**Day 14: Inside the Cave**
Breakfast. Fish again. It's a fish festival. A great catch.
I'm a little hungry for meat, but with this many people rabbits are impossible to find. There are apparently deer and boar too, but I've never seen them.
I still haven't seen an orc either. They're supposed to be a large, powered-up version of goblins and smarter than goblins.
Yeah. Even if you say "smarter than goblins," everyone is smarter than goblins, right? Even fish are smarter than goblins. Definitely.
Still, I should test it once. Both me and the class rep's group.
Unknown opponents are scary.
Even if you're just not used to them, they're dangerous.
Any experience you can safely stack is better stacked early.
The girls won't always be together either.
Once they become adventurers they'll probably split up for jobs. Right now is safer, and the experience won't be wasted.
We moved upstream along the riverside. The boys might still be upstream. But orcs are strong and apparently stay away from the old base. The boys probably won't approach either.
We should be close now. I focused with Clairvoyance, Presence Detection, and Enemy Search to stay alert. Secretly looking for food with Appraisal too, of course.
I paid attention not only to monsters and animals but to humans as well.
The wannabe delinquents won't come to dangerous places. The normal boys who attacked the girls probably haven't raised their levels much either, so they shouldn't come. After all, they'd get counter-killed by the class rep.
The problem would be the muscle-brain sports club idiots. They smell like sweat and are overbearing. Dangerous.
Above all, those muscle-brain sports club idiots have been way too quiet.
From both the otaku's and the class rep's stories, they've been unusually well-behaved. Those guys normally charge in without thinking. They're muscle-brains—or rather, spinal-reflex level.
And they were staying together as the sports club group? They were fighting behind the otaku? That's weird.
Those guys are idiots, so they charge. Whether it's monsters or cliffs, they charge. They think after charging. Just a tiny bit.
That's been bothering me the whole time. At the very least, in that situation they should have helped the otaku.
It's another world. It wouldn't be strange if things changed.
Lives are on the line. Normally you'd become cautious.
You can't trust the people around you. That's obvious.
But those guys don't have that. There's no way. Because they're idiots.
I don't know whether orcs are smarter. I've never seen one.
But since they're supposed to be smarter than goblins, they should be smarter than idiots.
The idiocy of the muscle-brain sports club group probably surpasses even goblins. There's no way guys like that would change their personalities, become cautious, or start doubting others. Impossible. They literally can't think that complicated stuff.
There might be some reason, or maybe by some one-in-a-million chance they have some kind of plan.
But the fact remains that they didn't help the otaku or the girls. We should stay alert.
Found one. An orc. Just one. Looks like the "basically acts alone" info was correct. No other monsters or idiots nearby.
"I'll go first as a test. Stay hidden and watch, okay?"
I left the girls on standby and advanced alone toward the orc. If they see one fight, they'll understand the orc's attacks and movements. Just using that information will make fighting much easier and let them make countermeasures and plans.
"Yeah, thanks. Be careful."
"Watch properly, okay? No complaining later?"
I whispered to the girls, then approached while using Presence Blocking and Stealth.
The otaku said orcs are strong physically and even with concentrated magic attacks they're barely beatable.
Appraisal.
**Orc A**
**AGE:** 14
**Lv:** 11
**HP:** 66
**MP:** 8
**ViT:** 59
**PoW:** 63
**SpE:** 21
**DeX:** 16
**MiN:** 10
**InT:** 8
**LuK:** 19
**Martial Arts:** "Club Arts Lv4" "Heavy Strike Lv4" "Body Slam Lv3" "Herculean Strength Lv3" "Adamantine Transformation Lv2"
**Skills:** "Insatiable Lv3"
**Equipment:** "Club"
Strong. ViT and PoW are more than double a goblin's, and it still has decent SpE and DeX.
InT is 8… It's dumb, but smarter than a goblin. Quite a bit smarter. Smarter than an idiot, probably.
Have to test it to be sure. At least its stats are still way lower than mine. Its level is higher though…
I charged at max acceleration while erasing my presence and hit the orc with everything I had, then hit it again, and again, and for good measure hit it some more… Hyahhaaaaaah!
Huh? It's dead?
Was it strong? They said physical attacks don't work… They really said that… It's not my fault… right?
""""Not at all! Not even a little! Not in the slightest! Absolutely nothing was useful!! Suddenly attacking an orc from behind and beating it to a pulp… What!? What was that? What are we supposed to reference? No one can copy that!! The orc died without doing anything!!"""""
I'm not at fault, but I'll pretend to reflect. Next time I'll use magic. That should be fine. It's supposed to be defeated with magic anyway.
The next orc was Lv12. Stats probably similar to the last one.
I quietly circled behind it. The girls are watching from a distance. They're glaring… If I mind it I lose.
Last time with Fire Bullet I suppressed the magic power to make small bullets and spammed them to deal with numbers. So conversely, couldn't I make one strong, big hit? Well, experiment time.
While staying hidden so it wouldn't notice, I created one Fire Bullet and poured magic power into it. Sharper, harder… Go!!
The moment I fired, I immediately made the next one. Next! Next, next, next, nextnextnextnextnextnextnextnextnextnext!
Huh? It's dead?
No? They said it doesn't die easily even with magic? They said it's really tough… It's dead?
"Did we get it?"
Let's rely on the flag.
""""We got it!! We totally got it!! The first shot already stopped it moving, and the second shot blew its head off!! Even if you say 'did we get it?' it's already reduced to tiny pieces!!"""""
They said the next one is fine? It's not my fault though?
I silently search for the next orc. Come out quickly? From behind… 40 glaring eyes from behind…
I'm in the forest with twenty high school girls and the one I want to meet is an orc… No, it's nothing. I didn't say anything.
Ah, finally one. I wanted to meet you, orc.
"Alright everyone, go ahead and finish it. Something like that?"
Nice weather. The girls are dancing in the sky. Not with skills or aerial combat… they're being blown away. Yeah, like a manga.
The shield bearers get sent flying one after another, swords and spears don't work, bows are completely useless. Their only hope, magic, is chipping away at its HP, but it has so much they can't finish it. The recovery team is running around everywhere.
If I do nothing I'll probably get yelled at, so for now I blow away its club with a Fire Bullet.
Ah, no good. It's charging the girls bare-handed.
This is bad… because it has Insatiable Lv3?
I jump in and cut off both its hands at the wrists. Well, it's my "Tree Staff?" but it's fine, right? It cut them.
Even so the orc doesn't fall.
After that it's just a beatdown. I can leave it to the girls… It's not falling~ Still not~? Still not~?
Yeah, time to prepare lunch. That's a good idea.
The weather's nice and we're in the forest. That's right, on a day like this we need BBQ! Fish and mushrooms, but still BBQ.
"Why are we desperately trying to defeat an orc while delicious smells are coming from over there? Why are you happily doing barbecue? Why are there already chairs and a table set up? And when did you pick flowers and decorate!?"
They finally defeated it. It took a while. It was only Lv10?
"Um, I thought everyone might be hungry? The flowers are pretty, right?"
""""Yeah, the flowers are pretty… and?"""""
I got scolded. How unreasonable! I made food and waited… and they're eating it super deliciously?
・
・
・
Today we decided to raise levels with goblins and kobolds on the way back and challenge orcs again tomorrow.
"We really need a big move."
"If I could cut off its arms…"
"We need magic bullets! Strong ones!"
"Anyway, a proper way to defeat it?"
The strategy isn't coming together. When that happens, go back to basics. That's right—beat it to death! …No, I'm good. I have no opinions.
And so we kept slaughtering goblins and kobolds until evening to raise levels.
Five teams of four doing extermination battles.
This can't even be called combat. It's one-sided massacre… No, yes, I'll stay quiet.
My mouth is zipped shut, like some rabbit. I want to eat rabbit. Where are the deer and boar?
**Day 14 – Night – Inside the Cave – Girls' Meeting**
If Haruka-kun can't get stronger, then we just have to get stronger. We'll get stronger and protect everyone together.
That's what the meeting was supposed to be about… Huh?
"What was that!? Why!?"
"Assassin Berserker? What even is a job? What is unemployed?"
"He said he has no cheats… What is a cheat? Does he have one? That?"
"Because this is a world where level is absolute… then what is that?"
"I have Sword Saint and Sword Extremity, but I can't cut that… Why can a wooden stick cut it?"
"I also have Four Elements Magic at Max, but even I can't do that. Why does its head blow off?"
"But if we don't have a technique that can finish it… Wait, beating it to death?"
"We said we'd protect him together… but we can't even defeat it? That thing? We can't protect him at all~!"
Huh? Is it fine even if we leave him alone?
No, we can't leave him alone, but… what is that…?
**Day 14 – Night – In Front of the Cave – Tent**
The tent size? It can handle twenty people! Actually, there are only twenty people! Today will definitely be fine! Or so I thought after preparing, but no one came. Well, I'm a loner after all.
It's been a while since I could relax slowly… Ah, status.
**NAME:** Haruka
**Race:** Human
**AGE:** 16
**Lv:** 08
**Job:** --
**HP:** 106 （13 UP）
**MP:** 107 （15 UP）
**ViT:** 105 （14 UP）
**PoW:** 104 （15 UP）
**SpE:** 103 （16 UP）
**DeX:** 102 （15 UP）
**MiN:** 114 （18 UP）
**InT:** 116 （17 UP）
**LuK:** Max（Limit Break）
**SP:** 115
**Martial Arts:** "Staff Arts Lv6" "Evasion Lv5" (Up) "Foresight Lv4" (Up) "Magic Wrap Lv5" (Up)
**Magic:** "Temperature Lv4" "Movement Lv6" "Weight Lv4" "Packing Lv5" "Four Elements Magic Lv4" (Up) "Wood Magic Lv3" (Up) "Lightning Magic Lv2" (Up) "Ice Magic Lv1" (New)
**Skills:** "Health Lv3" (Up) "Sensitive Lv3" "Calisthenics Lv4" "Walking Lv6" "Servitude Lv3" "Appraisal Lv4" "Clairvoyance Lv4" (Up) "Presence Detection Lv5" (Up) "Enemy Search Lv5" (Up) "Magic Manipulation Lv5" "Presence Blocking Lv4" (Up) "Stealth Lv4" (Up) "Concealment Lv3" (Up) "Map Lv4" (Up) "Focus Lv5" (Up) "Physical Resistance Lv3" (Up) "Magic Recovery Lv4" (Up) "Stamina Recovery Lv3" (Up) "Parallel Thinking Lv2" (Up) "Serial Thinking Lv1" (New)
**Titles:** "Hikikomori Lv4" "NEET Lv3" "Loner Lv4" "Mage Lv5" (Up)
**Unknown:** "HouRenSou Lv2" "Jack of All Trades Lv3" "Useless Blockhead Lv3" (Up)
**Equipment:** "Tree Staff?" "Cloth Clothes?" "Leather Gloves?" "Leather Boots?" "Cloak?" "Contacts?" "Ring of Soul Torment" "Item Bag" "Bracelet PoW +1 SpE +1"
Yeah, I've gotten pretty good at doing things secretly. What exactly am I trying to become? A stalker? Of orcs?
Serial Thinking? What's that… Ah, continuously firing the same magic was serial. Last time with the kobolds I used parallel by changing the aim in a fan while doing curved shots. Well, I also have Magic Manipulation, so I hope it becomes a finishing move.
Tch, Useless Blockhead [Wooden Puppet] went up. Probably because the girls are bullying me. Are they saying I'm useless?