"So I was thinking that maybe I should join the baseball team… But you know, it's kind of scary. I heard that the very first friendly match they have will be against one of the Galactic Lords of Baseball. Our guys are dead meat."
"Well, still it isn't as bad as the situation around our rugby team. In this year's rugby championship there will be some real monsters participating. Every team is just insane. People call them the 'Silver Generation'… Every team except ours, I mean. Our guys are known as the eternal losers."
"Yeah, that's true. There was that one rumor that Showa academy has hired American players and put them on steroids. During their first friendly match, they managed to send half of the enemy team to the hospital!"
"I… I think I gonna join the chess club…"
"Don't even think about it! In this year's chess championship there will be 'Dark King Yama' participating. He hasn't lost even one piece while playing at the middle-school level. One guy even got a heart attack while playing against him. On the first turn!.."
…
I was walking here and there, looking at stands of different clubs sprouting up in my way. And also listening to the people talking around me.
Funny how in Asian countries people often give athletes some very insane nicknames. I mean, something like that happens in my country as well, but we usually restrain ourselves so there will be no battle of Gods happening between middle school teams.
And yet… Apart from the ridiculous names, there were also some ridiculous feats mentioned.
They put me on guard.
I mean, did that Yama-guy really give someone a heart attack? It would have been impossible in my previous world but in this one…
Well, from what Yuji told me, I knew that the 'setting' around me was far from normal. It was made in such a way so it will be able to generate all the stories that typically appear in anime and manga. And that means all the people around me were capable of supernatural feats. That the extent of human abilities in this world was greater here than in my own.
And it was… Really bad.
Because despite whatever the clown was saying, this world wasn't just a story. It was real. And what will happen if in the real world there will be monsters? If a strike of a baseball bat could send a ball into clouds?
What if a story, typically found and anime and manga, will happen in the real world?
Nothing good will come out of it.
Because in the real world there's no plot armor to save the main character.
I mean, there is one, but it costs 30 points.
Plain robbery.
Anyway, going for any "real" sport will be dangerous. Guess I really should set on either chess, checkers, shogi, Go or…
"Sumo!"
"No," I said and gazed at Murakami. We were standing outside of the crowd, our backs resting on the fence of the sports field. The white-haired girl was following me while I had been walking between the stands, like some sort of evil spirit, and now, when I decided to take a break, she joined me in the rest as well.
"Women aren't allowed to do Sumo," I said.
"Then I can pretend to be a boy," she said and smiled.
"…"
"Let's join the same club. That way we will be able to train with each other. Really convenient. Because we neighbors, I mean," she said. I noticed some red tint on the white of her cheeks. And then I suddenly imagined us doing sumo training and felt awkward as well… Somewhat I was sure that the girl will be able to best me.
"What about boxing! Jab, jab, jab!"
Murakami made several jabs. Her fist was flashing like lighting before my eyes. So that what 'Str D+' is… This world is really dangerous.
"Jab!"
Suddenly, Murakami made a turn and stretched her fist toward my face. She didn't punch me, stopping her hand several centimeters before my nose, and yet I still jumped away on the instinct… Making the back of my head collide with the fence.
"Oh… S-sorry…" the girl lowered her head.
"It's okay," I said, feeling really annoyed.
"Let's go… Time to find something already…"
"Okay!"
Once again, we entered the crowd. And right away I walked to the right, toward the stand on which a basket and a ball were drawn. There were several girls standing behind that stand. They noticed Murakami and her height and immediately their eyes started sparkling. They ran toward the girl and surrounded her.
"Sorry, I'm not… I mean… I'm really…"
Meanwhile, while that bunch occupied her, I started running away. Only when a tight crowd appeared between us did I allow myself to relax.
Okay, now that I dealt with that distraction, it was time to start working on the main task.
It might appear strange that I was avoiding the girl that I was supposed to get friendly with, but there was a reason for that.
Apart from her being somewhat annoying.
The problem is that she was a bit too friendly with me. I mean that's given. We were 'childhood friends'. And yet I knew nothing about that childhood. So, to avoid being exposed as a fraud, I decided that I should be a little bit restrained with Murakami. I should appear cold, and aloof, and passive. So… The way I usually am, I guess.
What's more, if we will become too friendly too fast, then there will be no story to develop. No Points to earn. And that also was no good.
Yeah, that should be right…
I was walking through the crowd while thinking about all that stuff when suddenly, I saw a little stand with almost no people around it. There were several onlookers, but no one of them was trying to sign up for whatever club it was.
I walked toward that stand.
It was just a simple table. There was a Sakura tree growing nearby, and in the shade of it, there was a boy in white clothes swinging a wooden sword…