Prologue
“Watarigaya, Yukiharu, you possess a special power.”
It was summer during my third year of junior high, when my future path was starting to solidify.
For me—caught up in that uniquely troublesome adolescent stubbornness, convinced I was nothing special, just another cog in society’s machine—those words were pure hope.
Special powers—magic, psychic abilities, memories of past lives—any healthy adolescent boy would undoubtedly yearn for them at least once. Of course, I was no exception. A man who suddenly visited my home declared that I, too, possessed such unique abilities.
Despite the height of summer, he wore a long black coat, a black top hat, and sported a cartoonish little goatee—a man whose very appearance embodied the concept of “suspicious.” Yet, according to him, he was apparently a pretty high-ranking government official.
Suspicious! — I think it’s forgivable that I blurted that out. Yet, the man showed no sign of being offended by what could be taken as an insult. He just smiled and continued speaking.
“Therefore, Yukiharu-kun, we would like you to enroll in the school we designate.”
Apparently, this school is a government-approved special institution for children with special abilities.
Damn it…! He just keeps hitting all my buttons…!
A plot I’ve heard a hundred times in light novels. Call it cliché if you will. But you could also call it the classic route. Magic school, academy for the gifted… My excitement was through the roof. My heart was already leaning heavily toward this world of special abilities.
But naturally, my parents were vehemently opposed. “How could we trust the words of a shady, suspicious guy like you?!” they said. Totally fair point.
But the guy didn’t give up. He visited again and again, trying to persuade my parents. For three months, he kept trying every possible method—I was stunned when he brought in a big-time politician—to convince them. The stares from teachers saying “Haven’t you decided on your path yet? Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
Finally, his parents relented and permitted his enrollment in the designated school. The moment they learned money would actually come in once he enrolled, I’d like to think their softened attitude wasn’t just my imagination. Regardless, this was the moment my path was decided.
And from there, it happened in an instant. Complex enrollment procedures, submitting confidentiality agreements, preparing for mandatory dorm life. I couldn’t explain it to friends or acquaintances, so I could only prepare quietly within my family.
Well, even if I had consulted them, it would have ended with, [Oh, I see……. I’ll take you to the infirmary for now. Get some medicine for your head].
Incidentally, when I asked if there was any training for my special abilities before enrollment, I was told I could learn them gradually after starting school. I wanted to experience my powers right away, but it seemed I’d have to wait until enrollment.
And so, amidst all the commotion, time flew by in an instant—the seasons changed, and come April, I became a high school student.
This is where it begins…!
Days of battling mysterious enemy organizations with psychic powers. Days of secretly saving the world with magic.
The days of being called my brother’s inferior are over. This is the birth of NEW Wataya Yukiharu!!
My dream is to make my name resound throughout the world!!!
Amidst the falling cherry blossoms of spring, standing before the school building I would attend for the next three years, I resolved myself.
To cut to the chase, extraordinary abilities—special powers like psychic abilities and magic—definitely existed.
Descendants of heroes, reincarnations of sages, people with past lives who displayed baffling skills, beings carrying demon king factors, yin-yang masters from prestigious families, spies for evil organizations plotting humanity’s annihilation. There were even those with attributes you’d heard endlessly in fiction.
Moreover, incidents like a complete failure suddenly awakening as a hero had occurred multiple times. Naturally, I had hoped too. That hidden power surely existed within me as well.
But that hope was shattered into pieces in just one year.
It was more than enough time to understand that in this school—no, in this peculiar world—I was nothing more than ordinary, average, mediocre, and easily surpassed by countless others.
As my first year of high school ended, tormented by the gap between expectation and reality, I tossed my hopes for myself far, far away and entered my second year. Oh, and by the way, I’m a loner.
“Hey, Aono, listen. Lately, I’ve been having these weird dreams. I’m some prince in a country, and my kingdom is burning, but all I can do is watch…” “
“Whoa, what the hell is that? Kyoya, you’re not seriously having middle school syndrome in high school, are you?”
“N-no way! It’s not like that… It’s just… weirdly realistic, that dream.”
…That sort of conversation was happening at the desk next to mine in the classroom. Nothing special, just someone with memories of a past life.
Sooner or later, either I or a friend will get into danger and awaken memories and powers. Or some super-beautiful girl will say something like [I’ve finally found you], and a major fantasy involving complex past-life connections will undoubtedly begin.
I’ve seen that pattern play out four times just in the last year, so I know for sure. I’m an expert! –Because these light novel-esque developments and phenomena happen frequently at this high school I attend.
- Abnormally high ratio of beautiful people — though 90% of the guys claim to be ordinary.
- Frequent transfer students with mysterious backstories — about once a month.
- Guys whose catchphrase is “[Oh, come on]” — high probability they’ll claim to be lazy.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
- People with past-life memories like the one earlier — they often faint in class while recalling them, accompanied by headaches.
- Secret descendants of [insert legendary figure]—currently five heroes.
- World-ending crises orchestrated by mysterious enemy organizations—somehow always thwarted.
Such events have become routine occurrences. Though utterly bewildered at first, I grew completely accustomed to them within three months. An unpleasant familiarity.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
Anyway, these kinds of events happen constantly around me—yes, around me.
For some reason, nothing strange or unbelievable ever happens to me personally. And that’s also why I ended up alone. Just imagine it.
When you meet up with your close friends after a long break, and they’re all excitedly talking about things you know nothing about.
[Man, it would’ve been bad if Toji hadn’t awakened his true power back then, huh?]
[Yeah, I never dreamed Alnicus’ seal would break.]
[Life on the deserted island was kinda fun though.]
[True, it was a rare experience. Kyoka-san even accidentally turned a fish into charcoal when she misjudged her magic.]
[Don’t say that!~]
I couldn’t understand a single thing. What’s true power? What’s a seal? What’s desert island life? Why am I the only one left out?
While everyone else radiated that “we overcame hardship together and deepened our bonds” vibe, I spent the entire long break holed up in the dorm, grinding Pokémon battles. Feeling utterly alienated, I voluntarily faded out of that group.
Separately, there was also that time when a girl from another group I secretly liked ended the long break by openly showing her affection for a guy who was practically a walking protagonist archetype.
Apparently, during a group trip, he saved her life in some life-threatening situation. Life-threatening on a trip? And I wasn’t even invited, huh.
This happened three times in one year. Each time a break came around, I got left behind by the group I belonged to. By the third time, I quit belonging to any group and became a loner.
It’s the theory that if you expect something, you’ll just get hurt. I refuse to hide my feelings and just grin and bear it.
I’ll never forget the day I cried into my pillow, putting on a brave front while saying that.
What do you all think? This treatment of a pure-hearted boy brimming with hope and expectation. I want to tell my pre-enrollment self, “What lies ahead is hell.” It’s reason enough to fall into darkness. If a demon said, “Take my hand,” I’m confident I’d run full speed to hug it.
I’ve long since forgotten the grand dreams I held upon entering school, realizing I was just another cog in the machine that turns this world. Now, more twisted than I was in middle school, my current dream is simply to get into a national or public university. After all, people should live within their means–
–even as I say that, I still can’t quite give up on becoming the protagonist.
This is the story of me — a guy who, back when we entered school, stood on equal footing with my friend. Now he walks the path of a protagonist, while in the corner of his story, I struggle to break free from being just a background mob. But no matter how hard I try, as if some unseen force is holding me back, nothing ever seems to go right.
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