His thoughts drifted back to his past life, when Fumiya Jin had raised a little white rabbit. The little rabbit was quite dumb; the kind of little fool that wouldn't even know to pick up and eat a vegetable leaf placed at its feet—you had to feed it right at its mouth before it would open up.
But the Fumiya Jin of that time was very patient, feeding it on schedule every day. Before long, he had fed it until it was plump, white, and perfectly round.
Though this little rabbit was dumb, it had its merits—its body was especially soft and adorable. After it got fat, it was like a round ball in his hands. It felt wonderful, both tender and springy.
Fumiya Jin loved letting it hop into his hands, then squeezing it for fun, watching the little thing look completely bewildered as it was squashed flat in his grip.
At that thought, Fumiya Jin squeezed subconsciously.
[Freestyle Sharpness +1]
Wait, this works too?
Then... what if I squeeze again?
[+1]
[+1]
Still works? How about one more time?
[+1]
[+1]
[+1]
[Sharpness Level increased to Red Blade.]
Fumiya Jin was stunned—why was it increasing more and more? Was this some kind of cosmic god-rabbit radiating primordial power?
Doesn't the trait only trigger when you're showing off? Does this count as showing off?
Wait, that's not right! This isn't showing off, it's being a creep.
'Unity of Knowledge and Action' grants sharpness for doing things that fit the class's character, but there isn't necessarily only one thing that fits its character. So being a creep counts?
I remember the name of this class was something like... Degenerate Tachi Shrimp? Well then, the answer was hidden in plain sight, wasn't it?!
And also... Repeating the same action increases the sharpness gained even more?
That doesn't seem right.
If you're going to do it like this, then my Lethal Tempo is about to trigger!
"Hey... No! ...What the hell is... wrong with you!!"
Yuki Suou's body began to tremble slightly, her cheeks instantly flushing crimson.
But more than embarrassment or anger, the emotion that overwhelmingly dominated her mind was—shock. She was completely stunned!
"Hey! My knife is still at your neck! With just a slight flick of my wrist, your life is over! And you... you still dare... dare to do this to me..."
"Didn't I say it already? I trust that you're not a murderer," Fumiya Jin said with a calm expression. "A person who would risk death to survive together with a complete stranger they were matched with in an instance... How could someone like that casually kill a person with whom they have no quarrel?"
"No quarrel? You can't say that now!" Yuki Suou seethed through gritted teeth. "You don't think that defiling a girl's purity... is some trivial matter that can be lightly dismissed, do you?"
Fumiya Jin met her gaze without flinching, facing her fierce glare head-on. "It certainly isn't... but compared to an offense of the level of holding a knife to someone's neck and threatening their life, it seems a bit less severe, doesn't it? In fact... you could say that by forgiving your offense for such a small price, I'm the one getting the short end of the stick, no?"
"You!!!"
Yuki Suou glared at him furiously, her body and the hand holding the knife trembling, as if she might slash downwards with all her strength at any moment...
One second...
Two seconds...
Three seconds...
Four seconds...
Five seconds...
"Damn it, I lose! I'll remember this!"
The girl bit her lip and resentfully threw the dagger to the ground.
Clang! Clatter...
The poor dagger bounced and rolled a few times on the ground before coming to a stop. In fact, if one were to pick it up and look closely, one would discover that this poor dagger... wasn't even sharpened.
"I admit, I wanted to test you a little, maybe even intimidate you to make it easier to discuss a partnership..." Yuki Suou shot Fumiya Jin a resentful glance. "But I didn't expect you to be such a handful."
Fumiya Jin shrugged. "I just don't like being taken advantage of. I'm actually a very pure and friendly person. If you had just been open and honest from the start, we could have avoided all this trouble, right?"
"Pure and friendly?"
Three dark lines appeared on Yuki Suou's forehead.
"How about you take your pig's trotter off someone else's body before you say such shameless things!!! Hey! You're still squeezing?! Are you ever going to stop?!"
"Ah, my apologies," Fumiya Jin finally withdrew his hand. "It was a subconscious action... not intentional."
"The fact that you have such subconscious actions is the biggest problem here!" There were too many things to roast him for; Yuki Suou was almost out of energy.
"So, back to the point. Why did you seek me out?" Fumiya Jin changed the subject with absolutely no finesse.
But Yuki Suou played along, tersely spitting out two words: "To team up."
"For the next instance?" Fumiya Jin asked.
"If we work well together, then for every one after that," Yuki Suou said.
"Why me?"
"Same reason you mentioned before. I saw you clear the trial with a girl, which says a lot about your character and tendencies. If you can clear it with a stranger you've just met, then as a permanent teammate, you're definitely more trustworthy than others." Yuki Suou reined in her extra emotions, her gaze turning serious. "There's also another, less certain reason—based on your and that girl's positioning and condition at the time, my intuition tells me you were the MVP, and she was carried. If that's true, then your adaptability must be very strong, which would be a huge help to me."
Hearing this, Fumiya Jin raised an eyebrow slightly.
This girl was meticulous and observant. The fact that she could find him in such a short time meant her execution and social influence were also quite strong.
Compared to Nijika, her talent and strength on the path of a player were indeed far superior.
"Then why not team up with the partner who survived with you? You should have a better foundation of trust, right?" Fumiya Jin asked.
"No, I have no foundation of trust with her," Yuki Suou said with a sardonic smile. "After just a few words with that woman, I could tell she would definitely sell me out. No matter how nice her words were, once the chainsaws started moving, she would absolutely press the button. Even if I tempted her with a huge reward, that temptation probably wouldn't overcome her fear of death."
"Then how did you both survive?" Fumiya Jin asked curiously.
"I used my status as the young lady of the Suou family and a massive reward to lure her in, telling her to bring her head closer. Then... I used all my strength to headbutt her and knocked her unconscious." Yuki Suou spread her hands. "After that, she couldn't press the button, could she?"
Fumiya Jin was filled with respect and gave her a thumbs-up. "Not bad."
Yuki Suou lifted her snow-white chin, looking slightly smug. "So... being my teammate wouldn't be selling yourself short, right? What's more, as the only daughter and sole heir of the Suou family, I have access to far more social resources and can investigate more useful information, which is how I found you so quickly. Also, I'm not hurting for cash. I could easily provide for my teammate, if it came to that."
"A very tempting offer..." Fumiya Jin's eyes widened slightly.
"You agree?" Yuki Suou asked with a smile.
"However, I refuse," Fumiya Jin said, shaking his head.
"Huh?" Yuki Suou's smile froze. "Why?"
"I already have a teammate," Fumiya Jin said with a shrug. "You've probably seen the terminal."
Yuki Suou understood his meaning at once and nodded. "Currently, you can only choose one teammate. More teammate slots seem to be locked... so the three of us together is impossible for now."
Yuki Suou bit her lip and looked at Fumiya Jin. "Is it that girl?"
Yuki Suou had also seen Nijika at the time. With her connections, finding Nijika would be simple. So there was no need for Fumiya Jin to hide anything; he simply nodded.
"Alright, if you two truly cleared the trial by trusting each other... then I can't compete with her," Yuki Suou sighed with regret.
However, she wasn't completely disheartened.
After lowering her head in silence for a few seconds, she suddenly snapped her fingers.
"In that case, I have a new proposal," she said, looking up at Fumiya Jin. "You two will definitely enter the game before the three-day deadline, right? If you enter the game and both survive and exit the instance... please call me immediately. If I haven't entered the game by then, I'll ask you to enter again with me... For that, I'm willing to pay an extremely handsome reward, the kind that will absolutely satisfy you."
Fumiya Jin raised an eyebrow slightly. He quickly understood her meaning.
The reason Yuki Suou valued him was that he had achieved the most difficult dual-survival ending with Nijika in the first instance, proving his good character and strong ability.
And if Fumiya Jin could complete a second instance with Nijika, both of them surviving, it would be an even greater testament to his skill and character. In Yuki Suou's eyes, his value as a teammate would then increase by another huge margin.
At that point, Yuki Suou would naturally be willing to pay a much higher, much harder-to-refuse price to recruit him.
"But you should also know that with how dangerous this game is, every extra entry means another risk of death," Fumiya Jin said. "That's not something a reward can measure."
"I understand. So... if you truly have that ability and are willing to take this risk with me, I will definitely make an offer that satisfies you as compensation." Yuki Suou looked at Fumiya Jin with clear eyes, her gaze incredibly serious. "And I'm not forcing you to agree, just extending an invitation. If you're willing to hear my terms after you complete the second instance, you can contact me. If not, I'll find other ways to increase my own survival rate. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"No problem," Fumiya Jin nodded. "If anything, this one-sided invitation is overly generous to me."
Yuki Suou smiled playfully. "This generosity comes with a condition, you know... If you come out alone next time, the price I offer you might not just fail to increase, it might even drop."
"Then I'd better work hard. Can't let myself depreciate," Fumiya Jin chuckled.
*Ding-dong-dang-dong...* The class bell rang.
Yuki Suou picked up the dagger from the ground, sheathed it, and put it away.
Then she raised two fingers to her temple, giving Fumiya Jin a cool farewell salute. "I'm going back to class. I'll be waiting for your call."
But after just a few steps, she seemed to remember something... She stopped and turned back.
"By the way... that... how did it feel?" Yuki Suou gave Fumiya Jin a mischievous look.
Fumiya Jin froze for a moment before he realized what she was talking about.
Then he answered honestly with a thumbs-up. "Great."
"Hmph, of course. I'm quite confident in my own body!" Yuki Suou actually lifted her chin proudly at that.
Then she glanced at Fumiya Jin and said, "You'd better not die... I'd rather not have the first man to ever touch my body be some idiot who's all talk but can't even clear the second game. That would make me feel... like my own judgment was insulted."
With that, she turned around and quickly walked away...
_____
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