Chapter 2 – And Off They Go
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If I were allowed to take one thing with me to an uninhabited land, it’d be a crafting ability. My childhood friend Chiyu pulled a complicated expression after hearing my reply.
“The question doesn’t mention anywhere a rule about it being something that exists in reality, so I think it’s acceptable.”
Well, I understand that this answer completely disregards the atmosphere among my other classmates. If this had been a topic popping up during a chat among friends, I’d have answered with something like knife. But if it’s my trusted childhood friend, it’s just as fine to respond with my plain thoughts.
“In that case, I’ll go with healing magic.”
“Ah, that’s nice. It’s possible for one to die from a cold if you’ve got no medicine. Being able to treat injuries and sickness with a mysterious power is a big plus.”
“I’ll save your life, Sou-kun.”
Chiyu clenched her fist tightly and tossed her soft arm into the air.
“I’m happy to hear that, but I don’t know what to think about me being on the verge of dying in your mind…”
Healing magic is wonderful as a countermeasure against many possibilities, but if possible, I’d like to lead a healthy life that doesn’t require me to rely on that magic.
“What, what? Such stuff is a-ok as well?”
The one entering Chiyu’s and my conversation was a beauty with blond hair and a side tail.
Kanna Shoko. A gal who’s kind to otaku…or rather, she’s a very communicative gal who interacts with everyone equally without making any distinctions.
The buttons of her uniform were boldly unbuttoned. Her voluptuous chest and soft skin, which were both visible through the gap in the fabric, drew my eyes instantly without me having any chance to resist, but I tore them away with a mind of steel.
“Ahaha, you took a good look today as well, eh?”
Well, the other party still noticed my ogling. Having said that, if I stared openly because it’ll get exposed anyway, it’d lower my reputation not only with her, but also the rest of the class, so I think it’s necessary to have at least enough tact to avert my eyes.
“Anyway, let’s put that aside for now.”
“That’s not for you to decide～”
She loudly laughed at my poor attempt to dodge the issue.
“Then please allow me to officially apologize for my unwarranted transgression.”
“And now you’re overdoing it! ――Wait, enough with the talk about my chest!”
Wasn’t it you who pointed it out? would be a boorish retort, I guess.
“We were talking about the possibility of taking mysterious powers with us, right?”
“Yep, that! If that’s okay, I’ve got one I wanna take with me, you see.”
“Hoh, what kind of ability is it?”
“I read about it in the manga you recommended to me before, Kuno. I wanna bring the white fluffy one, which appeared in the story, with me.”
Come to think of it, when I was reading a manga on my smartphone during lunch break, Kanna came over and asked what I was reading, so I told her the title, didn’t I? It’s not like I recommended it to her or anything, but it sounds like she also read that manga.
“Hmm? Ah, you mean Fenrir? That one makes his appearance awfully often in isekai stories. Though it’s no problem since he’s cool.”
“Yeah, that’s the one. Fenrir. I wanna touch his fluffy fur.”
“But, living creatures don’t count as 『One Thing』, do they?”
It was a silly nitpicking, but finding holes in phrases like this was a guilty pleasure of mine, resulting in me getting the cold shoulder while being told to ignore the phrasing. But, if you’re going to use ‘one thing’, you should specify it with something applicable.
“Then, a fluff summoning ability for me.”
“Ahaha, I see what you’re going for.”
Kanna immediately adopted her approach without minding my pointing out her previous flaw. I broke into laughter because this ability would be much handier than directly taking Fenrir with you.
Probably because Kanna, a girl, would be immediately categorized as yang if the universe were divided into yin and yang, she went along with my reasoning, and the surrounding yang people also began to join the ability roulette.
“An ability that prevents your hair from becoming stiff from the ocean water.” “An ability that keeps you slender no matter how much you eat～” “Wouldn’t an ability that creates food actually be better on an uninhabited island? “…an ability to not die.” “A barrier ability that prevents bugs or other people from entering.” “The last two are so damn gloom, aren’t they?”
…Still, this is a fairly long dream. Don’t tell me it’s going to last until everyone has decided what they’re going to take with them…
When I inadvertently looked at the blackboard while harboring such thoughts, I noticed something odd.
“Hey, Chiyu.”
“What, cheater?”
“I didn’t cheat!”
In the first place, I don’t have such a relationship with Chiyu. It’s apt to be misunderstood if she exhibits such jealousy, but a cute childhood friend loving someone as dull as me is a fictional story that you can only read in manga anyway. But wait, this is a dream to begin with…
“So, what’s up?”
“No, there’s something weird on the blackboard…”
『正』 characters. Seven complete and one that had three lines drawn so far. 1 This completely looks as if numbers are being counted here. 38, huh? What sort of number is that?
“What are you guys doin’. Hurry up and answer.” “…What a silly dream.” “Haaah? That’s my line, you idiot!” “Tsk…In that case, I’ll take a teleportation ability. Happy now?”
I could hear several boys talking while somewhat irritated.
“…Ah, they increased,” Chiyu blurted out right afterward.
Somehow, I got a bad feeling about this and looked back at the blackboard. The fourth stroke had been added to the unfinished 『正』.
“No way, is it the 『number of people who replied』?”
Our class has 40 members, and all of them have been summoned into this dream.
“Maybe…so there’s one more student who didn’t answer?
Leaving that aside, this dream is way too real, isn’t it?
The number of people feeling suspicious about all of this, besides me, was clearly growing. And rather than saying I was dreaming, it’d be more fitting to say that the whole class was sharing a single dream. But, there’s no way that’s possible…
――At that moment, things suddenly moved very quickly. The eighth 『正』 was finished, and 『Everyone’s replies have been confirmed. Beginning transfer』 appeared on the blackboard.
I wonder how many people noticed the new message? I don’t know why I did it, but I immediately reached out to Chiyu.
“Chiyu!”
I tightly clasped her hand.
“Sou-kun…?”
And then the entire classroom was dyed white.
Around the time when my visual field cleared up again…
“…This is still part of that dream, right?”
…a blue ocean sprawled in front of me and I was standing on a sand beach.
I felt dumbfounded, but quickly made sure of the sensation in my right hand.
“…You’re kidding, right? An uninhabited island…?”
Connected to that hand was my childhood friend, standing right next to me. I turned my head around, but only a forest could be seen behind me. There was no sign of my other classmates.
Chiyu’s hand sure is soft and warm.
I thought something so aloof and dumb, but I made sure, using the same method I’d seen 10,000 times in manga. I pinched my cheek.
“Ah, shit…it hurts after all, huh?”
We apparently ended up being transported to some island for real.
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