[ES!!] Manga Club
Chapter Index
Ch 1 - Ch 2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Ch 5 - Ch 6 - Ch 7 - Translation Notes
Chapter 1
Season: Winter
Location: Street
Ahh~! Crap, crap, crap! I’m gonna be late for class!
Why’s this the one day I forget to set my alarm!? I’m never the type to make this sorta mistake…!
And we just started our week to reduce late arrivals! What’s the point if the Student Council President himself is late!?
Not to mention, we’ve got a really naggy kid who’d rip me a new one if I arrived late…
If I’m ever late — even for just one day — I’ll never hear the end of it for the rest of the year! I can’t let that happen…
Anyway, I need to get to school as fast as possible…!
Location: School Route
Huff… Huff… O-Okay, I should make it on time…! I’m so gla—
Gaahh!?
Owww… I wasn’t looking ahead of me before turning, and crashed into someone…
Wait—! Enough talking to myself! Is the person okay…!?
Ah! They’re over on the ground there! —A-Are you okay!? I’m so sorry!
Guh… This is truly unfortunate…
…Umm, Hasumi-senpai… What are you doing?
Incorrigible. Why on earth were you running here!? You have to look before you turn!
I’m very sorry about that, I really am… And I know I’m being rude talking like this to a senior, but please let me ask again… What are you doing…?
Huh? “Senior”? Me? What have you been on about… Also, I believe it’s quite obvious what I’m doing here.
Umm… But I’m asking you because it isn’t obvious…?
Sigh… Very well then, I’ll explain it to you.
I’m clearly on my way to school right now, what else?
Eh…?
Mm—! Shoot, I shouldn’t be standing around talking. The first bell is going to ring soon — I have to get to school immediately. I can’t be late on my first day.
Neither of us were injured thankfully, but you better be careful next time. Understood?
Right, good day to you.
…………
Did he hit his head? And why did he mention going to school…?
Didn’t he graduate…?
Location: Classroom 3-A
Huff… Huff… W-Whew, I managed to make it…
Good morning, Isara. It’s not like you to be late.
Hahh, g’morning… I’m so tired… I haven’t ran this much in a long while…
Ahaha. But I’m glad you made it just before the class bell.
Sally~ G’morning! ☆ What happened to you today? Weren’t you trying to be a lot more careful since you became Prez?
Ah, well… I forgot to set my alarm, so that’s why I woke up late, but… Honestly, the main reason is ‘cause of something else…
I got caught up with something weird on my way here, y’see~
Something weird…? What do you mean?
Mm… What was that? How do I even begin to explain what I saw…
Heyy~ The bell rang, y’know~ It’s about time you all sat down.
Hm? Oh, the teacher’s here.
Oh, you’re right. Aight, I’ll talk to you guys about it later.
(…Huh? Wait, has Sagami-sensei always been our homeroom teacher this year…?)
(Well, whatever. If he’s here, it obviously means he’s the homeroom teacher, so…)
(Hmm… It feels like weird things just keep happening today…)
(Or I guess, it’s more like an odd feeling has been nagging my mind…)
We’ve got an important announcement to make today. We’re gonna have a transfer student~ Make sure to get along with her.
(Transfer student? Is that about Anzu? …Huh? Who’s Anzu…?)
(No, no, wait. Anzu’s our producer! How could I forget who she was for a second there…)
(This just keeps happening… Something’s clouding my head, and it doesn’t feel right…)
Alright, come on in, transfer student.
Nice to meet you all. My name is Hasumi Keito; I’m a new student here. I hope to get along with all of you.
Ahh~! It’s the weird Hasumi-senpai I crashed into this morning!
Why’re you enrolling in school!? Didn’t you graduate!? Why’re you back here…!? And why are you cross-dressing; did you lose in a game and end up forced to wear that or something!?
You’re that guy I met this morning…
Oh? You know Isara? Great, then I’ll put you next to him.
Please don’t just continue the conversation like everything’s normal! Does nobody realize how weird this all is!?
It seems like it was fate to meet you. I hope we can get along.
Huuhh!?
…Actually, now that I think about it, this situation…
Isn’t this just like that trope in romcom manga, where the protagonist crashes into the… girl…? on his way to school, and then finds out she’s the transfer student…?
…♪
N-No, please! I don’t wanna be in a cliche like thaatttt~!!
Chapter 2
Location: Dance Room
Mm… Mmm~… N-Noooo…!
My, my, he sounds like he’s having a nightmare. I wonder what he’s witnessing…
Takamine-kun, I’m starting to pity the boy. Could you wake him up for us?
Fweh? Ah, um, okay.
Isara-senpai, Isara-senpaaai~! Are you alright~? I’ll remove the device on you, okay? Please come back to us~?
…Ha—! W-What!? Where’d the classroom go…!? Where’s Hasumi-senpai!?
Are you still feeling disoriented? Did it feel that real? Please snap out of it, we’re in a dance room in ES.
…Ah, right. Tenshouin-senpai called us here, and—
One hour ago…
Why did all of us from the Manga Club get told to come here outta the blue…?
I’d personally never refuse any call from Eichi-sama, but… I really do wonder why he wanted us here.
Would you happen to know why, Hasumi-senpai?
No, I haven’t heard anything myself. Well, I don’t believe it’ll be anything strange, though…
No, never mind; this is him we’re talking about. He might be getting himself carried away with something again.
Well, as long as it isn’t to do with scolding us… Not that I can even think of anything we could get scolded for.
Yeah, no, that can’t be it~ We haven’t done anything wrong during our circle activities—
Door opens
Mm? Ahh, Tenshouin-senpai’s here. Let’s just ask him instead.
Hello, everyone. I’m sorry to ask for your time all of the sudden.
No, it’s fine, but… What did you want to tell us? Since all the Manga Club members are here, does that mean it has something to do with our Circle?
Indeed. I won’t waste our time with casual talk; let’s just head straight to it.
Do you know about the event called “Manga Expo” that’s happening in a month’s time?
Manga Expo…? No, this is the first time I’m hearing about it.
I only vaguely know of it. It’s a large-scale manga festival, right? I heard that it’ll be held for three days at the international exhibition.
Yeah, I know about it. They wanted to secure funding from my household, but since manga and toys ask for a different type of clientele, my family rejected it.
Ohh~ Feels like a story of the life of a rich household~ Just like something you’d find in a manga.
Yeah, that’s because I am from a rich household. Anyway, my family may have rejected investing in the event, but I’m personally interested in it. I was hoping to check it out.
There won’t be any mascots at the event, and I don’t really like to go to places with way too many people, but…
I’m kinda interested… I’d also like to check it out, maybe…
I’m pleased to hear that all of you are interested. ♪ Takamine-kun is typically slow to act, but if he also wishes to go, then I think I can hope for a successful story here.
Huh?
You see, the Tenshouin Zaibatsu has invested in Manga Expo. I’d like to make it as successful as possible, for the sake of future plans.
Wait, really? Ahh~ I wish my household also invested in it, now…
Fufu. I think your father’s decision was correct. The sort of customers your household usually deals with are far too different, so I don’t think he would’ve made a profit.
A manga festival is right up my alley, personally. What kinda events do they have?
Hmm, let’s see… The most notable ones would be the key frame exhibition of popular manga, and an exhibition of all of the old manga magazines.
There’s also a cafe you can hang out in while enjoying all the oldest and latest mangas.
Oh yes, and there’s even a booth to experience how it feels to be the protagonist of a manga in real-time. ♪ Everyone has imagined themselves in that position before, haven’t they?
Huh? Experiencing what it’s like to be the protagonist of a manga…? Yeah, I’ve daydreamed of that sorta stuff before, but how will they make that work…?
Do you all know about SSVRS? It’s a device that allows you to enter a virtual reality.
We made a revised version as an attraction for the event.
Oh, yes. How about all of you try it out? I was planning to do a beta test after our meeting, so I have the prototype with me here. You could attempt a trial run.
Huh!?
Mao and Jun exchange glances in silence
Yeah, I’d like to try it out.
I’m also curious~
Mhm, seems like everyone’s interest has been piqued.
It’s not every day you can experience the life of a manga protagonist~ So is any manga possible?
Not every manga per se, but we’ve made sure to compile all sorts of genres people could try out.
I believe I brought my tablet— Ah, yes, here it is.
Right then, choose the genre you’d like to experience through this tablet. Then you simply need to wear these goggles, and you’ll become the protagonist of that genre.
Ohh? Let’s see here.
(There’s action, comedy, sci-fi, sports, health, romance, social issues… Oh, even horror. There’s niche genres along with the popular ones, huh~)
(I’d like to be in an action manga… You can’t help but daydream about being in a shounen manga as a guy, so~ Ah, but a romcom sounds fun, too.)
(Mm, I really can’t decide… Which do I go for…?)
Isara-senpai, are you still choosing? We all chose something, so it’s only you left.
Wha— You’re all done!? Sorry, sorry…! I’ll choose something now.
Erm, let’s just go with the romcom protagonist. (presses button)
Now to wear the goggles…
Mm? I can see text popping up…? Erm…?
“PLAY START”
Chapter 3
…Ahh, right. Tenshouin-senpai called us here, and then we tried out what it’s like to be a manga protagonist.
Whew~… I’m so glad that wasn’t real…
How’s the refined SSVRS? I’m sure it was fun—
Is what I’d like to say here, but you didn’t seem to enjoy it much, did you?
It was more like torture… I felt like I was having a nightmare. I think like, the story gets weird fast when you’re awful at being imaginative or something…
Oh? Interesting.
Since this trial is part of the beta testing, I’d love to know what sort of story you experienced in order to further improve the technology.
Umm… I was going to be late to class, and then—
Time passes…
What on earth…! How incorrigible! Don’t involve me in such a ridiculous plot-twist!
Nonono! It’s not like I wanted to involve you! I don’t even know why it turned out that way!
Eww… Hasumi-senpai cross-dressing sounds groooss…
Hasumi-senpai also suffered from this, huh~… I know it’s just in someone’s head, but I’d hate to know someone was imagining me in a dress.
I swear it was outta my control! I hate the thought, too! Also, I’m the biggest victim here, ‘kay!?
Quit laughing already, Eichi!
……(Laughing so much that no sound comes out)
—Ha, hah… hah… My stomach hurts…
Ahh~ I thought I was going to laugh until I suffocated to death… Hahaha, I’m so envious, Mao. I want to see something as bizarre as that with my very own eyes.
Um, I only feel like I experienced torture, though…?
Well, I suppose that isn’t a terrible way to put it, yes.
However, from what I understood, your experience turned out to be quite peculiar, which I find very interesting.
That’s true. Personally, I experienced something normal.
Oh? What sort of story did you experience, Keito?
Me? I was a spy infiltrating various facilities, changing disguise at every location until the mission was cleared.
Oh! Hasumi-senpai, you chose that manga?1 I love it, too! It’s really fun, right? It has all the popular tropes in the best way!
Yeah, I really got to experience something valuable. It truly feels exhilarating to be the protagonist of a story.
But I’m surprised; I thought you’d choose something more niche.
I did think to do that at first, but I thought it would be best to go with a popular story to get a feel of the world of a manga.
Plus, with a manga like this, I can experience all types of jobs.
That’s Keito for you; he treats it like an internship. So? How did the climax of your story go?
Mm, I don’t know if there was anything like that… It was pretty normal, actually.
It was quite a realistic mission to have in that world’s standards, so there was no huge plot-twist anywhere.
I see. What about the others? Did you experience anything strange or out of the blue in your storylines?
Nope, nothing weird from mine, Eichi-sama.
As for me! I was a super experienced radiographer, working on the job in the coolest fashion! Everyone kept asking for my help day in and out~ I had so much to do!
Radiographer…? I mean, that’s definitely impressive, but… It’s not the first job that comes to mind, I guess? Wouldn’t a doctor have been a better choice…?
You’re so naïve, Takamine! What if I had to perform a surgery!? I’d have to look at blood, y’know! That’s terrifying! I’d faint if I had to do that!
Ahh, that’s why you avoided being a doctor… I feel you there. I’d also be way too terrified to use a scalpel…
Right? Anyway, what genre did you choose, Takamine?
If I were to put it in one word, it’d be “heaven”…?
Wha? The heck kinda genre is that? I’ve never heard of it…
I think the genre is “mascot characters”…? I was with three cute, small animals, taking out weeds, subjugating others, eating snacks, and having a relaxing life.2
Well, I did freak out when they suddenly told me to go on a subjugating spree with them…
But once we went off to do the deed, the scary monsters were all so strange-looking that they also wound up looking cute.
I was in a world filled with cute stuff everywhere — Ahh, just remembering it feels like I’m back in heaven…♪
Another mascot character-related manga? You really never change~ You’re always typical ol’ Takamine.
Haah~…♪
I wanted to bring them back with me, but I couldn’t, since it’s just VR… It’s a shame…
That’s just kidnapping, y’know. That’s really bold to say…
Ahaha… What about you, Sazanami? What did you choose?
Me? I chose a popular one like Hasumi-senpai.
Chapter 4
I was a soldier training to fight against these huge aliens that were invading the country.3
It’s nice to train as a team~ Feels like everyone gets to help each other grow, and it’s lotsa fun.
I used to always just train all on my own when I was young, so I never really had any fun doing it—
Mm? Why’s everyone looking at me like that?
I can’t believe you’d wanna work your butt off in a dream world. I’d never go for that sort of thing.
Actually, if that’s something you already experienced when you were young, you should’ve gone for a different manga.
Oh, but this is one of my favorite mangas, y’know~? Ever since I read it, I always wondered what it’d be like to train the same way the characters did in the manga.
And anyway, what’s wrong with that? I enjoyed it a lot in the end.
Hold on! Objection!
Wha—!? Why’d you yell out of nowhere…? Please don’t do that, you freaked me out…
Why did everyone get to enjoy such a normal manga scenario when I got that for mine!?
How should I know…? Umm, maybe it has to do with the sort of person each of us are…?
But I’m always a highly moral guy, aren’t I!? Right, Tori!?
W-Woah! Don’t whine to me just because you didn’t get what you wanted!
Hmm… Perhaps the refined SSVRS I gave you has a malfunction in it, Mao.
That may be why it glitched and added real-life elements in.
I’ll do a thorough check-up on yours, just in case.
Ugh, I’m really dumb out of luck if that’s the case…
Oh well, I’ll just consider it a valuable experience and move on. I guess I’ll try it again when the real thing comes out if I’m that curious.
Yeah, it’d be nice to check out the event as part of our Manga Club activities.
Yeah, you’re right~
Alright then, Tenshouin-senpai, thank you for today.
Hold on a moment. I haven’t finished with the main topic.
Huh? Didn’t you want us to test your refined SSVRS?
Didn’t I clearly mention that there will be an official beta test once we’re done here?
Oh yeah, you did…
Then why did you really gather us here?
I’d like you, Manga Club, to participate in the Ultimate Manga Quiz Showdown. It’s going to happen at Manga Expo.
“Ultimate Manga Quiz Showdown”…?
What’s that…?
It’s as the name stands: You answer a quiz about manga.
Your opponent will be a Quiz Master Club from a prestigious university. The management team wishes to hold a showdown to see who would win between quiz enthusiasts and manga enthusiasts.
I’d like you all to participate as the manga enthusiasts team.
Wha…? This is so sudden, though…
It really is. Plus, we’re just a bunch of guys who like manga, we’re not actually specialized in it or anything…
Yeah, those types of people know the dialogue by heart… Isn’t it more appropriate to make actual hardcore fans participate?
I like reading manga, but there’s no way I could do a quiz on it in front of a whole audience…
Indeed… I feel as though this is too burdensome on us, Eichi.
Wh— Hey! Why’re you all refusing his offer just like that!? He asked us so kindly, y’know!?
Yeah but, do you feel confident that you can win against quiz enthusiasts, Tori?
Uu— Um… well… No, but…
Yeah, that’s not surprising.
Tenshouin-senpai, I know it’s a big opportunity and all, but I think we’ll pass — It doesn’t seem possible…
I see… What a shame. Even though the winner can receive such a huge, grand prize…
I suppose you’ll just throw that chance away all over a lack of confidence… Ahh, what a waste.
Huh? A prize?
Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m really curious to know what it is…
Eichi… Enough with the roundabout way of speaking. It’s unfair to hide information from us in a negotiation.
What’s the prize, Eichi-sama?
Fufu. You see, we plan to invite a certain manga artist to the stage as a guest. The winners will receive an autograph signed first-hand by the artist.
Wha—!?
It’s a very popular artist, actually. He apparently draws a manga about pirates.
I don’t really know much, but surely you folks would know?
Whaaa!? Are you serious!?
O-Oh gosh…! Really!? I’m a huge fan of that manga~!
Do manga fans who aren’t a fan of his even exist!?
Anyone who’s read manga has definitely read that story before.
I see… So he’s going to come as a guest. Just being able to greet him would be a valuable experience of its own.
Ahh, I see you all have a fire lit in your hearts now. What a relief. I ask again just to be sure, but—
—You’ll all participate in the Ultimate Manga Quiz Showdown, won’t you?
Chapter 5
Location: ES Hallway
I feel as though Eichi had us in the palm of his hand, but…
Oh well. Now that we’re participating in the competition, we need to do our absolute best. First, we need a plan.
That means training then, right~? Like, the test play reminded me of this, but… It’s the standard way to face hardships in a shounen manga, isn’t it?
Sigh… That sorta overbearing stuff is a pain, though… But it’s better than going on stage without preparation and embarrassing ourselves, I guess.
Training sounds good, but where could we do that? We need a place that has manga, right? Do you wanna do it in the dorm’s library, then? Only problem is that there’s not a lot of manga there.
Mmm… The library only has new manga series, so it won’t help us much, will it? A quiz is gonna have trivia questions from all generations.
Then let’s do it at my house~
Huh? Isara-senpai’s home?
Yep. I’ve got a bunch with me, even the older ones. And my li’l sis has the shojo manga with her.
Ohh? Sounds good to me. We could just do it at Isara-senpai’s house then.
Is that really alright, though? Won’t we be a bother to your family?
Ritsu would always come over and chill at my house more than anyone, so you don’t have to worry about that!
But my room isn’t that big, so please bear with the tight space.
Location: Mao’s Room
Next day…
I know it’s cramped with this many people here, but still, make yourself at home.
Sure~ Ooh, so this is your room, huh? It’s even smaller than my house’s bathtub.
B-Bathtub!? How big is that bathtub…? Your house is seriously way too big, dude! This is what a normal house is usually like, okay?
Ohh, you really do have a lot of manga on your bookshelf.
As expected of Isara-san~ There’s a lot here.
Yeah, and there are various genres to choose from, as well.
However, it’s still too little for the quiz. How can we make up for that…?
Oh, I actually have way more than this. I couldn’t fit them in my bookshelf, so I stored the rest in the closet.
I’ll bring them over. Wait one second.
Time passes…
Woah… Yeah, with this many, even quiz newbies like us could stand a chance.
Right? Let’s work through all the manga I have first, then we’ll think of other manga we could study up on if we still have time before the quiz.
That sounds good. We can do this the same way you would with efficient studying — Let’s thoroughly read the manga, and answer questions at the end.
That’s how we can learn best. I’ll prepare the questions for the quiz.
Aaalright! Let’s do this! Let’s win the quiz championship, and get that autograph! Hip-hip-hurray~! ☆
Hurray~! ☆
H-Hurray~… Uuu, please be gentle on me… I hate studying enough as it is…
Time passes…
—Aight! I got through ‘em~
C’mon, you gotta ask the questions now! I feel like I’m gonna forget all the information any second now~!
Alright then, please lay it on us, Hasumi-senpai!
Right, first question—
Time passes…
This is the last question.
What is the title of the 21st volume for Pirates of Treasure?
Ehh!? I don’t remember that…!
Titlee~..!? I remember that volume, but there’s no way I’d remember a specific title!
I do remember seeing it, though… Umm, what was it… “Desire,” or something…?
Unfortunately, that’s incorrect.
I think the “Desire” title was for the 22nd volume. Hmm, what was it~… I feel like I saw it too…
It had a pretty cover and everything… And considering the plot of that volume, I’m guessing it’d be… “Shangri-la”?
You were close, but still incorrect. The correct answer is “Utopia”.
Wha? Really?
Gimme the 21st volume for a second… Umm, we should see the title in the table of contents, right? —Ahh, here it is.
Lemme see — Ohh, it really does say “Utopia”.
Gosh, this is impossible~! How are we supposed to remember that kinda stuff!?
Sigh… This is way too tough…
Hmm, we got through the whole quiz, but… The answer rate was about 30%. And this was just practice, too. We’re likely to only get around 17% in the actual quiz.
I noticed this while we were doing the quiz, but it feels as though our accuracy lowered as we were reaching the end.
Which means the information hasn’t stuck in your head. You all kept making careless mistakes, too.
That’s not our fault! I may love manga, but there’s no way I could learn all this info in such a short amount of time…!
I think we needa think up another way to do this. Trying to master all these different genres at once doesn’t seem to be working well in our favor.
Chapter 6
But… What are we supposed to do then…
Mmm…
(Ah! Wait, that’s right… The competition’s rules had something to it—)
Hasumi-senpai, do you remember the quiz’s rules?
Rules? If I recall correctly, two teams of five will compete against each other. If one member is correct, you gain one point; if all members are correct, you gain five points.
Okay, good, I wasn’t misremembering. Right, then let’s just throw away those five points.
What!? That’s so not like you. Are you saying to give up on winning?
Nah, just hear me out for a sec.
The only reason we’re trying to remember trivia about every kind of genre is ‘cause we were trying to aim for a five-member correct answer. And that’s making us not remember anything, right?
We won’t have any chance to win then.
So let’s split the workload instead. How about we all get really good at our best genre or manga, and try to get a lot of correct answers individually?
So in other words… We should aim for solo points over five points at once?
Oh, that would be a good plan… We could definitely work with split roles based on our speciality. It’s a much better plan than forcing ourselves to remember everything.
It’d be way easier on me to remember stuff about what I like… so this would help me out, I think.
Right? So it’s settled then!
Let’s fill our brains up with info ‘til the day of the event! We can do this~!
Location: Waiting Room
Day of the Manga Expo…
Excuse me— Mm? All of you are here — Ah, except for Isara, it seems.
Ah, hello. Isara-san went to have a meeting about the event along with the staff.
It’s a simplistic meeting, though, so he’ll be back soon enough.
I see. We can consider ourselves all here, then. How admirable of you all — You’re early to our appointed meeting.
Well, I wasn’t sure what sorta event we’re gonna be in, so I came earlier just in case.
I came earlier to sneak around the place and check it out~
Except it’s waaay too crowded to do that in a rush… There’s lines everywhere, so I wouldn’t make it in time for the quiz if I queued up.
Me too… I was hoping I could check out all the booths I researched. I even planned out which ones I’d go to first… I didn’t expect this to be such a large-scale event…
Man~ It’s so crowded… You can hear the noise from backstage… Are we seriously gonna have a quiz in front of all these people?
Hm? Hello, Isara. Good work.
Oh! You’re here too, Hasumi-senpai. Good morning.
Heeey, I got the script right here, so let’s go over it before the real thing starts.
I asked a staff member on my way here, and the seats are apparently all sold out. There are a lot of people here just for this quiz.
Wh—? Crap, that’s so nerve-wracking… I really thought I’d be able to check the place out, go to the quiz, and that’s that…
There’s no need to be so nervous. You aren’t competing alone, are you? We’re all comrade-in-arms here.
Also, as the one who guided all of you throughout your training, I can confidently say that you’ve all worked really hard to be capable of putting up a good fight.
Now you only need to remember your training and go all out.
We’ve come all the way here, I don’t wanna lose now! I wanna go home knowing we won big!
Yeah! Let’s give it all we’ve got so we can head home with the big prize~!
Yeah~!
Uu… I’m not good with this stuff, but I worked so hard training for this, so… I’ll do the best I can…
Right then, it’s about time we go!
Location: Manga Expo Stage
(Woah… Hasumi-senpai wasn’t kidding, the audience is huge…)
(Are the others doing okay?)
(—Mm~ Takamine and Tori are as nervous as ever. They’re frozen in their seats.)
(To be fair, I’m pretty nervous too…! What now… Maybe I should talk to them first?)
(Mm? Hasumi-senpai is telling us something…?)
(whispering) We may have a large audience here, but it’s nothing compared to our audiences for our live shows. There’s no need to be so frightened.
(Ohh~! Hasumi-senpai’s amazing. He’s right, we’ve performed on stages with way bigger audiences. Yeah, that does give me some confidence that I can do this…!)
(Takamine and Tori seem calmer now, too — We should be able to compete against the other team just fine like this.)
(Alright, let’s get a point right from the first question!)
Chapter 7
Umm, that’s… erm…
Ah! Pink pickled garlic and fried chicken!
—Hell yeah~! I did it~! I remembered it just on time!
Nice one, Sazanami!
We totally got this! We’re managing the one-point per person plan just fine! We’re able to keep up with such strong competition…!
There’s a three-point difference between us and the other team… It’s good that we’re catching up, but we’re going to fall back at this rate.
We’re on the last stage of the quiz, too. The final question could be right before us, so we may not be able to close the gap in time.
Uu… We made it so far, but it’s still tough to try and win through the one-point per question method…
Wah!? Oh gosh, the last question really did end up happening~! What’re we gonna dooo!?
Uuu, we’re done for… How’re we supposed to close the gap with a three-point difference… There’s nothing we can do anymore, right…? We did the best we could, right…?
—Mm? Huh? The question is—
They asked for the title of the 21st volume of Pirates of Treasure, right?
—! That’s…! Ah, crap, I need to write it now!
(Gah, my hand is shaking. It’s so hard to write…! I’m so nervous— No, more like excited…!)
(I know what you mean! Isn’t that from our first quiz!? Who would’ve thought we’d get the same question!)
(Umm… Calm down, me, you know the answer. T-This is it, right…? Mhm, it should be fine…)
(Heh… to think Buddha would smile upon us like this.)
(It is said that Buddha comes to help you because you worked so hard. I’m sure these kids’ hard work is what made this opportunity strike.)
Alright! I wrote it! We all wrote our answers, so I’m pressing the button…!
(Ahaha, everyone’s looking so excited~ I get it, man! It’s a question we all know the answer to, after all!)
(Right, who got the right answer—!?)
Location: Library
Next day…
No, no, Takamine! It’s way too far to the right!
Huh? Then… like this…?
No~! Now it’s way too far to the left!
Ehh…? This is starting to be a pain…
Gosh, you don’t get it! It’s gotta be centered or it won’t look as good! C’mon, go back to the right a little.
Alright… Mm~… Like this?
Mhm! Perfect! ♪ It’s right in the middle. Great job!
Sigh… It’s finally over. It’s so depressing whenever I’m put in this position just ‘cause of my height…
We prepared the other side, too. How’s it going over on yours?
Ohh~! It looks perfect! Wow, that’s totally Sensei’s autograph! And we won it with our very own hands!
It really does have a different air to it when it’s in a pretty frame~ Hasumi-senpai, are you sure it’s okay for us to use one that’s so expensive-looking?
Yeah, it was bound to just lay stored in my family’s storage. It’ll find better use residing somewhere where people can see it.
I still didn’t feel like we’d won when the quiz was over, but…
Now that we’re decorating the library with it, it’s really starting to sink in~ We really did win, huh~?
Yeah, I feel ya! It all starts to hit you once time passes!
Plus, we were all correct together, whereas the other team went for a solo point — so we ended up winning with a one-point difference! It felt exhilarating~
I was shaking when the last question was something we already covered. I wanted to yell, “Hey, it’s that question we practiced!”
Miracles really do happen, huh… But I seriously don’t think I can handle another nerve-wracking event like that ever again.
Oh? But you managed to answer just fine. I believe you’re quite suited for quizzes.
Huh!? No, no, it’s fine! I already forgot everything, since we were just cramming so much in a short amount of time. Also I’d just feel depressed if I had to experience that nervousness over and over again…
Umm, (coughs)… Well, I’m sure we all have a million things to say, but this isn’t the right place for it, so…
How about we move to the common room and talk all about it while eating snacks? Like a party to celebrate our victory…♪