CH 1

Chapter 1 – A White Room

“Oh, shit.”

Welcome to another world and farewell my life.

I’m 34 years old, and I’m a salaryman with a third-rate university degree. I’m an anime otaku, a game otaku, a military otaku, even though I’m just a newbie on all of them, and I’m a halfway single amateur virgin. I was a novelist wannabe, but that dream didn’t come true, so I tried to avoid ending up as a creep and took care of my appearance, but as a second-tier otaku, it was impossible for me to have a real relationship.

Well, no matter. It was a dream that was never going to come true anyway.

I’m currently in a white room in a castle in some kingdom.

This place seems to be a secret place to summon people from other worlds. There is a man who seems to be a mage wearing a robe and a bearded man wearing a crown who seems to be a king, a middle-aged queen with very thick makeup who looks like she is wearing a white mask (Whatever she’s using) and a white-painted woman in her late 20s who seems to be a miniature copy of the queen. All of them are looking at me with contempt.

I’m used to that kind of eye. The problem is the knights in armor standing in front of the royal trio. There are five equally well-trained big men. They are looking at me with murderous intent and have already drawn their swords. Every time they move, they make a lot of noise, damn it.

“This way, O hero.”

The magic circle that shone in the middle of the white chalk room has already disappeared, and three teenagers are led from there by the mage.

Just like me, they were summoned from modern Japan; one was a handsome thin macho man in his twenties, the other was an athletic gorilla macho man, and the third was a fluffy college girl in a recruitment suit.

It seems that these people, that emits a young, crazy, and hyperactive aura (I don’t know what the actual thing is, of course), are the ones who are the heroes whom the kingdom’s chief mage wants to bring in.

…Then, what about me?

A middle-aged man with a medium height, shabby, tired-looking greasy-faced after an all-nighter, wearing a 19,800 yen wrinkled suit, is a so-called ordinary person who just happened to be involved in the summoning. I’m not interested in defeating the demon king or saving the world, and I don’t mind being a mob if I’m a mob at all, but the king and the rest of the kingdom don’t seem to have the option of letting this pathetic mob live.

Because…

They have seen it — my status.

The hero has invincible physical strength and mental toughness, the sage has immense magical power and tremendous knowledge, and the saint has unparalleled healing abilities and blessings from all the holy spirits. I don’t remember the details, but it’s something like that.

In short, they were chosen for the right reasons, and even if they go to the demon king’s castle right now, they will be able to compete even at level 1.

That’s fine. Please do your best at whatever you do.

The girl cried when she heard that she couldn’t go back to the original world until she defeated the demon king, but the hero and the sage ― I don’t know which one is which ― consoled her, and the princess and the queen appeased her, and she managed to recover while cowering.

Then, as for me…

By the way, the status in this world is not a parameter with an absolute value, but rather a number that sets the limit, which the value that ordinary people can reach is 100…

Name: Takefu Yoshiaki

Occupation: Merchant ***

Rank: 01

Physical Strength: 23

Magic Power: 31

Attack: 12

Resistance: 46

Defense: 66

Agility: 78

Intelligence: 63

Cordage: 04

Skills:

Appraisal: 51

Teleportation: 02

Storage: 84

Market: 01

…Just average.

I’ve been summoned all the way from another world, and I have nothing over 100. There are only a few that even exceed 50, which is considered the average value of ordinary people. My physical ability value is comparable or even lower than that of a commoner, not to mention a knight or soldier.

But you see. This “Merchant” or “Market” is a kind of cheat skill that allows you to order and produce rare items such as the latest cosmetics and the best sweets from other worlds, and to increase your companions, gold coins, and connections so that you can live happily ever after with your lovely harem mates? I might be a hidden type, you know? Isn’t that right? Right?

“The disappointment is so great that it’s not something to laugh at. As the chief court mage, how are you going to take responsibility for this?”

“I apologize. If this is the case, I will carve a slave crest on him and use him as a sacrifice for the heroes to help them grow.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea, Your Majesty. Even such a lowly man can be of some use.”

The mage and the royal family members all have disdainful looks on their faces, and even the mild-mannered me can’t help but be annoyed by this.

“Slave? Sacrifice? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What?”

“That is, I don’t think I could compensate for the cost of summoning and all that, but that’s not my fault, is it? In fact, how can you be so arrogant to say I am useless when you are the one who drags me into this situation? Fine, I don’t need any special treatment, and if I’m out of the force, I’ll live on my own. In return, you have to pay me compensation for dragging me into this mess. Give me a hundred gold coins, and I’ll leave this place!”

I sensed a disturbing atmosphere in the middle of my remarks, but unfortunately, I was on a steady all-nighter and had no sense of delicacy, so I didn’t think it would become such a big deal until it was too late.

I got beaten up by a knight and electrocuted by the mage, and after screaming and rolling around, I shuddered at the completely changed atmosphere of the place.

My suit is burnt, and there is smoke in my hair, and more importantly, the knights are looking at me like they are ready to kill me.

“Insolence.”

One of the knights said coldly and drew his sword. The rest of the knights drew their swords one after another, and the story returned to the beginning.

Here it is. This is a scene where the poor me is waiting to be killed brutally.

Damn it.

“You have spouted abusive words at His Majesty the King, who rules the world’s largest and most powerful superpower, our Saliant Kingdom. Such a thing is outrageous and unforgivable to do to the nobility, let alone the royal family. How dare you disrespect that supreme being!”

Oh, my. This is that, isn’t it? The one I had when I was fired from my first company.

I hadn’t even been taught how to set up the work, and I had been forced to do a ridiculous amount of work, and when I succeeded, that stupid manager took the credit, and when I failed, he blamed me for my incompetence.

I was fired and had to pay compensation for the failure. I backed out as hard as possible, but I couldn’t get any overtime pay or even my last paycheck.

I haven’t really progressed, have I?

The only difference between this time and the last time is that this time I’ll be fired “physically”.

――What the hell, man? My life is really hopeless until the end.

I stared at the sword in silent contemplation.