"Alright, it is decided. The team that will go there is me, Kuroneko, Miku, and... Zelretch," Yuuto announced.
"Oh? I really didn't expect you to be interested in going to such an ordinary world," Lady Avalon teased.
"I am going because it relates to the second quest objective, which is to train them. There is no way I would let my students be trained by someone else for the first time, right?" Zelretch answered casually while pointing at the trio.
"Wait a minute! I still haven't agreed to that decision!" Yukino protested, suddenly standing up from her chair. Yui beside her nodded hesitantly.
"Oh? Why don't you agree, Young Lady? Even though it is a great stroke of luck that you get to be trained directly by me, you know," Zelretch replied in a joking tone.
"The reason is very clear! How could I possibly entrust myself to a terrifying creature like you!" Yukino exclaimed sharply.
Hearing Yukino's out-of-line remark, Hachiman immediately panicked and tried to warn her.
"Hey, Yukinoshita! Watch your mouth!" he whispered tensely.
"My, my. You really are a very brave girl," Lady Avalon responded with a soft chuckle.
Yukino, who just realized her audacity, instantly froze in silence. Her face turned pale.
"Hoho... a terrifying creature, huh?" Zelretch repeated slowly.
A faint amused smile—his trademark—briefly crossed his face before he hid it behind a chilling, expressionless look.
Without warning, the entire island area was suddenly filled with an incredibly dense and suffocating aura of death.
"Darling..." Belfast squeaked, sitting next to Yuuto. The woman, along with Kuroneko, instinctively gripped Yuuto's arms tightly.
On the other side of the table, Yamato stopped her chewing and immediately went on alert, gripping her large mace.
Miku, who had been busy eating cake, now sat stiffly.
Irene could be seen gripping her magic staff so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"What a monster..." the red dragon muttered under her breath.
"You are going overboard in scaring them, Old Man," Lady Avalon reprimanded casually, as if she was already familiar with his habits.
Meanwhile, the main targets of the intimidation—Yukino, Hachiman, and Yui—felt their bodies freeze completely.
Their breath caught in their throats as if invisible hands were choking their necks.
In the midst of that terrifying aura fog, they could see Zelretch's pair of eyes emitting a glowing red light, accompanied by a wide grin revealing his sharp fangs like a true vampire ready to prey.
However, in just a matter of seconds, blip!
The entire terrifying and deadly aura vanished without a trace as if nothing had ever happened.
The three of them immediately coughed, gasping for as much oxygen as possible to breathe easily.
With an innocent, friendly expression and a joking smile returning to his wrinkled face, Zelretch propped his chin up.
"Well then, because of that, this terrifying grandpa now commands the three of you to become my students. This decision is absolute and accepts no refusal, understood?" he chuckled in satisfaction.
Hikigaya tried to take deep breaths to calm his pounding heart.
"Do... do we have absolutely no right to refuse?" he asked while panting.
"None," Zelretch stated firmly.
The teenagers looked up at Zelretch for a moment, then simultaneously bowed their heads dejectedly.
"What exactly have you done to drag us into this mess, Hikigaya?" Yukino sighed while massaging her forehead.
"Yeah, this is all Hikki's fault," Yui added, joining in on the accusation.
"Ugh..." Hachiman, who was suddenly blamed one-sidedly, could only stay dead silent, swallowing the bitter pill of his misfortune.
"If you want to find a party to blame, just blame your destiny that accidentally caught the attention of the most dangerous being in this multiverse," Lady Avalon chuckled casually.
Clap!
Yuuto clapped his hands once rather loudly, breaking the awkwardness and drawing back the attention of all the members at the round table.
"Alright, since the first and second points are settled, now let's discuss the third point," Yuuto said.
The young man leaned his body slightly forward, resting both hands on the table.
"About our recruitment target... who should we bring in?"
Hachiman, whose breathing had just returned to normal, immediately slammed the table.
"Whatever happens, never involve my little sister in this madness!" he rejected outright.
"Hahaha, alright, alright. Since this siscon of ours isn't willing to let us recruit his sister, it means our choices are left with one of his kouhai," Yuuto said casually, responding to Hachiman's reaction.
"Who do you guys think is the most suitable kouhai candidate to recruit from the Oregairu world?"
Kuroneko suddenly slammed the table with full enthusiasm.
"Isshiki! We have to recruit Isshiki!" she exclaimed.
"Isshiki?" Yui tilted her head, trying to recall the names of the students at her school.
"Why does that name sound familiar, huh?"
"Yuigahama, do you know her?" Hachiman asked.
"Ah, right! Isshiki Iroha from the first year! She just entered this year," Yui exclaimed after successfully remembering her.
"She is our kouhai, Hikki!"
"Recruiting a junior does meet the system's requirements. But, why did you choose her?" Yukino asked with her typical rational tone.
"Because she is the cutest kouhai! Well, even though her true nature is sometimes quite annoying, believe me, you guys will definitely get addicted to it later!" Kuroneko praised with sparkling eyes.
The three high school students looked at each other, getting even more confused by Kuroneko's absurd description.
"Nevermind, you will understand what I mean later after watching the anime," Kuroneko clicked her tongue.
"Alright. Let's summarize the results of today's meeting," Yuuto interrupted, taking back control of the conversation.
"The team that will go to Hachiman's world to carry out the main quest is me, Miku, Kuroneko, and Zelretch."
"Next, for the second task, Zelretch will step in directly to train the three of you."
Hearing his name mentioned, Zelretch grinned widely, showing his row of sharp fangs to them.
The three of them instantly gulped hard.
"Hoho... don't worry. You guys won't die," the old man chuckled casually.
"Then for the third task, our recruitment target is Isshiki Iroha."
"Up to this point, are there any other questions or anything you want to say?" Yuuto asked while scanning his gaze across the whole table.
The atmosphere was silent; not a single person spoke up.
"Alright, I'll take it that everyone agrees."
Yuuto raised one of his hands into the air.
Instantly, a wooden gavel materialized right in his grasp.
"With this, the Tree of Life group meeting is officially closed."
Bang!
Yuuto tapped the gavel onto the table.
As if responding to the knock, the branches of the giant tree behind them rustled in the gentle breeze, making thousands of glowing leaves scatter beautifully, livening up the air around them.
(Transition)
Inside the Sobu High School Service Club room, three pillars of bright light suddenly appeared and slowly faded, leaving three teenage figures there.
They were Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui who had just returned from the chat group meeting dimension.
The three of them looked extremely mentally exhausted.
"Alright, our business is done, right? I'm going home now," Hachiman muttered, breaking the silence.
Without wasting time, the young man immediately grabbed his school bag and turned towards the door.
However, his steps instantly halted.
"Hikigaya-kun," Yukino called out softly.
Hachiman flinched stiffly.
As he slowly turned his head back, he was greeted by Yukino's incredibly cold smile—a smile radiating an intimidating aura that felt like it could freeze the entire room.
"W-what is it?" Hachiman replied with a slight stutter, his survival instincts instantly firing up.
"Where did you say you were going?" asked the girl with long black hair in an overly gentle tone that actually felt very threatening.
Yui, who was standing right next to Yukino, couldn't help but shiver upon hearing her best friend's tone of voice.
"I-I'm going home," Hachiman answered with extra caution.
"Going home to where?" Yukino pressed without relaxing her sharp gaze.
"To my house, of course. Komachi must be waiting for me," Hachiman evaded, trying to find the safest excuse.
"Before you dare step out of this room, isn't there something you need to say to us?" Yukino demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ugh..." Hachiman swallowed hard.
Realizing he had no way to escape, he finally turned around fully.
The young man walked unsteadily towards the two girls, stood frozen for a moment in front of them, and then...
Swoosh!
Hachiman immediately bowed his body deeply until it formed a ninety-degree angle.
"I am truly sorry for dragging the two of you into this mess!" he exclaimed in a tone full of regret.
Yui and Yukino could only stay silent, looking at the young man who was now bowing resignedly before them.
"Hikki... y-you don't need to bow like that," Yui coaxed, breaking the awkwardness with an awkward smile.
"Besides, this isn't entirely your fault, you know."
Unlike Yui, Yukino remained silent, staring intently at Hachiman.
The girl then let out a long sigh, letting her intimidating aura slowly subside, and sat back down in her chair.
"Raise your head and sit down first," Yukino ordered, returning to her usual rational tone.
"For now, we need to discuss a few important things regarding the guests from another dimension who will soon be coming here, as well as the details of the absurd quests from that chat group."