Bonus Short Stories

The Gang’s All Here! The Four Masters’ Karaoke Party!

This episode takes place sometime before Wataru’s epic arrival into this world. The Four Masters of the Demon Lord’s army had congregated in a top-secret facility somewhere in the Wind continent. One of them was Résistance, a young woman clad in pitch-black armor. Then, there was Binker, a fairy who stood 1’6” tall and possessed the power of flight using the translucent wings on her back. The remaining members were Cyclo Psjohn and Wolfman, but both of them were too paranoid to show their true forms, even to Résistance and Binker. This day, Wolfman had magically transformed himself into an orc, and Psjohn had the form of a goblin. In the dimly lit, 30’ by 30’ room, the quartet sat on the provided couches around a table.

Suddenly, Résistance stood up, mic in hand. “Uh, well... Now that all of the Four Masters are here, let’s begin...” she inserted a beat, maintaining a dead-serious expression, “...the Demon Lord Army Karaoke Party!”

“Woo!” The remaining three Masters thrust their hands into the air!

“All right,” Wolfman (currently disguised as an Orc) growled. “Brace your asses to be serenaded!” boasted the mysterious and bloodthirsty man of a seemingly unknown race!

That’s right! The Four had gathered at a karaoke joint, of all places! The Four Masters had sworn an unbreakable oath to never miss their monthly hangout, no matter what! That being said, this was their very first attempt at karaoke... their other events include ohanami (the traditional Japanese pastime of staring at flowers) and athletic competitions!

“Let’s jump right in...” Wolfman grabbed the remote-control device from the table and punched in a few digits! A few moments passed, and an ear-splitting chord came from speakers on the ceiling! “I’ll start things off with this new metal track I’ve been digging, ‘Destroyer of Hell’!” He snatched the mic from Résistance and began to yowl through the song! Wolfman’s singing (if I dare call it that) was so painfully painful that the other three Masters instinctively covered their ears to protect them from being vocally torn to shreds! Bam! Having sung through the entire song as aggressively as possible, Wolfman set the mic down with a sigh of accomplishment! “Phew... That felt good...”

“I’ll go next. I picked Vacance Sombre by my long-time favorite punk band, Darker.”

Vacance Sombre means “Dark Holiday.” Lame!

“What kind of song is that...?” Binker muttered with much concern!

Résistance began rocking out hard to the lyrics!

Darkness!

Pitch black.

Sky of the abyss.

The fallen angel rests twice a week...

The pain caused by her singing was doubled by the fact that she was completely tone-deaf! “Yeah... That’s the stuff,” she declared with a sense of accomplishment, even as Psjohn (still in goblin form) snatched the mic from her hands.

“I’m next! Here goes Isekai’s a Monster Man’s World!” Surprisingly, Psjohn chose an enka (Japanese blues) song! Of course, any respectable fantasy world had enka songs! After a little bit of old-timey intro music, Psjohn started in with the catchy melody of the koto! “Oh... Life in an Isekai is hard on a monster...!” He sang with passion, his voice hitting all the right notes, even the challenging arpeggios! H-He was amazing! Psjohn even demonstrated impeccable vibrato control!

But in the middle of Psjohn’s performance, Binker began writhing! “It-It hurts!” she shouted! That’s right! Binker, as a fairy, would disintegrate upon hearing a beautiful song! Surely you are wondering, Dear Readers, why she even showed up in the first place!

“Hey, Binker’s in pain!” Résistance tried to shout over the song! “Stop singing!”

“And Isekai’s... A monster... man’s... wooooooorld...!” Psjohn was utterly lost in the world of his own song.

“Agh! I’m melting!”

“Binker, no!”

At the end of the day, they averted the crisis of Binker’s disintegration, but this would be the first and last time the Four Mastersever held a karaoke party for their monthly gathering.

Then, they lived happily ever after!

Special: A Day in the Life of Résistance!

This episode takes place sometime before Wataru’s epic arrival into this world. One day, the Demon Lord Deus was sitting on his throne and munching on a cookie when he called up his messenger, the slime.

“How may I serve you, Master Deus?” the slime asked, jiggling his gelatinous, blue body.

“You’re here... chomp, chomp...” Deus halted his cookie-munching. “I recruited Résistance as a Master a few months ago. I saw potential use in her strength... But, she’s a human, after all. Who knows when she’ll betray me? Go spy on her for the day and tell me what she does.”

“Yes, Master!”

The slime departed on his super-important duty to observe a day in the life of Résistance.

After becoming a Master, Résistance began guarding a particular forest. Human adventurers attempted to pass through the forest on occasion in order to reach the Demon Lord castle; Résistance was tasked with stopping them.

At eight in the morning, she stood at the entrance to the forest, wearing her pitch-black armor and eerie, skull-themed helmet. She was to stand on guard for any humans that might try to make their way through the forest. The slime watched her from behind a nearby tree.

(All right,) the slime thought. (I’m going to make sure Master Résistance doesn’t slack off on the job...!)

The slime watched Résistance for four straight hours, only to find that her work ethic was impeccable. Of course, all she did was stand there at the entrance to the forest. Since absolutely nothing was happening in the area, the slime let a yawn slip out. (This is boring... I wonder if Master Résistance doesn’t get tired after just standing there for four hours.) At that instant, a wolf appeared from a patch of shrubs, and approached Résistance with a growl. (A w-wolf!? It’s a dangerously ferocious animal!) The slime panicked. But, much to its surprise, Résistance showed not a hint of fear. Rather, she took off her helmet, revealing her beautiful blue hair and attractive face.

With a brimming smile, she called to the approaching wolf. “Innocent Fang... It’s you again.”

(Huh...?) The slime couldn’t believe his ears... or whatever part of him functioned as ears. (What did she just call that wolf...?)

As the slime watched, Résistance produced a hunk of raw meat from a drawstring bag on her belt and tossed it to the wolf. The beast jumped, catching the piece of meat in midair, and devoured it. “You always have a good appetite, Innocent Fang.” Résistance petted its head. She seemed to be enjoying the softness of its fur.

(I see...) The slime thought. (Master Résistance feeds that wolf every day. But why the weird nickname?)

Then, drawn by the scent of the meat, the more adorable animals like dogs and cats emerged from the bushes.

“Oh, Black Lightning Beast, Abyss-Wandering Crimson Eyes, and Evil-Eyed Holy Beast!”

(What is with those names!? And all the adjectives!) The slime wanted, so desperately, to ask out loud.

“Don’t worry, there’s plenty for all of you!” Résistance began feeding all of the animals that approached her.

Watching her bizarre habit, the slime reached a particular conclusion.

After returning to the castle, the slime went directly to Deus in order to report his findings.

“So, Master Deus. At first glance, Master Résistance was merely having fun with the animals of the forest... But those strange nicknames are undoubtedly some kind of spell. I suspect that she’s cast some sort of curse on the animals.”

“No, that’s...” Deus started to answer, awkwardly.

“Is something the matter, Master Deus?”

“I think Résistance just likes animals.”

“But what of those spell-like nicknames?”

“Just... Let her be.”

“Huh?”

The slime had yet to learn the symptoms of “emo.”

Special: Beef Up! Wataru’s Work Out Tutorial!

On one fateful day...!

“998! 999! 1000!”

Wataru was engaging in hard-core push-ups in his room, when Aria barged in!

“Wataru!”

“What is it, Aria!?” Wataru leapt to his feet!

Panting, she declared, “I want you to train me!”

“What!? Train you!?”

“Yes! I want to be strong like you, Wataru!”

“Then let’s work out!”

Aria’s expression turned in obvious revulsion!

“That’s too much work. Don’t you have any ’roids?”

“No, you idiot!” Wataru’s temper exploded! “If you want to get stronger, you start by working out to build your body! Muscles aren’t built in a day!”

“Can’t I please just inject something in my muscles? Pretty please?”

“No!”

“Then I’m left without a choice. Will you show me which workouts to do?”

Wataru crossed his arms in a dramatic display of superiority! “Beginners start with hand-held weights!”

“Weights? Simple enough.”

“Yet difficult to master!” Fantasy worlds had weight-training weights too, of course! Wataru produced a matte-black hand-held weight from under the bed. “Let’s start with one of these for starters!”

“Okay!” Aria took the weight from Wataru! “It’s so heavy!?” Aira was in utter shock! The weight was much heavier than it looked! “How much does this weigh...!?” Aria asked, holding up the weight with all of her might! Large beads of sweat rolled down her face!

“200 kilograms!”

“What the hell!?” Aria dropped the weight, unable to bear the strain of holding it any longer! The 200-kilogram hunk of metal crashed to the floorboards, smashing them into pieces! One of the splinters struck Aria right between the eyes! “Aggggghhhhh!!” Blood spewed from the vicious head wound!

“Are you okay!?!?”

No need for concern, of course! She could use healing magic!

Then, they lived happily ever after!

The Irresistible Fragrance of Résistance’s Perfume!

This episode takes place when Wataru, Aria, and Résistance were walking through the forest en route to the Demon Lord’s castle!

Aria suddenly blurted out! “You smell nice, Résistance.”

“Hm? That was out of the blue.”

“I’ve been noticing that citrus scent for a while.”

“Oh, I see. Well, you may not have guessed it, but I’m pretty picky about my perfume,” Résistance boasted!

“Where do you get your perfume?”

“A fragrance store called Tiger’s Hole.”

Wataru interjected, crossing his arms in a proud display! “Tiger’s Hole? Is that what the hidden dragon saw?”

“The hidden what...?”

“Noting... Never mind!” Wataru was dejected! He shouldn’t have expected this joke to fly in a fantasy world, or with the majority of our Dear Readers, for that matter!

“Can I borrow it, Résistance? I never used perfume before!” Aria asked with enamored anticipation!

“Oh, really? Sure, you can use it.” Résistance produced the bottle of perfume and handed it to Aria.

“Wow...!” Aria muttered to herself as she opened the bottle! Despite her history of bizarre behavior unbecoming of any self-respecting light novel heroine, Aria was finally acting like a teenage girl her age, showing fascination with perfume! “Don’t mind if I do...” Aria brought the bottle up to her face... and started gulping down the perfume, straight from the bottle! This was as bizarre as bizarre could get!

“Stop!” Résistance was dumbfounded!

“What!?!?!?” Wataru shouted!

“Bleh!” Aria snapped! “What the heck!? This tastes like crap!”

“Of course it does!” Résistance countered! “You’re not supposed to drink it!”

“What...?” Aria stared back at her with a look of utter disbelief, as if to mirror our collective expression! “I thought this was how you used perfume...”

“No! You spray it onto your body!” Réssitance explained!

“I-I didn’t know...” The more you know, Aria!

Résistance sighed! “This perfume was expensive, you know!”

Aria refused to apologize! “Now, now, Résistance! You can just get another one! Tiger’s Hole has a selection of perfumes, right?”

“You really are a piece of work sometimes...”

“Hey...” Wataru started with a deeply grave expression! “Does it have a selection of swords, too? Like one called Green Destiny!?!?”

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“What’s gotten into you, Wataru?”

Résistance and Aria remained confused.

“Dammit... They don’t get it!” Tears of fury welled in Wataru’s eyes!

Then, they lived happily ever after!

Special: Nurse ARIA, Savior of Lives!

This episode takes place sometime before Wataru’s epic arrival into this world. After her parents were abducted by the Demon Lord, Aria didn’t know that to do with herself. One day, she finally decided that nothing would improve by her moping around, so she sprung into action. The first matter she tended to was taking over her family’s clinic that had been run by her parents. Now that her parents were captured by the Demon Lord, Aria was the only one left to tend to it. Fortunately, she could wield powerful healing magic.

“All right! I’m going to use the power of my magic to resuscitate this clinic!” she proudly proclaimed, and donned her mother’s white nurse’s uniform.

This marked the legendary genesis of ARIA, the Non-Fighting Nurse!

“Hey Aria! Can you help me!?” A middle-aged man entered the exam room!

“Barr! From down the street!”

His name was Barr Frocket! A man who lived near the hospital, whom Aria had known since she was little!

“What’s wrong?”

“My stomach’s been hurting all day...” Barr sat on a chair, gently caressing his stomach.

Aria sat opposite him, and immediately began her super-professional examination!

“Did you eat anything weird yesterday?”

“Well... Come to think of it, I ate a rotten egg.”

“Rotten egg... I eat them from time to time, so that shouldn’t affect you at all.”

“For real!?” Barr was astounded!

Aria’s actions, as times, reached far beyond the understanding of mere mortals! No one should be surprised that she ate rotten eggs!

“Let’s continue,” she said! “Have you had any form of bleeding, recently?”

“Bleeding? I did trip and scrape my knee like a week ago...”

“That has to be it. You had a stroke.”

“It can’t be!” Barr protested! “My stomach’s hurting, and you’re saying I had a stroke!? A stroke has to do with the head or something, right!?”

“Bacteria entered through your scraped knee, and it’s turning your brain to mush.”

“To mush, you say!?”

“Like a smoothie,” Aira declared, completely deadpan!

“Th-That’s impossible... But, whatever. Can’t you heal me with your magic, Aria?”

She shook her head! “No, not even my magic can cure a stroke. I’ll prescribe you a dose.”

“What?”

Aria stood and procured a vial from a nearby cabinet! The vial contained a purple liquid of thick viscosity that looked obviously toxic!

“What is that...?” Barr asked!

“A medicine that will immediately end all of your suffering.”

“I can’t take that...”

“The pain from its side effects will come three days later and make you wish you were dead, but until then, you’ll be in euphoria.”

“I really can’t take that... And that won’t even cure a stroke, will it...?”

“Come on, Barr! Drink up!” Aria clasped Barr’s head and tried to force the contents of the vial down his throat!

“Stop!” Barr resisted with all of his might!

“Wait!” Aria shouted, as Barr freed himself from her grasp and darted out of the exam room! “I guess he’s all better, now! I did it!” Aria cackled!

Soon, the rumor of the murderous hospital spread like wildfire throughout the country, and no one ever came to her hospital, again!

A few days later...!

“Hmm... No one’s come to the clinic, recently... That must mean everyone’s healthy, now! I did it! I’ve saved my family business!” Aria took off the nurse’s uniform, and continued talking to herself with a brimming smile! “I’m starting to get hungry... I think I’ll go pick some herbs!”

Aria had no idead... that she would encounter the very man described in the title of this series in the field where she went to pick herbs!

Special: Pre-Reincarnation! A Day in the Wataru’s School Life!

This episode takes place before Wataru epically stopped a truck with his bare hands and was transported to a fantasy world!

Wataru Ito, the average teenager who devoted himself to his studies and workouts, was diligently attending classes in his high school, per usual!

“Can anyone solve this equation?” The teacher asked as he turned to his students, having written a mathematical equation on the blackboard!

“Yes, sir!” Immediately, Wataru raised his hand, his hot-blooded shout echoing through the entire school!

Crashsmashbashbegash!!!

In fact, Wataru had raised his hand at such an incredible velocity, that the shockwave from the gesture shattered every single window in the classroom!

“How many times do I have to tell you, Wataru?” His teacher said, exasperated. “No breaking the windows in my classroom by creating sonic booms.”

“Sorry, Teach!” Wataru simply apologized!

“Get it together, Wataru!” commented one of his classmates.

“Yeah, Wataru! How many windows have you broken this month?”

“Good ol’ Wataru!” The other students cheerfully ribbed Wataru! They had long gotten used to his insane hijinks!

Wataru’s next class was P.E! They were playing rugby, in which two teams attempted to carry an egg-shaped ball into the opponent’s zone to score points! Moreover, players were allowed to tackle any opposing player who held the ball!

The game began! The first student to hold the ball was Tota Animei!

“I’m gonna take it all the way!” As a sprinter who could run 50 meters in under 7 seconds, Tota ran across the field uncontested! That was, until he came to the final defense of Wataru, who could run 50 meters in under 2 seconds!

(Wataru...) Tota was determined! (This is the day to prove that I’m the real athlete in our class!) With burning ambition, Tota charged like a bullet train! His classmates cheered him on!

“Go, Tota!”

“Go for the goal!”

“You got this, Tota!”

If Tota could best Wataru in a sport’s match, he would have accomplished the giant-killing of the century!

“I’m gonna try to try!” Tota shouted.

Alas...!

“Stp!!” Wataru’s supersonically tackled Tota in the gut!

Gdrash!!!

“Gaaaaaaghhhhh!” Tota screamed in agony, even as he plummeted to the ground at 200km/h, letting go of the ball on impact!

Allowing me to explain to the privileged among our Dear Readers who managed to get their hands on this Special Episode. Wataru’s tackle was no other than the Raging Bull Charge, an attack devised in ancient China!

(*Raging Bull Charge — You might have heard that rugby was invented in England. You heard wrong. It was ancient China. The martial artists of old used to separate into two teams, and trained by attempting to carry a 200-pound metal ball into enemy territory, and tackling the opponent to stop them. This training method evolved into the sport of rugby we know today. In the Raging Bull Charge, devised through this training, the attacker tackles his opponent by charging like a mad bull from a low-to-the-ground stance. It’s a very dangerous move, kids. Don’t try it at home.)

Tota was completely knocked out!

The P.E. teacher approached them! “Wataru! How many times do I have to tell you to go easy during class!?”

“Sorry, Teach! ...But, I can’t! If I went easy on him now, it would be an insult!”

“That’s your idea of sportsmanship!?”

“How could I insult my classmates by not tackling them with every ounce of strength in my body!? Isn’t rugby... a gentleman’s sport!?”

“What gentleman tackles at supersonic speed!?”

Wataru, the hot-blooded fighting teen does! He was a man among men, tackling every challenge that came his way with all of his might!!