"Ultimately, it comes down to what your goal is in this exam."
On the way back to Class D's base, Koenji Rokusuke produced a small cosmetic mirror from his pocket and idly flicked at the golden hair falling across his forehead.
"If you're not interested in competing for the top spot, then simply hole up at the base. With the 'infinite' point value that comes from touching your own base, you can coast through sixty minutes without a single worry."
"Koenji, that's easy for you to say." Matsushita Chiaki let out a helpless sigh. "We've already thrown ourselves into a test this dangerous. Whether it's for our safety going forward or for the rewards — who in their right mind would be willing to just give up? If there's a chance to win, everyone's going to want to take it."
"After all, only first place isn't a loss."
Hirata Yousuke thought it over for a moment before adding:
"Maybe we could try pooling all our points into a single person?"
"The other three would stay behind to defend the base against raids. That way, the one person who goes out — as long as no one else is touching the items — would be unbeatable against any other class."
"That won't work."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka rejected the seemingly sound proposal without a moment's hesitation.
"According to the rules, after each duel the wristband locks, and you have to return to base and touch your own territory to unlock it. If we funnel all ten thousand points into one person, that person has to turn around and come back after every single fight."
"In terrain this complex — all these stacked containers — if they're also supposed to be hunting for items at the same time, there simply isn't enough time."
Ayanokoji paused.
"Besides, I don't think the other classes will play nice and honor any agreements."
"When someone stumbles across an item worth less than three thousand points, does anyone really believe they'll just walk away from it? Because..."
"Agreements exist to be broken."
Koenji Rokusuke lowered the mirror.
His eyebrow arched. He looked at this classmate who, like Chris at the very start, had never bothered to make his presence known — and a glimmer of surprise crossed his eyes.
"Ho ho... not bad insight."
"However, Boy, you can't let that make you neglect the defense of the base. What if one class decides to go all-in on a coordinated raid — everyone rushing our territory at once?"
"Even if they sacrifice one person in the process, as long as the others can reach our base and steal those ten thousand base points... a kamikaze rush like that isn't out of the question."
Koenji laid out his conclusion:
"So the truly conservative play is two people holding down the fort, two people heading out."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka followed that thread and continued:
"If two go out... then one person carries the bulk of the points, and the other carries just enough to stay in the game."
"That way, the one with the high points can focus entirely on hunting duels and racking up scores. The one with the safety-net points just needs to get into one fight deliberately, then keep their wristband in the locked state."
"While locked, if anyone forces contact, both parties take a high-voltage shock. So that person actually has nothing to fear from being outgunned in points — they can focus entirely on searching for the scattered items across the field."
Hirata Yousuke blinked, puzzled:
"If that actually works... isn't that basically exploiting a loophole in the system? As an 'invincible' locked-state player, you'd never have to worry about anyone stealing your points?"
"No, Hirata." Matsushita Chiaki shook her head, cutting straight to the danger hiding inside the plan. "The trade-off is... every time someone forces contact with that person, they eat a high-voltage shock."
"If enemies don't realize they're already locked and start swarming them... how many times can a human body actually take that kind of punishment?"
"True. And if they don't duel, don't steal points — we can barely win this thing. Because if we lose, the price is one life per person."
Hirata Yousuke spoke with a worried look drifting toward Ayanokoji Kiyotaka:
"Especially for someone with zero margin for error... this is brutal."
Ayanokoji frowned, turning it over in his head.
Then, suddenly, he looked up.
"Maybe we can use that rule to our advantage."
"Here's what I'm thinking. Aside from the designated dueler who carries the bulk of the points, the other three — the base guards and the item hunter..."
"Each carries exactly 501 points."
Koenji Rokusuke blinked — then his mind caught up in an instant, and understanding lit up his face.
Each duel strips a fixed 500 points from the loser.
If you're only carrying 501, even if you're forced into a duel and lose, you still have 1 point left — not enough to go negative and get eliminated.
"Ho ho ho... what brazen audacity."
Koenji couldn't hold back a laugh. He looked Ayanokoji up and down as if seeing him for the first time:
"Judging by the way Hirata was so worked up — Boy, you're in the same boat as me, aren't you? No room for a single mistake."
"And yet here you are, pulling off an extreme play with your life hanging by a thread. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka... Class D has no shortage of idiots, but you don't appear to be one of them."
Faced with Koenji's rare compliment.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said nothing. He simply keyed a number into his wristband in silence.
——
Meanwhile, at the Class B base.
Amase Kazuna stood with her hands clasped behind her back, watching Kanzaki Ryuuji — his expression grave — along with two other unremarkable Class B students. She couldn't help but tilt her head and speak in her usual breathy, cutesy lilt:
"Senpai~ The test is about to start, you know? Why don't we figure out how to split up the points first?"
She tilted her head to one side, her red twin tails swaying in the sea breeze:
"I mean, losing means losing a Resurrection Count, and I really don't want to lose one. We absolutely cannot afford to slack off here!"
Kanzaki Ryuuji glanced at her, then shook his head slightly:
"This exam looks like it has two ways to score — duels and item hunting. But in reality, 500 points here or a few thousand there won't decide the winner."
"The only way to blow the gap wide open and end things in a single strike is to raid the enemy base and steal those ten thousand points."
"Correspondingly, our top priority is reinforcing our own base's defenses."
Amase Kazuna smiled back at him with a counter:
"But Senpai — if everyone stays here turtling, won't we just end up losing anyway because we don't have enough points?"
Kanzaki Ryuuji nodded and said gravely:
"Which is why I'll be the one to go on the offensive. You three stay here and—"
"But guarding the base sounds so boring, and I don't exactly love the idea of just sitting around waiting to die, you know?"
Before Kanzaki could finish, Amase Kazuna let out a little yawn and cut him off with an airy wave of her hand.
"I wanna go for a walk too~"
Kanzaki Ryuuji's brow furrowed slightly.
He studied this seemingly airheaded transfer student standing in front of him.
He recalled what Ichinose had said about her — and the composed, unhurried way she'd signed up for this exam.
After a long moment, he finally spoke:
"Alright."
"I'll allocate you some base points. Your job will be to roam the perimeter and hunt for those scattered items."
"...Hunt for items?"
Amase Kazuna covered her mouth in exaggerated surprise and reminded him:
"But... didn't Katsuragi-senpai from Class A just agree with all of us a moment ago — that until someone confirms a three-thousand-point item, nobody touches anything, and we all wait until the target's identified before making a move?"
Kanzaki Ryuuji let out a cold laugh:
"A verbal agreement with zero enforcement? Someone will always be the first to break it."
"If it's going to fall apart sooner or later, then there's no point in standing on ceremony about who goes first."
Amase Kazuna pressed her lips together, looking almost genuinely taken aback by the bluntness of that.
She lowered her head, as though mulling it over seriously.
——
Unlike the teams still sorting out their internal dynamics.
Class A's Katsuragi Kohei and Class C's Kaneda Satoru — both backed by the absolute authority of their respective leaders — had independently and simultaneously arrived at the same standard formation: two holding the base, two heading out.
But unlike Ayanokoji's and Kanzaki's approaches — each fighting their own battle — with two minutes left on the countdown, Katsuragi Kohei took the initiative and walked over to Class C's base to find Kaneda Satoru.
"If our two classes cooperate — hold our respective bases so neither gets raided, and have our two players outside work together to sweep the field—"
Katsuragi Kohei laid his offer on the table:
"Then in the end, the only contest left will be between Class A and Class C. That's far less risky than a free-for-all between all four."
Kaneda Satoru pushed his plain-lensed glasses up his nose, his expression skeptical:
"Sounds appealing. But... who's to say that after you touch our base, we from Class C will ever actually get the chance to touch yours and make this exchange of benefits real?"
"What if Class A uses this as an opportunity to stab us in the back and knock one of us out immediately? Then you'd have the whole field to yourselves."
Faced with Kaneda's suspicion, Katsuragi Kohei didn't flinch. He spoke plainly:
"As far as I know, aside from you and Shiina Hiyori, no one else from Class C has been pulled into the Black Sphere exam as a wild card, correct?"
"Which means everyone else in Class C, besides you two, still has at least one mistake to spare."
Katsuragi Kohei's words landed with weight:
"So even if your class loses this exam, I don't believe Class C will be wiped out entirely in the exams that follow."
"But if I betray you today... the moment you carry the news of Class A breaking its word back out of here, Class A — already being chased down by Class B — will become the target of every class in this school."
"Frankly, I have absolutely no reason to torch Class A's reputation over a preliminary exam that isn't even fully lethal. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to cooperate in the real Black Sphere deathmatches to come. It's not worth poisoning that well."
Kaneda Satoru frowned for a moment.
His mind worked rapidly, weighing the odds.
At last, he extended a hand toward Katsuragi Kohei:
"That's a clean analysis. Then... pleasure working with you."
The two hands clasped briefly and parted.
Kaneda turned to face the Class C group:
"As the strategist, close-quarters brawling isn't my strong suit."
"Is anyone willing to volunteer for the offensive role?"
However, the two ordinary Class C students who'd been selected for the exam exchanged an uncertain glance. No one could quite bring themselves to commit — to hand their lives over to the good faith of a Class A student like Katsuragi Kohei.
If they got betrayed, that was a Resurrection Count on the line.
The seconds ticked away. The countdown crept toward zero. The tension in the air thickened with every passing moment.
Finally —
Ibuki Mio, who had been standing in the corner watching everything with cold, detached eyes, ran out of patience and stepped forward.
"Bunch of spineless dead weight."
She cracked her wrist with an irritated snap:
"I'll go first."
——
Having watched all four classes scheme and posture their way through their decisions — now settling into position, waiting for the exam to begin — Chris allowed himself a quiet, barely-contained smile.
He'd had GANTZ drag that 2,500-point "ghost" — Shiranami Chihiro, currently moping alone at home — into the exam arena.
And so.
When Shiranami Chihiro felt the salt-laced sea breeze brush against her skin and blinked open her eyes in confusion, taking in the towering stacks of shipping containers surrounding her, she couldn't help but stare wide-eyed.
'I... I already became a spirit bound to this world, didn't I?'
So why am I here? Did I spend so long alone that I finally lost my mind and I'm hallucinating?
Just as Shiranami Chihiro was drowning in confusion and beginning to seriously question her own sanity —
A cold, electronic chime sounded at her ear.
Not loud — but pitched exactly for her ears alone:
[This is not a dream. Shiranami Chihiro — you are indeed dead, currently existing in a state of drifting soul.]
[If nothing intervenes, you will gradually lose your sense of self. Without anyone spending 100 S-points to resurrect you, and without crossing over into reincarnation... you will eventually fall, and become one of the malevolent spirits.]
At that, Shiranami Chihiro's mouth fell slightly open, and a wordless surge of frustration rose in her chest.
If I'm already a ghost just waiting to fade away, then why drag me here against my will?! Is this just for someone's amusement?!
But before she could voice a single complaint, the mechanical voice answered her unspoken question.
[In the spirit of making use of available resources.]
[GANTZ believes it can offer you a choice.]
Shiranami Chihiro went quiet for a beat.
'Making use of available resources'... excuse me, I'm plenty useful on my own, thank you very much!
GANTZ paid no mind to her internal indignation and simply laid out the terms:
[So then — are you willing to gamble?]
[GANTZ will grant you the right to "be seen." As a ghost, you must go through the next three consecutive exams without being detected by any participant.]
[If you succeed, GANTZ will grant you one additional chance — a shot at a Resurrection Match.]
[However, as the penalty: if even once a participant discovers you, your soul will be tainted. You will immediately fall and become a malevolent spirit — a scoring target in the exam, available for hunters to kill.]
Shiranami Chihiro's breath caught in her throat.
But GANTZ's voice continued, laced with something devilishly tempting:
[Correspondingly, each time you successfully hide, I will grant you a measure of awareness and privilege.]
[For instance — if you successfully conceal yourself in this exam, you will earn the right, in the next exam, to be clearly visible to the very first person who encounters you.]
[Your choice, then —]
[YES / NO]
As the voice fell silent, the only sound left was the howl of the sea wind.
Before Shiranami Chihiro, a single glowing virtual panel flickered in the air.
Shiranami Chihiro looked down.
Her fingers pressed hard into her palm.
Again. And again.
The faint, real sting of her nails biting into flesh confirmed it — she still retained the concept of "pain." Everything before her was not some post-death hallucination.
She drew a long, slow breath.
In her original memories, 100 S-points to resurrect a person was an enormous, almost insurmountable sum.
If Ichinose pushed herself to the limit...
No. Knowing Ichinose — kind to the very marrow of her bones — she would absolutely push herself to the limit for her sake. She'd probably pinch and save every point that was meant for upgrading her survival gear, just to scrape together that impossible hundred.
But in that long, grinding process, Ichinose would face far more suffering and danger than she ever should have had to.
And worse — more innocent classmates might be sacrificed because of the burden she'd become.
Shiranami Chihiro didn't want to see that ending.
So she wanted to fight for her own resurrection — even as a ghost, even by her own effort — to carve out even the slimmest chance of coming back.
And if somewhere down the line she could use her "ghost" status to quietly help Ichinose from the shadows...
That would be even better.
She didn't hesitate any longer.
"I agree."
[Ding.]
[Contract established.]
[Countdown complete.]
[Preliminary Exam — Begin.]
____
👻🔥Here: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: JJK: Naoya Zenin Reborn as a Woman
We have set new community milestones:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for all readers