“So basically, for some unknown reason, an ‘Appraisal’ skill started activating on its own since this morning… is that what you’re saying?”
Just as I was about to head home, Meiko stopped me, and before I knew it, I found myself forced to answer her questions.
Well, considering the phone call earlier that morning, the accidental reveal of her kunoichi identity, and the things I’d just said to Taketsuru, I supposed it was only natural for her to find me suspicious.
Personally, I believed my performance as an ordinary person had been flawless.
But with Meiko’s absurdly sharp instincts, it made sense that she alone had seen through me.
That said—
“Meiko. It’s not an ‘Appraisal’ skill. It’s a hallucination. You’re the one who said normal people don’t suddenly awaken appraisal skills, remember?”
“Yeah, but normal people don’t see hallucinations either…”
“…What did you just say?”
Then that meant—
if I was seeing hallucinations, I wasn’t normal after all?
I thought this was still preferable to suddenly sprouting an appraisal skill…
Ah.
An identity crisis.
“Then the only solution is to gouge my eyes out so I stop seeing them—”
“Wha—!? THAT insane level of commitment is exactly what makes you abnormal! Stop that immediately!!”
Even the option of gouging out my eyes had been denied.
Which meant I had no choice but to continue living alongside these hallucinations forever.
What a horrifying fate.
“I mean, who even cares!?” Meiko burst out. “An ‘Appraisal’ skill is the kind of broken cheat ability every isekai world would kill to have! You should just be happy about it!”
“What are you talking about?” I replied calmly. “Appraisal skills aren’t supposed to exist in this world, yet you’re claiming it’s ‘normal’ to be happy after getting one. Where exactly is the universal standard of ‘normal’ in that logic? More importantly, shouldn’t it be considered abnormal to celebrate a mysterious ability that appeared without warning, whose origin is unknown, whose side effects are unknown, and which might disappear at any time despite me doing absolutely nothing to earn it? It’s a hallucination, you know?”
“Ugh, you’re such a pain…” Meiko groaned. “Just trust me on this one. I guarantee it. A normal person would be happy.”
“…Understood.”
True.
I had already decided that when it came to things I didn’t understand about “normal,” I would trust Meiko’s judgment.
Getting an Appraisal skill itself might not be normal—
but perhaps reacting positively to it was the normal part I needed to imitate.
Yaaay.
Hooray.
“Anyway… I’m still only half-convinced. Can you seriously see stuff like that?”
“Not voluntarily,” I answered. “Information just appears on its own whenever it feels like it.”
Once the ridiculous exchange finally ended, Meiko leaned in closer and pressed further.
If I could simply switch this thing on and off at will, then I could’ve left it permanently disabled and continued living as an ordinary person.
The fact that I couldn’t do that was exactly the problem.
“Then as a test, tell me something you can see.”
“Hm… let’s see.”
I glanced around the area, searching for another hallucination to pop up.
A passing male student happened to wander into view.
And immediately, text appeared before my eyes.
──────
“Ashihara Kakeru”
Age: 20
Middle school title: †Rending Slash Emperor†
──────
“That guy’s name is Ashihara Kakeru, and apparently he used to be called ‘†Rending Slash Emperor†’ back in middle school.”
“…Ignoring the nickname, the name’s correct.”
“Hm? You know him?”
“No, I’ve just memorized every student in the university.”
Please stop casually saying ninja-like things like that.
Even I understood that wasn’t normal.
After all, ordinary people didn’t have access to complete student rosters.
…Wait.
Would ninja actually have access to that stuff?
Had this girl completely stopped trying to hide things because she assumed I’d already figured her out?
“So then,” Meiko said slowly, “everything you said earlier was true?”
“Earlier…? You mean the Taketsuru-going-to-another-world issue?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Well, according to the hallucination, yes. Taketsuru is apparently going to another world.”
To be honest, I still doubted the hallucinations themselves.
Being told to suddenly trust visions that started appearing out of nowhere this very morning was unreasonable.
But if they were real, then the ones who would suffer were Taketsuru—
and me.
Taketsuru disappearing would reduce the normalcy of my life.
No matter how unreliable these hallucinations seemed, it was still better to prepare for them and later laugh, “Nothing happened after all!” than to ignore them completely and end up facing a tragedy.
It was, in fact, a very serious matter.
Unfortunately, Meiko seemed to interpret the entire “Taketsuru Otherworld Crisis” from a completely different angle.
“T-That’s not fair!!” she cried. “I wanna go to another world too! Why does Taketsuru-kun get picked!?”
“Don’t ask me. What do you think, hallucination?”
──────
“Nekoyanagi Meiko”
Otherworld Compatibility: None
──────
“It says you have no compatibility with other worlds.”
“WHYYY!?” Meiko shouted in outrage. “I totally have otherworld compatibility! I’d thrive over there! I could dominate an entire isekai setting! You could write a whole novel about an isekai kunoichi!!”
“Again, not my problem.”
I knew absolutely nothing about the logistics behind interdimensional summoning.
If the hallucination said no, then she should quietly give up.
Besides, I was pretty sure “isekai kunoichi” stories already existed somewhere anyway.
More importantly—
there was a far more fundamental issue here, you stupid dog.
“Meiko. You’re my ‘childhood friend.’ So if you suddenly ran off to another world, that would be a serious problem for me. Stay properly by my side. Understood?”
“Ah… y-yes…”
The moment I demanded fulfillment of our contract, Meiko’s ears turned slightly red.
Hm.
“Uh… I think in situations like this, the correct response is… ‘What’s wrong, Meiko? Your face is red. Do you have a fever?’”
“I told you not to use those cliché templates on me…” she muttered weakly. “And using it in THIS context just makes you sound emotionally broken. Stop making dramatic faces out of nowhere.”
Apparently, while the terminology had been correct, my usage had been wrong.
Well, since Meiko herself was the one who created my “Collection of Normal Reactions for Difficult Situations,” I should probably listen carefully to the instructor’s corrections.
“So anyway,” Meiko said after clearing her throat, “what’s happening with Taketsuru-kun right now?”
“At this rate, apparently he’s going to die because of romantic complications.”
“Then what the hell was that entire strategy meeting earlier for!?”
Meiko was angry for exactly the same reason I was.
But forgive me.
I only learned about this after the fact too.
“Still… romantic complications, huh…” Meiko muttered, suddenly sounding troubled. “That might actually be kind of complicated.”
“? Do you know something?”
Personally, I had assumed the solution was simple.
Tomorrow, I’d just hand Taketsuru a guidebook titled Proper Relationships With Women and force him to study it thoroughly.
However, Meiko hesitated awkwardly before answering.
“Well… according to some slightly… questionably legal investigations I conducted, Taketsuru-kun probably has someone he likes.”
She scratched her cheek nervously.
“Like… a one-sided crush that’s lasted over ten years. So I’m thinking maybe that’s what eventually leads to the romantic mess.”
Apparently, the tangled threads of romantic disaster had already begun in this world long before the otherworld summoning ever happened.
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