**Day 12: In Front of the Cave – Tent**
"Good morning. Breakfast is ready. Please wake up."
Nn~? What is this situation? Is this the cute childhood friend next door? Or a lovely little sister? No, I don't have either… Who is it?
When I opened my eyes, there was an unfamiliar high school girl. This isn't some ceiling commotion!
The tent was definitely cramped. With one person sleeping inside, there wasn't much space. But why was she leaning over me? Her face was way too close!
"Ah~, good morning. I'm up, so… maybe in about 30 minutes?"
"You're definitely not getting up, and you don't even plan to, do you?"
No, in this position I physically can't get up, and as a high school boy it's also impossible.
"What's for breakfast?"
"Grilled fish and mushrooms."
I jumped up. The nameless high school girl rolled out of the tent. Korokoro?
"Grilled fish! Where!? Fish! Harry, Harry Harry, Harry Harry Harry!"
"Harry Harry is too loud! Why are you headbutting and blowing me away, then only talking about fish?"
"No, more importantly, fish!"
"How much do you like fish!? And why am I being treated like that!?"
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It's fish. Delicious.
"Um… why are you crying while eating?"
"Eh, because it's fish! Grilled fish!"
"You've been living in front of the river the whole time, right?"
"Yeah! Every day I looked at fish while eating mushrooms."
"""""…?"""""
The conversation wasn't clicking. Apparently the class rep and the others had been eating mostly fish. I'm jealous! Or rather, they could only catch fish.
There were quite a few people with lightning magic, so they could catch fish. Sometimes the otaku brought back deer or boar, but basically it was fish.
They couldn't gather mushrooms because goblins gathered in groups there, so mushrooms were a valuable ingredient.
Darn, if I had interacted earlier we could have done some bartering.
By the way, yesterday the girls apparently cried while eating mushroom salad and medicinal herb mix.
Trade is important. I had been doing isolationism.
For some reason everyone around me gave me one fish each.
In return I served them post-meal juice, and they made a huge fuss and were super happy. Some even had tears in their eyes. Sweet things are… stomach fillers?
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"So, have you guys decided what to do? If you're making this your base I'll renovate it?"
Aim high! The old Imperial Hotel! No, looking at the shape of the rocky mountain with the cave, I feel like it could work.
"Eh, that would be bad. We haven't decided yet, but we're thinking of raising levels and heading for town."
"Ah~, come to think of it, the bitch-san and the others were going to town to hunt otaku, right?"
"We said we're going to thank and apologize to them so many times! Why do you always turn it into hunting!? Also, it's Oda-kun and the others! And I keep saying I'm not a bitch!!"
That was the bitch's complaint scream.
"Haruka-kun, aren't you going to town?"
"Town seems like it would be a pain to live in? Well, I might go take a look, but living there… nah."
"Normally surviving in the forest surrounded by monsters is way harder, but after seeing this lifestyle…"
"The otaku said they were going to become adventurers, but that also seems difficult."
"I heard from Oda-kun and the others that anyone can become an adventurer?"
"Ah~, I can't get strong, so it seems impossible for me?"
""""…?""""
I explained.
"That's definitely weird! There's no way someone with no decent skills at Lv5 could take down a large group of kobolds or even a kobold leader."
"Who's the kobold leader? The bitch leader's friend?"
"Who's friends with the kobold leader!? Why are you trying to make the monster boss your friend!? And I keep saying I'm not the bitch leader! How many times do I have to say it before you understand!!?"
Noisy, clamorous, bothersome. Why is she always behind me?
"Ah, now that you mention it, I hadn't given this to Haruka-kun yet. Here, it's the bracelet from the kobold leader monster."
A bracelet? It looks similar to the one I'm wearing. Th-this is a pair bracelet!? But if she gives me another one when I'm already wearing one, it's not a pair anymore, right? It's loner…
"Eh? It's the bracelet from the kobold leader monster. When you pour magic power into it, it gives a correction to SpE."
"Huh? Mine was PoW +1% though?"
I showed her the bracelet I was wearing while asking.
"You defeated a goblin leader… Goblin leaders raise PoW, kobold leaders raise SpE."
"Goblin leader? Is that also the bitch leader's friend?"
"Why are you trying to make everything your friend!? And 'also'—I keep saying that's not it! Is there some kind of leader meeting somewhere!? Am I going to get invited to a monster gathering!? No, I'm saying I'm not the bitch leader! How many times do I have to say it before you get it!!?"
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Yeah, with this much noise even monsters probably won't come near. And the kobolds are scared of the terrifying slaughterer, so they probably don't want to meet her either.
"You're that strong at only Lv5? Why? Even with cheats I can't beat them? Why can you win at Lv5?"
"If you keep attacking until they die, you can usually beat them?"
"Yeah, that's what pretty much everyone does. Normal people just don't call that a solution."
Why is everyone looking at me with those eyes? Is this the rumored popular period!? No, those glares are different, right? What's wrong? What other method is there to defeat monsters besides beating them until they die?
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"Then~ I'll show you~ Watch~"
With that, Vice Class Rep B raised her right hand, and a ball of lightning formed at her fingertips. And it shook!
"Wait a second! Stay like that! Don't move!!"
"Eh!? What!? Why!?"
I wrapped Vice Class Rep B's lightning ball with Packing Magic. Alright, can I move it?
Slowly, slowly, I moved the lightning ball toward the river and threw it at the fish. Hit! The fish floated up!
"Got one~! Fish and lightning magic acquired!"
I immediately checked my status, and I had gotten lightning magic in one try.
"Ehhh!? What!? How~? Why is my magic…?"
Vice Class Rep B was flustered, and she was shaking a lot. Don't ask what!
"Um…? Haruka-kun? What did you just do? And where are you looking?"
The class rep beside me had scary eyes, especially the last part had killing intent.
"I'm not looking at anything? I was just studying lightning magic? Really?"
"You're speaking in broken sentences and it turned into a question? So, what was that?"
"Ah~, that was me wrapping it with Packing Magic. When you wrap something and move it, you can sometimes get that attribute's magic?"
"Sometimes get… That's already plenty cheat! Just being able to move it is amazing?"
"No, I think it's probably the effect of Jack of All Trades, but I only get it, it doesn't level up or anything?"
"If you can get magic that easily it's already amazing. And it's anti-magic too!"
"Anti-magic?"
"Yeah, you can interfere when the opponent shoots magic, right? If you throw it back it's anti-magic, and even just deflecting it is a huge deal."
I see. Goblins and kobolds don't use magic attacks, so I never thought about it, but if I can wrap the opponent's magic I can interfere with it.
"Using it as anti-magic seems difficult? It takes time to wrap."
Still, how about it? When I wrapped my body it became "Magic Wrap," and now I can use it instantly. Maybe someday I'll learn anti-magic?
But more importantly, I have to go get the fish!
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At home I practiced lightning magic alone, built an underground room with the "の" method, and still hadn't checked my level up. I had plenty of reasons to hikikomori, and I was fully motivated to do so.
Yet this hikikomori was currently outside, this NEET was helping raise levels, this loner was acting as escort and mushroom-gathering guide for twenty high school girls.
We advanced with a zoro zoro zoro, and I beat goblins with gubu gubu gubu.
I cut off arms or legs holding clubs and kept walking, while behind me the JKs took turns delivering the finishing blows… My first outing with girls, and it's in the middle of the forest. What a bloody picnic!
Goblin, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, goblin, mushroom, mushroom. Behind me it was finishing blow, finishing blow, gathering, gathering, finishing blow, finishing blow, gathering, gathering. Huh? This is completely different from the dream picnic with girls I imagined!
"Hey hey, Haruka-kun, why can you cut goblins with a wooden stick?"
"Ah~, this? The otaku taught me. When I said I only had staff arts, they told me something like 'thrust like a spear, sweep like a naginata, hold like a sword, thus is the way of the staff: it never misses'? Something like that?"
"Something like that… I don't think that actually means it can cut? Probably."
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"When you helped us you were holding a staff and shooting magic wildly, but you're not a magic job?"
"No, I'm unemployed though?"
"…Right, you were."
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"Haruka-kun, you said you don't have any decent skills, but that instant movement isn't 'Teleport' or 'Shrinking Ground,' right?"
"I think what looks like instant movement is 'Movement' and 'Walking'?"
"Eh? The skill that makes you better at walking and the support magic for movement?"
"Probably? It's like a combination of those two?"
"Like a combination… but you can do it? …Huh? What even is a cheat?"
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With this many people entering the forest, the sensitive rabbits didn't come out.
The girls seemed to be splitting up with the vice class reps and the bitches to provide support, so the class rep followed me alone.
We kept walking while steadily weakening the goblins.
When there were a lot, I sniped and thinned them out while continuing the hunt.
"N~, if we go any deeper, Lv15 and higher will start appearing. What do you want to do?"
"Lv15!? Can you beat those?"
"Yeah. If I sneak up from behind at full speed and hit with everything I've got, one strike?"
"I see~. Everyone was fighting monsters, but Haruka-kun was hunting them one-sidedly."
"Even with cheats and high levels I probably can't trade blows at Lv15, right? I'm weak after all."
"Even with cheats and high levels it's impossible, you know? It still seems too much, so let's head back?"
"Roger. If we take a detour we should still be able to hunt on the way back."
"The goblins are going to be wiped out at this rate~"
"Even so, the next day there are properly more. That's how goblins are."
"You know that means you were wiping them out alone…"
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We kept hunting until it started getting dark and then returned home. Eleven years in the go-home club wasn't for nothing!
"""""Good work everyone."""""
"G-good work?"
Everyone looked tired. I should prepare a bath.
I filled the jacuzzi with water and raised the temperature. With Temperature Magic it was always the perfect temperature.
"Bath time~! Kyaaaaaaa!"
"Don't strip—! You exhibitionist girls!!"
No good. These muscle-brain athletic types. Living in the forest had turned them into savages. Their femininity had turned into physical strength.
I escaped from the bath area and went to the storage space I was expanding deeper in the cave, continuing to enlarge it.
For eight-person rooms, maybe 12 tatami each? Since they'll probably split into groups, I'll need about five or six rooms?
I made rooms, connected them with corridors, made more rooms… Done. I was at my magic power limit. The fatigue from running out of MP, hunger, and sleepiness hit me.
While staggering back to the living room,
"Haruka-kun, wait a second~! Everyone, put your clothes on properly~~~!"
Apparently there were nudists among my classmates. It's over. Their femininity is already hopeless. And the class rep had apparently become everyone's mom.
"It's fine already~ Dinner's ready~"
She's a complete mom now.
Dinner was fish again. The girls were having a mushroom party… That name sounds dangerous!
"Haruka-kun, what were you doing in the back?"
"Ah~, I added more rooms? Expanded?"
"I see. It would be inconvenient without rooms for you, Haruka-kun. Sorry for taking over the place."
"""Sorry."""
"No, they're girls' rooms? I couldn't make proper single rooms, but I made eight so you can split into groups. Staying together all the time would be suffocating, right?"
The moment I said that, the girls rushed to see the rooms in the back, with mom scolding them from behind.
"Haruka-kun, are you sleeping outside again? You have a room, so isn't it fine to stay together?"
"No no. There have already been nudists popping out from time to time? Besides, you guys were actually attacked by boys, right? You finally calmed down, so being together with a guy would be bad, right?"
"…You're right. But making Haruka-kun do everything… Sorry. Hmm, but Haruka-kun seems okay though?"
"No, I'm the one who can't handle it."
It's true that they treat me in ways that show I'm not seen as a guy, but just having a male present would be stressful. Even if I act normal, I can't say there's no trauma. After being attacked by boys—even if it was only an attempt—guys must be scary.
"Well then~ I'll be going~ Thanks for the meal."
I pitched a tent outside, and of course I made it extra large.
Now then, if my level hasn't gone up I'll be seriously depressed. Appraisal.
**NAME:** Haruka
**Race:** Human
**AGE:** 16
**Lv:** 07
**Job:** --
**HP:** 93 （28 UP）
**MP:** 92 （31 UP）
**ViT:** 91 （26 UP）
**PoW:** 89 （26 UP）
**SpE:** 87 （29 UP）
**DeX:** 87 （29 UP）
**MiN:** 96 （32 UP）
**InT:** 99 （30 UP）
**LuK:** Max（Limit Break）
**SP:** 97
**Martial Arts:** "Staff Arts Lv6" (Up) "Evasion Lv4" "Foresight Lv3" "Magic Wrap Lv4" (Up)
**Magic:** "Temperature Lv4" (Up) "Movement Lv6" (2 Up) "Weight Lv4" (Up) "Packing Lv5" (Up) "Four Elements Magic Lv3" (2 Up) "Wood Magic Lv2" (Up) "Lightning Magic Lv1" (New)
**Skills:** "Health Lv2" "Sensitive Lv3" (Up) "Calisthenics Lv4" (Up) "Walking Lv6" (2 Up) "Servitude Lv3" (2 Up) "Appraisal Lv4" (Up) "Clairvoyance Lv3" "Presence Detection Lv4" (Up) "Enemy Search Lv4" (Up) "Magic Manipulation Lv5" (Up) "Presence Blocking Lv3" "Stealth Lv3" "Concealment Lv2" (Up) "Map Lv3" (Up) "Focus Lv4" (2 Up) "Physical Resistance Lv2" "Magic Recovery Lv3" (2 Up) "Stamina Recovery Lv2" (Up) "Parallel Thinking Lv1" (New)
**Titles:** "Hikikomori Lv4" (Up) "NEET Lv3" (Up) "Loner Lv4" (Up) "Mage Lv4" (3 Up)
**Unknown:** "HouRenSou Lv2" (Up) "Jack of All Trades Lv3" (2 Up) "Useless Blockhead Lv2" (Up)
**Equipment:** "Tree Staff?" "Cloth Clothes?" "Leather Gloves?" "Leather Boots?" "Cloak?" "Contacts?" "Ring of Soul Torment" "Item Bag" "Bracelet PoW +1% SpE +1%" (New)
Ooooh~, first 2-level jump. My stats are about to hit triple digits next. Today when I fought goblins I didn't feel any resistance at all, but my level really did go up.
It's already been 10 days since I started fighting in this forest. After beating that many, my level is finally 7. The class rep and the others prioritized raising the weaker ones' levels, but they still reached Lv16–21. I was left behind in the blink of an eye.
After a few more real-combat training sessions, I'll be the one dragging everyone down. By then the girls should be strong enough to head to town with no problems. This lively life will probably end in another 2 or 3 days.
"Haruka-kun, is it okay~?"
Yeah, it's lively. Good thing I made the tent bigger…!?
For some reason it felt cramped. I had made it large enough that even four people would have space, yet it felt cramped.
Thousands of guests? Six people being shown in.
"Um, what's going on?"
The guests were the class rep, Vice Class Rep A, Vice Class Rep B, the bitch leader, and… this girl is… the fish girl who woke me up this morning, and… um…? …Ah, the nudist girl! The one who absolutely should not be allowed inside a high school boy's tent!
"Yeah, it's more like we came to talk… or rather to apologize again…"
"First, please listen to Chika's story. Um… I'm sorry for testing you like that."
The nudist girl continued. Who's Chika?
"Um, well, I heard you couldn't enter the room because of me, and I wanted to apologize this morning, but… I got thrown out?"
"Ah~, Chika is the fish girl! You kept saying Chika Chika so I thought you were flickering like a broken TV?"
""""Who's the fish girl!? Were Chika-chan's dad and mom fish!? Why do you keep giving weird names!? And flickering isn't like a broken TV!"""""
Why do the girls in my class have such high comeback power? Did they get a skill for it?
"No, because you're the girl in charge of reporting when fish are caught, right? Also, I don't know if your dad and mom go 'gyo gyo' or not?"
""""We didn't assign anyone to that role! And dad and mom don't go 'gyo gyo'! Probably? And what did you do to the girl to make her get thrown out!"""""
But it was fish, you know? Fish. And grilled fish!
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In the middle of the chaos, the class rep gave an explanation. She's working hard as explainer, mom, and class rep.
Basically, the fish girls… or rather? What was it? The gyo gyo girls had been attacked and chased by boys, and that caused trauma.
Because of that the girls had been protecting the gyo gyo girls from me, so the gyo gyo girls thought I had been kicked out and tried hard to apologize by waking me up this morning.
"I see~. The gyo gyo girls had it rough too, so don't worry about it. I got fish after all?"
""""Why does saying she's not the fish girl turn her into the gyo gyo girl!? You really have no intention of remembering names, do you!?"""""
Apparently the name was wrong. Wait, wasn't there a story about dad and mom being fish, and the daughter being the gyo gyo girl or something?
"Um, so why is the nudist girl apologizing too?"
""""Nudist girl!? Why do you keep giving girls such weird names!"""""
"Because she was stripping?"
""""Fukunuki-san, what exactly did you do? You stripped?"""""
"No! Look! You know? I was wondering if it was really okay~? So I took my clothes off in the bath to show… but there wasn't even a glance… There wasn't… Not even a single glance…"
""""Aaaaah~~"""""
"No, because the fish were grilled… I caught a little of that? Suddenly stripping nudists or bitches seem scary?"
"The bitch part has nothing to do with it! That story had nothing to do with bitches!! No, I keep saying I'm not a bitch!!"
"Bi… nn! Shimazaki-san~ came to protect Haruka-kun, okay~? You can't bully her~!"
Vice Class Rep B scolded me while shaking. …No, it's nothing. Please don't glare?
"Just now you almost said bi… No, it's nothing. Um? Protect?"
Why am I being glared at? I didn't do anything?
"It's because, well, even though I was put under Servitude… I wasn't made to do weird things or given weird orders… I wasn't given any orders at all? I was just… left alone the whole time… And my name wasn't even remembered… So I thought it was okay… Wait? Is this really… okay?"
If you're trying to follow up, at least finish the sentence? The end turned into a question… and everyone is glaring at me? …Thanks.
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After the extremely noisy explanation, everyone finally calmed down.
The class rep looked exhausted. "Haruka-kun really is… unique, isn't he?"
Vice Class Rep B smiled while shaking. "But thanks to him we got fish today~"
The bitch leader (still listed as such in status) muttered, "We really caused a lot of trouble…"
I escaped to my tent outside.
Tomorrow I'll probably have to guide them again or something. Being a loner is supposed to be quiet…
But for some reason it's been really noisy lately.