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Inside the Multiverse Chat Group—
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest]: "Please don't be afraid. This really isn't some scientist's lab or a demon's trap. It's just… a small miracle."
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest]: "If you focus on the system interface in your mind and take a look at that amazing Multiverse Shop, you'll realize this power goes far beyond anything in our worlds. We all come from different places—we won't hurt you."
[Student Council President of the Sea of Stars]: "I see… so that's how it is. To construct a marketplace and communication panel directly inside one's consciousness—and for even my electronic devices to detect nothing at all… yeah, that's definitely not something those lunatic scientists obsessed with dissection and live experiments could ever achieve."
[Smiling Flower Pillar]: "Ara ara… so it really isn't an illusion created by a Blood Demon Art? A place that connects different worlds… how wonderfully romantic and unbelievable."
As the two newcomers finally accepted the existence of the chat group, a system notification suddenly popped up for everyone.
[Ding! Group member 'Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest' successfully introduced the chat group rules to the newcomers, helping them lower their guard and perfectly fulfilling the mutual-aid duty!]
[Reward: 2 group points! Credited to the member's account!]
[Elegant Gem Magician]: "???"
[Elegant Gem Magician]: "Excuse me?! I welcomed them warmly too! Where are my points? System, are you targeting me? Give them back already!"
Tohsaka Rin was completely losing it.
After all, daily check-ins only gave a measly 1 point. Missing out on 2 points for nothing meant losing enough to buy several high-purity magic gems from the shop!
[Ice General]: "Heh. Blame your own impatience for scaring the newcomers. The weak can't even seize opportunities. Staying poor is only natural."
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest]: "Eh? There are point rewards too? That's great! Now I can save up faster and buy those special seeds that guarantee a good harvest! Thank you, system—and thank you, Miss Rin, for letting me have this chance!"
Seeing Emilia's completely innocent "gratitude," Rin took critical damage twice over and could only sit there silently biting a handkerchief.
Meanwhile, in the faculty office at Sobu High, Lucian couldn't help but chuckle.
Before he could say anything, the system issued two more routine announcements.
[Ding! New members' combat data scan complete!]
[Group member 'Student Council President of the Sea of Stars (Tomori Nao)' overall combat rating: LV.1]
[Group member 'Smiling Flower Pillar ( Kanae Kocho)' overall combat rating: LV.2]
Lucian nodded slightly at the results.
Reasonable.
Tomori Nao's ability only allowed her to become invisible to a single target, and it came with major flaws. Physically, she was just an ordinary middle school girl. LV.1 made perfect sense.
As for Kanae Kocho—though she was a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, skilled in Flower Breathing and swordsmanship—she was still ultimately a human of flesh and blood, lacking truly destructive supernatural power. LV.2 was fitting.
…
At that moment, in the world of Charlotte—
Inside the quiet, empty student council room of Hoshinoumi Academy—
Tomori Nao, with her pale blonde hair and cool, composed demeanor, sat alone behind her desk.
Staring at the translucent chat interface hovering at the edge of her vision—and the [LV.1] label beside her name—there was no anger on her face at being ranked so low.
Instead, an intense shock bloomed into uncontrollable joy.
"This is real… it's not an illusion! This is truly a miracle connecting countless worlds!"
She clenched the handheld camera in her grip so tightly her knuckles whitened. Her eyes were already turning red.
No one knew the kind of hell she'd been through lately.
Her older brother, Kazuki Tomori, had been abducted by deranged scientists because of his ability to manipulate air vibrations. They'd used him as a lab rat, subjecting him to brutal live experiments.
When she saw him again, he was no longer the brother she knew—just a broken man, his mind shattered, screaming and tearing at blankets in a psychiatric ward.
As for her, she had been forced into this academy created to gather ability users, forming the student council alone and taking on the burden of searching for and protecting other espers from being captured.
She had once believed the world was nothing but a suffocating prison of despair.
But now, the Multiverse Chat Group had torn open a brilliant ray of light in that endless darkness.
"The Multiverse Shop… as long as I have points, I can buy anything from across worlds!"
"And these group members—they're all powerful beings from different worlds! With their help, those scientists would be nothing!"
Her heart pounded wildly as she opened the member list, eager to see just what kind of people she had connected with.
[Half-Elf of the Frozen Forest (LV.3)]
[Elegant Gem Magician (LV.4)]
[Magic-Collecting Elf (LV.6)]
[Ice General (LV.7)]
"LV.3… LV.7…"
Nao sucked in a sharp breath.
As an esper, she was only LV.1. Then what kind of terrifying existence was that LV.7 "Ice General"? Or the LV.6 "Elf"?
With a mixture of awe and caution, her gaze moved downward.
[Part-Time Ghost-Hunting Genius Teacher]: LV.?
"A question mark?"
Nao froze, instinctively trying to tap the name for more details.
The moment her consciousness touched it, a deafening red warning blared in her mind.
[Warning! This member contains unknown transcendent laws of a higher dimension!]
[Target's overall power exceeds the detection and evaluation limits of the current chat group version!]
[To prevent system failure, this member's level is automatically concealed and permanently displayed as '?'!]
Clatter.
The camera slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
The light that had filled her eyes moments ago vanished, replaced by pure shock and fear.
Beyond the system's detection limits?
Even a system capable of connecting countless worlds risked crashing just trying to evaluate this "Lucian"…?
That wasn't a part-time ghost-hunting teacher.
That was something beyond the multiverse. Something indescribable.
A god.
"If… if I can get even a tiny bit of help from someone like that… even just something slipping through his fingers… my brother… he can be saved!"
She bit her lip hard, tears finally spilling over.
For the first time, she felt like being pulled into this group was the result of ten lifetimes' worth of luck.
At that moment—
The originally blue chat interface suddenly turned blood-red, like ink soaked in fresh blood.
[Ding! Detected a high-risk, major fate event about to occur in the world of group member 'Smiling Flower Pillar (Kanae Kocho)'!]
[Multiverse Chat Group 'Character System' activated!]
[Generating the group's first main mission—!]
Amid sharp warning sounds, a massive crimson scroll slowly unfolded before every member's eyes.
[Emergency Assistance Mission: The Flower Pillar's Death Crisis!]
[Background: Group member Kanae Kocho will encounter Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki—Doma—during a mission. The power gap is overwhelming. She is in mortal danger.]
[Objective: Provide cross-world assistance to save Kanae Kocho and overturn her tragic fate! (You may repel or kill Upper Rank Two.)]
[Participant Limit: 1]
[Level Requirement: LV.5]
[Reward: 300 group points! Bonus: one random 'Purple/Gold' tier draw for a decisive kill!]
[Accept?]
"....."