Everything happened so suddenly that I jumped just like after being hurt by fire. No, rather than that, I felt as if an electric wire was connected with my heart, and electricity came through it. The cloud of dream that was still shrouding my head was torn into pieces…
Second genre… Yes, of course. Because just one surely wasn't enough to deal with.
While I was trying to calm down, the wheel once again appeared on the page. The smiling clown stood just before it.
"Oh, it is high time," he said. "Have you ever heard of a magazine that started publishing with just ONE story? No, that's pathetic. We ought to diversify our lineup."
Diversify…
Ha…
Guess there's no choice for me to make there.
Thinking about it now, it was my own mistake to believe that I had even a little bit of time before the advent of the second genre. I mean, it was logical to think that while the time limit of my first story was still going on, I would be safe, but… I was too naive to believe that the world around me still adheres to the rules of logic.
"Well? Shall we get on with it?" the clown said and suddenly smashed the red button on the foot of the wheel with his bat. The wheel started spinning. It was doing that for several seconds until Yuji smashed the button again and… Here it is.
I looked at the section the arrow was pointing to. Yet, I didn't have time to read the words written inside of it before the wheel vanished and they were presented to me in a more fashionable way.
A word was written with big letters on a blue board:
'SpoCon'
…Suddenly, I felt sick.
"Hurray!" shouted Yuji.
SpoCon is the word used for manga about sport in Japan. The most common tropes of this genre are: hopes and dreams, friends, usually presented as the main character's teammates, and the mad strive to take first place on some very important tournament.
So… All that is alien to me.
To be honest, I hate sport.
Well… Maybe there is a way around it? Maybe chess will do? Though it's not like I'm a very good chess player… How about checkers?
I scrolled through the pages of the magazine and stopped on the page with the profile of the second story. Just like with the first one, the Title and Annotation were locked. The genre score was 0/9.
My sight shifted to the empty space of the mission bar.
Well… What can I come up with? I guess I need to enter some sports club… Yeah, that's it. Once I thought about it, such a mission really did appear:
[Join a club: 3 points + Beginner's pack]
Beginner's pack?
What's that?
Whatever. Just this one mission wasn't enough to fill the required Genre Score. I tried coming up with something else, and yet, to no avail.
Then I remembered that I should hurry and stood up. Should I take the jacket from the bag? Nah, no time for it. I put the magazine into the pocket of my trousers and ran into the hallway, and then across it into the street.
I breathed some fresh air and ran toward the road. There, I saw Murakami walking. Good, she hasn't gone too far away yet. The girl turned and looked at me. Her gaze was somewhat surprised, at first, but then she immediately smiled when I approached her.
"I decided to go now," I said to her.
"Okay," the girl simply nodded.
And so, we started walking together, side by side. Everything around us was calm and silent. Only leaves were shivering above my head, dripping bits of the sun on the sandy road.
Different thoughts were flickering inside my head. I looked at Murakami with the corner of my eyes. The girl was walking by my side, maybe a bit too close... Her white hair was hanging to her back, and her face was open and fresh.
I've made a deep sigh and activated my new muscle. Argus-eyed.
And right away a translucent board appeared before my eyes. As if I put on augmented reality glasses.
Following things were written on that board:
[Height: 1.71m
Strength: D+
Endurance: D+
Intellect: A+
Character type: Heroine
Secondary type: Childhood friend.
Favorite color: Sky blue
Favorite band: Queen
Favorite movie: La danza de la realidad
84:57:83]
…
…Childhood friend?
What?
What does it mean?
I mean… I only saw Murakami today for the first time, I'm sure of it, but… Maybe the magazine altered my past..? I have to investigate… All of it.
As for the other information…
I won't comment on the strength and other 'physical' attributes. I have never been an athletic person, so the difference between me and that girl is given. But her Intellect, well… It was surprising to learn that she was smarter than me. I mean, I'm not a snobbish person, I just pretend that I am from time to time to annoy people, and yet… Oh, whatever. I sound like I'm really bitter about it.
I'm not.
...As for these numbers:
84:57:83
I wasn't sure what they meant. Wait… There are some letters above them: B, W… Oh, I see. That's what it is.
Bust, Waist, and Hips. In centimeters. I nodded to myself and the very next second Murakami suddenly started talking without turning her eyes to me:
"It's… A bit awkward when someone stares at you while being silent… Not that I mind by the way!"
I came to my senses. Thinking about it now, I really had been staring at her for about a minute.
How awkward.
I turned away and tried to explain myself with the very first thing that came to my mind:
"I… Thought that I've seen you before. So I was just trying to remember where it was."
The girl froze. Then she nodded, — oh, that's how it is, — and was about to ask me something, but I answered her question in advance:
"Just my mistake. I don't think we have ever met before."
"Well… Everyone do mistakes," said Murakami and lowered her head.
"Maybe you will remember later… If we really did meet before, I mean," suddenly she said.
"Maybe…" I nodded and then I heard a noise coming further from the road. I speed up and soon I saw the end of the road, the sports field, and the school's yard just behind it. It wasn't as desolate as when we were going across it for the first time. Now, there was an entire sea of children walking around and talking with each other and shouting something from behind different stands.
We were standing on the shore of that mighty ocean.
I breathed in and went right into it.
It was time to make a choice.
What sport should I choose?..