"What's their situation now? Can the five personalities exist independently?"
Kisaragi Rin asked with a frown.
He observed that Nino had easily squeezed out Itsuki's control over the body just now.
"Itsuki is the primary, and the five personalities coexist. When one personality controls the body, the other four personalities also see the body's actions from a first-person perspective."
Kisaragi Rin: "So they're all watching now?"
Nakano Maruo: "That's right."
...At this time, the Nakano Quintuplets.
The problem with this incident wasn't just the shared perception Nakano Maruo mentioned; the five of them even received fragments of each other's memories during their fusion.
And then... Ichika exposed her acting career, which she had been secretly pursuing.
Her younger sisters were quite shocked, only then realizing why Ichika was always sleepy every day.
Ichika could only pretend to be calm, stating that there was nothing strange about it. Having suddenly merged with her sisters, she had already planned to tell everyone about her acting career, which was basically ruined.
Nino exposed her feelings for Kisaragi Rin.
Well... only Itsuki, who had been oblivious to this, was surprised.
Itsuki exposed her identity as the mysterious food critic, M.A.Y.
Regarding this, her sisters weren't surprised, as they vaguely felt it was indeed something Itsuki, the big eater, would do.
Miku also exposed her fondness for military commanders.
Likes military commanders?
Although a bit strange, the other quintuplets didn't take it seriously, only finding it a bit odd that Miku would hide such a thing from them.
Miku herself, however, wanted to faint several times due to the embarrassing revelation.
For her now, liking military commanders was still a hobby she was too shy to mention.
Especially compared to Nino, who, in stark contrast to her, loved fashion.
Miku had already prepared herself to be teased by Nino, but then she realized everyone's focus was entirely on something else.
That was Yotsuba, who hadn't been mentioned yet.
And what she had hidden was her feelings for Kisaragi Rin.
There's nothing wrong with liking Kisaragi Rin.
The crucial point is that Nino also likes him!
They received fragments, not everyone's complete memories.
Nino, quite puzzled, tried to ask Yotsuba why she liked Kisaragi Rin.
Yotsuba was a bit insecure; not only did she not explain her feelings, but she also tried to convince herself that it wasn't true at all. Nino naturally couldn't accept such an answer, which threw them into disarray.
It could be said that almost all their time was spent resolving the conflicts among the five of them.
And the result... was naturally a truce.
Or rather, they entered a cold war.
After all, no matter what, they could only stay in Itsuki's body for now and were about to embark on a Trial Mission that sounded very dangerous.
Any further conflicts would have to wait until after this incident was resolved.
Because this was Itsuki's body, they ultimately decided that she would be the primary... Back to the present.
Itsuki's expression changed again. She calmly looked at Kisaragi Rin and suddenly asked, "Can you tell who I am right now?"
This was a game unique to the Nakano Quintuplets. Kisaragi Rin's ability to distinguish them always bothered them a bit. Now that there was only one body and they existed as personalities, they were all quite curious if Kisaragi Rin could still identify them.
Facing Itsuki, who was staring at him, Kisaragi Rin replied, "Ichika."
"Eh??? Why?"
Ichika, along with her sisters inside the body, all had question marks pop up.
It was one thing to be able to distinguish five people.
But now that we've all become one person, isn't it a bit too strange that you can still tell?
"...I also want to know why."
Kisaragi Rin sighed.
From his perspective, Itsuki's hair had turned into Ichika's light pink.
Seriously, they've become one person, and when the Nakano Quintuplets switch personalities to control the body, their hair colour changes from his perspective!
What the hell is going on?
Kisaragi Rin was speechless.
Nakano Maruo also frowned, wondering why Kisaragi Rin could tell which personality was controlling Itsuki's body.
These were just personalities, not special existences with extraordinary powers; otherwise, he wouldn't dare send such Nakano Quintuplets into the Paradise to participate in a trial.
Glancing at Kisaragi Rin, Nakano Maruo eventually let the matter go.
"Because Itsuki's current body has five personalities conscious at the same time, her appetite will be even greater than before. Give me the Storage Ring; I'll put some food and supplies inside."
Nakano Maruo explained, and Kisaragi Rin tossed him the Storage Ring.
The Trial Mission was very special. Before completing this Mission, the Nakano Quintuplets were just Candidate Players. Not only had they not obtained player panels and bracelets, but Paradise was even somewhat reluctant to bother with Candidate Players.
Hmm... Kisaragi Rin only received some hints from Paradise when he encountered two special mutants during his apocalypse survival.
Someone might ask: Nakano Maruo is so powerful, he surely wouldn't lack the Equipment and Items the Nakano Quintuplets could use at this stage. Why doesn't he just put everything into the Storage Ring for her to take in?
And the answer is that it's impossible.
Like mobile phone detectors before an exam, Candidate Players undergo a detection from Paradise when entering a trial. Those who cheat will face a Trial Mission of abnormal difficulty, which is what Nakano Maruo previously meant by the Nakano Quintuplets entering the game with five bodies simultaneously encountering double difficulty.
However, perhaps out of humanitarianism, carrying only one piece of Equipment or Item into the trial is fine.
When Yukinoshita Yukino entered her trial, she brought the [Cat Spirit Bracelet], and the Nakano Quintuplets naturally decided to bring this [Advanced Storage Ring].
"Alright."
After putting the Items in, Nakano Maruo tossed the Storage Ring back to Kisaragi Rin.
"Then let's go."
Kisaragi Rin said, and with a swirl of petals, Medea appeared beside him.
With Medea watching over him, Kisaragi Rin summoned his Stand.
Talent - Stand - Fourth Wall
This was the name Kisaragi Rin gave his Stand. A few hours were enough for him to ascertain some basic uses, such as extracting his Soul.
The iron ball spun, and Kisaragi Rin's Soul separated from his body and entered the Storage Ring.
Itsuki put on the Storage Ring, took a deep breath, and gripped the invitation letter Nakano Maruo handed her.
[invitation letter detected]
[You have obtained Evolution Qualification]
[Candidate Player Itsuki]
[Trial Mission will now be activated for you]
[Paradise congratulates you in advance]
[Welcome to this great Evolution]
Itsuki disappeared, and Nakano Maruo's gaze fell on Kisaragi Rin and Medea.
Then, a deer appeared.
She sat at the corner of the table, first plucking off a Deer Antler to poke Kisaragi Rin's face, then tilted her head and asked with a silly, blank expression, "Want to fight?"
"A deer?"
Nakano Maruo's poker face gradually vanished.