Compared to the Black Sphere, which offered nothing but a name and an image without so much as half a line of explanation, the self-proclaimed inventor from the "Tiangong Society" standing before them was practically a saint of the trade.
Above every single item, a holographic panel glowed — displaying each piece's 3D model, detailed stats, and even its side effects, all laid out with crystalline clarity.
And yet neither Horikita Manabu nor Amase Kazuna let themselves be dazzled by what was in front of them.
As the sharpest minds in their respective camps, they asked almost in perfect unison:
"Sir — if we both want the same item, can we both buy it, or is it... first come, first served?"
The Grey Matter avatar Chris was puppeteering reached out one tiny hand and scratched its oversized head with an air of supreme boredom.
"Is there really any point in putting a limit on this disposable junk I threw together?"
"Honestly... if that broken ball called GANTZ hadn't insisted on setting restrictions about 'not disrupting market balance,' I'd have just tossed everything down here for you to pick through like scrap..."
Amase Kazuna puffed out her cheeks in indignation, looking both aggrieved and utterly scandalized.
"What?! Are you serious?!"
"My God, how could GANTZ be so cruel?! Can't it show just a little mercy to poor beginners like us?!"
Unlike Amase Kazuna's half-genuine, half-performative outrage, Horikita Manabu was considerably more composed.
Or rather — as Student Council President, he simply didn't have the luxury of playing games right now.
He ran a rapid mental calculation of each class's current standing. Then he pulled out his phone, photographed every item on the shelf for the record, and spoke:
"Master Inventor, I currently have only 7,500 item points — not enough to purchase the combination I have in mind. Is it possible to exchange S-Points directly here, without going through the Black Sphere, to make up the difference?"
"Let me check..." The Grey Matter avatar rubbed its chin, its horizontal rectangular pupils slowly narrowing shut. "One-to-five-hundred. Tsk — your little backwater has quite the convoluted exchange rate system. What a pain..."
It gave a casual wave of its hand.
"However much you want to exchange — figure it out yourselves."
The moment those words left its mouth, two translucent transaction interfaces materialized directly in front of the two of them, pre-filled with their basic account information.
The interfaces clearly displayed: [S-Points can be exchanged at 1:10 for Class Assessment Points, 1:100,000 for Personal Spending Points, or 1:500 for Item Points].
Horikita Manabu didn't hesitate. He swiped through the interface without a second thought, converting every last S-Point in his account — all 8 of them — into 4,000 item points.
That brought his available balance to 11,500 points.
He already possessed the Black Sphere's Combat Suit. While the Enhanced Rifle — the X-GUN, valued at the same 10 S-Points — was also remarkably cost-efficient, what mattered most right now was immediate combat power.
Besides, having decided to equip the [Black Cauldron Armor] as support, he wasn't in a position to hang back as a long-range sniper anyway.
Still, before tapping Confirm on the exchange, Horikita Manabu asked one more cautious question:
"Sir — if I trigger the formal exam ahead of schedule, will you remain here from the moment it starts until the test is completely over?"
The Grey Matter avatar said nothing. It simply gave a faint, unhurried nod.
With that confirmation, Horikita Manabu immediately purchased [Sianweistan] and [Black Cauldron Armor].
Staring at his remaining balance of 1,500 points, he asked one more question:
"May I use the remaining points to buy intelligence on this exam's target's weaknesses?"
At that, the Grey Matter avatar slowly opened its eyes. "I like smart kids. I won't charge you points for this one — consider it a free bonus. But as for the specifics..." It paused. "All I can tell you is: what they fear is everywhere around you."
"...Everywhere around you." Horikita Manabu turned the phrase over in his mouth, then asked no further questions.
With clean efficiency, he used his remaining points to secure a life-saving [Golden Apple Item Card]. Then he gave the hovering Grey Matter avatar a deep, formal bow — and turned and walked away without looking back.
The avatar shifted its gaze to Amase Kazuna, who was still dithering nearby. "Nothing you want to buy?"
Amase Kazuna bit her lip, wringing her fingers with a pitiful expression. "I only have the 4,000 item points I earned from the last test. The [Sianweistan] I want is way out of my price range... I can only stare longingly..."
"Um — Master Inventor~" The girl suddenly looked up, eyes flickering with calculation. "I'd like to ask — if one were to purchase a so-called cybernetic prosthetic, would we need to arrange the implantation surgery ourselves, or could we invite GANTZ to handle it?"
The Grey Matter avatar closed its eyes again, its tone tinged with disdain:
"The work of a Galvan — even their most throwaway practice pieces — surpasses the peak technology of your remote little planet by several orders of magnitude. You needn't worry about rejection or surgery. Just stick it on and it works."
"Alright, I'm going into standby mode. Don't disturb me unless it's important."
Amase Kazuna nodded thoughtfully — but showed no intention of following Horikita Manabu out.
After all, she was right now nothing more than a helpless girl with no combat ability whatsoever. Going toe-to-toe with the exam monsters was absolutely out of the question.
As long as she stayed within the safe zone around this mysterious merchant, she simply didn't believe any monster would dare encroach on such an influential figure's authority.
And besides — the merchant had just given her a hint: what the monsters feared this round was everywhere around them.
Amase Kazuna lifted her gaze.
She looked at the heavy, overcast sky pressing down all around them — and then looked at this small clearing, the one single spot bathed in a lingering beam of late evening sunlight. The only thing illuminated here was this "Mysterious Merchant."
The answer was obvious, wasn't it? Sunlight.
— — —
Bridging the distance through space.
Chris watched as Horikita Manabu finished swapping out his equipment. The Student Council President left the rest of the upperclassmen stationed not far from the merchant's safe zone — and then, without a moment's hesitation, headed straight for the high-value item shaped like a statue.
Chris had already seen through exactly what this Student Council President was planning.
Whether it was to test the chemical synergy produced by stacking the [Combat Suit] + [Black Cauldron Armor] + [Sianweistan] combo, or to claim those 3,000 item points and use them later to distribute [Ripple Breathing] across the whole school —
Triggering the formal match himself was an inevitable step for Horikita Manabu.
That said, the exam opponents Chris had picked for the upperclassmen this round weren't exactly brutal.
Beyond the Lower Moon Five, Rui and his family from Demon Slayer, the hidden boss was the Bin Brothers — two S-rank Ghouls from Tokyo Ghoul.
The main purpose was to plant an impression ahead of next week's Battle Royale — let everyone get a taste of what was coming.
Given that both Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Miyabi currently had Combat Suits, and Horikita Manabu had the additional item buffs on top of that —
Even without fire support from something like an enhanced sniper rifle, Chris figured Horikita Manabu's current loadout was more than sufficient.
It was a little disappointing that there was nothing particularly entertaining to watch unfold.
But then again — Horikita Manabu making it through safely still left plenty of imaginative room for his eventual demise at Horikita Suzune's hands down the line.
Satisfied with that thought, Chris severed his control link, handing the Grey Matter avatar back to GANTZ's automated management system.
Truth be told, even before he'd decided to transform into Grey Matter in the first place, Chris had been wondering:
The cyberpunk prosthetic [Sianweistan] fabricated by Grey Matter — would it require the host to transform into Grey Matter before it could be installed?
As it turned out, he had clearly underestimated the most intelligent species in the universe from Ben 10.
In just two short nights of being Grey Matter, he had casually coded up Dragon Ball's Hyperbolic Time Chamber from scratch, cranked out a whole heap of prosthetic implant cards — designed like game equipment, painless to install with a single touch — and even taken the time to rewrite the Time-Stop Watch's base code, strip away its restrictions, and add the Ultimatrix's same-tier evolution functions.
Sure, the Main God Orb and GANTZ had helped out a tiny bit along the way.
But still — that level of creative output was honestly absurd.
Chris even caught himself thinking:
For most of the gadgets in Doraemon's pocket, he wouldn't need to grind through the system's daily refresh cycle at all. Just transform into Grey Matter and build them himself...
He gave his head a firm shake and refused to let that thought take root.
It wasn't like he was short on items to begin with.
If anything, waiting for the system's daily item refresh had become one of his fixed rituals in this world — a kind of blind-box ceremony that marked each new day as distinct from the last.
Thinking it over, Chris resisted the urge to open his system interface and check today's newly refreshed item.
"It refreshes one item a day and they don't expire anyway."
"Might as well wait ten days and pull a ten-roll. See if this system has any kind of pity-timer mechanic."
— — —
Leaving the classroom, Chris made his way to the door of Class 1-B.
He peered inside. No sign of Ichinose Honami.
Chris didn't feel like tracking people down the way Sakayanagi would — GPS-locking someone for the slightest reason. So instead he just randomly picked out a familiar-looking girl in the classroom and asked.
"Hey... Amikura, do you know where Ichinose went?"
Amikura Mako had been sitting at her desk, staring into space. She looked up at the sound of his voice.
Seeing it was Chris, she immediately stood up.
She didn't entirely understand herself why she felt compelled to be so respectful toward a boy from another class she barely interacted with on a normal basis.
But since she was already on her feet, there wasn't much point in overthinking the details.
She raised her hand and pointed toward the empty seat that belonged to Amase Kazuna, explaining:
"Not long after class ended — roughly around the same time as when the upperclassmen's advance test was supposed to start — Amase just... vanished right in front of our eyes. Teleported away."
"Ichinose got worried and went to find Chabashira-sensei, to ask what was happening and if there was anything that could be done."
Chris frowned. "Based on what you're describing, it definitely sounds like a Black Sphere transport. But wasn't our year's exam already over on Tuesday?"
Amikura Mako let out a helpless sigh. "I don't understand it either. I mean, I personally think that even going to Chabashira-sensei won't get any real answers out of her. But... well, this is Ichinose we're talking about."
"Yeah, that's completely in character for her."
Chris thought for a moment, then remarked casually: "Come to think of it, that means both she and Horikita are probably tied up all day and won't have time to practice..."
Amikura Mako's ears pricked up at that. She looked at him in surprise.
"Practice... ? Now that you mention it, I've noticed Ichinose bolting the moment school lets out, then coming back drenched in sweat. That's because she's been training with you?"
Chris answered plainly:
"We're all fixed participants in the Black Sphere exams. And you know how Ichinose is — she has this habit of loading the pressure of protecting everyone onto her own shoulders. Of course she'd try every angle to improve herself. I happened to have learned a little swordsmanship before, so I give her and Horikita the occasional pointer."
Amikura Mako's expression softened with a flash of genuine concern:
"That's just how Ichinose is — always turning pressure into motivation. But what worries me most is that she pulls the string so tight. Like a pressure cooker: when too much pressure builds up... she's going to cook herself from the inside out before anything else does."
She paused briefly.
Then Amikura Mako looked up with clear, earnest eyes and said directly to Chris:
"So... Chris. Can I ask a favor of you? If during practice — or on the exam floor — you notice anything off about Ichinose, could you let me know as soon as possible?"
Chris waved a hand and agreed without making a fuss. "Easy. Sure thing. Anyway, I should get going — I've still got to head to the library and cram... Might as well start early and finish early. Ugh."
Watching Chris trudge off with the defeated air of someone who had developed a profound personal grudge against the concept of studying —
Amikura Mako felt a little guilty and called after him:
"Um... I know my grades aren't anything spectacular. But if it's just tutoring assistance — helping you scrape a passing grade on the midterms — I think I can manage that. Would you like me to help you study?"
The words had barely left Amikura Mako's mouth before she blinked at herself.
Honestly, even Chris hadn't expected her to be so forward.
But thinking back to their handful of interactions since the start of school, Amikura Mako was — just like Shiranami Chihiro — firmly in Ichinose's inner circle: the kind who moved together and stayed together, the type Ichinose herself wouldn't even get jealous over.
Her volunteering to help now was probably her way of repaying him, in some small measure, for training Ichinose in swordsmanship and looking out for Class B on the exam floor.
Chris thought it over, and decided not to directly mention Shiina Hiyori's plan — the "suppress the scores, protect the weaker students" strategy already quietly underway in Class D.
He simply put on a slightly probing expression and said: "Well then... I'd be grateful for your help, Amikura."
Amikura Mako smiled and waved it off. "Don't mention it! Actually, last time I went to the library I spotted you and Horikita studying together there... So really, I'm the one barging in uninvited. Just don't blame me if my tutoring isn't up to scratch."
Chris shook his head, making a show of self-deprecation:
"Are you kidding. I barely scraped through the entrance exam by the skin of my teeth. You're in Class B — your grades have to be way better than mine. Besides, I never had any big ambitions to begin with. As long as I pass the midterms and the Black Sphere doesn't draft me as cannon fodder, I'm perfectly happy."
Though what Chris was actually calculating in the back of his mind was rather different.
By the time the midterms rolled around, to stay consistent with the image he'd been slowly cultivating, he'd probably need to sandbag his score a little. Going too low wouldn't do either.
But standing right here in front of Amikura Mako, Chris naturally kept up his current persona — and the performance just flowed out of him without any effort.
After all, that's how it worked: set low expectations early, and the reversal later becomes all the more satisfying.
The two of them walked over together, and before long arrived at the school library.
Packed, as usual.
Though most of the students filling the seats were atmosphere-group plants Chris had orchestrated through remote coordination — still, you had to admit, the studious vibe was impeccable.
Amikura Mako blinked at the sight.
Fortunately, scanning the room, she quickly spotted a quiet blue figure in a corner seat.
She didn't know Shiina Hiyori of Class C particularly well. But they shared the bond of having faced life and death together on the Black Sphere exam floor, even if only briefly.
Besides, she'd seen Chris and Horikita Suzune sitting with her often enough to assume they were on decent terms.
With that in mind, Amikura Mako moved to go ask if there were any free seats.
But she didn't even get the chance to open her mouth.
As though she had picked up on the subtly different rhythm of Chris's footsteps, Shiina Hiyori — who had been reading quietly — turned her head before they even got close.
Shiina Hiyori held her book up to cover the lower half of her face, leaving only a pair of clear, composed eyes visible.
"Is this... Amikura from Class B? Is Horikita not coming today?"
Chris pulled out the chair across from her and sat down without ceremony. "Her brother is on the upperclassmen advance test roster today. I figured I'd leave her alone."
Shiina Hiyori gave a soft "Oh," and murmured quietly: "Horikita's brother... that would be the Student Council President, wouldn't it?"
Amikura Mako's eyes went wide. "The President? Horikita and the Student Council President are siblings?"
Shiina Hiyori explained gently: "Well, Horikita's entrance exam scores weren't very good, so she's been placed in Class D all along. And they share the same surname. After what Chris just said, I put two and two together."
Chris dropped his head and lowered his voice in a quiet but firm reminder:
"Keep it to yourselves, please. Don't go spreading it around... Horikita has her pride. The last thing she wants is people looking at her through the lens of her brother's reputation."
Amikura Mako and Shiina Hiyori exchanged a glance — as if something about Horikita Suzune's general attitude had just snapped into focus — and both clapped a hand over their mouths, nodding apologetically at Chris.
They settled into their seats. A brief, easy silence followed.
As Chris and Amikura Mako cracked open their textbooks and got to work, Shiina Hiyori gently closed her borrowed book by a fraction, her gaze quietly sliding from the page to drift over the practice problems their pens were tracing.
She already knew from Horikita Suzune that the plan was already being quietly rolled out in Class D.
But the midterms were next week. With Chris's foundational knowledge this shaky — was there actually enough time?
What if he wasn't the kind of "playing dumb to catch people off guard" type she'd imagined — what if he was just genuinely easygoing, and genuinely couldn't learn it in time?
But if she spoke up now out of the blue and disrupted their tutoring rhythm, wouldn't that be more of a hindrance than a help?
Shiina Hiyori pressed her lips together, her slender legs — clad in white stockings — swinging restlessly under the table, the toes of her shoes scraping softly back and forth against the floor. Her pale violet eyes floated left and right, unable to settle anywhere.
Just as she was tangled up in her indecision —
Bzzt —
Chris's phone buzzed once in his pocket.
He fished it out and looked. It was a friend request from Tachibana Akane.
He couldn't help but smirk.
Not sending it earlier, not sending it later — she waited until Horikita Manabu had gone off to the advance test before scrambling to add him. Classic.
This Tachibana Akane really was in full panic mode, wasn't she — throwing everything at the wall.
Speaking of which... the big brother-in-law should be kicking things off about now. Let me see whether you fold under pressure the same way Nagumo did.
____
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