Around the time Kageichi Futsuu started his Dungeon exploration—at a certain nearby high school:
“Hey, Class Representative. Wanna hit up a Dungeon with me later?”
Late March.
Having completed the entire first-year curriculum with the end-of-term ceremony, and welcoming spring break from today, Kiraboshi Yoshiko flinched at the voice of her classmate, Kamase Ami.
She—Kamase Ami—is an acquaintance… no, a friend, who speaks to me, who has few friends.
With short, dark brown hair and wide, double-lidded eyes, she grins, showing off her nails, which are manicured in a way that barely skirts the edge of school regulations, and plops her butt down on Kiraboshi’s desk without permission.
In contrast, I… Kiraboshi Yoshiko, am very plain for someone with my last name.
Old-fashioned, rectangular-framed glasses, and a prim, boring uniform that doesn’t violate any school rules.
Excellent grades, but inflexible and always burdened with troublesome tasks, earning me the nickname “Class Representative”—
Ami laughs, seemingly unaware that it’s even an insult.
“Look, look? Right now, a friend of mine called ‘The Numbers’ is streaming a Dungeon raid. And it’s super close to our place! Plus, that mage girl is a friend of my little sister.”
“…So, you want to go see the Dungeon?”
“Yup, yup. So, will you come, Class Representative?”
But, Kiraboshi frowns.
She doesn’t like the existence of Dungeons.
Kiraboshi is a typical indoor type, and not good at sports—she’s been ridiculed as a clumsy girl since elementary school, and laughed at in gym class, so she’s not good at moving her body.
Much less fighting Monsters in a Dungeon at the risk of her life…
“Ehh, Class Representative, are you scared of Dungeons? Even as a high schooler? Isn’t that embarrassing for our Dungeon generation?”
“…It’s not a matter of being embarrassed or not. Even if it’s a Government-Approved Dungeon, you could get hurt fighting Monsters, and there’s also the risk of losing your life…”
“Ugh, how lame. Everyone goes to Dungeons. —Right, Imoutoya?”
“Being scared of Dungeons is just something ignorant adults fuss about. As always, you’re just a smart idiot, Class Representative.”
Turning around, a face identical to Aneki’s coldly looked down at her.
Kamase Imoya.
Ami’s twin sister, and also Kiraboshi’s friend… or so she thinks.
Unlike her flashy sister, she has a seemingly plain bob cut, but Kiraboshi knows that she wears flashy piercings on her ears hidden by her hair, and that she’s a sharp-tongued person despite her cool expression.
…Because she’s her friend.
“…Even so, why suddenly a Dungeon, of all things?”
“Because I want to see it? We’re friends, right? Won’t you come with us? Plus, Shirogasaki-san is coming too.”
“Eh, Jougasaki-san is?”
“She said she wants to see a Dungeon once. —Oh, she’s here.”
“Ojou~,” Ami calls out, and at the same time, a fluffy-haired beauty arrives, smiling, “Oh my.”
Jougasaki Kawai.
Waving her clearly out-of-place, fluffy long wavy hair, and smiling with her hand on her cheek, she’s an “Ojou-sama” as her nickname suggests.
Like a girl who jumped out of a story—a girl who seems like roses would flutter around her just by walking—is also a new friend she made in high school.
Kiraboshi was quickly surrounded by the three of them.
While shrinking back, thinking that they’re probably seen as the usual group of four, Kiraboshi is probably happier now than being bullied and not being acknowledged by anyone. She decides to think that way.
So, yes.
This is just part of the usual friendship.
Like stopping by McDonald’s after school.
…But, Dungeons are still scary—
“Hey Ojou, Class Representative is going to see the Dungeon with us too. She said she’d be lonely if I left her behind~”
“Eh. Wait, I didn’t say anything like that…”
“Oh my, thank you. I’ve been interested in Dungeons for a while now. Recently, everyone goes to Dungeons like they’re going to karaoke, right? I learned that from videos.”
“Yup, yup, you blow away weak Monsters to relieve Stress? It’s just like bowling.”
“Wait. I didn’t say I was going at all…”
” “Huh?” “
The sisters glare at her, and Kiraboshi’s back stiffens.
To be honest, she doesn’t want to go.
She absolutely doesn’t want to get involved in rough stuff in Dungeons, especially Illegal Activity.
But, if she says anything unnecessary, she’ll probably upset them.
If that happens, later… Kiraboshi might be bullied again.
Besides, disturbing the harmony of the class isn’t good for anyone…
“We’re friends, right? Right?”
“…Y-yes.”
“Who was it that helped Class Representative when she was in trouble before?”
“…Aneki-san and, Imoutoya-san.”
Kiraboshi clutches her skirt tightly, lowering her eyelids.
(This is, a friend’s request, so.)
Kiraboshi Yoshiko had no friends.
Since elementary school, her mother restricted her from having friends, and her naturally clumsy personality made it difficult for her to communicate with others.
—The one with good grades, the goody-two-shoes who listens to the teacher.
—The nagging Class Representative.
—The cheeky brat who only shows her good side to adults.
She was naturally isolated in class, and the ones who gave Kiraboshi a place to belong were… the Kamase sisters and Jougasaki-san.
(If even they hate me. I won’t be able to go to school anymore.)
Dungeons are scary, but losing her place at school is even scarier.
If she lost the place where she was allowed to exist in the suffocating classroom like the deep sea, then…
“…I understand. I’ll go with you.”
“That’s the spirit. So, let’s go right away?”
Ami gets off her seat while laughing “kya-ha-ha” at Kiraboshi who nodded gloomily—
“…Eh?”
What they arrived at was a detached house near the school.
Kiraboshi doubts her eyes in front of the swirling silver Gate in the garden of a quiet residential area.
She thought they were going to the Government-Approved Dungeon in front of the station.
The streamer called “The Numbers” is also progressing, of course, in an authorized labyrinth…
But, this is… entering a wild Gate, this is,
“Wait, Aneki-san. This, this is Illegal Activity!”
It’s absolutely not allowed, and the danger is on a different level.
And yet,
“So what?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
They laugh “kera-kera” and nudge Kiraboshi.
…No way, right?