Chapter 1

"Uuuuuh... sleepy..."

That day, I yawned as I walked the familiar route to school.

How do I put it? An unchanging daily routine.

Wasting such days to grow up into an adult... I don't really mind, but I used to have a strong desire for something interesting, complex, and stimulating, especially during my middle school days.

Of course, I think everyone has those dark memories of the unique mental state of middle school, which they keep locked away in their hearts, causing them to cringe when they look back.

My name is Kosei Habashi. I'm a second-year student at a certain high school.

I'm of average height and build, and I think my face is pretty average too.

Sometimes I'm told I seem a bit absent-minded, but I'm not sure about that.

I don't participate in any club activities.

I don't feel the need to, and I don't really want to.

Maybe joining a club would add a page to my youth, but unfortunately, I'm just average at both sports and studies, and I don't have any particular personality traits.

However... according to my friends, I'm reliable when they're in trouble, even if I don't quite understand the reason.

I sit at my desk in the classroom and yawn again.

"Hey! Good morning! You're still weak in the mornings, Kosei."

The one talking to me is a friend from elementary school... yeah.

I feel a bit happy when he calls me a friend.

His name is Shigeru Sakae.

He's good at sports, has excellent grades, a great personality, and many friends.

He's so perfect that it's hard to find anyone in the class who doesn't get along with him.

He's tall, and I'd say he's blessed in every way.

His face is good by my standards.

When I joke about it, he blushes and acts modest.

I don't think I've ever gotten a nasty response from Shigeru.

"I'm sleepy."

"Did you play games again? I understand, but you need to be careful or it will affect your tests."

"I know."

There's this strange fate that makes us end up in the same class frequently.

That's how Shigeru and I have a relationship that could be called childhood friends.

That's Shigeru.

I think I'm blessed.

Thanks to Shigeru, who always invites me to group activities and makes me the leader, I've never felt isolated.

Even with the formation of cliques due to grade promotions and school changes, I haven't had any trouble thanks to Shigeru.

On the other hand, in places where Shigeru isn't, like online games, my luck isn't so good...

"Is there any class that's running late?"

"Hmm... not really. I'm just sleepy. Maybe I'll sleep until the morning assembly."

"Taking a nap for ten minutes... well, that's pretty typical of you, Kosei."

We thought that today, like every other day, would pass without incident.

It was probably during the second period when the teacher was explaining a formula.

"Because of this, the formula here is—"

While copying notes from the board, I noticed something geometric appearing on the blackboard.

What's that?

"What the—!?"

The teacher, realizing the abnormality, tried to erase the geometric pattern with a duster.

"What the hell is this!?"

"Someone's prank?"

"What is this!?"

But the geometric pattern... it looked like a magic circle... didn't disappear and instead became more vivid, emitting a flash of light.

"Whoa!"

"It's so bright!"

"Everyone, calm down! We don't know what's happening, but let's evacuate just in case—"

Before Shigeru could finish, my consciousness suddenly cut off as if a switch had been flipped...

"Hmm..."

There was a plant-like smell stimulating my nose... I must have fainted.

I opened my eyes and sat up, frowning.

I didn't understand the situation, but it seemed I had been lying down in a field.

Or was it a campsite?

There were no tents, but it looked like an open space surrounded by a forest, which seemed quite deep.

"What the—!?"

I turned my gaze towards the source of the voice.

There, all my classmates were waking up.

"What happened?"

Someone muttered, and similar words followed.

"Hmm... where are we?"

"Exactly! Where are we?"

"Everyone, calm down..."

The teacher, standing up, looked around and answered.

"How can we calm down!"

"We've been sent to the middle of nowhere!"

Indeed.

How did we end up here?

But given the situation...

"Let's take a roll call just in case! Starting from number one—"

The teacher called out each student's name one by one.

First, we needed to understand the situation.

We were still in our school uniforms, and our bags contained bento boxes.

We had our wallets, student IDs, and smartphones, which were a year old and given to us by our parents.

I wondered if they would work during class.

Despite feeling it was inappropriate, I checked my phone.

...No signal. The antenna wasn't showing.

"Hey... where are we?"

Someone who was fiddling with their phone muttered.

"The navigation isn't working either."

Modern smartphones have GPS, which can determine your location.

But if even that wasn't working, it must mean we were in a very remote area.

"Mass abduction!?"

A girl in the class shouted.

Indeed, that seemed like the most plausible explanation.

However, for it to be an abduction, there would need to be a perpetrator.

"Everyone, calm down!"

The teacher, who had finished the roll call, clapped to get everyone's attention.

"I don't know what's happening either, but panicking won't help. Everyone, stay calm and deal with the situation."

That made sense.

The students seemed to regain their composure.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Everyone turned their gaze to something in the middle of the open space.

A black stone slab, like a monolith, stood there.

"Is it some kind of art piece?"

"Maybe... an art forest? Like a surprise or a prank on TV?"

"Is that it?"

While chatting, we stared at the stone slab.

Then we noticed that it had text carved into it.

"Hmm?"

The stone slab had our classmates' names carved on it, from top to bottom.

I couldn't see the names at the top clearly, but I could confirm some at the bottom.

Of course, my classmates noticed too.

And my name was also carved on the stone slab.

Kosei Habashi Ability Transfer

...Transfer? What's that?

Everyone tilted their heads, trying to understand what the stone slab was.

Then we saw what was written at the top.

List of Abilities.

"List of Abilities?"

I looked at Shigeru, who was standing next to me.

What kind of ability?

As I thought this, a "ping" sounded in my head, and a mysterious window appeared in my vision.

"What the—!?"

"What's wrong!?"

"Something made a sound, and a window appeared in my vision... Can you see it, Shigeru?"

"Huh? Oh, I heard the sound. Whoa! What is this?"

It seemed to appear when I focused on it, and it was something visible only to me... something that appeared individually for each person.

While the class was in an uproar, I checked the mysterious window that had appeared.

Kosei Habashi Lv 1

Lv? What's this game-like item?

Actually... this window is exactly like a status icon in a game.

Upon closer inspection, detailed ability values were listed.

Well... as expected for Lv 1, the values were in the single digits.

"Well made, but... how is this possible? I don't understand the mechanism... there's no smoke or anything."

"Hmm... something feels off."

It didn't seem like a scientific phenomenon.

Shigeru quickly changed his mind when I pointed this out.

"You're right..."

"What is this!?"

A student who was the class representative objected.

I understand his concern, but his voice was too loud.

"Well...?"

I can't explain it if you ask me to.

I don't think anyone here can explain it.

Thank you for reading the beginning.

Updates every hour until 2 PM.