Classroom of the Elite: Black Sphere Academia

"I hear that Ayanokoji from your class has already managed to get himself out?"

The moment she stepped into Chris's dorm, Kiryuuin Fuka plopped down on the sofa without the slightest reservation.

She casually crossed her legs, looking as relaxed as if she'd returned to her own territory.

Chris, unfazed, turned and pulled open the fridge, popped the cap off a bottle of soda, and explained offhandedly:

"Ayanokoji's become something of a minor celebrity these days... and yeah, he really has vanished."

"But whether he actually bought out his freedom and left, or whether the Black Sphere cooked up some new rule and he tripped some hidden bug—nobody can say for sure right now. We'll just have to wait for tomorrow's exam to open and go ask the Black Sphere ourselves."

Kiryuuin caught the teacup he handed over and gave a slight nod:

"Fair enough. It's the Black Sphere, after all—nothing it does, however much it defies common sense, would surprise me."

Then, with a flick of her wrist, she tossed a capsule to Sakayanagi Arisu beside her:

"I'll leave it to you then, junior—help me check the details on this thing."

Sakayanagi Arisu caught it neatly, with no trace of coyness.

She merely lifted her fair chin slightly, signaling to Chris with her eyes.

It was Karuizawa Kei, sitting beside Chris, who looked a little uneasy at the moment.

With her plans interrupted one after another, no matter how easygoing the girl normally was, she now felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

Taking in the girl's discomfort, Chris carried his black tea over to stand in front of her.

"Don't be nervous."

Chris reassured her softly:

"A little chat isn't a bad thing. Both Sakayanagi and Kiryuuin-senpai have great mindsets. Talking with them more might just help you get over a lot of your mental hang-ups."

"Mm..." Karuizawa nodded obediently.

Chris fished a capsule out of his pocket and, along with the teacup, pushed it in front of Sakayanagi Arisu.

Sakayanagi Arisu watched this unfold.

She deliberately shot Karuizawa Kei a glance out of the corner of her eye, then smiled and shook her head, taking out the Myriad Realm Illustrated Guide and aiming it at the two capsules.

"Beep—"

A translucent screen of light unfolded, and the detailed information of the two items surfaced clearly:

[Beast King Transformation · Lion King]

[A belt-type Imperial Arms. The user can turn themselves bestial, dramatically boosting their physical capabilities and five senses. The beast ears and tail are illusory manifestations and won't conflict with the Combat Suit, though sensation will still be present.]

[Its secret technique is "The Lion Never Dies," which greatly enhances the user's recovery. Even if their limbs are severed or their eyes gouged out, they can staunch the bleeding and reattach the parts on their own by expending stamina.]

[Skill Card · Black Marionette Dance]

[Obtained from killing the Specialization-type Chimera Ant, Neferpitou.]

[By activating Black Marionette Dance, the user summons the Demon Puppeteer. The Puppeteer directly manipulates the user's body through Nen threads, allowing them to exert strength and speed beyond their physical limits. From activating the ability to completing an attack takes only 0.1 seconds.]

Having read the descriptions clearly, Sakayanagi Arisu tossed the capsule back to Kiryuuin, but when it came to Chris's, she clutched it in her palm, the pads of her fingers gently rubbing it, looking utterly reluctant to let it go.

"What a shame, truly..."

Sakayanagi Arisu sighed wistfully. "If I weren't such a squishy glass cannon, I'd honestly love to just pocket this thing right out from under you."

"Zero point one seconds—worked out, that's nearly five times the speed of sound... Sure, it still can't compare to The World, which simply stops time outright, but in a regular fight, this is absolutely an ace card."

She tilted her head slightly and looked at Chris. "I'm really curious about the items the other targets dropped in today's exam... they ought to be pretty powerful too, right?"

At her words, Chris and Sakayanagi Arisu turned in unspoken accord, both directing their gazes toward Kiryuuin Fuka.

Seeing this, Kiryuuin Fuka spread her hands helplessly:

"Don't look at me. You both know I've never cared for that Nagumo Miyabi's whole way of doing things."

"Apart from the one in Chris's hands, all the items dropped in this exam are with him. I pulled out the moment it ended—no interest in learning the details of how they're splitting the loot."

Chris nodded and didn't press further.

After all, the very culprit who'd left Kiryuuin Fuka lagging a version behind on intel was none other than himself.

As the presiding god of all this, what more could he really demand of this poor working stiff?

Chris tapped his knuckles lightly against the tabletop, musing aloud:

"I'm thinking that, aside from the highest-scoring BOSS possibly dropping a special item, the rest should be tied to the monsters' own traits."

"Still, now that the Black Sphere can drop these 'Skill Cards'..."

Chris stroked his chin. "I wonder whether the mystery shop down the line might also unlock items like this that grant skills directly?"

Sharp as she was, Sakayanagi Arisu grasped Chris's meaning in an instant.

She pursed her lips and chuckled softly:

"You mean... having Ichinose buy a Skill Card like 'Charm' or 'Mental Suggestion' to combo it with her Love-Love Fruit?"

"That really would be a fine combination. Assuming, of course, we can actually piece such a pairing together."

Chris nodded slightly.

He had indeed entertained the idea.

Otherwise he wouldn't have gone out of his way to create those "Class Cards"—contraptions that could link to the Throne of Heroes and grant the abilities of Servants.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the range of Heroic Spirits was simply too broad, the uncertainty was far greater than that of the Imperial Arms, which already had proven combat precedents.

As a result, right up until the exam was nearly over, no one had been willing to spend points to gamble on one.

Honestly, Chris had found it a little surprising.

Still, now that everyone—upperclassmen and underclassmen alike—had a low-cost "skip-class" item like the Stone Mask.

Then the difficulty of future exams ought to be ramping up before long.

First he'd line them up against the Santa Claus from Chainsaw Man, then move on to Muzan from Demon Slayer, and Ainz Ooal Gown the Sorcerer King from Overlord...

And by the big joint final exam, they'd just take turns elbowing Sukuna.

As for even further down the line—a fully-equipped Makima, or even the Holy Grail War of Snowfield...

Chris had already mapped out each person's enhancement path in the back of his mind.

For instance, having Sakayanagi Arisu draw Mami Tomoe-senpai's Soul Gem; pairing Ichinose with the Heroic Spirit Card of Rider, Medusa...

Ahem—but those were all matters for later.

Chris reined in his wandering thoughts and reached into his pocket to pull out the capsule containing the Stone Mask.

"This time we also spotted a Stone Mask in the shop... and it's different from the kind we ran into during the ruins exam last time."

"Once you use a Stone Mask bought from the shop, the vampire bloodline can be retained separately as a capsule even after you leave the exam."

"In other words, this thing has become a pluggable, external bloodline."

"Tomorrow, once we gather all the students together, let's at least give the ones without Combat Suits some bare-minimum safeguard."

Chris swept his gaze around the three girls:

"I just have this feeling that the Black Sphere suddenly handing us such a cheap perk is hinting to us... that the difficulty ahead is going to climb."

At that, Sakayanagi Arisu pursed her lips dismissively:

"Honestly, even without this perk, the monsters we face each time have been steadily getting harder anyway, haven't they?"

Karuizawa Kei, hugging her water cup, chimed in with lingering trepidation:

"Right... I'm actually worried that after a few more exams, the monsters'll just get more and more monstrous—"

"We're not going to end up getting shipped off to outer space to fight aliens one day, are we?"

Kiryuuin Fuka, cradling her black tea, narrowed her eyes thoughtfully:

"That's a possibility too."

"Or rather—all those monsters defying common sense that we've been running into, doesn't that essentially already count as fighting aliens?"

Chris nodded in agreement:

"Strictly speaking, that's not wrong. When the Black Sphere teleports us to other parallel worlds, then to the natives of that world, we ourselves count as 'people from another world.'"

Sakayanagi Arisu sighed, gently swirling the black tea in her cup:

"I just wonder how far we have to grow before we reach the level the Black Sphere demands—being able to 'protect our own world'..."

"At least as things stand now, this road looks like it has no end whatsoever. Maybe... that's the reason Ayanokoji chose to leave."

"Could be," Chris remarked with a sigh. "But honestly, right now I'm more curious about the form in which he left this place."

"Did he leave with his Parasyte-trait Combat Suit? Or did he lose his memories of this place and turn back into an ordinary person... Those are two utterly different fates."

Sakayanagi Arisu propped her cheek on one hand, her tone certain:

"Wanting to take the extraordinary out of the school? I'm afraid the Black Sphere would never allow it."

"And even granting that—even if it did allow it—the point cost would absolutely be an astronomical figure. With the accumulation of just a handful of exams, there's no way he could scrape together enough."

Having said that, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly changed tack.

Her gaze swept across Karuizawa Kei's tense, pretty face, then turned to Chris as she said with a beaming smile:

"Then again... Kiryuuin-senpai and I staying here—are we perhaps intruding on the two of you a little?"

"Should we head off first?"

Suddenly pinned by Sakayanagi Arisu's aggressive stare.

Karuizawa Kei couldn't help feeling a surge of irritation flare up inside her.

This woman was absolutely doing it on purpose! Deliberately, surely!

What a thick, two-faced scheming aura... it felt a hundred times more over-the-top than that hypocrite Kushida Kikyo!!

But even though she'd cursed Sakayanagi Arisu countless times in her head, in front of Chris, Karuizawa Kei didn't dare actually pick a fight with her.

Stewing in her frustration, Karuizawa Kei could only pick up her cup and down the rest of her black tea in one go.

Then, with a "thunk," she set it down on the table—neither too hard nor too soft—as a silent protest.

Watching her little thunderous fit—furious yet not daring to voice it—Chris nearly failed to keep a straight face.

Truth be told, he genuinely wouldn't have minded watching the spectacle of women tearing into each other, squabbling and yanking each other's hair.

Pity that, at least for now, with him sitting in the middle keeping a lid on things, it seemed hard for it to escalate into that kind of out-of-control brawl.

Suppressing his amusement, Chris stood up:

"I'll go pour you a cup of black tea."

Karuizawa Kei pouted and turned her face away, as if sulking:

"I came to get a grasp of the situation, not specifically to drink tea."

Hearing the girl deliberately stress the words "grasp of the situation," Chris obligingly sat back down.

He didn't go coax her or offer any soothing words.

After all, in Chris's eyes—

The more someone wore the words "I want it" written all over their face, the less you should let her have it easily.

You had to keep her caught in this tug-of-war of anxious wanting.

It was rather someone like Shiina Hiyori—normally meek and submissive, never daring to harbor any presumptuous thoughts—who was better suited to be the unexpected breakthrough play.

So Chris figured that letting Karuizawa vent and unwind over these little details was actually a good thing.

At the very least, all puffed up and sulky like a hamster, she was rather cute, wasn't she?

With that thought, Chris turned his gaze to Kiryuuin Fuka, who was enjoying the show.

"Senpai, if we're really going to do a recap, I'm afraid we'll have to start from your end."

Kiryuuin Fuka, who'd been happily spectating, wasn't the least bit annoyed to suddenly have the conversation dragged onto her.

She lifted her black tea, took an elegant sip, and said:

"Well, that's a long story, so I'll keep it short."

"Simply put, we were teleported in as testers to the depths of the ant nest, but neither the mystery merchant nor the Black Sphere staff were around—instead, we ran straight into Chris."

"Outnumbered as we were, we had no choice but to retreat, only to get cut off by this exam's target."

Kiryuuin's slender fingers tapped lightly against the rim of her cup. "Nagumo and the others stayed behind to stall the Ant King while we pulled back, and unluckily got spotted by pursuers. After that came junior Chris's rescue... The mission target was drawn over by the commotion on this side, he one-shot it, and then... he got ambushed by the corpse."

"Hold on!"

Karuizawa Kei couldn't help cutting in:

"What do you mean, ambushed by the corpse?"

Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled behind her hand and chimed in with a timely explanation:

"It's easy to understand—it's just like a 'Deathrattle' in a game. Even though the monster itself is dead, for a while after death it'll forcibly launch an attack."

As she spoke, she shot Chris a glance with a half-smile:

"Still, with Chris-kun's abilities, to have clearly won and yet still get caught off guard by a sneak attack..."

"The way I see it, it could only be because he was busy playing the hero rescuing a damsel at the time—his focus completely scattered, too busy ogling the girls beside him, hm?"

Chris's lips twitched:

"While it's true I got distracted because I had to save Shiraishi and the others, that's no grounds for you to slander me out of thin air."

Sakayanagi Arisu propped her cheek on one hand and leaned forward slightly:

"Oh my, are you angry?"

"Then... if I apologized, would you feel a little better?"

With that, the girl actually grew bold, tentatively reaching out her fair little hand to gently grope around Chris's chest.

"Were you hurt right here? Does it still hurt now?"

She leaned in closer, her breath as fragrant as orchids. "How about... I let big sis blow on it to make it better~"

"Hey now, mind your image."

Chris cleared his throat.

He swatted away her restless little hand and said righteously:

"You may not care about your reputation, but I do. Is a boy's purity somehow not purity?"

Of course, the more important reason Chris put a stop to it was because...

Karuizawa Kei beside him had visibly flushed red!

And out of anger, no less!

He already wasn't letting her have any, and now there was all this dangling right in front of her—and she hadn't gotten a single sweet taste of it.

That would be too cruel.

Chris figured he still had at least a shred of a conscience—not much, but some.

Watching silently from the side, Kiryuuin Fuka, eyes half-lidded, savored the good show with relish.

However.

Just as Sakayanagi Arisu, her hand swatted away, put on an aggrieved look of "you don't appreciate my good intentions."

Kiryuuin Fuka suddenly arched the corner of her eye, faintly sensing that something was off.

Sure, having been saved by Chris on the exam field, she did rather admire this powerful little junior.

But...

No matter how close a senior and junior were, would one really waltz so casually into a single guy's dorm and even make herself this at home on his sofa?

And on top of that, with two of the girls present clearly interested in him and even secretly vying with each other!

Sure, Kiryuuin was used to doing as she pleased and figured that playing the third-wheel spectator was usually pretty entertaining.

But at this moment, she instinctively felt a sense of crisis.

'Hold on...' 'Don't tell me that, deep down, I've started to have a thing for this kid too?!'

Startled by this terrifying thought.

Kiryuuin felt a wave of inexplicable irritation.

It wasn't that she thought Chris wasn't good enough for her.

It was simply that she had always been proud.

She believed her feelings should never be some cheap-seeming byproduct, born of the suspension-bridge effect under a moment of crisis!

Noticing the smile fade from Kiryuuin's face.

Chris spoke up with concern:

"Senpai, are you feeling unwell? You look a little pale."

"How about... some hot water?"

Hearing this classic line.

Before Kiryuuin could even respond.

Sakayanagi Arisu, tapping her fingertip against her chin, mercilessly undercut him:

"Honestly, I think you don't need to be so roundabout when you're kicking people out."

Chris shot her a sidelong look:

"Now this is where you don't get it."

"Where I'm from, 'drink hot water' is a cure-all. Periods, colds, fevers, even hemorrhoid surgery... just drink hot water and you can't go wrong."

Now Karuizawa Kei had finally caught her opening.

After a moment's silence, she actually—quite unsparingly—formed a united front with Sakayanagi and jabbed:

"No matter where you are, this is absolutely a through-and-through display of a clueless straight guy..."

"A lot of the time, whether someone actually cares about you isn't something a flippant 'drink hot water' can show."

Chris scratched his head, seemingly puzzled as to why his good intentions were being so misread.

Kiryuuin Fuka sighed helplessly.

She rose to her feet and smoothed out the hem of her clothes in the same motion:

"Since the business is wrapped up, I'll be off. Heading back to my dorm to catch up on some sleep."

"If anyone wants to spar with me in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber tomorrow, they can have Chris get in touch."

Watching Kiryuuin's carefree departing figure, Sakayanagi Arisu gracefully rose as well.

"Since senpai's leaving, I won't intrude on your little world for two any longer~"

Karuizawa Kei pressed her lips together, ultimately unable to brazenly own up to the teasing.

She genuinely worried that if she really dared to take the bait and stay, this black-hearted woman would turn right around and expose her on the spot.

Sure, Matsushita Chiaki and the others already knew she liked Chris.

But what if Sakayanagi Arisu shamelessly pulled some dirty trick behind her back, smearing her as a shameless girl throwing herself at him...

After a moment's thought—safety first.

Karuizawa Kei gritted her teeth and decided to leave along with them after all.

However, just as they were about to step out the door.

Karuizawa Kei had the nagging feeling she'd overlooked some important detail.

Watching Sakayanagi Arisu walk empty-handed to the door, Chris kindly reminded her on her behalf:

"Aren't you going to take your stuff?"

Realization dawned on Karuizawa Kei!

Right! When Sakayanagi Arisu had arrived, she'd clearly been carrying a very upscale-looking shopping bag!

She whipped her head around.

But Sakayanagi Arisu wore a look of utter indifference.

With a smile as bright as a blooming flower, she leaned in close to Chris and murmured softly:

"Ah, I forgot to mention. The maid outfit I had custom-made for you is finished."

"But given how things stand today, it seems I won't get the chance to watch you put it on and relax in person..."

"So I'll just leave the outfit here, and when the chance comes later... I'll have you wear it for me to see~"

These words—neither heavy nor light.

But pitched perfectly for Karuizawa Kei to overhear!

Karuizawa Kei's face flushed crimson, trembling all over with fury.

This was truly more than any flesh and blood could bear!

Where was Ichinose Honami? Ichinose, where did you run off to?!

Aren't you normally the one who gets jealous most easily?! Where have you gone now?!

Don't just keep your eyes locked on me alone, guarding me like I'm some thief!

There's one here a hundred times worse than me—she's even gotten roleplay outfits delivered right to his door!

Hurry up and come deal with her!!

If you don't step in soon, I'm seriously going to start hissing!!

____

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