Chapter 2

I looked around the room, but Ria, who had been with me until a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a young man was standing there.

How should I put it…? He was transcendentally handsome. And not just “ordinary” handsome.

I’m not sure how to describe it… it wasn’t just his face… yes! He had an air of nobility. You could almost call it divine.

He looked to be about the same age as me, but he seemed far more composed. This man was staring intently at me.

“Hello there.”

Even the handsome guy’s voice was beautiful.

“Ah, hello.”

I felt incredibly nervous.

“Is it possible for the Phoenix to take human form these days?”

Huh?

This guy is good-looking, but he’s talking nonsense.

“Um… I don’t really understand what you mean by that.”

“Hmm. Are you saying you are not the Phoenix?”

The Phoenix… he meant the creature, right?

In Japanese, we’d call it the “fushichou” (undying bird) or “hi no tori” (firebird). Or was he talking about the name of a company or an organization?

“Uh, by Phoenix, do you mean the creature from stories?”

“Stories… yes. I am referring to the being recognized as a type of so-called phantom beast.”

So he did mean that kind of Phoenix.

Then why would I be a Phoenix?

My face doesn’t look like a bird at all, does it?

If anything, I’ve been told I have a dog-like face. People often say I look like a Golden Retriever.

…Much to my chagrin.

“No, I’m just an ordinary human.”

“Is that so… It seems there has been some sort of mistake. This is quite troubling.”

No, I’m the one who’s troubled by being brought to this incomprehensible place!

“Excuse me…”

“Yes, what is it?”

“May I ask a question?”

“Go ahead.”

I decided to throw out the question that had been bugging me the most.

“Where exactly am I?”

“This room is the space between worlds, created by the God of Space-Time.”

Okay, I have no idea what that means.

“You don’t seem to understand. This is a place situated in the gap between the world you originally came from and the world you were just in.”

Does that mean… I was in another world until just now?!

That explains why that spider was so huge. And Ria was a person from another world! She wasn’t just a foreigner doing cosplay.

“W-Will I be able to return to my original world?”

I had to confirm the most important thing first.

“Of course. A summoned beast returns to its rightful place once its contract is fulfilled, or if a contract fails to be established.”

Thank goodness.

I can go home… Wait, “summoned beast”?

Hold on a second!

Am I the summoned beast?

“Um, based on what you just said, it sounds as if I am a summoned beast.”

“Yes. About that… it appears there was a bit of a mistake.”

You’re saying I was summoned by mistake?

“That’s a real problem. I’m a normal human being.”

“Yes. I truly apologize for the inconvenience. However… the truth is, you have already been granted a Skill as a divine blessing.”

“A Skill?”

“In this context, we could call it a special power. Some refer to it as a ‘Gift’.”

I hadn’t noticed that at all.

What kind of Skill is it?

Wait!

Could this be the “cheat” I’ve heard rumors about?

The strongest human in existence?

An all-powerful mage?

Thinking about the possibilities, I suddenly felt a rush of excitement.

Maybe I’d been granted some broken ‘cheat’ power just like a light novel protagonist. I tried to soothe my racing heart as I forced myself to stay cool and ask the question.

“Wh-What kind of Skill was I given?”

“Courage x6.”

“Huh?”

Wait… what?

“Courage x6,” the handsome man repeated without a hint of hesitation.

“What exactly is… Courage x6?”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. It is a Skill that multiplies your courage by six.”

Come to think of it, that did ring a bell. It happened when I saved Ria from the giant spider. Not to brag, but I’m normally quite the coward. Looking back, there’s no way the usual me could have taken such brave action.

But isn’t “six times” a bit of an awkward number?

Shouldn’t courage be multiplied by at least a hundred?!

No, wait—even if I have courage, it won’t mean a thing if I don’t have the actual strength to back it up.

“To be honest, the one who was supposed to be summoned was a fledgling Phoenix—one with great potential but a timid heart. That young Phoenix was meant to receive the divine blessing of ‘Courage x6’ and grow into a fine summoned beast by facing hardships… but well.”

What kind of heartwarming, fairy-tale setting was that?

Well, it had nothing to do with me. I’d just return the Skill and go home.

“I see. I understand perfectly. In that case, I’ll return this Skill to you, so you can just summon the Phoenix again.”

“The thing is… truth be told, once a divine blessing is granted, it cannot be easily removed. If I were to force it out, your very existence might vanish. Your name is… Mr. Kota Hinoharu? Tell me, Mr. Hinoharu, would you like to try being a summoned beast?”

Say what?

What is this handsome guy even talking about?

Even if a cute girl asked me, I couldn’t agree to that.

“Like I said—I’m a normal human. Being summoned by someone to fight monsters like in a game is absolutely impossible for me.”

“Summoning doesn’t necessarily involve combat. Depending on the situation, it could just be helping someone who is short-handed, or something of that level.”

Well, I suppose I could manage helping out.

But there was absolutely no merit in it for me.

“In the first place, even if I’m summoned, I won’t understand the language.”

“I see. Then, by my authority, I shall grant you the ‘Linguistic Proficiency (Intermediate)’ Skill.”

“Look, I have a life of my own back home. Being a volunteer summoned beast is a bit much…”

“Oh, there are merits for you. For example, the Linguistic Proficiency Skill you’ll receive won’t just let you understand the languages of the other world. It grants you the ability to master every language in your own world as if they were your mother tongue.”

Does that mean… if I become a summoned beast, I won’t have to stress over English emails from clients anymore?!

On top of that, I wouldn’t need to hire local interpreters. If I could close deals smoothly… I might even get promoted!

No, no, wait.

Calm down, me.

Another world sounds like it would be packed with danger. I literally just saw a giant spider a few minutes ago.

“Um, what is the level of civilization in the other world?”

I figured I should ask as much as I could while I had the chance.

“It varies entirely by region. The environments are different, so a direct comparison is impossible.”

That’s a problem. I didn’t want to go anywhere with a barbaric culture.

“Well then…”

And so, my negotiations with the handsome man began. Normally, I might have been intimidated just by how good-looking he was. But perhaps because I already had the Courage x6 Skill, I was able to negotiate quite stubbornly.

It might look useless at a glance, but it’s actually a surprisingly helpful Skill. At this rate, even door-to-door sales wouldn’t scare me.

As a result of the negotiations, I secured the following promises in exchange for becoming a summoned beast:

1. One Skill will be granted each time I am summoned (random).
2. The “Linguistic Proficiency (Intermediate)” Skill is granted for free.
3. The “Spatial Storage (Small)” Skill is lent for free.
4. An exchange machine for local currency and Earth currency will be placed in this small room (the gap between worlds).

“Really, you leave me no choice…”

The handsome man waved his hand, and a machine of some sort appeared. It looked like a “Card-das”¹ from my childhood. The kind where you put in a 100-yen coin and turn the crank to get a card.

“Every time you are summoned, you may pull exactly one Skill Card.”

Oh, hell yes!

With this, I can become a “cheat” hero.

Wait, a summoned beast?!

“However, the Skill is only officially bestowed once you have fulfilled your contract with the summoner. If the contract ends in failure or if no contract is established, the Skill will be voided.”

So I have to actually fulfill the summoner’s wish to keep the Skill.

“Is that all? Are we clear?”

“Yes. No problem.”

“Then please return to your original world. If you leave through that door, you can return to your original time and space.”

When I went to the other world, I had passed through a blue door, but the one he pointed to now was a dull red. I placed my hand on the doorknob as instructed, and I was back in the mountains just as I had been when I arrived.

The blinding ultraviolet light stole my vision. I put my sunglasses back on to prevent snow blindness.

I made it back safely.

But was all that actually real?

I tried using the Spatial Storage Skill, and a small space about the size of a coin locker appeared in thin air where nothing should have been. It seemed I really had become a summoned beast.

Still, was this the right choice?

I’d been lured into becoming a summoned beast by the promise of convenient Skills, but it wasn’t just because I wanted to be popular or get promoted. What ultimately pushed me to accept was a single remark from that handsome man.

“Mr. Hinoharu, you have a problem weighing on your mind, don’t you? The Skills you gain from now on might even be able to solve it.”

I think he saw right through my worries about my marriage.

That handsome jerk!

I thought he was an angel or something, but he might actually be a devil.

I no longer felt like climbing that day, so I decided to head straight home.