Chapter 1: Cocky Hero
5'9 foot tall, well-built man with green eyes and a fine-looking face looked up to the orange sky, it was orange because of the sunset.
A soothing wind blew flowing his hair in the air. Black spiky and well-kept hair which leans to his right eye.
Walking on a pathway in a forest while carrying a small sack with his left hand over his left shoulder that contained supplies.
Yes, he was traveling if you haven't guessed yet.
He is wearing a black damaged cloak that was near his knees' length, the cloak also had straight collars that came to about his chin length. The cloak partially hid his right arm.
A grey carved pauldron on his left shoulder.
Beneath cloak and pauldron, he is wearing a white t-shirt and black trouser with leather boots.
Carved gray armor on top of clothes, covering his crucial points and joints, such as chest, elbows, and knees.
He has a black belt that is connected with a pure black katana sheath on his left-side waist with a purple-black katana inside it.
This equipment allowed him to move smoothly, furthermore protected him with armor made from slightly expensive material.
Still walking, he saw 5 figures assembling ahead in his path.
He stopped his movements when the 5 figures stood in front of him.
They have very tan skin and a muscular build. Swords in their right hand. They wore different armor varying from heavy to light.
After a few moments, a bearded man, who seems to be the leader, points his sword at the tall man and threatens him.
"Drop the sack with all your valuable items and run away or... DIE!"
The tall man, who we'll refer to as "Satou" for now, moved his left arm that is holding the sack downwards and released his grip from the sack.
The sack made a sound of glass colliding and metal clanking after dropping on the ground.
"Now, other valuables like money and that sword."
"Sure you can have my sword, that is after you beat me."
Commanded the bandit leader.
Instead of following his instructions, Satou quickly raised his right arm straight to the right side, flicking his black cloak in the air.
He opened his palm flat and chanted.
"Murasame."
A cloud of black smoke covered his hand and extended straight forward to about a sword's length.
After a few seconds, the black smoke disappeared into thin air, and a purple-black katana took its place.
The Demonic Blade, Murasame. One of the divine relics that can be granted upon entering this world.
Upon glancing at the blade that came out of thin air, the 5 bandits were shocked.
The sword that was in his sheath just now appeared in his hands from thin air.
"It's the sword that was in his sheath just now, isn't it?!"
"He seems strong! Let boss handle him, we'll just be a hindrance."
"Boss, you can handle him, right?!"
The bandits discussed in panic.
Satou moved his right arm atop his left shoulder, ready to swing the katana.
4 of the 5 bandits started running away.
The one who remained is their leader, who stood there proudly.
"Heh, they are a bunch of weaklings, but I am not scared of you! I have defeated many strong monsters, knights, and adventurers."
He shouted proudly.
"You should have run away too."
Satou advised as he swiped his purple-black katana diagonally to the right side at a very quick speed, and chanted as the bandit got in a fighting stance
"Take this! Wind Slash!"
A white diagonal curved sword-slash-like projectile appeared and traveled towards the bandit at a speed he could not dodge and hit him, spurting blood from the chest area that was cut.
An attack that uses air itself to slash the target from distance.
This skill can easily be avoided by dodging at the right timing or blocking with a normal shield, sword, or magic, for example, Wind Curtain.
Wind Curtain summons a gust of wind that can divert projectiles like fireballs or arrows, and of course, Wind Slash.
Why didn't the bandit block it then? That's because first, it was really fast for him to block, and second, he's just a mere foolish bandit.
Going back to the bandit leader. He screamed in pain, and his eyes rolled upwards as he dropped to his knees, then laid on the dirt unconscious.
The cut was not that deep to kill him, probably.
Satou doesn't really care if he survives or not in the first place.
This world is a fantasy world of sword and magic, like RPG games, but thinking of it like a game is a huge misunderstanding.
This world is a reality too, people have emotions and souls.
So, they have desires, bandits are people who rob, kill others and kidnap women.
They don't deserve any mercy.
Satou did wound the bandit leader, but he didn't care if he survived or not.
Satou put his Katana back in the sheath in a fancy manner.
Murasame could be summoned, but not disappear after being summoned.
As for how he got his hands on this sword, we'll talk about that later.
"He can still live if you treat his wound!"
Satou shouted hoping they heard him.
He picked up his sack, glass colliding and metal clanking sounds could be heard when he did.
Dodging the hindrance in his path that he created just now, he started walking towards his destination again.
After a while, he looked behind and saw 2 bandits picking up the unconscious leader and running away at his glance.
He sighed in annoyance and thought how can bandits exist in this world filled with monsters.
He came to the conclusion that they either have a base in a safe area or they were strong enough to keep monsters away.
If corruption existed, maybe criminal organizations did too, so did foolish bandits.
Seriously, why wait for prey that may never appear?
People do travel, but not so often, because of the risk of monsters, and most of those people are adventurers.
The nobility that traveled in carriage have strong knights or adventurers protecting them too, so they have to be strong enough to match knights or adventurers in power and skill.
Maybe, once Demon King is gone and monsters are weakened, the number of bandit groups will increase.
Bandits may be rarer than onion-duck monsters found in this world right now.
This is probably one in a lifetime experience.
Moon was shining brilliantly in the darkness of the sky, sparkling with stars.
Cold winds were blowing slowly, sending shivers down the spine of anyone with very light clothing.
Satou stood before a large gate.
The gate was the entrance to the town of Axel in the Kingdom of Belzerg.
Every starter adventurer stayed in this town because this is the furthest town from the front lines that are often attacked by Demon King's forces.
He started to walk towards Adventurer's Guild, which was quite far considering how huge this town is.
-10 minutes later.
A market in front of Adventurer's Guild was lively as always, but brighter and sparkling with decorative lights because of nighttime.
Satou moved towards the double door of Adventurer's Guild Hall and pushed them open.
The stench of alcohol and the smell of meat.
The chattering of adventurers, skinny to muscular, all kinds of people were in this so-called Adventurer's Guild.
There were a lot of people due to it being nighttime.
It is more like a bar than a Guildhall.
Tables and chairs everywhere, maid-like waiters serving food.
It was quite cozy with a fireplace and all.
Few adventurers took a glance at Satou and then averted after a few moments and continued chatting or eating, everyone else are immersed in their drinks, food, and chattering.
Satou has kept a low profile, not wanting attention, so not many people know him quite well.
There was a counter on the further right side of the wide rectangle Guildhall.
Sitting behind the counter window was a well-endowed woman with fair skin, wavy blond hair tied behind the back in a bun with golden eyes.
Satou strolled to the counter to get the reward for the quest he completed.
Noticing Satou's approach, the girl gasped and smiled.
"Oh, Kazuma-san, welcome back!"
She greeted Kazuma, the "Satou", only to be greeted back with a deadpan and a:
"Hello, Luna."
Her name was Luna, one of the Adventurer's Guild Staff.
This greeting was common for her, as he was a constant visitor.
He may have greeted her in such a way, but that doesn't mean he was cocky or rude, well, he kind of is.
He just talks bluntly to others and doesn't hesitate to show displeasure.
He shows no mercy to his enemies too.
Simply, he was kind at heart for those he cared about.
He took out his adventurer card from his right trouser pocket.
He had received the card upon registering as an adventurer.
Lets flashback to how his first day in this New World was.
Yes, we'll refer to this "New World" as "New World". Simple, right?
1 week ago.
Kazuma was standing in front of the Adventurer's Guild after wasting half an hour looking for it.
He pushed the double door open and was immediately able to perceive the smell of meat and other delicacies.
There were few parties occupying chairs. Some parties eating their food, some waiting for it, and others just chilling.
Kazuma looked around for some kind of reception or something.
He spotted a quest board to the right side of the Hall, filled with huge amounts of the quest.
He looked further right and finally spotted a woman behind a counter-like table, the woman was Luna.
He was about to walk towards the counter, but someone called him.
"Oye, haven't seen you before, new here? And what's with those weird clothes?"
He questioned while lightly grabbing Kazuma's left shoulder, then releasing it after he finished.
Kazuma turned back to face him with a emotionless face.
The man was as tall as Kazuma, with tan skin, a muscular body, and a rough face. Reddish-brown hair color with Mohawk, mustache, and beard. He had no shirt but pink suspenders connected to green pants, metal shoes, and a set of shoulder armor.
Kazuma had spotted him before while he was searching for staff.
This man was on the left side of the Guild Hall, he was sitting on a chair alone and drinking.
Kazuma is wearing a white t-shirt, black trouser, and a jacket that he is wearing over his t-shirt. It is a dark green, open jacket with a straight collar and black accents that may be made from a material that is not found in this world. That's why it surprised him.
"Who are you?"
"You can call me Ruffian!"
"Ok, Ruffian. I have something important to do, so don't bother me with small things right now. I don't really have time for side conversations."
Kazuma said and walked away.
The man who called himself "Ruffian" just stood there with a depressing aura surrounding him.
Kazuma, on the other hand, was standing in front of the counter now.
Luna was sitting behind the counter's window and was surprised when she noticed Kazuma approaching.
"H-Hello. What can I do for you?"
She said with a smile and a slight blush around her cheeks.
"I want to become an adventurer."
"I see! You will have to pay the registration fee of 1000 Eris first."
She asked, so Kazuma reached out to his right trouser pocket and took out two, 500 Eris coins and placed them on the counter table.
He had received money when he was teleported to this world.
Luna took the fee and came out from behind the counter through the door on the left with a driver's license-like card in her hand.
"You want to become an adventurer, so you may know the basics, but I will still explain it."
She told Kazuma that adventurers take down monsters and other such norm things.
What caught Kazuma's attention was "Experience Points", specifically, eating food also gave experience points that helped in getting to a higher level.
After the explanation, she asked him to fill in the details on the form she handed to Kazuma.
Height is 180 cm, weight is 83 kg, age is 17, black hair, and green eyes.
After filling in details, Luna asked him to touch the card, doing so will show his talent in different stats.
"Alright, Satou Kazuma... Amazing! Vitality, agility, speed, intelligence, and luck. They are all above average and fairly high, with the exception of Strength, Magic, and Intelligence being very high!"
The reason for high stats is that Kazuma, back in Japan, used to work out every day, despite being an Otaku and Weeb.
He had learned martial arts and swimming that helped improve his physical capabilities.
The stats are affected by levels, as well as actual physique.
"You have many classes available, 'Swordsman with the ability to use magic; Rune Knight', 'Holy knights with the highest defense; Crusader', ' A swordsman with the strongest attacks; Swordmaster'! The best one I recommend is "Champion". It's an advanced and rare job. It allows you to learn skills of any other class as well as use class-specific weapons! It also has its own learnable skills unique to the "Champion" job!"
She explained.
Kazuma had decided to become the "Champion" class, as it's a jack of all trades.
"Then, set my occupation to 'Champion'."
"Of course, right away!"
Luna went back inside the counter room, and after a while, she came back with the adventurer's card and other staff members.
They assembled in a shoulder-to-shoulder formation.
A crowd had already gathered because of all the staff gathering and Luna's shouting.
Kazuma had an annoyed expression.
He sighed in annoyance.
Luna extended her both arms with the adventurer card in her hands.
Kazuma took the card, and the crowd was cheering for some reasons.
"We welcome you to our Adventurer's Guild, Satou Kazuma-sama. The staff of the Adventurer's Guild looks forward to your future exploits."
Luna said with high expectations and a bright smile.
They were completely oblivious of the fact that Kazuma hated attention.
"Starting as a Champion, this guy is incredible!"
"He might actually beat the Demon King!"
Such comments could be heard with cheering and whistles.
"I'd rather you don't give me attention and leave me alone. You are all being a nuisance, you know."
Shouted Kazuma and slowly cheering stopped and started to go back to their things.
"This guy is really cocky."
Few people mumbled such comments now.
Staff members also went back to their work, except for Luna, who was smiling with a sweat drop on her face.
"What is the easiest quest I can do right now to test my abilities."
"Uhm, you should get basic equipment, like a sword first..."
Kazuma already had Murasame, and didn't have money for armor and such.
He would just flee if the situation goes wrong.
"Don't worry about that."
"Oh, uh, well then... you should take the quest to kill 5 Giant Toads..."
Giant Toads, they are monsters from starter quests.
They bury themselves in ground, and when their mating season comes, they often come near human civilizations.
They can swallow livestocks and human in one gulp, since, they are... giant.
They fear metal and are easy to kill with swords and stuff.
"Seriously, Toads? Even if they are giant, they are still toads. What can they do? Jump around and gobble me up?"
Kazuma didn't like the idea of fighting giant 'toads'.
He had somehow guessed they are a waste of time when he has Murasame and its buff.
"That's actually correct! And that's the easiest quest for starters..."
"Then give me something a bit more challenging."
"How about a quest to kill goblins?"
Goblins, minor monsters everyone knows about.
They aren't to be underestimated, they can use weapons and wear armor.
They are fast and attack in groups, they are usually in caves but sometimes wander around in the forest.
"Hmph, that will do."
"Quest should be on the quest board on the left-hand corner. By the way, be careful of rookie-killer."
She said while pointing towards the quest itself.
Kazuma had asked her to explain what is rookie-killer, and so she did.
And so... he took the quest to kill goblins and completed it unscathed because of Legendary Weapon Murasame and his high stats.
He gained a few levels for killing goblins and Rookie Killer, a large black, feline-like beast with large canine teeth.
Rookie killers protect goblins and use those goblins to lure newbie adventurers.
It was surely a cunning beast, but Murasame is very sharp and fast, and it has a good buff for Kazuma to take on rookie-killer easily.
Well, it wasn't so easy, he had gotten an injury from the beast, the injury wasn't fatal, though.
He gained levels and his stats raised slightly, but most importantly, he gained skill points he can use to learn new skills.
But unfortunately, he didn't use them.
He is waiting for a good and powerful or useful skill to appear before him.
Oh, uh, the reward for the quest was just 150,000 eris if you are wondering.
Kazuma bought a white-colored common light armor from the reward money, just to be cautious.
Now... back to the present.
Luna took his adventurer's card and looked at the monster's kill count column.
"I completed the dungeon exploring quest."
Kazuma said while putting the sack down again, a glass colliding and metal clanking sound could be heard. Luna noticed the sound and the sack.
"I see... huh, what's in the sack?"
"Supplies, like potions and tools useful in dungeons. Isn't it obvious?"
Supplies like disarm traps and holy water to protect against undead.
He also had health potions and item for light source.
Most of them were used and only a few remained.
"O-of course. Now, here is your reward of 300000 Eris. I am sure you may have found some treasure in that dungeon, you can keep that as well."
"Hm, I did find valuable items and jewels."
Kazuma said as he took the money on the counter.
Though he hadn't traveled to the deepest part of the said dungeon, he did come back right after finding a chest full of treasure.
He doesn't need to risk his for some money life now, does he?
A single eris is this world is equal to a yen from Earth.
300,000 eris for dungeon exploring was kind of good deal.
"I think you should get party members. They will help you with quests."
"Don't need them. I am powerful enough on my own, and I will just have to share my money with them."
"Huh, uh, yeah..."
Kazuma took a seat in the guildhall and ordered food.
After eating, he left the guildhall and started walking towards the inn he stays in.
After a few minutes, he arrived at the inn door and pushed them open.
He chose an inn that is close to the guildhall.
"Welcome!"
He was greeted by a skinny male, 5'7 foot tall, with fair skin, brown hair in a fringe hairstyle, and black eyes. He is wearing a green half-sleeved sweater with dark blue pants and a brown belt. He was the inn owner, Leo.
Kazuma simply ignored his greeting, like he usually does, and moved towards the stairs, then to his room.
He opened the door, went inside the room and closed the door.
He put down the sack filled with leftover supplies and valuable items on top of the bedside table.
He removed his equipment, leaving his t-shirt and trouser on and laid on the bed.
He was gonna sell the left-over supplies, or maybe not.
He'll surely sell the treasure, of course.
He thought about party members, Luna mentioned.
He doesn't want people that'll drag him behind, and doesn't want people who'll die and cause him pain and sadness...
But, in the end, it will make things easier if they are useful, and he'll have someone to talk and kill time, instead of being alone.
The chirping of birds, chattering of citizens, and hammering of laborers could be heard in the daytime in Axel.
Standing in front of the inn with all his equipment, from armor to sword and the sack.
He started to walk towards jewelry shops.
Checking many shops to find the best price.
He decided not to sell supplies, as they could be used in other dungeons.
It has potions and other tools useful for dungeon exploring after all.
Now, his destination was the famous Adventurer's Guild.
He had mustered the courage to get party members, so he wanted to post a recruitment notice for party members today.
On the way, he heard a girl wailing, the sound felt familiar.
He looked to his right in the alleyway.
She has blue waist-long hair partially tied in a loop on top of her head with a dark blue sphere clip, she is wearing a blue vest with separate sleeves and a dark blue skirt, and thigh long blue heel boots.
Kazuma knew who she was and started to walk away.
A dumb goddess is a way to describe her simply, he wanted to avoid her at all cost.
"I am not useless! Leaving a goddess by herself, you will face divine retribution, you NEET!"
She said such things to no one in particular, while crying.
Seems like she was chosen in place of a divine relic and was left alone after the guy found out how dumb she was.
She started to look around for someone to ask for help with tears in her eyes.
Unfortunately, she spotted Kazuma before he could walk away.
"Wait, I know you!"
She shouted and started to run towards him.
She was about to tackle him into a hug, but much to her disappointment Kazuma easily dodged her and made her fall on the ground head-on.
"That hurt!"
She shouted with tears in her eyes.
"You shouldn't have tried that stunt in the first place. Now, don't follow me."
To his words, Aqua simply grabbed his leg and begged to not leave her.
But Kazuma just kept walking, dragging her on the paved path.
"Dammit! Release my leg, you are heavy!"
Kazuma said with an angry expression and stopped walking.
"Then, let me come with you. I will do anything, I will become your servant or luggage carrier! Just don't leave me, I can't go back to Heaven if I don't defeat the Demon King! A stupid teenager chose me instead of ability or a weapon. He asked me for the way to the adventurer's guild and money. He just dragged me in this world, so I didn't have a penny and just left me after saying I was useless."
She whined while she cried.
"I pity him for not choosing an actual ability."
Kazuma said with a sympathetic expression.
Kazuma knew how dumb she was.
He sighed in annoyance, then said:
"If you are actually useful, I will let you in my party, otherwise, we don't know each other."
He declared. Aqua just thanked him several times, and then they continued towards Guild Hall.
Now, as for how they know each other, let's rewind time again.
After Word:
I do not own KonoSuba, its author is Akatsuki Natsume-san. I am merely writing a fanfiction inspired by the story.
OK, so it's my first time writing. I know this whole story is a mess. I need criticism comments to correct my mistakes.
"I know the starting is a bit eh cliche? I guess? but it gets really good afterwards so please check out next chapters. I am sure you will like it."
Also, imagine Kazuma to be literal Seiya Ryuuguuin from a Cautious Hero but less cautious personality. And I don't think I would like this to be cross-over, because first, I am not using the whole Seiya Ryuuguuin. I am just using his appearance. Personality and name are different. I also suggest you watch Cautious Hero as the character Kazuma's appearance is inspired by is the Satou of the anime Cautious hero. Also, not just because of that reason, the anime itself is very good. Sadly, it doesn't give Seiya's perspective in either anime nor light/web novels, so I am less knowledgeable about his attitude and personality. But since Seiya talks bluntly, it makes it easier.
For me, Seiya is the embodiment of badass. I think badass is someone who is powerful and doesn't hesitate to show superiority and insult others yet still cares for his friends and even strangers. Doesn't hesitate to kill those who piss him off. This is literally what Seiya is and this is literally "badass" for me.
Also, I will warn you all right now. Megumin, Darkness, and maybe other characters will also have an appearance and personality change. This will also be a bit different from the real KonoSuba story. I hope you all read it even after this because I will really try my best to make it liked by as many people as I can.
Lastly, I am not English, so, my vocabulary and grammar will be bad. I wanted to make this bigger and have more word count, but I think people will hate that as if I describe every action I will probably become boring. I will try my best to describe fight scenes and all effects in them with my writing. I will also try my best to make him and his party and friends seem close and caring despite his rude and cocky personality. The story will have some twists later on.
Oh, also, I will make boss fights like Beldia and other generals to be more engaging.
The next chapter will literally start from the start of the story, haha.