Published: March 21, 2026
The king seemed busy; after saying as much he withdrew, and then the old man who had suddenly reappeared with a crystal continued to explain our statuses.
His presence concealment is excellent. This old man’s something else…
"Everyone, please chant 'Status Open' in your minds."
The old man said that and smiled meaningfully.
We immediately chanted "Status Open." Then, like something straight out of an RPG, a glowing board appeared before our eyes.
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Akira Oda
Race: Human Class: assassin level 1
HP 1800／1800 Attack 1200 Defense 800 Magical Power 700／700
Skills: Arithmetic Lv.5 Negotiation Lv.4 Hidden Weapon Lv.1 Assassination Lv.1
Curved Blade Technique Lv.1 Dagger Technique Lv.1 presence concealment lv. max presence detection Lv.1
Crisis Perception Lv.1
Extra Skills: Language Comprehension world eye Lv.1 shadow magic Lv.1
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Ooooo… Seeing it again, my skills are heavily skewed toward assassination. Probably because my class is assassin. And the 'presence concealment' skill, which makes your presence all but vanish, is already capped at lv. max.
"Shou, did your status show up?"
A classmate asked; I nodded.
The classmates were a bit… no, quite excited. It’s not surprising — something impossible back in Japan happening right before your eyes would get anyone riled up.
I couldn’t hide my own excitement either at a development like in a novel. I even felt glad to be alive. But it's also true that having so little information puts me in danger. My calm inner voice piped up. Maybe I was getting a bit carried away; better calm down.
"What was your class again?"
"I'm a wind mage. Shou?"
"Assassin."
"As expected. Even though you were near the classroom you’d suddenly disappear and reappear. I figured you were some kind of ninja or something."
"Shut up. I'm not disappearing because I like it. Well, mostly I do it on purpose."
Right. If I tried to hide for real, no one could find me. It’s a sad fact — since I was little I’ve never been found in hide-and-seek. Even when we played can-kicking, sometimes my teammates didn’t notice me until I actually kicked the can.
There was nothing strange about the status. I must have had a high level in 'presence concealment' even back in Japan. Otherwise I’d just be a forgettable, thin character. Then again, the original world had no magic, so that’s likely. …That line of thought is depressing; better stop.
Still, having a skill already at lv. max from the start feels odd. Maybe it’s normal in this world.
My experiences from Japan seemed to be reflected too: 'Arithmetic' and 'Negotiation' were higher.
'Arithmetic' was probably boosted from studying useless formulas in school that I never knew when I'd use.
'Negotiation' was likely because I haggled relentlessly with the greengrocer to save on food money. He almost came to hate me, but looking back I’m glad. In a situation like this where anything could happen, having non-combat skills at high levels is reassuring.
"…So, who’s the hero, I wonder."
"Ah, well, we can pretty much guess, right?"
They glanced over, and one boy was grinning, surrounded by a crowd of girls. Well, outwardly he kept a poker face, but the corners of his mouth were slightly up.
Our class’s handsome guy, Tsukasa Sato.
Good looks, top grades, athletic — the textbook ideal hero, and our school’s student council president. His harem tendencies and inability to hide his expressions are the only flaws. If he weren’t the hero, who would be? He probably doesn’t doubt he’s the hero himself.
And indeed he seemed to be the hero. His expression made it obvious. The girls must have known too; there were more of them around him than usual. The boys without girlfriends watched through gritted teeth. Different place, same scene as always. Things seemed slowly returning to normal.
By the way, who was the wind-mage boy talking to me nearby? He occasionally talked to me, the loner, in class, but he wasn’t anyone remarkable, so I didn’t remember him at all. I couldn’t very well ask who he was now; the mystery only deepened.