Baka was lost.
Lost, lost, and lost again.
…Yo is a good guy. Tama is a good girl. Hibana isn’t a bad person either. Kaito is hard to figure out, but I want to get along with him since we’re here.
On the other hand, Tsuchiya is a cool guy. Mina is cool too. And Venus invited Baka.
That’s why he’s lost. Baka is very lost. Lost, lost, and it feels like steam is about to come out of his head!
“…Ah, Kabashima-kun. Well, you can take your time to think it over, but don’t overthink it too much…?”
“I hope he doesn’t get a fever from thinking too hard…”
…While being worried about by those around him, Baka agonizes. He agonizes and agonizes… and then, everyone around him started taking a break, as if to say, “Well, let’s just leave Baka alone.”
And Baka continued to agonize for the entire time!
“…I was super lost, you know…”
“I know.”
“I didn’t think you’d really use the whole time…”
Well then. And so, Baka finally made a decision. He has regrets about both choices, so he has a very bitter look on his face. No, it’s more like the face of a child who ate something very bitter.
“I’ll join Tsuchiya, Venus, and Mina’s team…”
“Oh, is that so? Then I look forward to working with you, Kabashima-kun!”
Tsuchiya welcomed Baka, who made his decision with a sigh, with a wry smile. Mina was also happy with a smile, and Venus was smiling, saying, “Well, Baka-kun seems useful in many ways.”
“Um, Kabashima-kun. May I ask for your reason, just in case?”
“Isn’t it better to have 4 and 4 people instead of 3 and 5?”
“Wow, seriously? This guy’s actually thinking for a Baka.”
When he explained the reason to Yo, Hibana made fun of him. Well, Baka is proudly saying, “That’s right! I’m a thinking Baka!”
“Also, if I join a team with more people I don’t know, I’ll make more friends!”
“…Hey, Baka. You don’t actually… think of us as your buddies, do you…?”
“Yeah!… Eh!? Aren’t we!?”
By now, Hibana’s attacks on Baka have no effect at all. Hibana is now hanging her head, and Baka is just smiling and fidgeting, saying, “Isn’t it okay if we’re friends now? It’s okay, right?”
“Well, if that’s the case, it makes sense. So, we’ll go with the second pattern, then.”
Yo makes a sharp sound and puts a circle on the paper on the desk… the one he probably wrote to explain to Baka.
The members who will move on are 4 people: Tsuchiya, Mina, Venus, and Baka, and 4 people: Tama, Hibana, Yo, and Kaito.
“Well… then, let’s move on soon. It’s already noon.”
“Huh!? Really!? When did that happen!?”
“While Baka-kun was thinking so hard, you know…”
While they were doing that, the light on the noon door lit up. It seems it’s already noon!
“Then, let’s go through the door right away. …Kabashima-kun. Which one do you want?”
“Eh!? I get to decide!? Hmm…”
“…If he starts agonizing endlessly again, I can’t take it. Let’s go with the door next to the one we just entered.”
And so, Venus quickly decided on the door to enter, and Baka immediately stood in front of the door. …And then.
“Well then, Yo, Tama, Hibana, Kaito! See you later!”
“Yeah. Be careful.”
Baka waved to the remaining four, cheerfully opened the door, and went inside!
As soon as he entered the room, Baka’s eyes lit up.
“Whoaaaa! Fish!”
In the center of the room, there was a large, large aquarium. Inside, fish about 1 meter long were swimming, making it look like an aquarium.
“Wow… it’s beautiful.”
“It’s kind of soothing!”
Even in a Death Game, there are beautiful things. Baka, Venus, and Mina were all captivated by the aquarium for a while.
…But.
“No, everyone. It seems we can’t relax too much. It seems there’s a key at the bottom of this aquarium.”
Tsuchiya alone had a stern expression as he glared at the aquarium.
…When they looked at it, they could indeed see something like a key at the bottom of the aquarium. And the door to move on from this room had an obvious lock on it. That key must be the key at the bottom of this aquarium.
“And the fish here probably aren’t just ordinary fish. …Hmm, a type of piranha? It’s quite big though…”
“Huh…? Piranha…?”
Furthermore, Tsuchiya glared at the fish, saying that. Baka nodded, thinking, “I see, so these are called piranhas…”
“Piranha… that’s a delicious-sounding name…”
He almost started drooling.
“…Are you perhaps imagining pilaf or something, Baka-kun?”
“Or maybe biryani, or lasagna… there are certainly similar-sounding foods!”
Venus’s expression twitched as she thought, “Is this guy okay?” at Baka, who was smiling happily, thinking it sounded delicious, and Mina gently said, “It does sound like a delicious name!”
And Baka was a little hungry.
“Well, that’s probably a Goliath Tigerfish.”
Mina explained, and Baka listened, making a “hoee” sound.
“It’s a fish that lives in Africa. It seems they sometimes eat it grilled or stewed locally.”
Baka’s eyes lit up at Mina’s explanation.
If it’s edible, he wants to eat it. Baka was just starting to get hungry!
But.
“Also… it bites people.”
“Eh?”
“So… it’s a very, very dangerous fish, you see…”
…It might be a little difficult to eat this fish.
“Well… then, let’s figure out how to deal with this right away.”
As if to pull Baka’s consciousness back from “I want to eat it,” Tsuchiya clapped his hands and began to strategize how to conquer the aquarium.
“It seems the water in this aquarium can be transferred to the other aquarium. As far as I can tell from the piping.”
“Ah… I see. About three-quarters of the water in the aquarium can be transferred to the other one, I suppose.”
Following Tsuchiya and Venus’s gaze, there were indeed pipes extending from the bottom of the central aquarium, and those pipes were connected to another aquarium through a machine that looked like a pump.
“Then let’s look for a mechanism to move the water. If the water level decreases, it will be easier to get the key… oh?”
But. Mina looked into the empty aquarium and frowned.
“…This is…”
“It seems we have to ‘enter the aquarium’ to turn on the power. And it seems the water level adjustments will be done from the outside.”
It seems that the power button for the pump is ‘inside’ the aquarium where the water is being transferred. However, the water level adjustment levers are ‘outside’ the aquarium. …In other words.
“In other words, someone has to take the risk of drowning,”
Whoever enters the aquarium will have their life in the hands of whoever is outside the aquarium. That seems to be the mechanism.
…Well, Baka doesn’t really understand it!
“…Well, I guess I should do it.”
Then, Tsuchiya immediately began to take off his jacket.
“I don’t want to sacrifice the younger ones. Someone, please adjust the water level outside the aquarium.”
“Eh~, I’m a Baka, so I don’t understand adjustments and stuff… then I’ll swim… Tsuchiya-ossan seems smarter, so wouldn’t it be better if I dived?”
Baka immediately stopped Tsuchiya. He would be troubled if he was left with some difficult job that he didn’t understand. Baka remembered what his boss had taught him: “Got it!? There’s such a thing as the right person for the right job! You avoid brain work! It’s all about physical labor! Got it!?”
“So, I’ll do it!”
“…Kabashima-kun. No, but…”
“Also, I want to swim! If you really want to, let’s dive together!”
Tsuchiya looked hesitant. Baka, being a Baka, was wondering, “Huh!? Could it be that Tsuchiya-ossan is actually someone who can’t do brain work either!?” but well, that’s that. Even if Tsuchiya was a bit of a Baka, he couldn’t be more of a Baka than Baka.
“I’ve got the motivation! And muscles!”
“Eh, ah, um!? K-K-Kabashima-san!?”
So, to show his motivation, Baka started taking off his clothes, poipoi. He almost took off his pants in his enthusiasm, but then he remembered, “Oh, right! Mina and Venus are here!” and decided to keep his pants on.
“Baka-kun, you’re really a Baka, aren’t you!? You shouldn’t just take off your clothes in front of Mina and me!”
“Sorry! I’ll make up for it by working hard!”
And then, Baka apologized to Venus with a smile…
“…Huh? Kabashima-kun, you, hey, no way.”
“Well, I’m going to get the key!”
…He cheerfully headed towards the central aquarium!
“Wait, wait, wait, wait! Wait a minute! Hey! That aquarium has… well, something! A fish more dangerous than piranhas!”
But, as expected, Tsuchiya stopped such a Baka.
“W-well, wait a minute, Kabashima-kun. I’m sorry, my explanation wasn’t enough.”
Tsuchiya, looking quite exhausted, said that and explained it again in a way that Baka could understand.
“Okay, first things first, we need to either get rid of the fish or lower the water level enough to grab the key without getting in. To do that, we probably need to move the water from the central tank to the side tanks…”
Baka nodded along, listening… then tilted his head, “Huh?”
“Hey, hey, so basically, we just need to catch all the fish, right?”
“Well, yes, that’s the idea. Realistically, we’d lower the water level to the bare minimum and grab the key during that time…”
“Ah, then it’s fine! I learned how to catch fish from my boss!”
Baka was convinced, “Then it’s all good!” and cheerfully headed back to the central tank, taking a running leap and using a high jump technique to climb onto the edge of the central tank.
And then.
“Ah, you guys, cover your ears! And, uh, you should probably hide behind something, too… that’s what my boss told me to say!”
Baka said with a big grin, so Tsuchiya, Mina, and Venus looked at each other… and then, quietly covered their ears and slowly moved away from Baka, hiding behind the concrete wall.
Once Baka saw that, he grinned even wider… and plunged his face into the tank with a splash. And then.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Baka shouted underwater.
Instantly, the water shook violently with a thud, and cracks appeared in the tank with a snap. But Baka didn’t stop.
“Weeeeee! Gatherrrrr! Hereeee! Youuuu! Cutie and! Lovelyyyy! Manly Men (Angels)! Oooooh! Cutie Lovely Angel Construction! Oooooh! Cutie Lovely Angel Constructionnnnn! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
He sang.
Baka sang from the bottom of his gut, with all his soul.
As a result, the tank cracked, and, as expected, the Goliath Tigerfish died, floating lifelessly on the surface.
While water leaked from the cracks in the tank with a hissing sound, Baka cheerfully jumped into the water, easily swam down about 3 meters, and then.
“Got the key!”
He popped his head out of the water, smiling and waving the key, amidst the corpses of the Goliath Tigerfish.
“…What was that just now?”
Tsuchiya was dumbfounded. Venus was also dumbfounded. Mina had fainted. And Baka just answered with a smile.
“Ah, that just now!? That was my company’s theme song!”