The people gathered in the meeting room that day let out a collective, weary sigh, their eyes fixed on the documents in their hands.
"At this rate... legitimate competition is simply impossible."
"Agreed. When the disparity is this glaring, it’s..."
The documents before them detailed the results of citizen marathons and various sporting events held nationwide from the new year through early spring. Comparison data from the previous year was included, but the results were so lopsided that a side-by-side analysis was barely necessary.
"Holders of the Armed Exploration Permit for Special Underground Structures have been barred from official tournaments, but there are no restrictions on their participation in general public events yet. I suppose they’re venting the frustration of being excluded from the official circuit on these amateur races..."
"Regardless of their actual level, just holding the permit disqualifies them from official competition."
"According to the data, a particularly large number of young people—high school explorers—are participating."
"Since permit holders are restricted from school club competitions as well, it’s somewhat inevitable."
"..."
The participants exchanged bitter smiles and weary glances.
"We need to establish competition rules that allow permit holders to return to official tournaments as soon as possible."
"Indeed. The reason these high school explorers are acting so immaturely by dominating general events is likely because they have no official stage to compete on."
"Providing a venue where they can openly display the power they’ve gained is the only way to solve this."
"That being said..."
While the participants nodded in agreement with the idea of setting the stage, their expressions remained clouded.
"For track and field, we could perhaps set classes based on level ranges, taking the explorers' levels into account... but..."
"For ball games or martial arts, we have to consider the safety of the spectators as much as the participants."
"If a ball hit by a permit holder with a bat—even a foul ball—were to strike a spectator directly, we’d be looking at fatalities, not just injuries."
"The same goes for combat sports. If high-level permit holders were to face each other in a match, I can easily imagine it turning into a battle straight out of a manga or anime."
"True. In fact, similar action videos are already being uploaded to video-sharing sites."
"..."
Once again, a heavy, exhausted atmosphere settled over the room.
"Ahem! W-Well, setting that aside for now, let's start with track and field, where countermeasures seem easier to implement, and solve these issues one by one."
"Y-Yes, quite right. We can’t deal with everything at once. We'll take it one problem at a time."
Despite the lingering tension, the direction of the meeting was set.
In another department, letters of request from various sports associations were piled high upon a conference table.
"This is the volume of formal requests sent to the main office from various sports associations. The primary focus is a plea for cooperation in holding promotional events to counter the decline in the athletic population."
"...Are there really this many?"
"No, sir. These requests displayed here are only a small fraction of the total."
"...I see."
Hearing his subordinate's report, the supervisor squinted wearily at the thickness of the stack. The subordinate, sensing his boss's mood but pressing on regardless, continued reading from the report.
"The departure of the youth demographic from sports—especially students—is severe across all associations. The middle-aged and senior demographics have shown relatively fewer departures, but even so, the average athletic population for each sport has decreased by about thirty percent compared to before the explorer system was introduced."
"Thirty percent...?"
"Yes. It seems the sports that were once most popular with the youth have suffered the most. High school athletic clubs are suspending activities due to a lack of members after permit holders resigned, and consequently, the number of schools participating in tournaments has plummeted. It appears private sports powerhouses have managed to scrape by because they have larger rosters or stricter member control, but public schools are struggling to field teams at all."
"That's because permit holders are prohibited from participating in official tournaments..."
"For students who pour their hearts into club activities, participating in tournaments is a primary motivator. If they’re disqualified simply for holding an exploration permit..."
"It’s only natural that they’d quit the sport altogether, I suppose."
"Yes."
The supervisor groaned and sank into thought. Whether or not to allow permit holders into official tournaments was already being debated within the associations and the agency, but it wasn't a problem that could be resolved quickly. They needed new rules tailored to superhuman physicalities and massive coordination across multiple sectors.
It was ironic: the most effective solution to stop the bleeding was the one most difficult to execute.
"Of course, the associations are trying various promotional events to win back athletes, but the response from the target youth demographic has been cold."
"Well, with so many young people caught up in the dungeon boom, sports promotion events aren't going to draw a crowd."
"The turnout is actually quite good for certain martial arts events... specifically those that seem useful for explorer activities."
"Certain martial arts, you say?"
"Mainly those involving bladed weapons or unarmed combat. Events that can be utilized when permit holders fight monsters in dungeons are popular. Conversely, grappling-based arts like judo or wrestling have fallen out of favor, and we’ve received requests for measures to address their declining numbers."
"In other words, explorers have no desire to grapple with monsters."
"Yes. That is likely the case."
The supervisor looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Even in the one area showing some life—the martial arts sector—this was the state of affairs. The biggest catalyst for recovery would be lifting the ban on permit holders in official tournaments, but as they had already discussed, that was not a move they could make overnight.
Good grief... what are we supposed to do?! the supervisor fumed silently.
In yet another meeting room, officials were clutching their heads in front of a mountain of paperwork.
"Subsidy applications for the development of explorer-grade sports equipment and the maintenance of related facilities...?"
"I’d like to say 'rejected'... but I imagine that's not an option."
"No, sir. As stated in the applications, it is a fact that athletes who hold the permit cannot compete using existing equipment or facilities."
Looking over the justification section of the documents, the supervisor pressed his fingers to his temples and began reading the contents aloud in a strained voice.
"'Because existing balls burst if an athlete with an exploration permit puts even a moderate amount of strength into hitting or kicking them, we wish to develop new equipment that can withstand such use.' 'Because existing rackets and bats break easily when swung by a permit holder, and the broken shards fly off at high speeds, we wish to install new protective barriers to safeguard spectators and other competitors...'"
"There are some requests here where I'd like to tell them to take it up with the manufacturers, but they do have a point. When athletes with permits compete, existing facilities simply cannot cope. Renovations and reconstructions will be necessary eventually."
"Yes, that's true. But..."
Removing his fingers from his temples, the supervisor spoke with a bitter expression.
"Our agency does not have the budget to renovate every facility in the country at once."
"Indeed. No matter how you slice it, the main office doesn't have that kind of subsidy budget."
Though they earned nearly 100 billion yen from the Sports Promotion Lottery, not all of it could be funneled into facility upgrades. After allocating the budget to each sector, they still had to decide the recipients and amounts for the remaining funds.
If they were to fulfill the current applications based on last year's budget ratios...
"It would take nearly ten years to generate enough capital to renovate all the facilities listed here."
"I thought as much. There are just too many."
Exuding an air of hopelessness, the supervisor tossed the documents onto the table. He understood the necessity, but the simple fact was that they lacked the funds.
The subordinate seemed to share his supervisor's headache, staring at the stack of forms with a look of pure distaste.
"We have no choice but to prioritize the applications according to the agency's policy and deal with them as we can."
"Agreed."
The two men looked exhausted, already imagining the relentless follow-up calls and demands for payment they would soon be receiving from every organization.
Every time a report was given, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew heavier. When the briefing finally reached a stopping point, a collective, leaden sigh filled the room.
"I see... That is truly a shame. To think so many of the high school group were already lost..."
"I am terribly sorry. Our response was too slow..."
"No, this isn't your department's fault alone. As an agency, we should have drafted a list of excluded individuals and sent it to the Dungeon Association before the explorer system even went live."
"...Yes, sir."
The moderator raised a hand to quiet the apologies.
"However, this is a significant blow."
"It is. To think that high-performance development candidates across multiple sports—the very ones seen as our future—would obtain exploration permits and be excluded from official competition..."
"Even among current high-performance athletes, some succumbed to the temptation and became explorers. Is it any wonder that the candidates we hadn't even approached yet followed the trend?"
"That is a fair point..."
The participants looked deeply discouraged as they reviewed the materials.
"At this rate, we're looking at a gap of several years with no promising talent in the pipeline."
"Indeed. Even the current generation competing internationally wavered when the explorer system started, though they’ve managed to hold the line for now. But with this many young athletes disappearing all at once, the next generation... no, the generation after that is going to be a dark age."
"We can only hope for new talent to emerge early from the middle school levels and below."
"That's true. Oh, and as a side note, it seems other countries are facing the exact same issues. In terms of international competitiveness, the field might actually stay level because everyone’s talent pool is thinning out at the same rate."
"Is that... actually a good thing?"
"...Who knows?"
The participants all tilted their heads, letting out bitter sighs. As they sank into a gloom, the moderator struck a kashiwade to refocus the room.
"Gentlemen. While the current situation is regrettable, we cannot change what has already happened. Let us devise a secondary plan. What is the current stance of the international sports federations on permit-holding athletes?"
"At the moment, international federations are also prohibiting permit holders from participating in official tournaments. They are still struggling with the logistics of how to handle such athletes, and no formal conclusion has been reached."
"No conclusion yet, then. If they were to reach a decision, it would be much easier for us to follow suit and permit their participation."
"Since they have to coordinate across so many borders, it will likely take them quite some time."
"Understood. In that case, we must move independently to protect our interests."
The officials turned to one another and resumed the meeting, searching for any way to maintain the athlete pool for the coming years.
A countermeasure meeting was being held regarding a report from a high school where students had collided during a relay race.
"I suppose you could call it a blessing in disguise..." one of the attendees murmured, looking over the report.
"Based on this, it would be best to recommend the cancellation of these types of events during sports festivals."
"If we can't guarantee safety, cancellation is the only option..."
"But if we do that, footraces and grappling events like cavalry battles will disappear. Won't that make the sports festival a rather dull affair?"
In response to the attendee worried about the festival's spirit, the one who suggested the cancellation shook his head firmly.
"That can't be helped. What if we force the events for the sake of 'excitement' and end up with severe injuries... or casualties? This time it was a collision between an explorer and a non-explorer during a baton pass, but what if an explorer fails to make a turn during a sprint and plows into the spectator stands? It would be a catastrophe."
"That's..."
"Since there is a high probability of an accident, we should nip the danger in the bud. It will be too late to wish we’d acted once a tragedy occurs."
"...I suppose you're right."
Having convinced the room, the proposer glanced around and stated the conclusion.
"Then, shall we request the cancellation of the applicable events at sports festivals for all high schools nationwide first thing tomorrow morning?"
"Ah, wait a moment."
"Do you have a suggestion?"
"I agree with cancelling the grappling events, but perhaps we should make the footrace cancellation conditional?"
"What kind of conditions?"
"Ground sizes vary from school to school. If a school has a large enough field to secure a wide buffer zone between the track and the spectator stands, perhaps we could allow them to proceed?"
"I see..."
After several more opinions were exchanged, the final details of the request were hammered out. The notice was sent to high schools nationwide via the regional boards of education the following morning.
This is the state of the sports world following the introduction of the explorer system, as seen through the eyes of the beleaguered Sports Agency.