It gets noisy when girls get together
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“Kuhaaa-! Oh man, that was totally nerve-wracking!”
Completely ruining her graceful good looks, Karin-san sloppily sat onto one of the beds in the inn room, kicking her legs up.
After that mess at the Guild, I dragged Karin-san and Emi-chan back towards the inn Desmond said he had booked rooms at.
Because they’re totally standing out, with the high-tier MMO armor on.
It wasn’t such a big deal in a well-ordered city like Nyl, but here in Ploids, it’s a rougher, more combat crazy crowd.
Besides, even if they had MMO armor on, girls’ armor is a lot flashier than guys’ armor.
Even Midori-chan kept getting stared at in Nyl every time she put on her armor to go to the Labyrinth.
At least until everyone in Nyl got used to her.
It’s not like Nyl didn’t have adventurers coming and going like all the other Labyrinth Cities, but the majority of the population within Nyl are production oriented or citizens.
Even most of the adventurers are considered long-term residents.
Compared to Nyl, the busyness of Ploids just makes it feel like it would be impossible to remember anyone’s faces, even the shopkeepers and business owners.
I sigh a little inside as Karin-san carelessly removes her breastplate and tassets.
Oi!
You’re basically wearing a mini dress underneath that!
No, I get that even though it looks like that, that piece of cloth probably has just as much defenses as regular armor, but please mind your appearance!
Emi-chan is also flusteredly going, “Awawawa,” trying to get Karin-san to sit properly in that outfit.
I decide to ignore it.
“If you really think that was bad, next time, please consider things properly before you act,”
I said.
“Eh… “
As Karin-san makes that sort of displeased noise, Emi-chan says,
“S-s-sorry…”
She really is timid.
Gaba-!
Karin-san suddenly bolted upright and faced me.
“So, you’re Jun-kun? Eeeeh. Even though I was expecting an adorable bishounen…”
… Oi.
I kind of don’t want to know what she means, but against my better judgment, I ask,
“… What do you mean adorable bishounen?”
“Ah, no, see, we heard you used to be a guy, right? But then Masa-yan said you hardly looked different, so in those cases, isn’t it always a trap? Well, I guess in one way, you are, but I totally thought you’d be a cute-type trap, but this isn’t too bad either –“
… … … I feel like I can’t keep up with Karin-san’s excitement.
In the first place, did you tell everyone, Masaki!?
Ah, no, I didn’t tell him he had to keep it a secret, but -!
I’m suddenly feeling very tired.
“Anyway, you should change clothes to avoid standing out too much,”
I said.
“S-see, Karin? Even here, you have to be careful about how you look.”
As Emi-chan softly chided Karin-san, Karin-san had a kind of exasperated look on her face.
“Agh, geez, this is my best armor, though? Even if people complain about it, in a world I’m not used to and people I don’t know very well, why would I take it off? Even without the armor pieces, the under clothes will invalidate impacts to a certain degree, you know?”
Even if you say that…
“Has she been getting complaints about her outfit? Is that why you guys ran away from Carnus?”
I asked Emi-chan.
“Um… that’s…”
“If you leave two young girls of a new noble house alone like that, of course we’re going to get picked on. It’s so stupid. New young noble guys are fine, and all the other nobles are eager to marry their daughters to them, but new noble girls? Ooooh no, the apocalypse is coming!”
Karin-san rolled her eyes.
“…?”
I’m confused.
“Th-that’s, they think we’ll marry into the royal family and stuff like that…”
“Nobody said anything while the guys were around, but once they left, there were a lot of noble women coming around to pick on us. Well, since they were just blowing hot air, it’s not like it mattered, but it got pretty annoying, you know? Things like, ‘you’re just wearing that to seduce men,’ and stuff. Like, what, you want me to dress like a nun or something? Ah, no, there are fetishes like that …”
I ignored Karin-san for a bit and asked Emi-chan,
“Was it really that bad?”
“…”
Emi-chan just nodded as tears welled up in her eyes.
“We left because their bullying of Emi got too bad, actually.”
Karin-san said.
… Ah. I bet it’s because Karin-san didn’t seem to be too bothered by the harassment, so they switched targets.
“Well, things escalated because the Second Prince went to Nyl City chasing after Midori. Since he was rejecting noblewomen left and right, they had a lot of pentup resentment towards the whole situation. I know it’s not her fault, but it’s like, damn, you know, we don’t actually have anything to do with that, so leave us alone, you know?”
Karin-san continued to complain.
Heeeh… that sounds pretty troublesome~.
But still.
So stuff like this actually happens?
I don’t really know if it was a good thing for them to do it, but I think it can’t be helped that Karin-san and Emi-chan ran away from Carnus if that’s going on.
Well, whatever.
They’re here now.
“… Well, I don’t really know anything about seducing men or anything, but people who stand out more among adventurers can get a lot of attention, and not always in a good way. Actually going into the Labyrinth aside, when you’re walking through town, you don’t have to wear your ultimate armor, right?”
“Well… that’s true.”
Karin-san frowns.
Strange, even though Midori-chan was almost crying from her lack of pants, Karin-san doesn’t seem to care that much.
Although, it seems like her skirt is actually a skort, but it’s still so short that people would be troubled with where to look.
“Hm… well, Jun-kun, what do you think about it? It’s not too seductive, is it?”
Karin-san pouts her lips and flutters her eyelashes, taking a coy pose and squeezing her breasts together with her arms.
Uh… what am I supposed to say to this?
This is one of those ‘damned if you say yes, damned if you say no,’ situations, isn’t it?
“… If you’re trying to look seductive, then it’s not ‘looking seductive’ anymore, it’s straight up seduction, isn’t it?”
I try to gloss over my answer.
Karin-san huffs and throws her head back, crossing her legs as she says,
“Ah geez, you’re no fun. Are you already more of a girl than a guy? Or is it because you’re more of a guy than a girl that you’re avoiding the topic?”
You’re definitely thinking too hard about it.
Please just let it go.
“K-Karin, you’re being kind of rude to those types of people…”
Those types? What types?
Oi, I’m not trans, okay!?
No, wait.
In this situation, would I be…?
… Let’s not think about it too hard.
“Enough about me. So? What were you guys trying to do by running away?”
“Uuuuuum, well, I went, ‘You guys are being so nasty and making Emi-chan cry, so I’m going to tattle to Seimei,’ and flew away while they were all panicking … I guess that’s all I really wanted to do?”
“… Please don’t just throw an entire country into turmoil just because of your selfishness.”
“It’s not like I have any allegiance towards Carnus or anything, though. Well, the noble girls aside, we were treated well, so it’s not like I’m actually going to go, ‘Papa, they’re bullying me, punish them~!’ I’m just causing a li~ttle bit of trouble.”
… I would pay to see Seimei’s face if you called him ‘Papa.’
No, wait, before that, it’s not just a ‘li~ttle’ bit of trouble!
Suddenly, I understand Seimei’s irritation from when I first reunited with him at Nyl City.
So he had to keep people like this under control.
When we had reached this point in the conversation, there was a tapping on the door.
“Jun-kun, Ragnall said you returned already-“
“Oooh my god, is this Hibiki-chan? Sooo cute!”
Hibiki-chan knocked and entered the room, but was ambushed by Karin-san, who aggressively hugged her as well.
“Wha-wha-wha-?!”
Hibiki-chan wasn’t able to process what was going on as Karin-san seized her by the shoulders and said,
“You’re so adorable! But I heard you actually got transported here with a super sexy body! Can I see? Ah, I get if you don’t want to, but I’m super curious. I also played ArchLeg, way back in the day, and –“
The normally calm Hibiki-chan is so confused she looks like she’s about to panic.
Emi-chan is already past panicking as she looks between Hibiki-chan, Karin-san, and me, at a loss for what to do.
Chop!
“Oi, chill. You look like you’re bullying a kid. Remember, Hibiki-chan is a middle-schooler.”
I scolded Karin-san, who laughed sheepishly and released Hibiki-chan.
“Sorry! I got a little excited.”
She bowed and she clapped her hands together in apology.
Hibiki-chan straightened her clothes as she finally got a good look at Karin-san and Emi-chan.
“Th-that’s okay… and I was basically in high school, Jun-kun.”
Ah.
Hibiki-chan is still trying to sound older than she is.
“By the way, who might you be…?”
“Ah. Ahahaha! Sorry! I’m Minamoto Karin, and she’s Watanabe Emi. We’re Japanese too~.”
Karin-san rubbed the back of her head and laughed as she introduced herself and Emi-chan.
“They’re from Masaki’s group and ran away because the noblewomen were annoying, or something.”
I supplemented as an explanation, so Hibiki-chan could be caught up on what’s going on.
“Oi, aren’t you cutting the explanation too short – ah. No, actually, that’s pretty much it, isn’t it?”
Karin-san said.
“Oooh… I see.”
As expected, Hibiki-chan needed much less explanation than I did.
“Hibiki-chan, is there something that looks more normal in your cosmetics? Lolita and whatever Karin-san’s wearing is a little too eyecatching.”
I said.
Although Emi-chan is wearing clothes with more coverage, it’s still a frilly forest witch outfit.
I mean, I get that high-tier MMO equipment is supposed to be over the top, but in a place like this, luxuriously dyed and ornamented clothing just scream ‘rich people.’
And with us looking like high-schoolers, Karin-san and Emi-chan are definitely going to be viewed as naïve rich girls going out for the first time.
Hibiki-chan had a lot of luxurious cosmetics, but I mean, she had a LOT of cosmetic outfits, so there should be some more normal-for-this-world ones – probability wise.
“Um… I don’t know about ‘normal,’ but do you guys want to look?”
Hibiki-chan said shyly.
“ArchLeg cosmetics!?”
Karin-san’s eyes are sparkling.
… She’s going to end up choosing something even crazier looking, isn’t she?
Sighing inside, I evacua – I mean, I stepped out of the room.
“Yo. Desmond was looking for us.”
Ragnall raised a hand as I closed the door, leaving the clothing hell behind me.
“Leaning on the wall outside the ladies’ room is a little…”
I complained.
“I thought it would be better than intruding randomly. More like, why is that bothering you all of a sudden?”
That’s … no, well, Karin-san and Emi-chan are way more girly than me, so I thought it would be a problem if they thought Ragnall was peeping or something.
“Anyway, what did Desmond-san want?”
“Hm. Not sure.”
And with that, the two of us walked a little ways down the hall towards the elves’ room.
By the way, Ragnall gets a room all to himself as usual.
Of course, it’s a small room, all the way in the back of the inn.
He’d be okay with storing his luggage in Hibiki-chan and my room and sleeping in the large communal room for adventurers who literally just want a place to sleep, but because of his reputation, it’s not like it wouldn’t cause a bit of a fuss if he did so.
Even if they don’t know he’s actually a half-demon, the fact that he’s the White Demon is pretty well-spread.
Anyway, that White Demon knocked on the elves’ door, and from inside, Desmond’s voice sounded.
“Come in.”
Now then, what is this about?
<Previous Chapter] [Index] [Next Chapter>
<a/n: Sigh. There are too many loose ends I’m trying to tie up around this part of the story. I feel like I’m chasing after ALL the rabbits, and there they go, running under the fence and far away…>
klinH Stories 
Chasing rabbits? Must be how Seimei feels, would be funny if you have him use that phrase when complaining to Jun.
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DO EEEET
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Has Jin got any more skills
I ask because we haven’t seen any stats page for a bit
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Sorry tired ment jun
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… that is a good question …
Probably “Plasma Manipulation” and “Plasma Magic”?
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And for skills for reforging the spirit Sword
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Thanks for the new chapter!
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Them rabbits be nightmares…..
But hey, look at the bright side. At least you don’t have writer’s block.
Unlike a certain author who I’ve been waiting 7 years for him to come out with the finale book to his series. I mean, I get you wrote yourself into a corner with those aliens dude, but it’s been 7 years, and you already split the book into two halves. Not to mention that this was a spin-off series to begin with, that you’re now needing to tie back into the main story, so technically that means you’ve been sitting on this problem for over two decades, buying yourself time with the spin-off….
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Which book are you complaing about?
😲
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Ender Saga/Shadow Saga from Orsen Scott Card
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I find the way you describe your plotlines somewhat cute, like they’re little bunnies that all want attention… 😊
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Loose thread rabbits can be adorable in small numbers, but if allowed to multiply they can devastate the local novel ecosystem. Also, I love this story and keep up the great work
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I really do like this series, though I feel like some progression on the whole “I’m a girl now” front would be nice, Jun has been pretty Asexual from the get go, with some minor leaning towards girls, I just want to see that part of the character actually progress and not just get continuously put off.
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I get you want to see the character become more girly (hah, typed grilly… Maybe Jun should’ve been an outdoor cook instead), but considering his initial trauma of being viewed as too girly when he was still male, coupled with the sudden transformation into an actual female, I’d imagine he could and would go for years in a state of rejection, disassociation, or some weird neutral blah. The 100th chapter gave him a bit of a break through with him at least accepting he’s no longer male, instead of pretending he was male in a female body, but even that is a far cry from complete feminization.
It’s been awhile since I reread this series from the start, so I could be very wrong, but I don’t think it’s even been a year since their transportation to this world (Or maybe just over a year? I’m gonna have to go back and read it again…I have a vague idea that there were some several-month-long blocks in there somewhere..). It’s really not a lot of time, especially when the majority of the activities aren’t anything that stress the difference between a male and female, such as blacksmithing and general adventuring shenanigans. Aside from Jun’s time of the month, bathroom breaks, and showering, nothing he does particularly screams “You are a girl, start acting like it”.
Personal opinion alert, but I think if Jun’s character is to be written with any kind of accuracy, we probably shouldn’t see any major development on this front unless something near cataclysmic happens, such as Jun developing a crush on a male character (Just an example… We all know Jun only has feelings for Legendary grade mats) or somehow/someway being put into a situation where he would need to act like a girl. Until something like these happens, though, Jun has no real need to change his way of acting or thinking.
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I hear ya though I’m more or less ok with that part of things, the thing I want to see progress on aside from main plot and improving blacksmith techniques is romance. It’d be rather nice to see Jun have a girlfriend from within the group or something, as they’d understand his situation and also come from a world where lesbian relationships are ok, unlike this world where it’s taboo against their religion or whatever.
I don’t think him having a girlfriend would detract from the plot that much and they’d join Jun’s group as she travels around continuing her blacksmith journey. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Jun gets to meet some royals soonish especially the more famous she gets, and also curious about when the light avatar thing will crop again. Hope we see her make a new super powerful enchanted mana/spirit weapon or something for herself someday, thanks for the chapter and looking forward to more!
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… Jun is too Jun to have a girlfriend though?
I mean, he was basically the shadow minister of the sstudent council back on Earth, right?
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2 months and a bit. At least if I counted the freak outs about periods correctly
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at this point it’s probably edging towards 3 months ish.
… Yeah,
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Oh … has it really been such a short amount of time? So much has happened, I had thought it was at least 6 months ish … Apparently my vague impressions of time should be edited from “Several-month-long blocks” to “Several-day/week-long blocks XD
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It’s not just you with the time thing, Luniscei. Jun had been in Nyl City for all of four days before people around her started saying it had been weeks (Binno the night of the attack on the Queen Mary’s and Florian the following day). It’s a pretty short time to go from “random benefactor/hired help” to “little sister” for the girls like Maryiste says the morning after the attack too. I love this story, but the timeline is one of the weak points. That and weird distances are pretty much the only nitpicks I have.
Well, maybe one more. I’m totally shipping Jun and Ragnall, but not seeing that happen yet is my problem, not the story’s.
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tbh, the shoddy writing at the beginning of this story has made me want to drop it several times, and it’s kind of why I’ve been having problems with moving the story forward.
One day I may go back through and straighten out the timeline, but I really don’t want to do a crappy move like, ‘I’m going to rewrite everything, so we’re starting back from the beginning~.”
For now, please just accept the plotholes as the rust from a novice writer’s first story after over a decade.
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Just went through and did the math. It’s been about four months since Jun and the others were summoned. Text block explanation follows, feel free to skip.
Timeline: Jun was summoned to the world and fell asleep against the Spirit Tree on Day One, began walking East when she found the road on the evening of Day Two, and ran into the Arms of Valor Brigade on Day Three. Day Four is Day 1 of the trip to Nyl City, so Day Eight would be when they arrive.
Day Nine is when Jun registers as an adventurer and meets Gustav, and she spent Days Ten, Eleven, and Twelve working on the commission (she explicitly notes that it was Day Twelve on the final workday, which is why sleeping at Spirit Tree must have been a whole night rather than a nap).
On Day 13, they deliver the swords and Jun is late returning to the Queen Mary’s, resulting in the deaths of around forty of the Dark Wyverns. Binno gets surprised that Jun raised her voice, although “they had only known her for around 2 weeks”. Even assuming she met them the first night at the Queen Mary’s, they’ve known each other less than a week. On the morning of Day 14, Maryiste tells Jun that “somewhere along the way” she became like family to everyone. She’s been there one week. When meeting with Florian, he says she registered as an adventurer two weeks ago. It has been six days. Later that day, the girls of the Queen Mary’s have put in a commission that Niera accepted to learn the spear and purchase weapons for the group. On Day 15, she has her evaluation and is told to come back in a month.
Day 17 is her first trip into the Labyrinth with Nars and Jericho’s crew. She tried (and failed) to tone down her naginata blades on Day 18. She got the reward for the beetles on Day 19 and went back into the Labyrinth with Ragnall. They made it back up to the surface with Helward on Day 20, and the commotion over the Crystal Python corpse was on Day 21.
Then she has a training camp with Helward that lasts until her second evaluation. Assuming a month is 30 days in that world, that would be Day 45. That is also the day she gets called in by Dobin and Florian for the escort commission and meets up with Harulf at the glass lab.
The afternoon of Day 46, she is reunited with Seimei and makes the first 15 cursed rings. She brought the rings, Ragnall nearly died, and she accidentally saved the lolihime on Day 47.
On Day 48, she goes into the Labyrinth with Seimei and Ragnall. They make it to the third level on Day 49, bag the ice drake and learn there’s no way home. She works on the scimitar into the morning of Day 50. On Day 51 they start the return trip and they emerge from the Labyrinth on Day 54, having spent one week inside, and Ragnall learns that he can be overwhelmed by large amounts of money.
The gamers visit Jun’s place on Day 55 and there was much rejoicing, right up until all hell broke loose at the party. Jun took Hibiki to register at the guild on Day 56, and Tesra warned Dankor to stay away from the group. Seimei got to watch Jun crafting on Day 58. The commission to guard Seimei ended on Day 60.
There is a brief and somewhat undefined timeskip on the trip to Ploids. Jun mentions it’s feels like a week since she last saw Hibiki on the day they leave, meaning it is at least Day 63 (a week since Hibiki registered). Ragnall says it has been “two weeks and some days” since the party on the second day at Bear’s Rest, meaning it is somewhere from Day 71 (two weeks and two days) to Day 75 (two weeks and six days). I will split the difference and call it Day ~73.
They leave Bear’s Rest on the morning of Day ~74 and reach the next village on the evening of Day ~75. They leave that village on Day ~76, followed by another brief time skip. They travel overnight to reach Warden’s Post in the early morning, having been traveling for three weeks. This puts it at least at Day ~83 (the 21st day of travel), and coincides with the rescue of Desmond and the others. Early in the am of Day ~84, Jun gets shock therapy courtesy of Toal, and later in the day fixes Gaoithe (pronounced kee-heh, assuming Scottish Gaelic). It seems to be that same evening that they meet the Demon Lord.
Day ~85 sees them back on the road to Ploids. Jun says that it’s “about another month since we left Warden’s Post” when they finally arrive, so let’s tack on 30 days to make it Day ~115 on arrival. Karin and Emi arrive the same day, which leaves us fully caught up.
Bonus 1: The training camp period is likely when she tried helping Lor with his research and gave him a magic hangover. That might have been right after the training camp period period, since that gave her an interest in painkillers.
Bonus 2: Day 56 has one of my favorite moments to take out of context for my ‘ship: Lor scolds Jun for playing doctor with Ragnall.
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Hmm… that timeline might be about two weeks off. I just noticed that Jun thinks that it was “a little over 2 months ago” that she had met Seimei when she meets up with him again for the first time. This could be her losing track of time (it was at least a month and a half and very busy, so that wouldn’t be unreasonable), there being shorter months in that world (three weeks instead of four, which is very unlikely due to the ages we see given in moons), or Pulman-jiji waiting more than a month to call her back (perhaps out of consideration for the time she was stuck in the labyrinth and waiting for Helward to be cleared of charges by the adventurers sent to the fourth level).
I think that last one is the most likely, since it took two or three days for Helward to flee from the fourth level to the second and the investigators were probably moving more cautiously to avoid missing anything. They probably sent someone back to clear Helward’s name, judging by how they didn’t seem to tell Jun about the collars when that news came through. (They explicitly said they were telling her because she’d risked her life with Ragnall and Helward to stop the Crystal Python; if she was with Helward the whole time and he had been told, she’d have been told at the same time. Instead they waited for her to come to the Guild.) She also took off from working at the forge during her period, since it was unexpected and painful for her, so that might have factored into the extension as well.
Anyway, to make the “over two months” statement true, we have to add at least 15 days to the second evaluation, making it Day 60, reuniting with Seimei on Day 61, ice drake hunting on Day 64, party on Day 70, commission ending on Day 75, leaving the Lonely Bear (mistakenly called Bear’s Rest above, sorry) on Day 89, rescuing Desmond on Day 98, leaving Warden’s Post on Day 100, and reaching Ploids on Day 130.
That also provides a larger time gap where Jun is free to try helping Lor, since Helward probably spent a fair bit of time being debriefed/interrogated after they came back. Jun would also be happy to learn that her period seems to be roughly every 35 days, the outside edge of what the Mayo Clinic defines as normal, so she’s going to have as few periods as she safely can. Okay, well, she could have fewer, but I think she and Ragnall would need a few drinks before that particular event gets triggered.
…I didn’t call out my mistake just to make that joke. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
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I love this story, please don’t drop it. 😦
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lol, nah, I won’t. It’s just the beginning of wfb is similar to something like a ‘black history’ of mine.
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I agree, please don’t drop this story, it’s 1 of my favorites… That said, I understand you have your plate full with 1 or 2 other stories….
(WFB
Oristo
Fluvia
Cursed
Electric
Dragon
5Sense
Baiyuyi
Assassinating the Demon Lord because my brother is the NPC Army General)
…… Clearly, only a paltry few stories <_<;;
ANYways, if it would decrease the stress about your "black history" a little, I could probably hammer our a decent timeline you could use if/when you ever decided to go back and edit the previous chapters… Actually … if I go back and re-read it, I could probably just copy paste the whole thing into a doc file and edit in an updated timeline as I go… Well, either way, if it's something you'd be interested in, let me know. Regardless, I hope you continue with your stories, they're all so very entertaining, and greatly appreciated by, no doubt, more than a few people
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no, i won’t drop it. It’s only a ‘made so many mistakes I’m embarrassed’ kind of ‘want to drop’ feeling, so I’m not being super serious.
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I don’t necessarily want to see Jun get more ‘girly’ per se, I just want to see them continue the thoughts that come up when they think about the fact that they are indeed biologically female now, as I said, past Jun was plbasically Ace, so I don’t expect them to be getting into relationships not have extreme sexual arousal. Like at all. However the means of avoiding this character progression is getting tedious, especially with the release rate and pacing of the novel, yes it has been maybe two months since they changed, and that there are a lot of other new changes to their body that they are also dealing with, magic stuff, but these questions are important and rather central to the genre of the work.
Gender Bender is a crucial part of this work and I feel like it has been in the backseat for a while, with only token mentions for long stretches, I don’t want to see things immediately start getting resolved or see Jun suddenly become super interested in how their changes effect their sexualities, just for them to stop actively avoiding that progression, because it reads as the author actively avoiding it, not the character.
I feel like Jun as a character is at a good point to actually start considering these questions and should perhaps start doing so, as he has at least one long term female ally/friend (who he need to stop condescending because she is like 1 year younger than them) who can help. These aborted thoughts feel like the author postponing the problem because he doesn’t want or know how to deal with it yet and I find that unsatisfying.
All of this is exacerbated by the release schedule which since I started reading has been about a chapter a month, and with that long a rest period it is hard to care for a character that barely changes from chapter to chapter, especially with the copious amounts of WN’s I read.
This is only my opinion and is based entirely on my own feelings, I don’t really want to argue it or mean it as anything other than mild criticism, the story is still plenty fun and I’m probably gonna keep reading no matter these complaints, especially because being completely free and voluntary on the authors part get a lot of slack in my books for any novel.
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No worries, Sign! I didn’t think you were arguing, and honestly, you’ve got some good points. Such as Jun being in a good place for some introspection and consideration, and that his gender bend is a major part of the story.
On the side of the story; Other than 2 mentions of periods, 2 baths scenes, and 1 odd conversation + looks from friends, there really isn’t a whole lot of mention or care regarding his transformation … Granted …. suddenly finding yourself and your friends in another world would probably drown out the “small” details a bit. “Still living? Still breathing? Good, now where the hell are we?”. I can’t help but agree, though. It leaves you a bit dissatisfied….
While on the other hand, I see what you mean with the “Character’s lack of thought = Author’s avoidance”. Or at the very least “Author distracted with other parts of the plot”. I do think that the character would try to keep distracted, though. Perhaps Jun could start having “unwelcome thoughts” about the subject, which would allow the excuse to continue burying himself in work/hobbies and double as a decent lead up to another phase of growth, if growth there even need be. I mean, I still believe he could go ages without coming to any real conclusion.
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troubled with wear to look.
troubled with (where) to look.
The wrong word was used
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noted, thanks
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Pyon!
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TY 4 CHAP !!! !!! !!!
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Trans people in their ‘should-not’ state: fighting tooth and nail to get into their ‘should’ state. Or look like that.
MC in a gb novel after getting into the ‘should-not’ state: “Well, I guess I have to learn living like this”
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Haha yeah, it’s not the typical trans story, but maybe we just don’t hear much from those discreet trans people who are lucky enough not to experience body dysphoria. They might prefer laying low about their condition.
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I’m a little irritated at the theme of trying to tell women what they’re allowed to wear, hahaha. A bold move of you to have multiple chapters in a row showing ‘female experience’ problems… I liked how you handled the last one with the blacksmith prejudice, hope we get to see some form of satisfying resolution for this one, too! I’m rooting for you, cool fabulous gal, wear the gear you wanna wear and just let everyone accept your need for gud protecc armor and sense of style like adults! I’m looking forward to her kicking ass in whatever she damn well pleases and saving the butts of anyone who tried to judge her based on what she wears. B3c
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It’s not about telling women what to do/not do on a whim, it’s about telling people not to wave a piece of roasted beef before the noses of hungry people afflicted with a deficit of self-restraint, spoken figuratively.
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All cultures cultures impose behavioral codes, and that sometimes includes dress codes.
If you have an opposition to dress codes, does that extend to refusing to ban racist t-shirts at an event your organization puts on to reach out to historically underserved groups? If not, why are females a special case that is exempt from a willingness to impose dress codes on large other portions of humanity?
I’m asking rhetorically.
Jun’s delusions are an important character element. Jun is and was driven by a strong sense that Jun is a normal Japanese person, and normal Japanese people read the mood and avoid disrupting the harmony in order to avoid frightening children and animals. Okay, maybe Jun isn’t worried about scaring children, but there is a strong moral imperative to avoid standing out. Jun is so driven by this that Jun will forget details about exactly why Jun is not a normal Japanese person. Jun judges Jun and other people by the standard that if they are attracting attention for being unusual, they are doing something wrong. Jun’s delusions mean that in some ways, the cultural shock of the Isekai world only leaves Jun as dysfunctional as Jun was in Japan.
The MMO element adds an interesting wrinkle to the Japan/Isekai cultural dynamics. An MMO’s culture is generally not the culture that would develop if the players were facing living in those bodies as a permanent matter. Which makes MMO into Isekai stories a little of a richer venue for exploring adapting one’s culture to be able to function in another culture. Karin is thinking MMOish, Emi is thinking like a schoolgirl in Japan, Jun is firmly delusional, Hibiki has been badly traumatized and thrown into the Isekai culture with only Jun as a touchstone of Japanese culture. Then there are the various ladies from the Isekai culture. This chapter is a fun reflection of the whole story.
Needing to make functional adaptations to a different culture is a powerful theme in the modern world. Most folks are having to learn to deal with a culture in a fashion that the ways of the ancestors did not prepare them for. Yeah, sure, American culture traditionally has some answers to that. Those answers aren’t working in the current world, and have some subtle flaws that prevent them from being valid in certain cases. Fiction is a safer way of exploring possibilities.
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Just noticed that there is (still) no link to chapter 122
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…whoops
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I don’t see the issue in causing turmoil in a country that forcefully reeled them in. It’s totally the country’s problem to always want the people under the watch of its guards like some prisoners.
I would totally have done the same. I have no issues acting selfish with selfish people or a country in that matter. In their case I would have refused any noble title with all I’ve got.
Nothing good comes out of getting pushed upon some flimsy titles. Their is a reason we got rid of them.
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