Published: March 21, 2026
The first person the old man prompted to touch the crystal was the class mascot, Miko Sano.
When Miko hesitantly placed her hand on the old man's crystal, light poured out from it and the same status display I’d seen over my own head earlier appeared above hers, only much bigger.
Even standing against the wall you could clearly see every detail.
"““Oooooo…””"
None of my classmates seemed to have considered the risks of exposing their status even a millimeter; they were glued to the surreal sight of letters emerging from light.
While my classmates—dreaming about a technology that doesn't exist in Japan—cheered, I stared at Miko’s status and felt my mind go blank.
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Miko Sano
Race: Human Profession: barrier master Lv.1
HP 180/180 Attack 150 Defense 130
Magical power 130/130
Skills: Arithmetic Lv.5 Sewing Lv.7 Cooking Lv.5 Barrier Magic Lv.1 Healing Barrier Lv.1
Extra Skill: Language Comprehension
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"That's weak… What the hell is this?"
My brain, already scrambled from being summoned to another world, felt another heavy blow.
In the novels I'd read, non-hero NPCs generally had similar numbers and skills. The hero would be orders of magnitude higher, which is why everyone praised the hero. But for some reason the same phenomenon had happened to Miko—who should be a mob character like me—and to me. Miko actually had higher levels in many skills, but the gap in basic stats was absurd. Maybe it's because her role isn’t combat-oriented.
"Okay, okay! Next is me!"
After Miko, the class clown Katsumi Watanabe slapped his hand on the crystal with a triumphant grin.
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Katsumi Watanabe
Race: Human Profession: fighting fist warrior Lv.1
HP 180/180 Attack 200 Defense 200
Magical power 300/300
Skills: Arithmetic Lv.3 Fist Techniques Lv.3 Body Techniques Lv.2
Extra Skill: Language Comprehension
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More cheers rose.
"…What the hell is going on?"
"Seriously, what is this crystal?"
My attempts at conversation with the classmates next to me were only half-working. But I didn’t have time to care.
"…Right. I’ll hide my presence."
A few people had revealed their statuses, and everyone so far had shown lower numbers than mine, so I used my go-to skill, presence concealment, to hide. If the sensation feels the same as in that other world, this should obscure my presence and make me invisible. It's annoying that I can’t tell whether I myself am properly unseen. Still, if my status were to be exposed here it would be a disaster.
I figured I’d check the hero Sato’s status; if he was stronger than me, I’d remove the concealment and touch the crystal. Simple.
But reality betrayed me in the worst way.
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Tsukasa Sato
Race: Human Profession: hero Lv.1
HP 200/200 Attack 800 Defense 500
Magical power 350/350
Skills: Arithmetic Lv.7 Charm Lv.5 Body Techniques Lv.2 Swordsmanship Lv.2 Four-Element Magic Lv.1
Extra Skills: Language Comprehension Holy Swordsmanship Lv.1
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His skill levels were certainly high and Four-Element Magic sounded attractive, but his basic stats were lower than mine. The girls squealed, but after seeing my numbers earlier, his stats didn’t seem that impressive.
What is really going on? Isn't the hero supposed to be the strongest? My stats are just unnaturally high.
"As expected of the hero. Such wonderful numbers and skills. In this world the typical values are Attack 100, and even combat-oriented jobs cap around 500. The hero exceeds that from his starting stats. With this you will surely be able to defeat the demon king."
The old man's fake smile made me shiver. I couldn't be sure after just meeting him, but something about him felt off. A little dissonance nagged at me.
It reminded me of the king I'd seen earlier and the pretty girl standing behind him who was probably the princess—the same girl who had been looking at us with a knight when we were summoned. Their smiles felt pasted-on, and that smiled expression flicked onto the old man's face in my mind.