The next day, thanks to Yayahara Daichi's "persuasion" (read: manipulation), although Gian was still somewhat irritated with Nobita, he no longer felt like punching him.
Since it was Friday and they only had classes in the morning, school let out early.
Nobita suddenly called out to Daichi, Gian, Shizuka, and Dekisugi to wait for him. Suneo, seeing Gian being stopped, also stayed behind.
Nobita had no objections and said to them, "To thank Daichi and Dekisugi for helping me yesterday—and also to apologize to Gian—Doraemon's inviting us all to play a game. A future-world game! You'll feel like you're really inside it, and you can find anything you want!"
Everyone sounded intrigued. They agreed to go home, eat lunch, and meet back at 2 p.m.
Back home, Daichi and Dekisugi finished lunch. Daichi asked, "You're going to the game this afternoon too?"
Dekisugi nodded. "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"
"That's actually surprising. I thought a bookworm like you wouldn't be into games," Daichi teased.
After all, Dekisugi studied deep into the night every day, which put a lot of pressure on Daichi.
Daichi swore the amount of reading Dekisugi had done in just two months easily surpassed all four years of his own college life—excluding textbooks.
Science, mythology, mysteries, survival guides—Dekisugi had read almost every genre Daichi could name.
"I'm not a bookworm—I just like reading. But yeah, reading too much gets tiring. Sometimes I want to relax too. There's nothing pressing today, and the homework can wait. A game sounds like fun!" Dekisugi explained earnestly.
Daichi waved a hand in acknowledgment and said, "Alright, let's rest for now. We probably won't get any sleep this afternoon." Dekisugi nodded.
At 2 p.m., everyone gathered in Nobita's room. Including Doraemon, there were seven of them.
Doraemon looked around. "Since we're all here, let's begin!"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a massive book titled The Flame Giant. That had to be the game itself.
Flipping to the first page, Doraemon said, "Alright! Let's enter the game! It's an adventure and treasure-hunting RPG!"
Nobita dove into the first page, followed by Gian, Suneo, Shizuka, and Dekisugi. Daichi went next, and Doraemon came in last.
After entering the book, a white light flashed. A descending angel asked Daichi which class he wanted to choose.
He saw seven options: Swordsman, Shield Warrior, Berserker, Archer, Mage, Warlock, and Cleric. But only Berserker and Warlock were still available.
Daichi wanted to choose Warlock—it fit his real profession.
But just as he was about to say so, the Warlock icon went dark!
"Damn it. All the caster roles are gone. What, I'm supposed to go swing a sword now, even though I'm a brain-over-brawn kind of guy?!"
In the end, with no other choice, he picked Berserker.
(Come on, you barely ever used magic to beat anyone. When you beat Gian, wasn't it always with your fists? Even when you fought the monkey, the stone tablet had to do the work. Brain over brawn? Yeah, right.)
Once his class was set, Daichi blinked and found himself in a village. Everyone else had arrived too.
He looked around at everyone's classes. Nobita was a Swordsman, Doraemon a Warlock, Gian a Shield Warrior, Suneo an Archer, Shizuka a Cleric, and Dekisugi a Mage.
Their choices all matched their personalities surprisingly well.
Gian might be annoying, but he was the kind to step up in a crisis. Doraemon's bizarre gadgets made him perfect for the weird and mysterious Warlock class.
Dekisugi was the peak of intellect. Shizuka embodied kindness. Suneo, being sneaky and cautious, fit the trap-laying, risk-avoiding Archer role.
Only Nobita… Why the hell was he a Swordsman?
Daichi thought long and hard and came to one conclusion: His brain must be broken.
Once everyone was ready, Doraemon said, "Alright! Let's begin our grand adventure!"
"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.
An old man walked over—likely the village chief handing out the first quest.
"Brave warriors, our village is plagued by monsters. Please save us! To the west lies a Flame Giant, a cruel villain whose monsters rob nearby villages, kidnap young girls, and steal gold and treasure. We've suffered terribly."
Shizuka couldn't stand injustice and immediately stepped forward. "Don't worry! We'll definitely defeat the Demon King for you!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
The old man continued, "First, you'll encounter Mushroom Monsters that release poisonous spores—be careful. Farther ahead is a Succubus who can charm you. Don't fall for it. Then, you'll face the Demon King's mount—an awful Fire Dragon whose breath scorches everything."
His voice trembled as he said, "Lastly, there's the Flame Giant himself. I don't know his powers—because no one who's seen them has ever returned alive. Please defeat him and save us!" He bowed deeply.
Dekisugi rushed forward to help him up. "Thank you for the intel. It's very important to us. Don't worry—we'll come back with good news!" With that, the team set out.
Before long, they saw some moving trees up ahead—clearly animated monsters.
These were their first enemies—a few basic mobs. After all, everyone still had starter gear.
Daichi had a woodcutting axe. Just holding it and calling himself a Berserker felt like a joke. Everyone was the same—desperate for gear upgrades.
Wait. A woodcutting axe… Trees… He looked at his axe, then at the five walking tree monsters ahead.
Hmm. Might actually be useful?
"Alright, everyone! Let's go!" Doraemon, acting as team leader, gave the command.
The three melee classes were supposed to charge ahead, leaving ranged and support behind.
But as they charged, they noticed… there were only two of them?
Daichi turned and saw Nobita standing far, far in the back.
Knew it. A coward like him picking Swordsman? Brain must really be fried.
No time to dwell. Daichi swung his axe into a tree monster, carving a deep gouge.
Its HP dropped by about 10%. The rest of the tree monsters aggroed and charged him.
Gian arrived in time, bashing one in the face with his shield, followed by a hammer strike.
His combo did slightly more damage than Daichi's, but Shield Warriors weren't built for damage anyway.
A green glow enveloped the tree monster—its defenses dropped. Doraemon shouted, "Focus fire—take one out!"
Suneo fired arrows. Dekisugi cast Lightning Bolt. Daichi and Gian each landed a hit.
The combined assault wiped out the first tree monster.
Mages had the highest damage. With lowered resistance, a one-shot was expected.
But then the other four monsters arrived and whipped vines at Daichi.
Gian quickly activated Guardian's Shield, blocking all the damage and losing half his HP.
Seeing this, Shizuka acted. A beam of white light healed Gian back to safety.
Daichi shouted, "Get back!" Then charged into the middle of the tree monsters and unleashed his one and only skill:
Whirling Berserker!
He spun in place, axe whirling. It looked a bit silly—but it dealt massive damage.
All the tree monsters lost half their health, but Daichi was left on the verge of death. He wasn't a tank—he couldn't take hits.
He staggered back out of range.
Suneo and Dekisugi's next attacks were ready.
Lightning Storm and Arrow Rain—two AOE attacks—wiped out the remaining enemies.
"We did it!" everyone cheered.
"Let's check the loot!"
Doraemon inspected the drops: a shield, a longbow, a staff, a spellbook, some gold, and XP orbs.
Everyone leveled up—except one person: Nobita.
No one had planned to give him any XP. He'd done nothing. And he picked Swordsman, for crying out loud!
Everyone—including Doraemon—was uncharacteristically unanimous. They gave him only a rusty iron sword. Then ignored him.
Daichi picked up his new axe. Now he actually looked like a proper warrior.
"Alright, let's keep going! More adventures await!"
And so the party moved forward once again.
(End of Chapter)