Author Notes

So is my first story, please be constructive with the criticism, if you have suggestions write them in the review section.

I don't own Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Sakyou,

It was Monday, again. Most people lamented the beginning of the week and the end of their glorious weekend. Hajime Nagumo was no exception. However, in his case, his depression was multiplied by the fact that school was not just a pain, but a veritable hell.

Hajime didn't liked school, it has something to do with his classmates attitude toward him.

Entering to the classroom just in time to hear the bell of the first period ring Hajime was greeted by the scornful glares of most boys and the full of contempt stares from some girls. Then in the way to his seat the most annoying guy he ever met greeted him.

"Sup, you gross otaku! Stay up all night playing video games again? I bet you were playing porn games the whole time!"

"Wow what a creep. What kind of disgusting pervert stays up all night playing porn games?"

These guys were Hiyama Daisuke (the leader) , Yoshiki Saitou, Reichi Kondou, and Shinji Nakano (the cronies). They were the main bullies Hajime had to deal in daily basis, and the principal reason he hated school.

Honestly Hajime wasn't a creep, he looked fairly average in the docile side, the definition of herbivore. Yes, he was an otaku, yes he spent all the night till the dawn playing games (no porn), sure, he wasn't the most talkative guy around, but he had no problem responding to people who talked to him. He was a quiet person overall, but not to the point where it could be considered gloomy. He just happened to have an interest in avery specific set of media—namely manga, novels, video games, and movies. But these guys try to make of him a social pariah through gossii and slander of his name and what he does in his free time.

Public opinion about otakus wasn't so positive, but the worst you normally get are a sharp glances and whispers behind your back not that kind of targeted bullying.

Hajime only sighed and took seat, the reason of most the class disdain for him lay elsewhere.

Why did they hate him so much when he isn't the kind of guy who stand out, the answer was very simple.

"Good morning, Nagumo-kun! You barely made it on time today too. I think you should at least make an effort to come earlier." One of the girls smiled softly as she walked up to Hajime. She was one of the few people in the whole school who treated him kindly, and also the reason everyone hated him.

Kaori Shirasaki, one of the most popular girls in school, and beautiful enough to be considered a goddess by many. She had sleek, black hair that went all the way down to her waist, and large alluring eyes filled with kindness. Her small nose sat perfectly upon her face, and her pink lips were the epitome of perfection.

.She always seemed to have a smile on her face, and her knack for looking after others combined with her strong sense of responsibility made her one of the most respected students at Hajime's school. Moreover, she was tolerant and understanding to a fault, to the point where no one had ever even seen her look unhappy before.

"A-Ah, good morning, Shirasaki-san." Hajime's face stiffened up as he felt the bloodthirsty glares of his fellow classmates, and he awkwardly returned Kaori's greeting.

For some reason Shirasaki had an interest in Hajime, she always greeted him when he gets to the school and tried to engage in conversations with him. Honestly Hajime doesn't know the reason behind her behavior, the thought of Shirasaki having a crush on him crossed his mind once before disregard it for being too absurd. Yet the fact was that Shirasaki Kaori was his only ally and friend in school, even if such a friend was the cause of Hajime unwanted attention.

The moment Hajime finished his conversation with Kaori, three new people walked up to them. They'd been watching the two of them like vultures, waiting for him to finish talking.

"Looking after him again, Kaori? You're really too nice for your own good."

"Seriously. Talking to a failure like him's a total waste of time."

"Good morning, Nagumo-kun. Must be rough staying up that late every day."

The only one who greeted him out of the three was Yaegashi Shizuku, Kaori's best friend. Shizuku's black hair was tied back in her trademark ponytail. Her almond shaped eyes give her a rather sharp look, but deep within her gaze dwelled a kindnessthat made her seem cool rather than cold.

Standing 172 centimeters tall, she was a good deal taller than most of the other girls in his class. That, combined with her well-built body, made her seem like a dignified samurai. And samurai made for a rather apt analogy as her family actually ran a dojo that taught the Yaegashi style, and Shizuku herself was a peerless swords woman who'd never lost a single kendo tournament. In fact, she'd been featured in magazines before and had a rather rabid fanbase. The press even took to calling her the modern samurai beauty.

The guy who'd greeted Kaori with that rather cliched line about her kindness was Kouki Amanogawa. He was perfect in almost every way. Great at sports, handsome, and had outstanding grades to boot. Even his name sounded heroic. Written with the characters for "light" and "radiance," it gave off a rather dazzling impression.

He had flowing brown hair, soft features, stood 180 centimeters tall, and despite his slender frame still had noticeable muscles. He was kind to everyone he met, and had a strong sense of justice (or so he thought anyway).

Like Shizuku, he'd attended the Yaegashi dojo since he was in elementary school and was skilled enough to have competed in national tournaments. He and Shizuku were childhood friends. Dozens of girls had fallen for him, but because he was always hanging around Shizuku and Kaori, very few had ever worked up the courage to confess. However, he still received at least two confessions a month from girls that didn't go to Hajime's school. A real Casanova through and through.

The last guy, who'd lazily added on his own comments to Kouki's line, was Ryutarou Sakagami, Kouki's best friend. Ryutarou had short, trimmed hair and a gaze that seemed at once both cheerful and stern. He stood 190 centimeters tall, and had a massive, bear-like frame. As his build suggested, he was a musclehead who didn't have much delicacy.

Because of his love for hard work and hot-blooded actions, he disliked Hajime, who spent all his time in school sleeping. Ryutarou gave Hajime no more than a single glance before huffing disdainfully and ignoring him.

"Good morning Yaegashi-san, Amanogawa-kun, and Sakagami-kun. Heh, well, you know what they say, you reap what you sow. It's my own fault for staying up all the time." Hajime smiled wryly as he greeted Shizuku and the others. The two guys glared daggers at him, their eyes all but screaming, "What gives you the right to talk to Yaegashi-san so casually like that, huh!?" Shizuku was nearly as popular as Kaori, after all.

"If you realize it's a problem, shouldn't you try and fix it? I don't think it's fair to Kaori to keep letting her spoil you. She doesn't have time to always be looking after you either." Kouki warned Hajime sternly.

It is pretty obvious that Kouki didn't like Hajime. In his mind Hajime was a lazy student with no redeeming qualities that abused Kaori's kindness and wasted her time. Kouki was the the kind of person who always thinks he is right, so Hajime shut his mouth and say nothing.

Besides, there was really nothing to "fix." Hajime had already decided to make his hobbies the centerpiece of his life. His father was a game designer and his mother a shoujo manga author, so he worked part-time at both their workplaces to gain experience in the field. With his experience and interests, most employers were interested in him as he required no extra training, and his plans for the future were all perfectly laid out.

Hajime firmly believed he was taking his life seriously already, which was why he saw no need to change his habits regardless of what anyone said to him. And if Kaori hadn't started poking her nose into his affairs, he would have been able to quietly graduate school without attracting any attention to himself.

"Yeah, I guess. Ahaha…" Which was why Hajime simply tried to laugh off Kouki's words. But, of course, Kaori doesn't know how to read the atmosphere.

"What are you talking about, Kouki-kun? I'm talking to Nagumo-kun because I want to." The male portion of the class send their envious and some venomous stares to Hajime.

"Huh...? Ah, I see, you are really too kind Kaori"

Apparently Kouki interpreted that as Kaori not wanting to hurt Hajime feels. Though Amanagowa Kouki was perfect in various fields, he had a big flaw. Namely, he was too convinced of his own righteousness to see the big picture of the things. At this point try to reasoning with him would be useless so Hajime didn't even make the effort, he just moved his attention to somewhere else.

"I'm sorry about that. They don't mean any harm by it…" Shizuku quietly apologized to Hajime, as she was the only one present that was astute enough to grasp everyone's feelings. Hajime simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled wryly in response.

Then, the bell signaling the start of classes finally rang, and the teacher walked into the classroom. The teacher began the morning announcements, seemingly too used to the turbulent atmosphere in the classroom to care. Then, as always, Hajime drifted off to dreamland as class began.

Kaori smiled as she saw Hajime slumber. Shizuku stared at him, amazed, and mused that Hajime was quite the celebrity in a certain sense. The guys all scoffed at him while the rest of the girls stared, gazes full of scorn.

After a while, the classroom began to grow noisy again. As a habitual classroom napper, Hajime's body had naturally attuned itself to know when to wake up. Which was why his hazy consciousness was able to discern from the surrounding noise that it was lunchtime.

Hajime rummaged through his bag and brought out his lunch, a simple meal that could be finished in ten seconds, but still fully sated him. It seemed that most of the lunch buying group had already left for the cafeteria, as there were some people missing from the classroom.

A majority of people in Hajime's class usually brought their own lunch, though, which was why around two thirds of the class still remained. Additionally, it seemed that some of the students had questions for the fourth period social studies teacher, Aiko Hatayama, and were milling about the teacher's podium.

Sluuurp! Gulp! Having finished recharging his energy in just ten seconds, Hajime laid back down on his desk, planning to get some more shut-eye. However, the school goddess, perhaps more of a devil in Hajime's case, smiled happily as she scooted her seat closer to his, preventing him from returning to his slumber.

Normally he would've quickly eaten his lunch and bolted out of the classroom to find a secluded place for his afternoon nap, but two straight days of all-nighters had apparently taken their toll on him.

"That's rare, Nagumo-kun. You're still in the classroom. Did you not bring a lunch? If you'd like, you can have some of mine." As the frigid atmosphere descended upon the classroom once more Hajime screamed internally.

I'm tired a yer shit, his exasperated mind screamed out in some strange dialect.

"Ah, thanks for the invitation, Shirasaki-san. But I've already finished eating my lunch, so why not eat with Amanogawa-kun instead?" He showed Kaori the remnants of his packaged lunch as he said that.

"Huh!? That's all you had for lunch? That won't do at all, you need to eat a proper meal! Here, I'll give you some of mine!"

The situation worsened. Seeing no escape from the future beat, and making his mind Hajime decided to accept her goodwill, but before he could say anything they were aproached by Kouki and Ryutaro.

"Kaori, let's all eat lunch together. It seems that Nagumo needs some more sleep. And I won't allow anyone to eat Kaori's delicious handmade lunch while half-asleep!" Kouki flashed Kaori a dazzling smile as he said that pretentious line, but Kaori simply looked puzzled. Kaori was a bit slow, or rather just an airhead, so Kouki's handsome guy appeal was lost on her.

"Huh? Why do I need your permission to share my lunch, Kouki-kun?" Shizuku let out an involuntary snicker as she heard Kaori ask that question in such an earnest manner.

Kouki began laughing awkwardly and tried to change the subject, but the important point was that the four most famous people in school were sitting together with Hajime and the rest of the class was not at all happy about it. Hajime sighed deeply and continued grumbling to himself.

I wish these guys would all just get summoned to another world or something. I mean, just look at them, they even feel like the kind of group that'd get sent to another world. Can't some god or princess or priestess or something just summon them away from here? Trying to escape from reality, Hajime sent his thoughts out to whatever other worlds were out there. He stood up and was about to give his usual evasive answer, when suddenly he froze.

There was a glowing silver circle engraved with various geometric patterns glowing in front of Hajime, at Kouki's feet.

The rest ofthe students all saw the strange circle as well. Everyone was frozen in place, staring at the weird glowing pattern that, for lack of a better word, looked just like a magic circle.

The magic circle began to glow brighter and brighter, until its light enveloped the entire classroom. The circle itself began expanding as well, and when it finally grew big enough to cover Hajime's feet, everyone finally became unfrozen and started panicking. Aiko-sensei, who had remained in the classroom, yelled "Everyone! Get out of the classroom!" at the same time the magic circle flared up in a brilliant explosion of light.

After a few seconds, or maybe a few minutes, the light finally began to fade, and color returned to the classroom. However, the room was now deserted. Some chairs were knocked over, half-eaten lunchboxes were sitting on desks, and chopsticks and plastic bottles were scattered across the room. The classroom had everything still left in it except the people.