Chapter 103: Himeno Airi

Chapter 103: Himeno Airi

Act 9 ; Charm

Himeno Airi was her name. She was a completely normal high-school girl... Just a run of the mill girl, who was not a beauty, had no freckles, and wore unfashionable glasses. She was a seedy person no matter how and where you looked at her. By appearance, she was simply a below average girl.

She had neither a distinctive appearance nor history. Only her grades belonged to the better side, but she wasn't a gifted one, and wasn’t a hardworking or passionate girl either. She wasn't blessed with special talents or a good pedigree.

Thus, her situation could be said to be just normal. Because not everyone is born with a golden spoon in their mouth. Because no one stands above others amongst the 7 billion other humans on Earth. No one is special. She understood the yearning to become that impossible special one.

Therefore, Himeno Airi didn’t feel ashamed for being a normal girl. In fact, she didn't even try to hide the fact that she was fine with just being a normal girl. Because that was all she could have anyway.

By the time she graduated from her Junior Highschool at the age of 15 years old, Himeno Airi had fully understood that fact. However...

「W-W-What in the world is this class...」

Her anxiousness grew even further as she began her new life as a high school student. Well, she had passed a peaceful year as a freshman of Shiromine High without causing any trouble for the sake of not having needless anxiety later on.

But, her troubles came all at once along with the change of the class as a sophomore of Shiromine High.

「Souma Sakura, Reina A Ayase, Kisaragi Ryouko, Kenzaki Asuna, Takanashi Kotori, Natsukawa Minami...」

Those names were on the list of the girls of 2-7 of Shiramine High, which was the class Himeno Airi was assigned to, and also the names of famous beauties in her freshman year.

「Y-You gotta be kidding me... There's the famous Juri-Mari combo and Randou Kyouko, Kizaki-san and Kitaooji Rurika, and to make matters worse, there's also Nagae Yukiko who has many hidden fans...」

The list of famous beauties in her freshman year (and unfortunately in the entire high school too) who went to the same class as her was long.

「Isn't this class way too high level for me!?」

Basically almost every beauty in her grade was gathered in the same class as if it was intentional. There was Souma Sakura, a pretty and ideal beauty on the top of the list. And following right behind her was Randou Anzu whose beauty was also a cut above the rest.

A large number of beauties were gathered in class 2-7, and was like a large-scale gathering of national idols. "What the hell is wrong with them, do they actually want to hold a concert in budokan. Damn you all, there's no way those girls will be inferior to the national idol group if they stood on the same stage."[TL : Budokan, national stage]

"The heck, it isn’t even a joke since all of them are beauties." Yes, it wasn't a joke for Himeno Airi.

「Nai WA~~, These girls are just impossible for me to exist alongside with...」

Airi was literally troubled by their existence.

「T-THE HECK IS WITH THE GIRLS’ LINE UP!? I’M BASICALLY THE UGLIEST GIRL IN THIS CLASS! 」

Properly speaking, she would be reigning in the 1st or 2nd place in most class caste with only three girls in the class, that is. Her plan was to create a three kingdom-like situation.

However, 2-7 of Shiromine High was like the warring era of Japan. The classroom in which so many famous beauties were crammed together was just like a jewel box.

And then, what will become of the pebble that was picked up by the river and placed into the same box filled with well ordered beautiful jewels?

That was the most correct expression to illustrate what would become of an ugly girl when she was mixed along with beauties that would make anyone turn around.

「Holy moly, what should I do now, I don't even have a friend here.....」

Although, she was lucky that amongst the nineteen girls of 2-7, not everyone was a beauty. It could be said that the situation was fifty-fifty, the famous beauties aside, the rest of the girls were those whose names were unknown and had a mediocre appearance like her.

Thus, there will be no situation in which she would gather attention due to being the only ugly one in the class.

But still, her appearance didn’t stand out and was so-so in this class.

「I-If I make a mistake and get isolated in this class....」

There's a great difference between isolation and being a ‘Loner’.

Isolation is when someone is basically disliked by the entire class, is the lowest of the lowest who disturbs the harmony in the classroom, on the other hand, a loner has more of a meek personality and their own circle of friends. In fact, being a loner wasn't all that bad if the class was boring.

But, if it was a class where you can find so many beauties and handsome guys like that of a drama... It is literally a hell-like class for a loner. For a loner, the paradise of the normies was a serious threat, casting a brilliant light that meant isolation hell.

To endure such living hell, Airi kept telling herself to not get cocky and incomprehensible.

I’m not supposed to chew more than I can eat, but in this class of miracles called 2-7, forget about being a loner, I might as well as have fallen into a hell called “Isolated Loner” if I try to aim for anything with this ugly figure of mine. I will make sure to stay inside a dark and lonely forbidden forest in the corner of this brilliant paradise of beauties. Oi, wait a minute, isn’t that like sealing my fate with a curse, (╯°□°)╯( ┻━┻!.

「Nonononono, I absolutely mustn't enter that forbidden forest. Wait a minute, can I even live in this class in the first place....」

「Another cheat again, another double standard MC, seriously, I’ve had enough of this kind of works.」

Sure, the adventure of a normal highschool girl who was suddenly summoned to another world of sword and magic as she built a reverse harem of hunks sounded exciting.

But, like hell a normal high school girl who was born and raised in the modern era of peaceful Japan could survive in another world without any kind of cheat vocation or cheat skills on her own.

Airi definitely couldn’t defeat those kinds of monsters. Even without all of those monsters, looking for a way to get out of the seemingly endless labyrinth was hard by itself. Even back on Earth, the matter of exploring a savage land, dense forest, mountain, or cave needed thorough preparation and all kinds of equipment including top notch survival skills.

And here she was, thrown into a place with dangerous monsters as soon as she was sent to another world and must survive it. In other words, aiming for the deepest part of the labyrinth is impossible! The action itself was absurd in the first place.

「Rather, like hell I can survive by myself.」

『Lesser Heal』:Heals minor injuries, light healing magic.

『Lux Sagita』:Lower rank attack magic of the light attribute.

『Flash』:Releases a flash of light to blind one's enemies.

Those were the initial skills granted for Airi's 『Healer』 vocation.

Airi’s skills were rather balanced with healing magic as the core of her vocation. 『Lux Sagita』 was the means to attack, and 『Flash』 was to assist her retreat in case she faced too many opponents. In fact, when she tried using 『Lux Sagita』, she knew that it had enough power to kill the disgusting Goma as long as the skill hit.

But, even a splendid arsenal was like pearls before swine if the owner couldn't use it properly. Himeno Airi thus ended up unable to use her magic to counterattack the Goma in her next encounter.

「I mean, I am a girl after a~ll.」

Airi might sound like an annoying person, but this was the reality of her current situation. It was near impossible for an under average high school girl like her could do something like betting her life to defeat those demons.

She did have the power, but not the strength to fight.

Though there’s a safe place called the Fairy Plaza, she couldn't escape from the dungeon.

「No no no, this is impossible, I mean, how in the world is a normal highschool girl like me supposed to survive with this kind of trash RPG-like initial stats...」

She couldn't advance deeper into the dungeon nor could she escape from it. Airi didn't want to die, she wanted to live.

Then she understood the reality, a fact, that she couldn't advance just by her own powers.

Thus, Himeno Airi did what she would do in this kind of situation... Or rather, what any below average girl would do in this kind of situation.

「U~h, UUUUU........ UUUUH........」

An indecisive female high school girl could do nothing but cry, in despair.

「UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! 」

The fate that awaited one who abandons all hope and stops fighting for survival in this dungeon was death―― Or so it should be.

「Someone, there's someone here! 」

「HAAH! ? 」

She heard a voice. The voice of a man. The moment she heard that voice, it was as if she was brought back from the other world to that peaceful classroom in Japan, where she could hear the voices of her classmates.

「Ah.... Himeno— San? 」

「Eh, Nakajime.... Kun? 」

The one who appeared was the average looking-bespectacle boy of her class, Nakajima Haruma.

「Uhm, that's quite a loud cry you got there, are you alright? 」

「N-Nakajima-Ku~~~N! 」

「UWAAAA! ? W-WaAAA! ? 」

Without any hestitation, Airi embraced Nakajima. Despite crying like that, she wasn't as messy as before with mucus and vomit all over the place around her. Instead, she cried out loudly in order to produce the image of a frail girl.

And as expected, their meeting was, fated. A gallant boy called Nakajima Haruma appeared when Airi was swallowed by despair, he was a light of hope.

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I’VE BAITED A BOY! NOW, VICTORY IS MINE! Well then, please do your best to protect this frail girl, Nakajima Haruma! [ED: damn, that’s low]