Avert Translations~

 Chapter 2: Living in This World - 1 ──Why, in the world, did I set my appearance to its lowest value? Covering for some disadvantage with raw ability only works when the disadvantage really is “some”. If I could, I'd go back right now to the moment before I reincarnated and make my appearance at least passable as average. No, I won't even ask for something as extravagant as average. If I could just have an appearance that gets me treated as “human”, at the bare minimum, that'd be enough. Please, somebody, just treat me like a person. The moment I was born, I realized my choice had been a mistake. Because the eyes of the parents holding me were twisted with fear and confusion. If there's any real love involved, picking up a newborn should be something done with a smile. But in the eyes of the man who was apparently my father, all that was carved was fear and shock toward his own child. I remember clearly how my mother forced a smile onto her face as she picked me up. At...

 Final Chapter: Toward the Next Stage Let me talk a little about what happened after that. The negotiation went well. With Hachioji Guild, at least for that part, anyway. Hachioji's branch chief turned out to be a reasonable person and took on the job of securing a top-tier asset named Suzukaze Touya, then negotiating on my behalf with Association headquarters and by extension, the Japanese government. From there, though, it sounds like things got pretty messy. Various factions, greedy individuals, plenty of people apparently made moves trying to claim me for their own benefit. So, I went full black-robed-sorcerer mode inside a dungeon, fought at full power and had the footage distributed. Shimotsuki-san's idea. The video, packed with even more brutal attacks than the Stampede footage, apparently did more than enough to make the point. On top of that, I had someone deliver a not-so-subtle message: if push came to shove, I'd walk straight into the American embassy and defect...

 Chapter 40: Toward the Future ―――――――――――――――――― 【Lv】100 【HP】2377/2377 【MP】1666/1666 【STR】201+600 【VIT】188+600 【AGI】210+600 【DEX】192+600 【INT】224+600 【MND】242+600 ―――――――――――――――――― The Status board I'd pulled up displayed numbers that blew far past anything resembling common sense. "Stat Orbs from Gacha add a flat +600 to every stat. So for STR, that's 801 total... works out to roughly Lv400." Clearing out all those Stampede monsters had pushed my Level all the way to the cap. Even doing the rough math, Lv400-equivalent seemed about right. Every trace of expression drained from Shimotsuki-san's neat features as she took it in. I sipped my orange juice and waited for her to reboot. Eventually, Shimotsuki-san let out a long breath, as if emptying every last bit of air from her lungs. She pressed her right fingertips hard against her temple and propped both elbows on the table. Ah, now she's holding her head in her hands too. "...I can't believe it goe...

 Chapter 39: The Violence of Information "Thanks for coming, Shimotsuki-san." This was only the second time I'd seen Shimotsuki-san out of uniform. The first had been half a year ago, at the pool that summer. A shame she was bundled up so much more this time by comparison but the understated outfit suited her well. Shimotsuki-san sat down across from me with her expression carrying a hint of tension. After the Stampede was over, I'd gone back to Hachioji Guild. There, I'd given my official account of things and been told the reward payment would go through later. Noticing she looked like she had questions, I'd asked her, "Could we talk tonight?" and on her suggestion, we'd ended up meeting here. She probably had a good idea what this was about already. There was something hard-edged, almost resolute, in those narrow eyes of hers. After that, I called the server over and ordered a few dishes. We agreed to hold off on alcohol for now and both went ...

 Chapter 38: The Black-Robed Sorcerer Takes Social Media by Storm The night of the day that I put down the Stampede. I found myself at an izakaya somewhere in Hachioji. A bit pricier than usual but supposedly it is a hidden gem where you could enjoy drinks and food in a relaxed private room. That's what the internet had said, anyway. This was my first time actually coming here. The moment we sat down, Lapis flitted around the room, eyeing everything with obvious curiosity. "This is a lot calmer than the places we usually go to, huh~" "Well, sure, compared to a family restaurant." "I love family restaurants, though!" I know. You're a sucker for those cat-shaped serving robots. She'd whine to go back and see one on a regular basis, just to visit them. Thanks to that, we'd become regulars enough to show up about once a week. It's a pricier place than it looks so showing her the robots even once was probably a mistake on my part. Not that i...

 Chapter 37: The Aihara Central Park Stampede With more than 2,500 Gacha pulls, they had brought me an enormous number of Skills. Naturally, plenty of those were magic-related. Things like the Great Fire Archmage I'd once seen show up as a pity-cap option. Even short of that, there were SR-tier Skill Orbs. Plenty of chances to pick up offensive magic Skills like Fire Magic or Wind Magic. As it stood, I could cast magic of every element there was. On top of that, I had a whole stack of pity-cap Unique Skills that made casting more convenient, like MP Cost Halved and MP Recovery Boost. But I'd rarely had the chance to actually use any of it. They stand out way too much, after all. Getting seen using them, even once, would be a headache. And besides, I didn't need magic to coast through anyway. For those reasons, I'd kept a lid on using magic inside dungeons up till now. But this time it's an emergency, a Stampede. The sooner this gets resolved, the better. And I'v...

 Chapter 36: An Alibi and a Suspicious Character The JR Aihara Station sat about a kilometer away from Aihara Central Park Dungeon as the crow flies. What should have been a sleepy little station front was now wrapped in tension. Yellow-and-black cordon line stretched across the area, cutting the station front off from the city streets beyond. The Guild sirens kept echoing in from the distance and since it was mixed with the red flash of patrol car lights, it only made the atmosphere feel heavier. "Hey, quit pushing!" "Wait, a Stampede? For real?" The area was a crush of local residents fleeing in whatever they'd had on, mixed with confused commuters who had no idea what was going on. The cold winter wind cut through the crowd, mingling with the white breath and half-panicked shouting of everyone around, swirling into a strange, feverish heat all its own. I threaded my way through the crowd, working toward the cordon. At the makeshift barricade blocking the road...

 Chapter 35: Doubt and a Vow A Stampede had broken out at Aihara Central Park Dungeon. There was some distance between it and Hachioji Guild but in the worst case, the damage could reach out this far too. Ah so that's why the alarm went off. Either way, this wasn't something I could stay uninvolved in. Even setting aside where I lived, there was no dodging this as an Explorer. At its core, an Explorer's job could be summed up in one word: miner. Dive into a dungeon, bring back energy resources like magic stones or materials sourced from monsters, that's the role. But Explorers carry one more major duty. When a Stampede breaks out, they're expected to fight the monsters spilling onto the surface and hold the damage to a minimum, the role of a frontier guard. Of course, the government keeps its own dedicated Explorer teams on standby too, that was drawn from the police and the Self-Defense Force. But when a Stampede actually hits, their priority is rear support, rescu...

 Chapter 34: An Ordinary Day, Shattered The next day, once I'd finished getting ready in the morning, I sat on the couch drinking coffee. On the table in front of me sat a half-eaten chocolate. The one Yui had given me yesterday turned out to be homemade. She'd kept insisting it was because "you helped me out before" and "I owe you"  over and over but how many girls actually go out of their way to hand-make chocolate for someone over that? Guess she's just not the type who can lie convincingly. Then again, playing dumb and accepting it anyway makes me just as guilty. Right now, I have no intention of spending my time or headspace on romance. Besides, in love, whoever falls first loses, the one who's fallen for has all the leverage. I'm not about to give up that leverage. Not that it's ever really mattered — I've never once fallen for anyone in my life. Better she just chalk it up to falling for a lousy excuse for a man and move on. "...

 Chapter 33: Hail, Saint Valentine I finished up my hunt on Floor 36 and made my way back to the Guild lobby. It was just before four in the afternoon so it looks like I'd clock out on time again today. Stepping into the lobby, Lapis spotted a familiar face and flew off. I watched her go, then headed for my usual counter. On the way, I caught Yui's eye but she was helping a customer at another counter. I raised a hand in greeting and she gave me a bright smile and a little bow back. Come to think of it, I'd run into her two old party members not long ago. They'd brought in two new members and were fired up about taking another shot at the Minotaur soon. They'd tasted defeat once already. I found myself quietly hoping it would go better for them this time. When I finally reached the counter, Shimotsuki-san was waiting for me there while wearing the same easy smile as always. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Shimotsuki-san." At this point, it might as well be exc...

 Chapter 32: Status, Half a Year Later Hachioji Dungeon, Floor 36. This has been my current workplace for the past two months or so and I've practically been living here. The monster that spawns here is the High Orc which is a stronger variant of the Orc that first appears on Floor 21. Both are huge, standing at around three meters tall along with fearsome vitality but as the higher-tier variant, High Orcs are also considerably smarter. They hunt Explorers down through coordinated teamwork so most parties either take them on in numbers or blow them away in one go with heavy firepower. Since they're needlessly tough without dropping anything worth the trouble, most Explorers skip this floor entirely, opting to push on to 37 or falling back to 35 instead. In other words, the classic unpopular monster. But that's exactly why Floor 36 is nearly empty outside the area around the teleportation circle. Which means I get to hunt here uninterrupted, with next to no risk of anyone se...