The Trembling of Penglai Academy!

Kazuma Shinjo
Illustration: Hiroaki Nakamura

“Penglai Academy” is a solitary island in the South Pacific, floating 1,800 km south of Tokyo—Utsubune Island. At its center stands the massive residential high school, Penglai Academy Private High School. With a total student population of 200,000, and including staff and other personnel, the campus’s population approaches 300,000. Everything here is excessive; under the banner of self-reliance and autonomy, every club, hobby group, committee, unofficial organization, and even illegal groups operate in secret, allowing students to enjoy a uniquely unconventional school life—this legendary series, originally launched as a PBM (Play-by-Mail) game, has now returned after spreading across various media. Set against the backdrop of Penglai Academy in the 2020s, an unknown new student stirs up fresh chaos.

Episode 04: The protagonist, who clearly doesn’t know how to save or fix this school—neither they nor even the author seem quite sure about it—is now entering the Old Library! (Part 1)

I’m trembling.
All of us—the Return Expedition members—are trembling.
Why? Because we’ve been bouncing along on a train all the way here, to the Old Library Station.

We circled around from the girls’ dormitory via the loop line, transferred at some point, and descended just after tracing the lower curve of the number “9” (Ah! I said “lower abdomen!” And “descended”? What vulgar language have I used?! Forgive me, Goddess Shion!)—and here we are at last: the Old Library—the legendary one that Penglai Academy proudly boasts about. It’s huge—and rumored to drastically reduce your sanity points!

Among the two-and-a-half libraries on campus, it’s the oldest and largest, most terrifying and wildest, origin and pinnacle, peak and also bottom—its shape resembles an isosceles triangle!
This is the very library where fulfilling a mission as a member of the Return Expedition could instantly elevate you to committee officer status—possibly even making you a “de facto upperclassman” with super bonus privileges. My head’s already ringing with that “kuron kuroon♪” sound effect, like coins piling up.

But…
Reality isn’t so elegant for me.
I’m wrapped in the Library Committee’s special battle suit designed specifically against the Old Library—its material is rubber, and just moving my limbs makes weird “gurigyo” creaking sounds. The others are wearing stylish colors like red or light purple, but as a newbie, I and Kyotaro have been given dull earthy tones that make us look like caterpillars. This is exactly like those strange desert wanderers from the infamous 1984 David Lynch adaptation of Dune (though it’s rumored he barely read the original)—I wish we had the Villeneuve version instead! No, actually I love the Lynch version too—especially how charming the Baron appears—but for costume design, a remake would’ve been better.

But that’s not all.
Every member of our expedition, including me, is carrying an enormous, heavy backpack on their back. It’s heavy. Seriously heavy.

“Is it really that heavy?” Kyotaro asked beside me. “If you lean forward and balance properly, walking becomes easier.”

Incidentally, Kyotaro alone has stacked another bulky device—like a tubby tuner—on top of his backpack, plus parabolic antennas, unicorn antennas, Yagi antennas… He looks like a traveling electronics merchant.

“Of course,” he replied calmly, as always reading my thoughts effortlessly. “If communications fail, the mission is ruined. As a reporter for the Press and Media Committee, I have to do this much.”

Still, that thing looks incredibly heavy. Can someone so slender really carry it?

“Oh, don’t worry—I attached an electric kickboard underneath, so the load moves on its own. See?”

As he spoke, his gaze never left the curve from my waist down to my thighs.
Pervert! Clearly a pervert! Thinking such indecent things about someone with such a cute face—
Ah, no.
He was staring intently at Apu’s head and neck, which were rubbing against my hip—and specifically at the key dangling there. Hehe.

Now then, why is Apu rubbing his cheek against my thigh?
Well, after consultation between the Girls’ Dorm Self-Defense Squad and the Library Committee—concerned that those suspicious senior members of the mysterious club might try to steal him—we’ve decided this time to grant special permission for Apu to join. (Also, a strange rumor had been spreading around campus: that in times of crisis, Apu would surely unleash some miraculous magic. Ever since the sports festival, rumors about his “suspiciously glowing horn” have never died down.)

“You should just carry it if it’s so heavy,” someone said.

Turning around, I saw—none other than Ami-senpai’s heroic figure.
It really is a heroic sight. Even her XL-sized suit barely fits; the front zipper is pulled down about 10 centimeters, sleeves and leg straps are unfastened, transforming what should be full-body protection into something casually thrown on. The morning sun rising from Crescent Hill casts sharp shadows beneath her tight rubber suit—revealing in startling clarity the massive muscles hidden underneath, dazzling not just visually but emotionally.

Ah!
And right beside her—my beloved Higashi-shirakawa Shion-sama!
Her elegant auburn hair flows gently in the wind, contrasting beautifully with the ground covered by sticky brown slime mold. Her clear eyes are fixed firmly on the overcast southern sky.

As these descriptions suggest, we were now confronting one of the most eerie zones in all of Penglai Academy.

※

〈 Previous ● Next 〉

※Next installment scheduled for October 11.

Penglai Academy’s Trembling! Serial Page