Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party: Volume 1 E-Book

Udon Kamono

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Note Athlon was really looking forward to becoming an adventurer with his best friend (and crush) Miya. That is, until he drew Mapping—a rare skill with practically no purpose. In other words, it’s trash. This kicks off a vicious spiral for Note, who plummets further and further into the depths of self-loathing despair when Miya leaves him. He now spends his days drinking away his earnings, wondering how things might have been different if only he’d pulled a better skill...
But little does he know his trash-tier skill is about to score him an invite to a top-tier adventuring party! Note’s now determined to find his way through life—and a dungeon!—in order to make something of himself.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

The Day Their Fates Diverged

Where His Fate Led

The Story of Soon-to-Be Comrades

First Time in the Dungeon

A Promise Made in the Kitchen

Training Begins

A Little Progress and a Long Way to Go

At the End of a Blade

One Resolution Within

What Lay Beyond Change

Where the Trouble Started

Girl Snatcher vs. Crusher

Outcome

The Final Piece

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

The Day Their Fates Diverged

“You’ve gotta be kidding me...”

It took me a while to realize those words had come out of my own mouth. That’s just how shocked I was.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I didn’t want to believe them. I wanted nothing more than to look away. But I couldn’t—reality was right there in front of me, staring me down. I could look away all I wanted, but it wouldn’t change the inevitable truth projected before me.

I had apparently fallen to my knees at some point. I had no idea how long I’d been sitting there on the cold, hard floor. A mere two or three steps away from me, my fate loomed over me in glowing letters:

Mapping

Rarity: SR (Super Rare)

Slot Cost: 3

Effect: The ability to automatically map approximately a one kilometer radius around a previously traversed point and store it as knowledge.

That was it. That was the skill I’d been granted. And Mapping was known far and wide in this world... as utter trash.

That was the reason I, Note Athlon, had fallen into the depths of despair.

You see, I was currently in the middle of my presentation ceremony—a ritual that can only be undertaken after your fifteenth birthday. By offering a prayer to a divine slate, it reveals the skillset bestowed upon you. These slates exist all over the world, but no one knows anything about how they came to be. Most of them are under the protection of the church, kept in special rooms just like this one.

Now, in this world, skills are everything. They determine our way of life. Those who obtain combat skills gain the power to fight the monsters that threaten mankind. Those who obtain farming skills are able to cultivate crops with ease. Those who obtain crafting skills are able to create things with speed and precision.

Of course, combat, farming, and crafting are all possible without the help of skills, but skills ensure a certain amount of success in these fields. People with skills improve faster than most, and they have the advantage of starting off with the inherent power granted to them by their skills. A good example of this is the Sword Mastery skill.

In a fight between two people who’d trained for the same amount of time—one with Sword Mastery and one without—the fighter with Sword Mastery would win nine times out of ten. Now, you might be inclined to say the person without Sword Mastery should just work twice as hard... But without skills, that effort would only be wasted. In the time it took a normal person to rival a Sword Master’s prowess with a blade, the Sword Master could hone their physical abilities even further. Or even learn simple magic to enhance their swordfighting. The lead their skillset gave them granted them every advantage—and that couldn’t be overcome just by trying harder.

That’s why skills are so important in this world. Virtually everyone goes through the presentation ceremony to get theirs, and the vast majority of people go on to find employment based on the skillset they receive.

As for me... What exactly makes Mapping a trash skill, you ask? Its description looks pretty useful at a glance. It’s pretty rare, too.

Nevertheless, Mapping is complete garbage. There are several reasons for this.

First, it requires three slots to use. Slot cost is, in simple terms, how much room a skill takes up. All humanoid races possess three slots, meaning they can obtain up to three skills with a slot cost of 1. It also means that anyone who gets a three-slot skill—like Mapping—isn’t getting anything else. Most obtainable skills, however, are single slot. Higher-powered, rarer, and unusual skills generally had a higher cost... as was the case with Mapping.

Nevertheless, the real reason Mapping was considered so terrible was the existence of two superior skills: World Map and Area Map. World Map was a complete upgrade that could map the entire world, including untraversed lands. Area Map, meanwhile, was a little different. It only revealed a map of the current area and couldn’t store it as knowledge like Mapping and World Map, but it had the advantage of only being a two-slot skill.

Now, you might think that the ability to instantly know your surroundings could be useful. But as a matter of course, extensive maps of the world were already in circulation thanks to people with the World Map skill. In other words, Mapping is a waste of a three-slot skill with the singular benefit of keeping its user from ever getting lost.

A voice suddenly called to me from the other side of the only door in the narrow room. It was a voice I knew well.

“How did it go, Note?”

I cracked open the door without responding. Blinding light streamed in, and I squinted to see the girl standing there.

Her shining blonde hair was braided behind her with stray, silky locks falling forward over her ears. Fine, delicate eyelashes decorated her deep emerald eyes. Her skin was so white that she looked like a porcelain doll, a look only further enhanced by her thin lips and refined nose.

This beautiful half-elf girl was Miya Line, my childhood friend. Illuminated by the light streaming in the door, she looked even more radiant than normal. Okay, I’ll admit it... I was in love with Miya.

“...Did you not get what you were hoping for?” Miya asked, peering into my eyes as she stepped closer.

To be honest, I had a hard time handling this little habit of hers. When she suddenly got close and looked into my soul with those deep emerald pools of hers... the more I stared, the more I felt myself being sucked in.

“N-No...”

I took a step back in a panic, averting my eyes.

Even though we’ve been friends since we were kids, she always caught me off guard whenever she got this close. It hadn’t gotten any less flustering over the years. If anything, it was the opposite. I was finding it harder and harder to deal with as I fell more and more in love with her.

“See for yourself.”

Still flustered, I hurriedly pointed behind me in an attempt to move the conversation away from myself. The details of the skill I’d just been granted were still displayed on the slate in the middle of the narrow room.

Miya took one look at the glowing text and came to the same conclusion I did—I’d just gotten a trash skill. After blinking her long lashes several times, she finally turned away as she tried to console me.

“D-Don’t let it get you down. Mapping is a useful skill in its own right! Think of it this way: you’ll never get lost again! Besides, it could come in handy while we’re adventuring together...” she mustered.

I had my doubts about that. Being an adventurer with no combat skills would be a tough gig... Nevertheless, hearing what Miya said made me really happy.

See, Miya and I had a dream. We wanted to become adventurers together. We’d been dreaming of it ever since we were kids listening to stories from Miya’s parents, who were retired adventurers themselves. But... reaching the top of the adventuring world was going to be hard with a skill like Mapping. I knew that good and well, and I knew Miya knew it too.

But even so, she’d still said we would be adventuring together. That told me she hadn’t given up on our dream yet, even if I’d pulled a trash-tier skill.

I’d always loved how kind Miya was at heart. She was considerate of everyone.

“Okay, I’ll go next. Just you watch, Note! I’m going to pull good adventuring skills so I can protect you myself!” Miya declared, enthusiastically clenching her hands into fists as she approached the slate.

Normally, petitioners prayed to the divine slate alone. This was a precaution to keep the details of your skills private. There were infamous stories of people treating petitioners differently after they received peculiar skills like Mind Reading, for example. So no matter how close you were with someone, you always had to think twice about revealing your skillset.

That’s also why the room containing the divine slate was built for security and secrecy—thick walls, a heavy door, no windows. Yet Miya had started praying with me still in the room, which was an immense show of trust. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. Happy? Embarrassed? A little concerned over her lack of caution? Mostly just happy.

Miya and I were good friends, but I didn’t know how she truly felt about me. Romantically, I mean. I hadn’t asked, though I was curious. What did she think of me? Did she see me as a man?

At the same time, I didn’t really need to know. Our relationship was fine as it was. I mean, of course, I wanted to hold her hand and go out on dates with her. I would’ve loved to kiss her, too. But Miya was too wonderful a girl to be wasted on a guy like me.

Miya and I were born in the small village of Changs, where trees and fields outnumbered people. Yeah, it was that small. And because it was so unpopulated, Miya and I were the only kids in our age group. It was only natural that we’d spent so much time together growing up.

That’s why I believed Miya would find someone better for her once we got out into the world. I always thought that would be for the best. She would be happier that way. And when the day came—when Miya found someone worthy of her—I wanted to wish her well with a smile. I wanted to be there for her as her childhood friend.

That’s why I was fine leaving things as they were. There was nothing wrong with being friends. Even if we never became lovers, as long as I could stay by her side...

I looked over at Miya to see the elegant profile of her face illuminated by a gentle blue light as glowing words appeared on the slate before her.

Protection of the Forest Spirit King

Rarity: SR (Super Rare)

Slot Cost: 1

Effect: The ability to use earth, wind, and water elemental spirit magic. Also increases magical abilities in forest areas. Elf exclusive.

Bow Mastery - Superior

Rarity: UR (Ultra Rare)

Slot Cost: 1

Effect: Obtain the maximum aptitude for bow mastery.

Physical Boost - Major

Rarity: SR (Super Rare)

Slot Cost: 1

Effect: Greatly increases physical abilities.

“No way...” I muttered, staring at the slate in disbelief.

Miya’s skills were all SR or higher. And combat skills to boot...

Each skill she’d pulled had the power potential of an entire army, and she’d gotten three of them. There were probably less than ten people in the entire world who’d been lucky enough to pull a combination of adventurer-worthy skills this good.

That was how incredible Miya’s skillset was.

Miya finished praying and opened her eyes. She seemed to have a good feeling about what had just happened to her. The beaming smile on her face as she stared at the slate said as much.

“Yay! These skills look strong, Note!” she exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing my hand.

C’mon, Miya, they don’t just look strong...

Feeling the warmth embracing my hand, I became aware of the conflicted emotions swirling in my chest. This was probably jealousy. Even though I should have been happy for Miya, I couldn’t help the wretched bitterness welling up inside me.

If only I had gotten better skills... then I could’ve been happy for her...

My mind was fixated on what-ifs. A hypothetical scenario that would never be true. But Miya was so overcome with joy that she had no idea what was going through my head. She turned to me with a bright smile...

“Now we can go adventuring, Note! Let’s become top-tier adventurers together!”

I couldn’t help looking away, averting my eyes from her kindness and sincerity.

Why can I only think of myself...?

Even though I knew I’d never be good enough for Miya, deep in my heart, I’d always hoped I could be her equal. That’s what made this cemented inferiority so frustrating. She was further out of my reach than ever. If only our skills had been reversed, then maybe I could have been worthy...

And I hated that prideful part of myself. Who was I to yap on and on about being a worthy man for Miya? No one who thought like that would ever be worthy of her.

Just give it up, man. Let it go. This is enough. Things are fine as they are. Just being with Miya...

I decided long ago that was enough, didn’t I? And even after I’d pulled such a trash-tier skill, she said we could still adventure together. How lucky is that? Asking for too much would only be my downfall.

That’s right. I told myself that this was enough. Surely. Surely it’s enough.

Perhaps I was too conceited. I’d been spoiled by Miya’s good will, by her kindness. And they’d both betrayed me—my pride and Miya.

Half a year after Miya and I started adventuring together...

“We should go our separate ways, Note.”

With an expression on her face that I’d never seen before, Miya bid me farewell in that coldhearted voice.

Where His Fate Led

I was completely worthless. It was only natural that Miya cast me aside. She wasn’t to blame.

The root of the problem was me, after all. I was the one at fault. It was all because of me. Miya had done nothing wrong. If anything, she was a saint for hanging in there for fifteen long years.

I sneered at myself as I knocked back another drink.

It had now been six months since Miya left me, so I had an entire year of adventuring experience under my belt, all told. But in spite of that, I hadn’t grown one bit. Here I was, drinking away my earnings for the day again... This had become a daily ritual for me, which only made me even more hopeless.

I was currently in a pub popular among adventurers for its cheap drinks, sitting with the party I’d joined for the day’s job.

You see, after parting ways with Miya, I wandered from odd job to odd job without settling in with a fixed party. It doesn’t sound so bad to put it that way, but the simple truth is that there was no place for me. I don’t have a combat skill to my name, just useless Mapping. No one wanted me. No one welcomed me. And in return, I hardly bothered to learn people’s names.

It wasn’t like I was trying to push people away. I just kept my distance and did my best to make a name for myself in the adventurer scene here in town as I moved from party to party. You never get any work with a bad rap, after all. Especially not if you’re a loser like me.

Things would have been much easier for me if I hadn’t chosen to become an adventurer... But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t give up on my dream.

After losing Miya, I felt like I’d have nothing left if I let go of becoming an adventurer too. And that terrified me. So I choked everything back and forced myself to keep going... That’s how I’d managed to get this far.

There were times I’d been cursed for my uselessness. Times I’d swallowed my pride and taken jobs carrying luggage and gear for other parties like a pack mule. After Miya left me, I didn’t have a use for dignity anymore anyway.

And that was why I chose to drown my woes in booze like this after work. Oddly enough, casually drinking and chatting with my party members du jour was a good way to make connections and score more invites on odd jobs. Telling the tale of how I’d pulled Mapping and been abandoned by my childhood friend was always a big hit over drinks, too. Everyone loves a sob story.

So before I knew it, the sad story of my life became my go-to story to share. Some people burst into laughter when they heard it. Some expressed their pity. Some even cried for me. But in truth, I didn’t care how they reacted so long as they listened to me.

Because the person I really wanted to talk to was no longer around. That killed me more than anything.

What would Miya think if she saw my deadbeat ass right now?

Doubts like that filled my head every night. Would she burst into laughter too? Would she feel sorry for me? Probably neither. Why should she feel anything at all? She cut me loose long ago. She abandoned me... No, that wasn’t right. I drove her away.

It was half a year ago now...

“We should go our separate ways, Note.”

Miya had said she wanted to talk, and she dropped that as soon as I sat down.

“...”

Even if I’d wanted to reply, my throat didn’t cooperate. I’d had a feeling that moment would come one day. I’d known deep in my heart of hearts... I had relied on Miya too much.

Pulling a trash-tier skill like Mapping was the end of the road for me. That singular thought kept me from putting effort into anything. In a sense, I’d already given up on our dream of becoming top-rate adventurers together.

For the first month or so of adventuring together, I tried to put my heart into it but quickly lost motivation. It felt like there was no point in someone like me even trying. After seeing Miya’s abilities for myself, it crushed me to see her soar to heights I could never hope to reach. She worked so, so hard for my sake... and that broke me.

I tried not to let it show, but Miya had always had sharp senses. She probably realized I’d given up inside. That I was trying to fool her into thinking otherwise. I kept up the charade for five more months, and Miya kept playing along.

But no relationship like that lasts.

There wasn’t any particular incident. No straw that broke the camel’s back. It was just a weight we both carried. If something had happened, if Miya had said something... maybe I could’ve fixed myself. Maybe we could’ve saved our relationship.

But Miya was too nice. She didn’t say anything. She just kept silent... until she couldn’t anymore. Until she broke too.

I knew that day would come. My brain told me it would, but my heart just wouldn’t listen.

I don’t really remember what happened after that.

No, that’s not true. I remember; I just don’t want to. So I can say it’s all a blur, right?

The only thing I remember clearly is that Miya was crying as she left. Probably because of the words I spat out in spite. I really am the worst. Utterly pathetic.

That’s my greatest regret. If I couldn’t be worthy of Miya, I at least wanted to see her off with a smile. I wanted my last memory of her to be her beautiful smiling face. But a loser like me couldn’t even manage that.

I’ll probably never see her again.

Miya left here—an adventuring town called Broad—as though she were fleeing. Someone of her caliber should have no trouble getting work as an adventurer, even in the highly competitive royal capital. She could honestly reach the top of the adventuring world. She’ll probably end up so famous that the entire kingdom knows her name one day.

Miya wasn’t just strong; she was beautiful too. With her stunning looks, the whole world would fall in love with just one glance. Everyone would want to get to know her. Get to know her story...

A story that I won’t be a part of.

*

The day started like any other. It was a perfectly normal morning. I was at the local guildhall looking to take an odd job or two with a party that needed some help.

Little did I know things were about to take a very unexpected turn...

“Hey, do you have a moment? Are you Note Athlon?” a guy called out to me.

It came out of nowhere. In surprise, I whipped around to see a young man who was slightly taller than me. He looked like he was probably in his early twenties, with short, white hair and dark, narrow eyes that made him look calm and collected. His voice was gentle, too. Easy on the ears.

But contrary to that impression, he was clad in black from head to toe. Based on his equipment, he seemed to be a thief or assassin.

“That’s me... Did you need something?”

I hadn’t seen this guy around the guildhall before. Wary that he already knew my name, I responded to him cautiously.

He seemed completely unfazed, however.

“Yeah, I’ve been looking for you. You, the guy with the Mapping skill.”

To be honest, I had no idea what was going on. He was looking for me because I had Mapping? Why? Why did he want to talk to someone with such a notoriously terrible skill? Was it to make fun of me? Was this some kind of scam?

Question after question ran through my mind, and it seemed this guy could read the confusion on my face.

“I’m serious. I’ve been looking for you because I believe Mapping can be useful.”

“You think Mapping can be useful?”

I know it doesn’t sound good coming from me, the guy with the skill, but I highly doubted that was true.

Mapping could be convenient at times, but for all intents and purposes, it was worthless. Both World Map and Area Map were better skills. Hell, any skill would have been better. I’d had Mapping for a year now, but I felt the same way about it that everyone else did—it was trash.

“Yeah, that’s right. We need your skill.”

“‘We’?”

My list of questions was only growing. How could there be other people besides this guy who needed my skill?

“Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I know I said ‘we,’ but the others aren’t here right now,” he said, scratching his head. “The name’s Jin, and I’m with a party called Arrivers.”

Arrivers?

Even a newbie adventurer like me knew that name. They were a famous party that specialized in dungeon diving.

Wait, what are dungeons, you ask? Dungeons are mysterious spaces that exist outside the logic of our world. Only a dozen or so have been discovered. Their entrances lay on the surface of this world, but anything beyond their gates is unbound by the laws of physics. Vast worlds unfold past them, filled with extremely powerful monsters the likes of which the surface has never seen. In short, dungeons are said to be deep hellholes that even top-tier adventurers often don’t come back from.

That’s why few adventurers are even willing to consider dungeon diving in the first place, but there are a handful who can’t help themselves. Why? Pure profit. The returns on dungeon diving are sky high thanks to materials, magic artifacts, weapons, and other loot that can’t be found anywhere else. Not to mention the rumors of the treasure that lies in the deepest depths of dungeons... A treasure that no one has yet to reach. A treasure some say was made by God.

Adventurers all like to talk a big game about dungeons, but the only ones who really went for them were elite, experienced parties. And of those elite parties, the Arrivers were said to be the closest to actually completing a dungeon.

That made what Jin was saying completely unbelievable under normal circumstances. It was hard enough to buy that I was talking to a real Arriver, much less that he needed me. For a less-than-third-rate adventurer like me, dungeons were out of the question. The thought of entering one had never even crossed my mind.

Nevertheless, Jin looked perfectly serious. He even offered his hand, reaching out as if to brush away my concerns.

“So, Note, if you’re interested, will you join our party? Consider this a formal invite.”

Yeah, nothing about this was normal.

I wanted to change myself. I wanted to change my life. More than anything, I wanted to be free of this unproductive misery. And that left me with no choice but to take Jin’s hand...

That day, my fate took another great turn.