Spoiler Alert!
You’re a loner, plain and simple.
Most of your classmates play and talk with each other during break, but you’d rather enjoy a good book alone.
Many of your classmates have formed cliques such as the athletes and the honor students.
You’d rather not have anything to do with them, especially the delinquents and the mean girls over there!
Still, you occasionally talk with the otaku group about fantasy video games, so it’s not all bad.
*sigh*
Why are there so many nutjobs in this class?
Hmm?
Where’s this glow coming…from…?
Magic circles?!
That’s amaz…NO, WAIT! IT ISN’T!
Going to a different world always means trouble! You’re better off just reading about them!
No good…the doors are jammed and the windows can’t be broken! Is this magic?!
There’s only one thing left…
You clamber onto the closet in the corner of the classroom and go through a panel in the ceiling.
Made it! The attic should be safe…
No! That light!
Ngh!
Where…? What?
Huh? An old man? Is this a retirement home or something?
He suddenly spots you.
Did this guy have lunch yet?
The old man shouts, “I didn’t!”
HUH? How did…was he reading your mind?!
Ah ha! This geezer must be a god or something!
“I already sent your friends to the other world. I tried to summon all of you as a group, so why weren’t you with the others?”
Hmm? Could it be…?
The god cries, “Could it be what?!”
You’re a god and you missed the attic?!
“How would I know about that?! Gods aren’t omnipotent!”
He gives a deep sigh.
“Well, since you’re here anyway, you should get ready and join your friends. You can choose your Job Class and your Skills now…first come, first served, though.”
With a wave of his hands, the god call forth a giant stone slab from above. It’s covered with engraved writing.
“The glowing words here are the available Jobs and Skills.”
Alright, let’s see…
All the cool ones have been taken! What’s up with that?!
…
Shut-in?! NEET?! You’d lose your life before you lose your job!
Cane Arts? Healthy? Temperature? Packing? Uselessness?!
Is this seriously all there is?!
You turn back to the old god. He looks rather downcast.
“The most I’ve summoned before was 30 people,” he says somberly. “But…43 people came this time and you were left out…”
A moment later, he suddenly perks up.
All? What is he…
“You can have all of the remaining Skills! FAREWELL!”
Farewell?!
Without warning, the scenery around you suddenly changes into a lush, unfamiliar forest.
Loner Life in Another World (ひとりぼっちの異世界攻略, Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku) is a web novel, light novel series and manga written by Shoji Goji (五示 正司, Goji Shoji).
On a seemingly typical day, the floor of a high school classroom is engulfed by glowing magic circles. Quickly realizing that this potentially meant transportation to another world, the class loner Haruka tries to get out of the classroom by escaping into the attic above. Despite this, he is transported to a space of utter white where he meets a surprised elderly man, who tells the boy that he is a god who sent his classmates to another world some time ago. Apparently, Haruka’s attempt to get into the attic merely resulted him in arriving late by a week!
When he is given a list of Jobs and Skills to choose from, Haruka is disappointed to learn that his classmates have already taken all of the desirable choices. The god guiltily gives Haruka all the remaining Skills on the list and sends him to the world his classmates are on.
Wishing only to live the simple life of a loner, Haruka sets up a comfortable home in a cave and forages for fruit and mushrooms in the forest. At the same time, he tests his new abilities and trains against any monsters he comes across. A few days later, he is found by the class otaku, who tell him that the other students have recently gone their separate ways.
Soon afterwards, Haruka is found by the “mean girls” clique and the class president (“Prez”) herself. Wanting to get stronger, the girls train under the direction of Haruka and Prez. The students eventually travel to the forest outskirts, where Haruka and Prez save a caravan from a large pack of hungry green wolves. The grateful adventurers guarding the caravan escort the students to the town of Omui, where Prez and the girls join the adventurers’ guild and Haruka purchases many useful magic items.
A few days later, Haruka returns alone to the forest and finds the athletes from his class, badly wounded. After healing the athletes and telling them to flee to Omui, Haruka confronts their attacker, his classmate Tanaka. Believing that only he deserved to be the hero, the arrogant class genius no longer has any qualms about murdering his former classmates. After a bitter, hard-fought battle, Haruka defeats Tanaka and returns to Omui, where the reunited students joyfully welcome him.
Meanwhile, in the deepest depths of a labyrinth near Omui, an undead desperately clings to its last vestiges of humanity…
Main Characters
Haruka (遥, Haruka), a 16-year old adventurer and a former high school student whose hobby is reading. Despite being a self-professed easygoing loner, he is brave, clever and resolute when he has to be. He is at his happiest when there is no one to bother him, but he can be friendly to others, especially the class geeks and the class president, his childhood friend. Haruka’s tendency to tackle problems alone often results in him taking tremendous risks, which has resulted in the other students keeping an eye on him out of concern. Although he has no Job Class and average physical abilities, Haruka possesses many Skills and tremendous luck which allows consistent fortuitous events such as higher chances of inflicting mortal wounds on enemies and surviving situations that would normally kill him. He also prefers to use clever tactics, tricks and traps to fight monsters far stronger than him.
Class President (委員長, Iinchō), or “Prez”, a 16-year old adventurer and a former high school student whose favorite food is chestnuts. Diligent, kind, responsible and thoughtful, she is looked up to by the other students as their leader. Having known Haruka since elementary school, Prez is on affectionate terms with him and scolds him whenever he insists on doing things alone unnecessarily. Her chosen Skill is Plunder, which allows her to steal the skills of others. While she took this Skill to keep it away from the class delinquents at first, Prez now uses it to steal useful skills from monsters.
Shimazaki (島崎, Shimazaki), a 16-year old adventurer, a former high school student and the leader of the “mean girls” clique. A shallow, spoiled girl at first, the hardships of the new world have forced her to gradually mature as a person. Shimazaki now strives to help her fellow classmates in any way she can and has even befriended the otaku Oda.
Oda (小田, Oda), a 16-year old adventurer, a former high school student and one of the class otaku. He and the other otaku are counted among the most capable adventurers in their class because of their experience with fantasy manga and video games.
Personal Thoughts
Like many other isekai tales, this story uses a familiar rule system in the style of a fantasy role-playing game, complete with “Jobs”, “Skills” and “Magic”. At first, the main character Haruka seemed to get the short end of the stick when he receives all the special abilities that none of his classmates wanted. It’s almost like getting what’s left in a bargain bin after a big sale!
Instead of directly fighting his enemies, Haruka uses their weaknesses to defeat them with a minimum of effort. For example, he uses the light of small fireball to lure a swarm of giant moths before allowing the fireball to explode, killing many of the moths in one stroke. He also once used vinegar to confuse the sensitive noses of a two-headed dog, making the monster an easy target.
Haruka’s innovative solutions to fight monsters is similar to how there are several possible solutions to a problem or how several different plans can accomplish the same goal. If a possible plan or solution doesn’t work, we can try something else. For example, instead of insisting on traveling to another country for the summer, we can find something else occupy us. This could involve trying new hobbies such as making collections or taking online language lessons. There are times when being stubborn doesn’t really help us.
More importantly, Haruka also took the time and effort to master his acquired abilities so he could rely on them when he really needs them. With practice, he used Temperature to learn Fire Magic, Healthy to resist abnormal status (e.g., poison, instant death) and Packing to carry as many healing potions as he wants. Over time, he learns completely new abilities that rival those of his classmates. Due to almost constantly fighting monsters and learning from experience, Haruka is a far better fighter than many of his classmates despite the fact that their Levels are higher than his. It’s common logic that practice and experience enable one to be more capable at something. We study to do well in tests. We get better at jobs after doing the many tasks involved for years. People who play video games every day are more likely to well in e-sports!
Moral
If you want to do something well, put more effort into it!
Isekai Eye 