Tokyo Colony 1
The group continued walking.
Takeru suddenly stopped again.
His Kogane hovered beside him.
"Hey, Kogane?"
The little shikigami turned toward him.
"Yes?"
Takeru tilted his head.
"How many points do I have?"
Kogane paused.
"Calculating…"
A moment later, it answered.
"You currently possess 1,847 points."
Everyone stopped.
Yuji stared at Takeru.
"…What?"
Megumi looked equally confused.
"That's a lot."
Takeru blinked.
"Is it?"
Higuruma adjusted his glasses.
"Extremely."
Nanami looked at Takeru.
"How did you acquire that many?"
Takeru shrugged.
"I've been around."
Kogane floated closer.
"Your unusually high point total is partially attributed to your participation in a previous Culling Game."
Takeru nodded.
"Oh, right."
He looked at the Kogane.
"You guys were there too, weren't you?"
"Correct."
Takeru smiled.
"You followed me from my timeline?"
"The Culling Game system associated with you was carried over when you entered this timeline."
Takeru scratched his head.
"So technically…"
He counted on his fingers.
"…I've got points from the old game, points from this one, and whatever else happened while I was jumping between colonies."
Higuruma looked at him.
"That would explain the enormous total."
Takeru grinned.
"Nice."
Yuji frowned.
"Wait."
Takeru looked at him.
"What?"
"You could've spent 100 points to leave the game this whole time?"
Takeru froze.
"…Oh."
Everyone stared.
Takeru slowly looked at his Kogane.
"…You probably should've told me that earlier."
The Kogane remained completely silent.
Takeru sighed.
"Never mind."
He started walking again.
"Let's find Takaba."
Megumi shook his head.
"I don't think I'll ever understand you."
Takeru smiled.
"That's okay."
Behind them, the Kogane quietly followed.
It had been with Takeru through an entire previous Culling Game.
And somehow…
he was still asking it basic questions.