ISEKAI NANPA ~Hitting on Elves, Nekomimi Girls, and Loli Dragons as an Unemployed Hikikomori~

The Dark Tower and the Artificial Spirit

Chapter 1: The Boy of the Tall Tower

Yamada Yuuki woke up from a dream, where he traveled through a chromatic kaleidoscope. He found himself lying in a strange dark room.

“Where the hell am I? Wasn’t I just sorting cardboard boxes at Sugukuru Delivery Center?”

Lying on a squeaky clean floor, Yamada Yuuki looked around. Up, down, left, then right.

It was then when Yuuki realized. Below his body was a heatless light emitting from some magic circle.

“…………?”

The lines of light drawn on the floor were extremely exquisite. Rather than five star points, there seemed to be more like a thousand.

With a pattern forming the shape of a thousand flower pedals, Yuuki was surrounded by this light.

Surrounded, Yuuki tried remembering what happened today.

“…………”

Today was Yuuki’s 35th birthday.

On this day, Yuuki was going to work for the first time in his life.

＊

He left home, followed the instructions of the employment agency, and got on the bus to Sugukuru Delivery Center.

“…………”

Leaving that bus, oddly filled with foreigners, Yuuki headed to the lockers and changed into his work clothes.

Into the office, Yuuki tackled the task of working outside for the first time in his life.

The job was as simple as stacking cardboard boxes in their designated place in accordance to the

delivery slip. Sometimes there were boxes piled on pallets that needed to be wrapped, but it was basically a job anyone could do.

However, Yuuki, was a mess, hitting his limits in anxiety. He kept taking the boxes to the wrong places. He consistently failed at wrapping, and at that, Yuuki was chewed out as an intern.

Every time he was yelled at, Yuuki’s heart and body shrunk.

His social anxiety was extreme. He was born with social skills far below average.

If the average human’s conversational skill was at Level 1, Yuuki’s would be -1000.

Having realized this way early on, Yuuki gave up working outside. After graduating college, he secluded himself in his room and focused on running affiliate sites.

But no matter what he did though, he could not make more than 30,000 yen a month.

Realizing this, Yuuki was already approaching 35 years old.

Realizing this, Yuuki was still surviving on his parent’s allowance.

Before becoming 35, Yuuki made up his mind.

He would go outside and make an honest living.

“…………”

That’s right.

To live means to endure.

To endure and work is living...

Yet, I haven’t endured anything at all.

I lived and lived the easy way.

That’s why, at this age, there’s nothing left.

Money.

Or work.

Or…… a girlfriend……

When Yuuki thought of her, a sharp pain stabbed at his chest.

At the same time, that pain ran through his body.

＊

Being yelled at by his co-workers at Sugukuru Delivery Center, Yuuki’s vision blurred and consciousness level fell.

Piling up cardboard to the point he couldn’t see, a pallet truck passed by.

It was at that moment.

Yuuki lost his physical strength, and his grip strength went to zero. Unexpectedly, the cardboard boxes fell. Stumbling, he fell down diagonally.

There, the cardboard boxes piled high collided with the pallet truck. A collision.

“Ugh……!”

The mountain of cardboard boxes fell onto Yuuki.

Under normal circumstances, cardboard stacked on the pallet would be wrapped. Thanks to that, a slight impact would not cause the mountain of boxes to fall.

Unfortunately, the boxes on that pallet truck were wrapped by newcomer Yuuki. Yuuki, who was mentally in distress, did not wrap the boxes properly.

The loosely wrapped mountain of boxes collapsed onto him.

“Uwaaaahhh!”

Yuuki saw those boxes fly at him like meteors, as he laid collapsed on the concrete floor of the delivery center.

＊

There Yuuki was now, in this strange space.

Light emitted into the room from what seemed to be a magic circle. It was so dark beyond, you couldn’t see a thing.

“…………”

Curiously, Yuuki invested the magic circle on the floor.

There wasn’t LED embedded, nor did it seem to be projection mapping.

“What kind of phenomenon is this?”

Concerned about a world where mysterious powers were present, a voice came from the darkness.

“Oh, summoned one from the upper world. State the power you desire.”

Yuuki heard a voice emitting from the darkness.

“S- S- Summoned one? Me?”

A voice from the darkness returned back.

“Yes. Long awaited summoned one.”

“Who are you? G- God?”

“Fufu. God…… No…… Not yet…… Though, as the one who has given you new life…… I suppose I would seem like God to you.”

Footprints sounding as hie spoke, a boy in a black hood appeared from the darkness. Behind the hood, red eyes reflecting from the magic circles shined.

“……A boy?”

His face looked like that of a 14-15 year old. It left a mysterious atmosphere.

White skin, and his eyes were red.

The boy took off his black hood. His silver silver came out over the slight flutter.

“Now then, tell me your wish. What kind of power would you, who have left your home world, wish for? What kind of transfer bonus?”

The boy who asked this shined more than those celebrities Yuuki passed by long ago.

Drowned in this mysterious atmosphere, Yuuki considered asking for a tremendous offense or defense power.

However, he held back.

“……I- In the first place, why the hell am I even here? ……Power? Why me? ……And reincarnation? What reason do you have?”

When Yuuki was making affiliate sites back at home, he spent three years researching. He was extremely cautious.

The boy in the black hood showed an irritated face.

“Reason, hm… You need not know. You would not even understand.”

“…………”

“But I’ll let you in on this. There exists many worlds besides your own. On the hierarchy scale, your world is above my own. That’s why, as your summoner, it’s like you came from above. That surplus energy can be converted to “power.” Do you follow?”

“N- Not at all.”

Yuuki couldn’t understand if it was the boy’s explanation, his stupidity, or if it was a difficult topic in the first place.

“That is fine. You need not know. However, please tell me your desired “power.” That is all I need.”

“I- If I do, then what?”

“Your desired skill will become embedded within your existence. That magic circle you are standing in right now will convert your soul’s surplus energy into a skill.”

“B- But why? For what?”

The boy turned to Yuuki with an impressed look.

“Yes. Asking first…… You’re doing well. You can’t get anywhere without a purpose.”

“Th- Thanks.”

“No need for pleasantries. I too desire to discuss our purpose. In short, the reason you have been summoned here is to ‘save the world from ruin.’ Do you follow?”

Yuuki shook his head.

The boy’s words came from a distance.

“This world is being hit by a ‘Great Purification.’ The power balance between the dark is collapsing, thus awakening the ‘Sealed Kin of Darkness.’ In the end, the ‘Great Purification’ is to blame.”

The boy in the black hood clenched his fists, his beautiful face smeared with anger. Sensing his desire to kill, Yuuki couldn’t help but fall back.

“Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean to frighten you.”

The boy opened his fist and showed a smile. However, there was no laughter in his eyes.

“Anyway, you must prevent the Kin of Darkness from ruining this world.

“Right……”

That is why, I, the 15th Tower’s Kin of Darkness, Shion Exedos, have summoned you.

“I- I see.”

In the end, he doesn’t understand it anymore than the job description at Sugukuru Delivery Center.

“The dimensional spirits informed me the stars would align tonight and create a path between our worlds. I opened the path from my Tower of Darkness to summon a fresh man like you. In order to support the sealing of the Kin of Darkness.”

“I- I don’t really get it, but I can’t. I don’t have that kind of power.”

The affiliate sites he spent his life working on didn’t work out either. Nor did the delivery center job. The boy smiled.

“It looks like you’re losing confidence. However, do not worry! I do not make mistakes. My other world summoning magic searched all across the upper world. My magic never miscalculates.”

“……But you know. Even if you suddenly summoned-”

“You should agree with me. You’ve been thinking ‘I want to go to another world” recently, haven’t you? Otherwise, it’s a compliance violation, and the dimensional spirits would have refused. Yes…… It was your desire to come to this world!”

“Eh, ah, ahh……”

Come to think of it, he did decide to finally leave his room and head to a new world.

“B- But what I meant was ‘I’m going to work at Sugukuru Deliver Center……”

“I don’t care about the details! At any rate, your wish led you here, and now, you are here! You’re the one I’ve been summoned one I’ve been waiting for! So man up, and tell me what power you wish for. The effects of the magic circle will run out soon. Hurry up. Make a wish! What power!?”

“R- Run out? It can do that?”

“Yes. When the magic circle runs out, The surplus soul energy within you will scatter. Then, you will lose your advantage of an other worlder and this ritual I spent the last decade on will be in vain.”

“Ah, come to think of it, why do you speak Japanese?”

“So you’ve noticed. As expected of my summonee. While being summoned, the navigational circuit installed an automatic translator into your brain…… That has nothing to do with this! The magic circle is that it’s limit! Hurry up and say it! Your desired power!”

“Um, umm……”

Yuuki turned his head over the fading magic circle.

However, he had no idea.

He thought about how he always ran away from his fears. Running away, hiding in the safety of his room, trying to start a painless job on the internet.

But his running only increased that fear.

That’s why, at 35 years old, he stopped running away.

That’s right. I decided to confront my fears, bare with the pain, accept the suffering with clenched teeth!

“Th- That’s right…… I- I…… I want…… I want to be someone who can bare pain. No matter how painful it is, I want to be able to grit my teeth. Th- That is my wish!”

At that moment, the magic circle shined bright.

The boy in the black robe smiled.

“That’s it. That’s my summonee. Surely, it will be a strong defensive power that can withstand all kinds of pain.”

However, the once glowing magic circle now dimmed.

The boy grew impatient.

“N- No! The magic circle isn’t showing compatibility with your soul!”

“Eh, but why……?”

“What’s your name?” the boy asked closing in.

“Y- Yamada Yuuki.”

“Yuuki, you’re telling a lie!”

“What do you mean?”

“The wish you just made was a superficial one from you pretending to be a good boy! You lied, so your soul energy, that energy from deep within your heart, isn’t matching with the circle!”

Yuuki’s heart was being from his name being called from a beautiful boy. A mysterious scent came from the black robed boy’s magic material.

The boy lost his patience. He shook his hand.

“I’m begging you! The wish from your heart, Yuuki! That is what I need to know! Something you placed on top doesn’t have any power! That’s why you need to say it! Make the wish you yourself want to make!”

“Mm……”

As the black robed boy heated up, Yuuki’s feelings grew colder.

At this age… he had no idea what his true wish was.

No… In the first place, had he ever knew what he wanted from life?

“…………”

Yuuki looked back at his past.

Going back from his time with affiliate sites, college, high school, and then middle school.

During all these eras, Yuuki lived separately from his passion. He didn’t know what he wanted to do. That is why Yuuki never once felt alive.

Since when did his heart become so cold?

As the boy in the black robe shook his hand, Yuuki’s thoughts sank.

“…………”

Yuuki kept looking further and further back into the past.

His thoughts stopped when he hit an after-school activity back in the upper grades of elementary school. There, he remembered the name of a girl.

Nozomi.

“…………”

Back then, there was a girl in his class named Nozomi.

Since Yuuki and Nozomi lived near each other, every now and then, they would head to school together.

Nozomi often ran.

Yuuki chased after her fluttering three braids.

＊

One day, after school.

In an uncrowded corridor, Nozomi gave Yamada Yuuki a hand-knitted yellow pencil case.

“YamaYama, I’ll give you this because you’re smart.”

Yuuki felt the utmost joy as he stood in the sunset lit halls. His happiness was before Nozomi’s embarrassed stare.

“Use this, study, and get into a good school, kay?”

It was then when the group of boys known as The Devils passed by.

“You guys are going out, are you? How erotic.”

He’s been caught the moment he received a present…… Yuuki’s face turned bright red, as did Nozomi’s.

“Unlike us kouha boys, Yuuki is a nanpa. How erotic.”

The keyword here was “kouha,” coming from some manga that was booming at the time. ”Kouha” meant serious and sincere, like a samurai.

“Kouha” and “Nanpa” where trending phrases, meaning the exact opposite.

The boy group here went and called Yuuki a nanpa. A scumbag skirt chaser after women.

NIce present you got there, Nanpa-Yuuki-kun.”

“Sh- Shut up! I’m no nanpa…… I- I- I don’t need this!”

Yuuki tossed the hand-knitted pencil case into the hallway.

A few days later, Nozomi transferred away.

Time for stopped there for Yuuki, as a long 25 years passed.

＊

Here, in front of the black hooded boy, Yuuki grasped at his head.

What the hell, what the hell… What the hell did I do……?

The guilt hidden behind Yuuki’s heart had finally revived.

“Ugh……”

He hurt a girl.

A girl that tried to help him.

What can he do?

What the hell can he do?

The huge sense of guilt surpassed what Yuuki’s heart’s capacity could handle.

He searched for a way to ease this sin he could not burden.

And there it was.

Them.

Them. The Devils; those bastards without a human heart.

Because those bastards called me a nanpa, I hurt Nozomi.

Everything is their fault.

Absolutely unforgivable.

Yuuki clenched his fist inside the magic circle and uttered in a cracked voice

“Th…… The power I desire…… is to condemn those Devils who hurt people!”

Yuuki’s eyes jumped with anger.

“Th- That’s right! I will judge them! Those Devil boys! And those co-workers! Those heartless bastards who yelled at me at the delivery center! To defeat of all those bastards…… I…… I…… I need that kind of power!”

The magic circle surrounding Yuuki radiated with a strong light responding to him.

The boy in the black robe applauded.

“That’s right, that’s it! The power of your wish…… Surely, you will gain a strong physical attack and become a great fighter! Or…… Huh?”

The magic that had once shined grew dark again. The boy in the black robe began panicking.

“No! The magic circuit still isn’t compatible with your soul!”

“Uh……”

“Get a hold of yourself! Yu…… Yuuki, right? Yuuki-kun, stop lying to yourself! We have no time!”

The boy in the black robe shook Yuuki’s shoulders. Yuuki averted his eyes.

“I- I’m not lying……”

“No, you are lying! The power to condemn isn’t something you want! That’s why it’s still not compatible.

It’s time to start a new life! Don’t hide it and say what you want! The magic circle will be gone completely soon! Hurry!”

“I- I don’t know, I don’t know! I don’t know what I want. I- I- I don’t know!

“Then think! Think harder!”

Yuuki tried thinking as the boy rushed him. In Yuuki’s head, he went back to the scene with Nozomi.

“…………”

Yuuki remembered his embarrassment after being ridiculed by that devilish boy group.

Why was it that I felt so embarrassed at that time?

“Ah……”

The answer to that was something he absolutely didn’t want to admit.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, Yuuki had now realized the answer.

The reason was…… that boy group read the truth in his heart.

“Unlike those kouha guys, you’re a nanpa, right?”

“N…… Na…… Nanpa, you say?”

“You get me, right?”

“I- I get you. What I really want. Though…… I don’t want to admit it.”

“Are you too embarrassed to say it because it’s so disgusting?”

“……N- No.”

“I have dimensional magic, you know. That’s why I know what kind of powers those who come from another world desire. They desire power they could not attain in their home worlds, like a child who would crush insects. But there is no need to be ashamed! That is humanity!”

“…………”

“I will acknowledge that side of you! Now, Yuuki-kun, shamelessly unleash the darkness within you! I am your ally! I won’t deny your desires! Awaken the true desires from deep within your heart! That is courage! Express yourself!”

“Y- Yeah. Then I will say it. I don’t think it’s what you’re expecting, but……”

“That’s right, say it! Say it!”

“……irls.”

“Say it louder!”

“……irls.”

“Louder, louder! Scream that energy from the depths of your soul!”

“I want to hit on girls.”

“Eh?”

“I wanted to get along with Nozomi. And not just her, but all the girls in my class.

“…………?”

“But I couldn’t. Time passed and I couldn’t get along with anyone. Every now and then, I wanted to talk to the clerk at the convenience store. But I couldn’t even look her in the eye!”

“Just what in the world are you talking about?”

“And walking around the city, I wanted to talk to people passing by. But I couldn’t, so I would always walk home depressed. It just kept happening. It just kept on going on and on and on! And in the midst of that, I always wished that I could just hit on girls.”

“Y- Yuuki-kun, I don’t get what you’re saying…… Yuuki-kun…… Please, get a hold of yourself……”

The boy in the black robe shook his shoulders.

Yuuki again affirmed being shaken.

“I want to hit on girls.”

Along with his voice, the space shoke and sparks of light scattered in the darkness.

Now, Yuuki’s soul energy rushed through the magic circle.

Yuuki raised his face and declared it again.

“That’s right, I won’t despair again. I will hit on girls. I will hit on girls…… in another world!”

At that moment, the magic circle emitted a rainbow light, and surrounded Yuuki entirely. The magic circuit absorbed Yuuki’s existence.

Social skills flowed into Yuuki’s soul energy, reversing his huge negative.

“…………”

At that………… as the magic circle disappeared, darkness fell into the room.

In the darkness, a smartphone AI assistant’s mechanical voice rang through Yuuki’s head.

“A skill set to hit on girls has been prepared. ‘Basic Conversation’ skill level has been increased. Current ‘Basic Conversation’ skill is at Level 1.”

Yuuki asked the boy to explain the voice in his head.

“I just heard a voice, but it said my ‘Basic Conversation’ skill was at Level 1.”

An exhausted voice answered from the darkness.

“……That’s the navigation voice attached to your soul skill. It comes with an appraisal function. The magic circle had that navigation system installed too.”

“I don’t really get it, but sounds convenient.”

“……In the end, it’s a total waste though. Hitting on girls, I mean…… I- I- It’s over…… All over……”

“What is?”

“My mission was to protect this world from the Kin of Darkness…… The world is over……”

In the darkness, the boy muttered a bunch of nonsense, but Yuuki’s heart danced with joy. His isekai nanpa adventure was just beginning.