Chapter 9
I was privately pumping my fist at having already recruited someone with a Job so important to progressing through 〈Dan-Katsu〉 when Hannah opened her mouth, as if she'd just realized something.
“But I don't know if I'll actually be able to become an 【Alchemist】. It seems that taking the elective classes doesn't guarantee you'll meet the conditions for manifesting a Job. I heard that without the right talent, some Jobs might never manifest in your whole life.”
“Yeah.”
Her words reminded me that there'd been a setting like that.
In this world, not all of the countless Jobs and their manifestation conditions have been figured out. The classes are based on statistics gathered so far, so how easily someone meets a Job's conditions varies from person to person. Or something like that.
Since the specific conditions aren't known, students take electives for a whole month to improve their chances of manifesting a Job.
When the game first came out, I think the developers came up with that clever setup so players would have to discover the conditions for manifesting Jobs through trial and error.
All of us players got really into figuring out the Job conditions. That one strategy forum was bustling every day. Those were fun times.
Anyway, the point is that I know the conditions, so there's no problem.
“Don't worry. You've already met the conditions for becoming an 【Alchemist】.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because, Hannah, you mass-produced a ton of slimes.”
“Huh?”
The conditions for manifesting the 【Alchemist】 Job were: ① Activate the 'Alchemy' Skill 2,000 times. ② Mass-produce 100 of the same item. ③ Have experienced a Desert Fumble.
Those conditions were easy to meet with Slime Respawn, so Hannah should have already fulfilled them.
While we were talking, it looked like the next event was about to begin: Job assessment.
People who looked like academy teachers were bringing in 〈Dragon Statues〉 about thirty centimeters in diameter.
If you touched one and focused your thoughts, it would display a list of all the Jobs you'd manifested so far.
First-year students checked their Jobs once after enrolling, and if they didn't see the Job they wanted, they took elective classes.
If they did see the Job they wanted, they could acquire it right then and skip a month's classes.
A whole month free from classes—what a lovely sound!
That said, since this was an important decision that would affect the rest of their lives, most students apparently waited until the very last moment to decide.
“Perfect timing. Hannah, go get assessed. I guarantee the 【Alchemist】 Job has already manifested for you.”
“Huh? I did help with 'Alchemy' at the shop, but I haven't taken any classes, so I don't think the 【Alchemist】 Job has manifested yet.”
“It's not like you have to take classes for a Job to manifest, right? If you practice with a sword at home, the 【Swordsman】 Job can manifest pretty easily.”
“That's true, but the difficulty is on a completely different level for a mid-tier Job like 【Alchemist】 than for a low-tier one like 【Swordsman】.”
“Just go. You're going to do it eventually, so there's no point arguing about it here.”
I said that and nudged Hannah toward the assessment line.
There were already a whole lot of people lined up.
Even though there seemed to be over a hundred assessment dragons, there were so many students that this was going to take a while.
After killing time by chatting with Hannah for a while, a burst of cheers rang through the gymnasium.
It came from the front of the neighboring line.
“What was that just now?”
“Looks like someone hit the jackpot.”
“The jackpot?”
The jackpot meant a rare Job.
Since their conditions were unusual and difficult to meet, and most were powerful high-tier Jobs, they were signposts on the road to glory—something everyone aspired to.
A lucky hit could let you serve the country or even become a noble, even if you were born a commoner. It was the kind of enviable Job everyone longed for.
I wonder what they got this time.
Was it 【Grand Swordmaster】, the highest-tier 【Swordsman】 Job? Or 【High Priest】, the highest-tier 【Cleric】 Job? Or 【Archmage】, the highest-tier 【Mage】 Job?
While all sorts of possibilities flitted through my mind, the next Job name I heard was one I'd never have expected.
“I did it! I got the 【Muscle Warrior】 Job!!!”
“The 【Muscle Warrior】—a gag Job?!”
I was so shocked that I blurted it out.
Hannah in front of me and the elegant, beautiful girl behind me both flinched.
“S-sorry.”
But I couldn't help it. I really couldn't.
Anyway, why was everyone making such a fuss over the 【Muscle Warrior】, a gag Job?
As far as I was concerned, the 【Muscle Warrior】 was a downright hazardous Job, a gag Job so committed to the bit that no other joke Job could compete. In other words, it was just a joke.
Sure, its stats were absurdly high, but it got stronger the less equipment you wore, and its Skills were so pathetic that it became useless in the later stages. What a disappointing Job.
Plus, since you couldn't wear equipment, watching a hulking, musclebound guy fight practically naked was kind of... No, it was really hard to watch.
Even so, it had the stats to proudly claim first place in the official rankings. It also took first place in the unofficial gag Job rankings, making it famous as a double-crown Job.
Was that why they were making such a fuss? No, that couldn't be it. The 【Muscle Warrior】 was a joke Job, not a rare one.
Now that the world was real, there was no way anyone would choose a gag Job as their lifelong partner, one that would shape the course of their entire life—
“I'm going to become a 【Muscle Warrior】!!!”
“And there was one?!”
I was so shocked for the second time that I shouted again. It was a cry from the depths of my soul.
Are you out of your mind?!
No, sorry. I'm sorry, both of you.
I quietly looked away from Hannah, who was silently pressuring me with a reproachful stare, only to meet the eyes of the elegant, beautiful girl behind me.
“Hey, you've been making a lot of noise.”
She spoke to me in a slightly irritated tone.