Chapter 59 – Start of the Event
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“S-Sousuke?”
“Yeah, I’m awake,” I told Shouko as I sat up.
Yesterday was Shouko’s turn, so we slept together after cleaning up the mess. And just now we woke up at exactly the same moment. I suppose this is the forced awakening at 5 a.m. the mysterious blackboard mentioned.
I fumbled my way to the window. Opening it revealed a faintly bright sky outside.
“We’ve only got ten minutes. Let’s hurry up and get ready. We’ll form a party with the others and get our equipment in order.”
“O-Oki…! B-But, before that, y’see…”
Shouko stood up, moved right in front of me, and brought her lips close for a kiss.
“Mornin’, Sousuke. Last night was really amazing, y’know?”
“Y-Yeah, good morning to you too, Shouko. Thanks for last night.”
Being reminded of my lewd acts with Shouko, my dick almost ended up responding by instinct. But, given that now wasn’t the right time for this, I somehow managed to calm him down again.
“Sure. A-Anyway, I’ll be fine in my uniform just like that. What about you?”
“Yeah, I’ll change into my uniform, too.”
I deployed my uniform on my desk.
“Alright, I’m going to step out first,” Shouko said.
“Gotcha.”
After quickly putting on my uniform, I went out of the room. Shouko was waiting for me, but I couldn’t see the others yet. When I strained my ears, I could hear some noise, so they must be changing into their uniforms right now.
Shouko quietly took my hand, so I returned her grip while feeling my heart thumping.
“They’re way too mean to give us just ten minutes. I wanna wash my face and fix my hair. I mean, I went to sleep in it, so my uniform is all wrinkly.”
“If it’s your uniform, I can store and redeploy it for you, though.”
“Thanks, but…no. I want to keep your scent on it for a bit longer,” Shouko declared while pulling up the fabric at the neck and sniffing it.
It’s not like she’s…being cunning or anything. She’s likely saying this while meaning it literally.
As my heart was pierced by Shouko’s cuteness, one door after the other opened, and everyone stepped out onto the corridor. Shouko quickly let go of my hand, apparently too embarrassed to be seen by the others.
“Looks like you can call up the party function if you think about it, just like opening the explanation about our abilities back then.”
Chiyu seems to have promptly verified things. When I also tried to call 『Party Function』 in my mind, it immediately appeared.
– Kuno Sousuke
– Party ― none
– 『Party Creation』
– 『Party Participation』
“First, one of us has to form a party and invite all of us, I’d say?”
It’s probably okay to go with what Minori said.
“In that case, our leader is obviously going to be―Sousuke, right?”
Everyone except for me nodded at Shion’s question. It made me feel both proud and embarrassed. Either way, there was no reason for me to refuse if they were all in favor of it.
I thought 『Party Creation』, immediately forming a new party.
– Party ― 『Sousuke Party』
The party’s name is a bit too straightforward, but since it’s possible to change it later, I’ll keep it for the moment. It’d be a waste of time to worry about this right now.
“Ah, 『Sousuke Party』 showed up in 『Party Participation』. If we join this, we’ll be able to teleport together, I guess?”
Following Shouko’s lead, the other girls apparently found the party as well. Meanwhile, I received several notifications, stating 『Someone is requesting to join your party』 in my 『Party Function』. I approved all four requests.
“Alright. Gather the necessary equipment in a hurry and meet outside the entrance. Since it’s possible for this place to be discovered during the event, I’ll store everything away for now.”
With everyone packing lightly, we were able to gather quickly outside the entrance. I stored away our home, the bath, Mashiro’s Fenrir hut, and the stone wall surrounding the premises. Only the paling, which had served as a gate through the wall, remained due to the pillars that had been buried in the ground. Given that those are 『connected with the ground』, I can’t store them away unless they’re dug up. It’s probably best to just leave them here.
“Sousuke! Can Mashiro teleport together with us!?” Shouko asked, looking slightly panicked.
“Ah, we forgot to ask about that. As long as they aren’t rather nasty, they should allow your summoned beasts to teleport together with you, I think, but…”
“Mashiro, if we suddenly vanish, can you search for us by smell?”
Mashiro nodded as if declaring, 『Of course!』. I checked my friends once more. All of them were hiding their bodies underneath linen robes. Even their faces were concealed by hoods. With this, the others won’t be able to identify them as long as they don’t know their abilities. Naturally, it’ll be risky if they’re seen up close, but since my friends will be riding Mashiro for the most part, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. So far as it goes, I made them all carry blades under their clothes, but I pray things end without them having to use those weapons.
“As far as I remember, we should be cautious of 『Airplane』, 『Fire』, and 『Gun』. And, although much lower in priority, blades in general, I’d say.”
We have shared all the information about what the other students had stated during the very first dream.
“With a forest as the stage, Fire will be quite an issue if the trees catch fire, wouldn’t you say?” Shion commented while clearly brooding.
Even a lighter or matches can quite easily cause a major disaster if nature is drawn into our contest. I don’t think anyone is so stupid, but it’s never wrong to be on the safe side. As long as we’re on guard against the possibility, we’ll be able to calmly deal with it when it turns into reality by some freak chance.
“『Gun』 goes without saying, but even 『Airplane』 will be dangerous in case it can be stored and deployed just like Sousuke-san’s ability allows.”
“Yeah. If they don’t mind dragging others into it, they could deploy the airplane right above the light sphere in an attempt to secure it.”
Given that it’ll be hard to tell how many classmates will become collateral damage, I don’t think it’s a feasible option if they factor in the penalty.
“If we take into account that they could launch a suicide attack, the 『Immortal』 student is a danger, too.”
I agreed with Chiyu’s assessment.
“Hmm, she’s not the type of person to injure others, though…”
Because that girl was Shouko’s friend, her face was washed with complicated emotions, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Besides, the terrifying part of the 『Immortal』 student is her compatibility with the penalty. If you kill someone, you will receive an amount of minus points equal to five years of coma, but what if that were to be applied to the death of the 『Immortal』 student? As a result of exerting yourself to stop someone who can do anything due to their infinite lives, it’s very possible that you’ll end up killing her. And once you do that, the penalty will likely be imposed on the killer. Of course, the penalty for dying will also be imposed on her, but that one is only a hundred days of coma. One can think of it as sufficient for deterrence, but, well, it also means such a strategy is viable.
“…The ten minutes should be up any moment now, but―wh-!?”
Without any warning, the scenery around us changed. We were still inside a forest, but the shadow of the cliff, where we built our home, was gone. A quick check told me that everyone, including Mashiro, had been teleported with me. It looked like 『Party』 was working correctly.
“A teleportation…it’s startling to actually experience it,” Minori was somewhat surprised by the phenomenon that occurred just now.
“Mashiro? Oh, there you are! It’s so great for you to be with us!” Shouko leaped at Mashiro.
“…Guess it’s started,” Shion said, looking tense.
No, it’s the same for all of us, I think.
At that moment, the sky lit up.
“Sou-kun, look.”
A light sphere floated in the sky where Chiyu was pointing before slowly descending. The blackboard mentioned it’d initially appear in a place visible to everyone, and that proved to be correct. Next, the participants will compete by going after the sphere.
“Everyone, get on Mashiro. Chiyu, please strengthen us.”
All of us moved swiftly. My body glowed faintly thanks to Chiyu’s strengthening magic.
“Let’s go.”
The light sphere competition has officially started.
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