#1076 A Place None Dare Ventures

My name is Ken Katou.

But nobody calls me that anymore.

These days, the people around me call me:

Brown Katou.

S-Rank Adventurer Brown Katou.

Once upon a time, I didn’t exist in this world.

I was in a different one altogether.

In that world, I failed my entrance exams, ended up at a private high school I didn’t even want to attend, got bullied there, and became a shut-in who refused to go to school.

My parents had long since given up on me and didn’t bother to interfere.

Compared to my successful older brother and younger sister, my incompetence stood out even more.

They treated my siblings as their real children and acted like I didn’t exist.

They left my meals to the housekeeper; I suppose I’d vanished from their minds entirely.

As for me, I holed up in my room 24/7, lost track of day and night, and eventually didn’t even know how many days had passed since I’d last stepped outside...

...Then suddenly, I was tossed into a place that was not my room.

It was a grand space, much larger than my tiny room, adorned with solemn furnishings.

Not understanding what had happened, I panicked for a while.

But as time passed, my mind calmed down, and with explanations from the priests who were there, I learned that I’d been summoned to another world.

I didn’t want to go back to my world.

Even if I did, there were only family and classmates who looked down on me.

I figured this world had to have more hope than that crappy one.

But this world didn’t exactly welcome me with open arms either.

Apparently, everyone who gets summoned here is granted something called a “skill.”

A miraculous power from the gods to humans, capable of smashing most obstacles and letting nothing stand in their way.

The specific abilities vary from person to person, but those who hit the jackpot and receive high-performance skills are praised as heroes and get VIP treatment.

As for me, it seems I wasn’t blessed with any impressive skills.

I was promptly kicked out of the castle and had to fend for myself to find a way to make a living.

Being all alone in an environment with nothing to rely on, no skills, no abilities was like hell.

But at least this world was kinder than the last one.

Strangers showed me kindness, and I managed to scrape by doing day labor.

For someone like me, who came here as a shut-in, you could call it a miracle.

After a while, my luck started to turn.

Even though my skill had been dismissed as useless at the castle, once I got the hang of it, I realized that in one particular area, it was insanely powerful.

Thanks to that, I started to make a name for myself in a certain field, and within just a few years, I shot to the top.

Thus was born S-Rank Adventurer Brown Katou.

Many people respected me and treated me with courtesy.

Even the folks at the castle heard rumors of my rise and tried to recruit me again as a hero, but the Guild Master stepped in and foiled their plans.

I was thrilled that someone was looking out for me.

Back in my shut-in days, I couldn’t have even imagined this.

My existence was acknowledged, affirmed, even admired.

This world was like a dream come true for me.

Then, after a while, I even got juniors.

Other S-Rank adventurers.

The adventurer who became S-Rank after me was Bill Bruson.

She earned the title Pink Tonton as an S-Rank adventurer.

She had virtually zero accomplishments as an adventurer and was granted S-Rank status the moment she joined the Guild—a truly unprecedented promotion.

The reason was that Pink Tonton’s previous job was as a mercenary.

During the war with the demons, she was a famous figure known to everyone as a representative of the mercenaries.

When the war ended and many jobless mercenaries turned to adventuring, to ensure smooth integration, they gave Pink Tonton, essentially the mercenary leader, the position of S-Rank.

Golden Bat complained about this political decision, grumbling that it cheapened the dignity of S-Rank, but I got along just fine with her.

After all, we’re both newcomers.

Silver Wolf also asked me, as the senior by one, to teach Pink Tonton the ropes of being an S-Rank adventurer, and I thought I should do that.

Given her unique background, Pink Tonton started shaking up the adventurer industry in ways we’d never seen before.

Triggered by a certain event, pro wrestling shows started up in this world, and Pink Tonton took on the role of organizer.

I was super intrigued by this development.

I loved pro wrestling in my world and watched it a lot, so I thought I could put my experience to good use and joined the project myself.

I took on roles like referee and promoter.

In various capacities, we hyped up the pro wrestling events and continued to move forward together, hand in hand.

Thanks to that—or maybe because of it—the shows were consistently sold out, and their popularity skyrocketed.

When Pink Tonton and I teamed up, failure wasn’t even an option.

We were the ultimate duo.

That’s how I’d been feeling lately.

To be honest, I think I was getting a bit carried away.

Then, something happened that poured cold water on my overexcited self.

***

Pink Tonton got pregnant.

And the child was mine.

I could only think it was some kind of mistake.

If I had to pinpoint a possibility, it would be that winter day last year.

It was around what you’d call Christmas in my world.

That night, we held a banquet with all the pro wrestling staff to celebrate a year of great success.

Pink Tonton was probably over the moon that her self-produced project was a hit.

She was knocking back drinks from the get-go, and by the middle of the party, she was completely hammered.

Plus, maybe swept up in the boss’ pace, many members ended up drunk, and there weren’t enough people to help everyone get home, so I had to take care of Pink Tonton.

Under normal circumstances, this would never have happened.

As someone from another world, I’m particularly sensitive to compliance and delicate matters.

It’s better to avoid not just touching but even approaching situations that could turn into scandals.

A wise man runs away from danger at top speed.

That’s the motto I’ve lived by in this world.

But that night was different.

Pink Tonton, her face flushed from drinking, looked unusually alluring.

Normally, I’d do an about-face at her door and head home, but that night, for some reason, I ended up going into her house as she invited me.

Pink Tonton is a boar therian, and thanks to that, she’s blessed with monstrous strength, which is why she succeeded both as a mercenary and an adventurer.

As a power type, she’s a rather sturdy woman, but to me, that gave her a motherly warmth that I found very appealing.

Long story short, that night turned into a very passionate evening.

Then, a few months later, came the shocking news.

Pink Tonton had been hiding it at first, but she couldn’t conceal her poor health, and worried that something might happen to the linchpin of our pro wrestling organization, I hurriedly took her to the hospital.

And that’s when we found out she was pregnant.

When the doctor said, “Congratulations, Dad,” I was horrified to realize he’d unwittingly hit the nail on the head.

Upon learning the truth, the first thing that welled up inside me was fear.

Me, a father?

And I’m not even her husband yet?

Being saddled with a new title I didn’t even know, without any mental preparation or resolve was unimaginably terrifying.

In the past, I’d run away from harsh human relationships and become a shut-in, and since coming to this world without any relatives, I’d been drifting like a rootless wanderer.

Even though I’d climbed up to become an S-Rank adventurer in the guild, my core hadn’t changed since my shut-in days.

Until today, I’d avoided deep involvement with anyone, and even when I did get involved, I always had an escape route planned.

Because I was afraid of getting deeply entangled with others.

Adventurers are, after all, a freewheeling profession; even if you rise to S-Rank, you can go anywhere you want with just your body.

I wanted to keep my connections with others as thin as possible.

And yet, a child is being born? Mine?

I was about to be crushed by an inescapable sense of responsibility.

What should I do?

Should I just run away?

You might think, “What the heck are you saying?” but to me, things like human relationships and responsibility are so terrifying that I can’t face them.

While I was wrestling with these thoughts...

***

“...Look. It’s him.”

Someone suddenly points at me from behind.

“Doesn’t he look like he’s about to bolt? I figured if I offered, he’d happily go back to his original world.”