The Director's Office.
Sakayanagi Seimori looked over the photocopied documents his daughter had handed him, flipping through them with a quick, cursory scan.
Noticing that the girl had thoughtfully annotated the cover page, his previously furrowed brow relaxed slightly, and he let out a quiet murmur of appreciation:
"A breathing technique that prolongs life — and one capable of dealing genuine, physical harm to light-sensitive creatures like vampires and demons... You're sharp, I'll give you that. Thinking to bring this back at the very first opportunity."
He closed the documents and exhaled. "That said, even with a head start on something like this, it doesn't actually give us much of a real advantage."
Sakayanagi Arisu sat across from him on the leather sofa, one hand propping up her cheek, her long pale legs crossed naturally.
"Is it because of the Kanzaki family?"
"President Kanzaki's son died during the test. As one of the country's most prominent financial dynasties, the school has undoubtedly been pressured over it. But..."
She tilted her head slightly, puzzled. "Going by GANTZ's usual operating style — wouldn't it have performed cognitive modification and memory erasure on all relevant parties?"
"The outside world should only believe he died in an accident."
Sakayanagi Seimori shook his head, smiling bitterly. "That's correct — in the Kanzaki family's memories, Kanzaki Ryuuji died in an accident before he ever enrolled. That much has been covered."
"But from the school administration's perspective, that causal chain was never obscured. Kanzaki Ryuuji undeniably died on school grounds. And the administration, as it stands now, is not entirely of one mind with me."
Sakayanagi Arisu's expression cleared. "You mean the newly appointed Vice Director Tsukishiro and his faction..."
Sakayanagi Seimori said nothing in direct reply. He simply spoke:
"Perhaps... this is also a quiet warning from the Black Sphere to everyone present who knows the truth."
"That said, President Kanzaki hasn't let it drive him to recklessness." Sakayanagi Seimori rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He only asked one thing of me — that if at all possible, I give his son a chance, down the line."
Hearing that, Sakayanagi Arisu's elegant brows knitted together faintly. "Then what were you sighing about just now, Father?"
"This."
Sakayanagi Seimori first gathered the documents his daughter had retrieved and filed them neatly away, locking them in a drawer.
Then he picked up the specially secured phone on his desk, opened an encrypted email, and held it out to Sakayanagi Arisu.
Sakayanagi Arisu took the phone. She had barely read a single line before the smile at the corner of her mouth quietly faded.
[During the midterm examination period at the end of May, GANTZ will conduct a concentrated purge of this world's anomalous sources at the Uninhabited Island examination grounds designated for first- and second-year students, thereby initiating the next phase of the schedule. The school administration is requested to cooperate with GANTZ's rules accordingly.]
"The end-of-May midterms..."
The girl murmured softly. "That's next week, isn't it?"
"And — 'Uninhabited Island.'" Sakayanagi Arisu looked up. "That's the location our school has used as an examination site in past years."
"The fact that the Black Sphere specifically mentioned this place — even using the words 'concentrated purge'... Could it really be planning to send the entire student body in at once?"
Seeing Arisu's expression shift to one of uneasy suspicion, Sakayanagi Seimori spoke:
"This directive was sent to me directly by GANTZ after the upperclassmen's examination concluded. My assessment is that the probability of it pulling in the entire student body is very high."
"And thinking back on it... the reason it previously hinted to you all about the existence of 'item point trading' and the 'Mysterious Merchant' was almost certainly groundwork being laid for this large-scale battle next week."
Sakayanagi Arisu pressed her lips together. "But setting aside the fact that most students have never so much as seen blood — just the Ripple Breathing alone: expecting them to learn it and deploy it in actual combat within a matter of days is simply impossible."
"We have no right of refusal."
Sakayanagi Seimori rose from his chair and walked to the window, gazing down at the campus below.
"If that is the case, then all the school can do is help these children as much as the rules allow..."
"But, Arisu."
He turned around, his gaze hardening. "Whatever you encounter on that island — your own life comes first. Do you understand? Don't try to be a hero."
Feeling the weight of her father's worry, Sakayanagi Arisu replied with quiet obedience:
"I'll be careful, Father."
But even as she said it, her fingers gently traced the length of her legs — legs that had fully regained their sensation.
The composed smile of absolute confidence returned to her face.
Not the hollow bravado one musters to steady a trembling heart. This was something deeper — a confidence born from the very core of her being.
"I'll be careful."
"But if even I find myself in danger... then this exam will probably end in a total wipeout. Heh."
——
Acting on Sakayanagi Seimori's authorization.
Over the coming weekend, Advanced Nurturing High School launched an unprecedented series of intensive extracurricular courses — "Wilderness Survival," "Grappling and Combat," "Introduction to Shooting," and more.
Not only were all classes offered completely free of charge, but students who enrolled also stood to earn a substantial reward in Personal Spending Points.
This wildly out-of-character display of generosity immediately drew the attention of the entire student body.
Even the students of Class D couldn't help but feel a prickle of unease.
In front of the bulletin board, a group had gathered.
Matsushita Chiaki held up her phone, cross-referencing the course announcement with what was posted on the board. She looked to Hirata first. "Class rep, why don't you go ask Chabashira-sensei what's actually going on?"
"The school is putting on a spread like this... it feels like they're giving us a last meal before the execution..."
Hirata Yousuke was just about to respond.
But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, standing off to the side, had already shaken his head, his tone as unhurried as ever:
"It won't do any good."
"The school has always been nothing more than a relay point for the Black Sphere's information. Even the administration's higher-ups probably only have a rough idea of what GANTZ is planning next."
"Even if you go and ask, you won't get anything of substance out of them."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sudou Ken scratched his head in frustration. "We can't just sit here twiddling our thumbs, can we?"
Horikita Suzune shot him a cold sideways glance.
"What do you think? We take the classes."
"The school has already spelled it out this clearly. What, you'd rather laze around in the dorms playing games all weekend?"
Sudou Ken's face flushed red at being snapped at, but he just sulked and looked away, swallowing his retort.
Matsushita Chiaki patted the shoulder of Karuizawa Kei, who was standing beside her looking a little pale. "That said, the school is launching this many hands-on courses all at once, which suggests time is pretty short."
"If we don't have long, trying to learn everything at once will just backfire. Better to go deep on one thing than spread yourself too thin."
Karuizawa Kei was chewing her lower lip, her gaze quietly slipping past the crowd to steal a glance at Chris — who stood there staring at the bulletin board, expression unreadable.
She wasn't sure why, but the sight of him — utterly unbothered, as though the sky could be caving in and it still wouldn't be his problem — had a strange effect on her.
The heart that had been hammering in her chest somehow, miraculously, began to slow.
She drew a deep breath and made up her mind:
"Then I'll go with the shooting course. I've already started practicing these past couple of days anyway."
At that moment, a faint scent of citrus drifted over.
Kushida Kikyo approached with her trademark bright smile, naturally sidling up to where Chris and Horikita Suzune were standing.
"Chris-kun, Horikita-san — which course are you two thinking of signing up for?"
Horikita Suzune didn't answer right away. Instead, she turned her gaze toward Chris, as if waiting for him to decide first.
Chris thought for a moment, then said offhandedly:
"I'm thinking of checking out the wilderness survival course."
"Though I'm different from you two — I had a bit of a foundation when I was younger."
"If you're not confident in yourselves, you're better off going with shooting, like Karuizawa. A gun is always the fastest weapon for a beginner to pick up."
"You don't need to be a sharpshooter. Just get over the mental block of pulling the trigger. If you freeze up when a monster shows its face instead of firing, that's the real problem."
"Understood." Horikita Suzune nodded. "I'll take the shooting course."
Kushida Kikyo's eyes shifted ever so slightly at that — and she immediately leaned toward Chris with a smile.
"Then would it be alright if I tagged along with Chris-kun to the survival course?"
"I feel like I'm not very strong physically, and I'm not really suited for direct combat. I think I'd be better off in a support role from the rear."
Chris glanced at the address for the survival course posted on the wall, turned, and walked off — tossing back a breezy reply as he went:
"Go if you want. Your legs are your own — why are you asking me?"
Kushida Kikyo quickly trotted after him, explaining in her soft, gentle voice:
"Because... if everyone really does end up facing a large-scale Black Sphere exam, the only person I can count on is you, Chris-kun! So of course I need to stay close to you — to make sure I'm positioned as proper support!"
Chris glanced at her sidelong, quietly amused.
You've got a pretty distorted picture of where you stand.
Even Karuizawa Kei understood it: incomplete loyalty is just another word for betrayal.
Karuizawa put her money where her mouth was and came with genuine proof of allegiance.
Here you are trying to get a free ride with empty hands.
That said, Chris didn't actually mind Kushida coming along to the survival course.
After all, for next week's midterm exam, he was planning to personally orchestrate a large-scale battle-royale-style game set against the backdrop of the Uninhabited Island.
While he was going to fill the island with monsters as a trial by fire, he wasn't about to actually make these high schoolers go full Robinson Crusoe on him.
Still, since the premise was a battle royale...
Weapons and food, naturally, ought to be airdropped in [Airdrop] and [All-Purpose Capsule] form, scattered across the island at various locations.
And to add a bit of flair — any player who used a food item card would be briefly teleported to a luxury yacht anchored just offshore for a proper sit-down meal. A little breathing room built into an otherwise grueling survival game.
'Though the specifics of elimination rates and penalty mechanics...'
Chris turned it over in his head as he walked: outright killing people is boring — why not set up a few wormhole-like traps scattered across the island? Anyone who stumbles into one gets dropped straight into another world? And that could even serve as the perfect opportunity to introduce them to the [Space of the Lord God]'s multi-dimensional mission mode.
Things like rule-based horror scenarios, or a rescue mission for Horikita Manabu...
Now that had some real potential.
With his plans for the future taking satisfying shape in his mind, Chris and Kushida Kikyo arrived at a wide, tiered lecture hall equipped with multimedia facilities.
The moment they stepped through the door, they ran straight into two familiar faces.
At the sight of Chris, Sakayanagi Arisu — seated in the front row — lit up immediately, and nudged Kamuro Masumi's arm with her elbow.
Kamuro Masumi turned to look, saw it was Chris, and let out a long-suffering sigh before dutifully scooting inward to clear two adjacent seats.
Seeing as the seats had already been vacated, making a deliberate show of walking all the way to the back to sit elsewhere would have been unnecessarily pointed.
Chris had little choice but to walk over and take the seat beside Sakayanagi Arisu.
Kushida Kikyo, with perfectly natural ease, settled into the seat immediately on his other side.
While waiting for the teacher to arrive, Sakayanagi Arisu propped her chin in one hand and turned to study Chris with undisguised curiosity.
"You're into wilderness survival? I honestly never would have guessed."
Chris leaned back in his chair and shook his head.
"Stuffed in among a lineup of high-intensity combat and shooting courses, one wildly out-of-place wilderness survival class stands out like a sore thumb. Anyone with half a brain can tell something's off."
At that, Kamuro Masumi spun around and immediately launched an accusation at Sakayanagi Arisu:
"You 'saw through it' too?! Then why didn't you say anything when you dragged me into signing up this morning?"
"I thought you hadn't slept properly last night and your brain was misfiring — that's why you picked this!"
Sakayanagi Arisu pressed her lips together, stifling a laugh as though she'd just heard something utterly hilarious:
"As Chris-kun pointed out — among all the immediately combat-applicable skills available for a Black Sphere exam, the school specifically singled out a survival course. Spending a little time understanding what that implies hardly seems unreasonable, does it?"
"Besides... surely not — Kamuro-san, you didn't actually think that a weekend crash course would be enough to master any real skill, did you?"
"Ugh..."
Thoroughly roasted, Kamuro Masumi slumped back in her chair with a deflated expression.
But then something else occurred to her, and she frowned in confusion:
"If you already knew the survival course was basically an intel briefing on the exam setting, then why didn't you tell Katsuragi and the others?"
"Sending all of Class A's elites off to learn shooting — what if they end up starving to death in the wilderness?"
Faced with Kamuro's rather dim question.
Sakayanagi Arisu simply smiled at her — without even the inclination to explain.
In the end, it was only under Kamuro's pleading gaze that Chris took pity and answered her:
"Because they're different from us."
"Without a Combat Suit backing them up, it's pointless for ordinary people to agonize over survival skills. They'd be better off picking up some basic marksmanship."
Chris said mildly, "The weapons GANTZ produces don't have much range anyway, and they come with built-in radar and targeting assist. For them, the only thing that matters is overcoming the mental hurdle. Functional is good enough."
Kamuro Masumi's eyes went wide with sudden understanding. She slapped her knee.
"Why couldn't you just say that from the start!"
"By not saying anything, you made me sound like some oblivious idiot who couldn't see the bigger picture just now..."
Sakayanagi Arisu, barely containing her amusement, delivered the finishing blow without a shred of mercy:
"Is there any possibility that you simply... are?"
"Ha — !?"
Kamuro Masumi's expression erupted in outrage as she shot a furious glare at Sakayanagi.
You scheming little — !
Coming at me, a sixteen-year-old girl, with a sneak attack like that!!
You think I don't have something on you, is that it?!
Hmph. During afternoon break the other day, a certain someone was talking in their sleep — calling out Chris's name, and even making some very suspicious little sounds... I'm not saying who!
Just as Kamuro Masumi was mentally loading the nuclear option — ready to blow everything sky-high and take them both down with her —
"Tap. Tap. Tap."
The measured sound of dress shoes striking the hallway floor carried in from outside.
Kushida Kikyo, who had been keeping one ear on the corridor, immediately sat up straight and dropped her voice to a whisper. "That's enough — the teacher's here."
Kamuro Masumi snapped her mouth shut and corrected her posture.
The classroom door swung open.
A middle-aged man in an immaculately tailored suit, every hair combed into perfect order, stepped into the room.
Tsukishiro Tsunenari walked up to the podium and swept his gaze across the tiered lecture hall with practiced ease.
Almost immediately, his eyes landed on Chris, seated in the center of the front row — and on Sakayanagi Arisu beside him.
But he let nothing show. He simply turned to face them, wearing a warm, benevolent smile, and began to speak:
"Good weekend, everyone. Before we formally begin, allow me to offer a brief introduction."
"My name is Tsukishiro Tsunenari. I am the newly appointed Vice Director of Advanced Nurturing High School — and your instructor for today's survival course."
He paused, and the warmth in his smile dimmed slightly:
"If anyone has questions — about the course, or... about anything else — now would be the time to ask."
"Once the lesson formally begins, I will not tolerate any disruptions."
His words fell into complete silence.
Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head slightly and shot Chris a pointed look: Are you going to ask anything?
Chris remained utterly unmoved, and murmured in a voice only the two of them could hear:
"Save it. If you can actually get any real intel out of this, I'll take your last name."
Sakayanagi Arisu gave a soft, quiet scoff.
"How will you know if you don't try?"
"And no backing out of that bet later."
With that, the girl raised her hand without a moment's hesitation and rose gracefully to her feet:
"Tsukishiro-sensei~"
"I'd like to ask — by specifically holding this survival course for us at this particular point in time, does that imply that we'll be facing a corresponding wilderness scenario during next week's midterm exam?"
"And to take it a step further... is it possible that within that kind of environment, we might find ourselves in the middle of a full-scale Black Sphere examination?"
Tsukishiro Tsunenari narrowed his eyes.
His gaze didn't settle on her face — instead, it flicked almost imperceptibly downward toward Sakayanagi Arisu's legs: legs that stood perfectly upright without any support whatsoever.
As an ally of Ayanokoji Atsumi, he had long since familiarized himself with Director Sakayanagi's daughter — a young woman born with a congenital heart condition, one who could only move with the aid of a cane.
And yet here she stood, like any perfectly healthy person...
So this was the power GANTZ claimed could [create miracles].
A quiet chill moved through Tsukishiro Tsunenari's chest.
But he was a seasoned political operator through and through.
Tsukishiro Tsunenari's expression remained unchanged. His manner stayed perfectly composed and gracious:
"Sakayanagi-san, that is a very sharp question. And honestly, I would very much like to give you all a clear, reassuring answer."
"But I'm afraid..."
Tsukishiro Tsunenari raised one finger and pointed toward the classroom ceiling, his tone carrying a note of helpless resignation:
"The school administration — and even those behind us — are nothing more than intermediaries at this point. All operational directives and examination arrangements come from..."
"A higher authority."
He lowered his hand and let his gaze travel across the room. "Does anyone else have any other questions?"
The classroom fell completely silent.
Seeing that no one dared to speak, Tsukishiro Tsunenari gave a satisfied nod, leaned forward, and switched on the multimedia projector.
"Very good."
"Then let us begin today's lesson."
____
👻🔥Here: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting in The Long Dark with My Waifus
We have set new community milestones:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for all readers