Sunlight filtered through a gap in the curtains and hit my face. I yawned widely and sat up, shaking my head to clear the lingering fog of sleep.
Yawn... I’m still tired.
"Is it... morning already?"
I checked the clock on my phone by the pillow. With a lingering sense of regret, I finally crawled out of bed.
Still in my pajamas, I left the room and headed downstairs. The scent of breakfast and the sounds of cooking met me as I poked my head into the living room to give my morning greetings.
"...Morning."
"Hmm? Ah, morning, Daiki."
"Good morning. Breakfast is almost ready, so go wash your face."
Father was sitting on the sofa, reading the newspaper while the morning news played on the TV. Mother was in the kitchen finishing up the meal. It seemed Mika hadn't made an appearance yet.
Is she still worn out from yesterday’s exploration?
"Yeah..."
I mumbled a response and shuffled to the washroom. Splashing my face with cold water did the trick, waking me up instantly.
Once I was finished, I returned to the living room and greeted my parents more properly.
"Morning, Father. Morning, Mother."
"Morning."
With the formalities out of the way, I sat on the sofa and glanced at the news. The broadcast was the usual uninspired fluff—nothing particularly interesting or different from any other day.
After a few minutes, Father folded his newspaper and looked over at me.
"That reminds me, Daiki. While you were away at camp, did anyone give you a hard time?"
"Eh? A hard time? About what?"
"Well, yesterday... no, the day before, I think. Sunday. There was a special feature on the morning news about this year's sports festivals. The theme was 'High School Sports Festivals Transformed by the Explorer System.'"
"Huh. I see."
I felt my expression nearly twitch. So they had run a special on that...
"Apparently, most high schools canceled many of the usual events out of concern for student safety. Of course, the government's self-restraint notice was a big part of it. Specifically, the cavalry battles where students clash directly and any other events prone to injuries were scrapped entirely."
"Is that so?"
"In their place, group performances like dances and team cheering competitions were the big highlights this year."
"I see..."
The classic, high-energy events like the cavalry battle and the competitive relay were replaced by activities that didn't rely on the students' enhanced physical abilities. It probably lacked a bit of the usual punch, even if everyone still had a good time.
"And here’s the reason I asked you that earlier... Just like you guys gave it your all during the club activity introduction, it seems student explorers at other schools have been quite active, and it’s become a hot topic."
"..."
"It started when student explorers, who already upload dungeon videos to the web, posted footage of themselves going all-out at their sports festivals. It’s caused quite a stir online. I suppose it makes sense—if an appeal performance like yours got posted, people would definitely get excited."
"..."
So it had blown up that much. Did that mean the person who posted our video and the people fanning the flames were separate entities? Maybe someone just uploaded it as a generic "shocking video" to follow the trend, and Goto’s group happened to see it and decided to exploit it.
The camera angle suggested it was filmed from the spectator stands. While it was possible Goto’s crowd knew the person who filmed it, it was more likely they just stumbled upon the upload and seized the opportunity.
"Well, you guys certainly put on a show at your festival. I figured someone might have recognized you or approached you."
"Ah, yeah. Actually, when we were over there, a few people did come up to me. It turns out a video of our appeal demonstration at the sports festival was indeed uploaded."
"...Wait, really?"
"Yeah. I didn't really understand what they were talking about at the time, so I just brushed it off, saying they must have had the wrong person. But when I checked later, it was definitely us."
"I see... Then you'd better be careful. Some weirdo might track you down after seeing that, and you don't want to get dragged into trouble."
"...Yeah. I'll be careful."
I appreciated the warning, but it was already a bit late for that. Forget "weirdos"—we were already dealing with an actively hostile faction.
I spent the rest of the morning nodding along as Father changed the subject, all while dreading the walk to school.
While I was talking with Father, Mika finally emerged, looking like she was still half-dead from exhaustion. Mother gave her a stern look and a lecture about her posture, and Mika dragged her feet toward the washroom.
She really is tired. Though, that looks more like mental fatigue manifesting as physical exhaustion.
"She looks like she’s struggling... Hey, Daiki, did Mika push herself too hard during the dungeon exploration?"
"Hmm, not particularly. But we went to floors they’d never seen before and fought new monsters, so she might just be mentally drained from the stress."
"...I see."
"Probably."
Father and I moved from the sofa to the table, taking our usual seats as breakfast was served. A moment later, Mother joined us.
Eventually, Mika returned from the washroom, looking slightly more awake as she practically jogged into the room.
"M-morning! Sorry! I didn't mean to keep you waiting..."
"Never mind that, just sit down."
"Y-yes!"
Mika scrambled into her chair, looking flustered by Mother’s urging. No one was actually angry, but she seemed on edge anyway.
Once everyone was settled, we began the meal.
"Let’s eat."
Today’s menu was a standard Western-style breakfast: toast, salad, scrambled eggs with crispy bacon, and corn soup.
I’ll definitely need a coffee after this.
"Mika, you looked pretty worn out a minute ago. Are you alright?"
"Eh? U-um, yeah. I'm fine, Dad. I was just really sleepy..."
"If you say so. But... don't overdo it, alright? I'm not going to tell you to quit being an explorer, but your body is your livelihood. Make sure you get enough rest so the fatigue doesn't pile up."
"Y-yeah. Thanks for worrying, Dad."
Father was clearly concerned after seeing her earlier. It made sense. I had brought her back without a scratch as promised, but the risks of facing monsters were ever-present. This time we had been there to protect them, but that wouldn't be the case if Mika and Saori went into the dungeon alone.
Mika gave him a small, reassuring smile to put his mind at ease.
"Well, that’s what she says, but what’s the real situation, Daiki? Do you think Mika can actually cut it as an explorer?"
"Hmm... In terms of raw combat power, she’s plenty capable up to the floors we visited yesterday. But she’s still a beginner. When it comes to her mentality and self-management—the whole package—it’s too early to say. I’ll have to watch her a bit longer."
"I see. If you told me she wasn't suited for it, I was going to make her return her Armed Exploration Permit for Special Underground Structures, even if I had to drag her there myself..."
"...Haha."
While Father and Mika talked, Mother and I shared that quiet exchange. Mother clearly wanted Mika to quit. I couldn't blame her; most parents wouldn't want their daughter involved in such violent work.
I briefly wondered if she felt the same about her son, but I had a bad feeling about the answer, so I kept my mouth shut.
After breakfast, Mika and I went back to our rooms to get ready for school.
I finished quickly and booted up my computer. I searched the video-sharing site for that specific footage of our appeal demonstration.
"...Alright, no hits. Looks like the deletion request went through."
The video featuring us had been scrubbed from the site. For now, it hadn't been re-uploaded. I hoped that would be the end of the spread, but...
"Probably not gonna happen."
There were likely dozens of copies of that video already saved on people's hard drives. Once something hit the internet, it was impossible to erase completely. It would just be a game of whack-a-mole from here on out.
Still...
"At least this should lower our visibility for a bit."
People at school would definitely still be talking about it, but if the source video was gone, they’d get bored faster. Since I couldn't erase the event itself, the best I could do was speed up the cooling-off period.
I wasn't sure how much of a difference it would make, though.
"Well... time to go."
Hearing Mika head down the stairs, I shut down my PC, grabbed my bag, and left the room. Down in the living room, Father was back to watching TV while Mika waited by the door.
"You're late, Daiki."
"I was just looking something up."
"...Looking something up? Ah, wait, was it about that video?"
"Yeah. The site honored the deletion request I sent yesterday. It’s gone."
"Really? That’s good."
"What video are you talking about?" Father asked, looking curious.
"The sports festival video I mentioned earlier. It was causing us some unwanted attention, so I requested its removal. I was just checking to make sure it actually happened."
"Ah, I see."
"The quality was bad, but you could still identify the school. Since it wasn't an official school upload, they took it down pretty quickly."
I was grateful for the fast response, though it was possible the school or someone else had also requested the deletion. Regardless, it was a relief to confirm it was gone before we left.
"This should at least slow down the number of people seeing it, so things might settle down sooner."
"Yeah. But people at school are still going to be making a scene about the festival..."
"That’s unavoidable. After what we did right in front of them, it’s only natural they’d want to talk about it."
"I guess. Sigh..."
Mika probably remembered the "fans" who had approached us in the dungeon yesterday. She let out a heavy sigh at the thought of the scrutiny awaiting us at school. Honestly, I felt like joining her.
Father watched us with a look of slight pity. Then—
"Alright, you two! Enough with the gloomy sighing. Get to school. It's almost time for you to leave, isn't it?"
Eh?
I looked at the clock on the TV. It was exactly one minute before our usual departure time. While we were standing there moping, time had slipped away.
Mika and I shared a quick, panicked look.
W-we’re leaving!
We shouted our goodbyes, grabbed our bags, and bolted out the door.
As Mika and I walked along the school route, I could feel the gazes of the other students. It wasn't just a few; there were dozens of them.
None of them were bold enough to approach us directly yet, but their curious stares created a heavy, silent pressure.
"Hey, Daiki..."
"Just ignore them, Mika. As long as they don't actually jump us, they're harmless."
"...U-um, okay."
Still, it was incredibly irritating. If they were going to stare that much, I almost wished they’d just say something and get it over with.
After a few more minutes of enduring the scrutiny, a familiar, relieved voice called out.
"Good morning, Daiki! Mika!"
It was Saori, her face awash with relief. She looked like she had just found a lifeline in a stormy sea. She ran up to us and practically threw herself into a hug with Mika, exhaling a long, shaky breath.
"I’m so glad I found you guys. Truly..."
"Wait, what’s wrong, Saori? You’re so worked up..."
"Because... the closer I got to school, the more everyone started staring at me. They wouldn't say anything, they just kept glancing at me... I felt so alone..."
It seemed Saori had also been targeted by the wave of curiosity. The isolation of being stared at in silence had clearly rattled her.
Sigh... To have this level of attention before we even reached the front gates... If it was this bad on the sidewalk, I didn't want to think about what would happen once we actually walked into the classroom.
There really was nothing more uncomfortable than the weight of silent eyes—especially when there were dozens of them.