[Purple Sweet Potato & Taro Paste (Kafka): Don't get so worked up~]
Kafka, for her part, stayed perfectly calm.
[Purple Sweet Potato & Taro Paste (Kafka): I just put on a new pair of tights. Now—check the shop again.]
On the other side of the screen, everyone redirected their attention back to the shop interface.
Sure enough—
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): Whoa! The Command-Word Tights count is back to 1! It refreshed!]
Eisen immediately seized on the key point.
[Group Owner (Eisen): …Got it. Looks like physical-item products require a real object as a concept template in order to be generated. Once someone buys it, the template item disappears—until it's replenished. Which raises a question: who bought Mash's Willpower Glasses? @everyone]
A rapid chain of denials flooded the chat:
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): Not me! (hand_up_swear.jpg)]
[Roasted Eggplant (Mash): Not me! (furious_headshake.jpg)]
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade): Not me. (calm_drinking.jpg)]
[Purple Sweet Potato & Taro Paste (Kafka): +1 (elegant_confirmation.jpg)]
By elimination, there was only one possibility. Eisen reached the conclusion quickly:
[Group Owner (Eisen): Then there's only one answer—the new member who's been "Busy" the whole time. Looks like she's run into serious trouble in real life. I'll keep watching her status. If it switches to "Critical," I'll use the group owner's authority to forcibly teleport over and check on her.]
But the phrase "forcibly teleport" immediately set off alarm bells for Ling.
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): Wait—FORCIBLY teleport?! You can appear next to us without our consent?! (horror.jpg)]
[Group Owner (Eisen): That isn't a privilege. It's a responsibility. (serious.jpg)]
[Group Owner (Eisen): Every member is the chat group's precious property][Message retracted]
[Group Owner (Eisen): Cough. I mean, every member is an important partner. That authority can only be used when a member's status shows "Critical." And I'm exhausted too, okay? Who wants to run around different worlds for no reason? (helpless_shrug.jpg)]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): You posted something weird just now, but if it's for saving people, then fine—I'm relieved. (patting_chest.jpg)]
[Roasted Eggplant (Mash): Yes, you scared me too! If a man suddenly appeared in my room without warning… just imagining it is terrifying! (still_shaken.jpg)]
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade): Huh? That's not so bad. For ninja, being monitored and having someone suddenly barge in to summon you is practically everyday life. (doesn't_care.jpg)]
[Purple Sweet Potato & Taro Paste (Kafka): As for me… I'm always under the gaze of the memokeepers from the Garden of Recollection anyway. So it doesn't matter. (calm.jpg)]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): Hey, hey! Tsunade-nee! Kafka-sis! Your worldviews are way too horrifying! Compared to that, my side is so free it's basically heaven! (shouting.jpg)]
Eisen timed it well and dragged the topic back on track.
[Group Owner (Eisen): Even I think the environments you two live in are a bit ridiculous… but for now, let's focus on the next product. @Group Assistant]
The assistant responded at once. New product information unfolded across the light-screen:
Functional Product: Ominous Premonition
Concept extracted from [Giant Daifuku].
Price: 1 point.
After purchase, if the user is about to encounter misfortune in the near future (such as lethal danger, major losses, and so on), various omens will appear.
The effect is consumed after triggering a single warning—or after 24 hours pass without triggering.
The moment this functional item appeared, it sparked a very different kind of reaction.
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): Wow! This feels insanely useful! You can know bad things are coming in advance—pure lifesaver! And I checked: functional products don't have a stock limit!]
[Roasted Eggplant (Mash): It really is practical! It can effectively prevent ambushes and "first-time kills" that cause unexpected casualties!]
[Purple Sweet Potato & Taro Paste (Kafka): Mm. A very useful passive warning ability. In a critical moment, it can buy precious reaction time.]
Kafka even gave it her approval.
But as she glanced at Elio, resting with eyes closed not far away, she silently added:
With Elio's script in play, this premonition would probably be little more than a nice extra.
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade): Oh? So this is my ability too…]
In an izakaya, Tsunade—drinking sake alone—froze for a beat.
She set down her cup, her gaze turning complicated.
She lost every gamble like clockwork, as if cursed by misfortune. Yet ironically, whenever someone important to her was about to suffer disaster, her luck would twist unnaturally in the opposite direction—becoming a grim omen.
This curse-like "ability" was something she had once despised.
Now, learning that the chat group could extract it and repurpose it to help others left her with a swirl of conflicting emotions.
If someone could use it to avoid regret… maybe the ability itself deserved a little less hatred.
Just as everyone was discussing how useful Ominous Premonition seemed, and the atmosphere had lightened—
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): AAAAAAAAH—!!! HELP!!!]
[Roasted Eggplant (Mash): Senior Ling, what happened?!]
After Mash asked, Tsunade, Kafka, and Eisen all fell silent at the same time, waiting for Ling to explain.
Eisen also swept his eyes over the member list. Ling's status icon at the bottom-right of her avatar was still a safe green, not the glaring red of "Critical."
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): I thought, since it's cheap anyway, I'd buy Ominous Premonition out of curiosity.]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): A-and then when I reached for my phone—my phone clearly still had battery, but it suddenly shut itself off! No response no matter how I press the buttons! (black_screen_phone.jpg)]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): I got up and put on my slippers, and the seam connecting the strap to the sole suddenly popped open with a "啪"! I almost tripped! (broken_slipper_closeup.jpg)]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): I tried to drink some water to calm down, but the moment I picked up the glass on the table—crack! A loud snap, and a visible fracture split across the side! Water started leaking out! (cracked_glass.jpg)]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): These are the "omens," right?! Am I about to have insanely bad luck?! Help! (terror_blur.jpg)]
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade): Hiss—]
Tsunade sucked in a sharp breath.
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade): I've never experienced omens this dense and intense. Usually, after just one of these happens, I lose someone close to me. (shocked.jpg)]
[Sports-Style Lunchbox (Ling): !!! (abstract_terror.jpg)]
Realizing she might have scared Ling half to death, Tsunade hurried to soften it.
[Giant Daifuku (Tsunade): But it's also possible the version you bought is simply… more "responsible"? Like it keeps warning you repeatedly whenever there's any accident at all? (comforting.jpg)]
Eisen didn't hesitate for even a second.
[Group Owner (Eisen): We can argue about item rules later. Ling, I've already submitted a request to travel to your world—approve it as soon as possible. (serious.jpg)]
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 80)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 80)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 80)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter35)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter35)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter35)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter35)
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