Ch.7School Reopening

“Grrrrrr!!”

The slime’s body convulsed violently. Despite being a mere mob slime, it was level 4 and capable of using magic.

Whoooosh-!!

A fireball flew straight toward me.

“Leap of Faith!!!”

I jumped high, dodging the incoming fireball.

“Smite!!!!”

I immediately activated my active skill, Smite. Being an ex-jungler, I was exceptionally good at using Smite. I might have lost Baron occasionally, but I had never once lost a Scuttle Crab fight against teammates.

WHACK-!!

The iron pipe I swung with full force struck the Magician Slime directly on its head.

“Grrrr….!”

The Magician Slime’s melting face contorted with pain.

The damage was significant, but it wasn’t enough to kill it. It lived up to its level 4 status. It had quite a health pool.

“Smite!! Smite!!!”

Using all my mana, I continued to unleash Smite attacks.

Whack-! Thwack-!! THWAAAACK-!!!

I enthusiastically bashed the Magician Slime. Just! Die!! Already!!!

Just when I thought I’d nearly killed it, feeling that satisfying sensation…

“Grrrrrr….!”

The slime suddenly opened its mouth wide.

“Damn it….!”

I hadn’t expected it would have one last desperate attack.

Whoooosh-!!

A fireball erupted from the slime’s mouth. I thrashed about as flames engulfed me at point-blank range.

“Hot!! Son of a-!!!”

However, I was pretty tough. It was unbearably hot, but not enough to burn me to death.

“Grrrr…..!”

After its final desperate attack of shooting a fireball, the slime’s body simply melted away.

“Fighting to the bitter end, huh? Though you’re my enemy, I respect that. You were noble.”

I muttered while brushing back my hair.

“But you were weaker than me. That’s all there is to it.”

Phew… A battlefield is where you must take lives to survive. And I had survived this battlefield.

“Death never dies…”

Standing before the corpse of my mighty foe (a low-level slime), I whispered softly.

Anyway, after finishing my hunt for the day, I went straight home. Honestly, I was exhausted from defeating the Magician Slime.

————

For the remaining three weeks, I shuttled between the kendo dojo and the slime dungeon in the old town, building my strength.

After working this hard… I should level up at least once, right? Honestly, I had such expectations. I mean… I hunted diligently without any experience loss.

During that time, Umi invited me to hang out… but I declined. Going out would cause experience loss.

However, it was all for nothing.

‘Level 4’

My level remained unchanged. No way. Was I already hitting a wall at level 4? How difficult is it to level up?

Level 5. Honestly, it was a level you could reach after about an hour of gameplay. I had optimistically thought I could reach level 5… but I had to change my expectations.

‘I… really am pathetic.’

I knew I was pathetic even without being berated by that snarky girl.

Anyway, time waits for no one.

The third week passed, and I entered high school.

The first week of March had arrived.

And… tomorrow would be the day I die. There was truly no time left now. I had done everything I could, so I had no regrets.

———–

Monday, the first day of the semester. I headed out wearing my school uniform.

“Take care…”

My mother shed tears again seeing her son in a school uniform. Seriously… she cries at every opportunity. I smiled bitterly at that thought.

Well, it was her hikikomori son’s first day of high school. Anyone with strong emotions might cry.

Natori High School. It was the only school in this city. There used to be another school, but it closed due to the chronic problem of low birth rates that small cities face. Unnecessarily realistic setting.

‘It’s definitely otaku-ish.’

Cherry blossoms lined the school gate, exaggeratedly in full bloom. It felt like an overdose of youth.

Students crowded the school entrance, eager to check their class assignments.

Though I didn’t really need to look, I checked just in case.

‘Class F’

Yes, as expected. It was the class with the Player, Kiryu Umi, and another companion character, Natsukawa Taiga.

‘But… Natsukawa Taiga isn’t here at this point.’

Natsukawa Taiga was a typical Japanese delinquent character. Yes, a yankee. She had the un-girlish background of being the leader of a motorcycle gang. Other characteristics included… being a beautiful girl in typical otaku fashion. A fierce-looking girl with a red ponytail. But with a setting that she secretly likes cute things. Well… you get the idea, right?

Of course, she skipped school regularly, and her first interaction with the Player would be around April. In March, she wouldn’t show her face at school at all.

‘I’ll think about Natsukawa later…’

For now, I headed to Class F.

Once in the classroom, I tried to sit in my assigned seat, which was right in the middle of the classroom.

And then… I spotted the Player. The playable character in the game. Befitting a protagonist, his seat was by the window on the left side of the classroom. That’s the standard, right?

The protagonist was quite handsome, even from my perspective. He just gazed out the window with a cool expression. He was pretty cool… the kind of guy socially awkward people aspire to be.

‘Come to think of it…’

The Player’s name wasn’t officially established.

So I became curious. What was this kid’s name? That was my question.

I casually went to the teacher’s desk and checked the attendance book.

‘Aiueo Sashisuseso’

A dizzying nickname appeared before my eyes.

Yes, it was the hiragana-order name typically used in RPGs when players can’t be bothered to create a proper name.

“Oh! Sashisu! Hello!”

At that moment, an extra greeted the protagonist.

“Yeah. Hi.”

The protagonist responded in a languid tone.

People in this world didn’t seem to question the Player’s name.

Anyway, Sashisu, huh. It sounds a bit better when called that way.

After confirming the Player’s dizzying name, I was about to return to my seat.

That’s when it happened.

Slide-!

As the classroom door opened, all the boys’ attention focused on it.

Kiryu Umi and… her entourage of friends entered at once. The atmosphere in the classroom suddenly became fresh with the entrance of these vibrant high school girls.

Among them, Kiryu Umi stood out.

Gawk-!

Amid all this, Kiryu Umi was the one who caught everyone’s eye. She monopolized the attention of the male students.

Well, she is incredibly pretty. And her figure… was beyond Asian standards. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her a walking goddess.

“Wow… Sashisu!! We’re lucky!! That’s Kiryu from Hana Middle School!! She’s really pretty… feels like my eyes are being purified.”

The student talking to our protagonist made a fuss.

“…Not interested.”

Sashisu just looked out the window as he said that. He was the epitome of a cool guy. As expected of a protagonist.

“You’re really indifferent, aren’t you!”

However, the atmosphere didn’t become awkward.

Even without attempting to engage in conversation, people gathered around him.

‘As expected of a protagonist… just being a protagonist…’

He was the archetype of an otaku story protagonist. Seeing him move in real life made my heart swell.

At that moment, my eyes met with Umi’s. Well… we weren’t close enough to acknowledge each other in class, so I thought about ignoring her.

However, Umi trotted over to me.

“Shota! Nice to see you!! We’re in the same class? I’m so happy.”

Umi smiled as she spoke to me.

“Oh… hi?”

I greeted her immediately.

Huh? You know Kiryu Umi? Gazes filled with such questions flew at me. This… getting attention like this is a bit…

“Umi-ching. Who’s this?”

One of Umi’s friends, who looked like a gyaru, approached. If Umi was a white gyaru, this girl was the classic tanned-skin black gyaru. She looked me up and down.

“Hmm… up close, you’ve got a solid build, not bad. But your face… it’s too ordinary?”

She laughed. By the way, openly evaluating someone’s appearance right in front of them? I wanted to correct her manners… but I held back. Anyway, I needed to blend in like a proper extra at the beginning.

Anyway, the black gyaru girl continued to scrutinize me.

Shiver-!

I felt like prey being eyed by a predator. Is this… a carnivorous woman?

At that moment, Umi stepped between us, seeming uncomfortable.

“Ah. He’s a student at our kendo dojo.”

Umi, nice assist!! I cheered inwardly.

“Wow. A sporty guy? Can I have your Line number?”

The black gyaru immediately handed me her phone.

Well… there didn’t seem to be a way to refuse. I simply gave her my Line ID.

“Shota-chan. I’ll contact you later.”

The black gyaru waved as she spoke. In the blink of an eye, she’d gotten my number. And she naturally called me ‘Shota-chan’ as a bonus. Is this… what gyarus are like? Oh, by the way, her name is Nishikawa Eri. The self-introduction passed by so quickly that I missed the timing to explain.

Anyway.

“Hmm…..”

Umi was looking at me with some dissatisfaction.

“You give out your number so easily. Did you give me your number with such a casual attitude too?”

Umi said.

“No. What do you mean ‘easily’? I just gave my number because she asked.”

I replied. Saying it like that makes me sound like a really frivolous person.

“By the way, you kept turning down my invitations to hang out during the break. Are you free today?”

Umi asked.

That… I thought those invitations were just out of courtesy? I thought she’d give up after a few rejections.

“That’s a bit…..”

Tomorrow was the big March Week 1 event, and honestly, I wanted to gather my thoughts today.

“Let’s go today.”

Kiryu Umi said with a strange pressure.

“….Alright.”

I sighed as I agreed.

“Hehe. Don’t forget after school, okay?”

Umi narrowed the distance between us and looked up at me as she spoke.

“Y…yeah.”

Really… beauty is such a cheat key. That beautiful smile was unfair. I had no choice but to accept.

And so, I ended up with an after-school appointment.

If I were to die tomorrow, this would be my final appointment. It’s a joke, but… I can’t laugh about it.