DAY 11

DAY 11

They’re crazy. They were crazy even back in the real world.

THE CAVE

 

PRESENTING TODAY’S BREAKFAST, fantasy world style:

Stewed pemmican with seasonal mushrooms and herbs, lightly sautéed

(Seasonal availability) Salt-roasted hare

And I’m damn sick of it!

 

I hadn’t managed a meal worthy of my level yet, but I was getting better at Cane Mastery—if you could call what I was doing “mastery.” Anyhow, I definitely needed to gather more intel. The nerds, information machines that they were, had made their way to a town, but I didn’t want to follow suit—I had no interest in encountering any more of my obnoxious classmates. If they found my beautiful mid-century home, they’d claim it for themselves without even asking permission. Based on what they had done to the nerds, I was confident nothing good would come from finding them. Still, I didn’t know anything about fantasy worlds besides what the nerds told me. A town was a bad idea for another reason, too—I had no confidence that a visitor, totally ignorant of the local customs, could get by easily, let alone a bona-fide Loner Lv3!

Survival was my primary focus. I had to get strong enough to protect myself. My level was way below any of my classmates, and I also leveled up far slower thanks to Master of None and Blockhead. At least those abilities were still just level 1. I couldn’t begin to imagine how terrible they would be if they reached level 2.

The students I’d seen so far were about level 11, and the nerds were level 16. Their best stats were around the 60-70 mark.

At the rate that I was growing, though, by level 10 my stats would all be around 120-150, and at level 16, probably at least 200. It’s possible that later levels gave smaller stat increases, but up until now the rate of improvement hadn’t declined at all. If anything, the increases per level seemed to be getting bigger.

Despite having reached level 16 in only a week, the nerds had trouble managing a group of five goblins. Sure, they were out of magic and with only one frontline fighter—their party wasn’t well suited to close-range fights. Even so, they were all level 16, with overpowered skills, and they were experienced nerds who knew all about fantasy worlds and should’ve been even better than their level. Yet they were nearly taken out by two goblins sneak-attacking from behind.

If I knew other people from this world, I would be able to at least compare stats with Appraisal, but first I would have had to find someone willing to be appraised like that. Focusing only on stats wasn’t enough, anyway. Weak opponents can still find ways to trap me.

The nerds warned me about the most dangerous skills that typically featured in light novels: Servitude, Mesmerize, Hijack, and Instant Kill. If you weren’t resistant, Poison and Sleep could also mean game over. The real danger in fantasy worlds wasn’t the monsters; it was other people. Good thing I’m an unemployed loner shut-in, right?

Despite everything that happened, the nerds still went into town. That had to be incredibly dangerous, but they had a higher purpose for their quest. Yes, they were guided by an ineffable longing for something beyond living comfortably in a cave: girls.

They made the village sound like it would have dog-eared harem girls, beautiful and mysterious elves, pure-hearted young girls to marry, and cute dwarf girls, too. The ordinary high school girls from our class couldn’t compare to their nerd fantasies. Whatever floats your boat.

I first encountered the wannabe delinquents when I was deep in the forest. I’d avoided that area ever since, especially after hearing the nerds’ story. The nerds conveniently omitted the part explaining what had happened to the delinquents after the attack.

Even though their Mesmerize and Puppetry skills were sealed, they probably had other godlike skills. Thanks, Gramps. If they decided that violence was an option, then the rest of the class—no longer protected by a bunch of geeks—was in danger.

Why was I thinking about them? They were the rest of the class’s problem, not mine. With a few exceptions, I didn’t care what happened to my class.

To be honest, though, I wouldn’t have minded seeing the delinquents and mean girls run into a kobold. I couldn’t imagine how they’d react to being bitten by one. I learned the hard way just how much that hurts.

I figured I ought to check on the state of my class firsthand. Sure, I didn’t care about them, but I wanted to check in on the Class Rep. I had two motives: the nerds were pretty worried about her, and she was absolutely gorgeous. I might be a loner, but I still have eyes!

I scanned the forest in case I’d missed anything new to eat. There was nothing but an endless variety of mushrooms around here. Maybe there was other food deeper in the forest. Yeah, I’ll have to go check it out. Gathering food, training, fighting goblins, and now reconnaissance? The modern unemployed loner shut-in has many responsibilities to contend with. Too bad the world pays me in mushrooms. I needed to fill in the blank spots on my map, too.

Given all that, I decided to head into the forest. From my cave, I first followed the river upstream. Maybe the delinquents had a base near the point where I saw them last time—they were talking about staying somewhere near there…but I was getting ahead of myself. Upstream, huh? Maybe I could catch some fish. I really wished I had Thunder Magic. The best way to fish! Just one zap to catch and fry them at the same time.

The forest upstream was more dangerous than I expected, but at least there weren’t many mushrooms around. Actually, there was barely any food at all. Had someone eaten everything?

Unsurprisingly, there were tons of goblins, but none of them posed any threat. I could still be overwhelmed, so I had to be careful with groups of five or six, but they were all only levels 3 and 4, slow and weak. The goblins were so wimpy that I wasn’t honing my combat skills at all. This monotonous grinding couldn’t even be considered proper Cane Mastery practice. Maybe calling it by its very official-sounding title will make it go better…right?

Then I ran into some kobolds with their dopey dog faces, levels 2 and 3. I used Magic Infusion on my weapon and approached. So the nerds were right. Even though they were lower level than the goblins I’d fought today, they were definitely a little more challenging. They may have been fast, but they made a beeline straight for me—did you learn to fight from goblins? I just interrupted their charge and whacked them with my stick. I guess this is technically cane practice. I have to pay attention to timing, at least.

Battling the two kobolds, I realized that they hardly ever used their monster skills. The kobolds didn’t even bother with Pack Tactics. They just kept trying to bite me.

It was easy to get used to fighting these guys. I was starting to understand why the nerds might have had trouble with the goblins—even the same monster can be a totally different fight depending on its level. This was nothing compared to the kobolds I faced before. Without thinking, I scowled at a kobold, and it recoiled in fear.

What a cruel face, scary eyes, and a wild stare. People had said that kind of stuff about me before. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t know what I looked like. But don’t be afraid of me! Am I a terrifying monster? No! I’m a human…aren’t I? The way the kobold cowered straight up hurt my feelings. Why was this thing hiding its tail between its legs?

I lost my cool and killed the kobolds. You should consider the way your actions make others feel! All I wanted to do was live peacefully in my cave, but the high-level monsters near there forced me to fight for my survival.

Orcs were the most powerful monsters in the area. They had more strength and endurance than goblins, and they had the Club Mastery combat skill. But even with their strength and skills, they were only on par with the goblins near my cave. So that’s why the level 16 nerds had such a tough time—they got complacent fighting the weak monsters in this area.

I finally sensed some kind of campsite with my Clairvoyance, but the fence and tents were trashed. With the nerds gone, I supposed there was no one left to repair things. Or did everyone move to a new site? I didn’t see anyone around. From how the nerds had described the situation, I doubted that everyone stuck together after the nerds were exiled. But even if they did split up, I would’ve expected some people to stay behind. Tense and not letting my guard down, I approached the camp. I confirmed with my own eyes that the camp was abandoned. So where did everyone go? Did something else happen?

I kept an eye on the perimeter of the camp while looking for some clue or sign as to what happened. Suddenly—I staggered. I saw something, and the information shot into my head and nearly threw me off my feet. Is this some crazy skill? I’ll figure that out later!

I looked around again: the camp, the forest, the riverbed—

I found clues in two places. Near the center of the remains of the camp, where the nerds had been ambushed, were some old traces of magic.

And then, by the riverbank, where the river disappeared into the forest—the traces of magic there were fresh.

Recent traces of magic could only mean one thing: there was a serious fight after the nerds left.

I don’t know how, but I can see the remnants of magic use, I thought as I ran to the tree line. I followed the magic for nearly an hour before I found its source. I could sense one group chasing another in my direction. Should I hide and figure out what’s going on? Or should I go help them?

I decided to sit back and watch. Someone in the fleeing group was bleeding; I still couldn’t see who it was, but I could feel their presence.

If the runners were the bad guys, I’d stop them. Or if the chasers were the bad ones, I’d stop them.

But when I saw them, I realized that both sides were equally awful. All right, time to go home. What should I have for dinner? Mushroom surprise? Ooh, or I can treat myself to some mushroom-stuffed mushrooms? Goddamn it, if only I could get my hands on some delicious…

“Hey, you! Wait!”

Damn, did someone notice me?

I glanced over at the group.

“Ah, how nice to see you, mean girls! Well then, I really must be going!”

I ran off. When I thought I was far enough away, I stopped to pick some fruit, but the mean girls caught up to me, all babbling at once.

“Wait up! I’m telling you to stop!”

“You’re not going anywhere!”

“Did you call us mean?!”

“How dare you!”

Now they were treating me like the villain. La la la la, I’m not noticing you! Gotta go, mean girls, no time to chat!

“Why do you keep running away?!” they screamed.

Of all the people I could’ve run into, it had to be the mean girls. If they were the cute and perky type I would’ve stopped, but not for these jerks. Couldn’t that old dude have swapped them out for some cuter girls?

“Shouldn’t you be surprised to run into us here?” one of them shouted.

“What are you doing out here anyway? Why won’t you look at us? Why won’t you say anything?! We’re your friends! Stop just standing there!”

I have to get out of here, fast! They had pretty much cornered me. What were they talking about?

“Why should I be surprised at all?” I said. “And what are you doing here? And since when are we friends? I’m a loner—never mind, don’t make me repeat myself!”

I had no idea who was chasing them, but there was no way in hell I was going to help the mean girls.

“Do something!” one of them cried.

Do what? Screw this, I’m out of here.

“Wait!” they all cried as I started to run away. “Please!”

Did they just say please? They must’ve been so loud that they broke my ears. I was hearing things.

“Please, please help us. Please,” one of them repeated.

The shock nearly knocked me off my feet. Was this their special attack? A skill? They actually said please!

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you’re one of Oda-kun’s friends, right? We’re looking for them. Like, if you know what happened to them, you have to, like, totally tell us! Please!”

The Queen Bee appeared to be speaking to me, but was it some kind of sorcery? The Queen Bee is mean by mean girl standards. As the queen of meanness, she was an unstoppable factory of selfishness, whining, and abuse. Her meddling was the reason our class had split into factions in the first place. There was no way “please” existed in her vocabulary.

I looked at her in confusion. “Who are you? I don’t recognize you!”

“W-what? We’re in the same class!” she shouted. “Knock that crap off, you know exactly who I am!”

Ah ha, I got her to snap. I could tell from the entitled anger in her voice that this was the Queen Bee’s true form.

“You’re real?”

“What do you mean real?! Stop it with the nonsense!”

Okay, that confirms it.

“Sorry about that. When I heard you use the word ‘please’ I thought maybe some demon of kindness had taken over your body, but you really are the Queen Bee,” I said.

“Queen Bee? I’m not a demon.” She came closer. “Please just tell me, what happened to them?”

“What the hell happened to you?” I cried.

“Nothing!” she screamed.

I couldn’t believe it. “So…you really are the Queen Bee?”

“Well, yes! But no! I’m really me, but we’re not mean girls!”

I shook my head in confusion. “I’m confused, which is it?”

“Fine, if you want to call me a Queen Bee, so be it!!” She took a minute to catch her breath.

That was all the proof I needed. No one else could shout loud enough for double exclamation points.

“Wait, who’s Oda?” I asked.

“You know Oda!” she cried. “You always talked with him and his friends!!”

An Oda that I used to talk to…an Oda the mean girls were searching for…

“Oda? Oda. Ota…otaku…” I scratched my head. “Ohhh, you’re talking about one of the nerds. I think you mean Nerd A.”

“His name is Oda!” She shook her head vigorously, still breathing heavily.

He wasn’t Nerd A? What a shocking revelation! He’ll always be Nerd A to me.

“So why are you looking for the nerds?” I asked. “Are you gonna make them do more stuff for you, or are you just hunting them for sport?”

I finally turned around and looked them in the eyes.

Please don’t look too horrified, I thought. My ego was fragile after that fight with the kobold.

They just glared at me. So what if I glared in return, after what the nerds had told me? If they tell me they’re after the nerds, then…

“We want to apologize,” the Queen Bee said.

Huh?!

I shook my head. I must have really lost my mind. “You mean capture them and force them into indentured servitude? Or did you mean to say, ‘hand them over to the delinquents?’ Or—”

“No, we want to say we’re sorry!”

“Wait? For real?”

“Yes! We like really, really want to properly apologize,” she said. “We don’t expect them to help us anymore and they don’t have to forgive us if they don’t want to. The best we can do is, like, say we’re sorry. That’s all we can do.”

“We’re totally dead anyway,” another mean girl said. “They’re the only reason we’re still alive. We can’t survive in this world without them. We just want to super apologize to them one time. Please! If you know where they are, tell us!”

“Please!” they all cried, bowing their heads.

This…this is much less believable than getting summoned to a world of swords and sorcery, I thought. They claimed that they had changed their ways, that they had given up their old way of life. All they could think about anymore was how grateful they were toward the nerds and how ashamed they were about what had happened. They just wanted to settle matters before they died. It was like leaving an apology in your last will and testament.

Finally, I said, “I know what direction they went, but I’m not sure where they are now. You won’t be able to catch up with them. You’ll need to make your way through the forest. Can you even fight?”

I had no idea how the nerds would react to an apology. If they had half a brain, they’d just tell the mean girls to take a hike. But the nerds were so good-natured that they might end up becoming the personal guards of the mean girls, thereby assuring their mutual destruction.

Maybe I was worrying a bit prematurely.

“There’s really no way you’d be able to catch them,” I stressed. “Are you sure?”

The mean girls looked at the ground and trembled. Facing death, they seemed prepared to do whatever it took. Talk about developing a conscience way too late.

“We don’t care, just tell us,” the Queen Bee said. “We have to try even if we never reach them. Please…please!”

Did they join the same cult the nerds tried to lure me into? Facing certain death, all they wanted to do was thank the people who had saved them the first time. They wanted to be able to forgive themselves for all their bullying and cruel treatment, and they figured going on a pilgrimage to atone for their sins was enough.

The gods that they relied on for everything were taken away. They’d lost everything they knew and were totally cast aside in the span of one week. The ordeals they’d faced had totally transformed them.

“The nerds told me all about what you did,” I said, doing nothing to hide the displeasure in my voice. “Before you can even consider apologizing to the nerds, you should apologize to the Class Rep and the others.”

The Queen Bee nodded. “We did!! The Class Rep said that she accepted our apology, but she told us to go apologize to Oda and the others in person. Before we could, the boys ambushed us and the camp split up. We don’t know where anyone is. We just want to find Oda and his friends.”

They really are at their wits’ end, I thought, finally understanding the whole situation. They were taken out of their school, the base of their power. The nerds, who were suddenly the strongest ones around in this new world, were gone. They couldn’t fight monsters or work together to survive. When the delinquents—full of unvarnished lust—went wild and attacked the girls, the Class Rep was able to drive them off but not before these girls got separated from the rest.

The mean girls were on the run, separated from the Class Rep, totally lost, and on the verge of death. This desperate situation forced them to confront their own actions and choices, so they wanted to apologize and make amends. Are they really afraid that they’re about to die?

“Okay, there are only three possibilities. First, you get caught by the guys before you can find the nerds. Second, you’re eaten by ravenous monsters before you reach them. Third, you fight off those sleazy guys, mash the monsters into pulp, and finally find the nerds and apologize. So what do you think is most likely?”

“Well…”

“Like, we can’t do that…”

“That sounds too tough…”

“Just tell us where they are! Please!!”

I felt like they were on the verge of having a breakthrough, so I glared at them. They fell over on their backs, sobbing and trembling. This is pathetic, I don’t even have an Intimidate skill.

“Personally, I don’t care if you’ve had an epiphany or changed your ways or whatever,” I told them. “Whether you’re good, bad, or reformed means nothing to me. Ask yourselves, do you want to go apologize to the nerds, or are you happy just making excuses for the rest of your life?”

“But, like…”

“No buts! Answers only!”

A moment passed, and then giant exclamation marks appeared over each of their heads. Some weird effect of Master of None?

I guess that’s settled.

“Listen up,” I said, “I know all about how you treated the nerds. They were helping you, weren’t they? They taught you how to survive, didn’t they? Even when you ignored them! Even when you insulted them! Until they were literally forced to run away! They helped you even though you straight up abused them!”

The Queen Bee had four more exclamation points over her head, now. I counted thirteen exclamation points in total. There was no doubt about their resolve, now.

“Do you want to just give up and die after all they’ve done for you?! That would defeat the point of everything they did! Are you okay with that? They risked their lives for you, and with all your excuses about how tough things are, you want to throw it all away!!” I’d reached double exclamation point volume, too. “You’re just going to die without putting up a fight? Why don’t you try to survive?! Never give up!! Don’t just go through life waiting to die!! Do you think they’ll feel good finding out you died trying to apologize to them?! That’s no apology!! That’s just making yourself feel better about giving up!!!!”

The Queen Bee’s exclamation point ability must have somehow evolved, since she went pale white. Huh, is something happening? Is this a new skill?

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke. “I don’t want to die! I don’t!! I want to live!! You’re right, they did so much to help us!! We just want to, like, say a proper thank you!! You’re right about everything!! We didn’t listen, we didn’t do anything, we didn’t learn anything, we acted like none of this mattered!! We made tons of excuses and acted like we couldn’t learn!! Even when they were about to get killed, we just made fun of them because, yes, we were, like, so stupid!! We couldn’t do anything, and we were too scared to admit it! We couldn’t help them!! We never said sorry or thanks—not even once!! Of course we don’t want to die!! Dying here would be like totally the worst thing ever!!”

My god, that’s a lot of exclamation points! That had to be like twenty-five in a row! My exclamation point skills pale in comparison!

I guessed Master of None allowed me to learn the Exclamation Point skill, but I still wasn’t as good at it as them. Blockhead must be holding me back—wait a second…

For some reason, the Queen Bee was sobbing. What happened? Did I say something wrong?

“W-waaaaah!” she wailed. Not wearing any makeup, hair in total disarray, she seemed like a crying child. Between the tears and the runny nose, her face sure is losing a lot of liquid. I was starting to worry about dehydration.

If I went step by step, I should be able to figure out what was going on.

The Queen Bee had unlocked new levels of Exclamation Point and forever surpassed me. But now, she was sobbing. Is she having a nervous breakdown? Now that our Battle of the Exclamation Point had ended, I felt tired and drained, like the spirit of a hot-blooded man in waders telling me to “Never give up!” had left my body.

Without the spirit of that man whose enthusiasm had made him a meme, I had no idea what was happening, so I figured I’d have to ask. I tried a gentle approach.

“Uh, so, er…” I looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

The girls looked at me with tears streaming down their faces and a ghastly look of dread in their eyes. Okay, this is straight out of a horror movie! If any of them start chanting creepy children’s songs, I’m out of here!

They all wailed, talking over each other: “We’re so dumb! We didn’t learn anything! We can’t die like this! No way! Please, help us! Teach us how to survive and apologize to Oda! Please! Give us the power to atone for our sins, the power of reconciliation! Please!!!!”

“Uh, sure?”

Wait, did I just say yes?

Something inexplicable happened, something so weird that I wasn’t sure if I could describe it. I felt something changing in my head…but I wasn’t being targeted by Puppetry or Mesmerize; that would have been impossible. This feeling was like a glimpse behind the curtain of reality. What lurked there, in the back of my mind, was something far worse.

It was my Servitude skill. Why now?!

The word Servitude floated before my eyes, and below it, I saw the names of the Queen Bee and mean girls A, B, C, and D. What was happening? I assumed that Servitude was a skill used to enlist monsters into my party. I totally forgot to test it out! Up until now, I’d just slaughtered every monster I came across.

And now the five mean girls were a part of my team? Did I just become the lead mean girl? Could I have evolved into the final form of the Queen Bee? No way in hell!

In fantasy worlds, there were scummy people who used skills like Puppetry and Mesmerize to make girls do whatever they wanted.

And then there was me, who accidentally made a group of girls my obedient servants! Me! I’m sorry officer, I didn’t know that I was committing a crime! I thought we were just talking! It shouldn’t be possible for me to make five girls my servants! I’m a loner shut-in! Please, I didn’t want to end up on the nightly news!

Desperate for a way out of this, I headed back into the forest, groaning. Queen Bee and mean girls A, B, C, and D followed, totally silent in lockstep behind me.

I started to get scared as I walked through the forest. When I looked back, I couldn’t help but think that the girls were like a bunch of ducklings following a mama duck.

When goblins appeared, I took them out with fireballs and flame bullets before continuing on.

They’re all looking at me with freaky, blank eyes. Are they trying to learn how to fight the goblins? I was a level 5 NEET, so we couldn’t be expected to fight the same way. I kept my eyes forward as we traipsed through the forest because every time I glanced back at them I felt a cold sweat break out along my spine.

Where was I even going? I had no clue. I just kept walking. I couldn’t stop or look behind me at any cost. The look in their eyes is terrifying! They wore the expressions of religious zealots. Their stares were so direct they could probably have bored a hole right through me.

I picked a direction and walked like I had a goal in mind. Periodically, I ran into kobolds. Without sparing a thought, I destroyed them and kept going. The monsters grew stronger as I continued, but I couldn’t turn back. Five mean-girl ducklings were lurking right behind me!

I broke into a sprint. I was pretty much running away. A whole group of kobolds were in my way. I had a choice: kobolds dead ahead, or mean girls close behind. Easy choice: kobolds. Come straight this way, good sirs!

The five mean girls silently watched me and followed without any concern for themselves. What do I do now?

The kobolds ahead were serious business. They radiated an aura of strength. I couldn’t turn back even if I wanted to.

As if they had learned from watching me, one of the mean girls went to a fallen kobold’s body and retrieved the spellstone from its guts. She inexpertly gouged and tore at the kobold’s body until the stone came loose, dripping with gore. The girl wordlessly offered it to me. Her arms were soaked in blood up to the elbows. I was scared out of my mind. I want to cry!

Servitude must have shared any experience I gained with the mean girls, since they began leveling up quickly. We fell into a routine: I lured a few kobolds from the main horde, and the mean girls silently readied their swords and spears, and executed them without mercy. Kobolds had never looked so pitiful. This was the first time I saw real fear in their eyes. My face likely wore the same expression. This was terrifying!

Somewhere along the way, the lecherous guys must’ve lost track of the girls. Maybe they were chased off by kobolds, or even killed? I didn’t know or care what became of them because this was all their fault. They were the reason that the kobolds and I were traumatized. They were ultimately to blame for the horrors of murderous mean girls!

Better let them kill you quickly, poor kobolds, I thought. Even though we were enemies, we shared the same fear. Maybe the kobolds could be my allies against the real menace?

No one would be suicidal enough to attack the girls now. They had to be the most fearsome of all my classmates. The most terrifying creatures that the old man could’ve summoned were Japanese teenagers.

Kobolds were showing up in greater numbers at a variety of levels. They weren’t a problem alone, but large packs of kobolds were dangerous. Whenever one had the bad luck to be in range, I volleyed flame bullets in its direction.

Thirty bullets for ten kobolds, loaded and fired. Sixty bullets for twenty kobolds, loaded and fired. There was but one solution to the ceaseless onslaught of kobolds: total suppression.

The kobolds were quick but not sturdy. Those that survived my fiery hail of bullets then fell to the merciless slaughter of the girls.

I lost count of how many we killed. It could have been thirty or even forty. I rained down a shining storm of bullets, the mean girls tore at them until their blood flowed like a river. The final kobold lunged for my throat, baring its teeth as my flame bullet blazed through its charred body. The heat of its breath reached my throat just as it collapsed.

Knee-deep in dead kobolds, the mean girl squad continued to kill stragglers, eviscerate their corpses, and harvest spellstones. Then they looked at me with their creepy blank stares.

They were covered in minor scratches and drenched in kobold blood.

“Here’s an HP potion; you need to drink it to heal. Special mushroom flavor,” I said.

But no one moved. Maybe they were sick of mushrooms, too? High school girls weren’t exactly known to order mushroom-flavored beverages from vending machines. Neither were boys, for that matter. Nor me! I could even tolerate vegetable juice, but this made we want to hurl. To think that stamina mushrooms and medicinal herbs could combine to create such a vile concoction…

The Queen Bee finally spoke up. “Haruka…kun?”

“I take it that you hate mushrooms, too. I totally get it, they taste awful, and your whole body will smell like mushrooms afterward.”

The mean girls just kept reaping their visceral harvest of spellstones from kobold corpses. A few days ago, they wouldn’t listen to anyone, hated fighting, and would never have even dared to approach monsters. Even just the sight of blood would’ve started them screaming. Now they worked in total silence, methodically gutting the monsters and collecting the spellstones, not noticing that they were drenched in blood.

I was shocked. I didn’t want to believe what I saw with my own eyes. The only rational explanation was that they’d become entirely different people. Their eyes were totally blank, almost corpse-like. Yup, I’m terrified.

The mean girls, in their abnormal state, handed me all the spellstones they gathered and returned to their grisly work. What the hell are they doing? Just a few days ago, they were freaking out about Mesmerize and Puppetry. They must’ve been terrified thinking about what those skills could be used for. If they saw themselves now, they would’ve been just as horrified. Even I’m overcome with dread! I know I keep repeating myself, but I’m so, so scared!

Before entering this world, they were the most selfish girls the world had ever seen, but now their minds were seemingly unrecognizable. This whole situation was too strange. They weren’t just different; it was like their personalities were completely flipped. You couldn’t call it an improvement, either. It was more like the effects of brainwashing or mind control.

If a guy with some sort of mind control magic offered a suspicious drink to a girl, would anyone in their right mind drink it? Especially if it was made with mushrooms! It had all the hallmarks of a trap, so of course they wouldn’t. Both the drink and the guy were self-evidently terrible. Not to mention the mushrooms—what kind of creep would offer girls mushroom juice? I imagined what they were thinking: that guy is the worst, he keeps glaring at me! Drop the scary expression already!

Yeah, I was an unsavory character offering them foul-smelling mushroom juice. Maybe I could’ve masked the flavor with some fruit juice? The potion even looked vile. This whole scenario was so off-putting. I tried to recall what a light novel protagonist would do in a situation like this, surrounded by high school girls. No, none of that would be appropriate.

“Pssst, Earth to Haruka-kun, are you there?”

Cripes! I leapt with a start and spun around.

There was the Class Rep, inches from my face! Behind her was a whole entourage of female students. I nearly had a heart attack, my blood was rushing so fast. I looked her over, eyes drifting downward. No, blood, don’t rush there!

“Can I at least have some of that potion?” the Class Rep asked.

“Huh? You want it?”

“Didn’t you just say it was an HP potion? Why so surprised?”

“Uh, I mean, well, normally you don’t just drink some sketchy potion that a stranger offers you…right?”

“We’re classmates! What do you mean, ‘stranger’?”

I stared blankly at her. “Uh…huh?”

The Class Rep was right in front of me, her beautiful face only a few inches away. She was the apex of all female Class Representatives. I forgot how to breathe…is this how I die?

“Uh, is that you, Class Rep-sama?”

“That is not my name! What’s with the -sama?”

I needed to explain what was going on with the mean girls behind me before the Class Rep got the wrong idea, but I had no idea what to say. Even the truth was weird and kind of creepy. I couldn’t just say “I enslaved them!” That was less of a justification and more of an admission of guilt.

“Haruka-kun, what’s wrong with Shimazaki-san and her friends? Why are you with them in the first place?”

“Uh, well,” I sputtered, “I can totally explain! It’s kind of a long story and it sounds bad if I don’t explain everything fully but I, ahem, enslaved them?”

“You did what?” she screamed. “That story was way too short!”

The scream of the Class Rep—that’s not what I wanted this story to be about! Although that does sound like a pretty decent novel. Maybe I could order it online?

The only explanation was that I misclicked. Yes, we were all minors, but it wasn’t my fault, right?

“Why on earth did you enslave them?! Isn’t the Servitude skill meant for monsters? How could you possibly use it on your own female classmates?”

I wanted to know myself. Though, ideally, I would have liked to know how to rewind time to undo this whole mess. Maybe there was a spell “Back to the forest!” or something I could use? The Class Rep was clearly on the verge of erupting. I needed to take responsibility and find the right words to explain myself, but first I needed to get a few answers.

“Who’s Shimazaki-san?” I asked. “Are you talking about that Romantic era novelist who wrote about samurai?”

“You enslaved her, and you don’t even know her name?!” she screamed. “And her name is totally normal; why is the first thing you think of a historical novel?!”

The Scream of the Class Rep 2: The Revenge! Prepare for the third installment! I would totally buy that book, but maybe I’ll wait for the deluxe edition trilogy boxset. Also, I better start preparing for my trial. Does anyone know a good attorney?

“You came to rescue them, right? So why did you use Servitude on them? And why don’t you know their names? They’re your classmates!!” And there it is—the third volume. I knew I would get a trilogy out of The Scream of the Class Rep.

“Uh, I don’t know! They just show up in my status as Mean Girl A, Mean Girl B, Mean Girl C, and Mean Girl D!”

“How dare you call your own classmates by those names! How could you treat women like monsters?!”

The series continues! Limited edition!

Sheesh! The mean girls were standing behind the Class Rep. They had expressions so cold and unfeeling that you’d think they were made out of Ice Magic. Maybe I should use Heat Magic to thaw their faces? Warm up their, uh, eyeballs?

“Anyway, thank you for saving them,” the Class Rep said. “I was really worried.” She bowed her head to the Queen Bee.

“We just followed him,” the Queen Bee droned.

“Still, thanks. I really appreciate it.”

“Yes,” the Queen Bee agreed.

“Oh!” I said. “Shimazaki is the Queen Bee! I didn’t realize it because you gave her such a literary name. Of course I was confused.”

“Shimazaki is her last name!” Class Rep exclaimed. “I didn’t give it to her! Why do you keep saying Queen Bee?!”

Why was she getting mad at me? I wasn’t the one who put Queen Bee on my status.

“When you use Servitude, you get to name the monsters you enthrall,” Class Rep said. “The wrong name is showing up in the status view because you couldn’t remember her name and picked a cruel one to use instead!”

Class Rep was mad at me. But why? The Queen Bee was the leader of the mean girls! It made perfect sense. Why was I the bad guy here?

There were fifteen girls in front of me and five mean girls behind me. I was surrounded, and I couldn’t avoid their judgmental eyes.

Now I understand people who are afraid of making eye contact. I just wanted to curl up and disappear. They all glared like they expected me to say something. Do I have to? Maybe some eloquent words of surrender will satisfy.

“Uh great, thanks for everything. It’s been a real pleasure. See you all around!”

Flawless execution, now I have to get out of here. I’m totally exhausted. I just want to go home.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

A chorus of shouts came after me. No, please just let me go back. I’m not even supposed to be here! I’m a literal loner!

“At least let me thank you for the potion,” the Class Rep said. “I’m glad that they’re all safe. I want to thank you properly for rescuing them.”

Now she was thanking me. Wait a second, does that mean she actually drank that potion? Class Rep—she’s so brave!

“But how did you find us?” the Class Rep asked. “You couldn’t have had any idea where we were.”

“I was, uh, just passing by?”

“Just passing by? Why?!”

“Well, passing by might not be quite right. It’s more like I was running away and ended up here by chance?”

“What were you running from?!”

“Well, from the mean girls?”

“You’re the one who made us your servants!” said the Queen Bee, apparently snapping out of her fugue. “Why would you run away from your own servants?”

“Uh, because you’re terrifying?”

They all glared at me. The Scream of the Class Rep series must have ended. Instead, she was just staring at me. Scornfully. That’s the signature glare of Her Highness the Class Rep, a super-legit evil eye if I’ve ever seen one! Getting glared at by a gorgeous, scornful girl just inches away from my face is the pinnacle…of delight. I never thought anything this amazing would happen to me here!

She shook her head. “Talking with you isn’t getting us anywhere, so I’m going to have Shimazaki-san tell me everything. You stay right here. Don’t even think about going anywhere.”

So began the grand meeting of the girls. I stood as still as a tree. For some reason a few of the normal girls were giving the mean girls hugs. I just waited and watched. Occasionally, the Class Rep said something, and they all laughed. I watched them. Were they bullying me?! I guess with the nerds gone they had to find a new target. That’s what happens to loners, they get excluded. And just sitting here with nothing to do. I’m so bored!

I began writing randomly in the dirt. The ground was hard, so I wasn’t able to leave a mark. Curious what would happen, I used Magic Infusion on my finger and doodled circles and spirals in the earth. It’s working!

I willed more magic into my fingertip and busied myself with drawing spirals in the ground. I decided to power my finger up even further with some Earth Magic and drew a larger circular shape around me. As I carved that shape, the magic I was using seemed to grow into the form of a spinning helix. The earth sank under me as I drew. I could dig tunnels like this! I could expand my house underground! I focused my magic and imagined a sharp screw. By repeatedly drawing a simple spiral shape, I could bore deeper into the ground. Soon my home will have a furnished basement.

“Haruka-kun, why are you in a pit? I told you to watch and wait, how did you end up like this?”

I looked up at the Class Rep. She was staring down at me from above. She blessed me again with her eyes full of scorn.

“Uh, I was bored?”

Without even realizing what I’d done, I found myself sitting in a hole about fifteen feet deep.

“Don’t just dig a pit because you have nothing to do. When I saw your magic go off, I thought something crazy was happening!”

“Look, I was just bored and got caught up in drawing. I wasn’t trying to dig!”

“How…? Anyway, sorry for keeping you waiting.”

Making a pit was easy. Climbing out was the real pain.

“Okay, I heard about what happened from Shimazaki-san and the others,” the Class Rep continued. “You saved Shimazaki-san, Oda-kun, and the rest of us, too—thank you so much, really. Even though we should’ve been trying to save you, since you were totally alone.” The Class Rep shook her head. “I’m sorry for that.”

My face shone bright red. “Uh…remind me who Oda is?”

“What? You know Oda-kun!” Class Rep shouted. “He was with the guys from class who you helped out! You definitely met when they were running away! Why don’t you know anyone’s name?!”

The Scream of The Class Rep has a new volume! Coming soon to bookstores near you! When could I preorder a copy? Would I get any extras with my order?

“I think you mean Nerd A,” I said. “Yeah, I met him. The mean girls kept talking about this Oda guy too, but don’t worry, all the nerds are fine. They’re doing great.”

“His name is Oda! What is wrong with you? And how can you already have forgotten Shimazaki-san’s name? You’re such a jerk—” Class Rep ran out of breath and had to gasp for air. She must have been so exhausted and stressed from this past week.

“Don’t overdo it, Class Rep. I know you’ve been working hard to keep everyone safe together ever since we were thrown into this world. You must be exhausted.”

“Talking to you is exhausting!” she cried. “It’s the most exhausting thing I’ve done since being summoned here!”

So, it was my fault now? Outrageous!

“You said you were going somewhere,” said Vice Class Rep A, glaring at me.

“What were you going to do about Shimazaki-san?”

I didn’t know their names, so I mentally referred to the Class Rep’s friends as Vice Class Rep A, B, C, and so on. I wasn’t sure which one was the real Vice Class Rep.

“What was I going to do? Uh, I guess I was probably going to put them back where I found them.”

“Put them back—what does that even mean?” Vice Rep A snapped. “You can’t just dump them on a street corner! You’re the one who enthralled them!”

“Well, if they’re really enthralled, they’ll listen if I tell them to go back to the forest, right?”

“What do you think Shimazaki-san and her friends are? Where’d you get the idea that their natural habitat is in the forest?!”

For some inexplicable reason, Vice Rep A had started screaming at me. A new spin-off series for The Scream of the Class Rep?

Vice Rep A didn’t have the natural endowments of the Class Rep, but she was still an elegant, tall, cool beauty. If this were a light novel, her type was always—despite her beauty and popularity—plagued by an inferiority complex toward girls with bigger chests. Oh, and that makes her the perfect contrast to lead a spin-off novel.

“You’re telling me that you had no ideas for what to do with them, and you just wanted to put them ‘back’?”

“Yep, no clue.”

The Queen Bee, silent until this moment, interjected, “Then get a goddamn clue! You need to bring us with you!” Now the Queen Bee was screaming at me. “Help us get stronger! What’s wrong with you? One of the only times you’ve said anything with certainty, and that’s what you decided on? You—”

She sounded like she was back to her mean old self. She was probably emboldened by the other girls to join in shouting at me. My ears were ringing preemptively.

“Ahem…whatever, are we on, like, the same page now?” the Queen Bee asked.

“I have helped you get stronger! Check your status! You can fight perfectly fine. In fact, you’re even stronger than the nerds were when they left, right?”

Thanks to Servitude’s experience sharing, they were all the way up to level 19. They had three more levels than the highest-level nerd. Besides, no enemy could stand up to them when they were in that spine-chilling, kobold-massacring demon god state. I don’t ever want to witness that again; priority number one remains running away!

“You’re high level and have plenty of SP. By using your cheat skills, you should be able to handle any monsters or lechers that cross your paths,” I said. “You can probably even hunt down the nerds with ease!”

“Why are you like this?!” she yelled. “We keep telling you that we want to go and apologize! We’re not trying to hunt them—”

“What if you just do what feels normal to you? Isn’t hunting nerds for sport one of your natural instincts?” I asked.

No one spoke. They all just stared at me. Jeez, they’re all starting to make me feel bad. The Class Rep looked both exhausted and disappointed, seemingly out of sympathy for the Queen Bee.

“Okay, let’s all relax. Haruka-kun is just like that,” Vice Rep B said. “We know that he might be weird, but he’s not a creep. His intentions are good. Right, Haruka-kun?”

Thank you, Vice Rep B! She was at the very top of our class in terms of grades and kindness. But don’t be misled by the B in her name! No part of her is second rate. For yes, somehow, her glorious bust was in a class of its own, surpassing even the natural endowments of the Class Rep. She was worshipped as a goddess among all the true believers in the cult of the chest. She nodded as she talked, and her breasts nodded along with her. What fearsome power!

“His intentions don’t matter, he enthralled Shimazaki-chan!” protested Vice Rep A. “She’s been in magazines!” She was just finding excuses to criticize me. Look, I didn’t do anything to take advantage of this situation, so why would that change in the future? She’ll find fault with anything! Huh, maybe talking down to people is just what excites her, I’ve seen that type in light novels…

“From what it sounds like, he keeps treating his own classmates like they’re wandering monsters,” said Vice Rep C. I couldn’t believe that even she had a bone to pick with me! At her height, not even I would treat her like a monster…though maybe like a pet rabbit or something. The word “small” was a perfect descriptor, even with regards to her, well… Ahh! Why is she glaring at me? Could she tell what I was thinking about? Do tiny animal sidekicks get mindreading powers?!

Even Class Rep was visibly exasperated. “Now that you mention it, we’ve been in the same class for eleven years, but he’s only ever referred to me as the Class Rep!”

I was bored witless this entire time. The girls’ meeting still seemed like it was far from over. They’re such a chatty bunch! With twenty girls in attendance, I imagined it would take a week just to decide what to eat for lunch. They’d starve to death before coming to a consensus!

“It’s getting dark soon, so I’ll leave the rest to you youngsters.”

“You’re the same age as us!”

“Uh…am I?”

I still wasn’t allowed to leave, so I started taking potshots at some kobolds and goblins to pass the time. Since it leveled up, my presence detection range had extended to nearly one hundred feet, but I didn’t know any attacks with a range that long. Since the girls would just get mad at me if I ran into the woods without a word, I tried to discreetly use some Wind Magic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make air bullets, and my air cutter attack only had an effective range of twenty feet.

Hmm. I had my doubts about long-distance Earth Magic, but I tried putting both hands on the ground and channeling my power toward the monsters. When it was right under their feet, I unleashed a spell, muttering “Earth Lance!!” in a stage whisper. It was highly effective. Goblin skewers, anyone?

There were a few major flaws with this attack. I couldn’t use this magic and Movement at the same time. I needed to concentrate on my presence detection just to be able to attack, so it took a long time to kill each monster. It was an inefficient use of magic, overall. That did nothing to pass the time!

I raised my hand.

“Class Rep, it’s actually getting dark, so can you please permit the good students to leave early?”

“Leave for where? None of us have a home to go to, and we have been trying to figure out what to do,” Class Rep said. “Where have you been staying?”

Oh, that’s right. The camp was in shambles. A few of the tents were still usable, but the lecher delinquents would definitely be keeping an eye on that area. And the girls were definitely beyond peacefully negotiating with the delinquents.

“Uh, I’m going to my house?”

“What do you mean, ‘my house’? Did you grow up in this fantasy world?!”

“Err, I had some free time, so I built it.”

The girls huddled together for another group discussion.

“And how many people does it fit?” the Class Rep asked.

“No clue. I mean, I’ve been living by myself, and the only company I’ve had were the nerds.”

Was this some apartment hunting survey? Was she going to try to buy my place off me?

“Let’s put it this way: We could squeeze multiple people into the area of one tatami mat, right?” the Class Rep said, scratching her head. “Even if your home is small, we could make it work. About how many tatami fit in your home?”

I honestly didn’t know. Living alone meant that I had no need to figure out how many people can be stuffed in there. One tatami mat was about six feet by three feet, which meant my cave could probably fit around forty tatami mats.

“Of course, if it’s really cramped, we could fit five or six people per tatami if they slept sitting upright,” the Class Rep added.

Six people per tatami would have been ridiculously packed! Were they students or sardines?

“If you’re doing six people per tatami, I could probably fit two hundred and forty people,” I said. “At five per tatami, about two hundred people. If I moved the furniture out of the way, maybe a few more. The only difficult things to move would be the built-in appliances in the kitchen, the bathtub, and the toilet, so…”

“T-two hundred and forty people?! What kind of luxury life are you living?!” exclaimed Class Rep. “You’ve been living by yourself in a forty-tatami mansion?! You even have the bath and the toilet in separate rooms? What have you been doing in this world?!”

“Living my life? I ended up constructing a bunch of extensions.”

“Why are you living so luxuriously in a fantasy world? We’re all desperately struggling to survive while you build yourself a literal palace?!”

For some reason, all the Class Reps were upset about the specs of my listing. If they were that picky about where they lived in a fantasy world, they would have no hope of finding a good apartment in the real world.

“Haruka-kun, please!”

“Please!” they all cried.

Oh no…what’s happening? The Class Rep and her friends bowed their heads in earnest plea. Were they trying to get some insider information about local rental properties? There’s only one apartment in the area!

“I know after what happened to Oda and his friends, it’s selfish of us to ask…” the Class Rep trailed off. “But just for today, could we please stay at your place?”

Stay at my place?! A giant group of high school girls staying at one loner guys’ place?! Girls nowadays will do the most shameless things! I knew we were in a depraved fantasy world, but that kind of scenario broke all the boundaries of propriety!

“I promise we’ll take care of everything: taking watch, getting food, cooking, cleaning, tending the fire. I won’t let the situation with Oda repeat itself. I know that you might not fully trust us. But still, please!”

I didn’t know what she was getting at. Obviously without enough tents, and with the base camp ruined, they didn’t have a place to stay. That was the only issue here as far as I was aware. After what happened with Oda, she must have felt obliged to offer to do more.

Granted, the nerds made the camp, raised the defenses, set up tents, made campfires, acquired and prepared food, cleaned, protected the camp, sat up for watch, fought away monsters…basically everything. The girls made them do everything. They were only alive today because they all lived there under the nerds’ protection. Yet, they still exiled the nerds from their own camp.

Technically, the nerds ran away voluntarily, but that made no difference. In the end, the nerds were exiles.

Naturally, they had no right to demand that I share my home with them. From their perspective, I had no reason to trust them, so they couldn’t just ask without first promising to do things differently.

“I’m sure that you were upset when you heard what happened to Oda,” the Class Rep said. “Of course you would be. And…and I wouldn’t blame you if you got upset with us now for asking you. But still…”

“Class Rep,” I said.

“Yes?”

Obviously, a group of high school girls wouldn’t last long on their own if you just threw them into the middle of the woods. On top of that, they had to deal with strange food and terrible monsters. No one would expect them to flourish in that scenario. Even I knew that.

Still, I couldn’t just bring them in. They had to learn how to survive on their own. They’d only survived thanks to the nerds so far, and that made things worse in the long run. This time, they had to learn how to be independent.

“You can’t possibly do what you promised all by yourself, right?”

Class Rep suddenly trembled. She looked down and forced herself to smile, a smile so sad I could hardly bear to look at it.

“Y-yeah, yes. Of course. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s…it’s your property after all. I was being inconsiderate. I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m saying of course you can’t do it all yourself!” I shouted. “We’re just a bunch of high school students dumped out in the middle of the forest and told to survive! There’s no way you can do everything yourself! So why do you insist on doing everything?! It’s impossible!”

“But we have to!” Class Rep replied. “We need to do more! After everything Oda and you have done for us, we need to learn to handle it ourselves. Otherwise, we won’t survive!”

“But I’m telling you it’s impossible!”

“I know it’s not impossible…” Class Rep trailed off. “We can do it, because we have to! This time we’ll prove to you—”

“Im-poss-i-ble! That’s just the truth. What kind of high school students could survive being stranded in the untamed wilderness? Super weird, atypical ones, and that’s it! So I’m telling you to do what you can, but nothing more than that! Am I mad about what happened to the nerds? Yeah, I’m hopping mad. I’m mad at them for trying to do everything themselves! And I’m mad at you too, Class Rep, for running yourself ragged trying to help everyone! I’m mad at everyone! I’m hardly surprised by your choices, but I’m still pissed! I’m mad at you for trying to do too much!”

The Class Rep couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She had been trying to take responsibility for everyone and everything, even the things that were far out of her control. Yet she couldn’t bear to give up or let anyone down. She broke down sobbing.

Should I do something?

She had managed to lead everyone until now. If she hadn’t, none of them would have survived.

We started walking through the forest toward my cave.

“Haruka-kun, why are all the monsters around here impaled like that?” the Class Rep asked, looking around.

“Uh, I had nothing to do while you all talked, so…”

“Huh? In what world does someone just impale all the monsters in a forest out of boredom?”

“Hey, it could’ve been a vampire prince or something, right? It’s a fantasy world, after all,” I suggested helpfully.

“There was not a vampire! So far, the only people we’ve met came from our class, and I know that none of them are vampires!”

“Impressive. Do you really remember the names of everyone in our class?”

“If someone were Count Dracula, I think I would’ve noticed!” she cried.

“Well, it’d be tough to tell, because his name would show up as Dracula A or something, and you wouldn’t notice anything suspicious,” I countered.

“No one is named like that! There aren’t multiple Count Draculas! What, are they all dressed the same, too?!”

Wow, I still know how to talk to people, I thought. After being alone for so long, it wasn’t easy, but I was managing. For some reason, the Class Rep looked tired, though. Maybe all that crying wore her out?

“Turn left at the corner,” I said.

“There are no corners in a forest!” Class Rep exclaimed. “Did you build an intersection with a traffic light? Did you make a convenience store, too?”

Oof. It was just a joke, but she returned it flawlessly. OHKO.

We arrived at the cave.

“Welcome to my home,” I said, “visitors from faraway lands—”

“Haruka-kun, you realize you were walking with us the whole time?”

“I’m just trying to show some hospitality!”

I beckoned all twenty of them inside. My loner self could hardly believe it. I should’ve done some more construction to expand the place.

Everyone cried out as they entered.

“What on earth is this place?!”

“It’s just my house?” I said. “Uh, thanks for coming?”

Maybe a cave was no good after all? Or were all the club decorations turning them off?

The Class Rep came up to me. “Uh, Haruka-kun? This place…it’s like a semi-underground Mediterranean resort. It looks like it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. What—what is this place?”

“Uh, it’s my house. Was my greeting wrong? How about bonjour?”

“This is another world! How the hell did you build this place?!” she cried. “Besides, Frank Lloyd Wright spoke English, not French!”

I guess the Scream of the Class Rep series would continue even in my own home. She was undeniably passionate.

“I guess I had a lot of free time since I was always by myself…” I trailed off. “I kind of just ended up building all this.”

All twenty of them narrowed their eyes at me. That’s…kinda hot. Uhh, forget I said that.

I guess I better make more room for them, I thought. I used Earth Magic to carve out some more space and ran into a vein of quartz crystal. Using Earth and Packing Magic in combination, I made some glass for a skylight and some more tables. There was also some rock that kind of looked like limestone, and when I tried messing around with it using Earth Magic, I figured out how to turn it into whitewash and painted all the walls white. I figured that was good enough.

Everyone looking at me was beginning to creep me out, so I used Wood Magic to make a few big beds for everyone. Surely, this was more than enough space for twenty people. I needed a break from the staring girls, so I retreated to the kitchen and used all the mushrooms available to make a feast. I set it out on the dining table. As a final measure, I got some hot water going for the bath.

“I’m sure you gals will feel more comfortable without a guy around, so enjoy,” I said. “See ya.”

I headed toward the mouth of the cave.

“Where are you going?” the Class Rep asked. “If we end up chasing you out of your own home, that’s no better than what happened with Oda-kun and his friends. Besides, I wanted to thank you for preparing everything—the food, the bath, even the beds.”

I shrugged. “Well, it’s my house, right? Isn’t a host supposed to show hospitality?”

“Still…”

“Like I said before, just do what you can. After all, you were attacked by a bunch of guys before finding me, right? By the way, you don’t need to worry about monsters in here, they don’t come near the cave.” I nodded. “Anyway, you must be exhausted, so…good night?”

Before anyone could respond, I ran out. A flawless exit strategy! Alone at last! A loner like me could definitely not handle being surrounded by so many girls.

I felt stifled in that cave, surrounded by the distraction of twenty girls all giving me their most withering stares. This is better. I’m just a teenage boy, after all, and no teenage boy could survive that situation.

I happily set up my tent outside and tumbled into it. The joy of solitude and release that I felt—only a loner could understand! As a shut-in, it hurt to have to abandon my home, but at least I still had this tent thanks to the mysterious Villager A. Something about Villager A always felt strangely familiar, even though I’d never met him. The tent could change size when it was deployed, kind of like his bottomless bag. Its size range was anywhere from a normal tent to one of those yurts that could comfortably fit several adults inside. I set it up but soon regretted not making it bigger.

After a minute, the Class Rep followed me into my cramped tent. She had to stand extremely close to me.

“Haruka-kun, thank you for everything,” she said. “Everyone seems to have calmed down now. The nice place, the good food, and the bath really cheered us up.”

“Er…you’re welcome,” I said vaguely.

“And we’re terribly sorry for taking over your place. You must want to at least take a bath, right? I don’t think you can tonight because everyone already undressed and fell asleep. So…look, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

My humble house has turned into paradise. A paradise of high school girls sounded very suspicious. I couldn’t even guess how expensive it would be to enter such a fabled realm. Even though it was my own house, I’d still be willing to pay! Please, let me back in!

“It’s fine, I washed up earlier,” I said. “I can’t be the only guy in there anyway, it’s just too much for me.”

“That makes sense. I’m genuinely sorry. Thanks again.”

“Class Rep, you’re starting to sound like a broken record. You keep repeating ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you.’”

“I don’t know what else to say. We were helpless yet again, and you saved us, and I still can’t do anything. We’re treating you no better than Oda-kun and his friends…”

I don’t think she quite gets it, I thought. It’s not the same situation at all.

“You are,” I told her. “You’ve been doing amazing things this whole time, haven’t you? You’ve been protecting fourteen other girls. You’ve kept everyone organized and on track this whole time. You ask everyone how they’re feeling, find your way through any situation, and make tough choices. You’ve kept everyone alive and together, haven’t you? This should be way too much responsibility for one person, but the others followed you, and you’ve protected them until now. Don’t say that you can’t do anything. You’ve done so much.”

“But what about Oda-kun?”

“I’m telling you, the nerds are fine. They’re all wired weird from being nerds, you know. Did you know that they’ve been practicing survival training in case they were ever summoned to a world like this? They were walking around with pocket knives just in case something like this ever happened! They brought LED flashlights, too! They had whole meetings to prepare for all kinds of fantasy scenarios! Obviously, the rest of us wouldn’t do something like that. Back in the real world, that kind of thinking was nuts. Only now, in this world, could their behavior seem rational. I’m glad you weren’t prepared. You’d have to be as nuts as them to prepare for this!”

“Don’t be so mean to them,” the Class Rep said. “They worked so hard.”

“But they’re still absurd for having prepared so much for this,” I said. “You think they were trying hard in school? No, they were waiting—hoping—for a world like this to show up. Can you imagine if schools taught students how to survive being summoned to a fantasy world? That’s ridiculous, right? They’re just weirdos who got lucky.”

It was like preparing your whole life for winning the lottery. It wasn’t normal. If you actually won, you looked like a farsighted genius, but the ones who didn’t win just ended up looking ridiculous.

“Still, thank you, Haruka-kun,” Class Rep said. “I feel a lot better. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank you properly. You’re pretty incredible.”

“No, no…I was just doing what I could, y’know?” I blushed. “I mean, loners usually have a lot of time on their hands.”

Groups came with a lot of benefits, but they came with drawbacks, too. They needed rules to function smoothly. Alone, you might be limited in what you could do, but you weren’t tied down. My classmates’ camp fell apart because they couldn’t handle following the rules—honestly, they didn’t set many rules in the first place. The nerds just did things however they wanted and set things up the way they liked without consulting anyone else.

Can’t figure out the group dynamics? Might as well just do whatever you want. That’s what the nerds believed. Of course, taking the initiative like that leads to complications and you’re just as likely to end up doing nothing. The nerds’ plan was the opposite of teamwork—they didn’t try to cooperate at all, just assumed they knew best and did stuff without thinking about the whole group.

On the other hand, the Class Rep was so concerned with the group’s overall health that she struggled to push anyone out of their comfort zone. With the nerds already doing most of the necessary work, there was no urgency about learning to survive. It was the nerds who made it impossible for them all to pull together.

“You collected so much food, made an incredible home, defeated so many monsters—you can do anything!” the Class Rep said, beaming. “You might actually be weirder than Oda-kun and his friends.”

She playfully flicked my cheek. Ouch! That’s not fair! She’s destroying all my defenses with concentrated cuteness! And how am I weirder than the nerds?!

“Lots of food, but it’s all mushrooms. The house just came from all the free time I had, and all the monsters around here are weak,” I said. “I’m not like the nerds! I’m totally normal!”

She was clean and clear-skinned, and her hair was still wet from the bath. The Class Rep stood achingly close to me. Only because the tent is tiny, but still!

“Normal, hm? Then don’t you think everyone will be able to live happily here together?”

“I mean, if you just need the bare minimum to be happy, then sure?”

She eventually left the tent, but not before thanking me profusely again. It was so late at night. I’d set up my tent in front of the cave opening, so I decided I’d better keep watch just in case. I should’ve built my cave further underground and saved myself the trouble of keeping watch.