Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells Vol. 1

by Kaoru Shinozaki

  “We’re on the same level, you and I.”

  “Huh?!”

  Now it was Yasu’s turn. He puffed out his chest and closed in on Oyamada.

  “We’re both A-Class heroes, huh? Equals. So why not get along?” He grinned rebelliously, his voice mocking. “How about it, Oyamada~?”

  “You think you’re better than me?! I’ll kill you, Yasu! I’ll—!”

  In an instant, the Goddess was between them, magic circles appearing from her hands again.

  It’s almost like she’s holding them at gunpoint…

  “You’re both fine A-Class heroes, so spare me the rivalry. I’ll allow minor disagreements, but I absolutely won’t permit heroes to fight one another. Is that clear?”

  The Goddess smiled.

  “All of our A-Class heroes are valuable resources to me, after all.”

  Oyamada was frozen. Yasu took a step back. My spine was tingling just watching them.

  Was she really about to kill them both?

  I know I’m intimidated by her, but it’s more than that… This must be how it feels to come face to face with a predator. I’m frozen. I don’t even want to run.

  “Then that’s settled, isn’t it? Now, let me show you how to use your powers.”

  “Status Open!”

  Those words echoed in all directions, overlapping and mingling in the air.

  Saying that phrase made patterns appear across the palm of your hand, and a holographic-looking display appear over it.

  “I get it! This is how we check our skills, right? It’s just like a game!”

  “Here comes the isekai stat display trope!”

  “What’s this thing? Is it the skill tree?”

  “None of this looks real, though, does it? Like, it’d fit in perfectly in a VRMMO!”

  The boys were chatting excitedly as they poked at their new displays.

  “Hey, nerds—we don’t know much about games, so you’d better teach us, got it?”

  “It works kinda like a smartphone… We can do this, right?”

  “It totally looks like a social network game, right? Do my log-in bonuses from my games back home carry over?”

  “At least there’s no beauty trait or anything!”

  “What’s a skill?”

  “They’re, like, special moves, I think?”

  “Whoa, like a one-hit kill? That’s totally psycho!”

  “Oh, I get it! Get rid of the ‘S’ and you’ve got ‘K-I-L-L’! That’s so scary!”

  A few minutes ago, those same girls had been crying over the wolf incident. Some of them had even thrown up.

  Back on their feet already, huh? That was fast.

  “I have created an efficient stat system that should be easy for you to adjust to. As Goddess, I can easily make this sort of alteration to suit your needs and translate your new abilities into something you understand.”

  That explained why everything seemed so much like a video game—everyone in class had at least some experience with that kind of thing. The stat display even had a smartphone-style home screen.

  I could get used to this stuff. I guess a Goddess can do pretty much anything.

  “Th-this is…Dragonic Buster?!” a hooded figure exclaimed, looking over Kirihara’s shoulder in amazement. “Incredible! Kirihara-dono can already use one of his skills! And these stats…is this really a level 1 ability?!”

  “So, uh…you’re saying I’m good?” Kirihara responded.

  “Heroes who can use their skills immediately from level 1 are rare—I can only remember a few from previous summonings!”

  “Huh. Doesn’t sound like that big a deal, to be honest.”

  His gaggle of girls turned to him again in worship and longing.

  “Takuto’s so awesome…”

  “Even his personality’s hot! Oh, Kirihara-kun…!”

  “He’s so humble!”

  “Even in another world, we can count on him!”

  “I want to be with you! Marry me!”

  The next outburst from the hooded figures came from near Sogou.

  “S-Sogou-dono’s skill tree! I’ve never seen just one branch like this before! This is a Specialist tree!”

  “Specialist…?” replied Sogou.

  Sogou didn’t seem to know much about games—she was still struggling with the vocabulary.

  Well, it’s not like I know what a Specialist tree is either. It sounds impressive, though.

  “Oyamada-dono and Yasu-dono are true A-Class heroes, too! Their stats are far beyond those of the normal ranks, even at level 1! And Oyamada-dono has +500 Vitality!” the Goddess chimed in. She segued right into an explanation of more statistics.

  Apparently, the stats displayed weren’t the only things that defined how good we were. We had base stats and stat modifiers, but only the modifiers were visible on our stat screens. Our base stat was from before we were summoned—a representation of our strength back on Earth. Add the stat modifier to the base stat, and that’s your current stat in that category.

  Does that mean we could go down to zero HP and still survive because of our hidden base stat? Hmm…

  The stat explanation led into Q&A Corner with the Goddess, and that was when the discussion really changed. There were no more questions about the summoning we’d just experienced. Instead, everyone was focused on their own stats and learning more about this new world.

  Well, everyone strong was stepping up to learn more. Others had lost the will to go on, and gathered together in the corner of the room, fading into the background.

  Collapsing into despair. Wallowing in sadness. Unable to accept reality.

  There were many ways to find yourself in that corner…

  “I can’t get a good look!” another hooded figure complained. I glanced over to see the complainer hovering near the Takao sisters.

  “Wh-what’s with these two? It’s like…they exude some strange presence…”

  “They’re beautiful, too—almost as beautiful as Sogou-dono! I daresay they may be as heavenly as the renowned Seras Ashrain!”

  “Be careful not to underestimate them—they are heroes ranked S-Class and A-Class!”

  It seemed that even the people of this world were repelled by the unique aura the Takao sisters brought with them everywhere. The hooded figures were trying to catch glimpses of their stats from several steps away.

  The Takao sisters are even trouble for these guys, eh?

  The older sister calmly observed her pursuers.

  “If it can bring us a way to return to our world, then learning to use this strange stat system to our advantage should be our immediate goal, Itsuki. Once we are allowed to wander freely, we will gather more information.”

  “I’m a dummy, so I’ll just follow you, Aneki,” Itsuki replied.

  “Knowing your own ignorance is the first step to enlightenment, Itsuki.”

  “Heh heh, can’t help that I was brawn this way”

  “That was very amusing, Itsuki.”

  “A-amusing… You’re always so serious, Aneki…”

  “I’m a serious person, I suppose.”

  Are they fazed at all by what happened…? I’ve gotta learn to be more like them.

  “Status open!”

  Let’s take a look… My stats are…

  “Huh?”

  Too-ka Mimori

  Level 1

  HP: +3 MP: +33

  Attack: +3 Defense: +3 Vitality: +3

  Speed: +3 Intelligence: +3

  Title: E-Class Hero

  My stats look…really low.

  She said that Oyamada has +500 vitality, right? My MP’s the only one higher than three…

  E-Class Hero…if that’s alphabetical, I must be pretty far down the list.

  My heart sank.

  They even misspelled my name—it’s Touka, with a “U.” And the weird dash makes it look like I’m a foreigner…maybe it’s tied to the pronunciation over here? But seriously, even as a chosen hero in another worl
d, they can’t be bothered to get my name right. I’m a background character through and through.

  Where’s the skill tree, anyway?

  I stared, as if something would appear if I looked longer.

  “There isn’t one,” I sighed.

  I tried flicking down like everybody else, but nothing showed up—just an empty space. There was only the root at the bottom, a square labeled “Unique Skills.” Everyone else had a simple branching diagram extending upward, laying out all their skills, but mine was just a stump.

  “There’s not even a sprout on mine, huh.”

  “Oh, my!” the Goddess exclaimed.

  “Wha—?!”

  I suddenly noticed her behind me, leaning over my shoulder to see the stat screen in my hand.

  “Excuse me, but…what’s wrong with my stats?” I asked.

  No answer. She returned silently to the others and began answering their questions again.

  “Ignored, huh?”

  We grown-ups have a right to reject your questions. You got that?

  Those were words of wisdom from my old teacher, T***gawa-sensei. It seemed like they applied here, too.

  “Even here, I’m just a background character.”

  Who cares? E-Class seems pretty low, but I’m still a hero, right? I’m sure there’s a place for me here, somewhere. I’ll just live in the background of this world, like an NPC or something. I’ll lie low and get by, just like I always have.

  I sat cross-legged on the ground in thought, idly flicking through my stat panels.

  “Oh, so that’s how it works.”

  If I click here, it displays my unique skills, I guess.

  “Let me see…”

  Unique Skill: Apply Status Effect / Available for use

  Huh. Kirihara gets “Dragonic Buster,” and I get “Apply Status Effect.” Mine sounds pretty dull in comparison.

  “Hmm? Is my skill tree…backwards?”

  I tried flicking up.

  “Hey, it’s growing in the other direction.”

  Everyone else’s trees were growing upwards, but mine was made up of a few faint lines wilting below the root—so faint I hadn’t noticed them at first. But even though the lines were faint, the information about the skills themselves was clear.

  Paralyze: Level 1

  Sleep: Level 1

  Poison: Level 1

  So I’ve got three of these “Apply Status Effect” skills…?

  I used to play social network games and RPGs sometimes, so the skill names at least seemed familiar.

  The question is whether they’re any good or not. I’m E-Class, so they probably suck, right? But didn’t one of those hooded guys say that being able to use your skills at level 1 was amazing? All right…you can do this…time to ask the Goddess what’s up. Where is she?

  She was talking to somebody—not one of those hooded people, though. I reflexively ducked behind a pillar.

  Ugh, why am I hiding like this? Getting ignored twice really did a number on me, I guess. Gotta be brave here…deep breath.

  Okay, I’m ready.

  I gathered all my courage and resolve to come out from behind the pillar, and…couldn’t even take a step in her direction.

  “I heard there’s an E-Class mixed in there.”

  They’re talking about me?

  “What should we do, Vicius?”

  He’s using a Goddess’s first name…? Who is that?

  “Don’t worry. Even the E-Class heroes have a part to play,” she replied.

  Ten minutes later, I couldn’t help but notice that there were way more guards hanging around. There were at least thirty more than when I last checked…and the new ones looked even tougher than the originals.

  Their numbers, and the expressions on the new guards faces, spoke volumes—they definitely weren’t going to let us escape.

  Or maybe…they aren’t going to let me, specifically, escape?

  Guards were clearly watching me—they were making their way toward me from the left and right.

  “Be warned—none of you try anything,” a guard to my right began, gripping the hilt of his sword. “You may be heroes from another world, but freshly summoned like this, you’re no match for us.”

  So they’ll cut us down if we step out of line…

  “Heroes~! Please move into the next room!” the Goddess ordered. The class filed in behind her as she turned to lead us away.

  “E-everyone…listen to what the Goddess says, okay…?”

  Zakurogi was still half-heartedly trying to lead the class, but most of them were blatantly ignoring him. His crystal measurement test had classified him as D-Class—the Goddess had explained that adults over 25 were more likely to slip into the lower ranks, which was why they usually targeted younger people for summoning.

  The low ranking had caused a change in Zakurogi—his self-assured leadership from earlier was totally gone, and the students had almost entirely stopped looking to him for any kind of guidance. Why would they? He was lower on this new hierarchy than they were, and it’s not like he’d endeared himself to the class with his personality or teaching skills back on earth. The Goddess had easily stepped into the role of our homeroom teacher.

  We were led into a room with what looked like a large magic circle pattern on the floor.

  “Would the student whose name I call please step forward into the center of the circle?” the Goddess announced. “Oh, and after this final matter is taken care of, you’ll all have some time to relax!”

  That last declaration was met with smiles and tangible relief—no doubt everyone’s heads had been spinning since we got here. Finally, they’d get a break from all this.

  Oyamada raised his hand.

  “What’s this room for, anyway?”

  “The ceremony,” replied the Goddess.

  “Ceremony? Are you going to summon someone else here, then?” Kirihara asked.

  She lightly clapped her hands together and smiled.

  “Too-ka Mimori-san,” she announced. “Please step into the center of the circle.”

  “Huh…? Me?”

  I remembered what the Goddess had said earlier…

  “Don’t worry. Even the E-Class heroes have a part to play.”

  I swallowed.

  What does she want me to do…?

  “Nnh!” I stood there frozen, terrified of taking that step.

  “Go.” I felt a spearpoint press into my back from one of the guards. “You want to die?”

  There’s nowhere to run…I have such a bad feeling about this, but I couldn’t fight back if I wanted to.

  Escorted by guards, I made my way into the magic circle. I gathered my courage and spoke.

  “Excuse me, Goddess?”

  “Yes?” she replied.

  At least she isn’t ignoring me this time. I guess it’s harder to get away with that when everyone’s focused on me.

  “What is this? Why am I going first?”

  “Too-ka Mimori, of all the heroes of class 2-C, you are the lowest ranked.”

  Yeah, I know. I’m the only E-Class, right?

  “Since the beginning of time, the lowest ranked heroes have never been of any use whatsoever. Instead, they tend to cling to their higher-ranked peers and pull them down through their incompetence. So, eventually, I decided that all heroes who fall into E-Class…are to be eliminated.”

  “Wh-what…?”

  Eliminated…?

  “Unfortunately, doing that here and now would give the other summoned heroes an unpleasant shock—some of them might have an inconvenient attachment to you, after all. In the past, I tried transporting the E-Class heroes to a jail cell here in the palace to kill them in secret, but even then, the news got out and caused trouble among the heavy hitters. So that’s why I settled upon…” the Goddess opened her arms magnanimously, “giving the lowest ranked heroes a chance to redeem themselves.”

  “A chance to redeem myself…? Wh-what does that mean?”

  “Thi
s magic circle of teleportation will send you into the ruins,” she declared.

  “Ruins…?”

  “If you manage to find your way through the ruins to the surface, I promise not to interfere with you any further. Alion will grant you your life.”

  “A-are these ruins…dangerous?”

  “Who knows? Well, most of Alion’s dangerous criminals are sent there to serve their sentences, but—I don’t need to answer such questions from you~.”

  Is she…actually serious…?

  Even if the Goddess was trying to be vague, the answer was pretty clear—nobody would return from the ruins alive. It was a landfill—a convenient way to kill off prisoners without having to pull the trigger yourself. The ruins would do the job for you.

  Or maybe more monsters like that three-eyed wolf thing.

  “Perhaps you don’t fully understand your situation. I’m sure the name of the ruins will help,” the Goddess said slowly and deliberately. “They are called…the Ruins of Disposal.”

  I hung my head and clenched my fists.

  Disposal…why is this happening…?

  “Oh!”

  There’s still something—a last ray of hope! This might save me!

  “Goddess!”

  “Yes?”

  “I have something to tell you! M-my skill! I can already use my unique skill!”

  The Goddess put a hand to her cheek.

  “And…?”

  Huh? Why isn’t she reacting…

  “I-I checked the stat panel, and it says ‘available for use’! That’s good, isn’t it?!”

  “If it were an A-Class skill, perhaps…”

  “My skill is called ‘Apply Status Effect’! I think it lets me, like, paralyze or poison things—”

  The Goddess just sighed.

  “Listen here…in this world, status effect spells are almost completely worthless.”

  Time froze.

  “Huh…?”

  Worthless?

  “They hardly ever work. They rarely succeed when used on the lowest-level monsters, let alone anything mid-level or higher. And even if you miraculously get one to stick, the effects are minor and the duration extremely short. They have worked like that every single time.”