Why Did I Write So Many Tropes?!

"Get out of bed you lazy bum!"

I could hear Lucia pounding on the door.

"But why…?" I groaned. "It's a Saturday…"

"The club fair has already started, and you're just lazing about in your room?" she scolded me.

"...Mmm. Do I have to join a club?"

"This is exactly why I can't leave you alone! You're going to become a lazy homebody if I don't drag you somewhere."

I groaned again, pulling myself out of bed reluctantly. "I still work out with you every day."

"You're living like a no life," she tsks as she smacks the back of my head. I rub the stinging handprint as she continues. "All you do is train and go to class. You're practically a robot."

"...I guess it would be nice to join a club. As long as it isn't anything that requires a lot of commitment." After all, I wanted to have a flexible schedule in case more plot complications emerged.

What clubs did the main cast even join in the original?

Gauss and Leo joined the Swordsmanship Club. The name is self-explanatory.

Rebecca and Perseus joined the Magic Club. It was something like a physics club, where they did experiments and other exercises, partially to hone their skills and partially to develop their understanding.

What club did Lucia join? Did I not write about that?

While I was mulling over this, I opened the door to be greeted with Lucia's pouting face. That was too much for my heart and I leaned heavily against the doorframe for support. 

"Clean yourself up first," Lucia sighed. "You look like a mess."

I looked down, realizing that I was still wearing the ratty sweatpants and t-shirt I had gone to bed in. Going out next to Lucia basically turns me into public enemy number one, but going out next to Lucia looking like this is going to get me killed on the spot.

The thought of the Lucia fanclub ripping me to shreds caused me to shiver.

Fwap!

Suddenly, my vision was obscured by a cleaner t-shirt.

Taking it off my face, I looked towards Lucia who had thrown it at me.

"Get dressed, Mav," Lucia said, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

"Fine," I grumbled, slipping off my shirt and putting on the one she had thrown at me. 

Lucia casually threw me a pair of black slacks. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was one of the few nice things I had in my closet that wasn't my uniform. "Put these on, I'll be waiting outside."

I did as she asked, though not without more grumbling under my breath.

When I stepped outside, she looked me up and down critically, before nodding to herself. "Come on, let's get going."

"Yeah, yeah," I sighed, trailing behind her like a lost puppy.

***

When we arrived at the main gymnasium, the entire hall was packed to the brim with students. In fact, there were so many booths that they spilled out of the gymnasium and into the hallways branching out from the gym. We were still at least fifty feet away from the gym doors when we encountered our first booth and it only got more packed with people the closer we got.

Thankfully, I was next to one of the main characters. The NPCs cleared out at the first glimpse of her face.

This is convenient as hell.

The image of Moses parting the Red Sea entered my head and I couldn't help but giggle a little to myself. Lucia looked at me like I was a weirdo, but I just waved it off with a chuckle.

Around us, various clubs were advertising to the torrent of freshmen and other students:

"Join the Culinary Club! Travel around the world to taste the finest cuisines!"

"The Photography Club is beginner-friendly and offers resources to help more experienced veterans!"

"Support the soccer team by joining the Soccer Team Fanclub!"

Most of the clubs that were stationed outside in the hallway were less important or less recognized clubs which couldn't acquire a spot in the central area of the gymnasium.

We browsed around a little, but most of the clubs didn't draw our attention. Lucia forged a path through the students and I followed in her wake as we walked into the gym.

The wave of noise hit me like a brick wall. I thought it was loud outside, but it was loud on the inside.

Various banners were strung above the booths, painted in eye-catching colors. Some of the clubs even had large holographic displays or screens to advertise.

Lucia dragged me around the room, going from one booth to another like a ping pong ball. I just let her take me with her, examining some of the clubs with more interest than others.

Hm? That club is interesting.

A lot of the clubs that we had seen so far weren't in System Overload. The one I was looking at was one I was sure definitely wasn't mentioned, but it looked interesting.

Lucia paused as she felt me turn towards that distant booth. "The Wilderness Research Club?"

"It looks interesting," I said as I watched the video screen show a group of students walking around the woods, cataloging plants and animals. The video quickly switched to another group of students on the back of a motorboat as they took photos of dolphin-like creatures with scales.

"It does," she agrees. "Wanna' go take a look?"

"Sure."

We walked over to the booth. A tanned, muscular boy with a shock of crimson hair that stuck up in the air was standing at the table as he explained to some other students what the club was about.

"--so we mainly go on trips to semi-explored areas to help catalog new species! Ever since the Gates appeared and mana started permeating our world, we still haven't fully understood its effects on the natural environment."

"That seems really interesting," I said aloud. 

The boy turned towards me with a grin that showed off his pointy canines. "Thanks! Are you interested in joining?"

When he realized who I was, his jaw dropped. "Are you Mav Callahan?"

"You're a celebrity now!" Lucia smirked, thumping my back. I bent over in a sudden coughing fit as she laughed. 

"Hrk-- yeah. Thanks, Lucia."

"I'm so sorry! That was impolite of me." The boy bowed down.

"Nah, it's alright," I waved him off as I slowly straightened up, shooting a glare at Lucia. "Yeah, I'm Mav. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he took my hand and shook it. "My name's Alexandre. Just call me Alex."