The Weight of Each Destiny

The king kept talking, and I was already getting sleepy.

– Great sacred heroes. Please introduce yourselves – said the king.

The blond-haired boy smiled and began to introduce himself.

– My name is Ikeda Masahiko. I’m 18 years old, a high school student, and I’m very good at fighting – said Masahiko.

Ikeda Masahiko, he seems like the kind of guy who loves bullying the weak. On top of that, he can’t take his eyes off Princess Margarida. That’s not the kind of thing you do when you don’t have a shred of power. If this guy wanted to pursue or take the princess, I wouldn’t care. He can do whatever he wants as long as it doesn’t affect me, that’s fine.

– Now it’s my turn. My name is Nakamura Yukiko. I’m 17 years old, also a high school student, and I love taking care of my body and my beauty – said Yukiko.

Nakamura Yukiko, a gal. I bet she looks down on otaku boys. On top of that, she seems like the type of girl who loves being the center of attention. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she wanted some position where she’s always in the spotlight.

– Looks like it’s my turn. Matsumoto Ayano. I’m 22 years old, a university student, I love drinks, and I like adventures – said Ayano.

Matsumoto Ayano, a girl who looks like a delinquent. I bet she’s an alcoholic. This girl seems completely manipulable, she’d probably do anything in exchange for drinks.

Then it was clear they were all from Japan. Apparently, it was already my turn.

– To finish, I am Hirokumi Araya. I’m 18 years old, a high school student, an otaku, and I like games.

I felt a strange atmosphere and gaze from the three of them after I said I was an otaku. I already suspected they hated otakus, and now I just confirmed it. But I don’t care if they hate or not, as long as they don’t get in my way, that’s fine.

– Sacred heroes, please confirm your status. In addition, I need you to confirm the abilities you gained – said the king.

Is this king some kind of clown to ask us for something we don’t know how to do?

– What are statuses? – said Ayano, confused.

– They are your physical and magical attributes – answered Princess Margarida.

– Are you seriously unable to see something right in front of you? – said Yukiko.

– What do you mean?

– Are you blind or have you not noticed the icon near your vision yet? – said Yukiko in an arrogant tone.

I focused on trying to see the icon, I saw it and pressed it. A menu then opened, looking just like an RPG game.

Hirokumi Araya

LV5

HP25/25

MP7/7

Skill: Skill Copy

There’s a lot of information, but it doesn’t matter. This looks more like a game.

– Sacred heroes, please tell me your abilities – said the king.

Yukiko was the first to present herself.

– My ability is called Holy Healing – said Yukiko happily.

Surely she’s going to brag about that ability and want everyone to adore her.

– Wow, so you received the Holy Healing ability. It’s an ability that can heal any wound just by touching the injured person – said Princess Margarida, all cheerful.

Masahiko stepped forward, smiling toward the king’s daughter. This guy is definitely asking to die.

– My ability is also very useful, it’s called Double Strength. Just by the name, it must be a grand ability – said Masahiko, smiling and staring at Margarida.

– Indeed, it is a grand ability. It doubles your skills and status for a short period, but it’s one of the most powerful abilities that exist – replied the king.

Congratulations, you dumb king, you’ve just boosted this guy’s ego. Now he’ll think he’s great and get lazy once he realizes his strength is on another level.

– May I talk about my ability now? – said Ayano.

– Yes, you may – answered the king.

This girl must be stupid. The king is expecting you and me to speak, and then you have the brilliant idea of asking if you can or not.

– My ability is called Perfect Aim – said Ayano.

– That’s an interesting ability. It greatly improves your vision, as well as your balance with weapons. This makes your hits perfect – said the king.

It really is a good ability. I wish I had gotten that one. Mine, by the name, must be some ability that can copy others.

– Hey sacred hero, it’s your turn! – the king shouted.

While I was thinking, the king had been calling me, and I hadn’t noticed.

– My ability is called Skill Copy.

A strange atmosphere filled the room when I said the name of my ability. The king and princess looked startled. There are probably only two reasons: either it’s a useless ability or it’s the most powerful of all.

– Your Majesty, what do you know about my ability?

– It’s an ability where you can copy someone else’s skill for a few seconds by touching them – answered the king.

Really, what a crappy ability. Damn, I ended up in another world just to get such a useless skill.

– Anyway, tomorrow you will begin training to raise your levels. We’ve already prepared your rooms – said Princess Margarida.

– Thank you very much for that.

After that, we went to a guest room. There were four beds prepared for us, and everyone was quite thoughtful about what was happening.

Those three got very lucky to receive good abilities. They must never have watched isekai anime to know what can happen. I’ve seen both light and dark isekai anime, so I have an idea of how we might be treated here.

I kept thinking whether we’d really return to our world or not. I suspect the king is deceiving us.

I hope we can learn new abilities because having only one ability is terrible.

Also, this whole thing about status and levels feels just like a game.

– Don’t you guys think this seems like an RPG system?

– I’ve never played RPG games – said Yukiko.

It can’t be that none of these three know about games.

– Masahiko and Ayano, have you also never played any games with a leveling system? – I asked, very worried – Araya.

– I’ve played a few times when my younger brother asked me for help. So I understand the situation a little. Like, we have to kill monsters to level up – said Masahiko.

Phew, I sighed with relief. Now I looked at Ayano.

– I’ve played a few times when I skipped classes. It’s a pretty fun system to play, I liked trading items with others – said Ayano.

It seems Yukiko was the only one who didn’t understand how the system worked.

– You’re all bragging, but I was the first to discover the status icon. So even without gaming experience, we can say I’m the smartest – said Yukiko, confident and proud.

This girl really loves being the center of attention, but something doesn’t feel right here.

– Hey Yukiko, how did you notice the icon so quickly? – Araya.

Yukiko looked at us with an expression as if she couldn’t understand how her companions hadn’t noticed.

– My father owns a company that works with VR products. Sometimes he brings some VR products home for me and my brother to test – said Yukiko.

We were shocked to learn that Yukiko was the daughter of someone so important. Ayano asked for her father’s name.

– His name is Nakamura Masayoshi – replied Yukiko.

I was stunned.

– Nakamura Masayoshi? That Nakamura Masayoshi, the owner of SubaV? – I asked, excited.

– Yes – answered Yukiko.

SubaV is one of the biggest virtual reality companies in Japan. They make games and programs specialized in VR. Now I understand why this girl loves being the center of attention: she must be very spoiled.

– Thanks to Yukiko’s information, I realized something. We all came from the same reality.

– But could one of us be from a different reality? – said Masahiko, confused.

– Yes.

This idiot has never watched a single isekai anime to know that can happen?

– But do you think the way we ended up here is the same for all of us? – said Yukiko.

I, Masahiko, and Ayano grew thoughtful at her question. Yukiko was about to speak again, but Masahiko interrupted her.

– My group and I caught a nerd who didn’t want to help us with homework. We started beating him up. The police showed up. I attacked the officers, and one of them hit me on the head with a baton. I fainted, and when I woke up, I was in this world – said Masahiko, smiling.

This bastard tells a story like that all happy. Honestly, you didn’t even deserve to come here. But since that beating wasn’t on me, maybe we can still be allies.

– Surely the nerd let you fail because he couldn’t stand your bullying. I don’t know who’s dumber, you or the nerd – said Yukiko with a snobbish tone.

Masahiko glared at her.

– Now it’s my turn. I was going to a party at night. I was getting my clothes ready but couldn’t find the dress I had just bought. I ran downstairs and ended up tripping. I fell down the stairs and fainted. When I woke up, I was already here – said Yukiko.

For someone who thinks she’s smart, that was really stupid. What a pathetic way to end up here. Masahiko started laughing at her. Honestly, he wasn’t wrong. If she hadn’t mocked him, none of this would have happened.

– You said my way here was pathetic, but yours was even worse – said Masahiko, laughing loudly.

Yukiko blushed and stayed quiet.

– My way was also kind of pathetic, but I’ll tell it – said Ayano.

You don’t have a choice. Do you think you’ll be the only one not telling your story?

– I skipped university classes to meet with three guys. We agreed to go together to a motel. When we got there, I started feeling anxious and fainted. I probably died of anxiety – said Ayano, telling her story in an ironic tone.

I couldn’t believe what I just heard. I thought she was only a delinquent and an alcoholic, but she goes beyond that. She’s also a prostitute working for free. She looked at me and Masahiko.

– If you two want, we can do something together someday – said Ayano.

Masahiko smiled. This guy definitely chases after any pretty skirt. Everyone looked at me. It seemed to be my turn. I bet those idiots would be surprised that my way of arriving in this world wasn’t horrible.

– From what I remember, I had bought a cheap light novel. I started reading it at home, thought it was bad, and then there was a page asking if I wanted to go to another world. All I had to do was turn the page. That was it – said Araya.

Suddenly, everyone looked at me with disgust.

Don’t tell me these idiots wanted me to have come here in some tragic way?

Do they think I chose to come here?

I thought it was a prank, so I turned the page.

– Seems like you didn’t like the way I ended up here, but it wasn’t intentional. What I mean is, we need to ally ourselves to become stronger together – said Araya.

Everyone reflected and agreed with my thought. It looks like these people aren’t as dumb as they seemed. One of the king’s servants knocked at the door. Yukiko opened it. Apparently, he had brought us dinner.

The food was delicious. We loved it. After that, we went to bed.

Tomorrow, my first adventure in this world begins.