Three days have passed since our reincarnation.

Ikko, one of the popular ikemen among the third-years, has made himself into our leader. He is taller than average, with an athletic build, and generally friendly with everyone. 

Chiho, a girl with brown hair, serves in an unofficial capacity as a secondary leader, mediating between the voices of the rest of the class and the decisions of the ones in charge. But (as I see it) she functions in reality as a kind of smokescreen, whose role is to reaffirm our confidence in Ikko's authority.

I use the word "authority", but in fact both of them are incredibly casual about it, almost careless. Ikko has simply assumed that he should be the leader, innocent of the fact that he's seized power.

Along with Ikko and Chiho, there are a few others, mostly the more outgoing ones in the class, who form the group unofficially "in charge". Everyone has already entered the habit of looking up to them for orders and information about the situation. However, even though their group make a show of democraticism, of being open to everyone's opinion, they frequently make decisions without consulting everyone else, which has caused some unrest in the class.

For now, everyone is still courteous to each other. Morale, however, has taken quite a downturn since the first day.

One reason for this is simply the discomfort: we have not been getting much sleep. It is surprisingly difficult for us to adjust to sleeping outside, without clean sheets or a blanket, and with the noises of the forest at night.

It's also disheartening to have to use the washroom outdoors, with only leaves as toilet paper. It's inconvenient to have to make a trip to the stream every time we have to drink.

We have no cups, bowls, or utensils. We are still unable to make fire, nor have our scouts had any luck hunting for food, so we have been subsisting on fruits.

We have no clothes to change into, so our clothes are progressively getting dirtier and more repulsive to live in. The water is cool, which makes bathing unpleasant.

Even the otaku, who were the happiest of all of us in the beginning, have become less enthusiastic, realizing that this other life rather resembles a horrible camping trip much more than a comfortable game.

Some of us have gotten sick for unknown reasons, perhaps from the food or the water, and are not only unable to contribute to the greater good, but consume the supply of toilet paper at an extraordinary rate.

In short, it's been a difficult adjustment.

There have been a few differing opinions about where to go from here: some of us want to travel as a group, following the stream, in hopes of finding a cave or some form of natural shelter. As eventually (they argue), it's going to rain, a roof over our heads should be our topmost priority.

Others argue that, as there is no guarantee that there will be caves nearby, as travelling will only exhaust us further, as the Goddess placed us in this spot for a reason (doubtful), as dangerous monsters might lurk ahead, the safer option would be to construct our own shelter. Once we manage to secure the present location, then we can begin to look toward exploring.

Somewhere along the way we decided in favor of the second option.

With this aim, one group has been given the task of constructing a shelter. So far, they have not so much as been able to make a roof for one person, much less for 30. Ikko has been annoyed at them, especially as he was the one who made the decision to stay.

The other reason for the lowered morale is the tension between different groups in the class.

Some of the class appears to resent Ikko's authority, holding every wrong decision he makes against him. Others are annoyed with the herd-like way he's taken charge, incomprehensibly, without anyone's input, with simply the tacit approval of the group.

Ikko is a distant friend (we run in the same circles), so I won't speak badly of him.

Anyways, his scouting group is the one that found the stream and source of water, which has been the most important achievement so far. Recently, they've also found a tree with giant man-sized leaves. Right now, we're planning to use these leaves for mats and covers.

By the way, on the first day we were divided into groups depending on the stats we possessed. The scouting parties consists of members who have stats and skills suited for battle. I'm told that they've encountered several small monsters on their expeditions. Supposedly, these monsters disappear when they're killed.

 

* * * * *

 

(Yui is the friend who sat behind me in class)

 

"Yui, is it just me or do you look more pretty today?"

"Really? Miho told me that too. Maybe these weird fruits actually help your complexion... Ah, I wish I had a mirror." (Yui)

"You said your special skill was shapeshifting, right?"

"Yes, but I don't know how to use it. Look!" (Yui)

She holds her hand out and goes "mmmmmm" with great intensity. Of course, nothing happens.

"What about you?" (Yui)

"I'm not sure how to use mine either."

I have two unique skills. Apparently, everyone in our group has been given the [Identification] skill. It's speculated that this is what allows us to see our status windows. My other skill [Studious Advance] is not really that "unique" either. Two other students have been given that skill. Annoyingly, one of these students has even been given a third skill, in addition to [Studious Advance] and [Identification]. Clearly, the Goddess did not give much heed to parity or balancing her gifts.

The two other students with [Studious Advance] are both the hardworking type. One of them is a member of Student Council. The other had been part of an idol training group and was always performing in School events. I can sort of see how they might have wished for something similar to me.

As for using the skills themselves, only a handful of people have been able to figure them out.

Yui and I (Ayame) are part of the foraging team. Since we don't have baskets and none of us know how to make one, we are forced to make several trips, carrying the materials back in our blazers.

I sigh.

"If I could do it over again, I would have chosen a better cheat skill."

"Right? Right? She should have given us a better explanation. Even worse than a malicious Goddess is one who doesn't care!" (Yui)

Yui leans against a tree, feeling discouraged. I wait beside her.

She really has gotten better looking.

Something is rustling a few meters away from us. Since it is common to see birds and small animals, I don't take any notice at first. But suddenly, something unnaturally light-blue and without any fur hops out.

"Yui. Do you see that?"

At first glance it resembles a very round rabbit, save for the fact it doesn't possess any fur. On closer examination, it doesn't possess any legs either.

"Wah! A slime!" (Yui)

She runs over to it excitedly. I follow her, holding the fruits I've gathered in my arms.

If the status window weren't enough, the sight before me now definitively cements the sense that this is indeed the other world.

A blueish, see-through blob bounces towards us. Two lifeless dots and a black line on its body trace the outline of a dead-eyed smiley face. Nothing can be seen behind the dots that, seemingly, represent its eyes. I cannot say whether these are actually organs for sight, or whether these are simply marks on its body, like the marks on a beetle. In a word, the effect is disconcerting...

Yui, however, seems to find it cute. She explains to me that the slime is a common monster in a series of popular games. As it hops towards us, we back away. Since it's quite slow, we end up strolling in a circle a few times.

"Pyonpyon pyonpyon" (Slime)

"What should we do now?"

"Here slime. Are you hungry?" (Yui)

Yui picks one of the fruits from my arms and tosses it toward the slime. It hits the slime's jelly-like body, seems about to bounce off, but instead sticks on the surface and begins sinking into the spot where its forehead would be. This seems to amuse Yui, who picks another fruit and tosses it at the slime.

Inside its transparent body the dark masses of fruits float about, still visible.

Without slowing down and without speeding up, the slime bounces on in our footsteps, wearing the same frozen outline of a smile.

"Uwah... かわいいいい" (Yui)

":3" (Slime)

 

* * * * *

 

*Wobble*

"I still don't see what we're going to do with it..." (Chiho)

"It can be our mascot!" (Boy 1)

Previously, we had led the slime back to the camp.

It's still a monster, so we've dug a pit to keep it in. This way, we have control over its movements. Despite its "cute" appearance, it is aggressive towards humans. One of our classmates had gotten attacked when she tried to pet it. Apparently, she saw her Hit Points decrease by 1 in her status screen.

Despite this, the slime has been a boost to overall morale. The otaku and the non-entities in the class are especially fascinated. They have been squatting around the pit and watching it constantly for almost an hour. Ikko's group is toying with the idea of taming it or using it somehow for our benefit.

Only a minority of the class are opposed to this idea, saying things like "it's still a monster", "it attacked Miho", and "we've wasted so much food on it". However, they are overruled by everyone else. The cute roundness of the slime has been its strongest advocate.

Aside from the slime, two other good things have happened today.

One of the girls (a non-entity of our class) turns out to have a kind of water-filtering skill. People are annoyed at her for keeping it a secret for so long, but apparently she had no ill intentions and is just really shy. In any case, she is now "the water filtration system of our camp," as the class clowns have joked. We are hopeful that the five students who've gotten sick will recover with her purified water.

The other thing is just as promising to our future: one of the boys (another non-entity) has turned out to possess the ability to manifest a sword from his body. The sword that results has a vapory, virtual appearance, as though it were composed of something other than solid matter. It does not shine like the steel of a normal human-made sword, but is rather opaque and the color of a dark purple. He also does not need to hold it like a normal sword: it shoots out of his arm like a long katar.

This amazes the otaku--indeed everyone--even more than the appearance of the Slime. However, the sword-summon seems to run on his magic power, and Takashi (the name of the boy) is only able to "keep it up", so to speak, for a few minutes at a time. For now, he's helping the construction team chop wood and make temporary weapons. As he is somewhat chubby, Ikko wanted him to get into shape before he began accompanying the scouting team.

Concerning the Water Filtration Girl.--

Presently, there is a little tension in the class, as many people are suspected of hiding the true nature of their abilities. During the meeting on the first day, there was at least one boy who seemed plainly to be concealing something about the content of their status window, though everyone has been too polite since to confront him about it. Furthermore, some people--the members of the otaku group for example--have been caught neglecting their duties in order to "train" in secret. Even though we're no longer being graded, ranked, or submitted to the judgment of a teacher, it still feels like there's an undercurrent of competitiveness in our class... Unfortunately for Water Filter Girl, this ongoing tension has led to her being scolded harshly instead of commended, when she revealed the nature of her ability.

It's the late afternoon. The clouds are turning orange, the sky becoming a pastel shade of blue.

Seeing that the Water Filter Girl is still sniffling I sit down by her side, partly to console her, but mostly because I'm curious about the nature of these "special abilities". I have not been able to activate any of my own besides [Identification].

"Hi."

"Wuwuwuwu..." (Water Filter)

"Sorry about all that back there... They're just a little high-strung because they're hungry. No one's had a good meal for the past few days... They didn't mean to single you out in particular... My name's Ayame by the way."

The Water Filter Girl murmurs some indistinct sounds. Since I don't want to break the flow of the conversation I pretend as though I heard her and nod understandingly.

I take a good look at her for the first time.

The new term began only a month ago, so I still don't know the names of some of the Non-entities in my class. The Water Filter Girl is one of them. The "Non-entities" (as they're called in our School) consist of that stratum of kids who don't stand out, are not outgoing, and are not pleasant to interact with. Generally speaking, they consist of closeted otaku, quiet teacher's pets, and members of the going-home club.

Not all of them, however, are completely boring. There is the Class Representative, Shiori, who good-looking enough to be a model for a minor magazine, but who frightens people off with her cold personality.

Anyways, Water Filter Girl is fairly average in all respects, besides being short and extremely timid.

"You're really amazing. I still haven't been able to use my ability... Can you show me?"

"Wah?" (Water Filter)

"I mean...how exactly you do it."

"Uwaa..." (Water Filter)

After a few minutes, I manage to gather that she had been drinking the water out of a gourd (she had the smart idea of hollowing out the fruit and using it as a makeshift cup) when she saw weird specks of dirt inside it. She had been unhappy since the reincarnation. The bed was dirty, her clothes were dirty, and seeing even her drinking water dirty was the last straw, causing her finally to fall into despair. She stared at it blankly for a long time. At some point, she felt something change,--a strange sensation, the feeling that she was moving outside of her body, even though she was standing completely still. When she came to her senses again, the water had become, suddenly, completely pure. The surface of the gourd almost shimmered.

Perhaps it has to do with strong emotions then? I've already tried concentrating a bunch of times to no effect.

"In any event, I'm really glad we have clean water now."

"Th-Thank you..." (Water Filter)