"Sorry, Amikura. Let me reply to this real quick."
Chris murmured a quiet apology to Amikura Mako across from him.
Without any particular expression, he accepted Tachibana Akane's friend request — and in the same motion, split his attention, sweeping his gaze through GANTZ's god's-eye view to survey the state of the upperclassmen's exam.
Just as he'd expected.
Horikita Manabu, buffed by both [Black Cauldron Armor] and [Sianweistan], was operating on a completely different tier from everyone else on that battlefield. It was dimensional suppression in the purest sense.
Against the spider-mountain demons from Demon Slayer — creatures that didn't even qualify as Lower Moons — Horikita Manabu didn't need technique. It was pure stat dominance. One punch, one down. Easy as swatting flies.
The only thing that gave him even a sliver of trouble was Lower Moon Five, Rui, whose range-covering web slashes blanketed the entire field. To shield the classmates behind him who weren't wearing Combat Suits, Horikita Manabu had to accept some constraints on his positioning.
But it wasn't a real problem.
After all, he wasn't the only powerhouse on the field. Nagumo Miyabi had also accumulated enough Black Sphere points across previous exams to be wearing a Combat Suit of his own.
Rui's threads could slice through steel with ease — but against Black Sphere-grade Combat Suits, they consistently fell just short. They stood even less of a chance against the cutting edge of a Black Sphere combat blade.
And on top of everything else, Horikita Manabu still had [Sianweistan] in his hands — the item that could activate bullet time.
When the flow of time slowed to a crawl before his eyes, the outcome was inevitable.
Whether it was Rui's Blood Demon Art, or the hidden boss lurking in the shadows — Rigato — neither could pierce the double-layered defense of [Black Cauldron Armor] plus Combat Suit. Their fate went without saying.
As the tide turned further and further in his favor, both bosses were kneaded like dough in Horikita Manabu's fists. The scene grew rather brutal.
That said, Rui's area attacks did pose a genuine threat to the students without Combat Suit protection.
And there was another wrinkle — unlike the Abyssal creatures, demons in Demon Slayer operate under a specific rule: unless killed by sunlight or decapitated by a Sun-Breathing blade, even the heaviest wounds will slowly regenerate.
So in the final stage of the exam —
Horikita Manabu activated Sianweistan to pull Nagumo Miyabi out of a surprise ambush by the Bin Brothers, then turned around and pounded Rui into bloody paste with several heavy blows, followed by finishing him off with the X-GUN, imploding him from the inside out.
But as Horikita Manabu watched the chunks of flesh on the ground slowly writhing, trying to pull themselves back together — the battle-high finally faded, and his rational mind reasserted control.
He recalled the mysterious merchant's hint about the enemy's weakness.
[What it fears is everywhere around you]
Combined with that deliberate shaft of evening sunlight the storm clouds had left uncovered in the exam field — the answer clicked into place instantly.
Without a moment's hesitation, he and Nagumo Miyabi dragged every last remnant of Lower Moon Five's family into that still-lingering patch of sunlight and left them to bake.
A chorus of agonized shrieks later, the exam was finally over.
A few unlucky students had taken some damage along the way, but all told, it was a massive haul.
Horikita Manabu got what he'd come for and redeemed [Ripple Breathing] from the mysterious merchant.
And just as the exam concluded and everyone was about to be transported back to reality —
Chris's phone buzzed.
The moment the friend request went through, Tachibana Akane's message popped up before he'd even put the phone down:
"Chris, our exam just finished! The Student Council President asked me to relay the relevant information from this exam to you."
A string of images followed in rapid succession.
They were the photos Horikita Manabu had taken earlier — pictures of every item in the shop along with their detailed descriptions.
Appended at the end of the images was a comprehensive document detailing the cultivation method for [Ripple Breathing].
Honestly? Seeing that document, Chris wasn't particularly surprised.
Ripple Breathing was something anyone could learn — but its ceiling and speed of progress depended entirely on individual aptitude. Given Horikita Manabu's intensely rational personality, it made perfect sense that in the current climate, he wouldn't mind sharing this manual.
Making it public cost him nothing, and in return it would massively boost his prestige and cohesion across the entire Advanced Nurturing High School. Why wouldn't he?
Of course, understanding his reasoning didn't stop Chris from sending a deliberately probing reply:
"Senpai, isn't this a precious item the Student Council President paid a fortune for? You're just sending it all to me like this — are you really sure that's okay?"
Tachibana Akane's response came back confident, even a little proud:
"This is exactly what the President wants! He said this material will be compiled by the Student Council and distributed school-wide. You can show it to the people close to you first — let everyone get a head start on training and be that much more prepared for the exams ahead."
A beat later, another message arrived:
"Oh, right! The President also asked me to ask you — how many points do you need to cover what he owes you from the last time he bought intel from you? I can transfer them to you right now."
Reading that, Chris found himself biting back a grin.
Given Horikita Manabu's personality, he'd almost certainly briefed Tachibana Akane about all of this long in advance. The fact that she'd only reached out now — precisely at the moment the exam ended in a resounding victory — was telling.
Part of it was probably Tachibana Akane herself struggling, somewhere in the back of her mind, with the idea that her esteemed President had essentially "entrusted" her to a first-year junior like arranging his affairs before walking into danger.
But a bigger part of the timing was clearly a message being quietly relayed:
Our President is still more than capable. Even cornered, he can fight his way out. The chances of ever needing to rely on a little junior like you? Basically zero.
Chris shook his head and replied simply:
"No need. The intel value the President shared this time is more than enough to cancel out what he owes from last time."
Message sent, Chris closed the chat.
He looked up — straight into the puzzled gazes of Shiina Hiyori and Amikura Mako.
Without explanation, he stood, closed the workbook on the desk, and said:
"Let's wrap up studying early today."
"Amikura, Shiina — could you two do me a favor and let Ryuuen and Ichinose know? Tell them the Student Council President's exam is over, and that he's brought back intel from the mysterious merchant. I have something important to tell them, so have them come to the Class D classroom as soon as they can."
Seeing the serious look on Chris's face, the two exchanged a glance and wordlessly began contacting their respective class leaders.
Using the brief window that bought him, Chris switched to his chat with Kamuro Masumi and sent a message asking her to bring Sakayanagi Arisu along to the meeting.
Kamuro Masumi responded with a string of bewildered question-mark stickers on Line.
But a few seconds later, she replied with an "OK" gesture.
For this kind of errand-running and message-passing, Chris could absolutely have just @-mentioned everyone in the group chat and handled it in one line. But how could he possibly say out loud —
In a high-pressure environment like this, frequent personal interaction was itself the single best tool for warming up the bonds between people.
It was just like playing an RPG.
Everyone — Shiina Hiyori, Amikura Mako, all of them — needed side quests handed to them in the day-to-day routine. Log those participation points, build up that affinity meter.
That way, when the key story moment arrived and a relationship event triggered, the foundation for raising favorability would already be there.
The grand designs of the Lord of the Main System — could mere mortals ever hope to grasp them?
…
Ten minutes later. Class 1-D's classroom.
The room had been cleared of anyone extraneous.
Besides a handful of Class D's core members — Hirata Yousuke, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and a few others — everyone present was a class leader from one of the other first-year classes.
Ichinose Honami and Ryuuen Kakeru each found a seat. Sakayanagi Arisu stood side by side with Kamuro.
Once everyone had finished reading through the intel Horikita Manabu had sent over, Chris distributed the printed Ripple cultivation manuals.
"This is the Ripple Breathing the Student Council President plans to distribute school-wide."
"You've all seen the item descriptions in the group. This thing can extend your lifespan and preserve your youth. More importantly, the energy it generates has a special effectiveness against light-fearing creatures — demons, vampires, that kind of thing."
Ryuuen Kakeru took the manual and flipped through it lazily:
"If sharing this was all you wanted, you could've just posted the digital version to Kushida's group. No need to make a whole production out of dragging everyone here for a meeting, is there?"
Chris nodded, meeting Ryuuen's gaze directly. "There is."
"After learning the upperclassmen's exam was over, I checked the headcount of those who went in and came back. I found something: there were zero casualties this time."
Ryuuen's brow furrowed instantly.
Sakayanagi Arisu, standing nearby, looked as though she'd already anticipated this:
"What Chris is suggesting is… the Student Council President most likely exploited a rule loophole in this exam to do something behind the scenes."
"After all, in the preliminary test before our last exam, one of the top-prize rewards was something like 'additional Resurrection Count,' wasn't it."
Ichinose Honami's eyes went wide with sudden understanding:
"So what Sakayanagi and Chris mean is… before the preliminary test officially began, they'd already made a private agreement in advance — deciding who would end up as the final winner?!"
"But how is that even possible!"
Ryuuen cut in, his voice cold. "Even if their test content was identical to ours — don't forget, failing the test costs you a life. This is a game where you can actually die. Who in their right mind would willingly hand someone else the win and take on the risk of death themselves?!"
At that moment, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka — who had been sitting quietly in the corner, practically invisible — spoke up in his usual unhurried tone:
"If the price of failure is death…"
"Then you'd just need to find, in each class, the students who have never participated in a Black Sphere game before — the ones still carrying both of those extra lives the Black Sphere gave them — and who also have no desire to risk their lives in the actual exam."
"Have them take the preliminary test and bear the cost of failure. Wouldn't that solve it?"
The room went quiet.
Amikura Mako covered her mouth, face etched with disbelief. "So what you're saying is… the upperclassmen's approach was to sacrifice the interests of a minority — forcibly burning through their safety-net lives — in order to provide the 'qualified participants' who actually have to fight in the Black Sphere exam with the bonus of extra Resurrection Counts?!"
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled faintly and turned the question back on them:
"Is that not the optimal solution given the current circumstances?"
"With limited resources, preserving the survival rate of your strongest combatants is the best way to protect the whole cohort. Even the Student Council President — known for being conservative and principled — has clearly developed the resolve to cut off the tail to survive the wolf, after witnessing actual death firsthand."
"It's a necessary sacrifice."
Sakayanagi's gaze drifted thoughtfully. "I imagine this is also why Nagumo Miyabi didn't oppose him this time. Going by my intel, those two were absolutely not on friendly terms within the Student Council before."
Ichinose Honami pressed her lips tightly together, fingers laced in her lap.
She looked up at Chris. "So the reason you specifically called us all together… is that you want us to follow the upperclassmen's example before our own preliminary test —"
"— and negotiate in advance to determine who ends up as the final winner?"
Chris nodded.
"I know this approach — treating classmates as expendable — goes against everything you stand for, Ichinose."
"But given where things stand right now, it genuinely is the optimal choice for minimizing pointless attrition and rapidly building up high-tier combat power."
Sakayanagi Arisu followed up immediately:
"Precisely because the Black Sphere initially gave everyone two lives as a buffer — at least in the early stages of the game, this decision is feasible."
Hirata Yousuke listened with a deepening frown, and couldn't stop himself from raising the core flaw:
"But… if we keep running this plan, what happens when all those students being used as expendables have burned through every last one of their extra lives? At that point, who would ever be willing to die in someone else's place?"
Ryuuen let out a short, cold laugh.
"Hirata, aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?"
"Whether we'll even live long enough to reach the day their lives run out — that's already an open question. The Black Sphere's rules keep changing. Since we can't resist that change, all we can do is use every means available to adapt."
"As for what comes after — we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
Ichinose Honami bit her lip, visibly caught in a storm of conflicting feelings.
But in the end, she didn't voice any objection to Ryuuen's blunt assessment.
"You're not wrong… I'm the one asking for too much."
"Against the senseless, indiscriminate violence of the Black Sphere… maybe the only path is to make part of the group strong first, and then use that strength to pull everyone else up with them. Perhaps that really is the best way to protect the majority right now."
Seeing even Ichinose concede, Hirata Yousuke let out a helpless sigh and took on the thankless job himself. "I'll try to persuade the rest of Class D."
Amikura Mako, watching this, felt a pang of sympathy. She reached out and gently took hold of Ichinose Honami's slightly cool fingers, trying to ease some of the weight pressing down on her.
Ichinose squeezed her hand back and gave a small shake of her head, signaling she was okay.
She suddenly looked up at Chris and asked:
"By the way, Chris — in the intel the President sent back, was there any mention of seeing Amase in the exam?"
Chris answered honestly:
"Amase Kazuna came back with them. And didn't she say she still had quite a few item points she'd collected during the preliminary test? Running into the mysterious merchant this time — she may well have actually managed to exchange some of them for equipment."
"Tch. One little girl, one preliminary test — how many points could she possibly have saved up to exchange?"
Ryuuen looked dismissive, but then clicked his tongue with a trace of genuine regret. "Still… what a shame about that fifty-percent discount. Wonder if it'll all go back to full price by the time we run into that merchant."
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled:
"Ryuuen, you're overthinking it."
"Discounts only feel precious to people who are broke and struggling to scrape together enough points. For overnight success stories like us…"
"If the Black Sphere doesn't gouge us mercilessly, it's practically showing restraint."
She raised the printed pages in her hand:
"Well then — since there are no objections to Chris's proposal, I believe today's gathering can adjourn for now. I'm rather eager to get back and give this so-called Ripple Breathing a proper look."
Chris watched Sakayanagi Arisu.
He didn't even need to think hard to know that her rush to leave had everything to do with getting the cultivation manual into her father the Board Chairman's hands as quickly as possible — securing priority access for the Sakayanagi family.
But he didn't particularly mind.
"I've already posted the manual to the Black Sphere mutual-aid group. Download it yourselves."
After the meeting ended, the class leaders filed out one by one.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the schoolyard where GANTZ had watched the students be transported away —
Since the moment she'd watched Horikita Manabu get transported in, Horikita Suzune had been standing here alone, waiting.
But when her brother's figure finally appeared at the far end of her vision —
Horikita Suzune's feet suddenly stopped.
She didn't step forward to meet him. Instead, she instinctively retreated two steps, tucking herself into a shadowed corner beneath the trees — a blind spot that, from Horikita Manabu's angle, he'd never be able to notice.
The truth was, during the long wait, she had rehearsed it countless times in her head.
She'd imagined running up to her brother and telling him she was no longer the useless little sister who only dragged him down. She wanted to tell him she was working hard, even learning swordsmanship, and that someday she would be able to help him — in one way or another.
But…
When the moment actually arrived, the girl's confidence shattered in an instant, and she suddenly lost the courage to step out.
Her brother had come back — which meant he had survived, claimed a new life.
And her?
She couldn't even protect herself right now. During sword practice, she still couldn't block even one of Chris's casual strikes.
A sister who couldn't look after herself — if she ran out to face him now… wouldn't that only make him more disappointed in her?
Horikita Suzune gripped the hem of her uniform tightly, swallowing her emotions back down.
No. It's not time yet.
At least — until I can truly stand on my own two feet… only then will I go to my brother. Only then will I make him see me differently.
That was what the girl told herself, deep inside.
Even so — no matter what her rational mind said about leaving —
She couldn't resist peeking out for one more look.
And then.
The scene that came into view next shattered Horikita Suzune's entire worldview.
She saw Nagumo Miyabi — appearing from somewhere — step up beside Horikita Manabu.
The distance between the two of them was far too close. Close enough to be called a transgression of normal personal space between men.
Horikita Manabu still wore his usual expressionless face.
But in the backlit glow of the setting sun, Horikita Suzune saw it clearly —
The look in Nagumo Miyabi's eyes as he gazed at her brother… on the surface it seemed calm, but underneath the surface burned something so fervent it was nearly overflowing — pure admiration, and something that looked uncomfortably like possessiveness!!
That was not the look of an underclassman admiring a senior.
It looked exactly like — like —
"Hss—"
Horikita Suzune felt a wave of goosebumps crawl across her scalp.
"…What in the world is going on here?!"
She frantically shook her head, squinting, trying to look again and confirm what she'd seen.
But the image before her eyes hadn't changed at all.
She turned and fled in a panic.
Back on Horikita Manabu's end.
He caught a glimpse of Horikita Suzune's stumbling, retreating figure out of the corner of his eye, and gave a small shake of his head.
With the Black Sphere providing free post-exam healing, Nagumo Miyabi was perfectly fine — no lingering damage or hidden ailments.
Still, while the second year was not yet fully under his thumb —
This plan of his had gone through smoothly.
And in truth, Nagumo Miyabi's cooperation had been indispensable. Without it, any slip-up would have plunged him into an unrecoverable abyss.
Although he and Nagumo Miyabi were now effectively tied together — grasshoppers on the same string — and in a certain sense he even held the upper hand.
Nagumo Miyabi, as a person… compared to simple death, Horikita Manabu suspected he probably cared far more about something else entirely.
He hadn't used to be like this.
Horikita Manabu didn't understand it.
But as a partner, for the sake of their working relationship, he had no intention of drawing a hard line between them either.
He just hadn't expected this to end up as fodder for misunderstanding in front of Horikita Suzune.
Ah… Suzune.
It really isn't what you're imagining.
— End of Chapter —
Author's Note: The Great Sword character here was originally written as the gluttonous Bin Brothers, but that's no longer possible to write, so a last-minute edit was made…
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