Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 60

Enjoy~

TL: ALT

Chapter 59 – More Important than Skills

The world froze.

Serika’s face in front of me lost its color and became a transparent light purple outline.

It was not just Serika.

The restaurant and the night view of Shinjuku.

Everything was a translucent light purple.

And everyone had stopped.

“What is this…?”

I panicked and prepared.

I tried to use Enemy Search and Presence Detection to search for any presence around me, but I couldn’t feel any response.

“There are no enemies…”

In this case, I don’t know what the “enemy” is, but in any case, there is no enemy-like response.

No, no, that’s not it.

“Not a single presence…?”

Not only is there no human presence at all in the restaurant, but I don’t even feel Serika’s presence next to me.

It was as if I had entered another world, one with a completely different dimension.

“…Is this another world? And time has stopped…?”

I finally began to understand what had happened to me.

I didn’t want to understand, but I did.

“Don’t tell me… that this is escape skill level 2…!”

I took out my phone and opened DGP.

Skill─────────────────

S.Lv2 “Escape from Reality”

Terms of use:

Think strongly about escaping reality for (5-S.Lv) seconds.

Special notes:

In the other space that can be entered by “Escape from Reality,” the relative speed of the flow of time between reality and the other space can be changed by one’s will. The range of change is from (0 to S.Lv) times.

If the user loses the will to return to the original reality, they will not be able to leave the other space.

The more you use it continuously, the less you want to return to your original reality.

────────────────────

“Escape from reality… at this time?”

Indeed, there is no denying that Serika’s (de facto) confession shook me so much that I reflexively wanted to escape.

Of course, it’s not that I don’t like Serika.

It is because she is important to me that I felt I could not give a careless answer.

I wanted time to think.

I wanted to clear my head.

But if I had to put it bluntly, it would be “I want to escape” from this situation.

“I-I’m the worst, aren’t I?”

Serika had the courage to ask me, but my answer was, “I want to escape!”

“Ugh? What the hell is that?”

I squirmed in embarrassment and cried out in shame.

I reached for my wine glass to calm myself down, but the time-stopped wine glass remained motionless as if rooted to the table.

“W-wait a minute? I think I’ve had time to calm down and think about it―Ahhh!”

It is nothing but cowardice to use skill to gain time to give the best answer to Serika’s feelings.

Even if it could lead to the best answer, I would never want to do that.

“Damn it, I’ll be right back! Right now!”

I immediately decided to find a way to deactivate the skill.

Eh? No way. “In reality, time should stop, right? Since I just activated my skill, wouldn’t it be better to check its performance first?” You wouldn’t say that, would you?

Well, that might be the optimal solution as an explorer, but not as a human being.

It is bad to stop time and think long and hard in this space.

If I am at a loss for an answer when I return, I want to think on the spot and give the best answer I can.

Even if it humiliates me, it is much better than cheating and being cool.

“How the hell am I supposed to get back? Hey, come on, bring me back to reality!”

Immediately after I shouted that, color and buzzing returned to the world.

“H-huh?”

Serika was surprised to see my hand suddenly disappear from hers.

…I had done it. I had forgotten to return to my original position.

I sat back in my seat.

I had frozen earlier, but now I’ve regained some of my composure.

Thanks to the escape from reality that was triggered, I’m now willing not to run away from the situation.

How ironic, right?

It’s a bit unfair that I was able to keep my cool here, but as expected, there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Serika’s feelings make me very happy.”

I said, stirring the wine.

“I really want to respond to these feelings.”

“Y-yes…”

“But, you see, I’m not ready as an explorer yet… and to be honest, I’m not sure if I can stand next to Serika. So I want to answer, but I can’t…”

“I think you should have more confidence, Yuto. I’m not saying this because I’m your childhood friend, okay? I’m saying that objectively, you’re really capable of it.”

“I guess so. But I don’t really feel it.”

Still, I’m not sure what would make me feel more confident.

What if I beat an A-rank dungeon?

What if I could overpower even Level-Ranked individuals with my status?

If I could make more money?

I don’t think those are the same thing, are they?

Is the confidence that comes from material success really confidence?

At least the confidence needed to stand next to Serika shouldn’t be like that.

Serika, who had been looking into my face, took a sip of her wine and then began to speak softly.

“Can you listen to me without getting angry?”

Chapter 60 – Funyaaaa

“Can you listen to me without getting angry?”

“…Yes. What is it?”

“I think Yuto is probably afraid. You think that if you go out with someone, you might make her unhappy…”

“…I wonder.”

“But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. There are a lot of guys out there who are full of confidence and say, “Go out with me; I’ll make you happy. But those guys are just looking out for themselves.”

“You sound like you have experience. Ah, no, I’m not going to ask for details.”

“N-no, I’m not! I’m not proud of it, but I’ve never been with a man until I was this age!”

“S-seriously?”

“You haven’t either, have you?”

“Yes, but Serika?”

“To be honest, I’ve always had a hard time with men. Especially when I’m an explorer, I sometimes see parts of men that I don’t like.”

Serika is also an inspector for the Association.

The most recent case was Honoka-chan’s.

I think a lot of guys who try to make a name for themselves in the dungeon are reckless, overconfident, and loyal to their desires.

Serika’s parents didn’t get along, which may have contributed to her mistrust of men.

“I don’t know what kind of man would be confident enough to say, ‘Be my girlfriend! I wonder if they have any idea of the risks a woman takes when she goes out with a man. I wonder.”

Serika is beautiful and has a good personality.

Perhaps she has been approached by such men in the past, and it has caused her trouble.

“First of all, just the fact that they are confident enough to hit on you is usually scary from a woman’s point of view… Now, if it were me, I would be able to force them to leave me alone if the need arose. Still, I’m afraid of people who come at me with their own desires without considering the other person’s comfort.”

“I suppose that’s true…”

There’s no way I’ve ever had someone come on to me like that, but it’s scary just to imagine it for a minute.

Besides, most women are no match for a man in arm strength.

In a way, it’s almost like talking about how to get away from a monster coming at you.

“I think the reason Yuto hesitates is because you think so much about the woman you’re dating. No wonder you’re afraid to have a relationship. It’s not like you know the other person deeply. But when someone comes up to you and says they’re not afraid of you, you think they don’t even know what’s in your heart. How can someone who doesn’t know his own heart know the hearts of others?”

Serika stopped speaking and sipped her wine.

“Of course, this is not the only reason why Yuto hesitates. Yuto still clings to the past.”

“Do you think it’s better to just let it go?”

“I don’t think so. If you drag it out, then it’s okay if you drag it out. It’s Yuto’s kindness that keeps you from forgetting the past. If Yuto is dragging out the past because of your kindness, then I want to be with Yuto while you are still dragging it out.”

“Serika…”

My vision blurs.

I squeeze the corners of my eyes and manage to hold back the overflowing tears.

In the meantime, Serika drank the rest of her wine in one gulp.

She filled the empty glass with wine by hand.

She poured wine into my glass as well and then stirred her own glass even more.

“It’s okay. Even if you are afraid, even if you end up hurting me, I won’t hold it against you. I became an explorer so that I don’t have to make you fight all the time. Yuto likes games and such, so I calculated that we might get along better if I became an explorer.”

Serika giggles as she says this.

“But before I knew it, I had become too strong and impatient. You know, it is said that male explorers are uncomfortable with women of a higher level than themselves.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s not really the point. Still, levels are important. Some people say it’s a matter of man’s dignity, take it too far, and end up dying. I wish it weren’t so…”

She poured the wine in one gulp.

Serika put her face close to the table and sipped from her nearly overflowing wine glass.

“No, I don’t mean that; I want to be with you now… As for whether it’s balanced or not, let them say what they want to say.”

“I know, right?”

“Hey, let’s go out, Yu-kun.”

“T-that’s easy for you to say.”

“It’s easy! It’s okay because I said it’s okay. Stay with me. Stay with me. And… Fuh.”

“H-hey, you had a little too much to drink, didn’t you?”

“Hehehe… You are so loud. I can’t talk like this unless I’m drunk. Drink, Yu-kun, drink.”

Serika grabs the bottle and pours wine into my glass until it overflows.

“Wow, you’re so… drunk.”

Serika drinks her own glass,

“I’ll wait for you.”

Serika’s glass hit the table with a clink.

“If you’re still hesitating, I’ll wait until you’re no longer hesitating. If you decide to go on, even if you have hesitations, I will accept you with all your hesitations.”

Serika exhaled passionately and rested her cheekbones on the table.

She looked me in the face with her round eyes.

“Oh, now we can do a sleepover course if you want to call it a trial, right? Ufufu, are you excited? It’s kind of like Haruka-san, isn’t it?”

“Y-you.”

“Oh, it’s so hard to connect heart to heart! Hey, why don’t we connect body to body? Then, Yuto won’t be able to escape anymore. We’re adults now, you know.”

Serika held my left arm.

The body temperature of Serika’s body, raised by the alcohol, is surprisingly hot and soft.

“Hey, how’s it…? If you don’t tell me, I won’t know. Tell me how you really feel, Yu-kun…”

“Se-Serika…”

Serika’s face is so close to mine that our lips almost touch.

――I should say it here.

I’ve finally made up my mind.

Things may go wrong in the future.

But I will not regret the decision I made at this moment.

I love Serika.

I like Serika.

I want to tell her how I feel.

What I will do after telling her, I can think about later.

“――Serika! I’m…!”

I take Serika’s hand, look her straight in the face, and say these words.

No, I wanted to say it.

But,

“Funyaaaa…!”

Serika collapses into my lap and moans like a cat.

“Se-Serika? Hey, Serika-san?”

“I’m sleepy… I’m going to sleep…”

Serika mumbled and started to sleep on my lap.