After I Confessed to My Childhood Friend and Got Rejected, I Threw a Game Offline Meetup to Cheer Myself Up, Only to Find Out My Long-Time Gaming Buddy Was Actually the Quiet, Silver-Haired Swedish Beauty Who's the Cutest Girl in School - Chapter 14: Game Research Club

Chapter 14: Game Research Club

The clubroom of the game research club was in the old school building, which was under partial renovation.

In the afternoon, almost no regular students passed through there, of course, because it was a hangout for delinquents.

It was a situation where encountering delinquents would not be strange at all.

However, the man standing in front of them had a face that seemed more like a yakuza than a delinquent.

He might be in the position of a delinquent boss.

“Um, uh, that… we are…”

Amamiya tried to choose his words carefully in response to the man’s question.

If he honestly said “we are looking for the game research club,” there was a risk of being looked down on and extorted.

He did not want to put Karina, who was hiding behind his back, in danger.

“…”

Overwhelmed by the imposing presence of the man standing with his arms crossed, Amamiya held back the urge to cry and took “that” out of his pocket.

“This is all I have today! Please, let this be enough!”

A black long wallet. Cash inside: 4000 yen.

To settle it peacefully, he had no choice but to make the first move ahead of the opponent.

Considering his high school life from now on and Karina’s safety, 4000 yen was a cheap price.

“…”

The man’s footsteps approached.

Amamiya closed his eyes, praying not to get beaten, and felt his shoulder being grabbed.

(Oh, it is over–)

“Sorry for scaring you. My face has always looked stern. It seems I frightened you…”

The man’s apologizing voice was gentle.

When he timidly raised his face, the man had a more mature expression than scary.

His mother had always told him “do not judge people by their appearance,” and it might indeed be true.

He learned later, but this scary-faced senior, Kenmochi Soma, was a member of the game research club they were about to visit.

His height was like that of the basketball club, his build like the judo club, yet the gap of being in a full-fledged cultural club.

“You are Amamiya and Karina, right? I never imagined the school’s most popular girl would come to observe our club activities; it is deeply moving. Amamiya, you are very welcome too.”

Even on the way to the clubroom, Karina stayed hidden behind Amamiya’s back.

When he turned around wondering why she was so scared, she whispered in his ear.

“Takaaki, Takaaki, amazing… so amazing.”

She was not scared; she was excited.

When he asked what was so amazing,

“You do not know? That person was in the world tournament of ‘Tactical Field 5’ that was live-streamed the other day… with that face, no doubt.”

“Tactical Field 5,” commonly known as TF5.

It was an FPS game themed around fictional wars, boasting one of the world’s top levels of popularity.

Even Amamiya, who had zero experience with FPS, had played it once.

—Though he had been beaten by strong players and cheaters and quit immediately.

“Huh, so this person is… a world ranker!?”

“Yes, and even among world rankers, he is top class…”

If he had played it, he understood the greatness all too painfully.

The very top of the world’s tops was walking right in front of him.

He wanted to shake hands, get an autograph.

“…Is something wrong?”

Kenmochi turned around and asked, feeling a strange sensation from the admiring gaze directed at him.

“No, nothing at all! Kenmochi senior!!”

“O-Oh…!”

At the perfectly synchronized voices of the two, Kenmochi flinched and his shoulders trembled.

———

They arrived at the dimly lit classroom at the far end of the old corridor on the third floor of the old school building.

A nameplate reading “Game Research Club” was posted on the door.

“We are here, you two. Before entering, one thing to note.”

Kenmochi, about to open the door, stopped his hand as if remembering something and turned back with a serious face.

The seriousness of Kenmochi’s expression conveyed itself, and Amamiya swallowed hard.

“You might know from the club introduction, but our club president is not normal.”

“…Ah, the one who rapped on the stage, right?”

“Yes, that is right. But that was just the beginning. As someone who has been with her for two years, I can say it. She is an eccentric.”

Amamiya could not quite grasp how strange that person was.

There were a few slightly odd students in his class too.

Including himself, he thought self-deprecatingly.

Sorry, Kumagai.

“Then, let us enter.”

Kenmochi opened the door to the clubroom.

The first thing that caught his eye was game-related posters covering the entire wall.

The whole classroom had been modified, lined with large monitors, gaming PCs, and game consoles.

Shelves for software, equipment storage, refrigerator, countless fans.

This clubroom alone was a completely different world.

At the place that used to be the teacher’s desk, there was a long table with six monitors lined up.

Someone seemed to be sitting there, but the monitors were too high to see the figure.

(Huh, an ahoge…?)

Beyond the monitor, an ahoge was swaying gently.

“Hey, Amane. I brought two second-years who want to observe our club. Stop the game for now and greet them.”

At Kenmochi’s call, the ahoge bounced and disappeared behind the monitor.

Normally, standing up would show the face, but it disappeared.

Next to him, Karina was more impressed by the clubroom than that. She clasped her hands and frolicked like a child arriving at an amusement park.

She was cute, but right now Amamiya wished she would stay quiet.

“Oh? Oh! An observation!? You two came to observe our club!?”

A voice came from below, and Amamiya lowered his gaze.

There stood a brown-haired girl in the same uniform.

Perhaps because her height and body were small, the uniform was baggy on her.

Her long sleeves hid her hands.

“Welcome to our game research club! Gentlemen!”

“Ah, hello…”

Her voice was childlike and loud.

While doubting if she was really a high school student, Amamiya bowed reverently.

Karina’s eyes sparkled.

“She is Amane Shiori. The president of the game research club and a third-year.”

Perhaps to avoid being mistaken for younger, Kenmochi emphasized the last part.

“Indeed! This me is the supreme and strongest commander leading the game research club! Shiorin☆”

A bokukko who winked and stuck out her tongue.

Amamiya was at a loss for reaction to this person with a personality like she jumped out of an anime world.

“So tiny and cute!”

Regardless of her being a senior, Karina voiced what she thought.

Amamiya worried if “small” was rude, but Amane spun around and put on a confident face.

“Me being cute is common sense since the dinosaur era☆”

(Ah, I might get what Kenmochi senior meant…)

———

Game research club.

The encounter with the slightly odd president “Amane” and the scary-faced vice president “Kenmochi.”

Amamiya felt that though they were eccentrics, they were by no means bad seniors.

If they could play their beloved games at school, there was no choice for Amamiya and Karina but to join the club.

He thought they definitely wanted to be under their care.

However, this club was currently… in a critical situation.

Membership: two people. No advisor. No notable achievements lately.

In that case, the inevitable conclusion was―――”dissolution.”

The game research club was on the brink of dissolution.