Chapter 14
The fact that he appeared on a famous streamer’s broadcast.
The fact that he became famous as 「Tutorial Guy」.
One of the triggers for that happening was a post Kaito made on the community bulletin board.
Chatting excitedly about such things, the four of them walk for a few minutes.
They arrive at the magic circle that connects to the Trial Caverns.
It’s in a different location from the magic circle that connects to the Rookie Forest.
「Alright! Let me send you party invites.」
He opens the menu window and moves his fingers a few times.
＜【Kaito】 has invited you to join his party. Accept?＞
The system message appears. After Isamu and Leon accept, a rather diverse party consisting of a plain-looking middle-aged man, a flashy couple, and a serious high school boy is formed.
By the way, the reason for forming a party is to avoid friendly fire during battle.
「Well then, shall we go?」
☆
Using the magic circle, the four of them teleport to the Trial Caverns.
As expected of a game, the inside is bright despite the lack of light sources.
「Okay, let’s go!」
After walking for a while towards the back, monsters appear in front of the four.
Black Boar――
It’s the first time Isamu has seen this type of monster.
(Alright! Time to test the sharpness of this sword!)
「Haaa!」
Isamu leaps out and swings his sword down at the boar.
「Double Slash!」
He follows up with a special move.
However, the boar doesn’t fall. It charges forward.
Isamu checks his HP to see how much damage he took.
「Wha—!?」
His HP decreased from 80 to 50.
30 damage from that one hit. Two more hits like that and he’s done for.
(Huh, isn’t that too strong? …No way, I can’t win against that!)
As he’s thinking that――
「Power dwelling within, imbue his blade! Sharpen Edge!」
「――Heavy Strike!」
He hears a voice calling out from behind him.
Immediately after, Kaito rushes up to the boar and stabs it straight on with his greatsword gripped in both hands.
The boar turns into particles and vanishes.
＜You have reached level 10＞
A level up notification at the same time.
Isamu was level 8 until moments ago, so he went up two whole levels at once.
The fact that he gained two levels after the experience was divided among four people is proof of how strong that monster was.
Yet Kaito defeated it effortlessly as if it was nothing.
「――Healing light, dwell within him! Heal!」
As Isamu stands there dumbfounded, unable to process it, Emi casts a recovery spell on him.
Finally coming back to his senses, Isamu asks Kaito and the others a question.
「…Hey. What level are you guys right now?」
「Hm? Emi and I are 21.」
「I’m still 20.」
Isamu is stunned.
He only just reached level 10, yet they’re already in the 20s.
Those complete beginners from before have now surpassed him. It’s no wonder he’s surprised.
「Um, I only made it to level 10 from that last battle…」
「Huh? Whoa dude, your level was that low? I totally thought you’d be around 30 by now!」
「Yeah, unexpected!」
While Isamu had a good start, since then he’s only been giving tutorials.
He occasionally defeated grasshoppers and mice while teaching beginners, but the experience gained relative to his level was too low, so his level hasn’t gone up at all since the first day.
Therefore, it was only natural for them to overtake him in levels while playing normally.
「S-sorry… I’ll leave the party.」
「Hm? Why?」
「Well, at this rate, forget being useful in battle, I’ll just get in the way and leech experience.」
Kaito and the others invited him because they thought he’d contribute to the party’s strength.
If he can’t meet those expectations, the natural thing to do is leave.
That’s what Isamu thought, but——
「Who cares if you’re weak, man! Don’t sweat that stuff! Just stick with us!」
「Totally! We just wanna have fun together.」
「Exactly! Don’t be so stiff about it!」
Overwhelmed with emotion at their kindness, tears threaten to spill out again.
Isamu holds them back and expresses his gratitude for their thoughtfulness.
「E-everyone, thank you so much…! In that case, I’m in your care!」
「Yeah! Now let’s get going!」
「Okay! …Ah, sorry. Give me just a sec.」
Isamu opens the menu window and allocates the points he gained from leveling up into one-handed sword.
＜You have learned the one-handed sword skill Rapid Thrust＞
This allows Isamu to use a second special move.
「Thanks for waiting! Thanks to you guys, I learned a new skill.」
「Oh, that’s great! So what kind of skill is it?」
「It lets me rapidly attack the target with thrusts after closing in!」
「Whoa, sounds awesome! Hey man, show us later!」
「Sure, of course!」
「Alright, let’s go then!」
☆
Walking for a few minutes while defeating black boars.
The four of them stop in front of a corner.
「Heads up dude, the boss is right around this corner. Get pumped!」
「G-got it!」
(I don’t know how much I can do, but I’ll at least try not to get in the way…)
「Okay, let me put Sharpen Edge on you. Power dwelling within, imbue his blade! Sharpen Edge!」
Emi activates the light magic Sharpen Edge on Kaito, increasing his weapon’s power.
Kaito’s greatsword starts glowing.
Afterwards, Emi casts the same spell on Isamu and Leon.
「Aw yeah! Here we go—」
The moment he finishes saying that, Kaito starts running. Isamu follows a step behind.
Further behind them, Leon and Emi follow as the four round the corner.
Waiting for them is a bipedal lizard, a staple of fantasy—a Lizardman.
About 2 meters tall, it brazenly grips an iron sword in its left hand.
It lacks impact for a boss, but being called a boss must mean it’s strong.
Thinking that, Isamu readies his trusty sword without letting his guard down.
「――Heavy Strike!」
Kaito takes the lead.
He quickly closes the gap with the Lizardman and extends both arms straight out.
The attack lands beautifully.
Immediately after, the Lizardman swings its left arm down, but Kaito leaps to the side and the sword only cuts air.
「Rain of light, pour down! Shine Squall!」
「Arrow Rain!」
After a brief pause, a rain of light beams and arrows pours down on the Lizardman.
「Old man!」
「Yeah! ——Rapid Thrust!」
Isamu rushes up to the Lizardman and unleashes a blinding flurry of thrusts.
After the 8th thrust, the Lizardman turns into glittering particles and disappears.
They won with astonishing ease, likely because Kaito and the others were so strong.
＜You have reached level 13＞
＜You have obtained a Greatsword＞
Two system messages pop up at that moment.
「Ugh, seriously? Another one-handed sword…」
「Ah! I got a bow.」
「I got a staff! Which means—」
「「Yay! 」」
Emi and Leon raise both hands and cheer joyfully.
「Good for you guys…」
In stark contrast to those two, Kaito is visibly discouraged.
「Um, so a weapon is guaranteed to drop from this?」
「Yep. I got another dud… By the way, what did you get, old man?」
「I got something called a Greatsword.」
Hearing that, Kaito’s eyes widen and he freezes.
(Oh, could it be…)
Isamu opens his item list to check the details of the weapon he obtained――
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
Greatsword
Category: Greatsword
Attack Power: 35
Description: A sword with a thick, great blade
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
「It is a greatsword! In that case, this is for you, Kaito.」
Using the gift function, Isamu sends the Greatsword to Kaito.
「W-whoa man! Are you… are you seriously giving this to me?」
「Yes, of course! I got a one-handed sword after all!」
「…Dude, you’re the best! Seriously, thank you so much!」
Kaito grabs Isamu’s right hand with both of his, flashing the brightest smile possible.
Seeing that, Isamu feels happy too and grins bashfully.
「You’re very welcome!」
「Man, you’re totally a godsend. Oh right, I’ll give you the one-handed sword as thanks!」
「Huh? No, it’s okay! I just got one.」
「Just take it! Sell it, give it to someone else, do whatever you want with it!」
The moment he hears 「someone else」, the face of a certain girl pops into Isamu’s mind.
(Come to think of it, she used a one-handed sword too. She’d probably be happy to get one… Alright! For her sake too, I’ll graciously accept it here.)
「Thank you! In that case, I’ll take you up on that offer.」
「Nice! I’ll send it over now!」
「Kaito, that’s great!」
「Now everyone has their weapons!」
「Definitely! Man, I’m so glad you’re here with us!」
Afterwards, the four of them chat merrily as they leave the Trial Caverns.
☆
「Well, this is where we split. Catch you later man, let’s hang out again!」
「Thanks for everything today!」
「Ah, I should log off too. Sieg, it was great partying with you today! Please party with us again sometime!」
「Sure, good work everyone! I had fun too! See you around!」
Right after returning to Starting Town, Kaito, Emi, and Leon say their goodbyes and leave the game.
(…That was really fun.)
Feeling deeply content, Isamu starts walking towards the fountain in the plaza.
Along the way――
「E-excuse me! Are you perhaps Tutorial Guy?」
「Huh!? This person is the famous Tu-Guy!?」
A man and woman call out to him.
「Yes, that’s right.」
「Um, I heard a rumor that you teach beginners all sorts of things. I-if it’s not too much trouble, could you maybe… teach us too?」
「Sure! I’d be happy to give you a tutorial if you’d like!」
Isamu readily agrees in a cheerful tone.
And so, as Tutorial Guy, Isamu continues to lend his aid to beginners today as well.
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