Yukitaka Goto was pulled into another world by a summoning, and he thought the kingdom would throw him out. But surprise. That didn't happen.
The reason was that, in this world, there were cases where a country was destroyed because it treated a rare person badly, someone from another world, whether they had gotten caught up in a hero summoning or had been called when the summoning failed.
(So the thing about light novel authors being from another world, and that's why they can write isekai stories. Maybe it's actually true...)
Yukitaka Goto let his thoughts drift, knowing that otherworld summonings had been happening since long ago.
Even though he had no skill and was useless, maybe because they considered what might happen, he was treated with respect as "Mr. Goto."
For now, the clothes that made it obvious he was a rare person, the suits and school uniforms and other stuff that stood out in this world, were taken away, and he was made to change into clothes the kingdom had prepared.
The clothes they gave him were made from some kind of special silk thread. They felt great, and more than that, they were apparently light and of the highest rank of durability.
This meant he was being treated as a top-class guest.
Yukitaka was probably just getting leftovers from the group of four high schoolers, but even so, he had no complaints about the treatment so far.
Personally, though, he was anxious, wondering if meeting some condition would make a skill grow, or if leveling up would make some cheat-like power come bursting out.
Honestly, he had no place here.
The four high schoolers each had top-tier skills that anyone could see. Hero, Holy Knight, Saint, Sage. So of course they were respected.
But in Yukitaka's case, he was only being treated politely just in case, so he wouldn't be resented later. It made him want to crawl out of his skin.
"Haa... From my room to my food to my clothes, right now I've got the same stuff as the high schooler group, but I feel like the looks around me are getting colder... Is that just my imagination...?" Yukitaka complained inside his heart.
Yukitaka was the type of person who talked to himself a lot, but he had noticed right away that he could understand the language when he came to this other world.
So, afraid someone might hear him, he kept it inside his head.
Just to be sure, he asked the official in charge of him why the language was the same.
Apparently, rare people could speak this world's language right after being summoned.
It seemed like being summoned gave him some bonuses.
In fact, besides being able to speak, Yukitaka's eyesight had gotten better too.
Thanks to that, he could see without glasses for the first time since middle school.
He had some bonuses from the summoning, but Yukitaka alone had no skill, so you could say he was at a bit of a disadvantage in this world. No, a pretty big one.
This was also something he heard from the official in charge of him. In this world, it was common sense that skills were given equally to everyone by God.
In fact, when you turned sixteen and became an adult, you prayed at the church, and God gave you a skill.
So Yukitaka, who had no skill, was taken alone to the church the day after the summoning, and they tried having him offer a prayer.
The important people of the country hoped maybe he might be given a skill.
But sadly, nothing happened.
It was easy to imagine they were disappointed, but even so, he still wasn't thrown out.
Apparently, there was still plenty of chance a skill could awaken.
In this world, once you were given a skill, you could level up, and by doing that, you could grow or gain new abilities on top of that.
So soon, they said they'd guide him into a dungeon underground to level up, together with the high schooler group.
Why the high schooler group would come for his sake. Well, it was because the Hero skill had an ability from the start that made it easier to raise allies' levels.
In other words, they were being dragged along for his sake, but on the surface, they framed it as powering up the whole hero party.
"They're being way too careful with me... I really feel bad..."
The country was being so careful with Yukitaka that he almost thought being thrown out would be better.
By the way, the country that summoned them was called the Kingdom of Thordein, apparently.
It had been founded a few hundred years ago, and the current king, Ritz Thordein, was a brave man, supposedly.
In other words, it sounded like he loved fighting, but Yukitaka didn't ask the official in charge for details.
Anyway, all he could do was pray that a skill would grow while the people of this country treated him well.
He was looking forward to leveling up in a few days.
"Ohh, th-this is surprising! In just half a day, Mr. Goto's level rose to 99, which is thought to be humanity's maximum! Even if Sir Hero's ability makes it easier to rise, no one in the past has ever risen this easily!" the official in charge said, overjoyed.
The official was thinking Yukitaka's ability was a cheat that made levels rise easily.
But that was a hasty conclusion.
Normally, people who had skills received experience points with the skill included, so it was just harder for them to rise.
In other words, Yukitaka, who had no skill, just had the experience points that would have been used by a skill go straight into raising his own level.
Ten minutes later, a priest who had been called in a hurry used a precious Appraisal Crystal to appraise him.
But against Yukitaka's MAX level, the result was just a slight increase in physical ability.
"...I'm really sorry," Yukitaka could only say, apologizing to the official in charge, who couldn't hide his shock.
"N-no. Mr. Goto, please don't give up yet. In this world, there are many cases of people getting cheat skills through all sorts of methods..," the official said, though his face was twitching.
Among the many methods, leveling up was the biggest success story. He'd heard that before they started, so that was probably why.
The story of someone with a skill who never leveled up, mocked as a "useless level 1," thrown out, then reached level 2, and the country that threw him out was destroyed by him.
There was also someone who, after rising to MAX level, went back to level 1 and became super strong all at once.
He told Yukitaka all sorts of stories, but every single one of them was about someone who had a skill nobody understood.
None of them applied to Yukitaka, who had no skill, and now that he'd maxed out his level, he understood that very well.
And while the official and Yukitaka were feeling down, the high schooler group was not.
"I leveled up to 1 as a Hero!" Takamiyano Shion, the leader with the Hero skill, bragged to his friends.
"Shion, me too, at 1," Shishidou Leo, who had the Holy Knight skill, answered.
"Looks like everyone's levelled up, I'm afraid. Mine's at 1 as well," Kidouin Sei, the beauty with the Saint skill, also answered after hearing the appraisal results.
"I confirmed with my supervisor earlier that even top-tier skills go from 0 to 1 quickly at first. So it's from here on out," said Shihouji Runa, the honor-student type with the Sage skill, who was the one who reacted coolly.
And Runa glanced at Yukitaka, who was standing apart with a dark look on his face, and said, "It seems some people aren't like that, though."
Nobody had dared to touch on how pathetic Yukitaka was, but her comment amounted to saying he was a hopeless old man.
"He probably got caught up when we were summoned, right?" Leo said. "It's sad, but that's reality."
"Level 99 means he can't go up anymore, right? If he can't go up from that strength, there's no dream or hope for him..."
Each of them looked at Yukitaka with pity.
Yukitaka couldn't stand those looks, so he left the room.
"I really have no place... And the only thing I got from maxing out my level is that my athletic ability got a bit better... Even so, without a skill, I'm still below everyone else, it seems..."
Yukitaka sighed and muttered inside, then lay down on his bed.
And he thought maybe he should be ready to leave this castle before he got thrown out.
Trivia:
- The kingdom's fear of mistreating rare people comes from real history in this world - countries that treated summoned people badly were destroyed, which is the only reason Yukitaka isn't thrown out immediately.
- Yukitaka's level shot to 99 because he has no skill to absorb experience points - the very thing that makes him worthless is also what made his level rise so fast, meaning his "cheat" was actually just a side effect of being empty.
- The official's story about someone who hit MAX level then dropped back to level 1 and became super strong hints at a possible path forward, but it requires having a skill nobody understands - which Yukitaka doesn't have, so the hope is hollow.
Notes:
• Yukitaka - First given name of Yukitaka Goto. He is a twenty-five-year-old salaryman summoned to another world without receiving a skill, who maxed out his level at 99 in half a day without gaining meaningful power, spent about three months at the royal palace before being pushed toward the frontier, and discovered that his black-rimmed glasses let him appraise objects.
• Goto - First given name of Yukitaka Goto. He is a twenty-five-year-old salaryman summoned to another world without receiving a skill, who maxed out his level at 99 in half a day without gaining meaningful power, spent about three months at the royal palace before being pushed toward the frontier, and discovered that his black-rimmed glasses let him appraise objects.
• Takamiyano - Family name of Takamiyano Shion. He is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Hero, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a tall, slender, model-like build, whose Hero skill helps allies level up more easily, prompting him to bring his group along for Yukitaka's leveling, and who speaks politely but with disappointment.
• Shion - First given name of Takamiyano Shion. He is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Hero, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a tall, slender, model-like build, whose Hero skill helps allies level up more easily, prompting him to bring his group along for Yukitaka's leveling, and who speaks politely but with disappointment.
• Shishidou - Family name of Shishidou Leo. He is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Holy Knight, with short orange hair, orange eyes, and a tall, athletic build, who reached level 1 alongside the other members of Shion's group and speaks roughly and contemptuously.
• Leo - First given name of Shishidou Leo. He is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Holy Knight, with short orange hair, orange eyes, and a tall, athletic build, who reached level 1 alongside the other members of Shion's group and speaks roughly and contemptuously.
• Kidouin - Family name of Kidouin Sei. She is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Saint, with long blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a striking figure, and a working model who leveled up alongside Yukitaka and confirmed that the others had also reached level 1.
• Sei - First given name of Kidouin Sei. She is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Saint, with long blonde hair, light blue eyes, and a striking figure, and a working model who leveled up alongside Yukitaka and confirmed that the others had also reached level 1.
• Shihouji - Family name of Shihouji Runa. She is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Sage, with long black hair, black eyes, a serious-looking face, and a good figure, as well as the daughter of a major company president, and she remains cool and analytical while explaining that even top-tier skills initially rise quickly from level 0 to 1.
• Runa - First given name of Shihouji Runa. She is a seventeen-year-old high school student recognized as the Sage, with long black hair, black eyes, a serious-looking face, and a good figure, as well as the daughter of a major company president, and she remains cool and analytical while explaining that even top-tier skills initially rise quickly from level 0 to 1.