About ten days had passed since dungeons started appearing all over Japan.
When I went out to the front door to go to school, the entrance door opened.
In her school uniform, Hanari Karin came in holding her bag.
“Good morning, Naonao-kun.”
“Good morning.”
Hanari Karin was my neighbor, and we still went to the same school, but we hadn’t walked to school together since elementary school. Since the appearance of dungeons, high school students were now encouraged to go to school in groups.
Last night, I had been playing a different game and had stayed up too late. I ended up waking up late and hadn’t eaten breakfast.
(I’m hungry…)
“Ah, Naonao-kun, you look like you’re starving. You haven’t eaten breakfast again, right? That’s not good. You need to eat properly, especially during your growth period.”
Are you my mom? Also, I wish you wouldn’t read my mind like that, even though I didn’t say anything.
For some reason, Hanari had always been able to understand a lot of what I was thinking.
“It’s fine. Anyway, let’s just go to school.”
“Ah, Naonao-kun, your bedhead is showing.”
“Huh?”
I put my hand on my head.
“It’s not there, it’s here,” Hanari said, as she used her hand to fix my hair.
Her body got close, and I caught a sweet, girlish scent.
Back in kindergarten, Hanari and I used to take baths together and share lots of kisses…
Hanari and I left the house together and headed toward school.
Since the appearance of the dungeons, many things had changed.
The most noticeable thing was that, when walking down the street, you’d frequently see blue slimes. Even in residential areas, you’d spot one about every 300 meters.
“Somehow, it seems like there are more and more blue slimes, huh?”
“Yeah… We need to be careful.”
“I heard that a kindergartener messed with a blue slime, and it fought back and ate them. They reported it on the news yesterday.”
The blue slime was a ‘non-active monster,’ so it wouldn’t attack unless provoked. However, care was needed to avoid accidentally stepping on it.
Even ordinary people could defeat a blue slime if they had a bat, but if caught off guard, there was a real risk of losing. Many accidents had occurred where people distracted by their phones accidentally stepped on slimes.
When we reached the nearest station, about seven police officers were surrounding an ogre.
Monsters far stronger than slimes rarely appeared on the surface, but if one did, it was up to the police or military to deal with it.
Since guns weren’t very effective against ogres, the police had a tough job. When facing an ogre, even officers had to risk their lives.
“Wow… this is the first time I’ve seen an ogre in person. It’s huge.”
The ogre was at least 2.2 meters tall.
“Naonao, we’re going to be late for school!”
Hanari grabbed my hand, and I reluctantly passed through the station’s ticket gate.
When we got to the school, I saw about five second-year male students with bats, surrounding and hitting a blue slime. With five people, even a blue slime wasn’t much of a threat.
The five students weren’t just playing around. They’d probably been instructed by the teachers to eliminate any slimes around the school. Active elimination of monsters was encouraged to prevent any accidents.
We passed through the school gate and entered the school.
After the dungeons appeared in modern Japan, there had been significant changes at school.
The school itself had drastically changed.
It was immediately obvious when passing through the school gate that several windows of the school building were broken.
The school seemed to be returning to the chaotic times from decades ago when delinquent students had caused massive trouble.
The first period began.
After a while…
“Groooaaar!”
Suddenly, a man’s scream echoed from the hallway and grew louder.
There was the sound of something being smashed repeatedly, followed by the sound of glass windows breaking several times.
Soon, the noise got closer…
With a loud creak, the door at the back of the classroom opened.
Entering was a male student from the same class, Yokota.
Yokota was a short, chubby guy and a member of a first-year delinquent group. He was holding a spiked bat in his right hand.
Yokota placed his bag on his desk and then…
“Groooaaar!”
He yelled and, with the spiked bat, smashed the shelf at the back of the classroom.
Bang! The loud noise seemed to intimidate everyone in the classroom.
“Damn it! So pissed off! That bastard!”
Maybe he had gotten into a fight with students from another school on the way to school and lost. Yokota’s cheek and eye were swollen. Yokota had a blessing, but the delinquents from other schools probably had one too.
The middle-aged math teacher, who had been teaching, said nothing. No, he couldn’t say anything.
Yokota’s blessing was Spiked Bat. It made him skilled in combat using a spiked bat. The power of the blessing was immense, and it had made Yokota strong, like a martial arts expert.
The students in the class kept their heads down to avoid catching Yokota’s attention. If they made eye contact, they knew Yokota would find some reason to pick a fight.
My seat was right at the back, near the entrance of the classroom.
As Yokota was leaving the classroom, he punched me in the head. My neck stung from the blow.
Yokota didn’t need a reason to hit other students. He hit them just because he wanted to.
At school, the violent behavior of some delinquent groups stood out.
Police officers were busy dealing with monsters. On top of that, the police station had suffered a mysterious explosion, with many casualties, so there were not nearly enough officers.
Meanwhile, physical education teachers, who should have helped control the delinquents, were mostly over 25 years old and hadn’t received any blessings. No matter how strong they were, they couldn’t compete with the delinquents who had combat-related blessings.
In cases of minor violence, even if reported, the police wouldn’t come, and the teachers wouldn’t help.
After a while, the classroom door swung open again. This time, it was the door at the front of the room.
Leading the way was Yokota, followed by three other male students, who walked into the room without hesitation.
Yokota and the others shoved aside the middle-aged teacher standing in front of the chalkboard.
“Hey, what the hell? It’s class time!”
“Shut up, old man. Keep quiet!” Yokota shouted at the teacher and suddenly punched him in the head.
“Ugh…”
The teacher held his head, retreating toward the window with fear clearly visible on his face.
The three boys in front of the chalkboard were part of the first-year delinquent group.
- Yokota, with the Spiked Bat Combat blessing
- Ukawa, with the Boxing blessing
- Kikuchi, with the Fighting blessing
Kikuchi, the leader of the group, slammed his fist onto the teacher’s desk. He then looked around, intimidating the students in the classroom.
“Hey, listen up. From today, all you first-years are our slaves. Got it?”
Kikuchi glared at the students in the classroom. His look made it clear that anyone who showed resistance would not be forgiven.
“We’re going into the dungeon to level up. We’ll need slaves to carry our stuff and do other chores. You guys will take turns doing it. Understood?”
“Why the hell do we have to do that? That’s too much!” A voice of dissatisfaction came from Tsuchiya, a second-year student who had a Judo blessing.
“Hey, hey, you’re talking back to us?” Ukawa, who had the Boxing blessing, shot a quick glance at Kikuchi.
“Tsuchiya, do you even know what you’re saying? Hey!” Yokota shouted.
The three of them walked over to Tsuchiya’s desk and surrounded him.
“What the hell?!” Tsuchiya stood up.
In an instant, Kikuchi, with his Fighting blessing, landed a punch right to Tsuchiya’s face.
Tsuchiya tried to hold himself up, grabbing Kikuchi’s clothes, but before he could apply any judo techniques, Ukawa’s hook punched right into Yokota’s side.
“Ugh…”
The hook hit Tsuchiya’s liver, and he groaned in pain.
Then Yokota’s spiked bat struck Tsuchiya’s knee.
If it had been a one-on-one fight, Tsuchiya might have been able to hold his own with his Judo blessing. But a three-on-one fight was one-sided.
The three of them continued to pummel Tsuchiya, who had collapsed on the floor, until he was barely conscious.
“…Got it now?”
“Even if you can do judo, if you go against us, this is what happens!”
“Well, this makes a good example.”
After speaking, the three of them went back to the front of the classroom, as if nothing had happened.
Tsuchiya was left battered, lying on the floor, barely breathing.
Once again, Kikuchi slammed his fist into the teacher’s desk.
A tremendous noise echoed through the room.
“Yikes!”
Several of the female students trembled in fear, shrinking back.
“Listen up, you bastards! No slave of ours is allowed to talk back!”
Kikuchi raised his voice.
“Yeah, anyone with a complaint, step forward!”
Yokota swung his spiked bat menacingly, smashing the desk of the student in the front row.
“Ahh…”
The student screamed as the wooden desk shattered and was crushed.
“Alright, we’re heading to the dungeon now. Today’s chores and carrying our stuff… let’s see… you’re first.”
Kikuchi pointed at me.
