“Nervous, Tatsuya?” while walking with me, my best friend Kyouya tried to strike up a conversation.

“Why are you asking me?” I, Tatsuya Nagata, glared at Kyouya for his redundant question. “We promised Aiko so there’s nothing to be nervous about. Besides, shouldn’t you be asking her?”

I pointed to the girl that was walking beside us, visibly shrinking her body while she stayed in the middle of our three-man group.

This girl was Haruka Sakamoto, the youngest girl in our class. She was, like Kyouya, a member of the party that I will soon belong to.

“Ha ha, I guess that’s true,” Kyouya laughed it off, and then directed his eyes down to Sakamoto-san, reassuring her with a friendly smile. “Call for us if you need help, Sakamoto-san.”

“Mhmm, thank you very much. Please, take care of me,” nodding, she gave him a reserved smile.

Charismatic fucker…

It has been four months now since we were summoned into this world called Peolynca. Using the calendar from this world, the date should be the fourth of SpringSun in the year 2678.

As I was told about a month ago, the church has organized for us to enter a dungeon so we could finally start leveling up after learning how to use weapons and spells. We would form parties with our classmates and then fight together.

Today will be the day where our party will be introduced to the knight that will supervise our party for the trip.

I say party, but…too be honest, we haven’t actually met yet. Besides Kyouya and Sakamoto-san, the two other members of our group didn’t want to meet up at all.

One simply said, “I have better things to do than to talk with you guys! Like training under a powerful mage!", and the other said, "What do we even have to talk about anyway? Go fuck off and leave me alone.".

We barely talked when we were on Earth, but I knew them long enough to know that I shouldn’t have expected any other responses. I still held on a bit of hope. I thought the video game-like setting would bring us together but that was just being optimistic.

It’s not like I like this world myself.

As we promised Aiko and Tsuji-san, I and Kyouya were currently walking with Sakamoto-san to the meeting spot. We were introduced to her by the girls after we had that talk in the dining hall.

Sakamoto was not only small, but she was also pretty shy. Our relationship on Earth was merely limited to classmates that have worked together, but not enough to feel like a proper friendship. She’s always been reserved when she talked with boys, so I barely knew anything about her besides her shyness and the fact that our fathers do business together.

She seems to have gotten a bit closer with Kyouya, but nothing to send home about. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he seems reliable?

Standing next to her, we really look like two bodyguards. It also doesn’t help that she’s 154 cm tall (5’1 feet) and we’re 173(5’7) and 178(5’8), respectively. Kyouya being taller does make him seem more reliable, I guess.

“We should hurry up,” I opened my mouth without turning my head. “Everybody is looking at us.”

I pointed out the fact that every priest and shrine maiden that walked past us was looking at us. Most of them knew us but it must look weird to them that two large guys were escorting a tiny girl.

Those people should take their heads out of the gutter.

“Yeah, it’s not very comfortable. Let’s hurry up, ok? Sakomoto-san?" once again, that "best friend" of mine was giving off a pleasant looking smile.

“Yeah, I don’t like their gazes. Let’s walk faster, please,” showing a little bit of assertion due to feeling embarrassed about being stared at, Sakamoto-san began to walk faster.

Our trip to the meeting spot was relatively uneventful and silent. Winter has gone by now and the temperature has gone back up to an acceptable number. Thankfully, as the meeting spot is outside the church knight’s garrison.

Exiting the church, we went to one of the training fields that belonged to the knights. There we saw the silhouette of somebody waving his staff around like a freaking idiot.

“Ha! Too slow!” once we came into his sight, the fucker smirked boastfully and shouted in his usual annoying tone. “I can’t believe I have to party with four slowpokes.”

This guy is the sort that gives us gamers a bad rep.

Donning a robe fitting for a mage, the spectacled guy continued speaking, “At least, I got [Ardent Defender] from this deal. Be my shield and I’ll power level you up, Ishigami-kun.”

“Can’t you shut up for once, Mikami?” I said reproachfully.

The guy leering at me now is Daichi Mikami…my classmate and, now, a party member. He is your typical anti-social gamer that is so driven by his competitive nature that he can’t help but to act obnoxious.

Me? Oi, I’m competitive as fuck too, but I know when and when not to be a dick. Kyouya and I experienced playing with him and he’s only mildly pleasant when he’s winning. Even then, his tendency to boast is unimaginable.

The guy is a sore loser and a bad winner. So unsportsmanlike that playing with him drains you mentally.

“…Hope you’re good with using that shield of yours, Nagata,” he said with a gleeful smirk. “If you try to steal any of my kills then I’ll have to blast you away like the fodder that you are.”

My eye started to twitch uncontrollably from hearing those words, “You still can’t work in a team, huh? Even with your [Kamikaze] skill, you still need to rely on others, otherwise, you'll end up on the wrong end of a spear."

Kamikaze A skill that unleashes the owner's maximum firepower upon the world, disregarding the safety of the user. Upon activating this skill, [Kamikaze] is applied, temporarily increasing Intelligence, and the power and effectiveness of all spells. While [Kamikaze] is active, the user can not be affected by [Arcane Fever] of any stage, however, once deactivated, all arcane corruption inside the user's body will be unleashed, enabling [Arcane Fever] if the requirement is fulfilled. The skills combined are [Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] and [Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10]. Cripples the user's Vitality and Wisdom growths, incapable of learning any stat growth or boosting skills for Vitality and Wisdom. Amount increase: ([Kamikaze] Level /10) * 3

Against my threat, Mikami simply ignored it and laughed provokingly, “Of course, I’ve learned to work with the team. I’ll just stand behind you and see you die. Perfect teamwork, ha ha ha!”

Kuck! Hold it in, Tatsuya Nagata…murder is not an option! Even if his face is in my punching range.

“Ha ha,” from the side, Kyouya tittered nervously to diffuse the situation. “Can you guys please not kill each other? I think the church wouldn’t be too happy about that.”

“You’re right, Ishigami-kun!” Mikami’s head instantly turned towards Kyouya and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We need to talk about our strategy and party formation, now.”

Mikami’s whole demeanor made a complete flip. His boastful smirk turned into an enthusiastic grin and he clenched his hand into a fist and placed it in front of Kyouya, asking him for a fist bump.

Kyouya awkwardly looked at it, not knowing if he should accept it or not. On one hand, he diffused the situation, but on the other hand, he’s now the target of Mikami’s over the top personality.

“Sakamoto will scout our enemies with [Foxian Slyness] and I'll bombard everything from afar with my spells, while you protect us all with your amazing defenses. Hanazawa can keep us alive with her healing spells, and Nagata can just die somewhere so he doesn’t leech our EXP,” Mikami’s suggestion seems to have turned something inside of me.

“Hey,” I grabbed Mikami’s arm that was touching Kyouya’s shoulder and slowly peeled it off, tightening it enough to show the difference between my Strength and his Vitality. “Keep your hands off my best friend, you ass kisser.”

Mikami was struggling against my grip but his pained face said that it was impossible for him to free himself.

The euphoria of this small act of revenge surged through my whole body, enough to replace all the rage that his toxic comments caused me. The feeling of fulfillment was enough that I could hold off my urge for coffee today.

My elation visibly seeped out of me with a chuckle, as I released Mikami’s wrist. The reddened mark on his arm was proof of the consequences of his actions.

“Grrr, Ishigami-kun, I got a proposal,” as if he didn’t learn anything at all, Mikami gave his aching wrist a short massaged and then went back to plotting, placing a hand in front of his face’s side, trying to block me from hearing his loud rambling. “Vote me in to become the party leader once the knight arrives. I’ll make sure that you get most of the experience…”

Mikami quickly glanced in the direction of Sakamoto-san who was standing behind Kyouya, before resuming his scheming, “…and Sakamoto, too. You’ll like that, right?”, he mumbled that last part with a sly smile. It was almost inaudible…were it not for our skills.

Foxian Slyness A skill that embodies the quality of the Foxians. Improves the effectiveness of stealth related skills and [Identify Blocker]. Grants the user the ability to completely ignore [Identify Blocker] when using [Identify], revealing all information. Gives the user the smell of a Foxian and some of their improved senses

Sakamoto’s unique skill [Foxian Slyness] gave her improved hearing, and I already had [Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 3].

Once Mikami was finished, both Kyouya’s and Sakamoto-san’s faces lost most of their expression as they glared at him as if he was trash. It seems like the pompous dick misunderstood their relationship.

His face tensed up from the amount of negativity, backing away from them while stating, “Give it a thought, ok?”.

This awkward situation stuck around in the air, even after we dissolved the situation. Everybody silently kept to themselves as we let time past us, waiting for our last party member and our leading knight.

What the hell is taking them so long? I would have drifted off to sleep by now, were it not for the atmosphere.

In my boredom, I sat down on the ground and stared at the shuffling and day-to-day life of the grey-robed priests. These guys were fervently working, praying, and seemingly enjoying their lives in this church.

I have no idea how they could. Besides training and competing with Kyouya, there isn't much that I can do to kill time here. Maybe I'm being a bit too inflexible with adapting to this world.

If only I could have a cup of coffee each day. Oh, I would be content even with watching paint dry on the wall.

Eventually, the silhouette of four people appeared and began approaching us. One belonged to an adolescent girl wearing a white robe similar to Aiko’s, while the other three were decked out in spotless white armor.

“I do apologize for our late coming, venerable heroes,” the one who looked like the leader took off his helmet, revealing a man with bright blonde hair. His face showed his youth, but his polite smile showed his experience with talking to others, while his blue eyes showed a certain amount of eagerness and ambition. He was a prime example of a son of a noble.

He gave a slight bow and scraped his left foot behind himself, before continuing speaking, "We encountered a slight problem while escorting Lady Asaka. I do hope we did not inconvenience you too much."

You made us wait for nearly an hour! I complained inside my head. Looking over at my three party members, it seems they had a similar thought.

While the knight seemed very polite, his indirect way to excuse himself from all blame was clearly understood.

I looked over at the girl that was averting her gaze from us while crossing her arms.

This girl was also my classmate and, soon to be, party member. Her blue-tinted hair easily fused together with her natural black hair to create a mesmerizing look that captivated my eyes immediately. Her face was wearing a deep frown that showed off her annoyance to the situation, clearing stating that she was dragged here against her will.

Despite the defiant look, she looked more like a pouting girl than a delinquent.

“Oh, where are my manners,” with the wave of his hand, the two knights behind him excused themselves from us, before resuming his introduction with a bow. “I am Elrick von Karstein, second son of the Karstein family, a loyal noble from the Empire. I was recently promoted to the prestigious ranks of the knights of Aurena and I will, henceforth, serve as both your instructor and protector for the days to come.”

While I was troubled with how formal my response should be, Kyouya politely smiled and lowered his upper body, bowing at a 30-degree angle, “It is a pleasure to have made your acquaintance, Sir Elrick. My name is Kyouya Ishigami.” he looked refined while doing it, despite the bulky gambeson that he was wearing.

“My name is Haruka Sakamoto. P-Please, we will be in your care, Sir Elrick.” Sakamoto-san elegantly curtseyed while she timidly introduced herself with a shy smile. Instead of a skirt, she pinched up the hem of her trench coat to perform the gesture as she was wearing pants. She probably chose to curtsey instead of bowing because of the culture of this place.

Interestingly, Elrick smiled and nodded back.

“Daichi Mikami, legitimate son of the Mikami family, a dutiful house of the country Japan. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Sir Elrick.” Mikami, against my expectations, performed a proper, business-like introduction, albeit it was brimmed full of his sycophant tendencies.

I knew Kyouya and Sakamoto-san had the proper upbringing to perform it properly, but I really imagined Mikami doing something grandiose while flaunting his “amazingness”.

As if it was peer pressure, I chose to follow their lead and bowed my body to a 30-degree angle similar to Kyouya’s and Mikami’s, “My name is Tatsuya Nagata. It is a pleasure to have made your acquaintance, Sir Elrick.”

Elrick smiled, satisfied with our responses and turned towards the other [Saint Candidate], asking her to give an introduction, also.

“What? They already know me. There isn’t a need for an introduction.” the girl spat out those words to the knight’s face.

“That may be true, Lady Asaka. However, is it not polite to reciprocate everyone’s introduction?” still keeping a calm smile, Elrick insisted that she do it.

Her glare met Elrick’s, seemingly piercing him with them, before sighing in resignation, “My name is Asaka Hanazawa. Let’s get along well, or whatever.” Compared to us four, Hanazawa simply waved her hand indifferently.

Tch, typical Hanazawa. Grow up already.

“Thank you very much, Lady Hanazawa. You honor me with your holy light,” he pressed his hands together and placed them in front of his chest, praying. Hanazawa averted her face from him and cringed.

Once finished praying, he directed his open palm towards the knight’s garrison, inviting us inside, “Now, please. We must create your identification cards and form your party.”

We were guided into the large white building where the church’s knights were stationed. Once we entered the pristine-looking garrison, we were welcomed by the lounge. The floor and ceiling were made from sublime marble, sparking and shining immaculately.

On the right side, the room was adorned with delicately painted art and extravagant statues, while the fine wooden tables and cozy couches gave the place a comfortable feeling.

Comparatively, the left side was relatively barren with only plant vases decorating the different entrances.

The duality of this lounge was intriguing, but I wasn’t sure why it was like that.

We went to the right side of the room and entered through a door that led us to room similarly decorated to the before-mentioned right side of the lounge.

Entering, we were quickly greeted by multiple grey-robed priests. Elrick nonchalantly continued walking without giving them even a bit of his attention, only stopping before a counter.

Behind it, a woman in white robes was working through documents of paper at a steady and unwavering pace.

Elrick waited for a bit but spoke once it was clear that the woman wasn't aware of our presence, “Greetings, Lady Amelia. How do you do on this fine day, honoring the god of darkness?”

Darkday? So today is Saturday, huh.

“Oh, Sir Elrick!” like she was spooked by seeing him, she jumped in shock, putting the feather pen down to speak. “I apologize for my inattentiveness.”

Once her head was no longer staring at the documents, she quickly noticed us, the entourage behind Elrick, "Oh my, my apologies dear heroes. I have been extremely rude to you."

The woman seems to recognize us.

“Where are my manners, I must introduce myself,” with that said, she quickly curtsied and spoke, “I am a daughter of house Baltalz, Amelia von Baltalz. I currently serve as a shrine maiden for the church of Aurena.”

“Besides her duties to the clergy, Lady Amelia also serves as the secretary of the Knight-Commander. We are currently in the area where important personages bid their time until our Commander can meet them or if they require certain documents,” Elrick went into more detail about Amelia’s job.

“Yes, that may be true, but I’ve also been doing work outside what I agreed upon. Sir Elrick, when will the next Quartermaster be inaugurated?” she was narrowing her orange-colored eyes as she asked Elrick a question, swaying her similarly-colored hair to the side.

Seeing her hair swing around, I was reminded that somebody with orange-colored hair was pretty unusual on Earth. If you don’t color them, it would be an extremely rare color for a human to naturally have.

However, having lived here for four months, I noticed that I could form a rainbow from the hair color diversity that people had in this world. Kyouya confirmed that due to the presence of mana in this world, the hair color of people can be influenced.

Damn, must be hard to recognize when your wife made out with somebody else, huh?

"I apologize, we've been giving you far too much work, Lady Amelia," Elrick said with an apologetic smile. "However, I must ask you to endure for a little longer."

Amelia gave a silent sigh but then shook it off, now directing her gaze back to us, or more specifically, Hanazawa, “Saintess Asaka, I humbly apologize for making you wait this long. I…”

“Don’t call me Saintess,” Hanazawa interjected herself before Amelia could finish talking. “Don’t call me by that annoying title.”

Amelia’s expression froze, clearly surprised by Hanazawa’s rude behavior. She only managed to close her mouth once Elrick spoke to her, “I apologize for Lady Asaka’s rude conduct. It is my fault for not informing you that she wishes to not be addressed by the title “Saintess”.”

Once Amelia apologized to Hanazawa, Elrick further added, “I would also like to apologize for coming this late. We had some complications when we escorted Lady Asaka.”

It seems like the reason why Amelia was so inattentive when we entered the room was that she wasn’t expecting us to come anymore. We made her wait that long that she chose to work on some documents.

She was so fully immersed with her work that she wasn’t able to hear her grey-robed shrine maidens calling for her. As they were servants, they were unsure if they should’ve interrupted her, as she seems to have a tendency to burst out in anger when her focus is broken.

She covered up her reddened face when Elrick told us that.

Great work, making everybody’s lives worse, Hanazawa.

“Ok, I believe we have talked enough,” Elrick clapped his hands together, echoing the crashing metal from his gauntlets, signaling that we came here for business. “Lady Amelia please bring out the Crystal of the Divine System. We must finish the ID creation today.”

With an instant shift in her demeanor, Amelia’s flush disappeared, and she gave a quick and professional acknowledgment.

From the bottom of her desk, she took out a crystal similar to the ones you see in fortune-teller tents, a manatech in the shape of a printer’s scanner, and five white cards.

“Please, put your hand on the crystal so we may begin the process.”

One by one, each of us began doing what she said. First Kyouya, then me, then Mikami, then Sakamoto-san, and lastly, also reluctantly, Hanazawa.

With each hand pressed against it, the crystal stole some of our mana until it shined white, and then projected a blue screen in front of Amelia. She then attached a cord from the scanner-looking-thing into an open slot of the crystal, placed the card under the scanner, and with some button mashing, the card was finished.

Once all five IDs were made, she gave us our respective ones.

The white rectangle-shaped card had a golden-colored frame. It was split into two sides, the right side with my information and the left with a symbol.

The right side showed my name, level, job, and age. It was so simple that I questioned how you could make sure that you were the person that you are, but then I remembered that the [Crystal of the Divine System] couldn’t be cheated, especially with mana.

On the left side of the card was a large emblem in the form of a sun reaching its hand towards the ground. The hand was clearly that of a woman.

The emblem reminded me of the one that was etched into the middle of my party bracelet. Speaking of which, I whipped my party bracelet that I was wearing and attached the ID card on the bracelet’s chain.

I activated the party bracelet and a blue screen appeared before me. I clicked the icon in the shape of an ID card, and something appeared before.

Hmm, so this is my status.

Tatsuya's Status Board Profile: Name: Tatsuya Nagata Level: 0 Race: Human Age: 18 Years Job: Fighter Status: Health: 341/341 Mana: 79/79 Strength: 131 Intelligence: 56 Vitality: 97 Wisdom: 91 Agility: 100 Stamina: 205/205 Effects: None Skill Points: 0 Unique Skill:

[Rush Hour Lv. 1]

Skill: Magic skill and related

[Mana Control Lv. 1]

Physical skill and related

[Spear Technique Lv. 3]

[Spear Mastery Lv. 3]

[Shield Technique Lv. 2]

[Mana Strike Lv. 1]

[Stamina Strike Lv. 1]

[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 1]

[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 2]

[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]

Senses and movement skills

[Concentration Lv. 1]

[Stealth Lv. 1]

[Accuracy Correction Lv. 2]

[Prediction Lv. 1]

[Probability Correction Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 3]

[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Vision Lv. 2]

[Evasion Lv. 2]

[Acrobatic Lv. 1]

Resistances

[Physical Resistance Lv. 1]

[Pain Resistance Lv. 1]

Stat growths and related

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 1]

Others

[Royal Etiquette Lv. 1]

Ability List: Spear ability

[Pierce]

[Flash Spiral]

[Sweeping Farewell]

Shield ability

[Guard]

[Shield Bash]

Titles:

[Otherworldly Visitor]

Yoooooo, that’s some fat gains!

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my status board at all. All the training that I have done in these past three months is being shown in the form of numbers that I could evaluate and compare.

I gave a self-fulfilling chuckle and then checked up with the others.

“Yo, Kyouya,” I noticed that everybody’s eyes were glued to their status board, so I did what was necessary. I walked up to Kyouya, hung my arm around his shoulder and smirked gleefully, “The time has come. Show it to me. You aren’t gonna pussy out, right?”

Kyouya confidently smiled to my cajoling, “Don’t wet your pants too much, bro.”

We exchanged our ID cards and then attached each other’s card on our party bracelets.

Kyouya's Status Board Profile: Name: Kyouya Ishigami Level: 0 Race: Human Age: 18 Years Job: Fighter Status: Health: 413/413 Mana: 87/87 Strength: 154 Intelligence: 63 Vitality: 145 Wisdom: 134 Agility: 121 Stamina: 317/317 Effects: None Skill Points: 0 Unique Skill:

[Ardent Defender Lv. 1]

Skill: Magic skill and related

[Mana Control Lv. 1]

Physical skill and related

[Sword Technique Lv. 2]

[Sword Mastery Lv. 2]

[Shield Technique Lv. 3]

[Shield Mastery Lv. 2]

[Mana Strike Lv. 1]

[Stamina Strike Lv. 1]

[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 2]

[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 1]

[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]

Senses and movement skills

[Concentration Lv. 1]

[Stealth Lv. 1]

[Accuracy Correction Lv. 2]

[Prediction Lv. 1]

[Probability Correction Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Vision Lv. 2]

[Evasion Lv. 2]

[Acrobatic Lv. 1]

[Ally Defender Lv. 1]

Resistances

[Physical Resistance Lv. 2]

[Pain Resistance Lv. 2]

[Holy Resistance Lv. 1]

[Fire Resistance Lv. 1]

[Earth Resistance Lv. 1]

[Wind Resistance Lv. 1]

[Water Resistance Lv. 1]

Stat growths and related

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 1]

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 1]

Others

[Royal Etiquette Lv. 1]

Ability List: Sword ability

[Slash]

[Swift Cut]

Shield ability

[Guard]

[Shield Bash]

[Shield Wall]

Titles:

[Otherworldly Visitor]

What the hell?

“Hey, you got nothing to say, Tatsuya?” this time Kyouya placed his arm around my shoulder with a smirk on his face. “I was part of the athletic club you idiot, and I trained for four months compared to your three. As if you could have beaten me, ha.”

My head felt warmer as I tried to respond to Kyouya’s boast, however, nothing besides stuttering words came out of my mouth. To stop embarrassing myself, I shut my mouth tight and just accepted my loss.

He even beat me in Agility! He’s the tank, for hell’s sake!

“Alright, please make sure to keep your ID card safe at all time,” after we were done looking at our cards, Elrick drew our attention with another clap of his gauntlets, “It would be problematic if you lost them.”

He also told us that the card will update when we pour in some of our mana. This manatech will only accept the mana of its original holder, so we didn't need to worry that somebody could override our ownership.

He then went and explained to us about the party system and the party member search functions.

“Lady Asaka,” he looked over at Hanazawa, “Please, form the party.”

“““Huh?””” three people unconsciously let out a questioning voice.

“Sir Elrick, p-please wait. Shouldn’t this be a majority decision for who should become the leader?” one of them was Mikami, who personally wanted to be the leader.

“Mikami is right, Sir Elrick. Besides, how could we have a leader as irresponsible as Hanazawa," the second person was me. I knew Hanazawa's attitude from Earth and she's the last person you would want to give something as important as the role of a leader.

“Fuck off you two,” Hanazawa wouldn’t let us bad-mouth her, so she pointed her middle finger at us, before continuing speaking. “Besides, why do I have to be the leader, Elrick?”

Elrick quietly pointed out Hanazawa’s crude behavior, before explaining his decision, “Lady Asaka is a [Saint Candidate] and the church wishes for her to assume a leadership role to develop her potential. I apologize but this is unnegotiable.”

I clicked my tongue, but I accepted it without further argument. If the church wants it, then be my guest. Even if she’s my party leader, she only has to enable a fair experience sharing and she can do whatever the fuck she wants.

Everybody else can do the heavy lifting while she can fuck around like the little shit that she is.

Besides, having Hanazawa be the leader seems to fit with the name that some of our classmates have been giving our party.

The Misfits…and Kyouya and Sakamoto-san.

Seriously, it seems like everybody wanted Kyouya and nobody was trash-talking Sakamoto-san. Most of the comments were directed at Mikami, Hanazawa and me! I. AM. NOT. LIKE. THOSE. TWO!

Back to reality, Mikami’s façade disappeared for a second but he quietly accepted it, mumbling, “If I can get to level up then whatever.”

I guess we had the same thoughts. All we needed from her is to enable the experience sharing function and we can all be a happy-go-lucky party, despite a single useless member.

With that decided, all four of us sent a party invitation to Hanazawa and waited for her to accept it.

Asaka Hanazawa has declined your party admission

Huh?

"Fuck you, Elrick!" suddenly, Hanazawa blew up at Elrick. "I told you this time and time again! Stop putting so much pressure on me and leave me the fuck alone! I don’t want to be a saint!”

This girl…!