The following afternoon began like every other day.
The final bell echoed throughout the school building.
Students poured into the hallways.
Classroom doors slid open one after another as conversations immediately replaced lectures. Athletes hurried toward their respective clubs, members of the brass band carried instrument cases through the corridors, and teachers slowly made their way toward faculty offices while reminding students not to stay out too late.
To everyone else—
It was simply another ordinary Wednesday.
To the Gaming Research Club—
It was the beginning of something they never expected.
Ruko pushed open the familiar clubroom door.
The faint scent of electronics greeted him first.
Then the familiar glow of five gaming monitors.
The quiet humming of desktop computers.
The stacks of strategy books sitting on one shelf.
Whiteboards filled with draft rotations.
Hero tier lists.
Objective timers.
Everything looked exactly as it always did.
Kana was already unpacking snacks from her bag.
"Today's potato chips are barbecue flavor."
"...You announce that like it's an event."
"It is an event."
Nearby, Risa had already booted up her computer.
Melodious once again occupied the center of her screen.
"...Passive reset."
She calmly sighed.
"...Again."
Across the room—
Hikari leaned over her chair.
"You're improving."
"I have reached the point where I only embarrass myself every fourteen seconds instead of every seven."
"...That's... actually improvement."
"I know."
Kana laughed.
"I've never heard someone calculate their own embarrassment."
"It increases efficiency."
"...Sure."
The room settled into its familiar rhythm.
The girls chatted.
Computers loaded.
Practice plans were discussed.
Everything felt peaceful.
Comfortable.
Routine.
Until—
The clubroom door slid open once more.
Kazuha stepped inside carrying several folders against her chest.
Immediately everyone noticed something.
She wasn't smiling.
Not her usual bright smile, anyway.
Instead—
She looked... nervous.
That alone made the room quiet.
Because Kazuha almost never looked nervous.
She looked around the room.
Took a slow breath.
"...Before we start practice..."
Everyone turned toward her.
"I have an announcement."
The cheerful atmosphere immediately vanished.
Even Kana put her chips away.
Risa adjusted her glasses.
Hikari folded her arms.
Ruko looked up from his chair.
Kazuha swallowed quietly.
Then spoke.
"In exactly two weeks..."
She paused.
"...our club will be participating in a practice match."
Kana blinked.
"A scrim?"
Kazuha nodded.
"Against Ishika High."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ruko's eyes widened first.
"...Wait."
Kana's smile disappeared.
"...Ishika?"
Hikari slowly sat straighter.
Even Risa stopped practicing.
The name alone carried weight.
Ishika High.
Their school's longest-standing academic and extracurricular rival.
Whether it was sports.
Debate.
Music.
Academics.
Or now—
Esports.
The rivalry stretched back years.
Neither school particularly enjoyed losing to the other.
Which made this announcement significantly more important than a simple practice match.
Kazuha continued.
"The principal personally requested it."
That sentence made things even worse.
Ruko frowned.
"...Personally?"
She nodded.
"She wants to evaluate the Gaming Research Club's progress."
A strange feeling settled over the room.
Progress.
Evaluation.
Those weren't words people liked hearing.
Especially when attached to principals.
Then Kazuha lowered her eyes.
"There... is something else."
Nobody interrupted.
Nobody wanted to.
Because instinctively—
Everyone knew it wasn't good news.
Kazuha tightened her grip on the folders.
"The principal..."
She hesitated.
"...will be watching the match herself."
The room froze.
Kana's mouth slowly opened.
"...Seriously?"
Kazuha nodded.
"The entire match."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then—
Kazuha quietly delivered the final blow.
"She said..."
Another pause.
"...that this match will determine whether the Gaming Research Club has met her expectations."
Silence.
A long...
Heavy...
Silence.
Then Ruko finally understood.
His eyes widened.
"...Wait."
Everyone looked at him.
He slowly pieced everything together.
A practice match.
Principal attendance.
Evaluation.
Expectations.
Inspection.
His expression stiffened.
"...The club is under inspection."
Kazuha quietly nodded.
"...Yes."
Another silence followed.
This one somehow heavier than the first.
Because everyone immediately understood the implication.
If the principal was evaluating the club—
Then failure wasn't simply losing a match.
Failure meant something much bigger.
Kazuha finally forced herself to say it.
"If we don't meet her expectations..."
She looked down.
"...the Gaming Research Club may be dissolved."
The words landed like a hammer.
Kana immediately sat down.
"...Seriously?"
Kazuha nodded again.
"The principal hasn't officially said she'll close it..."
"...But."
"...She also hasn't denied it."
Nobody liked that answer.
Not one bit.
Risa slowly removed her glasses.
Massaged the bridge of her nose.
Then calmly declared—
"...Bye-bye Gaming Club."
Everyone looked at her.
She sighed dramatically.
"The principal's expectations always exceed normal standards."
She looked toward the ceiling.
Almost as though praying.
"...Far exceed."
Kana nervously laughed.
"You're giving up already?"
"I'm being realistic."
"No you're not."
"I am."
"No."
"I have statistical confidence."
"You have pessimistic confidence."
Risa ignored her.
"I estimate our survival rate at approximately eleven point four percent."
Kana groaned.
"Don't calculate our funeral!"
Risa looked back toward Kazuha.
"Our principal once rejected a proposal because the font spacing was inconsistent."
Kana nodded immediately.
"She actually did."
Risa continued.
"She rejected another because the paper clips were different colors."
Kana nodded again.
"Also true."
"And another because someone accidentally stapled page four upside down."
Kana slowly covered her face.
"I remember that..."
Risa sighed deeply.
"The devil herself."
Then calmly repeated—
"...Bye-bye Gaming Club."
Before anyone could respond—
Two hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders.
Violently.
"H-Hm?"
Hikari.
She had somehow crossed the room in seconds.
Now she was shaking Risa with surprising determination.
"Don't give up so soon!"
Risa bounced back and forth like a ragdoll.
"It just impossible to please that devil!"
"Believe in us!"
"Statistics refuse!"
"We'll improve!"
"Probability disagrees!"
"We'll win!"
"I reject your optimism!"
The shaking intensified.
Kana burst into laughter.
Kazuha desperately tried pulling Hikari away.
"H-Hikari!"
"I'm motivating her!"
"You're vibrating her!"
Risa's glasses tilted sideways.
"My vision has become approximately thirty-seven percent blurrier!"
"That's the spirit!"
"THAT IS NOT THE SPIRIT!"
Even Ruko couldn't stop himself from laughing.
The scene was ridiculous.
Completely ridiculous.
And somehow—
Exactly like the Gaming Research Club.
Chaos.
Hope.
Arguments.
Laughter.
All mixed together.
Eventually Hikari let go.
Risa slowly straightened herself.
Readjusted her glasses.
Fixed her hair.
Then calmly announced—
"I remain unconvinced."
"...You're impossible."
"I know."
The room gradually settled again.
Conversation shifted toward strategies.
Possible opponents.
Training schedules.
Scrim planning.
Yet one thought continued bothering Ruko.
Something strangely absent.
He looked around the room.
Five members.
Five computers.
Five chairs.
Then—
One empty desk near the back.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...Wait."
Everyone looked over.
"Where's the club advisor?"
Silence.
Kazuha blinked.
"...Advisor?"
"Yeah."
"Doesn't every club have one?"
"Oh."
Kazuha smiled sheepishly.
"I completely forgot."
"...Forgot?"
"She's not here."
"...Why?"
"Oh."
Kazuha waved her hand casually.
"She gave birth shortly before you joined."
The room fell quiet.
Ruko blinked.
"...She what?"
"Our advisor had a baby."
"So she's still on maternity leave."
"She visits occasionally."
"But she's mostly resting with her family."
"So technically..."
Kazuha looked around the room.
"...We've mostly been managing ourselves."
Ruko slowly processed that information.
Which explained...
Quite a lot.
The questionable organization.
The paperwork stacked in random piles.
The complete lack of adult supervision.
Kana eating chips during strategy meetings.
Hikari chasing Kazuha around the room.
Risa calculating vegetable nutritional values in the middle of lunch.
Melodious repeatedly resetting her passive.
Everything suddenly made sense.
There was no advisor keeping order.
The Gaming Research Club had essentially become five students trying their best to run themselves.
"...That explains everything."
Kana tilted her head.
"What?"
"You guys are completely unsupervised."
"...Pretty much."
"...That's concerning."
"We've survived."
"Barely."
"We're still here."
"That's not proof of success."
"It counts."
Ruko leaned back in his chair.
A small smile appeared.
For all their chaos...
For all their arguments...
For all their strange personalities...
This little club had somehow survived.
On determination.
Friendship.
A little luck.
And apparently—
No adult supervision whatsoever.
But now—
Everything was changing.
In two weeks...
They wouldn't simply be practicing.
They would be fighting for the club itself.
Against Ishika High.
In front of the principal.
With the future of the Gaming Research Club hanging in the balance.
The room slowly grew quieter.
One by one, each member looked toward the monitor in front of them.
The joking stopped.
The laughter faded.
The realization settled over everyone equally.
Two weeks.
That was all they had.
Two weeks to become a team worthy of staying together.
Or risk losing the place that had slowly become more than just another school club.
For the first time since joining—
Ruko realized this wasn't just another game anymore.
The Gaming Research Club's next match...
Would determine whether it had a future at all.