Yearning for the Mines

✧₊⁺

The answer couldn’t be that obvious, could it?

Archie had just finished describing the looks of the mine’s trespasser from before as a fellow with white hair, and here was one openly volunteering himself as some sort of expedition leader in a group of disorganized Hunters. It was enough to trigger my natural skepticism. However…

“What seems to be the matter, Jiro?”

I glanced around. Not only were there dozens upon dozens of Hunters with white hair, but none of them, including this ‘Thresh’ would have even been around to trespass since we all were summoned simultaneously for reprovisioning.

Was it an Eternal, then that entered the mine after hours, or was there a lapse in witness testimony? In any case, knowing now won’t help us clear the place.

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking.”

“A dangerous activity, for you.”

“Oye!”

“I suggest we try to break up into parties of four and go into the mine in timed intervals to prevent the group from wiping all at once.” The man with the white hair, Thresh continued his address to the large group with all eyes on him. “Hunters closest to the entrance can also help guide the miners back once the advance parties clear the way.”

I suppose that strategy works. It makes sense if people are still trapped to make sure they get out safely.

We have the benefit of not having to worry about dying in there, the Eternals—once again—aren’t so fortunate.

“Speaking of, I will volunteer myself for the first party into the mines. Is there anyone that might join me?” Thresh asked. “I need a long-range DPS, a tank, and a magic user for party balance, I suggest arranging yourself in similar formations.”

“A magic user you say…” Kururu’s face lit up as she flashed a wide smirk. “I volunteer myself as well! Kururu Ururaka, here to glow in the gloomiest cave and twinkle in the darkest sky. To protect the pickaxe-wielding denizens of the ByteCoin mine. To preserve the—“

“—Excellent, the lovely cosplayer in the back row, who else will join the fight?”

“I’m not a cosplayer…”

Kururu mumbled, crossing her arms.

Another portly fellow with a neon-green Mohawk, sunglasses, and a literal wooden barrel around his waist for armor raised his beefy hand. He had a short sword and a shield too, which led me to believe that he was one of the tank classes, a Paladin. Only one spot was left to fill, a long-range DPS.

The crowd glanced around as we awkwardly waited for someone else to step up to the plate. I was surprised, thinking there’d be a lot more volunteers. But considering that we could feel real pain in this world—game-like aspects aside—being part of the advance team in a dungeon might seem like a daunting task.

Kururu looked at me expectantly, causing me to shift my gaze away from her.

“C’mon Cowboy, I thought we had a rapport going, you and I.” The magical girl punched me on the arm, hard. Suddenly she leaned in to whisper in my ear. “My magical girl senses are tingling like you wouldn’t believe, I don’t trust this guy. I could use the backup. You in?”

“You just made up ‘magical girl senses’ on the spot didn’t you?” I whispered back.

“Patent pending.”

“You made that up too, and what makes you so distrustful after your hand shot up first?”

“Look at that smile, the natural leadership skills, hot guys are always rotten inside.”

I couldn’t argue there.

“As a defender of justice, I’ve got to keep my eye on him.”

“Well have fun with that, I'm going to bring up the rear and take it—“

“My Hunter would like to volunteer himself.” Archie suddenly announced to my shock.

“—easy…”

Huh?

“His class is a Gunslinger, a perfect addition to your existing members, is it not?”

“That’s right, my buddy here is game, aren’t ya Cowboy?” Kururu piled on, throwing her arm around my neck with a bright smile.

“Wait, the hell are you—?”

“That’s a unique Supporter you’ve got there, never seen one like that…” Thresh noted as a hundred pairs of eyes panned over to me. “But is that true, that you’d like to volunteer, Mr, uh…Cowboy?”

“It’s Jiro, Nagai Jiro, and…” I looked at Kururu who gave me a pitiful look as if to beg for my help.

Archie gave me the same look in a way, a pleading emoticon flashing across his interface. Why he was so insistent, I had no clue.

“Fine…” I sighed. “I’ll tag in.”

. . .

“So… barrel dude, a question…” Kururu eyed our tank with all the curiosity of a cat, a hand on her chin. “Why the barrel?”

“I like it.” The man, who had yet to formally introduce himself, replied curtly from the front of our formation as we walked through the first and most spacious of caverns within the mine.

Tons of mining equipment had apparently been left behind, and there were signs of a struggle but no enemies or allies to speak of just yet. Thankfully, it was reasonably well-lit with the glowing golden stones on the walls.

“Right, right… And the Mohawk?”

“I like it.”

“And let me guess, the sunglasses…”

“You know, magical girl-san, I wouldn’t be prodding someone about their outfit choices dressed like you are,” I said. “Just saying.”

“I wasn’t prodding, Cowboy, I was just curious. Style is a very important thing to a magical girl, second only to her character introduction.” Kururu corrected me while wagging a finger. “Speaking of, you’re in sore need of something to spice up your vibe. Hmm… Maybe a catchphrase?”

“Whatever you say.”

“Ooh, I like that!”

I sighed, exasperated.

Kururu brought up the back of the formation with me as the two long-range-capable fighters. Thresh was in the center, his weapon choice being a scythe which he materialized upon entering the mine.

“And what’s your story, leader?” Kururu turned her attention to Thresh who had been quiet up to this point. “You seem to have some experience organizing raids, are you a gamer?”

“Former military, actually.” Thresh chuckled. “Though I rot away in an office these days. When I’m not volunteering as a Hunter for the extra cash, that is. It’s the same for a lot of the volunteers, I imagine.”

“I’m here for the immersion.” Kururu put her hands behind her back, placing one foot in front of the other. “I saw an ad that said I could get paid to play video games on Winstagam. Hah! I’d never filled out a job application so fast.”

“But you know it’s not… a game, don't you? Thresh said, glancing back towards Kururu. “The things we do here, the things we see… It’s easy to forget people’s lives are at stake. Reminds me of active duty, in a way.”

“I guess so.” Kururu pouted a bit.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to rain on your parade, Kururu-san. We all have our unique reasons for volunteering, I’ll concede. I meant no offense.”

“It’s not that, I just remembered something from our last hunt that made me a little sad is all.” Kururu exchanged glances with me as we kept walking, I remained silent, not wanting to dredge up the memory of Placita. “But… this is my big chance to do something worthwhile, so I’d like to keep at it. That’s what a real magical girl would do!”

“How admirable! And ‘our’ last hunt? That’s right, you two seem to know each other from somewhere. Can I assume you’ve worked together before?” Thresh guessed with a smile, and Kururu nodded. “And what about you Nagai-san, what brings you here as a Hunter?”

I thought for a moment. I half-expected Archie to blurt out the answer for me and reveal all my personal business again, but he remained uncharacteristically speechless as he floated beside us.

“Ain’t much to tell, I’m afraid,” I replied. “But I didn’t volunteer to be in this place, that’s for sure.”

The mine shaft had started to get a bit less cavernous towards the end of the walking path we were on, and two small pathways lay in front of us, and a choice on where to proceed next.

“I spoke to a miner to gather information before we entered, and they said a majority of their fellows fled down the left path toward the inner caverns,” Thresh said.

“Shouldn’t they have gone the other way to safety, instead of deeper into the mine?” Kururu noted.

“Ain’t that easy when you suddenly have a bunch of bugs bearing down on you, I reckon.” I peered down the left path, the darkness suffocating the way forward. “Even the most experienced can lose their head when shit hits the fan.”

“Nagai-san is correct,” Thresh stated. “Though the miner did say that the right path is the fastest route to the heart of the mine where the source of the corruption rests, I don’t want to leave any good men or women behind. Not if we can help it. What say you three?”

“Let’s save who we can save, it’s the magical girl way!”

“I don’t see why not.”

With the rest of us having made our choice, we looked to the barrel guy for his opinion on the matter. As expected, he uttered three words in response.

“I like it.”