The exact circumstances of Shiranami Chihiro's exit from the stage were still unclear to her.
But from the weight buried in Ichinose Honami's words, Amase Kazuna could piece together a rough picture.
Unable to keep pace with the exam's demands — or simply lacking the raw ability — she had been eliminated. Possibly killed.
Survival of the fittest... It's almost like a carbon copy of the White Room.
True, the Fifth Generation she belonged to was generally considered less rigorously trained than the Fourth — Ayanokoji's generation. But since Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was here, and he was facing the same Black Sphere challenges she was, then naturally, she had to prove something.
That the "genius" of the Fifth Generation would never lose to an old era's "masterpiece."
Setting aside her competitive instincts for a moment, though.
Cross-referencing the intelligence she'd gathered from Ichinose Honami, Amase Kazuna noticed a small but nagging inconsistency.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had not been among the Black Sphere's first wave of test subjects.
Of those initially selected, aside from Chris, the roster read like a list of power players: Sakayanagi Arisu, Ryuuen Kakeru, Ichinose Honami — the unambiguous leaders of their respective classes.
Even Kushida Kikyo, who appeared to have gotten lucky, actually commanded an exceptionally high social standing within Class D.
This was enough to confirm one thing: the Black Sphere's initial selection logic was anything but random.
Which raised the obvious question.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka — the White Room's supreme masterpiece, a specimen with stats approaching theoretical perfection — why hadn't he been chosen first?
Instead, it was Chris. A foreign exchange student from China, with an unremarkable surface profile, who had quietly, firmly claimed the seat that should have belonged to the strongest.
Amase Kazuna didn't buy for a second that the Black Sphere — not with the level of attention Tsukishiro had devoted to it — could have failed to identify Ayanokoji's true background.
Which meant it had seen through him, and still hadn't made him the priority.
There's only one explanation. In the Black Sphere's evaluation framework, Chris's particular... quality. His danger level. It exceeds even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's.
So then — you're the real target Tsukishiro asked me to pay special attention to, aren't you?
She replayed the moment she'd first laid eyes on Chris.
Amase Kazuna pressed her hand lightly to her own chest.
Thud. Thud.
Strange.
It wasn't the flutter of a lovesick girl.
It was something else entirely. Like a startled bird — an instinctive warning screaming at prey about to step into a trap. The primal, DNA-deep tremor of a living creature standing before its predator.
Like he wasn't looking at a person at all. But at a toy he could take apart and reassemble at his leisure.
But how could that be?
He was just a foreign exchange student from across the sea.
Was it possible that somewhere in that ancient eastern country, there existed a training institution built to White Room specifications? Was that why her instincts had fired — that natural wariness one product of systematic conditioning feels toward another?
Amase Kazuna couldn't reach a satisfying answer.
But since he was her target, getting close to him was inevitable. And somewhere in that process, she would strip away whatever mask he was wearing.
As for Ichinose Honami...
Amase Kazuna smiled — indifferent, unbothered.
She'd noticed Amikura's wariness toward her. Fine. She had no interest in performing the warm, devoted kouhai routine any longer.
If Ichinose was genuinely the person she appeared to be, they had no real conflicting interests. They could coexist in peace. But if she wasn't — then Amase would dismantle her, and take her place.
That was her decision.
For now, what mattered was finding a better point of entry.
Someone like, say — the lucky survivor who had been among the first test subjects but had neither become a fixed player nor been dragged into another exam since.
Kushida Kikyo.
——
Elsewhere. Class D's classroom.
"..."
Kushida Kikyo had completely melted into her desk, exhaling what had to be the hundredth long, suffering sigh of the day.
She was exhausted.
Seriously — how was playing matchmaker somehow more draining than plotting against someone behind their back?
Her original plan had been elegant in its simplicity: use the tutoring initiative as a pretense to naturally push Chris and Horikita Suzune into each other's orbit more often. After all, one ran permanently cold and refused to let anyone near, and the other found everything too much effort to bother with. Weren't they basically made for each other?
And what had actually happened? Horikita tossed out a notebook. Chris responded with the full force of modern technology.
Plan: bankrupt.
Just as Kushida was slumped in quiet despair, Karuizawa Kei drifted over with Matsushita Chiaki, Shinohara Satsuki, and a few others in tow.
"Kushida, what's wrong? You've been sighing since forever — are you feeling sick?" Karuizawa asked, peering at her with genuine concern.
"Ahh, I'm fine~"
Kushida Kikyo snapped upright on pure reflex, smile blooming into place as if it had never left.
"I was just thinking — the special exams have been coming a little fast lately, haven't they?"
"I mean, for us first-years it seems to be about twice a week. But the upperclassmen have it just as rough — and apparently, according to Ichinose-san, they even had an extra exam added on top last week. The one that happened over the weekend when I went to meet everyone."
Kushida pressed her hands together, a flicker of genuine worry crossing her face. "If it stays this relentless, people's mental health is going to start collapsing..."
The words had barely left her mouth.
Buzz — buzz——!
Ding!
Every single phone in the classroom vibrated at the exact same moment.
The eerie synchronization sent a collective jolt of dread through the room.
Kushida Kikyo swallowed and tapped her screen open.
[ In response to student feedback — following verification and review — it has been confirmed that the current exam schedule does contain unreasonable elements. Following consultation between the school administration and GANTZ management, the following rule updates and compensations are hereby issued to all students: ]
[ Point One: S-Points earned in special exams are not limited to equipment exchange. They may also be used to request GANTZ to grant a 'Miracle.' Small miracles — correcting congenital physical conditions. Large ones — resurrecting a loved one... changing the past. Undoing regret. ]
[ Point Two: The top three students in the overall midterm exam rankings will receive a direct reward: +1 to their personal Resurrection Count. ]
[ Point Three: To provide students with sufficient preparation time, the fixed exam schedule is hereby announced. ]
[ First Years: The Preliminary Test will begin every Tuesday at 4:00 PM, with the main exam commencing thirty minutes later. Second and Third Years: The Preliminary Test will begin every Friday at 4:00 PM, with the main exam commencing thirty minutes later. ]
[ This schedule will remain in effect until the midterm examinations. ]
[ We wish all students a positive experience in the tests ahead. ]
The classroom erupted — gasps and excited voices colliding in the air.
Karuizawa Kei and Matsushita Chiaki stared at each other. Then, as one, they whipped their heads toward Kushida Kikyo and stared at her like she'd grown a second head.
"Kushida..."
Shinohara Satsuki's voice was actually trembling. "Okay, level with us — do you know something? Can you tell me where tomorrow's exam is going to be? I want to hide somewhere very, very far away..."
Kushida Kikyo went numb. She laughed, a little desperately, and started explaining herself.
"I'm being framed! I genuinely don't know anything! If I actually knew something, do you think I'd just blurt it out loud like that?!"
"But..." Sato Maya looked deeply skeptical. "You literally just complained that the exam schedule was unfair, and then the school sent out a notification easing up on us, with basically zero time lag between the two. It's a little hard not to be suspicious!"
"Maybe it's... a coincidence?" Kushida offered with a strained laugh.
"Hmm?" The girls all leaned in with identical expressions of doubt.
"Okay fine, I don't think it's very likely either."
Kushida rubbed her forehead. Then a spark of inspiration hit her, and she pointed to the security camera in the corner of the classroom, its red indicator light blinking steadily.
"Maybe... the school administration — or the Black Sphere itself — has been monitoring us through the cameras from the very beginning?"
Matsushita Chiaki stared at the camera for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"Kushida's theory isn't unreasonable. But honestly, the more pressing question right now is—"
She tapped her phone screen, indicating the announcement. "Even if it's only one exam per week from now on — what exactly is tomorrow's test? Is it still going to be the same format as before, pulling just one person in?"
"Wait, wasn't this supposed to be reducing the pressure on us?" Shinohara Satsuki asked, confused. "If people are still being dragged in at random to potentially die, what's actually changed?"
"The school never explicitly said anything about reducing pressure."
Matsushita Chiaki shook her head, dismantling the illusion calmly.
"More than that — look at Points One and Two. The 'Miracle' of changing the past. The reward of extra Resurrection Charges..."
"Rather than calling this relief, I'd say it's closer to... the school dangling the largest carrot anyone's ever seen, specifically to force everyone to voluntarily throw themselves into the slaughter. It would be unwise to let yourself hope for something more than that."
The moment Matsushita Chiaki finished speaking, all the color drained from Karuizawa Kei's face.
As someone who had been bullied — whose mind and body still carried the scars of what that had done to her — Karuizawa Kei understood the law of the jungle better than most.
The reason she'd managed to maintain the appearance of dominance until now was because she'd successfully leveraged Matsushita Chiaki and Shinohara Satsuki to hold onto the social position she'd claimed from the start.
When the Black Sphere arrived, she'd told herself it would be fine. There were so many people in the class — one per draw, at random — the odds of it landing on her specifically were slim.
But Matsushita's words had just shattered that comforting delusion into pieces.
Inertia didn't work in a supernatural exam ground.
First it required registration. Then a Preliminary Test was added. What would the third iteration bring?
If she lost her protection and got thrown into a room full of those things...
Primal fear surged up like a physical force, driving Karuizawa Kei's head upward without conscious thought.
Matsushita Chiaki caught the direction of her gaze immediately.
She followed Karuizawa's drifting line of sight — and found the girl's eyes fixed, repeatedly, on Chris, who was gathering his things in the back corner of the classroom, clearly about to leave.
Something clicked in Matsushita Chiaki's expression.
This wasn't unusual. In the face of death, a weaker person reaching instinctively toward a stronger one for protection — that wasn't rare. What she hadn't expected was that Karuizawa Kei, who wore her confidence and dominance like a second skin in everyday life, apparently harbored exactly this kind of dependent psychology somewhere beneath it all.
But that was human nature. Matsushita had no intention of judging her for it.
And honestly — if Karuizawa could actually build a connection with Chris, that would be nothing but good news for their little group.
After all, he was one of only two known individuals who currently possessed a combat suit and the means to protect himself.
A rather unique position to be in.
So, in the exact moment Chris was about to step through the classroom's back door, Matsushita Chiaki gave Karuizawa's shoulder a perfectly casual, almost accidental nudge.
"Kei, your complexion really is terrible. If you're not feeling well, go rest. We've got this."
Karuizawa Kei looked up — and it was like someone had lifted a sentence off her shoulders.
Under the concerned gazes of Shinohara Satsuki and Kushida Kikyo, she hesitated for exactly one second before nodding.
"I... I do feel a little dizzy. I'll head out first, then — Chiaki, Satsuki, take your time."
She grabbed her bag and walked quickly toward the front door.
The moment she rounded the corner and confirmed that Matsushita and the others could no longer see her, Karuizawa Kei spun on her heel. Biting her lip. Legs unsteady beneath her. She broke into something close to a jog, heading for the stairwell in the direction Chris had gone.
She didn't know if what she was doing was right or wrong. She had no idea if he'd even acknowledge her.
But the fear of dying had already moved her feet for her.
I have to find him. I have to. Even if it costs me something — I need his protection.
However.
That hurried, single-minded sprint of hers happened to fall directly into the eyeline of Amase Kazuna, who had just arrived to scout out Class D.
Watching the blonde girl's tense, desperate retreating figure, Amase Kazuna's mouth curved slightly at the corner.
If I remember right, this one has a fair amount of pull with the girls in Class D.
Moving that fast... she's looking for someone, isn't she?
Amase deliberately quickened her pace. At the corridor's turning, she positioned herself squarely in Karuizawa's path.
"You look like you're in a real hurry, senpai."
Amase Kazuna clasped her hands behind her back, tilted her head to one side, and let a sweet smile settle on her face.
"Are you looking for someone? Maybe... I could be of just a little help~"
Blocked without warning, Karuizawa Kei was forced to stop.
Her heart was full of other things, and it showed on her face. She frowned, studying the unfamiliar red-haired girl with twin tails, wariness rising instinctively.
"I'm fine, thanks. And you don't need to call me senpai — I'm only a first-year."
"Oh, is that so?"
Amase Kazuna blinked, her smile widening rather than fading.
"But I'm a transfer student who skipped up a grade — so I'm naturally a year younger than everyone here. By the rules, calling you senpai is exactly right, isn't it?"
"Skipped a grade? Transfer student?"
Karuizawa blinked, some of her wariness easing by a fraction.
"That's right."
Amase Kazuna let out a helpless sigh and leaned into the performance.
"I figured my brain was decent enough to keep up with the curriculum here, so when I got the school's invitation, I just went ahead and came."
As she said it, she casually lit up her phone screen, her small face pulling into an expression of visible distress.
"Though it's looking like this school isn't quite as glamorous as it appears on the surface. These exams that could actually get you killed... honestly terrifying."
"I was hoping to find our class representative, Ichinose-senpai, to get more details, but she disappeared the second class ended."
"Oh, right!"
Amase Kazuna's voice dropped a note, like she'd just remembered something important.
"I heard from someone in class — apparently Ichinose-senpai went to find a guy named 'Chris' to practice swordsmanship."
"Senpai — do you know which class that Chris is in?"
At the sound of that name, Karuizawa Kei's eyes sharpened. She studied Amase Kazuna carefully for a moment.
Then she pressed her lips together and answered plainly.
"He's in our Class D. But I don't know where he is right now."
"Is that so..."
Amase Kazuna tapped her index finger lightly against her chin. Her gaze drifted upward in an almost-idle way.
"I heard someone mention on my way here that they were heading somewhere quiet with fewer people for practice... The rooftop, I think?"
"Senpai, if I went up to the rooftop, do you think I'd be able to find them? This school doesn't have that many students, but the building really is like a maze~"
"The rooftop..."
Something clicked immediately in Karuizawa Kei's mind.
She straightened up at once, forcing a mask of cool indifference over the urgency burning in her eyes. Her voice came out flat, almost dismissive.
"How should I know whether you'll find them or not. Just go up and see for yourself."
With that, she stopped acknowledging Amase Kazuna entirely. She simply stepped around her and walked away, heading downstairs.
Amase Kazuna stood where she was.
She watched Karuizawa Kei's retreating figure — the barely-contained urgency in every step, like a drowning girl who'd just spotted a lifeline — and didn't move.
____
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