That Time I Got Sent to Another World Where All of the Girls Are Super Hot and Super Into Me Because I Am Super Strong and Have Very Powerful Abilities that God Gave to Me Because Me and Them Were Friends When I Was in Grade School and God Is Actually A Loli Who is Also in Love with Me Because I Am A Super Epic Person Who Will Defeat The Demon Lord Who Threatens The Entire World but the Demon Lord Actually is in Love With Me and the Demon Lord is a Super Hot Busty Babe Who is Actually Just Trying to Get My Attention Because I Have a Cellphone That Can Contact the Internet and Can Get Anything Shipped To Me Within 2 Days But I Barely Need It Because I Am Actually the Most Strongest Guy Alive Because I Have Super Strong Powers Like Being Able to Lift Your Mom Really Easily Which is Nearly Impossible Because Your Mom is So Fat But is Actually A Secret Anime Busty Babe Who is Really into Me Because I Am Super Cool and Better Than Your Dad Because He is Super Lame Which I Am Not

Special Ep 2.39(pt 3) - That time I was reincarnated into another world and played beach volleyball

"Who wants to be on my team?" Nina Janin, [Ninja Extraordinaire] and [Elite Four] demanded of my party. In context, it was just a volleyball game, but this was still awfully presumptuous of her! I couldn't help but chuckle. Did she actually expect-

"Wan! I do!" Wanda declared, rushing over to Nina's side of the court. The doggirl turned and stood next to the Ninja, wagging her tail furiously.

H-huh? My mind came crashing down, my heart was curled up in the corner of my chest, crying like a teen girl going through a breakup. Wanda was siding with the enemy instead of me? How could this have happened?!

"Wanda-chan! I'm your Master, aren't I?! How could you betray me like this?"

"It seems fun, wan!"

D-damn... I guess I'd misjudged her. I couldn't help but see the logic of her actions, now. Fun things were fun, after all. I guess I'd let her off the hook just this once. At least I had Bonbon and Ciel on my team. I guess... huh?!

My eyes bulged out of their head-holes like a cartoon wolf, partially because Ciel had huge breasts, but also because she was standing on the other side of Nina! I could understand arbitrary betrayal from Wanda, but form Ciel? This was a real shocker!

"Ciel-san!?" I demanded. Unlike Wanda, who looked unrepentant enough for the both of them, Ciel rubbed her elbow, blushing and looking guiltily away from me.

"It's... I mean, it's not like I'm trying to betray you or nothing, Hiro-kun," she explained. That was a weird way to be tsundere, but I waved at her to go on. "I mean, it's just that 2v3 doesn't really seem fair, y'know?"

"Pareiso-san... there are five of us in total," Bonbon pointed out. "Now it's just 2v3 in the other direction."

Ciel hesitated, pointing at each of us in turn to silently count, then let out a gasp. "Y-you're right!"

"Good," I said, letting out a sigh of relief. "So come back over here and tip the scales in my favor."

She wriggled slightly, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, the thing is... it's just a game, right? You probably won't actually kill yourself if you lose, right?"

"I'd probably find some way to get out of the agreement, or just ignore it outright," I admitted, "But that doesn't give you an excuse to turn against me! It's the principle of the matter, Ciel-chan!"

"Yeah, but I mean... if we win, then that means we beat you, right? So we'd uh... all become the [Legendary Hero]? It's worth a shot, right?"

I let out a sigh, using [Shapeshifter] and extending my arms several dozen feet to give her punitive headpats. She closed her eyes as I pat her head, then blinked in confusion. "H-huh?"

I retracted my arm, cringing away from it as it violently returned to me like a released tape measure. I stared over at Wanda who was now imitating Nina's pose, and Ciel, who was touching her forehead in confusion. These two... they were acting pretty flippant about their loyalty to me, but... maybe they had a point.

I let out a chuckle, shrugging to myself before I walked over and stood next to Nina.

"Alright, when in Rome, I guess. I'll join your team too."

Across the net, Bonbon, standing alone, started to do her cute elf panic again.

"H-huh?! What?"

"Do your best, Bonbon!" I shouted, starting my pre-game stretches. With this, I was basically guaranteed a win! Was this what they meant by 'strategy'?

"Hang on a second!" Bonbon cried, trembling slightly. "Why is it four on one? This doesn't make any sense!"

"Huh?" I asked. I was confused. Was she just upset that she was being left out?

"This is the best plan," I explained. "With this, I'm basically guaranteed to win."

"B-but, Hiro-san, if you're on the same team as Nina, then how would you even determine who wins?"

"Would it be a tie?" Ciel asked, scratching her cheek.

"They'd both win, right, wan?" Wanda asked.

"We'd both win!" Nina confirmed. "The ultimate plan! Since we would both be on the winning team, we would both win!"

I rubbed my chin, my mind racing. If we both won, that'd mean...

"That would mean that Nina would need to buy us ice cream," Bonbon explained slowly, her ears still trembling with either fear or excitement. "And then you would need to die."

Hmm... Free ice cream, but then I would die?

"Hiro-sa-"

"Give me a second," I ordered her, holding a finger up. Ice cream... did taste the best when it was free, after all. But was it worth it? If I balanced the teams out, I might have to put in a non-zero amount of effort. It would mean I wouldn't have to die, but if the alternative was participating in team sports...

Bonbon glanced over at Wanda, her face making all kinds of interesting expressions. She took a deep breath, and calmed down a bit, before looking me dead in the eyes. I quickly averted my eyes to look at a seagull flying away with some hapless elf's wallet.

"Hiro-san... if you come over to this side, then you'll be, uh, f-facing three..." She blushed suddenly and looked to the side. "Three sets of b-boobs instead of one."

"Ah," I exclaimed quietly, before [Instant Transmission]ing to the other side of the net. I grinned at Bonbon, narrowing my eyebrows as my features became more rugged to properly convey my fighting spirit.

"Ready to win this thing, Bonbon-chan?"

Nina smiled and held up the volleyball, her eyes glinting.

"I hope you're ready to lose, [Legendary Hero]!" she shouted, tossing the ball into the air.

"In your dreams!" I shouted back.

Nina slammed her fist against the ball, sending it soaring over the net towards me. I tracked the ball as it moved through the air, and swung my fist towards it, energy rippling from my knuckles as I missed the ball entirely. A sonic boom flew upwards, piercing a hole through a cloud, as the volleyball plunked softly in the sand.

I glanced down at it.

"1-0, wan!" Wanda announced, which was either the penal code for murdering a cloud, or the current score.

"Heh..." I chuckled, closing my eyes and bowing my head. "Looks like I'll have to get serious!"

"[Create Shadow Clone No Bunshin]!" Nina shouted, splitting off into six copies of herself, one of which nimbly intercepted the ball, sending it up into the air. Two more of her clones boosted a third with their arms, sending her frontflipping through the air towards the set ball.

"TORYAAAH!" she cried, slamming her palm against the ball and sending it rocketing into the sand between Bonbon and I.

"6-0, wan!" Wanda announced, sitting on the back-line of the court and drinking something out of a half-coconut, complete with tiny umbrella and orange wedge.

That point... I hadn't expected her to pull out those techniques. But no matter. I crossed my arms, turning away from the court and gazing directly into the sun.

"Heh..." I chuckled, again. "I guess I need to use more than just a fraction of my power.

"Hup!" Bonbon shouted, jumping up to slap the ball back towards the enemy team. Even though she swung her arm with great force, she must have either been feinting or was just way weaker than she looked, because the ball fell almost vertically down on their side of the net.

Nina dove, corkscrewing for no reason but to look cool as hell. It worked, and she popped the ball high into the air with a slap of her hand.

"Pareiso-san!" she shouted, "make them pay!"

I braced myself, as Ciel leapt up into the air, her fist glowing with divine or [Volleyball]-element light.

"[Giga Spike]!" she shouted, activating her Volleyball Arte and slamming it down between my legs. I hopped back as the ball burrowed a foot into the sand, covering my important bits and shuffling away. T-that was close! If she'd aimed a little higher, there would have been a slight chance that she might have potentially caused me a small amount of damage by hitting a weak point. Thank goodness I-

"Wan! 13-3," Wanda declared, head peeking out of the sand from the back-line, where she'd buried herself. No doubt, she was activating her [Iron Fortress] mode to permanently secure the back of their court. D-damn it. That strategy! If this was the way they wanted to play it.

"Alright..." I said, wiping a bit of blood from my cheek that I'd put there for dramatic effect. "Looks like I've got no choice but to go all-out after all!"

Bonbon gave me a weird look, panting and sweating as she returned to her starting position.

"[Sidewinder Volley]!" Nina shouted, sending the ball flying towards me in a serpentine pattern. I decided to counteract her form with my own special move, slashing in a cross formation with my hands!

The volleyball landed at my feet, splashing a bit of sand onto my toes.

"18-6, wan!" Wanda declared.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose and making a point not to look over at the elf on my team (Bonbon).

"Bonbon..." I sighed.

"Wh-what?! H-how was that my fault?!" my dead-weight teammate demanded, stuttering out of what was probably embarrassment.

On the other side of the net, Nina and Ciel were standing at the ready, a faint sheen of sweat on their skin. Between Ciel's [Volleyball Mastery - Lvl 9] and Nina's ninja skills, they'd been handling enough of the game that Wanda had gotten bored and decided to be scorekeeper. This should have made things a lot easier, so how had it turned out like this?

"D-damn it..." I swore. "How did it turn out like this?"

I slowly turned to give Bonbon the side-eye. Well, of course it would turn out like this, after all. This team had an obvious weak link.

The elf was panting, dripping with sweat and staring at me with anger, for some reason. "How?! Hiro-san, you haven't hit the ball once! I thought you would be great at this game!"

I grimaced. I didn't want to reveal this to her, but at the rate things were going, she might find out on her own. Plus, this particular secret probably wasn't significant enough to for revealing it to be a bad idea.

"Bonbon..." I whispered to her. "My.... dark secret..."

She hesitated, blinking at me and waiting to see how this new development played out.

"I'm... not very good at volleyball...." I confessed, a lone tear sparkling in my eye. She stopped and stared at me, her arms dropping and her face going blank as she was clearly and visibly overcome with emotion.

"You, um... you don't say?"

"It's true!" I admitted tearfully. "I don't actually have any [Volleyball] or [Volleyball Accessory] skills!"

She cocked an eyebrow at me, her eyes widening in shock. "W-what? Really? You don't?"

"Wan! Why would you assume he does?" Wanda gaslit Bonbon, "Do you really think [Volleyball] skills are something that most people just have, wan?"

Bonbon opened her mouth to reply, then frowned. "U-uhm... I guess you have a point, actually. I just kind of figured, since it was Hiro-san, that..."

I shook my head. "No. I may have extreme strength, supernatural speed, unstoppable stamina, and lightning-fast reflexes, sure. But that doesn't mean I'd be good at volleyball."

I sighed. I knew that I should have stayed on the other team. With Bonbon on my side, this game was as good as lost. But... wait... if I lost, then wouldn't that mean...

No ice cream?

I clenched my fist, summoning up my manly spirit once more. No. I couldn't let that fate come to pass! I refused to miss out on free ice cream, and I refused to have to weasel out of agreeing to kill myself.

"[Power Serve]" Ciel shouted, launching the ball straight at me. I laughed as it shot towards me, wreathed in energy and traveling at 60 knots. Pathetic. She'd have to try a lot harder than that to get one over on me. I effortlessly dodged out of the way of the ball, letting it land harmlessly in the corner of the court.

"19-6, wan!" Wanda exclaimed.

Huh?! I glanced suspiciously at Wanda. Was she cheating? Had the ball clipped my shirt or something? She had been on the enemy team, so maybe this was all some kind of ploy.

"Hiro-san?!" Bonbon shrieked, her head whipping violently from the ball to me.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I reassured her, walking over to pick up the volleyball. "More importantly... I have them exactly where I want them now."

I smiled to myself, Volleyball energy emanating from me in a cool badass aura. I'd unleashed my secret weapon. With my [Instantly Learn Skill] skill, it was trivial for me to learn [Volleyball Basics - Lvl 1]. They wouldn't stand a chance.

"You see... the ball fell right in that corner. Which means... I get to serve."

Ciel walked towards the net, shaking her head. "Hiro-kun, it's our point. That means we-"

"No," Nina interrupted, thrusting her arm out to stop Ciel in her tracks. "Let him serve."

Ciel backed off, a bit confused, and Nina merely rubbed her chin, nodding sagely in my direction as I took my spot with the ball.

"He is starting to believe..." she declared.

I wasn't really sure what that meant, so I could only assume she'd fallen for me. I was glad I could add another admirer to the pile, but that didn't change the fact that I had a game to win!

"Hiro-san, be careful," Bonbon warned me. "They only need two more points to win. I-I know you don't have any [Volleyball] skills, but-"

"I do," I replied quietly.

"Huh? But you-"

"I got them just now."

"Just now?!"

I nodded to her, slowly letting the energy build up within me. Across the court, Ciel wiped some sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, while Nina was busy balancing on one foot in a cool ninja pose, waiting for my attack.

"I... guess that's good?" Bonbon replied. "I was just going to say... maybe you could use some other kind of [Skill] instead. You know, a non-[Volleyball] related one. Nina used that Shadow Clone skill, and that doesn't have anything to do with [Volleyball]! P-probably..."

I jerked back in surprise, my mind reeling with the sudden realization. I could... use skills for purposes other than their original designated action? This was... revolutionary! Even though I was pretty sure I'd done something like that before on at least one occasion, this was the first time I'd ever considered that kind of action!

I had been planning on just using the stat boost from [Volleyball Basics] to just be good at the game, but if I could win with some flashy application of an inappropriate skill, that would be way better! But... which skill to use? Something similar to Beach Volleyball... Beach Volleyball... we had to hit the ball back and forth across the net, trying to get it past the other team. Net... net...

That's it! The most appropriate skill! I couldn't help but grin a smile to myself as I realized. Sure, it was kind of a silly skill, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever get an opportunity to use it! Now might be my only real chance!

I tossed the ball into the air and swung my fist, spending one Fish Point to activate [Fisherman's Fist]. Instantly, my fist began to be wreathed in a [Fish]-element aura, and all of its attack parameters temporarily doubled! Nina wouldn't see THIS ONE coming. My eyes tracked the ball as it spun slowly through the air. I had to get the angle of attack just right, if I wanted to send it past their defenses.

"TAKE THIS!" I shouted, lunging forward and slapping the ball with all of my might.

"I CALL THIS: [FISHERMAN'S SERVE]!"

A shockwave of energy tore through the ball, kicking sand up into the air, flipping up Bonbon's sarong with an associated "Kya!", causing the net to bow to the side, and most importantly, rending the volleyball to shreds of fabric instantly.

I stood silently as the volleyball scraps slowly dissolved into ashes. All eyes were on me, and I was paralyzed in my mid-strike pose. For a long time, nobody spoke, until Nina finally cleared her throat, straightening up and buffing her nails on her swimsuit.

"Fufufu... looks like you've destroyed the ball, [Legendary Hero]-chan. Do you have a replacement?"

I looked over at Ciel, who shook her head sadly. "I only brought the one, sorry," she confirmed.

"So... who won?" Bonbon asked.

"Wan! Well, Ciel-kun and Nina-chan had more points!" Wanda suggested, tapping at the scores she'd drawn on a notepad.

"But I was the one to score the last blow," I countered.

"I mean, it should probably be a draw, right?" Ciel added. "Nobody won, and we can't really continue."

"I'm... not sure if the results really matter though, right?" Bonbon asked. "She's an [Elite Four], shouldn't we have been fighting her in the first place?"

We turned to Nina, who chuckled, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "You're having trouble determining the victor, are you? I should think it would be obvious, wouldn't it? But if you are so unsure, simply have HIM decide!"

Her hand whipped out, pointing towards the sea. I turned, my hand dropping to my katana in case this was a trap, or in case he was standing too close to my harem members. My eyes widened in shock as I saw the man she was referring to, because he was invisible!

"W-wha?!" I muttered. Bonbon, who had also turned, simply sighed and turned back. I followed her gaze, and saw that Nina had disappeared as well.

"D-damn it..." I swore, "She got away!"

While our backs had been turned, Nina had seized the opportunity to flee, and she was already 30 feet away, running down the beach while cackling. It was already too late. She stopped and turned around, raising her voice to shout at us.

"DON'T THINK THIS IS THE LAST YOU'VE SEEN OF ME!" She informed me. "THE NEXT TIME YOU THINK YOU'RE ABOUT TO HAVE A REALLY FUN TIME, I'LL BE THERE! JUST YOU WAIT, [LEGENDARY HERO]-SAN! THERE IS NO ESCAPING FROM MY DEADLY GRASP!"

"Okay," I replied.

I watched her as she ran, disappearing over the bluffs. D-damn... that had been a formidable battle. I guess not every [Elite Four] would be a baby-tier complete pushover who gave me no challenge. Still... I felt like maybe, in that crazy escapade, there was some kind of lesson to be learned. But... what?

I turned to Wanda, who was giving me the patented puppy-dog eyes, sobbing and on the verge of tears.

"M-master, wan!" she sniffled. "Does this mean... we don't get any ice cream?"

My blood ran cold. That Ninja... damn her! Here I'd thought we'd gotten off lightly, but she'd had the last laugh in the end. I clutched at the side of my head as the realization hit me square in the noggin:

"I... have to buy my own ice cream..." I gasped.