Chapter 113.1

113 Part 1

Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 113

Arc 5 – Prologue

[Flying] Reporting on Mr. Masked Man’s appearance 1 [And Vanishing]

1　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

This is an adventuring report of the Masked Man who makes frequent appearances in northern Japan

He seems to be a bit different each time that he is sighted

So let’s talk about the different forms of the Masked Man.

※ People who come here to disrespect on Mr. Masked Man will be banned

The curse of the mask will surely fall upon those who come here to spam here.

2　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

>> 1 Thanks for posting this

Finally we have this topic lol

3　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

Heyo

Most adventurers didn’t see much of Mr. Masked Man because of the recapture of Shinjuku Station until recently, right?

But these adventurers are returning to their hometowns after the operation to retake Shinjuku Station.

I’m sure most of them would mistake Mr. Masked Man for a monster by now

I know this is a Northern-Japan-local board but I think it’s nice to have a place to make our reports, don’t you think?

4　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

I see

I guess it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think that someone would be taken by surprise upon seeing him and would try to attack him lol

5　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

He’s a good guy despite his looks lol

Even Kagemitsu holds him in high regard

I really understand the desire to avoid accidents

6　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

I’d like to see it just once

His face without the mask

7　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

But you can’t see him if he takes off his mask lol

8　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

For the time being, let’s make a list of all of his features

9　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

・His mask floats in midair

・Feathers grow from his neck

・He carries a wriggling plant with him

・His body is covered with scales

・He has a white face on his back

・He has tentacles coming out of his waist

・A centipede parasitizes his abdomen

・He can split his body in two

・His mask shines ← NEW

10　Name: Anonymous on the lookout for Mr. Masked Man

When you say he can split his body in two, are you referring to THAT?

As usual, he gives me the creeps lol

But wait a moment!

His mask shines now!?

＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

After finishing their business in Asahikawa, Haruki and the others safely returned to K-Town.

Haruki had been away from home for three weeks.

He would normally be relieved to be back home, but this time around, Haruki’s expression was extremely gloomy.

There was but one reason for that.

It was all because of his newly obtained skill.

Karen went to the hotel in order to sort out their baggage.

Haruki also took his baggage home.

He gave Mr. Kitora some of the lamb meat he had obtained in Asahikawa, and got some freshly harvested peppers in return.

“Going through a lot of trouble as usual, aren’t you, Haru?”

“I should be the one saying that.”

Perhaps he was enthusiastic about working in the fields under the scorching sun of midsummer.

Mr. Kitora’s skin was beautifully tanned.

Because of that, his swelling muscles were standing out.

He was over 70 years old, but he didn’t feel old.

Instead, in the summer, his vitality seemed to increase in proportion to the growth of his crops.

Still, there was no energy coming out of Mr. Kitora.

— Maybe that’s because he’s an ordinary person?

Not only Mr. Kitora.

Nature and living things, which were supposed to be overflowing with vitality, showed no signs of having this energy.

Haruki thought that perhaps it was necessary to have a certain level of dungeon experience in order to gain energy.

Once that was done, Haruki headed for the prefab.

“Huuh…!?”

Akane double took Haruki as he came into the prefab.

She seemed extremely surprised. Her eyes were opened wide.

“What did you do this time?”

“…”

“Why is your mask shining!? It looks almost divine!”

“That’s a long, long story…”

Haruki dropped his shoulders.

What Akane was pointing out was a fact.

She said the mask was shining, but it wasn’t actually really shining.

To be more precise, the mask had come to “look shiny.”

Currently, Haruki’s mask had become visible to others as “a divine mask that glows while floating in the air.”

That was due to his new skill, “Divine Energy.”

[Divine Energy: Grants a strong presence]

Haruki thought this meant that it would be the power “to obtain a strong, godly presence”.

His interpretation hadn’t been that far off.

He had certainly obtained a “godly presence”.

However, something unexpected happened.

For some reason, the mask came to look shiny.

Was that because the mask’s presence was too strong? Or maybe because Haruki’s presence was weak…?

Of course, Haruki could suppress the mask’s shining through his own willpower.

However, as soon as he stopped paying enough attention to it, the mask would start to emit light once again.

If he were to get used to it, he would be able to suppress the Divine Energy even when unconscious.

However, while he wasn’t used to it, the mask would suddenly emit light without any logical reason.

The mask would shine when he was relaxed, and it would start blinking when he was disturbed.

When he thought he had a good grip on the skill, only his eyes would shine, and if he were to put too much effort into controlling it, the hairs on the mask would stand on end, almost resembling a halo.

At any rate, his Divine Energy was too dangerous to be used in front of others.

Even Haruki, who wanted to have a strong presence, couldn’t accept the mask’s shining effect.

— It’s all wrong.

— That was not what I was looking for!!

No matter how many times he tried to deny it, the skill’s nature wouldn’t change.

On top of that, maxing it out wouldn’t make it go back to zero.

It was no use to cry over spilt milk.

He had no choice but to do his best to suppress his Divine Energy.

And then there was yet another unexpected thing that happened.

It was the absolute worst.

Whenever Haruki would take off his mask, no matter how divine it looked, there was no change in Haruki’s presence.

In other words, if the original presence is zero, no matter how much you multiply with Divine Energy…

Even if you multiply zero by 100 million, the result will still be zero.

“Uuuhh!!”

“W-Why are you crying!? Hey! Calm down?”

She must have heard him crying aloud under the mask.

Even though she was confused, Akane tried to comfort Haruki.

Her gentle tone of voice drew more tears out of him.

— And here I was, thinking I would finally get a strong presence!!

Darkness brings out the light, and light brings out the darkness.

In the same way, the mask became brighter.

Leaving Haruki’s own presence behind…