Bouken-ka ni Narou! ~Skill Board de Dungeon Kouryaku~ ( Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~)
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Original title: 冒険家になろう！ スキルボードでダンジョン攻略
Romanji: Bouken-ka ni Narou! ~Skill Board de Dungeon Kouryaku~
English (Rough): Let’s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~Author: Hagiu, Aki (萩鵜アキ)
Illustrator: TEDDY
Publisher: Futabasha/Syosetu
Publishing year: 2017
Volumes: 3 (ongoing)
Synopsis:
Karaboshi, Haruki lives in Hokkaido, Japan. Except an event that happened 5 years ago had dungeons popping in every major country across the world. Monsters accumulated and flooded out of dungeons forming stampedes and demolished cities, towns, and infrastructure. Adventurers are needed to keep the dungeons in check. Adventurers are now a famous profession with a select few to becoming superstars or idols.At the same time, people started showing skills commonly found in RPG's. The abilities are called "true self" and are important for dungeon survival.
Living in a distant, country neighborhood, Haruki commutes to his work in Sapporo. He feels like he is part of background and doesn't get any recognition with his personal life or at work.
When he arrives home, he opens his garage and finds stairs that lead into a dungeon below his house. He also notices he obtained a skill called "Skill Board" that allows him to see his stats and that he can pick skills based on points he can spend while he levels.
My impression:
It's "Gate" minus the military aspect, and Danmachi. The MC finds out that he has skill "stealth", which is the main reason for his trauma. The only way he can gain recognition is by wearing a mask and talking to people, then taking it off while at work. It's pretty hilarious like reverse tokusatsu/power rangers. He consults message boards about his OP "true self" as a what if scenario and they flood him with suggestions on which skills to pick (reminds me of "Train Man"). His persona starts to get notoriety, and some are looking for him. The comedy between him and the shop clerk (Akane) remind me of Kazuma and Aqua's relationship from Konosuba (they love sniping at each other but they know each others value). This book will likely sell to the ages 20-30+ demographic and has really good reviews from Japan's Amazon bookstore. -
It's got great humor as well since the thing he hates the most (his lack of visibility, literally almost nothing notices him) is his greatest asset in dungeon delving and also the primary reason the high ranking adventurers took notice of him. Plus, much like himself, his mask appears to be stealthy as he keeps forgetting to take it off when talking to people.