Presently, status is officially being treated as it was initially announced, which is to serve as a criterion for assigning roles.
That was how it was seen in Garesto, so that’s also how it was introduced to Earth.
But for some reason, in Japan, even for things like work and education, High Rankers are being prioritized.
Many articles have been written, shedding light on the issue, but once something has taken root, it’s not so easy to uproot it.
Because of this those who have lost ‘something’ rebelled and caused incidents.
As for the reason why this happened, there is a book titled ‘The Japanese’s Misunderstanding of Garesto’.
In it, one of the reasons cited were the recurring slight errors in translation during the earlier periods of cultural exchange.
Another was the failure to understand Garesto sufficiently after having to swallow the pill that was the existence of another world.
Another reason was because many people with a poor grasp of Garesto, upon seeing the results brought about by their technology, came to mistakenly assume that everything surrounding Garesto was superior, be it their technology or their thinking.
When these misunderstandings had completely permeated society, the biggest culprits came to be the criticisms of the self-proclaimed intellects who spoke according to their mistaken assumptions.
This was especially true for those who misunderstood Statusism and criticized it.
They criticized Statusism as infringing on human rights and lacking morals for seeing people only for their abilities.
“Humans can’t be judged with their abilities alone.”
“Judging humans solely by their Status ignores human rights.”
Although they weren’t wrong, even Shinichi couldn’t help but find their opinions narrow-minded.
Garesto’s society was under constant threat. They had to use what they could.
The fact that these people would criticize them based upon Japan’s values only went to show how big their ego was, leaving people to snap back at them and call them ‘stupid’.
There were several famous people who made this remark, so the media gobbled it up.
But while that point of view spread, the misconceptions surrounding statusism spread even further.
As this series of unfortunate events unfolded, an event was held to deepen relations between Garesto and Japan.
In that event, the nobles who have benefited the most from Statusism would reveal themselves to the public
At the same time, a match would also be held to show the difference between high rankers and low rankers, allowing people to deepen their understanding regarding status.
The nobles appeared on camera and said that it was their duty to fight because of their high rank.
That wasn’t all talk too, as they do in fact risk their lives daily.
They were the real thing.
Supplemented with articles and media, Shinichi, who was investigating the matter, nodded.
At the very least, these nobles were no less inferior than those of Falandia.
Shinichi didn’t know them that well, but at the very least, they looked the part. If they could fight, then they were defnitely the real thing.
The Japanese rarely saw such nobles, so they gave them their support.
Famous fighters argued that victory or defeat couldn’t be decided just because of a difference in status, but without ever having fought against Garestonians that knew live combat, there was no way for them to win.
From the pictures and videos taken at the time, the difference in strength wasn’t at a level that one could bridge with technique.
There’s a difference in improving one’s status and just training one’s body.
Shinichi knew that from Falandia.
Seeing a boy or a girl suppress grown men with one hand must’ve been shocking for the people at the time.
Shinichi would know. After all, he himself was quite shocked when he saw children his age take on bandits and monsters.
—Yeah. There’s no way your perspective won’t change after seeing that.
All the more if you haven’t learn the correct knowledge.
A similar thing was happening throughout Japan.
The way of life of a real noble that the Japanese didn’t know well was shown to them, and the one-sided defeat of the martial artists became a sensation.
And the thought that ‘as long as person’s status is high enough, they can do anything’ became common thinking.
In a twist of irony, the criticisms of the self-proclaimed intellects had only served to spread the mistaken views of Statusism.
Of course, the official stance on the matter hasn’t changed, but once people have started to think in a certain way, there are very few people who would bother to learn the truth.
People with no connections to Garesto would see the otherworld as something akin to a foreign country they had no intentions of visiting. As such, there was no way they would bother to learn about the subject.
Despite that, from the thought that Garesto’s technology is unconditionally superior, more and more people have started to believe that a person’s superiority or inferiority could be decided solely by one’s status.
Even specialties that had nothing to do with physical abilities were affected.
And if that’s how present Japan is, then…
The meaning of the words the doctor and Rinko said when they examined Shinichi’s body would change.
“What a disaster. For you too.
Even if a kid of this rank came back, he’ll be nothing more than a hindrance.”
……You needn’t be concerned. I’m an Earthling, so I don’t mind.
Low rankers were no longer treated well in Japan.
And Rinko relpying that she’s an Earthling was her saying that she won’t treat Shinichi badly.
Judging from the way Rinko acted afterwards, a meaning of ‘I’ll do something about it myself’ could be inferred from her words.
But the fact that the doctor’s remark was taken as disdain in the first place was a translation problem itself.
The reason she was angry was because the only thing waiting for Shinichi was the current state of Japan. It was an anger directed toward the fact that he would only suffer more.
Not everything written in the book is applicable today. For one, 8 years has passed since the revelation of Garesto to the public, and for another, the Japanese’s Misunderstanding of Garesto was written 4 years ago.
The difference in income – although not by much – has also decreased these past 4 years.
Still, no matter the era, discrimination won’t completely disappear and the mistaken perception will remain.
Unfortunately, high rankers really are excellent when it comes to physical stuff, so it makes the topic all the more confusing.
At a civilian level, the misunderstanding of ‘the higher your level, the better you are’ runs deep.
Because of this, although Japan was able to accept the existence of Garesto, there were many cases in Japan that invited misunderstandings.
From here on, there have been many successes and failures in regards to global non-government interaction, all of which were used as model cases.
Because of that the countries and regions that began non-government interaction later had less problems.
As for why Japan is unable to fix itself, it is because they do not know most of the common sense of foreign nations.
Even before the cultural exchange, there were cases wherein such common sense at Japan was impolite, illegal, or encroached a taboo.
The ignorance of the Japanese was present even before the cultural exchange.
It just so happens that a new player, Garesto, has joined the game.
“So it’s the island country mentality that’s hurting Japan.”
As Shinichi muttered that, he returned the book to the shelf and sighed.
The course of events was so stupidly Japanese that it made his head hurt.
Moreover, he wasn’t very happy. After all, it wasn’t easy to fix the misunderstanding.
In the first place, even if the misunderstanding is cleared up, the fact that high rankers gets preferential treatment won’t change.
The only difference is that before being cleared up one would believe that a person receives preferential treatment because of his high rank, while after being cleared up one would believe that a person gets preferential treatment because of his responsibility.
Earth barely has any threats and Japan has been at peace for a long time, so it’s difficult for the Japanese to understand Garesto.
But while these senseless special privileges were a given, the resulting senseless gap in class gave the people a cause.
And this is the reason why anti-Garesto movements and thoughts have risen even in a country like Japan.
—But even then, at this level, it’s still peaceful.
—If a serious battle were to actually break out, regardless of whether the enemy is a monster or a human, the situation will change rapidly. In the end, I wonder if the high rankers of Earth and of Japan could actually count as a fighting force. Those who can raise up their ranks and overcome the pain that comes with it… They won’t be powerless. No. But it’s curious whether they’ll be useful in the battlefield or not. I’m not even sure if they could come back alive.
“…Do these people understand that?”
There’s an article in the newspaper from a few years ago. In it was a picture.
When Shinichi saw the headline and the people photographed, he suddenly found himself overcome with a painless headache.
“The twin stars of hope have come!”
“A pair of Japanese high rankers.”
“In the future I want to protect everyone with this power.”
There was a huge picture on the article. In it was a pair of twins, a sister and a brother. They were people Shinichi knew well.
Their ranks were quite high. According to the article, they even had a maxed out stat.
From then on, their lives changed, and various corporations and scouts have put their eyes on them.
“…It must’ve been difficult just having to support mother, but they still managed to reach this level.
Still…. I wonder why? There should have been many other paths they could have taken…”
Lovingly, and yet somewhere hesitant, Shinichi touched their photo.
Actually, he had an inkling as to why they chose this path, but it didn’t make him feel any better.
There weren’t many ways in today’s society for a child to be able to give his mother a peace of mind while also securing privilege.
8 years ago, they were still children, but now, they had grown up.
It was a painful and lonely thing, but at the same time, it was also a joyous event.
Shinichi couldn’t help but think back to their reunion.
They had already turned 16.
Perhaps, he was being partial, being their older brother and all, but his younger brother had become a handsome man and his younger sister had become a beautiful woman.
The spoiled children that was no worse than he himself was nowhere to be seen.
But although they had caught up with him in age and stature, he loved them nonetheless.
No matter how much they hated him, no matter how much they shunned him, he was their older brother.
He was told to protect them, to be their ally… So, if there was a way for him to save them, he would stretch out his hand and reach out.
It they could live in a place without danger, that would be best.
Unfortunately, Shinichi didn’t even have the common sense to live in this society.
He knew nothing, had no money, had no authority, no connections, no common sense.
At most, what he could do was violence. He could either beat someone or threaten them.
But at the same time, he also couldn’t afford to reveal himself to the public.
“Weak…”
And for various reasons he himself was a dangerous existence to them.
Not just because he was the reason his family fell apart, but because of the things he learned from Falandia.
Those things are foreign to this world and could deny everything his siblings have worked for.
—Just how much effort and time have they poured into their work?
Although their high rank spoke volumes of their efforts these past 8 years, their status did not have the attribute called Skill.
Because of that, to Shinichi, who has done nothing but improve that one thing alone, their power had little meaning.
“…Are you stupid?”
For a moment, yes, a moment, he ended up thinking that. If he showed his strength, won’t others acknowledge him?
After all, this was a society based upon a merit system.
‘I’m actually really amazing’, he wanted to tell them.
Like a child that wanted to be spoiled by his parents, like an elder brother that wanted to act great before his siblings…
He wanted to boast about the things he’s done and the things he could do.
But only if doing so wouldn’t deny his siblings and his mothers’ 8 years of hard work.
It seems no matter what he does, he would indeed be nothing more than a hindrance.
“Don’t… push yourself.”
After finally seeing that smile after a long time, all he could do was mutter that.
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