Chapter 37

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The winter break had ended, and the school was holding the start-of-term ceremony for the third semester. Under the cold, biting wind, students gathered in the gymnasium, where cold drafts blew through the gaps, and the principal gave a long, heartfelt speech. The students, shivering and fidgeting, eagerly awaited the end of the principal's lengthy talk. I was one of them.

"…That's all."

Finally, the principal's long talk ended. I was impressed that he could talk for 15 minutes straight. The principal stepped down from the podium, and the vice-principal, who was in charge of the ceremony, continued. As I was eager to return to the classroom to warm up, the start-of-term ceremony concluded 15 minutes later.

Back in the classroom, we turned on the air conditioner and started the homeroom while warming up. The homeroom teacher, standing at the podium and looking around the room, sighed and spoke.

"Well… why are so many of you wrapped in bandages?"

As the teacher said, nearly half the class had bandages of various sizes on some part of their bodies. Even some students without bandages turned their faces away at the teacher's words.

"…You guys, did you go to the dungeon?"

Silence spread through the classroom. This was because, before the winter break, during the end-of-term ceremony, we were told not to go to the dungeon.

"True, I didn't explicitly forbid it, but I did say, 'Don't come back injured.'"

The teacher shook his head and pressed his hand to his forehead, as if he had a headache. For the teacher, the sight of nearly half the class wrapped in bandages must have been a nightmare.

"Let me confirm, none of you have injuries that will leave lasting damage, right?"

In response to the teacher's question, the students with bandages nodded in unison. The teacher, relieved, sighed in relief.

"Good. Phew… Well, that's fine. I won't pursue this matter further, but… did you all do your winter break homework?"

The students with bandages turned their faces away. They hadn't done it. I, on the other hand, had completed all my homework during the winter break, as I had accompanied Mika in her exam preparation. Yuzi and Shizuka also seemed to have finished their homework.

"The final deadline for the homework is next week. Try to submit it early, as it will affect your recommendations."

The teacher, who had collected the homework with low submission rates, warned the students about the impact on their recommendations. Some students reacted with changed expressions, but most seemed optimistic.

"Since today is the start-of-term ceremony, that's all for now. From tomorrow, the third semester will begin in earnest. Don't be late due to holiday laziness."

The hallway suddenly became noisy with voices and footsteps, indicating that the homeroom in other classrooms had ended.

"Alright, class representative, give the command."

"Yes. Stand up… Attention, bow."

With the greeting, we all bowed to the teacher, ending the homeroom. The teacher, after collecting the few submitted homework assignments, left the classroom quickly.

---

After the teacher left, the students in the classroom showed various reactions. Some packed their bags and went home, others checked their club activities or plans with friends from other classes, and some stayed to chat with friends. I met up with Yuzi and Shizuka to discuss our plans for the afternoon.

"Well, since the start-of-term ceremony is over, what do you want to do next? Should we go to Yuzi's place now?"

"I'm fine with that."

"But it's still morning. Wouldn't it be better to have lunch first and then visit? Plus, we could go home and drop off our bags."

"That's true. Yuzi, how about we解散 and meet at your place in the afternoon?"

"Sure."

"Alright, then. It's a little past 11 now… How about we meet at Yuzi's place around 2 PM?"

"Sounds good."

"I'm fine with that too."

"Hey, Kusakabe, Hirose, Shizuka."

Just as we were finalizing our afternoon plans, a voice called out to us. Turning to the source, I saw a boy with a bandaged right hand and a gentle appearance. I think his name was Noguchi.

"Do you need something?"

"Yeah, I have something to ask the three of you."

"Ask us?"

Since we hadn't talked much before, I couldn't guess what Noguchi wanted. As we tilted our heads in confusion, Noguchi got to the point.

"Are you three interested in exploring the dungeon?"

"「「「Huh?」」」

The dungeon? Why? We were supposed to be the "anti-dungeon" group in the class, right?

"The dungeon? Us? Why?"

For a moment, I thought we had been caught exploring the dungeon, but from Noguchi's tone, it seemed different. As we tilted our heads in confusion, Noguchi explained.

"Actually, a group of us from the class formed a party and have been exploring the dungeon. But during our winter break exploration, one of our members got injured, and we're now looking for a replacement."

"You want us to replace the injured party member?"

"Yeah."

Well, he said it so casually. If someone was interested in the dungeon and didn't know much about it, they might jump at the chance. But I couldn't accept this invitation. The story was too suspicious. If we wanted to become explorers now, it would take nearly two weeks to apply for an explorer card and go through the issuance process. This meant the injured member had a serious injury that would keep them out of the dungeon for at least two weeks. If the injured member was a classmate, they were probably dealing with a fracture, as they were still attending school without being hospitalized. A mid-level healing potion could heal a simple fracture, but they were still rare and expensive. The fact that they hadn't used a healing potion suggested that Noguchi's group wasn't making much money. Had they made a reckless attack on a lower floor?

Suspicious, I cast an appraisal spell on Noguchi.

Name: Noguchi Yasuhiro

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Occupation: Student

Level: 7

HP: 85/85

EP: 45/45

Wow, that's low. But maybe not so much in the current situation. With these stats, they shouldn't get seriously injured on the first or second floor if they were careful. I glanced at Noguchi's bandaged hand.

"Of course, the reward will be split among us. Our party fights a lot of monsters, so we get a lot of drop items and make a decent amount of money."

"Hmm."

"Hey? You three don't seem interested?"

"To be honest, we're not."

As I declined, Yuzi and Shizuka nodded in agreement.

"I see. It pays better than most part-time jobs and doesn't take much time…"

Noguchi scratched his head, trying to figure out how to persuade us. The fact that they fought a lot of monsters and got many drop items suggested they were making reckless attacks on lower floors. They were likely to face a total party wipe soon. Given their reluctance to give up dungeon exploration even after getting injured, they probably wouldn't listen to our warnings.

"Well, if you're not interested, there's nothing I can do. Sorry to take your time."

Noguchi surprisingly gave up on recruiting us and went to talk to other classmates. As he walked away, I thought I heard him mutter under his breath. Was he actually devious despite his cheerful smile?

After Noguchi left, we quickly left the classroom.

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We changed into our indoor shoes and left the classroom, discussing Noguchi's invitation.

"What do you think about Noguchi's offer?"

"Declining was the right choice."

"Agreed. They seem to be making reckless dungeon runs."

Both Yuzi and Shizuka agreed with my decision.

"That applies to all the students with bandages, doesn't it?"

I hadn't expected nearly half the class to be injured. What kind of dungeon attacks were they making? Unlike in games, you can't just pay a penalty and retry after getting injured. No matter how high their levels, I couldn't do what they were doing.

"Once you fight a monster, you realize it's not a game."

Yuzi was right. I still remembered the feeling of cutting a monster with my katana for the first time. It didn't feel like a game.

"But Noguchi didn't seem to think so. He sounded like he was enjoying a game."

"Yeah."

He sounded like he had just experienced a unique attraction, not something life-threatening. They could have been killed by monsters or traps.

"But that's not just Noguchi. Most dungeon explorers treat it like a game."

"True. If they didn't, the dungeon craze wouldn't have become so popular."

"Agreed."

Defeating monsters and gaining items, leveling up with EXP—it's easy to see why it feels like a game. I sighed.

"Anyway, let's end this conversation here. We're still meeting at Yuzi's place at 2 PM, right?"

We had reached a crossroads, so I confirmed our plans.

"Sure."

"Yes."

"See you later."

I parted ways with them and headed home. Despite the setback from Noguchi's invitation, I was looking forward to training with Juzo again. I needed to get back into the right mindset.

On my way home, I met Mika, who had also finished the start-of-term ceremony, and we walked home together. After having lunch prepared by my mother, I took a break and prepared to head to Yuzi's place at the right time.

---

When Shizuka and I arrived at Yuzi's house at the agreed time, we greeted Juzo at the dojo.

"Happy New Year, even if it's a bit late."

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year. It's been a while, Kusakabe and Shizuka. Did you slack off in your training?"

"No, I practiced swings every day."

"Me too."

"Good, good."

Juzo seemed pleased with our answers and picked up a bamboo sword.

"Let's start with a match, Kusakabe."

"Sure."

"Get ready."

"Sure."

I stood up, took a bamboo sword from the wall, and faced Juzo.

"Come at me from any direction."

"Here I go!"

I started with enthusiasm, but as usual, the first match of the new year ended with me being knocked down by Juzo. Sigh, when will I be able to land a hit on Juzo? I sighed again, along with Shizuka, who had also been knocked down, as we watched Yuzi spar with Juzo.

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This is a story about a classmate's invitation to join a dungeon exploration party. If you accept too quickly…