Leaving Class D's classroom.
According to the original plan, Chris was supposed to use GANTZ's teleportation privileges to slip into the second- and third-years' exam venue right on schedule, then use the [Time-Stop Watch] to transform into the Omnic avatar and play the role of a mysterious black-market merchant — putting on a full con-artist performance.
But halfway there, his steps gradually slowed.
"Hmm... that's a little inconvenient, isn't it."
Chris rubbed his chin.
Sure, he could absolutely use items to be in two places at once — but that meant either burning himself out playing time-management wizard, or having GANTZ straight-up clone a body to run a puppet show.
And Chris had no interest in exhausting himself, nor in playing whatever weird split-personality game that would entail.
"In that case..."
"Might as well just have GANTZ clone an Omnic body outright, let me remote-pilot it from a distance, and supplement it with the 'Weather Forecast' for precision global-strike support assistance..."
Chris sketched the scene in his mind and nodded. "That ought to be intimidating enough. And as a bonus, it'd be a natural way to introduce the 'Tiangong Society' as a background plotline."
"Isn't that a hell of a lot better than running over there myself?"
No sooner had the thought formed than the ever-loyal GANTZ had already begun silently executing his instructions.
The Black Sphere's core orb flickered: [Honestly, for a small scene like this, I could've handled it myself, Boss.]
Chris shook his head. "Don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. No rush — let them have their fun."
At the same time.
As the blue column of teleportation light faded away, Horikita Manabu slowly opened his eyes.
A sea breeze thick with salt and brine hit him in the face. Before him stretched an enormous port crammed wall-to-wall with shipping containers.
This terrain... Horikita Manabu pushed up his reflective glasses.
It wasn't a perfect one-to-one match with what Ayanokoji and the others had described from yesterday's "advance test" — but the sheer number of similarities at least confirmed that they held an intelligence advantage.
He turned to survey his surroundings.
Everyone participating in this exam was a second- or third-year student.
Aside from himself — who had been forcibly dragged in once last weekend — every single person here was a "first-timer" facing the Black Sphere exam for the very first time.
And within this particular squad:
Nagumo Miyabi was nowhere to be found.
Something stirred faintly in Horikita Manabu's chest.
Ever since the Black Sphere exams began, he'd clearly sensed that something about Nagumo Miyabi had been... off. But at least when faced with a crisis threatening the lives of two entire school years, that man had chosen not to pull any nonsense at a moment this critical — he'd opted for a temporary truce.
That allowed Horikita Manabu to roll out his own plan without obstruction —
Sacrifice the interests of the few to prioritize building up the strength of those willing to be vanguards, the capable fighters who would protect the majority.
"Everyone, listen up."
Horikita Manabu turned to face the assembled upperclassmen, whose expressions ranged from apprehensive to resigned, his voice steady and even.
"The rules for this King of Clubs exam — I made them very clear to all of you before we came. We don't have time for internal squabbling."
"The winner of this round is pre-designated as Class 3-A. Correspondingly, the next round's winner will go to Class 2-A, where Nagumo Miyabi is. And so on — ensuring resources are concentrated, then rotated."
This wasn't his natural style at all. But under the mortal threat of the Black Sphere, the situation simply didn't afford him the luxury of slow, democratic deliberation.
At that moment, the massive blue interface hovering in the sky officially displayed the King of Clubs ruleset.
It was broadly the same rules he'd gotten from Ayanokoji that morning — with the key difference that this time the teams were split between second-years and third-years, and there was an additional notice flagging the existence of an "Intruder" and a "Mysterious Black Merchant."
Horikita Manabu was not surprised.
Unlike the first-years, who had only selected two people per class, the upperclassmen had been forced into a mixed-year format just to get the numbers up.
And given that Ayanokoji's group had already exploited the "mutual territory contact" exploit in their run, the Black Sphere was bound to have patched the rules.
Still, the words "Intruder" and "Mysterious Black Merchant" did give Horikita Manabu pause.
After all, in past cases where an advance test had already been run, the Intruder slot was usually filled by whoever had failed that prior run.
But the exam had barely started and it was already flagging an Intruder's presence — had the Black Sphere changed its underlying rules again?
Then again, the Black Sphere had never been something that played by consistent logic. Whatever patterns they'd pieced together before might have been wishful thinking on their part.
Beside him, his closest friend Fujimaki had already finished organizing the students from each class and stood waiting for his orders.
Horikita Manabu swept his gaze across the crowd and spoke:
"I know some of you are reluctant to make sacrifices. And I know how much it stings to hand over your hard-earned item points for nothing in return."
"But I believe that the number of people who want to live will always outnumber those who are willing to die. If you don't have the courage to fight for everyone in future Black Sphere exams, then do not touch any items. Your only job is to search."
His voice dropped, brooking no argument:
"As a show of leadership, I will not be sitting this one out either. Once everyone has cleared the common items, I will personally go and touch the 3,000-point top-tier item and trigger the formal monster-slaying battle."
"I will be standing right there with you."
At those words, the restless murmuring among the second-years visibly settled.
After all — if even the untouchable Student Council President was willing to step on the most dangerous landmine first, what did any of them have left to complain about?
Fujimaki, however, furrowed his brow and leaned close to Horikita Manabu, lowering his voice:
"Horikita — are you serious? You're going to touch the item that summons the hidden monster?"
Horikita Manabu's expression was stone-cold. "There's a Mysterious Black Merchant this time."
He reached out and clapped Fujimaki on the shoulder. "It's right to be cautious. But if you're too scared to move, all you'll be doing is waiting to die."
"Right now, the priority is finding items and flushing out that Intruder. So, Fujimaki —"
"— there is absolutely no room for error."
Fujimaki looked into his best friend's eyes.
He could only nod. He turned back toward the students behind him:
"The test has begun! Pairs of two — spread out and move!"
...
On the other end of the container labyrinth.
Amase Kazuna tilted her head to one side and lightly scratched her cheek with a slender index finger.
"Well, well... how did I end up here?"
The red-haired girl took in the familiar port scenery around her, her tone carrying a note of exasperation.
Originally, after watching Horikita Manabu and the others get teleported away, she had been in the middle of carrying out her own plans —
Either exploit Horikita Suzune's momentary mental disarray to step into her sparring partner slot with Ichinose Honami, and try to use that proximity to fish for intel on Chris; or continue developing her shadow network by getting a little closer to Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei.
What she hadn't anticipated at all was being "randomly" selected by the Black Sphere and dropped into this upperclassmen exam as the Intruder.
Could it be that her role as an assassin relaying Black Sphere intelligence had caught the Black Sphere's attention... and so it had deliberately picked her?
Whether or not that was the case, Amase Kazuna didn't know yet.
But as someone who had come out of the White Room, her intelligence-reading instincts were absolutely sharp.
Cross-referencing the upperclassmen's behavior she'd observed that morning with the ruleset displayed on the massive sky-screen, Amase Kazuna needed only a few seconds to understand everything.
"Nearly identical to our own test content... I really lucked out, didn't I."
"The only question is — as an Intruder without a wristband, can I still earn points by touching items?"
Amase Kazuna turned the thought over in her mind.
But she didn't dwell on it for long.
Instead, she pivoted lightly on her heel and slipped without hesitation into the labyrinth, intent on tracking down the so-called "Mysterious Black Merchant."
After all, she was sitting on 4,000 item points right now. Even if Intruders couldn't participate in the scoring scramble, she was very much a paying "high-roller" with real purchasing power.
And while she began her search —
Since Horikita Manabu's group didn't need to waste any energy fighting over points or racing to touch bases from the start, their advance through the arena was blazingly fast. Within no time, they had confirmed the locations of the vast majority of items scattered across the field.
Horikita Manabu went personally, picking up the floating holographic cards one by one.
Finally, his steps came to a halt before a humanoid statue encased in rough plaster.
The statue was unnervingly detailed — like someone had simply coated a living person in a thin layer of plaster. Deeply, disturbingly uncanny.
He still wasn't sure whether their main boss encounter this time would be the Decepticons, but an item that looked this obviously wrong at a glance was something Horikita Manabu was wise enough to leave alone for now. He didn't touch it.
Right at that moment, the booming voice of Ishikura from Class 3-B echoed through the silent container maze:
"Everyone get back to the spawn point! The Mysterious Black Merchant has appeared!"
Horikita Manabu and Amase Kazuna — at opposite ends of the maze — both froze mid-stride at the exact same instant, then broke into a sprint toward the source of the voice.
About a minute later.
When Horikita Manabu arrived back at the open clearing where they'd first appeared, he unconsciously slowed his pace.
He noticed that at the edge of the clearing, a first-year girl with red twin tails had appeared.
And directly ahead of where she was slowly walking —
The sky that had been clear only moments ago was now completely blanketed by heavy, leaden storm clouds.
The atmospheric pressure across the entire port had dropped to an oppressive level, and low rumbles of thunder rolled through the cloud layers.
Yet right at the center of those suffocating clouds, a crack had split open — almost aggressively out of place.
A single ray of blood-red evening sunlight pierced cleanly through the gap, like a lone spotlight on a stage, blazing down onto the center of the clearing.
Within that halo of dying crimson light —
A small alien figure in a white bodysuit, grey-skinned and wide-eyed, shaped uncannily like a frog, sat cross-legged and levitated silently in midair.
On its chest glowed a green hourglass icon.
"To reshape the very heavens themselves..."
Noticing Horikita Manabu running back, Fujimaki swallowed hard and stepped forward, lowering his voice: "Horikita — that red-haired girl is almost certainly this round's Intruder. Should we stop her?"
Horikita Manabu shook his head. "No need."
"Five hundred item points equals one S-point. Aside from Chris, Ichinose, and those who've done multiple Black Sphere exams, no newcomer in this school has nearly enough points to drain a merchant's entire stock."
That said, Horikita Manabu still quickened his stride, covering ground in double-time.
Just in case the merchant was carrying something with a "one per customer" limit — he needed to be first in line.
He had already committed to triggering the main battle. Every last lifeline he could get his hands on was not something he could afford to miss.
Perhaps having listened in since the start and heard no duel notification sounds — suggesting the upperclassmen were running a cooperative strategy — Amase Kazuna recognized this wasn't her home turf, and deliberately slowed her own approach.
It was almost poetically timed: Horikita Manabu arrived just as she did, and the two of them stepped into the circle of crimson light at virtually the same moment.
Horikita Manabu spoke first, breaking the silence:
"Might I ask — are you the Mysterious Merchant mentioned in the rules at the start of the exam?"
The small alien floating in midair slowly opened its eyes, revealing rectangular, horizontally-slit pupils.
"I was indeed invited to be here. You may refer to me as the Grand Inventor of the 'Tiangong Society.'"
"I wouldn't normally be the one making house calls, but since an invitation was extended — as a gift for our first meeting, every item on today's shelf will be sold at a fifty percent discount. Browse at your leisure and call me when you've decided."
With that, the small alien gave a casual flick of its tiny hand.
"Fwoosh —!"
Six items materialized out of thin air before the two of them.
[Ripple Qigong]: Through a specialized breathing technique, the user generates a life-energy within the body akin to solar light. Highly effective against vampires and the Pillar Men, and additionally strengthens physical functions while slowing the aging process. Note: Must be self-taught — results will vary based entirely on individual aptitude.
— Discounted Price: 3,000 Item Points
[Sandevistan (Military Edition)]: Active-type neural override cyberware. Upon activation, the user enters a time-deceleration state; the deceleration ratio is determined by the user's physical strength, with common rates ranging from 25%–85% (i.e., subjective time flow at 1/4 to 1/15 of normal). Duration: 30 seconds. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Note: Excessive use carries a risk of cyberpsychosis.
— Discounted Price: 5,000 Item Points
[Kuroguwa Armor]: Comprehensively enhances physical capabilities; can be layered seamlessly over the Black Sphere Combat Suit. Equipped with an assortment of life and combat tools (chainsaw, propeller, etc.) — ideal for logging and wilderness survival. Note: Eco-friendly product; please remember to charge after use.
— Discounted Price: 5,000 Item Points
[Quinque Crafting Voucher]: A special processing certificate. Using this card, you may submit a Ghoul corpse collected during the exam to the Black Sphere to have a custom dedicated weapon — a Quinque — forged from it. Weapon grade ranges from C to SSS depending on the grade and species of the material provided.
— Discounted Price: 1,000 Item Points
[Parasyte Fusion Card]: A living-body modification contract. Using this card, an immature Parasyte will be provided and transplanted into a designated part of your body (e.g., the right hand). This will greatly enhance your intelligence, but will dull your emotions. Note: During the fusion process, there is a non-trivial chance the Parasyte will seize control of your brain. Those without absolute willpower — use with extreme caution!
— Discounted Price: 500 Item Points
[Golden Apple Item Card]: Consumable. Upon use, grants one magical golden apple. The consumer will immediately recover stamina, and for 2 minutes gain an extremely powerful Damage Absorption shield, along with a 5-second Rapid Life Regeneration effect. A lifesaving miracle drug.
— Discounted Price: 1,500 Item Points
[Spider-Man Bloodline]: Spider-Man genetic mutation lineage. Suited for scenarios requiring high agility; the Spider-Web skill may be used under any circumstances, and includes Spider-Sense as a bonus.
— Discounted Price: 40,000 Item Points
____
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