to his plan until the very end.

The reason was… I was too strong.

I was so caught up in becoming stronger that I rushed to this point. Now, I’m the strongest explorer in the country—perhaps even the world.

I’m probably the strongest by a huge margin, with no one else even close to second place.

If I hadn’t been slightly stronger, I might have ended up fighting a fierce battle with this guy and been forced to kill him.

I sighed once, then said,

“They say there are people in America who shoot guns in public to get shot by the police and die for sure. What you’re doing is the same thing.”

“Guh, that’s…”

“You can only feel alive when you fight? That’s unfortunate. But don’t push the aftermath onto others. Do you think people on the receiving end won’t suffer?”

I sometimes have nightmares.

In the deepest part of the Hikarigaoka Park Dungeon (*1), the Rakan explorer guild members rebelled and kicked Junko Tozaki into the boss room to be killed.

At that time, I could have stopped the explorers if I had wanted to.

I can’t say for sure that I couldn’t have stormed the boss room, defeated the dungeon boss, and saved her.

But I didn’t think it was worth the risk to save her.

Setting aside the fact that she was an enemy I hated, accidents during exploration are one’s own responsibility.

There was no reason for me to risk getting into a fight with the enraged Rakan explorers.

Even now, I think it was a realistic concern, given my abilities at the time.

I accept that, but when someone says, “You let Junko Tozaki die,” it’s hard to deny.

If I could just cut myself off and say, “She was a villain who deserved to die,” my life wouldn’t be so complicated.

Even a police officer who shoots a desperate man waving a gun can’t just accept it as part of the job.

In fact, I’ve seen news reports about police officers suffering from PTSD because of such incidents.

“Is that really ‘fighting’? You’re escaping your own life by running into battle. You call that destiny? Give me a break.”

“You’re one to talk. You’re the one who specializes in escaping.”

“That’s why I’m saying it. I always wonder if escaping is the right thing to do. In most cases, society says no. If you run away from school, work, or important situations, you’re bound to cause trouble for others. It disrupts the stable functioning of society. From society’s perspective, those who escape are a nuisance. That’s why everyone says, “Don’t escape.” It’s the kind of thing a corrupt boss would say while slumped on the sofa.”

I said, glancing behind me.

“Are you telling me not to escape?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. If you want to fight, then fight. If you’re not going to cause trouble for others, I’ll cheer you on.” But if you don’t have the courage to escape and are just pretending to fight, there’s nothing more pointless than that. You’re just deceiving yourself.”

“I’m… deceiving myself?”

“You wanted to escape, didn’t you?”

“…”

“But you couldn’t resist the pressure from those around you, who told you not to escape. Before you knew it, you had suppressed your true feelings. Living like that, it’s no wonder you’ve become so short-sighted.”

“…You sound like a psychologist or a counselor.”

“When it comes to examining my own heart, I don’t think there’s anyone better than me.”

“I wanted to fight. I wanted to fight the injustice of this world. Isn’t that the same for you, Kurashiki? I heard you were a shut-in for a while.”

“That’s true. But injustice is still injustice because there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s better to look for a way out than to fight against it. Fighting isn’t the only option.”

“Are you saying I should have escaped, too?”

“If you want to escape, then escape. Escape to a safe place. You said fighting and escaping are opposites. I don’t think so. Escaping is also a form of fighting. Moreover, it’s a dishonorable battle filled with humiliation. You pretended to fight bravely because you were afraid of the pain. However, maintaining the appearance of fighting became too painful, and you wished someone would kill you while you were still fighting. It seems you weren’t strong enough to be the demon king of another world.”

“Then kill me. No, please kill me! Are you telling me to live in shame, unable to fight?”

“Don’t try to get someone else to kill you. In a sense, though, I could ‘kill’ you.”

“…What?”

I took a fist-sized crystal from my Item Box.

“Escape.” Due to the skill transfer from the broadcast, the crystal had shrunk to about the size of my head.

Even at this size, though, it could still do something.

“I was originally researching this for Haruka-san.”

Haruka-san, who was standing behind me, reacted to my words.

“For me?”

“Yeah. Apparently, long-lived elves gradually wear down mentally.”

“Where did you hear that? Oh, that was then. That man really said some unnecessary things…”

Before rescuing Haruka-san from Clovis in the deepest part of the Okutama Lake Dungeon, I unintentionally overheard the conversation between Clovis and Haruka-san.

“This crystal is the answer. Well, to be precise, the answer lies in what I’m about to do with the remaining resources.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Elixirs can heal HP, MP, status abnormalities, and physical injuries. But what are status abnormalities?”

“They are abnormal mental and physical conditions defined by the system. It’s a concept that didn’t exist in the original world.”

“Ah, so the key point is that they’re defined by the system. In other words, any mental or physical ailments not defined by the system are outside the scope of the elixir’s effects.”

Even among common illnesses, some can be cured by the elixir, while others cannot.

Because of this, some parents of children with incurable diseases have accumulated debt trying to obtain the elixir, only to find that it couldn’t cure their child’s illness. This leaves them with nothing but debt.

“So, if I could influence the system, could I register physical and mental disorders that aren’t currently classified as abnormal conditions as new abnormal conditions?”

“I-Is that possible?”

“It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. I can do it because I have various special conditions, but not everyone can.”

The idea came from the unique skill of the Russian diplomat, Uspensky.

“Storyteller” is a dangerous unique skill that allows the user to fabricate a fictional story based on what they know about their target and trap them in that imaginary world.

This skill was perfect for Uspensky, who could gather information on his targets through espionage.

An interesting idea in the story of the “fictional future me” that Uspensky made up stood out.

In it, I was exploring a dungeon when I was struck by an unknown status abnormality called “sealing,” which prevented me from using my abilities.

There is no such status abnormality as “sealing” among the currently known ones.

It’s also difficult to conceive of a status abnormality that would prevent an explorer from using their abilities.

It’s safe to say that the status abnormality called “sealing” is Uspensky’s creation.

After looking into it, I found out that Uspensky was a well-known figure in modern Russian literature.

I found the “sealing” itself uninteresting.

Rather, it was the fact that he created an unknown status abnormality.

Of course, Uspensky’s creation is nothing more than a figment of his imagination.

He didn’t actually create a status abnormality called “sealing.”

But is it really impossible to “create” a new status abnormality?

The research department at Asylum was studying this topic as well.

It was a bit of a pipe dream, but I received some useful information from them. The people of Springraven, who don’t have a status system, seem to be more flexible in their thinking on this point.

…It’s really stupid to try to use people with such abilities as explorers.

“…Wait. What does that have to do with ‘killing’ me?”

Harukamiya Hayato asks impatiently.

I don’t answer him.

“You’ll see when we try it.”

The crystal floats gently in the air.

I connect to it and access the vast resources stored within.

“Do you know? Skills aren’t preset from the start. They’re generated by the system as needed. Special conditions are a perfect example. Each time a skill is created, the rules of this world are revised and the dungeon system becomes more normalized.”

It’s more natural to think that way than to assume every possible case was anticipated from the beginning.

I suspect that when an unusual phenomenon occurs in the dungeon, it is detected, and special conditions are set accordingly.

Once set, these conditions become fixed rules and appear as if they had always existed.

It’s similar to how precedents accumulate in court.

“Therefore, I will define a new status abnormality. I define the state of mental exhaustion and loss of will to live as the status abnormality ‘apathy.’ It is a mental status abnormality characterized by mild, chronic symptoms similar to those of ‘Confusion.’ This is what Haruka-san is currently experiencing.”

Shaina advised that it would be better to have a “sample” from reality.

As I spoke, the resources stored in the crystal suddenly depleted.

Because they were drawn out through my body, I was hit by severe dizziness and nausea.

The crystal finally exhausted its resources and vanished.

“This is the healing magic I devised to treat the status abnormality ‘Apathy.’ Regain Enthusiasm!”

It’s a healing magic that restores enthusiasm.

This magic itself isn’t particularly advanced. Healing magic that cures serious injuries tends to be more complicated.

Besides, creating original magic is usually impossible anyway.

A warm wave spread out from me, enveloping Haruka-san and Harukamiya Hayato.

“My heart… feels warm. It’s been years since I felt this way…”

Haruka-san clutched her chest, crouching down as tears of warmth streamed down her face.

On the other hand,

“Stop… Don’t enter my heart! Don’t take my emptiness. Don’t try to heal my heart!”

Harukamiya Hayato struggled and tried to resist my magic.

The shadow clone I had created took the military sword from him.

“Stop! Let me die! What do you want me to do now that you’ve made me feel this way?”

Hayato took another sword from his item box, held it backward, and tried to slit his own throat.

Of course, the shadow clone stopped him.

“Toudou-san, Secure him.”

“Damn! My mission is to capture the ‘summoner’…”

“You’re supposed to be a police officer, aren’t you? How can you let a murderer escape?”

“I get it, I get it. Just let us go.”

The ECRT members, released from the shadows, approach Hayato, who is being held down by the shadows.

“Harukamiya Hayato. You are under arrest for attempted murder.”

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