What, Failure to Transition!? Volume 5 Chapter 9 (Patreon)

Chapter 9 – The Main Culprit

“I’m off.”


“Un. Take care.”


“Be careful, okay?”


Yoichi, who had run out of ammunition for his assault rifle, descended from the turret with his pistol in hand and stood on the battlefield, being escorted by Misato and Hortense.


With two .44 caliber pistols in his hands, both of which had plenty of ammunition and were quite powerful, Yoichi charged into the crowd of monsters.


“Take this, you son of a bitch!”


He pulled the trigger mercilessly as he approached the horde of monsters.


At first, the bullets that were fired in rapid succession seemed to be shot haphazardly, but if one looked closely, they were all accurately aimed after predicting their trajectory with [Appraisal+].


With each shot, a goblin or kobold head would be blasted or torn a hole.


However, as for orcs and lizardmen, depending on the angle of fire, the bullets might be caught or be bounced off by their muscles and bones, so it became necessary to aim at the eyes or other weak points.


When precise targeting was needed, Yoichi had to stop for a moment and take a stance, but even with this, he was able to defeat the monsters at a fairly high rate.


As soon as the magazine was empty, he would put it into [Infinite Storage+] and refill it with bullets in an instant, and with that, Yoichi was able to keep up in bombarding the crowd of monsters with bullets incessantly.


“Guruaaaaaaaaa!!”


A one-eyed bear suddenly appeared in the midst of the crowd of small fries.


Since it would be difficult to defeat it with a .44 caliber, Yoichi switched to a .50 caliber pistol.


On Earth, a .50 caliber bullet is known as a bear killer, but it doesn’t do much against the bear monsters of this world.


In fact, its bullets were easily deflected by their hard fur and muscles, but it could still cause damage by shooting the eyes and mouth.


“Oraaaaah!!!”


Yoichi squeezed the trigger repeatedly as he aimed at the weak points with [Appraisal+].


“Guburouuu…”


He kept firing until the two magazines were empty, finally managing to kill the one-eyed bear.


“I knew it was inefficient to use a handgun against the big ones. Maybe I should let the adventurers take care of it while I concentrate on reducing the number of small ones.”


With that in mind, Yoichi started hunting for the small fries… But that’s when an incredibly loud roar echoed through the area.


“Ouuguaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”


Turning his eyes to the source of the voice, he saw an ogre about 10 meters away.


“Crap. No matter how hard I try, a B-rank threat is impossible to kill with a handgun!”


He was already having trouble defeating a C-ranked one-eyed bear with his highest caliber pistol.


Thinking that his guns were too weak to defeat a B-rank ogre, Yoichi tried to leave the scene, but ―― “Hey, aren’t you Alana’s partner?!” he was approached by a nearby adventurer.


“Hey, can’t you do something about that ogre?”


“Sorry, I’m almost out of weapons. I’ve also used up all my powerful ammunition, so I no longer have any means to defeat it.”


“Damn it…! Seriously…?”


The adventurer waved his sword dazedly as he took out the approaching fry.


Yoichi also killed some small fries with his pistol, but the adventurers sneered at him.


“Hey, can’t you at least slow them down with your weapon?”


“I think I can probably do that.”


“Alright! Hey, you guys! We’re going to crush the big one right now! Then, when he’s distracted, we’ll go for it!”


Several adventurers run toward the ogre.


With a .50 caliber pistol in his hand, Yoichi closes the distance to increase the power of his attack.


(Oi oi, it even has a support coordination function? That’s amazing, Mr. Appraisal+!)


In addition to calculating Yoichi’s attack patterns and the enemy’s abilities and thoughts, [Appraisal+] also calculated the abilities and attack patterns of several nearby adventurers. What’s more, it also calculated the optimal cooperation among them.


“Now!”


Yoichi waited for the right moment and pulled the trigger.


――Doun doun doun doun…!!


A series of .50 caliber bullets fired in rapid succession hit the ogre in the face.


“BUGOAAAAA!!”


The impact of the bullets caused the ogre to roll over.


“Yes, now is our chance!”


The next moment, the adventurer shouted, and a blade of magical wind carved deep into the ogre’s body.


The deep wounds that ran from its shoulders to its flanks tore through skin and muscle, but did not sever its bones.


Another adventurer approached the ogre from the side and shattered one of its knees with his mace.


Then another adventurer lunged at the ogre, who was thrown off balance by the blow, and thrust out his spear. He drove the tip into the wound the other had just inflicted with their wind magic, piercing the ogre at its chest.


At this point, the mortally wounded ogre was barely able to move, and the magical defenses around its body were severely reduced.


“This is the final blow!”


Finally, one last adventurer leapt to his feet and struck with his sword at the ogre’s neck, now unprotected by the previous coordination.


The ogre was dead.


“Yoshaaaa! Thank you so much! You’re a big help back there!”


“You’re welcome!”


Yoichi and the adventurers praised each other after defeating the ogre, but they soon lost sight of each other in the wave of monsters.


“So there’s more that I can do,” Yoichi said to himself.


Yoichi then switched to a .44 caliber pistol and plunged back into the melee, pulling the trigger repeatedly as he looked out for more adventurers.


〇●〇●


More than an hour had passed since Yoichi had been on the battlefield.


However, the number of enemies did not seem to decrease no matter how many he killed. Despite this, Yoichi continued to skillfully manipulate his pistol while being buffeted by the ever-increasing crowd of monsters.


If there were small fry, he would take them out one by one, and if there were adventurers nearby, he would provide cover fire.


In this way, he defeated more than 1,000 monsters with his pistol alone.


Compared to the time when he had powerful weapons like heavy machine guns and portable missiles, he was much less efficient, but the results with his pistol were still quite impressive.


“Tsk. There’s no end to this…!”


More and more monsters poured in, and the density of people and monsters in the area increased.


There was another problem.


Yoichi pointed his gun at a monster and was about to pull the trigger, but a warning sound suddenly rang out in his brain and he stopped his finger.


On the battlefield, humans and monsters began to congregate in various places, and Yoichi easily found himself in one of the clusters.


It was more efficient to work with other adventurers to defeat the enemy than to defeat the monsters alone, and it seemed that the number of adventurers around him increased as word spread that Yoichi’s cover fire was quite good.


Thanks to this, the pace of killing monsters increased, and he was able to defeat many strong monsters with their help, but with more allies around him came the inevitable dangers.


“Another risk of friendly fire…!”


In order to avoid friendly fire, Yoichi had used his [Appraisal+] to issue a warning when there was a danger of such a possibility.


For example, if he was trying to kill an approaching goblin or other small creature, and there was a chance that the penetrating bullet would hit his ally, the skill would help him take extra action to adjust his shooting angle.


But that chance will increase as more and more monsters come in. What’s worse is that the more time passes, the more they get squeezed into one spot, and that spot becomes more and more of a headache for Yoichi.


“Damn it! Now I regret not learning swordsmanship!”


If he could just defeat the goblins that came at him like a bundle of straws, he would be able to fight with a little less caution.


Slightly regretting his lack of training in melee combat, Yoichi carefully but quickly defeated his enemies with his two pistols.


He would kill as many monsters as he could and cover as many adventurers as he could, all the while being careful to avoid friendly fire.


“Kyaaaa!!”


“GUOOOOHHHHHHH!!”


A female adventurer loses her balance and almost falls over as an orc swings his axe at her.


――Doun! Doun!


Shots rang out, and the axe fell from the orc’s hand, which had been struck on the wrist in the raised position.


“BUFAGH……!!!”


The second bullet struck him in the temple, and though not fatal, the orc was knocked out of position.


“Sei! Hayaaaaahh!!”


Meanwhile, the female adventurer took this as an opportunity. Regaining her footing, she stepped forward and struck the orc in the neck with a sword blow.


“Bubu… foaaahh…”


The adventurer’s sword caught the orc right in the neck, and the orc fell, blood splattering with a loud thud.


“Thanks for saving my life.”


“Yeah, be careful next time.”


The melee continued.


Yoichi’s full attention was now focused on attacking and covering.


Because of this, he had forgotten about his defense and did not notice a shadow behind him until shortly before the attack.


――BEEEP! BEBEEEEEPP!!


The warning tone he had set to sound when his life was in danger rang in his head.


“What is it… huup…!!”


Yoichi, just in time to feel the danger approaching behind him, ducked as fast as he could, but the next moment he felt a sharp pain in his back.


“Guboah… gofuuh…!!”


He looked down at the source of his pain,


only to see an unfamiliar hand ‘growing out’ of his bloodied stomach.


Then, angry words were whispered in his ear.


“YoU… iS iT yOu wHo’s bLocKiNg oUr wAy sInCe a wHilE aGo?”


“GYAAAAAAAHHH!!”


Apparently, a hand had penetrated him from his back to his stomach, and as soon as it was pulled out, Yoichi felt the most intense pain he had ever experienced.


Blood poured out of his abdomen, and he could feel the warmth of the blood slowly spreading to his back.


“Cough… gubohh…”


As Yoichi tried to breathe, blood flowed back from his destroyed internal organs and poured out of his mouth.


Fortunately, his lungs didn’t seem to be affected, and as soon as the vomiting blood calmed down a bit, he managed to breathe despite the hissing and strange sound in his throat.


“DAmN… I wAs gOiNg to cRuSh yOuR hEaRt, but to tHinK I mIsSed. YOu sHaRP bAsTaRd!”


Hearing a frustrated voice, Yoichi managed to turn around and there, dressed in a black robe, was a blue-skinned man holding up his bloodied arm and glaring at his figure in annoyance.


〇●〇●


**********


Demon Raffaello


A subordinate of Demon Lord Pablo.


Based on the Demon Lord’s strategy to pincer the Human Realm, he gathered monsters in the depths of the Jana Forest and caused a stampede of monsters to run amok■■■.


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**********


In order to find out who the enemy that attacked him was, Yoichi turned around and used [Appraisal+], but the results of the appraisal were suddenly redacted and cut off, making it impossible for him to see them.


(Demon? Demon Lord? So this disaster isn’t an unforeseen calamity, but a planned operation all along?)


Confused by the word that suddenly appeared, Yoichi tries to activate [Return+] to escape from this place.


“…Huh?”


However, the skill did not activate when he tried to use it as usual.


“DaMn iT… rUiNinG mY sTrAtEgY aNd eVeRyThInG I’Ve dOnE.”


“Cough… cough… damn it…”


Yoichi held up two pistols against the Demon that slowly approached him, spewing his resentment at the same time.


――Doun! Doun! Doun…


Anyway, he continued to pull the triggers, showering the Demon with .50 caliber bullets.


Even without the help of [Appraisal+], he never missed at this close range.


And the Demon recoiled slightly every time it was hit by a bullet.


――Click…! Click…!!”


However, even after all the bullets were fired, not a single scratch was left on the Demon’s blue skin.


(Damn… my [Infinite Storage+] too…)


When he tried to store the gun in [Infinite Storage+] to reload it, it also didn’t work for some reason.


(If I had known this was going to happen, I would have kept some extra mags in my pocket…)


But all the extra mags were in his [Infinite Storage+] and thus could not be taken out.


“…aRe yUu nOt FuCkIin LiStEniNg! I said stop it! It’s aNnOyIinGGg!!”


The Demon raises his arm as he shouts in anger.


If he received this blow, it would be the end of it, but the only thing Yoichi could do was to retreat a little.


(…Is this where it ends?)


At that moment, he suddenly remembered his first visit to the white space.


He was involved in a truck accident and was supposed to die and be reincarnated, but somehow he came back to life in the world he came from.


(If you think about it, I should have died back then.)


After that, he remembered the events that happened in the other world: his reunion with Karin, and his encounters with Misato and Alana.


The adventures he would never have had if he had not been involved in that accident and lived an uneventful life, and the women who were not worthy of him by any stretch of the imagination.


(I was glad I was able to save Alana. I got to see Karin again, who I’ve been thinking about ever since we broke up. And though Misato has her own reasons, at least I think she’s happier now compared to when we first met).


It wasn’t that long, but it was an intense and sweet time.


Not bad for an extra life.


“Fuh…”


He couldn’t help but smile.


“DiD yOU losE Your minD? WhATEveR. ThiS tIme, allOw me to loSe yOUr HeaD for SurE!”


The Demon’s arm swung down and Yoichi involuntarily fell flat on his face.


――CLANG!!


But just as he was about to die, a dull metallic sound rang out.


Startled by the sound, he looked up, only to see a woman in steel armor standing in front of him.


The furry tail sprouting from her buttocks was sticking out like a porcupine.


“Hey, are you okay?”


He wondered if a good-natured adventurer nearby had helped her, but he couldn’t help but be puzzled.


Because the voice sounded familiar.


“!?”


He looked at the Demon again, seeing that he’d apparently been saved for once, and there he saw a figure looming behind him.


A light-armed, cat-eared female adventurer is moving at blinding speed behind the Demon, and she drives a knife into its neck, only to have it bounce back with a dull thud.


“Who the HeLL dARES!?”


The Demon tried to shake off the figure behind him, but she had already jumped slightly and landed softly a short distance from him.


“Ah, not good! My attacks didn’t get through!”


The lightly dressed woman muttered in resignation. But right after that, several arrows flew towards the Demon.


“daMn IT! PESkY BuGs!”


The arrows, presumably imbued with wind magic, flew with considerable force. However, same as the dagger, they were easily deflected as if they were leaves.


“Goodness… why should I… all this effort… for that man…”


Which was then followed by the mutterings of a frustrated archer that could be heard from a short distance away.


“Jessica! Greta! This guy is way out of our league! Let’s get out of here!”


“I see… you are… the Red Flash…”


They were members of the “Red Flash” led by Graff, whom Yoichi had beaten to a pulp previously.


Why… you… are… helping… me?”


Jessica, the Beastfolk Dog Tribe warrior standing between him and the Demon, looked at Yoichi for a moment as if she had heard his words, but immediately glared back at the Demon.


“GEt oUt oF My wAY, bIG bITCh!”


Meanwhile, the Demon, though somewhat taken aback by the surprise knife attack of Myna, a thief of the Beastfolk Cat Tribe, and the attack of Greta, an archer of the Half-Elf Tribe, quickly regained its momentum. It resumed its attacks, swinging its arms at Jessica, who was standing in front of Yoichi.


――CLANG!! CLANG!!


Dull metallic sounds echoed again and again.


The Demon’s attacks were quite powerful, but Jessica skillfully parried them.


“Jessica, what are you doing! Get the hell out of there!”


“She’s right! We have no obligation to help that man!”


They were right.


The members of Red Flash had no obligation to help Yoichi, who had humiliated their leader, Graff, in front of the masses and ultimately led to the dissolution of the party.


However, Jessica stubbornly continued to endure the Demon’s attacks.


“If anything happens to this person, Alana will be sad…!”


Apparently, Jessica, an ardent follower of Alana, is trying to protect Yoichi for Alana’s sake.


“Goodness… I wonder if that’s it… when you’re embraced by the same man, you get emotionally linked to each other?”


Putting Yoichi aside, Myna didn’t feel like leaving Jessica, so after scratching her head in annoyance, she ran up behind Yoichi and held him in her arms from behind.


“Guaaah!!”


“Stop it! A man shouldn’t make pathetic noises!”


As a thief with low strength, Myna could not carry Yoichi, but as an adventurer and a Beastfolk with superior muscle power, she could at least hold him and drag him out of the way.


“Even you, Myna!? Mou, you are such a…!”


Greta grumbles, but goes to Jessica’s aid anyway.


The arrows she shot made Jessica’s burden a little easier.


“gUuuuU… don’T GEt IN mY Way YOU BiTCHes!”


“Kyaaaa!”


“Ow!”


“Fuck!”


“……!”


As soon as the Demon shouted, a strong shockwave was released around the area, blowing away not only Jessica, who was nearby, but also Greta, who was a little farther away.


Yoichi, who was being held by Myna, was the same, but he no longer had the energy to even moan.


“all ThEY Do IS TO gET in my way…”


What was more or less fortunate for Yoichi and the others was that all the monsters, including those surrounding them, were blown away as well, creating a temporary safe zone for him and the party.


“Ahh… gaah…”


“Ugh…”


“Kuh…”


No monsters approached Yoichi and the others due to the just released impact, but as expected from the source, the Demon is alive and well.


“i WiLL takE CARe Of yOu BItCHEs LaTer. FirsT, yoU Shall dIE.”


The Demon slowly approaches Yoichi and stands in front of him.


Then, standing in front of Yoichi, it raises its bloody blue arm once again.


(As expected, it’s all over.)


――BANG!


Just as Yoichi was about to brace himself, another shot was heard from a short distance away, and the Demon’s head shook slightly.


〇●〇●


“Yoichi…?”


Misato, who had been casting spell after spell to kill the monsters from the top of the tower, suddenly stopped and looked around.


Without any reason, she realized that something had happened to Yoichi.


Such a sense of loss, as if the connection to him had suddenly been severed.


“Misato!? Hey!”


By the time Alana’s mother, Hortense, who had been fighting alongside her on the tower, noticed, Misato had already jumped down from the turret.


The height from the turret to the ground was quite high, but the moment she landed, she used her levitation magic and landed softly on the ground.


Then, without a moment’s rest, she started running.


“Yoichi! Yoichi!!”


Calling Yoichi’s name, she ran across the battlefield, where melee battles were being fought in various places. The battlefield was wide and full of people and monsters.


But somehow Misato knew where Yoichi was.


“All of you, get out of the way!”


She used her magic to defeat everything that blocked her path.


She ran as fast as she could, defeating the monsters and clearing the way.


“Zeeh… zeehh…”


How long have I been running?


Out of breath, her legs began to slow down and her consciousness began to fade.


(Funny… When I came here, I never felt this tired before…)


At least as far as her consciousness was concerned, she only felt a slight drowsiness due to the lack of mana or magic power.


But now, Misato, who had never been interrupted no matter how much magic she had cast, felt empty.


Then she remembered what Yoichi had told her. That she has a skill called [Healthy Body], and thanks to it, she hardly ever gets tired or runs out of magic power.


(In that case, something must have happened to Yoichi…!!)


She remembered that Yoichi had explained to her that he had given her the skill himself.


So the fact that the skill is no longer working properly means that something must have happened to Yoichi, the provider of the skill.


“Just a little more… just wait a little more… I’m coming, Yoichi!”


She was in a state where she couldn’t cast another spell.


In fact, she was at a level where walking a few more meters was already a miracle.


At that moment, the swarm of monsters suddenly veered off the path.


Or rather, they went flying. Then the space around her became empty.


It became an unnatural space, as if everything around her had been blown away, and the cause was something in the center.


She looked at the center of the space, and there she saw a man in a black robe looking down at the fallen Yoichi.


“Yoichiii!!”


Misato immediately put her hands around her waist.


Then she pulled the pistol Yoichi had given her from her waist belt in case something happened.


It was a .45 caliber pistol, too big for a woman to handle.


The silver pistol was given to her with the understanding that she would be able to use it because of the physical enhancement brought by her magic power, but even without it, Misato did not hesitate and held it up with both hands and took aim.


(Heavy…!!)


Desperately supporting the weapon that was too heavy for the hands of a woman whose magic power and physical strength had been depleted, Misato took aim.


“You monster…”


Then, after aligning the black-robed person with the tip of the sight, she pulled the trigger.


“Get away from Yoiichiii!!”


――BANG!!


CRACK!!


“Kyaaaahh!!”


After the bang, there was a soft sound, and when she looked forward, Misato realized that her wrist was bent in an unnatural direction.


Her arms, raised by the recoil, were also out of position after the shot, and a sharp pain shot through her shoulder. It was dislocated.


The weapon was too much for the slender arms of an untrained woman.


However, the bullet miraculously flew straight out of the muzzle and hit the black-robed man’s temple with a dull thud.


〇●〇●


Demon Raffaello, who had received a dull impact to his temple, missed the timing to bring down his arm, which he raised towards the dying man.


“TSk… whaT THE hELL Is it now!?”


He glanced in the direction of the commotion, only to see a woman with a pistol in her hand and a slumped shoulder.


“ANOtHer oNE wHO STANDs in The wAy!?”


The woman seemed to be thinking about shooting him again, but with her shoulder seemingly dislocated from the impact, she could barely hold the gun up.


“I’lL TAke CARE Of You LaTER… stay rIgHT ThERE…”


Each of them kept getting in the way.


Disgusted, the Demon confirmed the current situation.


The dying man was just below him.


First of all, kill this guy.


Around the man, a large Dog Tribe woman in full body armor and a small, lightly dressed Cat Tribe woman had fallen down and were groaning.


Both are beautiful women.


I’ll enjoy them later.


And a little further away, an elf-like archer was lying on the ground.


She’s a beauty too.


And the dark-haired, glasses-wearing, mage-like woman with a pistol. She was plain, but not bad.


“!?”


A light impact hit his face.


“Zeeh… zeeh…”


The dying man was staring at him. He must have thrown his unloaded weapon at him.


It seems to have hit him in the cheek, but it doesn’t hurt or itch.


“Don’t… lay your hand… on Misato!”


“HuUH? MiSaTo?”


Earlier, the beast people and the elf woman had called each other names, but the Demon was sure that Misato was not one of them.


In fact, from what he had seen, the man and those women did not seem to get along at all.


If that’s the case, then… she’s a good place to start.


“ThE bLaCk-HaiReD gIrL iS MisAtO, yOu saY? He, hEhE…”


The Demon gave a wicked grin.


“In tHAt cASe, lEt’s hAVe sOMe fUn WiTh hEr wHiLe YoUr EyEs aRe stiLL wOrKinG.”


“…!? Wait! Fuck…” The man’s face turns pale. Well, the man will die anyway, even if he is left alone.


After all, he was pierced in the stomach by his own hands, a Demon.


Not only his body, but also his soul should have been torn to shreds.


“I’m Going TO kEEp fuCKinG ThaT DaRK-HAIRed WOMAn iN FRoNt Of yOU UNTiL yoU RUn oUT of streNGtH. YoU can takE At it As A souvENIR Of yOuR unDERWOrlD.”


“Damn… fuck you…!!! Crap…”


The man struggled to his feet and reached for the Demon, but he fell forward with a thud.


“hAHAHA, gOOd, goOd, crawl moRe, yoU PIce Of TraSh―― Oh?”


With a snap, the man received another light smack to the cheek. He looked down and saw an arrow rolling on the ground.


It seemed that he had been shot by an arrow, but the force of the arrow was so weak that he did not seem to notice its approach.


“tHEy’Re REaLly cOmiNG OnE AFTer aNoThEr. whAT IS iT ThIs timE?”


The demon looked up and saw an archer in the direction the arrow had come from.


The archer was a brown-haired woman with a striking red skirt amidst her monotonous equipment.


“Uuu… aaaahh…”


The man who had fallen on his face seemed to recognize the archer, but it seemed that he could not even speak properly.


“OH? Is ThAt aLsO oNe oF yOuRS?”


The man said nothing. His appearance, however, suggested that she was.


“LOoks lIKe i’m GoiNG tO HaVE a hELL LOT of a fuN ToDaY, hahA!”


The female archer continued to fire arrows at him, but she was unable to inflict a single wound on the Demon, and instead all of them were deflected.


“sHE may BE sKilleD, BUt she’s A bIt FRAIL.”


Ignoring the arrows that were hitting his face and body, the Demon looked into the man’s face with an ugly, lecherous smile.


“ThE FuN IS about To bEGin. YOU JuSt siT THeRE And StARE――huH?!!”


At that moment, the Demon felt a strange presence behind him.


His whole body shivered and a chill ran down his spine.


“WHaT… iS iT…?”


This was a feeling he had never experienced before, even though he was born into this world as a subordinate of the Demon Lord.


But the Demon knew this feeling.


“I’M… AfraID…? THAT’s sTUpiD… hOW cOULD I be scAred…?”


With a dazed look, the Demon turned around.


“Stay away from Mr. Yoichi, you insolent person!”


Then he noticed the source. It was a silver-haired female knight in silvery white armor astride a huge horse, with a long-handled halberd raised up on her grip.


This stunningly beautiful woman was charging toward him with a face that resembled an apparition from hell.


That was the last sight the Demon saw.


〇●〇●


“Mmhh… Where am I?”


When Yoichi woke up, he found himself in a completely white space.


“I think Alana came out from behind, on the direction of the Demon’s back… but what happened after that?”


“Hehe, hello again, Mr. Wisteria Todou. That was really close this time, wasn’t it?”


When he turned around, there was a petite woman dressed in a wisteria-colored kimono who looked familiar to him.


“Ah, Administrator. It’s been a while.”


It was the world’s Administrator, whom he had not seen in a long time.
 

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”


“Um, are Karin, Misato and Alana okay?”


Only then did he remember Misato and Karin, who had rushed to help him and seemed to have been spotted by the Demon, and Alana, who had suddenly appeared a little later.


“They are fine. Karin and Misato are safe and sound and recovering. Alana is also in good health and went on a rampage after that.”


“Thank goodness.”


It was only when Yoichi heard that the women were safe that he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.


“Um… what happened to me in the end?”


“Mr. Wisteria Todou was almost killed by the Demon, but thanks to the women who rushed to your aid when they sensed you were in danger, you were saved in the nick of time.”


“What happened to the Demon then?”


“Alana dealt with it easily.”


With that, the Administrator stuck out her tongue in a threatening manner, along with a decapitating gesture.


“Hahaha… that’s unbelievable… but still, even though it’s a handgun, to think that even a .50 caliber bullet didn’t make a scratch… that thing is tough. And she handled it so easily?”


“Well, Alana is one of the strongest people in that world, you know.”


“Heee, I didn’t know that. What about the monster stampede?”


“They were able to get that under control as well. It seems that defeating that Demon was a big factor. Anyway, please ask over there for the details after you wake up.”


“Ah, okay.”


“Do you have any more questions?”


Yoichi raised his hand at the administrator’s request.


“Um… my skills suddenly stopped working in the middle of the battle. Why is that?”


“Ahahaha, I knew you’d be curious about that.”


“Curious? I almost died because of it, you know?”


The Administrator then cleared her throat and began to speak.


“The reason you were unable to use your abilities that time is because you were mortally wounded by a Demon.”


“Mortally wounded… by a Demon?”


“Yes, by a Demon. Or Demon People. In simple terms, they are called subordinates of the Demon Lord. Hmmm… for now, please think of them as entities that have ‘Attacks that Inflict Bonus Damage’ to Humans.”


“What the, so now we have a Type Advantage? But why the game terms all of a sudden?”


“Because I cannot find the closest term to explain it in the easiest way for you to understand. Anyway, to summarize, the Demon Lord and his subordinates have ‘Bonus Damage’ against ‘Human Beings’, while attacks from ‘Human Beings’ have ‘Reduced Damage’ against them.”


“I see… It’s really like the compatibility classes in a game or something.”


Yoichi nodded with a mixed expression of admiration and dismay.


“Well, that’s not the only thing, but for now, just think of it that way.”


“But does that mean that Demons are the natural enemy of Humans?”


“Yes. And the attacks of Demons destroy not only the body of a Human, but also his soul.”


“Souls are also destroyed?”


“The soul is the most important part of a Human’s life. I mean, if you were a normal Human, you would be dead.”


“Oh…”


Yoichi frowned and rubbed the area around his stomach that had just been pierced by the Demon.


Maybe it is because I am in this place, or maybe it has been long enough for me to recover without knowing it? Looking at his stomach, Yoichi noticed that the wounds on his abdomen had long since disappeared.


“But Mr. Wisteria Todou’s body is not like the others. You have [Healthy Bodyα(Alpha)]. That’s how you were able to recover even though your soul was destroyed.”


“Huh… Then how come my abilities are no longer available, but [Healthy Body α] is still active?”


“The best explanation is that all the mana I supplied was allocated to your [Healthy Body α], leaving no mana to operate your other skills.”


Yoichi nodded his head at this explanation. But then he asked again.


“But you told me that last time. The mana coming from you, Administrator, is practically inexhaustible, isn’t it?”


“In its entirety, yes. However, there is a limit to the amount that can be supplied to you at one time. In this case, it needed to restore your soul as soon as possible, so it prioritized all the mana to [Healthy Body α] first and foremost.”


Yoichi tilted his head and crossed his arms, his eyebrows furrowed.


“But why did it prioritize that? Shouldn’t it prioritize like [Return+] and let me escape the threat first before healing me with [Healthy Body α]?”


“Well, in the first place, this is something more like an emergency measure. So it should not be too complicated, or else it would be putting the cart before the horse. After all, it doesn’t matter if you’re already dead by the time [Return+] completes its activation. Death can be instantaneous, you know?”


“Is that how it is?”


“That’s how it is.”


Yoichi nodded slightly at the explanation, but decided that there was nothing he could do about it since his skills were below average to begin with.


“Well, it was thanks to this that the women became aware of the danger Mr. Wisteria Todou was in. So look on the bright side, it’s not like everything that happened after the loss of your skills is bad.”


“But nothing good happened to me either. Wait. What do you mean, the women became aware of the danger I was in?”


The Administrator raised her face in anticipation as he asked this.


“Fufu. Do you remember what I said the last time, that my magic power is currently being supplied to Karin, Misato and Alana through [Healthy Body β(Beta)] you bestowed, Mr. Wisteria Todou?”


“Yes?”


“This time, since all the magic power was allocated to [Healthy Body α], the supply of magic power to the female team was cut off.”


“Uhuh. And?”


“Because of this, the women who felt the sense of loss immediately sensed that something was wrong. But as if by destiny, they all thought, “There’s something wrong with the man we love!” and guess what happened next? They all rushed to Mr. Wisteria Todou’s location! Even though they were not told anything, just purely acting on instinct! It was love, love, I tell you!”


“Ahaha…”


Perhaps embarrassed that the ladies had somehow sensed his crisis and rushed over to him, Yoichi shyly scratched his cheeks and then decided to change the subject.


“By the way, what is this Demon Lord and Demon People you are talking about? No, actually, what are they? Are they really – that – Demon and Demon Lord?”


“It’s just as Mr. Wisteria Todou imagined. They are the – natural enemies – of mankind.”


“Natural enemy… wow… hey. Since I was told earlier that Demons have a “type advantage” over “Humans”. In that case, there are species that have a ‘type advantage’ against Demons, isn’t there?”


Yoichi thought that this was a very game-like concept, but otherwise, there would be no explanation for Alana’s success in defeating the Demon.


“Yes, there are. But they are actually neither a ‘species’ nor a ‘race’, but individuals with some kind of ‘blessing’.”


“A blessing?”


“Yes. This is the ‘Blessing of a Hero.’ It is said that as long as you have this blessing, you will have a permanent “type advantage” over the Demon Lord and his subordinates. In other words, the mortal enemy of the Demons and the Demon Lord.”


“Mortal enemy? Wait, singular? Don’t tell me it’s like that… the ‘chosen one’ in this world or something like that?”


“Ah, that’s not exactly it. There isn’t just one; there are quite a few of them. In fact, you’ve already met one. He is the ‘Red Flash’ Graff, who I assume is your acquaintance now?”


“Graff… wait, seriously? He’s a real Hero?”


“Yes. If he had been there, he might have made things a little easier for you.”


(I feel like I accidentally cancelled an important character from participating in an event).


“Oh, but if Alana has the Hero’s Blessing, then I guess it doesn’t matter, right?”


“No, she does not have it.”


“Huh?”


The Administrator’s answer to Yoichi’s soliloquy was met with a short, indifferent response.


“Alana does not have the Blessing of the Hero.”


“No, but… Alana defeated a Demon by herself, didn’t she?”


“Yes. With a single blow.”


“And she doesn’t even have the Blessing…?”


“In her case, it’s a matter of raising her level and beating the game with pure, unadulterated brute force. In game terms, she is a complete balance breaker. Or a munchkin, if you want to keep using gaming terms in your world.”


“Oh, my goodness…”


Even after all this time, Yoichi is impressed that he seems to have had a relationship with an extraordinary person.


“Well, I guess that’s all I have to say. Well then, I hope you enjoy the rest of your life~”.


“Wait a minute.”


“――Y-yes?”


Yoichi noticed. The Administrator is acting strangely.


“Just now, did you suddenly cut off the conversation?”


“Hiiee! W-what do you mean?”


“And that soft flinch. Who the hell reacts like that in a normal conversation? Are you on to something?”


“I-it’s just your imagination! Fuuuhiii~ Ptffuuuuhiii~”


The Administrator looks away unnaturally, her mouth open, and starts whistling, which doesn’t even make a sound.


She’s a clumsy woman to no end.


“What are you hiding?”


“N-nothing. Nothing at all…?”

*stare*


“P-please don’t stare at me like that… I mean, it has nothing to do with Mr. Wisteria Todou this time, so it’s okay if you don’t know! I may look like this, but I am an Administrator. So it’s not unusual for me to have one or two hidden secrets, you know!”


“But still… it was kind of weird, wasn’t it?”


“W-weird? Ah, is my kimono backwards? Ahahaha… P-please wait a moment… what was it again… left side over right or right side over left…”[1]


“No, I’m not talking about you or your kimono, Administrator. That demon minion… Raffaello, was it?”


“Hiie!”


The Administrator again reacted in an incomprehensible manner.


“See, that’s it. There is something, isn’t there?”


“N-nothing at all…?”


“My assessment of him suddenly became redacted and blacked out before I could read the contents. Also… I don’t know how to put this, but this guy was kind of weird… He… gives me a weird feeling I can’t describe… Hey, Administrator, do you know anything about this?”


“Sigh…”


When Yoichi told her this, it was only when the Administrator sighed in resignation and slumped her shoulders. Then she took a deep breath, straightened her back and stared back at him.


“I cannot answer your question.”


This time she spoke with all seriousness in her tone.


“Come again?”


“I have a vague idea of what you’re feeling, but unfortunately I can’t answer that question, Mr. Wisteria Todou.”


“Is it because it’s out of your jurisdiction or something?”


Although he managed to ask the Administrator a question in return, this time she twisted her words nonchalantly without changing her expression.


“No way. There is nothing that I, as World Administrator, am not authorized to do. It’s just that it would complicate matters in both worlds, or rather, the very law of causality itself, if I were to answer your question right now, Mr. Wisteria Todou.”


“How will it complicate the Law of Causality by you just answering the question? No, no, I mean, how can that be? I don’t even know of the existence of the Demon Lord or a Demon Subordinate in the other world, so how is answering my question going to complicate the very nature and principles of both worlds?”


“I can’t answer that question. At least not yet.”


The Administrator answered more seriously than usual, and there he realized that no matter how much he wanted to pry, he would not get any more answers.


“Then… will you tell me sometime?”


“When it’s the right time and the right opportunity.”


“I understand. I suppose I have no choice at the moment. I’ll leave this on you in the meantime.”


“Yes, and thank you for your insight. Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your life… oh my.”


But after uttering her usual line, the Administrator covered her mouth and smiled mischievously.


“My, oh my, oh my… it looks like you are enjoying it already… well then.”


“What do you mean, I’m enjoying it already? What does that mean?”


“Fufufu. You’ll see what I mean. Just enjoy the show.”


After these words, the white world blurred.


Then, as if waking from a sleep, Yoichi’s consciousness became clear again.


First, he felt a pleasant weight on his body. Then came a sticky warmth that clung to his lower body, pleasantly stinging his brain.


“Mmmhhh… ahhh… Mister Yoichiii has opened his eyes… wait, he opened his eyes?”


When he fully opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the figure of Alana. She was completely naked, straddling him and bucking her hips wholeheartedly around his crotch.

Translator Notes:

[1]. Kimonos are always worn left side over the right side. Only dead people have their kimono worn right over left. So unless you are at your own funeral, remember this basic but important rule for wearing a kimono! A useful and amuzing memory aid for this rule is the phrase “leftover rice (left over right)”.


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