Looking at the icons in the system warehouse.
Setting aside Doraemon's famous [Bamboo Copter] and [Time Machine], whose functions needed no explanation, there was the [Disintegrator] from the Ben 10 universe... Chris remembered that once this thing was activated, it would utterly annihilate the entire universe down to zero — it could even wipe out every timeline.
An incredibly powerful item. You couldn't call it useless, but there was no doubt that, aside from special-case universes like "A Beautiful Tomorrow," there was basically no occasion to ever use it.
For now, it could only gather dust in a corner of the warehouse.
Next was Alien Mefilas's [Beta Box].
A device that could make an ordinary person grow giant.
Although it seemed to simply make you bigger, without any bonus abilities like firing beams.
But still, it was the black-tech gadget Alien Mefilas used in "Shin Ultraman" to create his army of bio-soldiers.
If you actually went giant, even at your weakest you'd surely be a fair bit stronger than the Colossal Titan from "Attack on Titan," right?
As an item for dealing with giant monsters, it made for a decent little bonus.
Finally, Chris's gaze settled on the chibi icon of Clockwork.
"Uh... how did I end up pulling Clockwork?"
"The art style doesn't even match, seriously."
Reaching out and tapping it open, he looked at the chibi girl in the warehouse slot — made of springs and gears, cradling a metal doll.
Chris rubbed his chin, sinking into thought.
If he remembered right, Clockwork essentially still retained the soul of a human girl, didn't she?
She'd merely been trapped by accident inside a cold mechanical shell, able only to touch this world by controlling a doll in her place.
Still, considering he'd previously managed to pull even the radiation-laden God Warrior from "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," a more machine-side existence like Clockwork seemed reasonable enough to pull out too.
Chris opened the item details.
He watched the "?" question marks that popped up over the girl's head now and then, a forlorn little gray umbrella, and the occasional flash of a small pink heart...
"By the looks of it, she's just like that beat-up little watch, the God Sphere, and GANTZ..."
"No matter what their original settings were, once they show up in the system warehouse, the system keeps those settings intact but adds absolute usage authority and loyalty toward me on top."
Credit where it's due, this system really was user-friendly.
It claimed to refresh randomly each day, and it truly meant "daily refresh" in the literal sense — no tedious prerequisites or system quests choking you up whatsoever.
"Feels like a system wholesaled straight off a Feilu assembly line... handy, love using it."
"If someday I got Marvel's Heart of the Universe, I could go drill-to-drill straight against the Anti-Spiral."
Still, since this Clockwork was a version that still held her original human emotions, Chris had no intention of keeping her frozen forever in the system warehouse.
Her backstory was already tragic enough as it was.
As a soul treated like a mechanical doll, forever searching for bonds in loneliness, Chris couldn't bring himself to leave her all alone in the void. After all, he wasn't some kind of demon.
"In that case, I could have Clockwork take on the role of the 'Mysterious Merchant.'"
The more Chris thought about it, the better the idea seemed.
Always making students, or that bunch of freeloading old geezers like Chabashira Sae, moonlight as the Mysterious Merchant was hardly fair — it stripped the presiding god's space of its class and character.
Better to just hand the post straight to Clockwork.
It would give her a chance to meet different people and search for friends.
And along the way she could earn a little extra cash to buy herself a few more pretty skins to switch between.
Best of both worlds.
As for the [Time Machine]...
"Perfect for making up for past regrets, isn't it?"
Just like what that very first announcement had said.
Here, as long as you had enough points, you really could create miracles — even make up for any regret.
The time came to Wednesday afternoon. There was no advance notice of a Special Exam, nor any special word about Ayanokoji Kiyotaka returning to school.
Across the campus of the Advanced Nurturing High School hung a kind of tranquil sense of dissonance.
For the humanoids who'd completely checked out and were just coasting, after school it was do-whatever-you-want.
After all, as long as you hadn't been drawn as an intruder who had to go and die, you might as well enjoy the good days ahead first — otherwise, if you died with money left unspent, wouldn't that be a total waste?
Of course, anyone with even a little ambition would use this precious sliver of free time to give it their all to improve themselves.
Take Kushida Kikyo, for example. Once she'd settled on her goal, she sprang into action.
In the "Black Sphere Mutual-Aid Group" she'd once created, she reached out one after another to Sakayanagi Arisu, Ichinose Honami, and others; after confirming the roster of people who wouldn't be fighting in the next exam, she took the initiative to shoulder the task of coordinating the personnel for the next advance test.
Ichinose and Ryuuen naturally had no objections to this.
With someone willing to run around handling all the tedious social legwork, they were happy to take it easy.
As for Sakayanagi Arisu, though she saw through at a glance that Kushida Kikyo was surely scheming something again.
She still didn't move to obstruct anything.
Mending the pen after the sheep are lost — it was already too late.
Fortunately, life had always been about making the best of one's mistakes.
Sakayanagi Arisu sat upright in the seat by the window, one hand propping up her cheek.
Was this Kushida truly trying to salvage her survival value through such methods? Or, having made that first mistake of flinching, was she now planning to use fresh mistakes to undo the old one?
Thinking this, Sakayanagi Arisu turned her head.
First she glanced at Shiraishi Asuka, who was holding her phone and earnestly replying to Kushida Kikyo's messages.
Then she settled her gaze on Hayasaka Ai, not far off, brows slightly furrowed, clearly stewing anxiously over something in her head.
"Hayasaka." Sakayanagi Arisu spoke softly, her voice languid yet elegant. "How many points do you have on hand right now?"
At that, Hayasaka Ai looked up, and seeing that it was Sakayanagi Arisu asking, she had no intention of hiding anything.
She answered honestly, "Counting the item points I earned from collecting Stone Masks earlier... it's worth about thirty-some S points."
Sakayanagi Arisu reached out, lightly pressing her pale cherry-colored lips together, and said with satisfaction:
"Just as I thought — exactly enough."
Hayasaka Ai tilted her cheek, golden strands of hair falling over her shoulder, quietly awaiting what came next.
Sakayanagi Arisu explained with a light chuckle:
"Chris has an [Instance Card] that can give a 30-S-point [Blank Card Box] one chance — letting the holder enter the Mirror World to form a contract with a contract beast and level it up."
"Yesterday, when Amasawa and Shiina intruded into the upperclassmen's exam venue, they tried out an ordinary Blank Card Box too. Even before forming a contract, it already granted combat power on par with the [Leo Cavalry], along with the ability to enter the Mirror World to take refuge. It stands to reason that once you obtain a contract beast, it would easily be worth equipment on the order of fifty or sixty S points — no doubt about it."
"But because the slots are limited, in reality only one person in our class can get this ticket to form a contract."
She leaned in slightly, gazing at Hayasaka Ai:
"Right now, we have Katsuragi Kohei and you as the candidates... So, what are your thoughts?"
Looking at Sakayanagi Arisu's meaningful smile, Hayasaka Ai found herself, for a moment, unable to grasp her aim.
After all, this was really a simple multiple-choice question.
Compared with an outsider like herself — one who'd made it clear from the start that she'd leave this world the moment she saved up enough points.
Handing this kind of resource to Katsuragi Kohei, a core member of Class A to begin with, was the more class-beneficial choice no matter how you looked at it, wasn't it?
What's more, in Monday's exam, because of Makima, she'd had the misfortune of losing that extra life the Black Sphere had originally granted her.
Whether from the angle of return on investment or of margin for error, this slot should not have gone to an outsider like her.
So then, after ruling out all the impossibilities...
"You want me to go?"
Hayasaka Ai's azure eyes narrowed slightly as she asked tentatively.
Sakayanagi Arisu nodded, as if she'd seen straight through her thoughts:
"Indeed, from every angle, giving this opportunity to Katsuragi would be the best choice."
"But..." The girl's tone shifted. "As one of the only two — or perhaps only three — otherworlders in this school who don't belong to our world."
"I'm willing to believe that you yourself possess a kind of special quality I have yet to perceive."
"Unconventional variables are often what bring about the miracles that break a stalemate."
Hayasaka Ai raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but retort:
"Then what if I really am just an ordinary, innocent high school girl who got dragged into this by accident?"
Sakayanagi Arisu's lips curved up into only the faintest arc.
"Faced with something like the Black Sphere exams, where you could be in a life-or-death situation at any moment, an 'ordinary' high school girl would absolutely never do as you did — plunging straight into the Black Sphere exam without any period of silence or adjustment, and resolving to clear it."
Sakayanagi Arisu paused, her tone still composed:
"Even if I've guessed wrong, that's no matter."
"Either way, to get home, you'll definitely have to take part in the exams that follow to earn points, won't you?"
"With no extra life left, you'll treasure your own little life more than anyone. This equipment won't go to waste in your hands."
At these words, Hayasaka Ai fell silent for a moment.
She found she couldn't actually refute this logic.
In the end, she merely gave a slight nod, taking it as agreement.
Seeing this, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but smile.
She was about to reach out and rest a hand on Hayasaka Ai's shoulder, to add a few encouraging words and win her over.
But then she suddenly, sorrowfully, realized...
She herself was only a meter fifty tall, while Hayasaka Ai stood a full meter-sixty-plus.
If she forced her arm up to rest on the other girl's shoulder, the pose would surely look odd, undermining her queenly dignity.
And so.
Sakayanagi Arisu smoothly redirected her half-raised hand toward her own temple, lightly tucking back a strand of silver hair.
Maintaining her usual elegance, only as she passed by Hayasaka Ai did she speak slowly:
"Then, for the next exam, you'll be coming along with me, Hayasaka."
"Do your best — honestly, I have very high hopes for you."
Hayasaka Ai turned around, watching the retreating figures of Sakayanagi Arisu and Kamuro Masumi as they left, her brows knitting slightly.
She didn't lose her composure or panic; she just let out a quiet sigh deep in her heart.
If she truly were some kind of "special existence" as Sakayanagi Arisu predicted, that would indeed be a good thing.
Unfortunately, you know your own affairs best.
Hayasaka Ai knew perfectly well.
At the very most, she was just a personal attendant who'd undergone professional training — capable of precisely smashing a surveillance drone with a baseball.
Beyond that, she really was nothing more than a perfectly ordinary high school girl.
At best, her various professional skills were a bit more polished, her mental fortitude a bit tougher, and that was all! "...Haah."
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Kamuro Masumi, walking down the stairs alongside Sakayanagi Arisu, had originally been about to open her mouth and ask just what riddle she'd been playing with Hayasaka Ai.
After all, even if she couldn't be called Sakayanagi Arisu's absolute right-hand woman these days.
She was at least one of the few in class on good terms with her — one who even knew their mutual embarrassing secrets.
Surely she couldn't be kept in the dark about everything?
A pity. Before she could get the question out.
Kamuro Masumi caught a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.
There was Chris, hands in his pockets, strolling unhurriedly down the stairs and heading off in a direction toward the far end of the corridor.
The words already on her lips, Kamuro Masumi forcibly changed course:
"Hey, Sakayanagi, I think I just saw Chris."
She pointed at Chris's back and asked, puzzled, "The direction he's headed is... over toward the dedicated classroom for the combat elective, right?"
"What's he going over there for? Don't tell me he's planning to go see Ayanokouji?"
Sakayanagi Arisu stopped and followed her line of sight.
Then she shot Kamuro an exasperated look and said matter-of-factly:
"They were deskmates first, and then comrades who went through hardship together in a Special Exam."
"If Ayanokouji really has come back to school as a teaching assistant, what's so strange about him dropping by to take a look?"
Kamuro Masumi shook her head repeatedly and explained:
"Of course I know that!"
"I just figured, with that efficiency-obsessed relationship of theirs, if he had something to discuss, wouldn't just shooting a message over the phone do the trick? Why make a special trip?"
Hearing this, Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help but let out a scoffing laugh.
The look she gave Kamuro Masumi was practically that of someone regarding a hopeless idiot.
Only after she'd stared at Kamuro Masumi until the woman was thoroughly creeped out and about to snap did Sakayanagi Arisu slowly speak:
"Kamuro, there are many things where, even without knowing the full picture, you should be able to spot the clues from the surface alone. No?"
The girl raised a single fair finger:
"First, the Black Sphere system has strict restrictions — privately disclosing any Black Sphere information to anyone outside the school costs us a life."
"Even though Ayanokoji has now returned to school as a teaching assistant, until the system's judgment logic is clear, Chris has no need to risk being monitored by using online communications."
"Second..."
Sakayanagi Arisu said with certainty:
"I don't think the relationship between Chris and Ayanokouji is really as good as you imagine."
"Huh?" Kamuro Masumi's head filled with question marks. "What do you mean?"
Didn't you just say the two of them were deskmates and exam comrades-in-arms?
How could you turn around and disavow it in the very same breath?
Faced with Kamuro Masumi's thoroughly puzzled expression, Sakayanagi Arisu naturally knew what she was thinking.
But to see the truth, you could never look at the surface alone.
Just as her handing the instance-opening slot to Hayasaka Ai was not as simple as what she'd told Hayasaka to her face.
In Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.
Chris going out of his way to seek out Ayanokoji Kiyotaka right now was absolutely not merely a wish to exchange pleasantries with an old classmate.
She understood these two people all too well.
As the daughter of the Advanced Nurturing High School's chairman of the board.
Because her own father's position had already been extremely high, now, after the descent of the Black Sphere and the presiding god, his authority and status as a proxy had soared even more rapidly.
Yet even so.
Even after Sakayanagi Arisu had wheedled and cajoled several times, and even used her father's authority to pull up the archives within the system...
She still hadn't dug up a single true secret about Chris's past!
Chris clearly had a complete file with not a single fault to pick at.
Middle school, elementary school, home address, even past report cards... everything you could want.
But in reality, there was not a single trace of his life ever having existed.
It was as if... this file had been generated out of thin air, and this person, Chris, had likewise been inserted into this world out of thin air by some mighty force!
Perhaps, just as Nanatsura Tsubasa and the others had guessed, Chris really was a seasoned veteran from another world.
Still, this conjecture stood in slight paradox with the indescribable feelings for Chris that had welled up deep within her heart.
As a genius with arrogance carved into her very bones.
Sakayanagi Arisu understood herself very well.
Without some trait compelling enough to make her care, or some bond profound enough to reach the soul.
A person, no matter how good-looking or how outstanding in ability, was in her eyes nothing more than a rather eye-catching pebble by the roadside — utterly unworthy of concern, let alone capable of making her develop an inextricable dependence.
So... had something happened between her and him in some unknown past?
For now, Sakayanagi Arisu could only let her imagination run in this fate-laden direction.
As for what exactly had happened, that remained unknown for the time being.
But Sakayanagi Arisu firmly believed it would be a story very much worth savoring.
Like a pot of fine tea stored away for many years.
The unspeakable associations and the harmonious rhythm one could taste in it must have settled out, bit by bit, from the warmth and authenticity of a past that had gone through elaborate processes.
Even if, for some reason, its original form couldn't be made out now.
As long as it was steeped in boiling water, one could still easily taste its honey-green clarity, its mellow sweetness, and the unique flavor belonging to the two of them alone.
After all, if it weren't for these deep bonds.
Surely it couldn't be that she, Sakayanagi Arisu, was actually some looks-obsessed girl who'd fallen for Chris at first sight — a lovesick fool acting purely on lust at the sight of a pretty face?!
"Heh heh... it goes without saying — that's impossible."
Standing at the top of the stairs, the girl let out a soft laugh, her eyes brimming with pride.
"I, Sakayanagi Arisu, am absolutely not such a shallow woman." —End of Chapter—
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