A/N: ※ The point of view changes.
Side Story (Kanon) 1
“Chief~ Cheer up ~ssu.”
“We shall stake our lives in order to protect you, master!”
The strange-looking monsters ― a goblin and a kobold console me as I’m feeling down.
Even the slime, who looks like nothing but a tranquil pool of water, tries to encourage me by making its body tremble.
“Woof! Woof!”
A wolf licks my cheek, directing a gentle look at me.
Currently I’m in a dilapidated house deep inside the forest.
The ones around me are a group of monsters who are recognized as enemies by the humans.
That day, when I received a mail on my smartphone.
―It was the day I became a Demon King.
◆
The 63rd day after I became a Demon King.
I have reached my limit.
Those humans that call themselves heroes have annihilated my strongest forces ― fully equipped kobolds.
Yesterday, another Domain in the same city was liberated.
Because that Domain was located in the central part of the city, it was apparently given priority as their target.
The liberation of a Domain ― that meant the death of its Demon King.
At this rate, my Domain will also be liberated in the near future.
―That would mean my death.
No, no, no…I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die…
I’m being crushed by anxiety.
This world is overflowing with absurdity.
Before I became a Demon King ― when I was still a human, absurdity flooded the world.
And even after I became a Demon King ― absurdity still flooded the world, as expected.
It’s ridiculous… It’s absurd… Why are the invading humans growing by the day? Once they know their power is lacking, humans grow by defeating monsters, earning experience and leveling up quickly.
But, a Demon King isn’t allowed such freedom.
【Chaos】 that loves freedom and chaos? Don’t make me laugh! There’s no freedom!
The only path a Demon King can take in order to grow, is by killing the invading humans.
It’s truly absurd.
My strength remains the same. But, the strength of the invaders grows daily.
At this rate it’s plain as day that my Domain will be liberated sooner or later.
Do I really have no other choice but to die like that? No! I want to live!
I mobilize all the knowledge I have acquired until now, groping for a means to survive.
And then I arrived at the sole path that will allow me to live on.
◇
Year 20XX
That day, when the world faced its ruin.
I ― Sonozaki Kanon, walked along on my school route while gazing at the same unchanging scenery as always.
With the finals having just finished, my classmates, who pass me on the way have fun conversations with their friends while smiling cheerfully.
A certain classmate is talking about his summer vacation plans.
A certain classmate is talking about the result of the finals while preparing to study for next year’s exams.
Male and female students – while they enjoy their high school lives, in the midst of their springtime of life, I walked towards the school all by myself.
Since my childhood I have had an extreme fear towards strangers. I was bad at physical exercise. And I was also bad at getting in contact with others.
I think I had some who I could call friends back when I still went to kindergarten.
Even during the lower grades of elementary school, I had very few friends.
Around the time I entered the middle grades of elementary school, I didn’t have any friends left anymore.
Unable to successfully blend into the community uniquely created by children, I gradually got isolated.
Children are cruel. After all they are able to calmly treat another person with spite in their face.
I believed that I was hated by the classmates around me because I was dumb. So I studied frantically. Since elementary and middle school are compulsory, I had no choice but to give up, but I could choose the high school by myself. If I keep studying, I will be able to choose a high school with a high educational level. If I do that, I can part with the stupid classmates. That’s what I believed.
And then, I managed to enroll in the finest top-tier high school of the city.
What awaited me there was no dreamy high-school life, but more solitude, no different from my time in elementary and middle school.
People are cruel. When people gather and form a group, it will always create outsiders.
I, who was bad at getting in contact with others from the very start, became an alien element and was isolated.
Being alone, I took refuge in books.
Books are wonderful. They grant me another life.
Soon I became used to being alone.
One day, when I had finally taken such philosophical view on high school life ― all humans on the planet received a single mail.
―『World Salvation Project』
That ridiculous mail altered my life completely.
As a result of taking the aptitude examination as recommended by the government ― I was classified as 【Chaos】 and became a Demon King.
Side Story (Kanon) 2
All that I had left after becoming a Demon King was a Domain with a size of 6 km² and my smartphone, which had an app called 『World Salvation Project』 installed on it.
Umm…what should I do now?
My room at home. I sit down on my bed that was imbued with my scent and operate the smartphone.
Is there no user’s manual…?
I love reading user’s manuals. Even though there were some people complaining “Eh? You are seriously going to read something so bulky? You an idiot?”…ouch.
A pain travels through my head.
Huh? The one who said that was…oooouuch.
No good, I can’t remember. When I try to do so, I’m assaulted by a terrible headache.
This is…that girl mentioned it…it’s the effect of certain memories having been erased from people all over the world, isn’t it?
Giving up on remembering, I once again nostalgically think about user manuals.
Instructions…I wonder, is there none for this app?
Due to my usual habit, I type 『World Salvation Project』 into the search bar of my smartphone.
The results were only articles that seemed to be related to religion.
Mmh~ There’s none, is there? Although there are many cases where even old appliances have their manual converted into PDFs by the maker and uploaded to the Internet, it looks like there’s no manual for the 『World Salvation Project』.
I don’t really like operating things by intuition though…
Still grumbling, I tap the 『World Salvation Project』 app displayed on the screen.
『【World Salvation Projection】 Start☆ – Let’s first get to know your status. 【Status】』
I tap 【Status】.
Name: Kanon
Aptitude: Chaos
Race: Demon King
Lv.: 1
CP: 100
Body: E
Mana: E
Knowledge: E
Creation: E
Alchemy: E
BP: 10
Special Abilities:
– Demon King
– Domain Creation
– Subordinate Creation
– Item Creation
– Instant Memory
Status 1? The meaning is social status or position, wasn’t it?
But, its usage is slightly different here, right?
Oh!? It’s one of those! During middle school I didn’t have enough pocket money, but…I wanted to read books no matter what, and thus sometimes, I tried looking through free web novel sites…game-like isekai stories…umm, what was the title again? I think it was Genesis Online? Status was mentioned in that novel.
It’s fairly different from the status appearing in that novel, but the concept should be the same.
I finished briefly scanning through the status, and so I operate the smartphone, once I do—
『A Demon King’s A-B-C☆
A! Let’s first spend BP to strengthen your abilities!
B! Next, create your Domain and finish it up to your liking!
C! Finally, let’s create subordinates to protect your Domain!
All done! Save the world while struggling through violent battles!』
Lines, which make me remember the girl’s voice in my head, are displayed on the screen.
Is this her idea of a manual?
Isn’t this far too crude? Even the manuals of overseas products are more detailed.
While feeling a light anger welling up within me, I operate the smartphone.
Thereupon icons labeled with 【Status】, 【Domain】, 【Belongings】, 【Subordinates】, 【Domain Creation】, 【Subordinate Creation】, 【Item Creation】, 【BP Assignment】 and 【Special】 are displayed on the screen.
Each and every entry is an enigma. Manual! Please give me a manual!
For the time being I first tap the entry called 【Special】 which caught my attention.
『Special Service☆! Whatever it might be, you will receive an answer to one question.』
The long-awaited manual…not?
One…only one?
Please give me a manual! ← This is no question, right?
Where is the manual? An answer such as 『There’s none』 or something along that line is likely to be answered in return, right?
I was troubled. The things I want to ask can’t be sorted out with just one question. I want to know everything.
Even if I ask a half-baked question, it will only give birth to new questions, won’t it?
Hmm…hmmm…『World Salvation Project』 was it…?
Ah!?
I stumble upon a big doubt of mine.
I operate my smartphone and enter the question.
―『Is there any need to save this world?』
In the first place, the reason why it has reached its downfall is almost entirely humanity’s fault.
Is there any necessity to save ― such an absurd world, a world that was created by irrational humans?
A short time later a reply appeared on the smartphone’s screen.
『Marvelous! It’s the best question! As a bonus, you get 10 BP.』
…Eh?
What’s this…?
And then, the answer to my question is shown on the screen.
『Is there any need to save this broken world…? Please make sure of that with your own eyes. It is fine. Your aptitude for 【Chaos】 is of the highest level. If it’s you, then you will likely be able to confirm it. And then, please decide for yourself, whether to save or destroy this broken world』
Sidestepping the main point of the question? In the end the answer to the question has been tossed back to me to find out for myself, hasn’t it?
My question was answered with an irresponsible reply.
◆
First of all, what am I going to do?
For now, let’s follow the 『A Demon King’s A-B-C☆』 which is far too childish to be named manual.
According to my empiric rules, following manuals at all places and times for every matter produces great results. A manual is an end product that showed the best possible solutions based on intelligence and multiple layers of experience.
Having said that, I guess I should assign my BP?
I’m in a bind…what’s the best way to assign them?
Body, Mana, Knowledge, Creation, Alchemy; all of them feel like they are important.
For now I will assign one to each and after checking what changed, allotting BP to a useful entry will be fine, I think?
Starting from the top, I assigned one BP to each entry.
――?
Nothing happened on the status screen. Or to be precise, one thing did change: BP.
The 20 BP which I initially had, has decreased to 15 BP.
In other words, the BP have been allocated, right?
Trying to assign one BP each once more, starting from the top, I tap the Body entry.
Oh!?
My BP decreased from 15 to 14, and the value for Body went from E to D.
And then, I sense a change in my body.
What would be the best way to describe it, I wonder…? It became…lighter? It’s overflowing with power? My body is filled with so much strength that I feel like I would not run out of breath even after running around the whole schoolyard once, if it’s the current me.
This is the change of Body?
Next I tap the Mana entry.
My BP decreases from 14 to 13, and the value for Mana goes from E to D. Moreover, 【Earth Javelin】 was added in the special ability field.
…Magic?
I have never heard a term like 【Earth Javelin】. Of course I have never used magic either. But, for some reason I can instinctively understand how 【Earth Javelin】 is used.
I look outside the window and focus my consciousness on an empty road.
Then, I hold out my right hand and chant,
―Earth Javelin!
The ground trembles at the target point where I focus my consciousness on, and a pointed cluster of earth protrudes out of the ground.
“W-W-Wha-!?”
Once the cloud of dust settled down, I could see fragments of the tragically destroyed asphalt scattered all over.
This is the effect of promoting Mana?
If possible, a more gorgeous magic would really be great…uh, then again, I guess the earth attribute suits the plain me…ahaha…
I let out a masochistic, dry laughter in my room.
Umm, next is Knowledge, right?
I tap the 【Knowledge】 entry.
My BP decreases from 13 to 12, and the value for Knowledge rises from E to D.
――!?
I’m overjoyed by the phenomenon that occurred to me.
So there was a manual!
The instant Knowledge changed from E to D, countless information flowed into my head.
Not digital or printed media, but directly downloading it into my head. It’s a rough way to do it, but…a manual certainly existed.
I suddenly understood various things.
As if knowing that the result from 1 + 1 is two, or as if knowing that the boiling point of water is 100°C, or as if knowing that the Kamakura shogunate was established in 1185…I obtained various information about the 『World Salvation Project』 as if I had studied it beforehand.
The Body stat is a value that influenced physical strength, endurance, agility, and reflex. The Knowledge stat is a value representing the depth of one’s knowledge. Also, if Knowledge grows, you become capable of understanding the language of various races. Slime is a rank F monster. It consists of the remains of low-ranking monsters. It can manipulate a dissolving liquid that’s capable of burning skin. It’s strong against physical attacks, and weak against magic. To make a status value grow from E to D, 2 BP are necessary. To make it grow from D to C, 5 BP are necessary. To make it grow from C to B…huh? It seems I don’t know this?
There are things I don’t know all over the place, but I gained information about monsters which I have never seen or heard of.
In other words, Knowledge is a manual?
I’m seriously troubled whether I should allocate all my BP into Knowledge.
I have 12 BP left. I will assign one BP to Creation and Alchemy each.
Otherwise, the BP, which I had already allocated to Creation and Alchemy, would be wasted.
I invested one BP into Creation and Alchemy each, and then assigned 5 BP to Knowledge.
As a result, Creation and Alchemy went up from E to D, and Knowledge from D to C, resulting in me being able to obtain even more information.
Thanks to the newly gained information, I understood that 10 BP are needed to make a stat grow from C to B.
I have 5 BP left. And I can gain 5 BP by leveling up.
In short, once I rise to level 2, my Knowledge will go up to B.
In a state of pitch-black darkness where I knew nothing, I discovered a single ray of light.
―At this time, I did not know of the consequences that would be brought about by this choice.
Name: Kanon
Aptitude: Chaos
Race: Demon King
Lv.: 1
CP: 100
Body: D
Mana: D
Knowledge: C
Creation: D
Alchemy: D
BP: 5
Special Abilities:
– Demon King
– Domain Creation
– Subordinate Creation
– Item Creation
– Instant Memory
– Earth Javelin
– Language (Subrace A)
– Language (Subrace B)
– Language
– Telepathic Communication
– Telepathic Communication (Animals)
Translation Notes:
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