Childhood Friend Enhancement Week

The Chuetsu Earthquake, the sudden appearance of dungeons, the fast increase in status that comes with a tremendous level up, and its control.

I had solved the problem at hand and was back to my normal routine.

I woke up early and went for a run. After I ate breakfast, Ichika-chan came to my house, and we went to school together. As usual, I continued my endless strength training there.

While I was listening to the class, I was working on my magic. And during lunch breaks, I trained my muscles.

The only thing that has changed is that fatigue can now be recovered by magic because of the “Super Regeneration” skill without having to take a break or eat. Combined with the automatic recovery of my HP, I am now completely tireless and uninjured.

As the classes ended, I went home with Ichika-chan.

Ever since we were in the same class in the second grade, I feel like I’ve been spending more and more time with Ichika-chan.

It’s not that we’re together, and it’s not that we play together. I don’t have a problem being with her though. It is because Ichika-chan reads books, and I just do as much muscle training as I want near there and would occasionally go outside to run.

But no… I still somehow like Ichika-chan. Perhaps because in my past life, I never had one I could call a friend. And now, Ichika-chan, the person I liked even before, is my first and only childhood friend. She is the only one who isn’t afraid to stay near me. Sometimes, I could not control my use of Intimidation skills and would unconsciously scare people, except Ichika-chan. So, being with her is rather comfortable.

To my dismay, it seems that my teachers and parents think that I’m a kid who would be reckless if they let me out of their sight.

Occasionally, I would see Ichika-chan being told, “Don’t take your eyes off Yasu (Sashima-kun).”

I only broke down a door once with too much force. It was a one-time mistake, and they thought of me like that already…

Anyway, it’s back to business as usual. Even when I was preoccupied with muscle training, I was still thinking about it, perhaps because my level of Parallel Thinking has increased.

That was the other day in the dungeon.

I defeated even the Chimera that seems to be a boss that was strong enough to destroy the Chubu region, and the Nightmare Night who can inflict much worse damage. It was surreal, but because I succeeded in pushing my status to that level, I almost became like Saitama in “One-Punch Man.” 

Those creatures, however, are difficult to eliminate by a fighter with a small physique or with a normal ability. And if those unknown monsters appear in the city in the future, I am certain that chaos will descend upon the state.

Of course, as long as I’m there, I’d like to defeat the monsters that said that, because the status goes up as the level goes up.. The main reason is that if human damage occurs, it will hinder my lifeline, or because it is dry..

Of course, as long as I’m there, I would like to defeat them because as I fight with them my status goes up along with my level. But, the main reason is that if something terrible occurs in humanity, my life will go awry even if I won’t be killed by them. 

If a monster appears, it won’t be deploying its magic as widely as it can. Their presence is tucked in an item box, so I have no full confidence in being able to discover them before anything happens. Even so, I could try spreading my magic around the world and rush once I detect any of them. 

The downside is, I would probably won’t be able to find their exact location until there’s damage done and they released their power that I could detect. Unless, it is all over the news.

But still…

I don’t know if it’s because she’s watching me to make sure I don’t do anything wrong, or if it’s because she’s still in the habit of doing things the way she did when she was younger.

I love Ichika-chan next to muscle training, or maybe just as much. That’s why I’d hate to see Ichika-chan get killed by a monster, and I’m not there to protect her..

I made an “offer” to Ichika-chan that I haven’t done since I was in first grade.

“Hey, do you want to hang out with me today?”

Ichika-chan looked surprised that I asked her out, but still looked at me seriously and said, “Yes, it’s fine.”

◇

“I’ve been wondering all day, does that ridiculously high status or level have anything to do with that thing called a title?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded at Icika-chan’s words.

Ichika-chan became able to use “Appraisal”, or rather, I taught her the “Appraisal” skill, because I learned Magical Intimidation, and she became scared.

Still, it was a little later when he was encouraged, “I know that Yasu-kun is really a good boy.”

Since then, Ichika-chan has been the only one who knows my status, or rather, the only one who knows that status exists.

The acquisition of the Appraisal was quick, probably because of the benefit of the unique skill “Wisdom Eye”, and along with that, she also gained special skills.

There is a synergy between the two, and now she can see a lot more information using the Appraisal more than I can.

At least, she can even see the effects of unique skills that I can’t see yet.

So, Ichika-chan current status was like this:

Name: Kobayashi Ichika

HP: 360/360

Muscle Strength: 150

Magic Power: 3250

Agility: 80 ▲

Level: 1

Occupation: None

Skills: ▼

Flexibility Lv12 ⁘ HP Enhancement Lv3 ⁘ Muscle Correction Lv7 ⁘ Magic Enhancement Lv24 ⁘ Arithmetic Lv5 ⁘ Appraisal Lv50

Special Skills:

 Aesthetic Eye ⁘ True Eye

Unique Skill: Wisdom Eye

Huh? That’s higher than I imagined.

The other day I sneaked a look at her HP that was about 70, and I think my magic power was about 600. Then, I suddenly remembered the effect of my title.

“Numerical Violence” 

↣ Gives five times the total status of yourself and your friends. ↢

In terms of skill, I seem to think that Ichika-chan is an ally.

I feel like it has exposed me a bit, and it’s a little embarrassing.

Ichika laughed at me like she was making fun of me. She has a keen eye. I feel like she also saw my inner heart through. I can’t say anything because I don’t know the specific effect.

“The other day, when I went to visit my grandfather, there was a huge earthquake!”

“Oh, by the way, you were in Niigata, were you okay?”

“Well, we weren’t close to the epicenter, and it was only about a 5 on the Richter scale, so we’re fine, but there was some kind of dungeon at the epicenter.”

“A dungeon?”

“I don’t know, but there was a bunch of slime and goblin monsters and a really strong lion monster at the far end.”

“So you’re saying that you don’t want me to get beaten up by that monster or something, so you want me to get stronger?”

Now, you know what I’m talking about.

Is this a woman’s intuition? In fact, based on Ichika-chan’s reaction, it’s not quite surprising to say “yes” there.

Even if I like Ichika-chan even more than I did in my previous life.

“Partly because strength training is fun, and partly because I want to recommend it.”

“It’s almost like you’re saying that, right? Well, if Yasu-kun says so much, I might as well give it a try.”

“Uh, yeah! Oh, thank you!”

“But please, keep it simple, because I’m a weak girl.”

Even though she was a frail girl, she has a status that is four times stronger than my dad’s.

That’s a bold thing to say, isn’t it?

At any rate, Ichika-chan began to effectively do sit-ups, push-ups, and squats while jogging 1km in the morning, and about 30 minutes after school, hardening her magic or adding load with her magic.

Perhaps because she was a ballet dancer, she has considerable muscle strength.