Outbreak Company

Chapter 1 Part 1

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Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 1

Chapter 1: A Parallel World Before I Knew It

Everything in my sight was dyed in the color of the sinking sun.

The slowly darkening scenery looked like an old, faded photo, evoking a strange feeling of nostalgia in me.

Like the feeling one has for something previously lost, something that one’s hands can no longer reach, this sense of deep yearning——this sense of nostalgia that is constricting my chest is welling up inside me. For no reason, in contrast to the impatience that was building up, I was seeing everything in slow motion, making me feel like this moment was going to continue for eternity...... Such ridiculous thoughts were running in some corner inside my head.

“...... I love you.”

This was a usual, regular confession scene.

Inside the school building dyed with madder red, the two of us were facing each other.

There was n.o.body else around. Standing still, our shadows stretched long on the ground.

The voices and sound of the baseball club members’ practice in the schoolyard sounded......kind of far away. Aside from the two of us, everything else felt unreal, like they were part of the backdrop of a play. Rather, it was as if we were the only ones left behind in this never-ending world of twilight. In this strange atmosphere, I was struggling.

“Please go out with me.”

These were straightforward words of courtship.

They were the embodiment of my determination.

If I did not tell her my feelings and locked them up inside my own chest, then we could continue having the relationship that we’ve always had. It was a familiar relationship with a comfortably ambiguous distance. It would be only natural to leave things as they were for fear of losing everything.

However, that would merely be an endless state of stagnation.

Feelings are alive. If you shut them in for too long, they will eventually die.

“......”

The words that were released with all of my resolve dissolved into the silence.

The girl blinked twice, then thrice.

After that, the girl——

“No way.”

answered thus.

.............................. Eh?

“Just now......what did you say?”

“I said, ‘No way.’”

Towards to my question, which had been delivered in a trembling voice, the girl responded in an indifferent tone.

Then, as if to make doubly sure, she continued to speak, as if to drive home the killing blow.

“I have no intention of going out with Shin-chan.”

“............!”

I moaned while feeling like all the blood in my body was flowing in reverse.

The unimaginable refusal. The unimaginable failure.

I had strongly believed that she would accept my confession.

The two of us were childhood friends. As we lived close to each other, our families were well acquainted with each other, and the two of us knew each other well ever since we were small. I had confessed while thinking that I understood her better than anyone else. It’s a policy of mine to not make bets with poor prospects.

“Eh......but......”

I shamelessly pressed on doggedly.

A different me inside some corner of my head whispered to me that this was unsightly. Even now, I could make it in time. The voice warned me that if I laugh it off like “Ahaha, I know right, that was a joke, just a joke,” then the wound would not get exacerbated. At least, if I settle this as a joke——even tomorrow, I can continue being this childhood friend’s cla.s.smate, and everything can be resolved without any awkward feelings.

However, my lingering affection pushed my back.

I tumbled down the path towards the more disastrous ending.

“How come......?”

Was it because I was not hot?

Was it because my grades weren’t exemplary?

Was it because my athletic reflexes were dull?

Was it because——

Worthless conjectures spun inside my head in circles.

“That’s because......”

The girl blinked her eyes in surprise.

She looked completely surprised. Almost as if she wanted to ask “By this time, why would you even need to ask this?”. I was so lovestruck that I even thought that expression on her face was lovely.

Then——

“Shin-chan is an otaku.”

——So she said.

♦♦♦♦

When I opened my eyes, my everyday ended.

And that was without any notification either——in two, three different meanings of the word.

(T/N: The word 断りもなく here can mean ‘nothing notifying him about his dream ending,’ ‘his everyday life being over without any warning’ (ie. cus he got rejected), or simply ‘he got rejected without any warning.’)

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING AN OTAKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!”

I woke up due to my own shout.

“............”

In about the time it took for me to blink three times, I loosened all the muscles in my body, which had gotten stiff.

It wasn’t like today was the only day with a bad dream, but due to having shouted with all my strength......my head somehow hurts. It felt like a large lump of lead had been embedded inside my brain.

“It was a dream, huh......”

Despite the incident having occurred more than a year ago, the recollection dreams were still as vivid as something that had happened yesterday.

On the other hand......it was as if some fragment of the dream was still entwined around my consciousness, causing my mind to be unable to turn. It felt terribly troublesome to think about anything.

Still in a face up position, I absentmindedly looked straight upwards.

What I saw there was——

“......An unfamiliar, ceiling......?”

On the spur of the moment, I plagiarized a line from episode 2 of that famous anime. Even I think I’m a pretty sinful otaku myself, but let’s put that aside for now.

(T/N: He’s referring to Evangelion, btw. The t.i.tle of ep 2.)

I wasn’t joking though. The ceiling over my head really was an unfamiliar ceiling that I’d never seen before.

More like, it feels strangely close. Or strangely low.

“......Where......is this?”

What was being reflected in my eyes was not the ceiling that I had seen so much of to almost get tired of.

More like, if this was my room, then what I should be seeing is a ceiling graced by a life-sized poster of Madoka, the heroine from the masterpiece magical girl anime『Rental☆Madoka』, towards whom I hold everlasting love for. But on the ceiling that I’m currently staring at, the bright smile of the magical girl who continued working hard without losing sight of hope despite having been hired by a black employment agency was nowhere to be seen.

In its stead, what was being reflected in my eyes were some engravings of strangely elaborate design.

More like......in the first place, this is not the ceiling of my room.

This ceiling was not flat, but rather a sloping depression similar to a hemisphere. Furthermore, all four corners were supported by four fine pillars that rose from the edge of the bed that I was currently lying on.

This must be a bed with a canopy.

Indeed. This is one of those devices used in anime and manga and games and light novels as a symbol to indicate a『rich』character. A commoner like myself who wasn’t part of such a work should not have the opportunity to even set eyes on such an article.

Such a high-cla.s.s furniture, added to the fact that I was sleeping in it.

How come? Holding such a question in mind, I raised my body.

When I looked around......I saw a strangely s.p.a.cious Western-styled room.

As for its size, it was roughly three times the size of my own room——around 20 tatami, then. (T/N: About 348.7 square feet.) However, there was almost no furniture. It was almost a waste of s.p.a.ce how the large canopy bed was ostentatiously placed right in the center of the room. The room was dim apparently because of the heavy curtains covering the windows. However, there was a crack that allowed some white light to shine through, which prevented the room from being covered in total darkness.

“......Seriously. Where the heck is this?!”

I muttered to myself in a groan.

In contrast to the lack of furniture, the wallpaper was decorated with very detailed patterns, the curtains were embroidered, and detailed craftsmanship could be seen on the window frame and the pillars jutting out slightly from the walls. On the wall were lamps decorated with an incomparable amount of ornamentation.

Every single article were things that I had only ever seen in anime and manga and games and light novels. Everything gave off the feeling of a traditional Western-styled residence. To speak plainly, this was a『Western mansion』.

That’s why......there must be......

Having stood so still as to almost fade into being a part of the scenery inside the room caused me to be late in noticing that existence.

“——?!”

My gaze accidentally swept too far to the side, so I hastily turned my head back.

That humanoid silhouette standing close to the wall.

“M............”

In the instant of realization, fireworks ran through my brain.

That was......

Black one-piece.

White ap.r.o.n decorated with frills.

A headpiece similarly decorated with frills.

In addition, a collar adorned with a dark red ribbon with a jade green clasp.

Ahhhh, that is......that is!

That moe trope that appears again and again in games and anime and manga and light novels that so many people love! That costume that, despite having a relatively low amount of skin exposure, has managed to cause so many people to go crazy with moe that it has been nicknamed the『Wearable Aphrodisiac』!

That was unmistakably——

“MAID-SAN キタ————!!!!!!”

(T/N: キタ is read ‘kita.’ It means ‘it’s here,’ but watch this to fully understand the feelings packed into these two simple characters.)

“......?!”

Reflexively, I tightly gripped my hands into fists and shouted out loud in excitement, but it seems to have caused the maid-san standing next to the wall to start trembling.

More like......I’m getting the feeling that she had been taking refuge against the wall to put distance between the two of us in the first place. Well, if a sleeping person suddenly shouts out loud, then anyone would draw back.

But really, to think that the day would come when I would have the honor of beholding, with my own two eyes, a 3D, real life maid-san!

“Oou......”

I was so very deeply moved.

Those who would say “But there are maid cafés, aren’t there?” are mere amateurs.

The so-called ‘maids’ at maid cafés are mere cosplayers, mere fakes, and mere pretenders. The true meaning of being a maid-san cannot be found in those places. Those girls are mere imitations——inside, they’re normal high school or university students. In other words, of the three elements necessary to reach the highest mysteries of the maid-san way—heart, technique, and physique—the most important one, ‘heart,’ is missing!

However, the maid-san currently in front of my eyes did indeed possess it.

I can tell. There’s no deceiving my eyes......!

More like, when you compare someone who’s wearing the costume as a cosplay against someone who wears the costume as a part of everyday life, the difference is obvious. This girl’s body was completely accustomed to the maid clothes that she was wearing.

Furthermore, when I took a second look, I realized that she was not a j.a.panese.

I couldn’t see the exact colors because the room was dim, but I was at least sure that she did not have black hair or black eyes.

Her long hair was in twintails, which meant that it was tied up and hanging down from a pretty high position behind her head on both sides. Her large eyes looked like she was perplexed——or rather, like she was scared, and were blinking furiously. Even with the dim lighting, I could see that she had white skin as smooth as porcelain, and that her facial features were prominent without being showy——she was the very image of ‘neat, trim, and sweetly cute.’ Her neat and trim side was further accentuated by her slight plainness, making her a good example of how even plainness could be inverted into a plus.

(T/N: The actual word used to describe her was 清楚可憐, which is read as ‘seiso karen.’ Seiso means ‘neat, clean, tidy, and trim.’ Karen means ‘touchingly lovely, sweet (the way young girls and flowers blooming are sweet), and cute.’ This four-character word embodies the quintessential j.a.panese idea of a perfect j.a.panese lady.)

Her age looks to be similar to my own——in other words, somewhere in her late teens.

And from what I can see, her body, which was concealed under her maid clothes, appeared slender and delicate.

‘She looks like she would snap if she was hugged too hard’ is a description often used for slender women, but——this girl truly looked like if I carelessly approached her the wrong way, she would get hurt, as if she was a delicate piece of gla.s.swork.

She was almost perfect. If I was to give a score as a judge that grades maids, I would be fine with giving her 90 points. By the way, I would give her the remaining 10 points on the spot if she was holding a broom. The broom is a definitive item for any maid-san. It’s on the same level as the club is for all oni. Without it, it is as if the critical final touch is missing.

But well, let’s put that aside for now.

The maid girl who was pressed against the wall spoke up in a voice trembling with fear.

“......Re......Retosamu?”

What? What did she say?

“E......Efasu, uoi, era, retosamu?”

Seeing me stare at her in a stupor, the maid girl was repeating her question——I think. Her sentence ended with a rising tone, so I think it was a question. That’s all I understood, though.

It was undoubtedly not j.a.panese. Based on the p.r.o.nunciation, it’s not English either. Exactly what language is it? It did not sound like German nor French nor Chinese either.

In any case, I hadn’t the faintest idea what she just said.

“This is problematic......”

I muttered to myself.

I was finally blessed with the opportunity to get closer to a real, living, 3D maid girl, but if it’s like this, then we can’t even make small talk......!

I know, I know.

Some people without dreams might be shouting “Before that, ‘Where am I?’ and other such questions should be your first priority!” at me. However, that is such a boorish and unsophisticated thing to say. This is an encounter where I can become closer to a moe character, a feat only possible in the 3D domain, through the interface called ‘reality.’ When faced with such a situation, which is so rare that it can even be called a miracle, one has to keep in mind the idiom ‘lose a fly to catch a trout.’ Small sacrifice for a great cause.

“Retosamu......”

The maid girl sounded at a loss too.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one feeling bothered about the fact that we can’t understand each other’s words.

“——!”

Abruptly, she looked like she had just realized something and nodded to herself, after which she began to hastily pat her maid clothes all over. For a second, I wondered what she was doing, but......clearly, she was looking for something that was supposed to be in her clothes.

“Sou, tei!”

The maid girl suddenly smiled brightly, then took out some sort of box from one of her pockets.

She timidly made her way towards me, opened the box from the middle like it was a sh.e.l.lfish, then showed me what was inside.

It was a small——silver-colored ring.

“Eh? What’s this?”

From what I can see, the ring was somewhat on the large side, and gave off a ceremonious feeling——there were tiny letters etched onto its surface.

It seemed like a『magical ring』, one of those things that always come up in manga and anime and games.

Again, I wonder what kind of letters were those. It wasn’t the English alphabet, and of course, neither was it kanji nor kana. I’ve also seen the Hebrew alphabet, like aleph and zayin, appear in games and anime of the fantasy genre, but that wasn’t it either.

“Retosamu, regunifu, ruoi, shisu, ete, tsupu.”

So saying, the maid girl held it out to me——then stopped moving, staying in that pose and staring straight at me.

Was she perhaps telling me to put it on.

But from my point of view, it looked like a very questionable item——I couldn’t help but to hesitate. It gave me an uneasy feeling. The moment I put it on, my magical power would be controlled, or something similar happening was a common plot device. Well, I knew that there wasn’t a magical ring like that in real life, though.

At that moment——

“Retosamu.”

The maid girl showed me her own hand.

A ring that looked exactly the same——a ring with the same design, as far as I can determine, was on the ring finger on her left hand. She took off that ring, exchanged it with the one that she had been offering me before, then showed me herself putting it onto the same finger.

What is this.

It was as if it was poison tasting...... She was probably trying to demonstrate to me that it was alright to put on the ring through the exchange.

But like this, now it feels like we’re getting engaged or married, so I feel a little bashful.

I gained another reason to hesitate, out of character though it was.

“......Retosamu?”

An anxious expression appeared on her white face as she called out to me again.

Nuwa......She’s so cute! But her cuteness only makes me feel that much more guilty!

The maid girl looked troubled at the fact that I wasn’t making any move to put on the ring.

“Aah dammit...... Fine.”

I, too, am a man. And furthermore, also an otaku.

When a maid girl that fits my ideals so perfectly is making an appeal with such sad-looking eyes, there was no way I could ever decline. Having had my fill of kyun kyun moe, my heart was urging me to quickly put on that ring.

“Here goes......”

I fearfully put the ring onto my own ring finger. There was no flash of light nor any hair-raising sounds, nor did the ring suddenly change shape and dig into my finger...... It slid on without any resistance and merely settled into place.

“Is this what you wanted?”

When I asked this, the next moment——

“Yes! With this, we can finally understand each other, Danna-sama.”
(Sei, shisu! Moufu, donatosuredonu, uoi, naku, retosamu.)

“Nuwa?!”

I unconsciously shouted in surprise.

It was because I had suddenly become able to understand the maid girl’s words.

Furthermore, it wasn’t because the girl was speaking in j.a.panese. She herself was still speaking in whatever tongue it is that she’s using, but something like multiplex broadcasting or simultaneous interpretation was occurring, so that inside my head I’m hearing the j.a.panese meaning of what she’s saying superimposing over her actual words.

(T/N: Multiplex broadcasting means transferring different videos and audio channels simultaneously over the same frequency channel.)

How exactly is this happening?

Actually, never mind. Let’s put that aside for now. More importantly, what did the girl just say?

『Danna-sama』? Who’s that? Me?

(T/N: For those who don’t know, Danna is one way to call ‘Master’ in j.a.panese. -sama is a suffix added to indicate respect. It is my policy to leave monikers and suffixes untranslated, as different characters use different things and you can tell who is speaking through those differences.)

“Oou......!”

I was so deeply moved that I couldn’t help looking up towards the ceiling and sighing blissfully.

『旦那様』! だんなさま! ダンナサマ! DANNASAMA——! Listen to this sweet sound! When a maid calls her master, the standard is to use『Goshujin-sama』, but being called『Danna-sama』has its own charm and I love it!

(T/N: Yes, he says ‘Danna-sama’ four times. First in kanji, then in hiragana, then in katakana, then finally in English. All four are read the exact same way.)

Ahhh. To think that the day would come when I get to be called『Danna-sama』by a maid girl.

I’m so glad to be alive. More like, if a time machine exists, then I want to go back to the me from a year ago and tell him that “It’s a great thing that you’re alive. As long as you’re alive, the day will come when a maid-san will call you『Danna-sama』!”

......And things like that.

I was thoroughly savoring this happiness, but now that things had progressed to this point, I could no longer ignore the baffling situation in which I had found myself.

Exactly what had happened and how did it happen?

Where was this place, who is this girl, and why am I in such a situation?

“Mumu......”

Due to a dull pain, my brain cells felt very reluctant to begin moving properly, but I mentally rebuked them while trying to trace my memory back.

I believe I had been in Akiba for a job interview.

In the middle of the interview, there had been a small break time. There had been a drink dispensing machine in the interview room, from which I had taken a cup of oolong tea that I had promptly drunk.

As for any memories after that...... my mind was blank.

Hmm? These memories completely don’t match up with my current situation, though.

“............Danna-sama?”

Seeing me freeze up, the maid girl called out to me in a puzzled voice.

I still don’t understand the exact words that she was saying, but even I could tell that the “retosamu” that she had repeated so many times earlier means『Danna-sama』.

“I’m fine. Umm......”

I turned towards the maid girl and spoke to her.

“Sorry, may I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything you’d like.”

Perhaps due to the fact that we can finally communicate, she nodded with a happy expression that also seemed slightly relieved.

“For starters, who are you? What’s your name?”

“Miusel——My name is Miusel Foalan.”

She answered with a cute bow of her head.

“......Miusel.”

It’s a cute name. It suits her really well.

Mistaking my mutter to myself as me calling her name, she responded with “Yes?”

“Ummm, what is your position here?”

I had been savoring this trance-like happiness for a while, but even I was not a hopeless enough idiot that when I’m suddenly called『Danna-sama』I would go『Oh I see, so I’m a Danna-sama』and be satisfied with that. Without any context, there was no way that I would have a maid girl waiting on me.

“From this day forth, I have been entrusted with taking care of Danna-sama’s everyday life.”

“No, I mean......’Danna-sama’? Who are you referring to?”

“......Eh?”

My question caused her to blink in surprise.

“Ah......Did you perhaps wish to be addressed in some other way?”

Miusel lowered her head, looking very sorry.

“Kanou Shinichi-sama......”

Kanou Shinichi.

Indeed, that is my name.

In other words, the ‘Danna-sama’ that this girl is talking about equals me......!

“I, I am the ‘Danna-sama’......?”

“Yes.”

She tilted her head quizzically, as if to ask, “By this time, why are you asking something like this?”

I don’t get it. What on earth is this situation?!

“Ummm——”

Well alright, let’s put aside the issue of why I’m a Danna-sama for now.

I decided to change the topic of conversation to where this place was instead.

When I traced my memories back, I remember that I was in the middle of job hunting in the sacred land for otakus, Akihabara——and that was where my memory suddenly cuts off. Wherever this place is, if I’m not suffering from memory loss or multiple-personality disorder, then I did not come here by my own will.

“Where......is this place?”

“Inside the Ratatos Forest on the outskirts of Marinos, the capital city of the Holy Eldant Empire.”

So answered Miusel——or not.

“......?”

When I turned towards where the voice had come from, I saw a single lady standing there.

It was a young lady wearing a dark green colored uniform——no, a military uniform.

Well, I say military uniform, but it wasn’t combat gear, and seemed more like what a person would wear normally at a workplace——the JSDF’s so-called『service uniform』. Up above was a jacket, and below was a tight skirt. On her collar were the characteristic rank insignias and medals indicating her occupational category. She also had on a necktie.

However......above anything else, what first drew my eyes was the place with a lot of cloth.

To put it frankly, it was her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

(H......Huge!)

Their overwhelming presence overshadowed her necktie and her medals and her rank insignias.

These two huge, huge mounds......!

Probably F——no, they look to be G. Magnificent. Uniforms are known for being costumes with a high concealing attribute, but in this case, even her uniform could not conceal those ripe, heavily laden white peaches. Despite the efforts at concealment, the sense of volume that could not be concealed struck me down in an instant. To think that such large b.r.e.a.s.t.s truly exist! So the photos of idols are not all Photoshopped?! Amazing, Laputa was real after all! (Due to the excessive stimulation, I became a bit incoherent.)

“......Are you alright?”

Towards the me whose gaze was almost strong enough to bore a hole through her b.r.e.a.s.t.s——that lady called out to me in a dubious voice.

“Are you listening to me? Kanou Shinichi-kun?”

“Eh? Ah——yes.”

As one could expect, even I would come back to my senses when called by name. I severed my lingering affections and stopped staring——after expending an enormous amount of willpower, I was finally successful in raising my line of vision towards the other person’s face.

Although my eyes had automatically turned towards her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her face also turned out to be quite beautiful.

She appeared to be in her early twenties.

Short hair. Wait, no——guessing by the fact that there were no hair ends around her collar, although a first glance from the front might give the impression that she has short hair, her hair was most likely actually tied up behind her head in a chignon style or something similar.

The presentation of her clothing was very orderly, and she herself seemed to be giving off a faint feeling of having a c.h.i.n.k in her guard......a feminine softness could be felt from her facial structure. The fact that she was wearing gla.s.ses only served to further mellow her appearance, giving an overall round and gentle impression.

She could be said to be one of those kind, healing-type onee-san characters.

Both her way of speaking and her expressions gave off a relaxed atmosphere.

Despite all that——what she was wearing was a military uniform after all.

By the way, in contrast to Miusel, this lady was properly speaking j.a.panese, and her looks were clearly East Asian, so most likely, she was a member of the JSDF——more specifically, she probably belonged to the Women’s Army Corps, or WAC for short.

“I understand why you’d feel surprised.”

The lady smiled gently while saying so.

“But before anything else, first calm down. Otherwise, from here onwards——it might be difficult to last.”

(T/N: The last part had no subject. She was saying that he won’t last, but he thought she was saying that her b.r.e.a.s.t.s won’t last.)

“Is......Is that so?”

I was so shocked that my expression involuntarily stiffened up.

“I see......Won’t last, huh......I’d heard that it was easy to sag, but......Understood, I’ll calm down. I’ll be calm, you can bet on it. If by calming down, I am able to preserve those treasures of all humanity, then I’ll calm down as much as you need! Leave it to me!”

I gripped both of my hands into fists and spoke with great vigor.

But to think that I can help prevent her b.r.e.a.s.t.s from sagging just by calming down, I wonder exactly how does that work? Did I have such a hidden superpower? The name of the superpower would be『The Buster』(T/N: ‘The Buster’ is the provided rubii reading; the kanji itself reads as “The Emergency Savior of b.r.e.a.s.t.s.” It’s ‘Buster’ because ‘bust’ = ‘b.r.e.a.s.t.s.’). This superpower enables me to prevent girls’ b.r.e.a.s.t.s from sagging when I calm down and concentrate!

“......Errr, Kanou Shinichi-kun?”

A dubious color seemed to be slipping into the WAC’s smile.

“It seems that some sort of misunderstanding might be happening here, but......By “easy to sag”......What are you talking about?”

“Eh? Weren’t we talking about your b.o.o.bs?”

“............”

The WAC’s smile froze.

As if she had a Stop b.u.t.ton that was pressed, she continued looking at me with a smile that remained unwavering to the point of being unnatural——

“First of all, I believe I should introduce myself.”

The lady once again adopted an easy-going smile, forcibly changing the topic of the conversation back to the proper track.

It seems that she was going to act as if the exchange about b.r.e.a.s.t.s had never taken place. As expected of a government employee. Her ability to ignore things was first-cla.s.s indeed.

“My name is Koganuma Minori.”

She placed her white gloved hands onto her abundant b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Just that alone was enough to slightly change the shape of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Uwah. Looks really soft.

“I’m a Private First Cla.s.s belonging to the 1st Division of the Ground Self-Defense Force Eastern Army. My mission is to be your escort.”

So said the JSDF lady, or rather, Koganumi Minori-san.

The family name ‘Koganuma’ sounds a bit too stiff, so I’m going to decide here and now to call her ‘Minori-san’ inside my mind............................................................Wait a second.

“ESCORT?!”

A terrifying word was suddenly brought up.

If I was a.s.signed an escort, then there must be a threat to protect me from. In other words, I am in a position where I am being exposed to some sort of threat.

“E-e-e-exactly, what from?!”

I don’t remember having anyone who would come after my life.

I don’t think I do, but——never knowing when you’ve inadvertently earned someone else’s resentment is part of what it means to be human.

Could it be that someone grew to hate me to the point of wanting to kill me after our bidding war over that bishoujo figure on Yahoo Auction?

“That can’t be! ......I admit that I did continuously make some pretty outrageous bids right before the end of the auction closing time, but, but, Kuuko is a such a rare gem that I would even sell my soul to get my hands on her figure and she even has cast-off clothes and the degree of reproduction of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s was said to be absolutely perfect and if I didn’t get my hands on her I’d regret it for the rest of my life——”

“I’ll say this again, but calm down! More like, what are you even talking about?”

Minori-san inquired while knitting her eyebrows.

“......Isn’t someone who lost to me in a bidding war for a figure targeting my life?”

“There’s no way the JDSF would be tasked with your protection for something like that!”

“‘Something like that’?! It’s the limited edition Kuuko figure, I’ll have you know! Although it’s true that she’s not the main heroine, and she doesn’t have large b.r.e.a.s.t.s like Minori-san does, but she has her own virtues!”

“......Why are my b.r.e.a.s.t.s brought up in this conversation?!”

Minori-san replied while grasping her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with both hands, as if to cover them up.

Such an action is only serving to emphasize how large her b.r.e.a.s.t.s are, but is she not aware of that? This person.

“Anyways. If it’s something related to crime, then it would be the jurisdiction of the police, wouldn’t it.”

“......That’s true. But if that’s the case, then why......?”

In the first place, if one were to talk about what the JSDF fights against, then that’d be foreign troops or calamities or G.o.dzilla.

I can’t really think of any situation that would require the JSDF to protect a single civilian.

“My escort mission is just a precaution, really. If there’s a clear and imminent threat, rather than just a single WAC like me, they’d be sending entire squads of JSDF members decked out in full combat gear to your side, right?”

“I see your point, but......”

The very fact that a JSDF member was suddenly dispatched without providing any explanation was already unnatural.

“We do feel sorry about suddenly bringing you along without providing any explanation. But it was because several things related to highly cla.s.sified information was involved. That’s why we had to take such high-handed measures. We are truly sorry for that..”

“Cla.s.sified information?!”

More terrifying words were coming up.

‘Cla.s.sified information’ is one of those ultra-alarming words that causes people to die left and right like it’s the most natural thing in the word. Furthermore, the fact that the JSDF was involved naturally means that it’s a national secret or something similar. Most likely, it was on a completely different dimension from some mere corporate secret.

No, wait a second. Before any of that, she just said “bringing you along,” didn’t she. In other words, it was the JSDF that had kidnapped me and brought me to this incomprehensible place?

“No way......”

I trembled with fear at the realization of my current position.

“I got infected by a developmental bacteriological weapon and as a result turned into a mutant soldier that had awakened to newfound superpowers, and am therefore being targeted as a living military secret?!”

“......What on earth are you talking about?”

“Or perhaps a s.p.a.ceship with super-technology fell from s.p.a.ce and its control system took the form of a bishoujo and chose me from among all humankind and wishes to form a contract with me?”

“............”

“Or a three thousand-year seal came undone, allowing the resurrection of a demon lord, but the sole tribe capable of resealing it has been long extinct, so the country used all available resources and identified me as the person whose blood that is the closest to what that tribe had?”

“............”

Minori-san remained silent.

Although she was maintaining the warm smile on her face, I feel like her eyes alone are growing colder and colder by the moment, so for now let’s put a lid on my chuunibyou dreams.

“......Are you satisfied?”

“Well, for the time being.”

“Of course, I had intended on fully explaining the situation to you.”

Minori-san spoke while walking over to stand beside the windows.

“But most likely, you wouldn’t be able to understand, no matter how many words I used. Even if you did understand, I don’t think you would believe me. It was so for myself.”

“............?”

The strangely roundabout wording made me knit my eyebrows.

What on earth was this WAC trying to say?

“That’s why, first look with your own eyes. The explanation will come afterwards.”

Minori-san opened the curtains.

At that moment——white light flooded into the room.

Most likely, it was currently morning. It was a cool yet refreshing light.

The sudden increase in the amount of light caused my eyes to squint up. I waited for them to grow accustomed.

And then——

“......Uwah.”

What I saw was an endless scene of greenery.

Trees and shrubs decked with leaves seemed to extend without end, effectively serving as a wall around the estate. I couldn’t grasp an exact number, but there were less than a hundred meters in between. Apparently, this room was on the second floor......our point of view was high up, but the towering trees almost completely blocked our field of vision.

The words previously said by Minori-san,『outskirts of Marinos』and『Ratatos Forest』, resurfaced in my mind.

And also,『Holy Eldant Empire』.

It was a name that I’d never heard of before.

More like, I’d let it slide the first time, but isn’t that clearly a different country altogether?

I was just job hunting in Akiba, but when on earth did I leave the country?!

As expected, it didn’t take much for me to start panicking, but——

“............Eh?”

What I was truly having trouble believing wasn’t that.

“What was that just now......?!”

Abruptly, something crossed by outside the window.

It was something unbelievably huge.

It wasn’t a bird. Birds don’t get that huge. Though it was only for an instant, that something had completely blocked my field of vision——that was how huge it was. In other words, it was at least larger than this window that I’m standing behind.

On top of that, it had bat-like wings.

On top of even that, it also had a ridiculously long tail.

The clincher was the fact that instead of feathers, its entire body was covered with blue scales.

“Dragon......?!”

That flying body composedly flew in an arc, then once again returned to my field of vision.

Above the wall of greenery, that fantastical appearance flew gracefully. No matter how you look at it, that thing had a wingspan of at least ten meters. If I remember correctly......according to paleontologists, the largest species of the pterosaur, the Quetzalcoatlus, is speculated to have had a wingspan of up to twelve meters. In terms of size, what I’m looking at is on the same level as that. Back in middle school, I had seen a replica at a dinosaur exhibition.

“A dragon just......it’s a dragon, isn’t it?!”

“That’s right.”

Minori-san nodded in response to me, who was on the verge of panicking.

“Wha-What on earth is this place?!”

“As I said before, inside the Ratatos Forest on the outskirts of Marinos, the capital city of the Holy Eldant Empire.”

Minori-san repeated herself with a faint smile.

And then——as if to confirm my guess, she added one more line.

“To put it into simpler terms, this is a『parallel world』.”

Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 2

Chapter 1: A Parallel World Before I Knew It

Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 2

Chapter 1: A Parallel World Before I Knew It

You can grab the PDF here.

I, Kanou Shinichi, am a so-called『home security guard』.

If『home security guard』was too hard to understand, then『neet』or『hikikomori』or the blunt『deadbeat』would do. Generally, I’m in a position that can be summarized with those words. But then again, my name is still on my school’s register, so it might be more correct to call me a『truant student』.

Actually, no. If we are to aim for correctness, then we must use past tense and say『I used to be a home security guard』.

My lifestyle of living while holed up inside my room that had lasted a year......was suddenly brought to an end by my parents’ forceful measures.

For slightly over a year, I was a hikikomori......my younger sister, who was much smarter than me, was studying for her high school entrance exams, so my parents focused on supporting her with that and mainly left me be.

But after my younger sister got accepted into her school of choice, as one could expect, even my parents would begin to feel bothered by their oldest son acting like this. With their daughter entering a top-notch local high school after so much effort, their son being a home security guard for an indefinite extent of time undoubtedly did not do wonders for appearances.

And thus.

Unfortunately for me, my parents were pretty extreme people.

Although they’re usually quite happy-go-easy, but when they start something, they are utterly thorough with it.

Furthermore, when they think of something, they put it into motion the very same day——they’re so impatient that if it was a war, they would press the launch b.u.t.ton for the nuclear missiles immediately after the war declaration. They’re people who would skip steps that other normal people would take one at a time while accessing the situation, and thrust ultimatums at the other side as an opening move. Husband and wife both had such unreasonable personalities.

As a specific example, the door to my room was suddenly split into two on a certain day.

The door had stayed shut as a symbol of my obstinate decision to reject any and all contact with the outside world——well okay, I did open and close to it go to the toilet and take baths and stuff like that——but of all things, those two used a chainsaw to literally cut open a path.

Please imagine it.

I was in the middle of working hard on leveling up when, without any prior notice, the sound of an engine starting was accompanied by the scene of the door being bisected. Furthermore, my parents were fastidious about the weirdest things. Spouting bulls.h.i.t like『this is the proper thing to wear when using a chainsaw』, they were even wearing hockey masks. Frankly speaking, I want to be commended for not having p.i.s.sed in my pants.

As if that wasn’t enough......

“Well then, Shinichi. Here’s a question. What is it that you should do from here on? Please select a choice from the following three options. One, return to school. Two, find a job. Three, leave our family registry.”

“......What is with that impossibly hard game.”

“What’s an impossibly hard game! Because you’re our son, when you said ‘I’m going to be a hikikomori’ after something sensitive happened to you, we decided to wait and see for a while. But just because we went easy on you, you started to get carried away and got on the highway towards being a neet! To make matters worse, you started to use cash on delivery to mail order a stupid amount of manga and games——whose earnings do you think you’re burning, you deadbeat!”

“Adults always use such cruel words to hurt us children.”

“You’re not sensitive, you’re just lazy, right?”

“Even Mom too......More like, it’s freaking scary so for now please take off those hockey masks, please?”

“In any case, both your dad and I are reaching the limits of our patience. For now, either go find a job or go back to school. Choose now. Otherwise, the pictures inside the〈Landscape Images〉folder that you’ve been stockpiling devotedly will start disappearing one by one, OK?”

“Wha-......?! How?! Just in case, I gave it a safe name and buried it under several levels of folders! More like, when the heck did you touch my computer?!”

“It’s not good to underestimate a former ero ill.u.s.trator. It’s not that rare for someone in a rural small game company to be the scenario writer and the programmer and the graphic artist all at the same time.”

“You HACKED my computer?!”

“In the first place, how many ero images have you h.o.a.rded to make the file a whole terabyte! I peeked at the contents of some of the sub-folders, but got pretty turned off by the time I got to the fourth one.”

“GYAAAAA!! You looked inside?!”

“So you follow what I’m saying, Shinichi? The treasured collection of 1 TB that you’d diligently built up while going around the internet, the seven game accounts that you have, and a few other things, will all be erased along with the contents of your HDD. If you don’t want this to happen, either start working or resume your studies. ASAP.”

........................................And well, it was a conversation that pretty much went like that.

My life as a home security guard was forcefully brought to a close in the fifteenth month without any chance for an appeal.

“——Hohou. So that’s why you’re now looking for a job.”

The middle-aged man on the other side of the foldable conference table nodded.

The very next day after my parents carried out the ‘forceful entry into my room’ strategy——I was in Akiba.

Not having been exposed to direct sunlight for so long, I had no choice but to endure the torture of the sun relentlessly burning my eyes and my skin like as if I was a vampire. The reason why after more than a year, I was finally back in the sacred land of otakus......was because out of the options presented by my dad, I had chosen the second one.

In other words, to find a job.

To be frank, by this point in time, I could not bring myself to feel like going back to school. More like, if it had been that easy for me to go back, I wouldn’t have turned truant and holed up inside my room. Just by being an otaku, I was already often made the target of bullying and teasing, but......after not showing up for more than a year, going back now would only make me the laughingstock of the entire school, no doubt about it. My nerves are not stout enough to be capable of withstanding something like that.

In that case, then I might as well go straight into becoming a member of society——is what I thought.

This, too, was not easy either. That’s only natural, though.

In the first place, the world was not so lenient that a high school dropout c.u.m former home security guard could find a job as soon as he thinks of looking for one. It would be a different story if I had a special skill or ability of some sort, but there was no way that I did. If I had to name something that I could be proud of, then it would be the otaku knowledge that I’d acc.u.mulated over such a long time——well, it’s not exactly something to be proud of, though.

However, if one were to list workplaces where having otaku knowledge would be an advantage, they would realize that they are very rare and limited in number.

The only two kinds of choices were creator-side jobs like what my parents held, or sales-side jobs like being a store clerk in a store that deals in otaku goods. At least, all I could think of were these two choices.

But then again, being a creator brings with it numerous problems unique to creators. The fact that just by going up to one of those companies and saying “Please let me be a creator” would get me nowhere was only made all the more apparent when I looked at my own parents.

Therefore, there was only one road for me to take——to be a clerk in a bookstore, DVD shop, computer shop, game shop, figure shop, toy store, or some other otaku-related store.

Lately, online job hunting support sites are pretty well-stocked with requests, and many stores also have their own “Job Offers” page. Just by searching “Job Offer” along with some otaku-related words, I could easily find the information that I need.

And thus, while looking for job offers on the internet, I came across that page.

Across the top of the page were the words『Looking for an Otakus』in big letters.

More like, that was the only hiring requirement written on the page.

There was none of the usual numerous qualification requirements, such as relevant work experience, licenses held, degree of education, ‘above 18 and under 30,’ or anything like that. The only requirement was to be someone recognized both by self and by others as an otaku, someone with an abundance of knowledge in that field.

Furthermore......surprisingly, the remuneration was really good.

In this time of recession, the monthly salary was, can you believe it, 300,000 yen. (T/N: USD$26500). And depending on results, that amount could be raised even higher. In addition, the company will provide furnished housing. This was clearly not a request for a part-timer, but a request for a full-time employee.

Near the bottom of the page was written『General Entertainment Company AmuTec』.

Of course, there’s the possibility that this was a black company looking to trick innocent sheep ignorant of the ways of the world——I’m talking about myself, by the way——into becoming a corporate slave, but well, it won’t be too late to start worrying about that after I take the interview.

(T/N: ‘Black company’ is a term used by j.a.panese to describe companies that exploits employees, such as by demanding unpaid overtime.)

For now, I’ll just click the『Apply Here』b.u.t.ton at the bottom of the page.

When I did......a new window with the t.i.tle『Check Your Otaku Level』popped up. Surprisingly, they were having the employment exam online.

Speaking of which, there used to be some sort of otaku official certification thing in the past. I wonder if this was something like that? When I was thinking such things, a timer suddenly popped up from the side of the page.

Apparently, there is a time limit.

Well......just think about it and you can understand why.

Otaku knowledge is something that you can search up on the internet. If there wasn’t a time limit, anyone could get a full score on this exam. In other words, this time limit was to prevent applicants from looking up each and every question——there’s time to make a few quick searches, but to pa.s.s, the applicant has to already have a certain amount of basic knowledge.

Frankly, I was slightly on fire. This might possibly be a chance for me to find out where I rank in my otaku-ness relative to other people.

However......when I actually started, I felt so let down.

So easy. So freaking easy.

Anime. Manga. Games. Novels. Figures. Doujinshi. And a few others.

One way or another, the test covered famous works from each and every genre, and asked how much the applicant knew about the contents of the works, what their selling points were, why they became famous......and other similar questions in detail one by one.

However, the test was in multiple choice format.

During my time as a home security guard, I’ve already seen all the works covered in the exam, I’ve read all the sites talking about each work’s sales strategy, and I’ve also gone to all the bulletin boards where people held heated discussions about the works.

Therefore......I would have felt troubled if asked to write up all that information in an essay, but selecting the correct answer from multiple choices was extremely easy. More like......I understood this from actually taking the test, but most likely, the person who wrote this test was not an otaku himself.

How do I put it......something felt “off,” like an article written by a reporter about a place without having gone there in person.

There were no large mistakes, but somehow, the impression that I got was that of the questions being slightly off the mark, or the examiner not quite understanding what he was asking about. Almost as if——the examiner was not an otaku, but was instead an anthropologist or an economist. And instead of thoroughly reading the work, he read only the outline and instead looked at the number of copies sold and pictures of the lines on the opening date and referred to other『objective data from the outside perspective』. The questions on the exam gave off such an uncomfortable feeling.

I wonder who it was that wrote this test, and for what purpose?

While mulling over such thoughts, I continued to breeze through the exam, answering the last question before even half of the allotted time was up.

At that moment, along with the words『Congratulations. You’ve pa.s.sed.』, the page refreshed to another one where the time of the interview the next day and a map to the location were displayed.

The interview location was located in Akiba——and it was in a building right next to the Manseibashi Police Station, to boot.

Although this recruitment ad was suspicious as heck, but I really don’t think swindlers or solicitors to new religions would base their operations right beside the police.

When I came to this realization——I decided to show up for the interview to this『General Entertainment Company AmuTec』.

“——I see.”

The middle-aged man in charge of the interview nodded deeply.

The namecard that he had given me earlier named him as『Matoba Jinzaburou』.

In contrast to his weirdly traditional-sounding name, the person himself looked extremely normal.

He was a person who felt like one of those salarymen that you could find anywhere. A few white hairs were mixed in with his hair, which was carefully split into a 7:3 hairstyle. His body was of medium build, and he was wearing a suit the color of dried leaves. His eyes were as thin as a thread, causing him to look like he was permanently smiling——more like, after I got used to that smile, I became unable to imagine any other expression on his face. For starters, he looked like a pretty nice person.

Then again, swindlers all look like nice people at first glance. If this『AmuTec』company was truly a black company, then it would be dangerous to make a judgment based on first impressions.

“By the way, what are your parents’ occupations?”

This was after I’d given him the complete picture of my current circ.u.mstances. Without holding anything back, I spoke at length both about the fact that I used to be a home security guard and also that it was my parents who had coerced——err, I mean, convinced me to go job-hunting. I honestly did not expect to get accepted at my first interview at the very start of my job-hunting, so I was more in this for the experience. My att.i.tude towards this interview was that if I failed, then I can just move on to the next one.

“My parents? My father is a ‘lan.o.be’ writer, and my mother is a full-time housewife. She used to be an ero ‘genga,’ though.”

“‘Lan.o.be’ writer?”

“It means he writes light novels. Well, light novels are books kind of like mangas.”

“I see, I see.”

Matoba-san was nodding while writing something onto some doc.u.ments.

What do my parents’ occupations have to do with my own job application? Or perhaps, was this the so-called recruitment discrimination? Doesn’t look like it, though. Not that I know anything about it, though.

“Then——ero ‘genga’?”

“Refers to being the ill.u.s.trator for eroge.”

“......Eroge. Ill.u.s.trator.”

Matoba-san knitted his eyebrows while muttering to himself.

It was as if these were foreign words that he’d heard for the first time and he was repeating them to himself to commit them to memory.

Seeing as the ad had said “Looking for Otakus,” I’d clearly thought that this was a company with that sort of people. But wait, maybe it’s because theydon’t have that sort of people that they expressly went to the trouble of posting a recruitment ad like that.

“Ummm. ‘Eroge’ means an adult game for 18 and over. She used to draw the ill.u.s.trations for those.”

“Ahh! Ahh, I see.”

Matoba-san nodded vigorously with a look like he’d just learned something new.

“I see, I see! So you are an otaku thoroughbred, aren’t you?”

“‘Thoroughbred’......well, I guess that way of putting it, is not exactly wrong.”

I answered with a wry face.

Although it’s true that ever since I can remember, my house has been choke full of manga and anime discs, and that this has undoubtedly

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