arc01 · 009-ep9

Episode 9: Wait, It's Mandatory?

The day after that deeply satisfying floor 4 run.

Something unexpected went down at school.

It was during lunch break.

"Heeey, Kobayakawa. You picked a club yet?"

"Huh?"

The guy talking to me was from my middle school—um… Oda? Or was it Noda? Something like that. I tried to remember his name by sneaking a peek at his indoor shoes. They said Ogi. So close.

Well, whatever, that's not the point.

"I'm not planning to join a club, so…"

"What are you on about? At our school, clubs are mandatory for everyone."

"Huh?! Seriously? First I'm hearing of this."

"Dude, they hammered it home at the club intro session. You weren't… absent, were you?"

"Um, well, yeah. I was half asleep…"

"It's day two of high school…?"

Look, I never planned on joining a club in the first place, so I figured it didn't matter and tuned out.

"Well, whatever. Judging by that look, you don't have a club in mind, right? Why not join the track team?"

"Huh? No way."

"Don't be like that. I know you're fast. You beat me in the relay back in middle school and I'm still salty about it—I want my rematch."

"I mean, I'm already an adventurer, y'know."

"Eh?! Seriously?! Whoa, what a waste!"

"I was always aiming for adventurer. Zero interest in sports."

"Ugh, for real…? There goes my rematch. An adventurer, though~. Well, if that's the deal, guess I've gotta give up on recruiting you."

"Sorry about that. I was glad to be asked, though."

"Yeah. Go get 'em, adventurer."

Ogi turned out to be a seriously good dude. We'd barely ever talked before, but I think we can chat easy from now on.

Still, what a shocker—mandatory clubs. I was in the going-home club in my past life, so naturally I figured I'd be going-home club this life too.

Hmm. Whatever I join, ghost member status is a given… so which club won't give me grief about it? Sports clubs are absolutely out—so a culture club, then. What culture clubs even exist?

◇

After school.

Normally I'd have blazed home at top speed, but today I stayed behind to settle the club question. It's still the provisional trial period, so every club is in welcome-the-newbies mode, holding open houses and the like. The bulletin board was plastered with club posters.

Looks like pretty much every major club is accounted for.

As a former otaku, the manga club or the literature club might be nice. Then again, judging by the posters they seem pretty girl-heavy, and I'd hate getting hit with attendance quotas or whatever. Feels hard to ghost those.

Go and Shogi Club, Occult Research Club, Light Music Club, Art Club, Astronomy Club… Hmm.

Honestly, I'm drifting toward "anywhere's fine."

Hm? And this one is… no idea what kind of club it is, but I'm interested.

『Dungeon Research Club』

It's technically just an interest group, but apparently it has a clubroom, so I headed straight over.

I knocked on the door—

"Hi, I'm here to check the club out—is it okay to come in?"

"Eh?! Oh—of course!"

"Excuse me~"

Inside, there was exactly one male student who looked like an upperclassman.

"Huh? This is the Dungeon Research Club, right?"

"Um, yes. That's right."

"No club activity today, then?"

"Nope, we are in full swing as we speak."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

………….

I mean, all I see is one guy relaxing by himself.

"Um, where are the other members?"

"There aren't any. Right now, it's just me."

"Like, they're off today?"

"Nope. Total headcount: one."

"Uh… is that okay?"

"It is not okay. We'll most likely be disbanded."

"Yikes…"

It was a doomed club on the very brink of death.

"Anyway, well—take a load off, sit anywhere."

"I wasn't really planning to take it easy, though."

"Is that so? Got plans or something?"

"Well, I figured I'd hit the dungeon when I got home."

"What?!"

"You're that shocked?! This is the Dungeon Research Club, you know…"

"I mean, I'm not an adventurer."

"Whaaat?!"

"Monsters are scary, okay?"

"Fair—they do come at you trying to kill you."

"Going to a place like that… are you sane?"

"It's a fair point, but I didn't want to hear it from the one guy in this club…!"

This senpai might be kind of a riot.

It's nice that he chats with me so easily, too. Relaxed, no stiffness—good vibes.

"Um, I want to focus on my adventurer activities, so I won't really be able to show up to club much—but can I still join?"

"Eh?! Are you sure you're quite all there? Wanting to join a club that could fold any day now isn't just eccentric, you know?"

"Honestly, anywhere is fine. Clubs are mandatory, so I'm joining purely because I have to. Also, you're easy to talk to, senpai."

"That's sweet of you. But we need at least one more member or it's the end, you know~…"

"There's still a grace period, right?"

"We're safe through April, while the provisional period lasts. If one more person joins in that window, we officially survive—something like that."

"You've got to find one more person somehow, senpai."

"Quite the tall order. Kids who actually like dungeons are rare these days, you know?"

"One's standing right here, though."

"You really are a rare one. Any prospects on your end?"

"I'm in the dungeon all the time, so I don't have friends."

"Ah… sorry I asked."

The air got a little awkward, but he bounced right back and got out a membership form.

"Just write your name there and hand it over, and that's it—you're a member."

"Isn't there a faculty advisor or anything?"

"There is one, but they've never once come."

"Nobody here has any motivation, huh… Aaand done writing."

"Mm-hmm, Kobayakawa Takeru, is it. Well then, again—nice to meet you. I'm second-year Takigawa Makoto; that makes me the club president, I suppose… more or less."

"Pleasure, Club President."

"Let's pray this doesn't turn out to be a short acquaintance."

"You and me both."

Business concluded, I made to leave early.

"Well then, I'm off to the dungeon, so I'll be heading out."

"Sure, sure, take care~ For what it's worth, I'm in this clubroom every day during the trial period, so drop by anytime something comes up, 'kay?"

"Roger. See you."

I left the clubroom and set out for home.

Mandatory clubs came out of nowhere, but it looks like I lucked into the club that's perfect for me, so fine. There's still about three weeks—surely one more member is doable. …Right?

Come to think of it, I never did ask—what about the dungeon is this club even supposed to be researching?