The day of our very first dungeon exploration had finally arrived. A mix of excitement, nervousness, and anxiety had kept me from sleeping soundly, so I got out of bed feeling slightly groggy. I had turned in early, so I knew I had gotten enough hours on paper, but it certainly hadn't felt like restful sleep.
What was more, despite the lingering drowsiness, my nerves were completely on edge, leaving me with the bizarre sensation of being wide awake and oddly sharp.
"...It's finally time, huh."
Checking the clock, I decided to leave my room even though it was earlier than my usual routine. It wasn't like I had enough time to fall back asleep anyway, nor did I think I could if I tried.
Stepping out into the hallway and heading toward the living room, I found my mother preparing breakfast.
"Morning, Mom."
"Good morning. You're up already? That's earlier than usual."
"Yeah, my head's just wide awake for some reason."
"I see. Well, go wash your face. I'll have breakfast ready in the meantime."
Urged on by my mother, I left the living room and headed for the washroom.
Splashing cold water onto my face washed away what little grogginess remained, leaving only a crystal-clear focus behind.
"Phew..."
Looking at my reflection in the mirror, the intense, sparkling look in my eyes caught my attention, along with a faint, daring grin playing at the corners of my mouth that I couldn't quite suppress.
I hadn't realized it myself, but beneath the nerves and excitement, I was apparently raring to go. It was certainly better than moping around with worry, but this was the first time I discovered I had this side to me.
"All right!"
Giving my cheeks a brisk slap to psych myself up, I left the washroom.
"Morning again, Mom. Is breakfast ready?"
"Almost done. Give me just a minute. Also, it's getting late enough, so go wake your father."
"Okay."
While putting the finishing touches on the food, my mother asked me to call my father.
Glancing at the clock just as she said, it was indeed a bit early, but a reasonable time to get up.
"Dad, it's morning."
Leaving the living room, I knocked rather firmly on my parents' bedroom door and called out.
After about ten seconds, I heard movement inside the room, signaling that my father was awake.
"Dad, you up?"
"Nngh... Morning, Asami."
"Sounds like you're up. Mom says breakfast is almost ready. I'll be in the kitchen."
"Yeah... Got it."
His voice was still thick with sleep, but he had answered properly, so that was that.
I stepped away from the door and headed back to the living room.
"Dad's awake. He should be out in a second."
"Thanks, Asami. It's all done, so go ahead and take a seat."
"Okay."
A salad and a plate of toasted bread were already set out on the table, while the aroma of bacon sizzling on the stove drifted over from the kitchen.
It looked like today's breakfast was a classic Western-style spread.
"Here you go, all ready."
"Wah, thanks! Looks delicious."
On the plate my mother set down, crispy bacon rested alongside a sunny-side up egg with its whites cooked to perfection.
Toast, green salad, bacon and eggs, and instant corn potage. Yeah, when it came to a Western breakfast, this was the textbook lineup.
"Good morning."
"Morning, Dad."
"Morning, dear. Everything's ready, so come sit down, sit down."
"Right."
Just as the table was fully set, my father walked into the living room, still looking slightly sleepy.
Once we were all seated...
"Thanks for the food."
We began our meal.
First, I took a sip of the warm corn potage, then reached for the salad with dressing.
"Come to think of it, Asami, today's the day, isn't it? The day you head into the dungeon."
Once we had made some headway on our plates, my father broached the subject. Naturally, it was about today's dungeon dive.
"Yeah, that's right. We're meeting up after this and heading straight there."
"I see... Already, huh."
When I answered with a confident nod, my father let out a quiet sigh, an uneasy look crossing his face.
Was something bothering him?
"What's wrong?"
"No, I was just thinking that the time between that initial talk and today really flew by. That was the first time I'd heard such clear determination from you girls, and while I braced myself for the reality that you'd go into a dungeon eventually... I thought it would still be a long way off."
"Umm..."
Watching my father speak with a distant look in his eyes while my mother nodded solemnly in agreement beside him, I was at a loss for words and could only shift my gaze between them.
"But ever since you started training with those boys, your skills have grown by leaps and bounds. Before we knew it, you were ready to enter a dungeon... You could have taken things a little slower, you know?"
"D-Do you think so?"
"Yeah. Personally, I figured you wouldn't be going until after the New Year at the earliest."
My father wore a genuinely puzzled expression, as if truly mystified by how quickly things had accelerated.
Umm... Was that because of the seniors' training?
"Well, the schedule just got moved up a tiny bit, right?"
"That 'tiny bit' was much faster than we expected. I thought it would be after the New Year too... around February or March, maybe."
"Even though you had been working out to some degree beforehand, I never imagined you'd be ready for the real thing just one month after starting that training."
Looking at the troubled expressions on my parents' faces, I quietly thought to myself that this was simply the result of just how brutally intense that one month of training had been. Looking back on the drills the seniors had put us through, I couldn't help but wonder if they were designed for some sort of special forces unit.
After all, I never imagined that their training would actually teach me how to sense the presence of my surroundings.
"Well, I guess that's all thanks to the seniors' guidance."
"...I suppose so, but it's still fast."
"Yes. I really thought we'd have a longer preparation period."
Wearing an awkward smile, I watched my father and mother slump their shoulders and let out small sighs.
"I-It'll be fine! The seniors said that with our current proficiency, we can go into the dungeon and come back without a scratch."
According to the seniors, our current state was far better than that of any ordinary newcomer explorer, so we would be completely fine.
And according to Mika-chan and Saori-chan, we had been over-trained.
"...That may be true, but we haven't seen this 'proficiency' with our own eyes. Even if they give you their seal of approval, we're still going to worry."
"Yes, it's not that we don't trust your seniors, but that's a separate matter entirely. We can understand it in theory, but it's hard to accept emotionally. One month is just such a short time..."
Well, to be fair, if someone told you that an amateur who had only done light exercise was molded into a fully capable explorer candidate in just one month, anyone would find it hard to believe.
Though if they saw the actual training, they would understand in a heartbeat.
"Still, now that the day is here, I know there's no use fretting over it. So, Asami, please make coming home without getting hurt your top priority today. It's enough just to get a feel for the atmosphere down there; there's no need to push yourself to fight monsters. Fortunately, your dependable seniors are coming along, right? If things get too dangerous, just be honest and ask for help. I'm sure they'll protect you."
"That's right. Focus first and foremost on coming home safely. No matter how much you trained with them, today is your first time in a dungeon, so don't overdo it."
"...Okay."
My parents looked at me with earnest, worried eyes, pleading for me to return unhurt.
Meeting their gazes, I straightened my posture, nodded deeply with sincere resolve, and gave a firm reply.
"All right, that's enough heavy talk. This is the dungeon you worked so hard for and wanted so badly to see, so be careful and have fun. What we do after that is a discussion for another time."
"Yes. Go enjoy yourself first. But don't push yourself too hard, all right?"
"I won't!"
Giving a cheerful response, I polished off the rest of my breakfast.
It was almost time for the meetup. As promised, my number one goal for today was to make it back in one piece.
It was a little early, but time to head out. It was far better to wait around than to risk being late.
I hoisted the heavy backpack I had packed yesterday onto my shoulders and grabbed the shinai bag containing the iron pipe I would be using as a weapon for now.
"Hmm, looking like this really makes me feel like a high schooler heading to club activities."
Catching my reflection in the full-length mirror, I couldn't help but chuckle wryly.
I was heading out to explore a dungeon as an explorer, but the people diving with me were the same familiar faces I always saw in the clubroom. I suppose calling it a club activity wasn't entirely inaccurate.
"All right, did I forget anything...? Ah!"
Remembering the single most important item, I hurriedly reached for the object sitting on my desk.
I had spent last night grinning like an idiot while staring at it, and I had almost walked out the door without it.
"That was close! If I'd left this behind, I wouldn't have even been able to get inside the dungeon after going all that way."
Wiping a bead of cold sweat from my brow, I picked up the near-forgotten item: my Explorer Card.
Without this, they wouldn't let me take a single step inside.
"All right, this time I really have everything."
Double-checking one last time to make sure nothing was missing, I finally left my room.
Stepping back into the living room, I said goodbye to my parents.
"Leaving already?"
"Yeah, I don't want to be late, so I figured I'd get there early."
"I see. Take care out there."
"Please be careful, okay? Make sure you come back safe and sound."
"I will."
Seen off by my mother and father, I walked out the front door, laden with gear for dungeon exploration.
Now, it was finally time for my first real outing as an explorer—the start of our long-awaited dungeon dive!
Leaving the house behind, I headed straight for our meeting place at the nearest train station. A hefty load of considerable weight sat squarely on my back, but perhaps thanks to all our recent training, it wasn't overly burdensome. I wouldn't call it light, but it wasn't heavy enough to hinder my stride.
However, even if the weight didn't slow me down, having my center of gravity pulled backward made it tricky to keep my balance. I had noticed this during our final training session in full gear, but having a heavy load away from your natural center of gravity truly threw off your equilibrium. The thought that I would have to deal with this inside the dungeon was a little daunting.
"Kokonoe-senpai said that defeating monsters and raising our level would improve our physical stats and ease the burden... but he also said the balance issues from the pack wouldn't change, so we needed to train our core to stay upright. He wasn't kidding. If I tried to fight like this, one wrong move and the weight of the bag could easily drag me down."
Leaning back just slightly, the momentum of the pack pulled my body off balance. What if that happened inside the dungeon right in the middle of a monster fight?
A shiver ran down my spine.
"No matter how hard we trained with the seniors, I can't afford to let my guard down."
As I walked along the path to the station, I repeatedly shifted my weight, testing how much I could move while carrying the pack before losing my footing. To anyone passing by, I probably looked like a kid walking strangely, but looking silly now was infinitely better than making a mistake and getting hurt during the main event.
Experimenting with my balance as I walked, I arrived at the meeting spot before I knew it.
"Ah, Asami-chan!"
"Suzune-chan, you're here already."
"Yeah, I woke up earlier than usual, and I figured waiting was better than being late."
"I know the feeling. I did the exact same thing."
Having arrived a bit early myself, seeing Suzune-chan brought a small sigh of relief, making me realize just how tense and anxious I had secretly been.
It seemed she was in the same boat, as she let out a visible breath of relief the moment she saw me.
"You're nervous too, aren't you?"
"Yeah. We trained a ton with the seniors, but I'm still scared."
"Whenever you search online, all you find are beginner horror stories."
"I know, right? There are so many stories of people making mistakes that make you wonder how anyone could mess up like that."
...
Suzune-chan and I exchanged looks, both wearing uneasy smiles.
We were going to be fine, right? We had practiced so much, and the seniors, Mika-chan, and the others would be right there with us...
"At any rate, let's prioritize coming home safe and uninjured over actual exploration today."
"Definitely. I promised my parents I'd come home safely, too, so making it back in one piece is our number one objective."
Suzune-chan and I locked in our goal for the day.
Yup. For our very first dungeon exploration, returning safe and sound without incident was the only thing that mattered.