The long night finally ended in the blaze of dawn.
The last demon, still bound by the Y-GUN's laser tether, never got the chance to teleport away — the morning light simply vaporized it where it stood.
The Black Sphere's chime rang out across the air.
[Cleanup complete.]
[Exam concluded.]
[Everyone... you've worked hard.]
Chris glanced down at the teleport beam materializing at his feet.
He turned his head toward Sakayanagi and Horikita, who were standing nearby, both still studying the radar screen with expressions that suggested they hadn't quite gotten their fill.
"Phew... it's finally over."
Karuizawa Kei wiped the sweat from her brow with a quiet, exhausted sigh.
Sure, her actual contribution had amounted to holding a controller and tracking monster positions the whole time. But she'd been running around after everyone for hours.
'I worked incredibly hard too, okay?!'
That said — the reason the battle had wrapped up by sunrise wasn't solely down to Chris, Sakayanagi, and Horikita.
After barely escaping Jikku with his life, Nagumo Miyabi's [Gorilla Suit] had suffered partial meltdown damage from the extreme heat. But even in its degraded state, it still gave him more than enough firepower to effortlessly slaughter the island's lower-tier evil spirits and Pure Titans — monsters that wouldn't even measure up to the Decepticons.
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Katsuragi Kohei, Koenji Rokusuke, and the others had been methodically sweeping through their sectors in coordinated groups.
If only they'd had stronger weapons — the mob-clearing had been a slow grind — the exam might have ended before dawn altogether.
Compared to the steady, methodical advance of the others, Ryuuen Kakeru had it rough.
He'd escaped Jikku's clutches just the same, but the prosthetics covering his body had taken the full brunt of the magma exposure. Most of them were fried beyond use.
Sure, he had the Golden Apple for HP recovery and MC Milk to cleanse status effects — but neither of those could repair shattered cybernetics.
The irony was, if he'd just died once, the Black Sphere's state-reset mechanic would've revived him with everything — prosthetics included — at full functionality.
But that wasn't happening.
Ryuuen hadn't gone full cyber-psycho just yet.
He was ready to die in battle if it came to that — but dying in some stupid, random way? That would just make him look like a clown.
Unlike a certain Ayanokoji, he had no extra lives banked from preliminary tests or midterm exams.
One death and he was done for real.
And he seriously doubted anyone would drop a hundred S-Points to bring him back.
So he bit back his frustration, gritted his teeth, and grinded it out — one arm, one combat-enhanced sniper rifle, precision shots in the dark — until the sun finally came up.
The haul wasn't exactly nothing, but compared to the rampage he'd been putting on at the start of the exam...
His grand vision of dominating the field with two hundred S-Points worth of cybernetic body enhancements and raking in massive gains? Completely bankrupt.
An absolute loss.
But regardless.
He was alive. And he still had the cards to make a comeback.
…
The familiar blue light swallowed the eighty-eight surviving students whole.
A brief wave of vertigo — and then they were back.
Back in the lavish hall where they'd gathered after the midterm exam.
Soft carpeting stretched out beneath their feet. Crystal chandeliers blazed overhead. A faint trace of aromatherapy drifted through the air.
Relieved, dazed, furious — whatever each person was feeling — the moment they saw that scene of tranquil, untouched normalcy, the moment they stood inside something that represented human civilization again, every single one of them felt the same thing rise up from somewhere deep inside.
A profound, bone-deep relief.
"We survived..."
The hall held its breath for a moment — and then the dam broke.
Friends who'd come back from the edge of death collapsed into each other's arms, sobbing.
Others — red-eyed, laughing through tears — shoved their way through the crowd to grab the classmates who'd sat the whole thing out on the school cruise ship, safely shielded by Morishita Ai's theorem, and let them have it:
"You actually just... sat there and let us do all the dying, didn't you?! You absolute bastards — you should be ashamed of yourselves!"
And naturally, some people cut straight through the crowd to find Chris.
"I'm sorry... senpai..." Ichinose Honami stood with her head bowed, pink hair still dusted with ash, eyes heavy with guilt. "In the end, I couldn't do anything to help you..."
"Waaah... Chris! We made it!" Karuizawa Kei threw all dignity out the window and lunged forward, hugging his arm with tears at the corners of her eyes. "I knew my choice was right! Because I stuck with you, I'm still alive..."
Neither Ichinose nor Karuizawa lingered for long, though.
As the core figures of their respective cliques, they each had their own groups — Class B girls, Class D girls — to go calm down and look after.
Chris waved them off with a few casual words and sent them on their way.
Amase Kazuna, however — who'd come over with Ichinose — didn't leave.
The red-haired girl hung back, hands clasped behind her back, her curious gaze settling on the large broadsword in Chris's hand.
"That sword... I don't think I've seen it before?" Amase Kazuna blinked, tilting her head. "Is that the cool armor senpai was wearing during the fight against Jikku — did it transform into this?"
Chris glanced down at [Demon Possession] and played along with a slightly puzzled expression.
"This belongs to Horikita Manabu. Technically, it's a supply drop from the upperclassmen's exam. I didn't expect it to get pulled along with me through the teleport."
Sakayanagi Arisu cut in from beside him, her tone light.
"That's perfectly normal, actually."
"When we die and get revived, any unopened capsule items that were on our person come back with us — which tells us that before the final settlement, ownership of supply-drop items isn't strictly verified. They're bound to the player, not the origin."
"As long as these items are still on you in the final second of the exam, they won't vanish immediately."
Sakayanagi shifted her gaze toward the center of the hall.
"That said — these items don't truly belong to us. The Black Sphere will eventually reclaim them..." She let a small smile play on her lips. "In that case, why don't we take advantage of the window before it does and see what we can actually afford to buy?"
Chris gave a short nod, then turned and called across the hall:
"Ryuuen, Ichinose, Ayanokoji — you three, come here. We need to talk."
Given the sheer scale of what Chris had accomplished during the exam, the hall went noticeably quiet the instant those words left his mouth.
Ryuuen Kakeru glanced over at Chabashira Sae — who was also present in the hall — then leaned in to murmur a few quiet instructions to his Class C lieutenants. Only then did he drag his battered body over, joining Ichinose and Ayanokoji in front of Chris.
The group had barely assembled when Chris was already reaching for the Shrink Lamp and other supply-drop capsules — ready to start dividing the spoils.
But then, as if the surrounding noise had dropped below some preset threshold —
The Black Sphere, hovering silently at the center of the hall, suddenly made a sound.
And with it, an enormous transparent display screen unfolded above the hall.
[Congratulations to everyone for successfully clearing the first trial.]
[The other anomalous lifeforms that invaded your world have now been returned, without exception, to their worlds of origin.]
[And you — eighty-eight of you have survived. As heroes who saved the world, you have every right to be proud of what you've accomplished.]
"'Returned to their original worlds'..."
Ryuuen stared at the display and let out a cold laugh. "Just as I figured. That thing was sitting on a stockpile of other monsters the whole time. It never threw everything at us at once."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded, his voice measured.
"Looking at how the Black Sphere deployed supply drops when we were pushed to the brink — that tells you it never actually intended to wipe us out. It needs us to grow. Naturally, holding some monsters in reserve as future whetstones makes perfect sense."
Chris raised a hand, cutting off the speculation.
"Alright, we can dissect the mechanics later. For now — quiet. Let's watch the settlement."
The text on the Black Sphere's display continued to scroll:
[Before official scoring begins, we'll need to reclaim the trial items we lent you.]
The moment those words appeared —
The [Demon Possession] broadsword in Chris's hand, the capsule containing [Demon Essence], the [Romantic Cannon] in Sakayanagi's arms — even Ryuuen's cybernetic prosthetics, and the Parasyte and Titan Serum inside Ayanokoji's body —
All of it vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed.
Losing the items didn't cause any physical discomfort, but Ryuuen — freshly reverted to an ordinary, flesh-and-blood body — clicked his tongue irritably anyway.
Ayanokoji, meanwhile, furrowed his brow slightly and turned to the Black Sphere.
"GANTZ — if I were to spend points later to purchase usage rights for that Parasyte that was just taken from me... would it be the same one? The one that's been learning Ripple Breathing alongside me? Or would it be reset to its initial state?"
A critical question, all things considered.
The Black Sphere responded promptly.
[It will be the original. This sphere does not deal in refurbished goods.]
[Now — scoring for this exam will commence.]
[1. Chris: 106 points (cumulative total: 131 points)]
[2. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: 68 points (cumulative total: 78 points)]
[3. Ryuuen Kakeru: 58 points (cumulative total: 63 points)]
[4. Sakayanagi Arisu: 55 points (cumulative total: 87 points)]
[5. Ichinose Honami: 39 points (cumulative total: 121 points)]
[6. Amase Kazuna, Horikita Suzune: 25 points (Horikita cumulative total: 35 points)]
[7. Koenji Rokusuke, Kito Hayabusa, Katsuragi Kohei: 17 points (Koenji cumulative total: 22 points, Katsuragi: 21 points)]
[8. Matsushita Chiaki, Karuizawa Kei: 11 points (Matsushita Chiaki cumulative total: 16 points)]
[9. Hirata Yousuke, Hashimoto Masayoshi, Amikura Mako, Shiina Hiyori: 10 points (Hirata cumulative total: 15 points)]
[All remaining participants with fewer than ten points may view their updated S-Point balances in their personal account ledger.]
Next came the class-wide spending point settlement:
[Class rankings and bonus points for this exam are as follows:]
[Class D: 4,230 (base 1,160 + 307 × 1,000%), bonus spending points per student: 3,070,000]
[Class A: 2,542.5 (base 1,725 + 109 × 750%), bonus spending points per student: 817,500]
[Class B: 1,822.4 (base 1,102.4 + 96 × 250%), bonus spending points per student: 240,000]
[Class C: 1,345 (base 590 + 104 × 500%), bonus spending points per student: 520,000]
[Additionally — two examinees successfully recovered the Special-Grade Cursed Object 「Sukuna's Finger」 × 2. As an extra bonus, all surviving students will receive 400,000 spending points.]
[No need to rub your eyes — you read that correctly. Consider it a reward for your world-saving efforts. Feel free to live extravagantly in the real world for the foreseeable future.]
[As for the individuals directly responsible for eliminating the cursed spirit and retrieving the cursed objects — Chris and Karuizawa Kei.]
[You have the right to distribute the additional 40 S-Points this generated. Note: these may be freely gifted to others~]
The announcement landed hard.
They'd just clawed their way back from the edge of death — and yet the sudden windfall still managed to lift people's spirits considerably.
Class D in particular: they'd been scraping by on a shoestring budget, and now every single one of them had three million spending points dropped in their lap.
Suddenly it felt... like maybe the Black Sphere wasn't so terrible after all? Like the people who died had at least died for something?
Well. They were contributing to humanity. That counted for something.
As for Karuizawa Kei — the named beneficiary suddenly realizing she had twenty S-Points to hand out as she pleased — she opened her mouth almost immediately, without a second thought:
"Then I'll give my share to—"
"Hold on."
Chris raised a hand, cutting her off. "Wait until we've sorted out the supply-drop item exchanges. Then we'll handle distribution."
"Besides — these 40 S-Points shouldn't stay exclusively with Class D. Everyone out there today put in work. Hoarding it all to ourselves isn't how you build long-term trust."
At that, the expressions on Ryuuen and Katsuragi's faces visibly eased.
Karuizawa Kei immediately pressed both hands over her mouth, nodding rapidly like a chastened child who'd just realized she'd almost said something she shouldn't have.
"Oh, oh, oh... got it! Got it!"
"GANTZ, pretend you didn't hear that — carry on, carry on!"
Over in the Class B camp, Ichinose Honami stared at her cumulative score — 121 points — and felt the weight of a very difficult decision settle over her.
It was enough to revive Shiranami Chihiro.
But...
If she spent those points now, she'd lose the opportunity to exchange for powerful supply-drop equipment.
And knowing full well that future exams would only get more brutal — without the strength to back it up, she'd just be leading Class B toward total annihilation.
It was like Amase Kazuna had once said: wasn't prioritizing personal feelings over the team's overall combat strength... a little too selfish?
Before Ichinose could tip the scales one way or the other in her own head —
Chris suddenly turned and addressed the Black Sphere.
"GANTZ — if I use 100 S-Points to revive Student Council President Horikita Manabu, the points he earned during this exam would still be credited to his account, right?"
Ayanokoji immediately picked up the thread.
"Reviving someone who already has a point balance essentially means that while it still costs 100 S-Points upfront, the overall return — factoring in their existing score — makes it a discount purchase in practice."
Ryuuen stroked his chin, a thoughtful gleam in his eye. "Smart economics."
The GANTZ display flickered, then responded.
[Logically speaking — yes, that would be correct.]
[However, Horikita Manabu has not been classified as deceased. When Jikku's Domain Expansion activated and collided with a minor spatial rift, he was swept into another world. There is a possibility of rescuing him in a future exam.]
[Are you certain you wish to spend 100 S-Points now to forcibly retrieve him across dimensional barriers?]
Horikita Suzune — standing not far away — snapped her head up the instant she heard those words. The dead, hollow look in her eyes was gone in a heartbeat, replaced by a sudden, fierce spark.
"He's... not dead?!"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, however, wasn't focused on the siblings' reunion.
He'd caught something else in GANTZ's words, and his brow furrowed with quiet curiosity.
"If GANTZ says so, I won't question it. But there's something else I'm more interested in."
"I personally witnessed Sakura Airi and Wang Meiyu get pulled into a spatial rift while trying to rescue Ibuki Mio."
"If I recall correctly — doesn't Class D have immunity privileges?"
The Black Sphere shot back without hesitation.
[Immunity doesn't mean you can do whatever you want.]
[Think of it like wearing a bulletproof vest on a battlefield. If you don't walk into the line of fire yourself, you'll be fine. But if you're the one who voluntarily hugs the grenade... the vest won't save you.]
[That said — based on my current readings, Wang Meiyu, Ibuki Mio, Sakura Airi, Yamada Albert, and Class B's Kohashi Yume and others are all still alive in the other world.]
[Perhaps you'll have a genuine opportunity to bring them back someday.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stepped back without a word, his expression unreadable.
He had a sneaking suspicion that this so-called "spatial rift" was probably a pit GANTZ had deliberately dug for a future trial.
But even seeing through it, he had no intention of saying so out loud.
Can't do much when you're a guest under someone else's roof. On their turf, they're the law.
With the personnel situation confirmed, Ayanokoji steered the conversation back on track.
"Then — before the exam started, you promised we could exchange supply-drop items to keep. Can you pull up the exchange list now?"
Black Sphere: [Of course.]
The display screen shifted.
A long list of items — every tool they'd touched or used on the island — appeared before them.
[Shrink Lamp: 500,000 Item Points (equivalent: 1,000 S-Points)]
[Imperial Arms · Demon Essence (fusion success guaranteed): 80,000 Item Points (equivalent: 160 S-Points)]
[Imperial Arms · Demon Possession: 80,000 Item Points (equivalent: 160 S-Points)]
[Adam Warhammer Prosthetic Remodel Kit (97% perfect modification — no prerequisites required!): 10,000 Item Points (equivalent: 200 S-Points)]
[Armored Titan Serum: 20,000 Item Points (equivalent: 40 S-Points)]
[Imperial Arms · Banri Hisho (Ten Thousand Miles Soaring): 20,000 Item Points (equivalent: 40 S-Points)]
[Imperial Arms · Romantic Cannon: 40,000 Item Points (equivalent: 80 S-Points)]
[Cursed Tool · Amenonuhoko + Black Rope: 40,000 Item Points (equivalent: 80 S-Points)]
[Cursed Tool · Soul-Release Blade: 20,000 Item Points (equivalent: 40 S-Points)]
[Universal Catalog: 10,000 Item Points (equivalent: 20 S-Points)]
[...]
[Note: Standard items available as fixed exchanges through the Black Sphere will remain accessible going forward. All other supply-drop items not exchanged during this window will be returned to the Celestial Works Guild. A traveling merchant may appear at a later time, at which point exchanges can resume. Don't miss your window.]
Sakayanagi Arisu studied the list and murmured quietly, "So in other words... it's now or never."
Ichinose Honami stared at the staggering price tags, and a flash of inner struggle crossed her eyes.
After silently apologizing to Shiranami Chihiro about a thousand times, she lifted her head and made her decision.
'It has to be this way... we need to arm ourselves first!'
Chris seemed to read her mind. He glanced at her sidelong and said quietly:
"Honestly — even if you'd spent your points to revive Shiranami, no one would have blamed you. That wouldn't have been wrong."
Ichinose shook her head firmly.
"If we don't have the strength to protect her, reviving Shiranami now just means she'll die again in the next exam."
"And it's not only her life on my shoulders anymore."
"So — whether for Shiranami's sake or everyone else's... I have to get stronger. That's all there is to it."
Ryuuen Kakeru, listening in, gave an uncommonly sincere nod of approval.
"Finally. Your saint act's starting to make sense. Better late than never."
Ayanokoji stepped in at the right moment.
"Now that we're on the topic — Ichinose, you and Chris have the most S-Points right now. Do you have a preferred loadout in mind?"
Ichinose took a steady breath and started laying it out methodically.
"My close combat is nowhere near senpai's level, and my sniping isn't as sharp as Sakayanagi-san's... there's nothing on this list that's a perfect fit for me anyway, so I'll stick to a support role for the team for now."
"First — the [Item Catalog Radar] is non-negotiable. Combined with senpai's controller, it'll give us an enormous intelligence advantage in future exams."
"Second — to guard against special monsters like Jikku, we need cursed tools in our arsenal. And [Banri Hisho] — air superiority matters too much to ignore."
"If there are points left over after that, I'd like to use them to equip some of the teammates who currently have nothing..."
Ichinose was still working through the math, carefully — when Chris raised a hand and cut her off.
"Ichinose, I know what you're thinking."
"But even if you've made up your mind right now, you don't have to carry every single burden yourself. The rest of us are all working to survive in our own ways too."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Wait for us to finish choosing first. Then make your own call."
Ichinose was quiet for a moment. Then she gave a small, quiet nod. "...Okay."
With that settled, Ayanokoji stepped up to the Black Sphere and stated his choices.
"I'll take the [Armored Titan Serum] + [Combat Suit] + my original [Parasyte]."
"GANTZ — that's 52 S-Points total, correct?"
The Black Sphere's display flickered.
[Modifying the Combat Suit to accommodate the Parasyte's shapeshifting and prevent interference with Titan transformation will require an additional 10 S-Points. Proceed with modification?]
Ayanokoji didn't hesitate. "Modify it."
Given the learning capacity the Parasyte had already demonstrated — and now with Ripple Breathing under its belt — if it could also benefit from the Combat Suit's tenfold amplification simultaneously...
Ten S-Points? Pocket change.
In Ayanokoji's estimation, that was worth at least as much as whatever cavalry unit was being bandied about elsewhere.
A black briefcase engraved with Ayanokoji's name and two capsules materialized before him.
Transaction complete. His S-Point balance dropped to 16.
Ryuuen Kakeru glared at his own score and raked a hand through his hair with a frustrated growl.
"Damn it — this amount is too much to ignore and too little to do anything impressive with..."
"Fine. I'll just buy the [Soul-Release Blade]. Ignores physical defenses, severs the soul directly — that should be pretty effective against those flashy special-type monsters."
Sakayanagi Arisu turned to Chris, and the look on her face was pure, unmasked wistfulness.
"What a shame my score is only 87 points. Otherwise I'd have seriously considered buying the [Demon Essence]. Pair it with your [Demon Possession], throw in my [Romantic Cannon]... that combo would be absolutely perfect."
That lineup though... it did sound borderline unstoppable.
But Chris burst her bubble without mercy.
"The top-tier items on that list are obviously just there to make our mouths water. You've already started daydreaming, haven't you."
"Also — you haven't forgotten what happened the last time you chugged Demon Essence and immediately keeled over, have you? What, you feeling lucky?"
Pivoting, Chris looked toward Ichinose. "Sakayanagi is clearly claiming the [Romantic Cannon]. Ichinose — what's your final pick?"
Ichinose thought it over, and her eyes cleared with quiet resolve.
"I'll take the [Item Catalog Radar] and [Banri Hisho]. I'll keep the remaining points as a reserve."
Horikita Suzune spoke up unexpectedly. "No need — I'll cover the cost of the Catalog. Keep your points, Ichinose. You'll have more important uses for them."
Ichinose didn't argue. She turned instead toward Chris.
"Senpai — if you want to exchange for [Demon Possession], I can redirect Class B's share of the extra bonus points to you. Combined with your class's share, it should be just enough to cover the 160 points."
Chris didn't accept the offer right away.
He looked up at the Black Sphere and asked:
"GANTZ — can I hold those 40 bonus points from the Sukuna's Fingers in reserve for now and allocate them later when needed?"
GANTZ responded faithfully to the question as stated:
[No. If unused in this settlement, the 40 bonus points will simply be converted into ordinary personal S-Points bound to your and Karuizawa Kei's individual accounts. They cannot be transferred after that.]
Chris was quiet for a moment. Then he made his decision.
"As much as I want the Demon Essence — I've never used it before and the risk is too high."
"Playing it safe: I'll take [Demon Possession]."
In truth, part of Chris's thinking was simpler: he was quietly curious to see whether Sakayanagi Arisu would eventually work up the nerve, after saving enough points in a future exam, to go for Demon Essence anyway.
If she did — he'd make sure to brand a mark on her back, just like Sajo Aika. That would absolutely be a sight to see.
But more importantly —
This armor carried meaning. It was Horikita Manabu's final entrusted keepsake, left behind in the most desperate of moments. That held a certain weight.
When Horikita Suzune laid eyes on Demon Possession, the odds were high it would remind her of Horikita Manabu.
That kind of quiet, persistent pressure — unseen, unspoken — was the best possible catalyst for growth.
[Then... distribution is complete.]
[As a final note — the Hyperbolic Time Chamber will be available as a permanent facility within the school going forward. On school grounds, simply tap your wristwatch, select S-Point usage, and enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at a one-to-one minute ratio for training. Multiple participants may enter together, at an additional cost of 1 S-Point per extra person. Please keep this in mind.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka read the Black Sphere's notification.
Quietly, he picked up his Combat Suit case and his capsules.
He turned and walked toward the exit.
He looked completely unbothered.
As if the bonus S-Points that had been quietly redirected — the ones tied to Sukuna's Finger — didn't concern him in the slightest.
— End of Chapter —
____
👻🔥Whant more?: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Jujutsu x Mieruko: Oh no, am I a villain too?
Let's reach these milestones together:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 free chapter for all readers