The Saintess and the Multi-Major Join the Board Game Club
In the academy, clubs hold a cherished place in students' memories of their school days. Beyond class hours, they offer a chance to sharpen skills or simply enjoy something relaxing. For their own reasons, students apply to the clubs that suit them best, while the clubs themselves set up booths and promote themselves in hopes of drawing in plenty of freshmen.
Freshmen show interest, seniors explain the club, and conversations flow. It's a classic scene of youth—but not for every club. The board game club, the least popular one in the entire academy, was different.
Right now, excluding the president Ron, only two members remained. And even those two had long since become ghost members, too buried in their studies to show up. Despite his timid nature, Ron, the board game club's president, had still gone out in person to promote it. He poured his whole heart into the effort, but no students wanted to join a club whose only game was chess. Flies buzzed around the empty booth.
That was when it happened.
“!! O-oh, welcome!”
Even though it was a pathetic booth with nothing but flies, a freshman was looking around with genuine interest. Just having someone approach sent Ron's energy through the roof. He explained the board game club with every ounce of enthusiasm he had, and the freshman listened attentively, nodding along.
After a long explanation and sending the freshman off with a polite “I'll think about it,” Ron kept smiling. Only one person had come, but that alone was enough to spark hope.
A slightly brighter Ron continued his promotions, yet students' eyes still slid right past him. Time kept flowing until the sun began to set. As evening approached and the other clubs wrapped up their booths, Ron hurriedly started packing his own.
And right then, like a miracle—
“Um… Ah, it looks like it's over….”
“?! N-no, it's not! Come, come in! This is the b-board game club!”
A female student with sculptural beauty had come to the board game club.
And on the final day for club applications—
“Huh? You're…”
“Uh, you're that person…”
Watching the atmosphere between his two new members, Ron immediately sensed something was wrong. The way they stared at each other seemed to scream: Why the hell is this crazy bitch here?
“D-do you two know each other?”
“It'd be weirder if we didn't. She's the most popular person in the academy right now.”
“U-uh…?”
“You didn't know? She's the Saintess.”
“W-what?!”
At the word Saintess, Ron's eyes flew wide in shock.
“You really didn't know? The rumors are everywhere.”
“I-I don't have any friends, so…”
“Ah…”
“Um, do you know who this person is?”
“Huh?”
“This person is famous for taking multiple majors…”
“M-multiple majors…?”
“Yes. Knight Department, Magic Department, Magitech Engineering Department, Economics Department—he's taking all of them, and he's third place in every single one—”
“WHAAAAAAAAT?!”
The white-haired beauty freshman was the Saintess. The gray-haired handsome freshman was the multi-major madman.
“Huuuuuh…”
“Oh no, President!”
“Are you all right?!”
Ron promptly fainted.
How much time had passed? Ron opened his eyes on the sofa in the club room.
“Ah… It was just a dream after all?”
Of course. There was no way the Saintess and the multi-major lunatic would join as new members. It must have been a nightmare born from his fear that the club—filled with memories of friends and seniors—would be shut down.
He let out a deep sigh and started to rise from the sofa.
-Tap.
“Here! It was almost five again.”
“Yes, this side is open. Still, you've improved a lot.”
“Ah…? L-let's play one more!”
“I'd love to, but the president just woke up.”
“Huh? Ah, President!”
There they were—the madman and the Saintess—sitting across from each other, focused on something between them.
“Are you feeling okay? I examined you with holy power just to be sure, but I didn't sense anything wrong…”
“We moved you to the sofa. Does your body feel stiff? You were out for about thirty minutes.”
The pair spoke to him, but none of their words reached Ron's ears.
“…That.”
His eyes were fixed solely on the board between them.
“I-is that a board game…?”
“Hm? Ah, yes. While we were waiting, I thought we should do something, so I made this simple one—”
“I've never seen anything like it. Where did you find this game… D-did you invent it yourself?”
“Huh? Uh… well, yes?”
“A-ah…”
Behind Ashen, who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, Ron thought he saw a halo glowing.
Between the two of them, on the table, sat a square board. Several horizontal and vertical lines crossed its surface, and they were placing small, round pieces on it. Ron didn't know the rules, but the sight still captured his full attention.
“C-could you explain the rules?”
“Sure… Basically, you win by connecting five in a row…”
It looked somewhat like chess at first glance, yet they used round, flat stones called baduk pieces. On your turn you placed one wherever you wanted, and if you managed to line up five horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, you won. Because five in a row meant victory, you also had to block your opponent from doing the same—which required plenty of brainwork.
It seemed as simple as its appearance suggested, and compared to chess it looked like it required less mental strain, but—
“I-it looks fun.”
Simple, yet fun. It was enjoyable in a completely different way from chess and ended relatively quickly. Unlike chess, where you had to track the survival and sacrifice of every single piece until your head ached, this game was straightforward and still entertaining.
“L-let's play it right now. Is that all right?”
Ron wanted to try it immediately.
“Well, there's no reason we can't, but first, could you officially accept the new member? My friend Rui—”
“Uh, uh?! O-okay!”
After accepting the additional freshman named Rui, Ron dove into the board game in a state of high excitement.
What Ashen would later call Omok.
After joining the academy's least popular club, the board game club, Rui and I headed straight there whenever lectures ended.
With a familiar creak, the door opened to reveal Ella—the presumed female protagonist of this RoFan world—already waiting. She waved at us with a bright smile.
During our first meeting, Ella and I had looked at each other as if the other person were insane. I had just witnessed the crazy spectacle of the Saintess awakening in the middle of a dark mage and scavenger invasion, while she had watched me slicing up the dark mage. It was only natural.
Our second meeting took place right here in the club room. I was surprised to run into her the moment I joined, but after we laid the unconscious president on the sofa and played a few rounds, we grew a little closer.
That was when the thought struck me.
Isn't the RoFan heroine basically the eye of a storm that drags incidents wherever she goes?
RoFan heroines are like famous detectives. Trouble breaks out everywhere they step, and they grow at miraculous speeds. So I decided to exploit that.
If I stick close to the RoFan heroine, I can grow too.
Sure, there would be plenty of suffering and annoying events, but what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. Staying by Ella's side would surely bring me many chances to break through walls.
That was why I chose to get along with her. Of course, I wasn't trying to become her lover or anything.
“Today I feel like I can finally win!”
“Haha, is that so?”
Anyway, repeatedly playing Omok with Ella had closed the distance between us considerably. She kept challenging me, determined to beat me at least once.
Even though she outranked me in economics, she was still just a little short of my level in Omok. She seemed surprisingly competitive; it looked like she'd been practicing quite a bit in secret.
“It seems simpler than chess, but if you let your guard down for even a second, you lose instantly… It's a frightening game.”
“So are you giving up?”
“No, I want to play!”
“All right then. Try your best to win today.”
“I absolutely will!”
The board was already laid out—Ella must have set it up ahead of time. I tossed my things aside, sat across from her, and took out the baduk stones.
She'd had the first move from day one. Since she was the newbie, I'd been giving it to her every time.
We fought for the center, built walls around it, and blocked each other's paths in a tense Omok duel. If you focused on reading your opponent's mind and finding openings—
“Oh.”
—you ended up like this. Defeated.
…I lost?
“How?”
“Hehe, finally! I won!”
I was shocked by the sudden loss, but when I thought about it—
The woman in front of me was the RoFan heroine and the top student in the economics department. In other words, she had an incredible mind and her specialty was causing miracles. I'd tried to beat someone like that at a game I used to play in elementary school. Of course she'd catch up quickly and crush me.
“Congratulations. You won.”
“I finally beat you! Wow!”
“Haha…”
“At last! Finally! I did it!”
“C-congratu—”
“I won!”
Ah, why did this annoy me so much? I seriously started wondering if this world was less “romance fantasy” and more “low-kick fantasy.”