However, the Shield was looked down upon as useless, so Naofumi was left without companions, while the other Heroes gained several. Each of the four Heroes receive a legendary weapon unique to them, with Naofumi becoming the Hero of the Shield. Naofumi Iwatani, an Otaku from present day Japan, was summoned into a parallel world along with three others to become Heroes and protect it from calamity.
The series currently has twenty-two volumes and a drama CD out.
The series was later picked up by Media Factory Books with the first volume published on 22 August 2013. The Rising of the Shield Hero (盾の勇者の成り上がり Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari) began as an ongoing Web Novel on "Let's Become a Novelist" written by Yusagi Aneko and illustrated by Seira Minami, with over 900 chapters released as of 2019.