Chapter 2: Secret Base
Two days after getting fired from my job.
I had returned to my family home in the countryside of Tochigi Prefecture.
Since I lived in a furnished apartment in Tokyo, moving out wasn’t too much of a hassle.
I planned to stay here for a while and carefully consider my future, but…
While I was having breakfast, Mom started nagging me.
“Kouichi, what are you going to do now?”
“Even if you ask me what I’m going to do…”
“You know, like moving to Utsunomiya, or working around here.”
…Ah, this feeling. Unpleasant memories of being constantly rushed to do my homework resurfaced.
“Hmm, I don’t think I can decide right away. I’ll think again about what I want to do.”
When I said that, Mom replied,
“I understand the situation, but you need to find a job quickly. For now, go to Hello Work. You’re going to work here, not in Tokyo, right? Your father and I don’t want to deal with a jobless freeloader…”
“Alright, alright. I told you, I’m still thinking about it. Thanks for the meal!”
I escaped to my childhood room as if fleeing.
“Haaah…”
I really don’t want to work.
Seriously, this whole incident has made me completely sick of working.
If deceiving a kind old lady into buying products is considered justice, then I never want to do something like that for the rest of my life.
If I looked hard enough, maybe there are more decent jobs out there, but would anyone hire someone like me?
“Aah, life is so hard.”
Even I think my thought process is heading straight towards being a NEET, but I couldn’t stop thinking.
“…Maybe I’ll read some manga. Something that doesn’t require any thinking would be good…”
I picked up ‘Drone Fighter TAKUMA,’ which I bought when I was in elementary school.
It was a hobby manga serialized in ‘Goro Goro Comic,’ where the main characters, for some reason, battled with toys, staking the fate of their town.
Flip…
‘Kuhahaha, if a mere toy breaks, you can just buy another one!! Go, my 100 disposable drones!!’
‘You’re wrong!! Aero Copters aren’t just toys!! They’re our friends!!’
‘Takumaaa!! Please, wiiin!!’
‘Leave it to me!! Rio-chan!! Uooooooooooh!! Professor Kazama, watch this!! Eagle Hurricane!!!’
‘W-What!? How did the Aero Copter suddenly gain so much power!? Uwaaaaaaaah!!!’
“Haha…”
Yeah, yeah, this feeling.
I don’t know why, but when the pilot got fired up, the drone’s power would increase.
Of course, in the real world, no matter how much I yelled, an unmodified Aero Copter wouldn’t get stronger, and the ones rich kids used, loaded with extra parts, were ridiculously strong.
But back then, I didn’t know such realities.
And playing was just, purely fun.
“I wonder if I could make a living as a Drone Fighter too.”
Of course, I know no such profession exists in this world.
It doesn’t have to be a Drone Fighter.
A life where playing becomes work, where I can live without stress.
I wonder if something like that could ever be realized…
As I was lost in such fantasies,
“Kouichiii! Your mother is going to Eeyon, do you want to come too!? Or will you stay home and watch the house!?”
A loud voice echoed from the first floor.
…Hmm.
I don’t want to go to Eeyon with my parents at this point, but it would be a pain if neighbors came over while I was home.
“…Maybe I’ll go for a walk for a bit.”
I put on my coat and went down the stairs.
☆★☆
The late February air was still cold.
I walked along the path I used to take to school.
The scent of the wind was nostalgic.
“It brings back so many memories…”
The school route where I fooled around with friends.
Memories of being scolded by teachers.
And the after-school hours spent playing until the sun went down.
“…Hm?”
I suddenly remembered.
“Come to think of it… I wonder what happened to the Secret Base?”
My family doesn’t have money, but we own a mountain.
Until my grandfather’s generation, they ran a small forestry business, shipping out timber cut from the mountain.
I used a corner of that mountain to build a kids-only Secret Base and played there with my friends.
The Secret Base building itself was quite sturdily built, as my grandfather constructed it using unwanted timber like thinned wood.
Thinking about it now, it was probably an illegal structure, and since no one has maintained it for a long time, I imagine it’s completely dilapidated…
I changed direction and headed towards the mountain.
☆★☆
I walked along the familiar mountain path that I had climbed repeatedly with my friends.
I wonder what they’re all up to now.
Though she was a girl, Omogawa Tamaki, or ‘Otama-chan,’ who I went bug-catching with.
Miyanohara Manami, or ‘Manamin,’ who always carried a Prettyia compact.
Sasarabashi Shiho, or ‘Shi-chan,’ who loved reading books.
And me, Natsume Kouichi, who was called ‘Ko-chan.’ The four of us used to play together.
Even though there weren’t many boys in the neighborhood, it’s surprising I played so much with three girls.
It’s unbelievable now, given my current lack of female companionship.
“To think those days would be the peak of my life…”
Proceeding along the rough mountain path, I quickly arrived at the site of the Secret Base.
When I was a child, I perceived it as a place you could only reach after climbing quite a way up the mountain, but in reality, that wasn’t the case.
Perhaps childhood memories are often like that.
“Hm…?”
Something felt off.
The main structure of the Secret Base had collapsed from exposure to the wind and rain, just as I’d expected.
However, at its entrance, there was an iron door that looked almost new.
“What is that…?”
Did some homeless person renovate it to live here…?
But the main Secret Base structure itself is in no condition for anyone to live in.
Fixing the roof before installing a door would be the logical course of action.
Moreover, the door had a rather elaborate design, with a sun with a face crafted onto it.
Only the door, incongruous in the middle of the forest, stood perfectly upright as if by magic.
…Magic?
…No way.
I suddenly realized.
This is a dungeon gate.
Looking closely, a faint purple haze was rising above the door like a mirage.
It had the same characteristics as the dungeon gates I’d seen on the news.
To think a gate would appear on my family’s private property.
Come to think of it, I’d heard about this.
The dungeons in places like Utsunomiya, Shinjuku, and Akihabara, which accept numerous adventurers, are all nationally designated dungeons.
But apparently, there are many other smaller-scale dungeons in the world.
The government investigates things like the depth of the levels and the strength of the monsters, and if a high degree of public benefit is recognized, it becomes a designated dungeon open to the public.
However, if that’s not the case, the landowner is responsible for its management.
I’ve heard that some landowners even open up small Private Dungeons as ‘magic practice ranges’ to earn income…
“I wonder if it’ll be okay if I just take a little peek…”
Could our dungeon be useful for something? I want to check.
What’s the big deal? If there are monsters, I can just come right back out.
I reached for the iron doorknob.