Monika was in dismay. She leaned against the desk of her homeroom teacher and let out a weak sigh that just barely escaped her lips. Her frustration hung over her like a dark cloud. Past the storm gathering overhead, she looked out over the sea of empty desks to scout out the individual faces of each of her club members.

Yuri was closest to her, sitting in the second row. A tall, wiry girl with flowing locks that cascaded to her waist like a purple wave. She had a quiet grace about her, but her inability to break out of her shell had severely limited the interactions she was able to have with the other members of her club.

She was currently nose-deep in one of her occult horror novels. She had explained her love for the novels to the rest of the girls, including Monika, but her gushing had quickly been shot down by both Natsuki's look of disgust and Sayori's trademark head tilt of confusion. Monika had done her best to encourage and relate to her, but it simply wasn't happening. Like a snail that had extended herself only to be burned by the bitter touch of salt, Yuri was back in her shell. With seemingly no desire to extend that burned hand again.

Monika shifted her gaze to the very back of the classroom. Just by the door, in the center of the row Sayori quietly hummed to herself, cheerful as could be. Sayori was a ball of sunshine given a glimmering grin. That smile was what drew the eye every time Monika looked at her. Even her flamboyant red bow on top of her head was not enough to draw away from that dazzling smile. If she was being honest, Monika had actually felt a tiny nibble of jealousy when she first saw Sayori. First for her bow-which Monika had dubbed her signature accessory-secondly for the way her smile seemed so warm and inviting. Monika knew how to smile, but no matter how kind was behind it, her smiles always seemed to be iced over with a layer of polite formality.

Monika encouraged her to read during their club meetings, but more often than not that had just led to Sayori propping up a book and playing some cute game on her phone with cats and...toast? She wasn't entirely sure what she had seen when she peeked over Sayori's shoulder, but she seemed to be enraptured in it. Unfortunately it wasn't even a multiplayer game, so there was no chance of the rest of the club joining in.

And curled up in the corner was the tiniest member of the group: Natsuki. Easily mistakable for a freshman, Natsuki just barely scratched at the surface of being five feet tall. Her petite frame paired with that diminutive height almost made her look like a doll. Her bright pink hair and complex hairstyle, which seemed to be something more akin to three hairstyles fused into one, didn't help her with that. Natsuki really looked like she'd be the last doll on the shelf that you'd see nervous parents fighting to take home to their pouty children on Christmas Eve.

That toy was in her own little world, with a grin that had been stuck on her face so long Monika was beginning to suspect maybe she really was a doll. She finally moved when she shut the manga volume she finished reading and slid it back into its appropriate place. That boxset had been read over and over again for weeks now. From the looks of it, Natsuki was about halfway through another reading, and showing no signs of slowing down. When she'd tried to share her own hobbies, it was Yuri's turn to shoot her down with a stifled laugh at Natsuki's insistence that manga was true literature. Monika had held her tongue, for fear of discouraging Natsuki, but Sayori only took a baseball bat to Natsuki's fragile ego by telling her how much she had loved that series...when she was 8 years old. Much like Yuri, she had retracted herself.

Monika threw her head back and began counting the ceiling tiles. It had been nearly two months since the creation of the literature club. And while she hated to say it...she was disappointed. Things had been rocky from the start. From personal disputes to having difficulty recruiting new members, the club had been stagnating for a few weeks now. Monika could still recall how devastated Sayori had been when her childhood friend had denied her invitation to join the club.

Monika curled her fist. The memory put a sour taste in her mouth. From what Sayori had relayed to her, her friend had told her to her face that he was planning on checking the club out, and Sayori was beaming about it the entire day. Yuri all but made flash cards to prepare for new conversations, and Natsuki had even made cupcakes for the bastard. Monika herself had even practiced her official welcome speech all morning. But when the time came...they waited. And waited. But no one came. Watching Sayori's radiant smile slowly dim every time she looked at the clock filled Monika with a protective rage she didn't know she had. At the end of the day, he had bailed on Sayori, and she hadn't heard back from him since.

All Monika could think was how much she wanted to give Sayori a big hug and comfort her, but they simply weren't there yet. She was president and Sayori was vice president of the club, but beyond that they were practically strangers. All of them were just strangers gathering in a quiet room because none of them really had anything better to do.

But Monika wanted more than that. She wanted this club to be the place that everybody loved, the place that every member looked forward to and did their best to improve. She didn't want to place any blame on anybody, but nobody really seemed to care about the club all that much. The most participation she had been able to do was basically just assign them homework.

"Like a teacher," Monika grimaced. Yuri cut her eyes up for a moment at Monika's sudden disturbance, but it wasn't long before she returned them to the musty pages of her book. Every night she encouraged the girls to write a poem and share it the next day. It was an idea she had had that would hopefully bring out some of those hidden emotions each girl held, but it hadn't really moved anything along. If anything, it had only split the group further by putting everybody into different categories. Yuri's eloquent writing style and immense vocabulary had left Natsuki with birds circling her head, Natsuki's cute, snappy-lined poems had produced the opposite effect of what she had been going for, and Sayori's had been cobbled together at the last minute, making very little sense in the end.

Monika's own poems had felt like a kind of a boast. Like she had organized the whole activity just to show off. The idea of how narcissistic she must have looked that first day made her stomach turn, but she pushed on with the poem ideas nonetheless...until now. She had been brainstorming for weeks. They were a literature club, but having group readings was out of the question and the poems weren't cutting it, but Monika had discovered something of a radical idea. After a quick Google search followed by several hours down a Youtube rabbit hole, Monika felt she might have finally found what she needed to bring this group together. Now all she needed was the confidence to do it.

Confidence. Right. That's all it took. Which is why Monika was still standing around idling like she was a budget NPC in a cheap video game. She couldn't understand why it was so hard for her. It sounded silly, but she could spin it! She was on the debate team for God's sake! Monika took one last deep breath, then absolutely shattered the silence with her melodic voice.

"Okay, everyone! Listen up! Your club president has an announcement." Yuri finally lifted her head, Sayori all but dropped her phone, and Natsuki rose from the ground, still barely visible behind the desks.

"What's up, Monika?" Natsuki's high-pitched voice piped up from the back.

"We already did poems, didn't we?" Yuri looked around for confirmation. That sent a pang through her heart. Was that really all they had done? No, she needed to keep it together. She needed to keep rolling.

"Yes, but I have a new idea."

"Ooh! Is it that thing I suggested?" Sayori stood from her desk and rushed to the front of the room.

"No, Sayori, I told you movies aren't literature. Ah, no. Even if they do have written scripts." Sayori deflated, giving her the puppy dog eyes the entire time. "What would you guys say to...well, uh...we'll call it oral storytelling." Monika was afraid to drop the name before explaining properly.

"What do you mean? Like story time? What are we in kindergarten?" Natsuki, who had meandered her way up to the front, inquired with a scowl on her face.

"No, no, nothing like that! Uh...so the premise is that we'll all be telling a story, uh, through verbal means. So it's going to be like literature, but we're not gonna write any of it down, if that makes sense." Monika was rambling.

"Oh, like Beowulf?" Yuri's slow, sultry voice was heard once more.

"Uh, yeah! It's a lot like that! Only you guys are going to be the characters in the story!"

"Monika, we're not putting on a play, are we?" Natsuki questioned.

"Well, no, not exactly. We're not really performing, we're-ah, screw it. Okay, guys, do you wanna play Dungeons & Dragons?" And Monika might as well have grown a third arm right in front of them.

"Do we what?" Natsuki sputtered.

"What's that?" Sayori's head was an oscillating fan as she searched for answers.

"Monika, isn't that a game? We're not really a gaming club," Yuri reminded her.

"I know, I know! But hear me out. Do some research on it. It's like telling a story, like Beowulf, like you said! It's collaborative storytelling...with tabletop gaming elements." After some silence, Sayori finally spoke up.

"So it's a game? Like a video game?"

"No, ugh...it's not just a game! It's-oh! It's like an interactive novel! You've seen those right?" That caught some nods and affirmations. "Yes! Exactly like that, but way more detailed! Think of a whole world that changes with your every action. It's an incredible way to tell a story, don't you think?" Monika could feel the hesitation. Her stomach was a sinking stone, but she pushed on nonetheless. "Okay, everyone. Club homework for the night is to research the game Dungeons & Dragons. Does everybody get that? Okay, good. When we meet tomorrow, I want to get your answers. If you like it, then we'll get to work, if not...then...I guess we'll do something else." Monika cut her eyes to the floor, feeling a sort of dread at the idea of rejection. The other girls caught this, Sayori especially.

"I'm sure it's awesome! I don't really know what it is, but it sounds cool! I mean I like Dragons!"

"And Yuri likes dungeons, I bet," Natsuki jabbed. Yuri sputtered like a pickup truck from the first World War.

"W-What does that mean exactly?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean, I dunno." Natsuki shrugged and turned her shoulder to gather her things.

"Thanks, everyone." Monika perked up a bit. "I'll see you all tomorrow, okay?"

Monika's walk home was full of both anxiety and excitement. The truth was: ever since she discovered the game she had fallen in love with it. For two weeks straight she had been researching and watching videos of it. She had even found several podcasts and shows on Youtube that played D&D, and she was incredibly surprised to find so many celebrities played as well. Much to her chagrin, she had always heard the game's name and had a gut check response to be put off. When she imagined the game before, she imagined sweaty, basement-dwelling introverts huddled around a board. But she was surprised to find how common the game had become in recent years.

She had immediately decided that she would be running the game. Monika would take on the title of Dungeon Master, DM for short. She would craft an entire world for the girls to play in. The challenge ahead of her was immense, but she was never one to back down from it. For the past two weeks she had been filling a binder with sheets, maps, notes, and everything in between. Honestly, it was more work than she had put into most of her classes! But she could give these girls nothing but the best if she were to draw them in. One bad session was all it took to drive them away from the idea forever.

She only had one shot to impress them. And she wasn't going to waste it. Once she arrived home, she was delighted to find a package sitting on her desk in her room. She swiftly sliced the packaging tape with a thin pocket knife tucked away in one of her drawers. Inside was the gold. All the books she needed to play the game. The manuals, the guide, and even a big stack of character sheets. This was all she needed to create an entire world-no! An entire narrative universe! Monika had stars in her eyes. She would be writing an entire world that shifted and twisted with every single narrative decision. Character deaths, major events, plot twists, all of them raced through her head! She was the god of a brand new world!

She held the player's manual up to the light to admire the artwork on the cover. It was beautifully illustrated inside and out. Every page was so detailed and meticulous. Each illustration a work of art that she'd love to have framed and put on her wall. She thumbed through it, but in truth, she had already gained nearly all the information she needed online. She coughed to herself as she glossed over her temporary piracy.

"It's not illegal if you buy it later, right?" She questioned herself as she flipped open another book to retrace some of her steps. In no time at all, she had surrounded herself with notes and sheets once more, her hands scribbling and drawing faster than she could keep up with. By the time she was confident she had everything she needed to present tomorrow, it was already past midnight, a rare occurrence for Monika. She shut all the books and attempted to pack them into her normal backpack, but found the extra weight and girth to actually forbid her pack from zipping shut.

She chuckled at the fact that she had to withdraw another spare backpack from her closet. It was a much rattier purple one from a previous year that she thought would never see the light of day again. But no matter how aesthetically displeasing it was, it sure did hold things. And at the end of the day, that was all Monika could ask of it as she stuffed her organized chaos into the bag.

Monika drifted through her classes the next day with little care. She had an entire world to write and explore. How could she care about real history when she had to make her own? She found herself stuck on several major events in her universe. The idea of wars over the use of magic intrigued her, but overall felt a little too cliche for her to use. It was a relief to her that she really only had to tell the girls what she wanted them to know about the world. That gave her time to finish the rest of it. It was like walking through an artist's gallery to find they had put a curtain up, and were furiously hacking away at it to finish it before you peaked behind it.

But she was getting ahead of herself. They hadn't even said yes yet. Not to mention that they still had to get through character creation if they did. Characters. Now that would be an interesting part. She tried to remember all the classes off the top of her head. A couple of the magic users slipped her mind, but she had a pretty good guess at which classes and races they would pick to create their characters. With only twenty minutes left to her last class of the day, Monika was all but white-knuckling her D&D bag. The bell had rung, this was it. The moment of truth.

Monika usually wasn't the first into the club. Usually she found herself second, sometimes even third, but rarely ever last. But not today. For all the girls had gathered in the room before her. They had all arrived early. She wasn't even late this time! She hoped that was a good sign.

"Okay, everyone!" Monika tried to halt the shake in her voice. "Did everybody do their assignment?" The girls shared glances. Monika couldn't decipher what the looks meant, but after some tense moments of silence, Monika felt like hiding her bag. How pathetic would it look if they denied her invitation, and here she was hopefully clutching a bag full of books like a little kid?

"So, we've been talking," Natsuki started.

"And while it is a lot, and it seems like a lot of work, especially on your part," Yuri continued.

"We're in!" Sayori finished. Monika all but jumped for joy.

"You mean it? You guys really want to play?" Natsuki blushed.

"Geez, don't get so excited. It's just a game."

"Oh, hush, Natsuki!" Sayori put an arm around her tiny shoulders.

"She was going on and on about how excited she was!"

"No I wasn't! I was talking about how excited Monika would be! Shut up!"

"I do have to agree with Sayori, Natsuki. You were definitely talking about how fun you thought this would be. If I'm not mistaken, you said this was just like a manga you had rea-"

"Alright! Shut it! Unless you want me to change my mind!"

"No, no!" Monika cut in. She could feel bubbles in her belly, and a giggle was rising up her throat like steam from a hot spring. "Everybody leave Natsuki alone." Monika chided, sounding too much like a mother for her taste. Natsuki blew a raspberry at Yuri, winning a fight that only she knew she was having.

"Well, Monika, if I'm not mistaken in my research," Yuri started again, sounding like she was about to give a lecture on biology. "The first step is character creation. At least for us."

"Yeah, I couldn't really figure all that out," Natsuki chimed in. "It was a lot of reading."

"I wanna be that cool demon thing! With the horns!" Sayori yelled so quickly Monika had to take a second to register what she had said.

"Oh, a tiefling?"

"Yeah! A tea fling!" Her incorrect pronunciation caused Monika to flinch slightly, but she didn't want to dampen the girl's spirit.

"Okay, well, let's back it up a little. First off, let's get these desks together and get you guys some sheets." And like a well-oiled machine, the girls assembled four desks into an even square, and Monika began placing a character sheet on each one, like she was setting a table for dinner. "Alright, how about we go around the table starting with Natsuki." As the petite girl took her seat, she looked taken aback.

"Uh, why me?" Her voice cracked ever-so-slightly.

"Well, you usually prefer going first, don't you?" Monika used her pride against her. To be honest, Natsuki was the one she worried about the most. All it took was one slight, one miscalculation and she might storm out, tearing her sheet up behind her.

"Duh! Yeah, okay. So...uh…"

"Would you like to look at the book for a minute?"

"Yeah! Thanks!" Natsuki snatched the book from her hands, breathing a sigh of relief for the moment to think as all eyes went off her.

"I already know what I'm gonna be. A tea fling!"

"Tiefling, Sayori," Yuri gently corrected her.

"That's what I said."

"No it's not two words. It's one." What followed was a lengthy back and forth of Yuri repeating the word tiefling, and Sayori desperately trying to parrot her. By the time Natsuki made her choice, Sayori had almost gotten it down.

"Okay, I think I got it. I wanna be a barbarian!" A wide grin stretched across Natsuki's face. Monika was spot on.

"Ooh, what do they do?" Sayori leaned over her to peak at the book.

"What do you think barbarians do? They get mad and smash stuff!" Natsuki pounded her fist on the desk, nearly sending her pencil clattering to the floor.

"It's called Rage. It lets the barbarian do a whole lot of things, but getting resistance to damages and extra damage output is the big one."

"Yeah, that sounds awesome!" Natsuki was clenching both fists, looking like she was about to attack somebody herself.

"Alright, well, first we need to get your ability scores. Wait, what race are you going with?" And Natsuki paused. The words were caught in her throat for a moment as she muttered."

"Dwarf." Fitting, Monika thought, but didn't dare say. Natsuki lifted her head, ready for the insults and mocking to begin, but Monika was pleased to see that nobody had taken the opportunity. And Yuri even extended an olive branch.

"You know that's an excellent choice for that class from what I've read. Strength and Constitution are very important for the barbarian, and you get a significant increase from your racial traits. That's a very well-thought out choice, Natsuki." Natsuki coughed, and lifted a hand to scratch her nose, but in reality it was an attempt to hide her blushing face.

"I mean...yeah! Duh, ya know? Anybody could see that. I'd be an idiot if I couldn't at least do basic math like that. But, uh, thanks." Monika got the strong feeling Natsuki had simply picked the class because its small stature spoke to her, but she didn't want to spoil the moment.

"Alright, so before we do anything, we need to get your ability scores. These are what you're going to use to modify your rolls. In other words they'll be used in just about every single aspect of the game. But no pressure!" Monika definitely applied pressure. "Uh, hey! You can do a few things to decide! You can roll for them, or use the point-buy system, or even take the standard setup." Monika could hear the birds beginning to chirp around Natsuki's head. Monika was painfully aware of how much she needed to slow it down.

"I-I think I'll just take the default or whatever you said." Monika nodded, and helped her write down and calculate her ability scores. When all that math was said and done, Natsuki had a pretty decent character, with only one negative modifier: her intelligence score. Yuri leaned over and saw this as well.

"You don't think you might need that later?"

"I'm not very smart. Uh, my character, I mean. Obviously. Barbarians don't have to be smart, dummy. If you're so concerned with it, why don't you be the smart one?" Natsuki shot back, but thankfully Yuri kept her cool. Meanwhile Monika felt the bile rising up her throat with every little spark.

"Well, I think you'll be delighted to see what I've got in mind when you're done then."

"Alright, Natsuki, almost through here, just a few more things. You gotta have a background and a backstory. We can work on the backstory more later, but you gotta pick a background from this list here, see?" She handed Natsuki the book again for her to review. After some time she pointed to one called Outlander.

"Yeah, that makes sense for a barbarian. Pretty useful too." Natsuki nodded and scribbled it down.

"So, barbarians don't really wear armor, so we just have to pick a weap-"

"Greatsword! I want a greatsword! The big one you hold with two hands!" Natsuki got so close and so excited that Monika could smell her breath. It smelt like peppermint for some reason.

"Alright, calm down, tiger, we can get you a sword. Alright, I can help you with all the little stuff from here, but the last big thing we need is your name."

"Uh, it's Natsuki?" The genuine confusion of that statement induced a ten second silence.

"No, your character's name, Natsuki."

"It has to be different? What?"

"Yes, you're playing a role, Natsuki," Yuri chimed in.

"Like acting! Or pretending!" Sayori included herself in the conversation.

"Uh...then make it...N-N...Natsu."

"Natsu? You sure?"

"Yeah! Why not? It's a cool name!"

"Of course, of course. Whatever you want, Natsuki." She gave a little huff as she crossed her arm and looked away. "Alright it's looking like Natsuki is ready, how about you two?"

"Okay, me next," Yuri proudly took up her sheet, which she had semi-filled out already. "I took the liberty of following along, and you may check my sheet if you'd like." She handed the slip of paper to Monika. As she glanced over it, the first thing she noticed was how articulate Yuri's handwriting was. It was almost like calligraphy. Monika made a mental note of that. She could get her to do some prop work for her later in the campaign.

"My character's name is Levarna Nightingale, she's a half-elf who struggles between the world she was born in and the one she was introduced to. Always fighting. Always struggling between her nature and her desire." Yuri seemed to fade away from the table as she began giving this monologue. Monika had the strong desire to shine a spotlight onto her. "Her mother was a powerful witch of the woods, bending nature to her will, and befriending animals to use as her allies. None could oppose her. But her father, a dashing rogue, stole not only her most treasured possession, but her heart as well. When she finally caught him, she found herself seduced by his charms, and unable to resist him."

Yuri's tone began to grow more and more dramatic as she continued to this part of the backstory. Monika cut a glance at Natsuki, who was looking equally concerned. "His body was covered in more scars than any tree in the entire forest. His hair was a matted tangle of chestnut locks that framed his face just so. He was a god among men, and the only one who had ever been able to penetrate the cold layer of ice around her heart. And then-"

"Yuri, I hate to stop you, I really do. Trust me, but uh...how long does this go on for?" Yuri looked genuinely taken aback.

"I wrote...16 more pages last night." Natsuki sharply sucked through her teeth.

"That's...listen, that's wonderful. And I will happily read through that later. But uh, let's just stick to the important details okay?"

"But it's all important! Every little detail is what inspires her decisions in life as she struggles with the rapscallion nature her father taught her, but the willpower her mother instilled in her-"

"Yuri, we're running out of time."

"Oh...oh, well...I picked Half-Elf for my race and Ranger for my class." Monika reviewed her sheet, and Yuri had put it together nearly perfectly for somebody who had only heard the instructions second-hand, and her stats were pretty well balanced as well. Monika beamed at the thought that Yuri might be a natural at this.

"Hey, let me see!" Natsuki snatched the sheet from her hand. "Pft! You have, like, no skills! Rangers suck!"

"T-That's not true! Look at how many languages I can speak. And-and all my proficiencies!" Natsuki paused for a moment and compared her meager roster of languages compared to that of Yuri's. And in a trademark move of Natsuki, she laughed boldly.

"Barbarians don't need to talk. We fight our way through things." Natsuki flexed a tiny arm, producing a muscle you'd need a microscope to see. Monika was beyond jovial to see how into the role Natsuki was getting...even if it did mean mocking Yuri for a bit.

"Well, Yuri, uh...you nailed it. This'll work."

"Are you sure? Because you can review if you need to." It seemed Yuri was actually a little disappointed that Monika didn't need more time to look over her sheet. She considered it, but a brief glance at her watch changed her mind.

"No, you got it in one go, but we can look over it later if we need to. Alright, Sayori, let's do this!"

"Tiefling!"

"Got that. But first let's get your scores. How do ya wanna this?" Sayori popped her finger and thumb under her chin for a moment, thinking deeply before lighting up the room with another smile.

"I wanna roll for it!" Monika bit her lip.

"Are you sure about that?" Monika asked the question every DM would become very familiar with.

"That seems like a bit of a gamble, Sayori. You could end up with terrible stats," Yuri leaned over to provide advice of her own.

"Pft, who cares? It's a game! Let her roll!" Natsuki encouraged the girl.

"Alrighty then." Monika dug through her bag to produce a small drawstring bag about the size of the palm of her hand. From inside it she retrieved four standard dice.

"Alright, real quick lesson. I know we're getting ahead of ourselves here, but you see these six-sided dice?"

"Lookin' right at 'em," Natsuki deadpanned.

"Well we'll call these D6's. Every die is labeled like that. D8, D10, D12, and D20, which is this one." She held up a twenty-sided die. On the 20 of the die, there were little lights that would blink when you rolled it. Monika was terribly excited for the first natural 20 of their game, but it could be sometime before that happened. "Moving on, Sayori roll four D6's for me, okay?" Monika gently handed Sayori a handful of the monochrome dice. In truth, she had ripped those exact ones from a board game box, but nobody needed to know that.

"Alrighty, don't fail me now!" Sayori called out as she watched the dice bounce and dance across the flat surface of the desk.

"Alright, so after we take away the lowest one...that'll total up to...11! Okay, not great, not terrible. Let's see what else we can get. I'm gonna need you to do that five more times."

"I'll keep track," Yuri volunteered, scribbling on a sheet of notebook paper. Monika could already tell Yuri was going to be a valuable asset. And so Sayori repeated this process a number of times. 11, 14, 14, 16, 16, and 12 were the numbers she ended up with. Monika breathed a sigh of relief, as she feared Sayori wouldn't be having any fun if she had totally botched her rolls. Frankly, Sayori had ended up with the best stats of the club, which Natsuki was fuming about.

"What? She doesn't have any negatives? Do over!" Sayori chuckled, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.

"Sorry, I'm just a natural roller! See, Monika, I'm already winning!" Monika smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be a disaster after all.

"Okay, so, you wanted to be a tiefling, we got that, what about your class?"

"The music one!"

"You mean a bard?"

"Yeah, I wanna play the little...the tiny guitar? Kinda like a ukulele?"

"I think she means the lute."

"Yeah, loot!" Monika basically took over for Sayori on the writing down of all her stats and other tidbits, but Sayori stopped her when she started to write down her background.

"Uh...I want to go with Charlatan."

"Oh, yeah? So, your bard is good with disguises and stuff?" Sayori bit the inside of her cheek.

"Yeah! You could-you could say that."

"Okay, now how about the name? There's a little list in the book if you need some inspiration."

"Sunflower!"

"You want your bard to be named Sunflower?"

"Yeah, I love sunflowers, so why not?" Monika couldn't fault the logic. And so with one deft movement, she printed the name "Sunflower".

"Alright. We might have to take another look over everybody's sheets before we play, but I've got one last little idea. And this is something new, this is what's called "Homebrew" on the internet."

"Homebrew?"

"Yeah, what's that?"

"It means it's an idea I had that's not really...standard. It's just a little thing, I don't think there's gonna be very much homebrew in this campaign." Oh, how Monika from the future would cackle at that statement. She cracked the player's manual to a page with a long table of seemingly completely random items. "Okay, everyone, welcome to the trinket table. What I want everybody to do is roll two D10's to decide what trinket you get. Oh, a D10 is the die that looks like this." Monika held up an oblong shape that she had no idea the name for.

"Oh, that's a pentagonal trapezohedron!" Sayori pointed out, much to the surprise of literally everybody. "What?"

"Sayori, I didn't even know that," Monika replied.

"I thoroughly enjoyed geometry."

"Didn't you say you cried over your algebra homework everyday for a week?" Natsuki inquired.

"Yep!" Sayori simply replied, then left it at that.

"Okaaay. Well, anyway. Go ahead and roll first, Natsuki." She handed over the dice that she would never remember the name of.

"Alright, I've got great luck. Here we go! 13! My lucky number!"

"Doesn't 13 usually mean bad luck?" Natsuki scowled.

"So what? It's my number!"

"Well, you goooot...A tooth from an unknown beast!"

"Oh, that's rad! I wanna wear it around my neck like a necklace! Can it be like this long, like a fang? Like a wolf?"

"Maybe, we'll see about it. Anyway, Yuri you're up." Natsuki begrudgingly handed off the dice, obviously not finished talking about her tooth.

"Okay, here we go. Um...93! That's high, right? That's good."

"Unfortunately, in this exact situation high doesn't really mean much, but hey, that's still a good roll! You got...an empty wine bottle with a pretty label that says "The Wizard of Wines Winery, Red Dragon Crush, 331422-W." And before Monika even finished, a flush crept up Yuri's neck, and a cackle shot out from Natsuki's.

"Ha! It's the wine bottle you brought last month! Good to see ya finished it! Haha!" Even Sayori and Monika had to join in on the laughter. That memory had almost completely slipped from Monika's mind. In truth, it was a little sad. It was one of Yuri's first attempts at branching out, only to miscalculate once again. But it was good to see it getting some laughs, and after Natsuki's prodding, even Yuri was able to let out a chuckle about it.

"Okay, I'm up. Don't fail me now pentagonal trapezohedron!"

"Please stop saying that," Natsuki groaned.

"Alrighty, it's a...95! Hey that's an A!"

"You got...oh...a...petrified mouse." Monika wasn't sure how Sayori would take that, knowing her love of animals. But surprisingly, her mood didn't dampen at all.

"Yay! I'll call him Jack!"

"Jack?"

"Yeah, like Colby-Jack! Ya know? Cheese? Mice and cheese? Eh?" Sayori nudged Natsuki who put an elbow to her shoulder.

"Boooooo! Not funnyyyy!" Natsuki extended melodramatically.

"Well, you don't have to be such a muenster about it." Monika chuckled as Sayori continued her onslaught of puns. As she gathered all the paperwork together, and looked over the sheets, she was filled with a strange sense of adventure. There was a whole new world of adventure out there, all she had to do was start putting pen to paper. Starting tomorrow, there would be dragons to slay and dungeons to explore.