Inside the luxurious Student Council office of Tracen Academy, a scene more suffocating than any G1 final was unfolding.
The enormous mahogany conference table, with enough space for seven or eight people, had been completely cleared.
In the center of the table rested an "Absolute Fairness" coin of extremely expensive appearance.
Quantum randomness.
"Lottery Box of Fate," which Agnes Tachyon had urgently modified in three minutes, endowing it with a futuristic technological feel.
The box was made of a special crystalline material, entirely transparent.
In its interior, six white spheres lay silent, made of "anti-scientific" material, identical and immune to X-rays and any form of divination.
Six top-tier Umas, capable of causing an earthquake with just a stomp in Tracen Academy, held their breath around the table.
Their burning and possessive gazes were fixed on the lottery box, as if it contained not a few simple spheres, but the only Stone of Destiny that would determine if they would enjoy a week of private paradise or see hell with eyes full of tears.
Meanwhile, Kaito was standing to one side with his hands clasped behind his back and a serious expression, playing the role of "Chief Notary" for this sacred ceremony.
The office was in a deathly silence.
But the air was filled with a crackling tension, like high-voltage electricity.
"Ehem"
Kaito cleared his throat, trying to break the solidified atmosphere, and announced the rules.
"In the interest of absolute justice and impartiality, the drawing order will strictly follow..."
He hadn't finished speaking—
"Why should it?" "Minister of Action" Gold City was the first to strike the table with her hand, making the lottery box jump.
"In something that determines fate like this, naturally, the one with the hardest fist goes first! That is the truth of the world!"
"Heh, heh, what a vulgar and far-fetched idea" The "Minister of Foreign Affairs" TM Opera O elegantly unfolded her feather fan and retorted with disdain.
"Such a sacred ceremony should be initiated by me, who best represents the glory and aesthetics of the protagonist. That is 'style'"
"Analyzing it from a purely probabilistic perspective, the drawing order will not affect the final random outcome," noted the "Minister of Technology" Agnes Tachyon, adjusting her glasses.
"However, drawing first can effectively reduce the uncertainty variables caused by small air currents, electrostatic fields, and pheromone interference generated when others draw; therefore, me starting first is the most scientific"
"I..."
"The new favorite" Rice Shower tried to say timidly.
"How about... we listen to big brother..." but was immediately met with an angry look and fell silent under three pairs of fierce eyes.
Good grief!
Are they going to fight just to decide the order?
A bunch of problem children!
Finally, under Kaito's mandatory decision of "If you argue more, everyone is disqualified," the group reluctantly adopted the most primitive and fair method: Rock, paper, scissors, to determine the order of the draw.
This process immediately triggered a new and even more chaotic small-scale fight centered on "Did you see what I was going to throw?", "Why did you throw late?", and "You cheated!".
After a chaos comparable to a world war, finally, the drawing order was meticulously established.
The first, surprisingly, was the incredibly lucky Rice Shower, who threw her hand while keeping her eyes closed the entire time.
Under the almost murderous gazes of the "Demon Lord" sisters, she nervously and tremblingly reached her small hand into the expensive-looking lottery box.
She closed her eyes, murmuring to herself, offering the most devout prayer.
"Please... please... I hope I can be with my big brother... Please, my God"
Her sincerity, so pure that it didn't contain a single trace of impurity, momentarily caused the "Demon Lords" by her side, who had prepared ten thousand ways to cheat, to retract their terrifying murderous intent.
The second was TM Opera O's turn.
Before extending her hand, she cleared her throat and delivered a passionate speech to the lottery box in a magnificent tone, as if she were performing a solo in the Golden Hall of Vienna.
"Oh, Goddess of Fate!"
"Please, heed the most sincere call of this protagonist!"
"Grant that singular crown, symbol of supreme glory, to your most beloved stage avatar!"
Her posture while drawing was so elegant that it seemed less like she was taking a ball out of a box and more like she was receiving a personal coronation from the Pope.
In third place was Gold City.
When her turn came, she glared fiercely and openly at the lottery box and then growled in a low voice full of physical threat, audible only to her and the box.
"You'd better know your place! If not, I'll turn you and this broken table into a pile of scrap metal this very day!"
Her powerful aura, almost tangible, even caused the expensive mahogany desk to emit a faint groan under the pressure.
The fourth spot was taken by Agnes Tachyon.
The moment she put her hand into the lottery box, the lenses of her specialized glasses, connected to a background supercomputer, instantly flashed with cascading torrents of complex data flows that no ordinary person could understand.
Micro-thermal detection... activated!
Vibration waveform analysis at the picometer level... activated!
Non-contact detection based on quantum entanglement theory... acti...
[ERROR! ERROR! Unknown anti-scientific field detected! All detection modules deactivated!]
Agnes Tachyon: "...Tch"
Since she couldn't cheat, she reluctantly and sadly picked a random sphere.
The fifth was Manhattan Cafe.
She simply and silently, without any expression or emotion, reached in and pulled out a sphere, as if the final result had nothing to do with her.
However, her small hand, gripping the white sphere so tightly that her knuckles were white, betrayed the equally deep desire hidden in the depths of her heart.
Lastly was Symboli Rudolf's turn.
She calmly and slowly took the last sphere from the box, wearing the Emperor's smile, as if everything were already under her control.
It was as if, regardless of the result, she were sure she would be the woman who laughed last.
"All right"
Kaito looked at the six goddesses (or lunatics) holding "Fate" in front of him, took a deep breath, and announced.
"Now, please, open the spheres in your hands simultaneously; the one containing the red paper will be the lucky 'Lead Treatment Assistant' for this week"
Each person's movement to open the sphere was filled with her own sense of ceremony.
Rice Shower devoutly drew a cross over her chest.
Gold City violently opened the shell with an aura that suggested she was about to crush it.
TM Opera O, for her part, seemed to be opening a precious music box encrusted with diamonds.
Six hands opened simultaneously.
Gold City—Empty.
She "clicked her tongue," making no attempt to hide her extreme disgust.
TM Opera O—Empty.
The perfect and professional smile on her face froze for the first time.
Agnes Tachyon—Empty.
She immediately lowered her head, quickly analyzing if the mechanical structure of the lottery box had suffered a "Schrödinger's Cat" type logic error.
Symboli Rudolf—Empty.
Even her emperor-like composure showed a rare trace of surprise and confusion.
Manhattan Cafe—Empty.
She simply looked silently at the empty half-shell, without any expression, but the air around her seemed to grow colder.
Rice Shower... was also empty.
When she saw the empty sphere in her hand, tears instantly welled up in her large watery eyes, which were filled with infinite anticipation, flooding her with disappointment.
"H-how could this be..."
Kaito suppressed his laughter, cleared his throat, and looked at the six stunned and incredulous faces before him.
Then, in front of everyone, he slowly took a seventh identical white sphere from his trouser pocket.
With a "click," he easily opened the sphere.
Inside, carefully folded, was a piece of vibrant red paper with a large character meaning "WIN" written on it.
Facing the six gazes that threatened to execute him with a thousand cuts, he showed a devilishly kind smile and announced slowly.
"Ah... my apologies, it seems I forgot to mention something"
"To prevent certain people with impure intentions from using 'external methods' that are not scientific, nor elegant, nor reasonable..."
"I intentionally created a small protection for this drawing, one that I personally consider quite ingenious"
"In other words, the only winning sphere has been with me the whole time"
Ignoring the six completely petrified and colorful faces, he walked slowly toward Rice Shower, who was on the verge of crying from the immense disappointment.
He gently placed the piece of bright red paper, which determined the ownership of paradise for the following week, into Rice Shower's small and cold hand.
Then he reached out and affectionately stroked her head.
In a voice so soft it was enough to make the other five people present turn black instantly, he whispered.
"But, I decided..."
"To cast my vote—my only and privileged vote as 'Notary'— for the Miss Hero who most deserves to be 'blessed', our best friend"
"Therefore..."
"Congratulations, Rice Shower"
"This first week, it's yours"
"This was a flagrant, pure, and absolutely insane manipulation!"
"This was the protagonist using the rules he himself established to make the most biased and shameless decision in front of everyone!"
Rice Shower went straight from hell to heaven.
She was completely dumbfounded, hugging the piece of paper that still contained Kaito's body heat, giggling foolishly with bright tears still on her face.
As for the other five... after three seconds of deathly silence...
An unprecedented, almost tangible wave of black resentment erupted in the office, powerful enough to make vengeful spirits flee three steps back!
Gold City, TM Opera O, Agnes Tachyon, Symboli Rudolf, and even the usually silent Air Groove, five pairs of beautiful eyes turned simultaneously toward Kaito, who was openly "abusing his authority for personal gain," and the trembling "Chosen One," Rice Shower, who had benefited from the "arrangement," all with extremely "kind" smiles.
TM Opera O began to fan herself elegantly again, smiling, and spoke slowly with a "soft" voice that could instantly freeze the air in midsummer:
"Mr. Chief Rehabilitation Therapist..."
"Regarding the question of the final right of interpretation of the 'rule'..."
"I believe... we absolutely must..."
"have a good, deep, and exhaustive 'discussion' about it!"
A "Final Judgment" triggered by the "arrangement," a hundred thousand times more intense and terrifying than the skirmish from before... is about to be bloodily enacted in the next chapter!