Survival Challenge Gone Wrong

Chapter 15 - A week or so after that

Gen was dying.

He rolled over onto his back, panting for his dear life in sheer exhaustion, clutching his sweaty t-shirt until his knuckles turned white.

It won't be that bad, they said. It will be fun, they said.

He was pretty excited initially when a fan of his inquired about a collaboration video. Said fan was in a League 3 professional volleyball team, but Gen almost marked the email as spam because it read like a prank at first, essentially fanboying over his content. He responded for the sake of it, a somehow over the course of a couple of weeks he was to join them on a practice day with a short match to end.

The guy he emailed, Murase Nastuo, was somehow exactly how he imagined him to be based on their conversations. Loud and full of excitable energy that made Gen want to take a seat, but still charming. He was on the shorter side, just barely below Gen. That is not to say that he was tall, but rather that almost everyone on the team towered over them, which gave Gen some mixed feelings. Previously, (before meeting Senku, that is) it would have been a delight to be surrounded by athletic, hot, muscular men, but well; when practice began and thirty-ish giants were all sprinting, shouting and slapping volleyballs into the orbit, Gen was very worried about how long his bruises would last. And not the fun kind of bruises. Although, Gen did not have very good luck dating athletes in the past.

Thank god his assistant was on the job today, Gen would not survive going through gruelling physical exercise and worrying about the cameras. Even now, Nikki dutifully came up to him with a camera and mic to collect his real-time thoughts.

"I always knew athletes were a breed of their own, but keep in mind that I am attending the morning practice. These guys will have ANOTHER three-hour practice in the evening again!" Gen wheezed, uncapping his water bottle and guzzling down half of its contents. He almost choked when a rather hard slap on his shoulder startled him out of nowhere. Gen whipped his head around to see Natsuo grinning at him, looking completely unbothered.

"How is it Asagiri-san? Isn't volleyball really fun?!" He beamed, eyes forming little crescent moons, "It'll be even better when we start the match!"

"Aha," Gen gave a weak laugh, still recovering his breath, "It is, but I'm worried I won't have enough energy for the match."

Natsuo's grin stretched even wider, if that was possible, as he confidently pointed at himself, "Don't worry. I'm here! I'll cover for you!"

Gen and Nikki exchanged an impressed glance, and practice went on. The match was honestly a blur. The teammates would generously pass to him, setting the softest balls for him to hit, and then proceed to absolutely smash it over the net when their turns came around. Calls and squeaks from the shoes hitting the floor deafened his ears, but it was indeed exhilarating when Gen managed to pull a feint (at least, that is what the team later told him it was) and the tall brooding guy on the opposite side missed it. They rushed to his side, with more screaming and shoulder slaps as they celebrated a point.

Watching eveyone's happy faces, he kinda got the appeal of such a lifestyle. Not for him though. Gen was glad, however, that this team treated him as one of their own. For the authentic video experience, of course. His team won, though all credit went to Natsuo and his closest friend Kurayami, pulling off a weird stunt that Gen could not follow with his eyes until the whistle blew and the point was theirs. Sports were really something.

He packed his things later with a warm feeling in his chest. He was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed the practice, but he also couldn't wait to soak in his warm bath for at least two hours. Another surprise that day was a call from Senku.

"Hey, mentalist. Is this a bad time?"

"No, I'm done for the day. What's up?"

"I–"