Form Groups with Your Close Friends #2
The protagonist of Dungeon & Academy, the game that had been loved for over a decade, was Luke. Yet despite the long time since its release, not much was actually known about him. He had a personality that threw himself into anything with full effort. He was bright, energetic, and occasionally became shockingly serious. That was about it. The game company kept all other information tightly under wraps.
After all, Luke was the ‘player.’ Leaving blanks in a character’s background so players could immerse themselves was common in games made back then. I had been the same. How freely I had roamed the cold halls of this prison-like academy while playing as Luke. Over and over again.
So when I saw the guy who had just opened the door and walked in, I felt genuinely glad. Welcome back, my 24,000 hours. At the same time, my forehead throbbed. Was this emotion coming from Victor? After all, in the tutorial, this Victor character had been the mid-boss who got caught off guard by Luke, took a beating, and retired.
Thinking about it created a strange conflict between my feelings as Victor and my feelings as the former player. Well, that wasn’t important right now. Luke would do just fine on his own. I had to start paying back my 210 million first.
“Ugh, there are only front seats left!”
“Be quiet, Luke.”
While the teacher Berjurak and Luke were bickering, the students were busy whispering about the new arrival.
“That’s the transfer student…?”
“You’re saying Victor lost to that cheeky guy?”
“I heard he got accepted into A-1 class by proving he defeated Victor.”
“He looks like a country bumpkin… but maybe he’s more impressive than he seems.”
Of course he’s incredibly impressive. He’s the protagonist, after all.
At that moment, Teacher Berjurak spoke up.
“Then, transfer student Luke. Before you take your seat, introduce yourself. Everyone seems curious about you.”
“Sure. Ahem.”
A male student around eighteen with red hair and a white headband stepped in front of everyone. After clearing his throat a couple times, he spoke brightly.
“I’m Luke Merciless. As you all probably know, the reason I came to Ludens is to find the crown that the ancient king hid somewhere on this island. That’s my goal! Let’s all do our best!”
The moment he finished, laughter erupted from all over the classroom.
“Pfft.”
“Puhuhu.”
Because Luke’s dream sounded utterly absurd to everyone. The protagonist’s dream being laughed at by people. It was a common trope. But as time passed, that dream would gradually become an achievable reality, and one day Luke would hear everyone say things like, “You’re our hero!”
It was an old-fashioned, perfectly standard story. At the same time, it was one that had already been proven to work.
With a quick motion, Luke sat down in his seat.
“Then I’ll call out numbers and names. The number I call now will be your number for the entire year, so memorize it well. Since you’re all A-class students, I’m sure you’ll manage. Number one, Victorica Arclight—”
Teacher Berjurak called out names and numbers one by one. Victor’s number was fifteen. If it was in order of grades, that meant roughly fifteenth place in a class of forty. A rather ambiguous rank. Considering he had climbed up purely through grit without any tricks among all these elites, it was actually quite impressive.
“And with number forty, Neva, attendance is complete. Since today is the first day, shall we talk briefly about Ludens’ goals?”
“Ugh… we’re having class on opening day?”
“You must be number twenty-three, Daily Rumor. Since it’s the first day, I’ll overlook your arbitrary comment. But from now on, it will be a demerit. So let me ask you, Daily. What is the purpose of Ludens Academy?”
“Isn’t it a training ground for heroes meant to entertain the gods? It has produced heroes like Siegfried and Hercules, after all.”
“Half correct. As you said, this place is an island and academy created by the seven main gods for their amusement. At the same time, it is also a place that carries the will of the ‘King,’ the last player.”
It felt strange to hear the familiar world setting explained as a lecture in front of people. Back in the day, I used to imagine, “If game lore came up in class, I’d definitely get perfect scores.” Now that it was actually happening, it was kind of funny.
Maybe I really could get first place? No, not maybe. It was guaranteed. I could definitely get first place. Then I could cover my tuition with a scholarship. An opportunity to earn fifty million Rene per semester just by sitting still. I absolutely had to get first place.
“Then here’s your first assignment. Throughout Ludens, there are documents and records about the ancient king scattered everywhere. Find them, organize what you discover, and present it next class. Form groups of three with people you get along with.”
Form groups of three with people I get along with? Should I just drop out?
What would happen if an adult returned to their high school days? Things that would have made them angry back then might now feel like, “Huh, it wasn’t that big a deal.”
Group projects were the same. Having experienced far more difficult and painful things as an adult, there was no way I would get flustered over something as simple as a group assignment.
“……”
Then why did I feel so awkward?
“Allecto, let’s do it together…!”
“…Yeah, okay.”
“Then let’s make the last member Tisiphone!”
Everyone was quickly forming groups of three with people they got along with. It was the beginning of the semester—an assignment meant to help people make new friends and strengthen bonds with existing ones. The problem was that Victor was floating around like a lonely island in the middle of this lively atmosphere.
Originally, Victor wasn’t even supposed to be in second-year A-1 class. Maybe that was why no one approached me first.
“Victorica, you’ll obviously form a group with me, right?”
“Shadi, you’re trying to ride on my coattails again without doing anything, aren’t you?”
“What are you talking about? When have I ever done that? Anyway, we’re set. Who should we add as the third member? Like in first year, maybe Victor…”
“……”
“Okay, okay, I was joking. Why are you glaring at me like that?”
Obviously, squeezing into the gap between Victorica and Shadi was impossible. If only Nike were here, the two of us could have paired up and taken whoever was left. Speaking of which, which class was Nike in? I thought she would be in A class, but she wasn’t here. As an earth mage, maybe she didn’t have much time to study in first year.
That was when it happened.
“Victor, you haven’t formed a group yet, have you? Megaira and I decided to work together. Would you like to join our group?”
Enio extended a hand of salvation toward me. Of course, Megaira standing beside her openly showed her displeasure with a face that said, “Why do I have to be with someone like Victor?” but that didn’t matter. Accepting this offer seemed beneficial here.
“Very well.”
“…You accept something like this so quickly. Is this what they call push and pull? I didn’t expect it from you, Victor, but you’re surprisingly skilled at this?”
What was she even talking about? Anyway, I had managed to form a group more smoothly than expected.
A sharp sting. At that moment, a pain like a mosquito bite struck the back of my neck. When I turned my head, all I saw was the back of Victorica’s head as she continued talking with Shadi. Must have been my imagination.
“Then, Victor, shall we discuss where and how we should investigate by tomorrow?”
“No, there won’t be enough time for that. Decide on your parts and leave the rest to me. You can relay it through your subordinate Megaira.”
“Who are you calling a subordinate?!”
Honestly, investigating documents and materials about the ancient king was something I could handle alone. It had been a tutorial-style mission that gave the protagonist Luke a taste of the secrets and mysteries hidden in every corner of the academy. In other words, it was basically beginner-level content. Since I already knew the locations of the King’s Stele and the ancient books, I could finish everything in less than an hour. The hardest part was forming the group.
With that in mind, the moment the opening ceremony for the new semester ended, I immediately left the classroom. My destination was the club promotion tables lined up at the entrance of the faculty building.
“Nike isn’t here yet.”
It seemed Nike was still finishing the opening ceremony in her own classroom. While I was organizing the club application forms on the table, Nike finally arrived.
“Sorry I’m late! The teacher talked for so long…! He had so much to say. So much…”
“Are you in C class by any chance? I think the C-class homeroom teacher was the talkative Chiron.”
“That’s right!”
I see. So Nike was in C class. It was somewhat surprising that she wasn’t in the failing F class or the one right above it, D class.
“So while I was gone to the classroom first, did you have any results?”
“The soup you made! It sold out completely! Everyone ate it so deliciously! They said if we sold it as a regular product, they’d want to eat it every morning!”
That was good news. No wonder the thermos was completely empty.
“But why isn’t there a single club application form?”
“Well… it seems eating and joining are two different things…”
“I suppose so.”
Just because the cafeteria food is good doesn’t mean you’d want to become a cafeteria worker. Was that the case here? Even someone as experienced as me still had things to learn. As expected, even I had only achieved 87% of the accomplishments in the godly game D&A. It really wasn’t easy.
“Still, selling out is a good thing, right? It means we’ve gained a ton of potential customers! Right?”
Nike judged the situation rather positively. As she said, the soup selling out was, by any honest evaluation, a pretty good outcome. However.
At my level, I could sense when something was off.
“But no matter how you look at it, it’s strange that not a single person applied. There must be some problem. I need to find out what it is.”
“Yeah, let’s figure it out quickly!”
“Then go ahead, Nike. Ask around and find out why no one wants to join our club.”
“Me? I have to do it?”
“Who else is there? If I ask, the students will just get wary and defensive.”
“…Yeah… I guess that’s true.”
“Then hurry up and go. As I always say, time is money.”
“For some reason, I feel like I’m being exploited…”
Nike grumbled and quickly disappeared somewhere. Since I had sent Nike to gather information, I would soon find out what our problem was. In the meantime, I thought I should prepare more ingredients to refill the soup.
“I heard a rumor that Victor was starting a club. I thought it might be a joke, but it’s real. You said you were busy and left, but you were here doing this?”
“Enio. We’re meeting quite often today.”
“I came to talk about dividing roles for the group assignment.”
I thought her subordinate Megaira would come, but the precious lady herself had shown up. Perhaps because Enio had arrived, the club promotion table that had been busily trying to attract members until a moment ago became noticeably quieter.
“Look, it’s Sister Enio.”
“She’s the young lady of the Blackstar family, right? The one said to be closest to the throne?”
“Look at that black hair. It’s so cool… I’m glad I enrolled in this academy.”
“I want to go talk to her. But if she ignores me, it’ll hurt.”
Because of Enio, the already empty atmosphere at our club table became even more desolate. At this rate, we might lose even the few applicants we could have had. Thinking that, I spoke a bit curtly.
“Finish your business and leave quickly. I’m busy.”
“A cooking club. Did you know how to cook, Victor? I heard there’s a club with incredibly delicious soup. Is this the one?”
Enio fiddled with the application forms.
“But there’s a rumor going around that you’ve been marked by the Student Council. They say if you join this club, you’ll have a hard time throughout your entire school life.”
“There was a rumor like that?”
“As expected, you really don’t care about your reputation among others, do you, Victor?”
Enio laughed softly. This was the first I had heard of it. I had been too busy over the weekend to notice. Tsk, so that kind of rumor was spreading. No wonder there wasn’t a single applicant. Of course, being marked by the Student Council was a baseless rumor. However.
Sometimes it takes several pages of explanation to clear up even a single line of malicious rumor. This was going to be a waste of time. I was revising my plans with that thought when—
“Victor, shall I join? This club, I mean.”
“Enio, you? Aren’t you busy with your duties as a council member?”
And you’re busy with the underworld’s business too.
“Of course I’d just be putting my name down. As you said, I’m busy with this and that. But wouldn’t that be enough? If you want, I can add Megaira’s name too.”
It was a good offer. But I couldn’t accept it right away. This was a kind of ‘loan.’ If I received this kind of favor from Enio, I would eventually have to pay back the interest. If it were a monetary debt, at least the amount I owed would be clear. Favors like this had no clear scale or standard, which often made them more troublesome.
“Enio, what do you want from me? As you know, I have no money. There’s nothing I can give you.”
“Don’t worry. I already have everything. What I want is just a bit of fun during this boring school life.”
“Very well.”
“…Really? I asked, but you accepted easier than I expected.”
Of course. I was a man who could distinguish between opportunity and recklessness. I would take out a loan and max out the limit!