The most boring class was history. The teacher wasn't engaging at all, an old man who explained things in a quiet, slow voice, making many students lose interest and drift off into daydreams instead of listening.
School had already ended. Tetsuya-kun was putting on his shoes when suddenly someone called out to him.
"Tetsuya-kun!"
It was Marin. She ran over while carrying her bag and arrived, slightly out of breath.
"Marin, you haven't gone home yet?" Tetsuya finished putting on his shoes and asked.
"Hah… ahaha, I left my phone in the classroom, so I went back to get it," Marin said as she caught her breath, scratching her head and laughing awkwardly. "By the way, Tetsuya-kun, can you come with me this Saturday? There's a cosplay event, and I want to go!"
She clasped her hands together as if pleading. Tetsuya looked at her, of course he knew Marin loved cosplay. She was an otaku, after all.
"Saturday? Sure, I'd be happy to," he said with a smile.
Marin was so happy that her face lit up, and she cheered while hopping around. "Yay! Thank you, Tetsuya-kun! I'll tell you the location later!"
"See you!"
She ran off while waving her hand.
Seeing how happy Marin was, Tetsuya smiled faintly and then headed home as well.
By the way… why not try out his Electrokinesis and make himself run faster?
"…"
Forget it. That wasn't important.
…
"Finally home… I wonder what's going on in the chat group."
"Hm?"
Tetsuya opened the chat group and discovered that there were already two new members!
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[Insect Hashira: Demon! What is this?! What kind of Blood Demon Art is this?!]
[Titania: A chat group? Is this some new kind of magic? Heh… come out, don't toy with me. Can you hear me? Come out and face me!]
Insect Hashira… Titania… Tetsuya knew who they were.
[March 7th: New members! Welcome!]
[Tsunade Senju: Welcome, new members. These two seem very aggressive.]
[Saeko Busujima: That's only natural. Anyone would be wary if a screen suddenly appeared in front of their face. We were the same at first, weren't we?]
[Tsunade Senju: Can't argue with that. Hahaha!]
[Boa Hancock: Other people? And what are they talking about? Demons? Like Devil Fruits? Magic? What is that?]
[March 7th: Maybe Tetsuya knows! @Tetsuya Hiratsuji!]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: First of all, welcome. This is a chat group that connects various worlds, allowing us to communicate with each other. Please change your display names first, Shinobu Kocho and Erza Scarlet.]
Wow… wasn't that suspicious? Calling out their real names right away like that.
Who cares? Tetsuya just wanted the group members to get to know each other and become friendly without suspicion or hostility.
[Insect Hashira: How do you know my name?! No, who are you people really?!]
[Erza Scarlet: Interesting. Saying we're from different worlds, yet you know my name…]
[March 7th: We were shocked too when we first heard about it! But Tetsuya knows a lot! Of course he knows your name!]
[Erza Scarlet: Oh, really?]
[March 7th: Of course!]
[Insect Hashira: Why did you change your name right away?! Are you part of them?!]
[Saeko Busujima: Alright, you two shouldn't be so wary. Please listen to Tetsuya-kun's explanation.]
[Insect Hashira: …]
[Erza Scarlet: …]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Ahem! As I said earlier, this chat group connects us from different worlds so we can communicate and interact with each other. Because of that, there's no need to be on guard. We're not demons, and this isn't magic either.]
After sending that message, Tetsuya let the two new members calm down and put down his phone. There was a new message, turns out it was from his senpai!
Well, from Utaha, to be precise.
[Utaha-senpai: Kouhai-kun, are you free this Sunday?]
[Tetsuya: I'm not sure. Do you need something, senpai?]
[Utaha-senpai: Yes. Actually, I need to submit the third volume of Metronome in Love to my editor.]
[Tetsuya: Huh? Don't you usually go by yourself, Utaha-senpai?]
[Utaha-senpai: Tetsuya-kun, you don't want to accompany your Utaha-senpai? Such a bad kouhai!]
[Tetsuya: My Utaha-senpai? Alright, I'll go with you this Sunday.]
[Utaha-senpai: …I'll be waiting for you at 8 a.m.]
Tetsuya chuckled. He could easily imagine Utaha being left speechless and choosing to end the conversation instead.
And indeed, that was exactly what happened.
Now, in her room, Utaha, wearing her simple pajamas, was lying on her bed, gripping her phone tightly.
Her face was flushed, whether because of Tetsuya's reply or her own words, it was unclear.
After a while, she finally calmed down and took a deep breath. Then she stood up and walked toward her wardrobe.
"Hm… what should I wear to make Kouhai-kun fall for me?"
While Utaha-senpai was busy choosing an outfit for Sunday, Tetsuya was thinking about whether to upgrade Electrokinesis and Sixth Sense to Level 3.
The reason was the outrageous cost. It took 1,000 points to upgrade to Level 2, but 10,000 points to reach Level 3?! Then how many points would Level 4 and 5 cost?!
"Ugh… whatever, I still have plenty of points. Let's upgrade first."
With that, he upgraded both abilities to Level 3, spending 20,000 points at once. That refreshing sensation came again, Tetsuya felt his strength increase and couldn't help smiling.
Then he looked at the cost for Level 4 and froze.
[Upgrading Electrokinesis to Level 4 requires 50,000 Group Points!]
That was a fivefold increase!
What the heck?! Why is this so stingy?!
Tetsuya complained inwardly. Still, who wouldn't want their power to increase just by pressing a button? That was the definition of being overpowered!
He decided to check the chat group again to see if Shinobu and Erza had calmed down.
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[Erza Scarlet: I see… It's hard to believe, but this really doesn't seem like any kind of magic. I've never seen magic like this.]
[March 7th: Of course! This isn't magic!]
[Shinobu Kocho: I apologize for my rudeness, but… are you all truly from different worlds?]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Yes. We're all from different worlds.]
[March 7th: That's right! And we can even travel to other worlds using points or by doing Group Missions!]
[Tsunade Senju: Points can be obtained from daily check-ins or perhaps by killing monsters? In Saeko's world, you get points by killing zombies.]
[Erza Scarlet: Zombies?]
[Saeko Busujima: Zombie scene.jpg]
[Shinobu Kocho: This! This is horrible… Are these zombies? They look even more terrifying than demons…]
[Saeko Busujima: Yes, they're called zombies. My world is going through a zombie apocalypse, and there are an overwhelming number of them.]
[Shinobu Kocho: An apocalypse?! Busujima-san… my condolences.]
[Saeko Busujima: It's alright. I'm in a much safer place now. By the way, just call me Saeko.]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: That's right. Are you still staying at Rika's place, Saeko?]
[Saeko Busujima: No. After Rika-san arrived, we agreed to build our own shelter.]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: I see. Well, if you ever need help, just let me know. Even without a mission, it's fine to spend some points.]
[Erza Scarlet: A world in apocalypse… how horrifying.]
[Shinobu Kocho: It really is terrifying! Even the demons in my world haven't caused destruction on that scale. Saeko-san's world is extremely dangerous.]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Actually, the zombies in Saeko's world aren't as strong as you might think, maybe about as strong as ordinary demons in your world. The problem is that there are so many of them, and their numbers keep increasing rapidly.]
[Shinobu Kocho: I see. Just as everyone said, Tetsuya-kun, you know a lot despite being from a different world.]
[Erza Scarlet: Yeah, that is strange.]
[Boa Hancock: So what kind of beings are these demons? Are they like Devil Fruits?]
[Shinobu Kocho: Eh, I don't know what Devil Fruits are, but… they're monsters! They're evil, terrifying beings that kill and eat humans! That's what demons are!]
[March 7th: That's terrifying! Like zombies! But Tetsuya said zombies aren't as strong as demons, so demons must be really powerful, right?]
[Shinobu Kocho: Yes! They're extremely strong! Demons have incredible regenerative abilities, they can even regrow severed heads! Only Nichirin Blades, forged from special ore, can kill them.]
[Boa Hancock: I see…]
================================
After chatting for a while with the new members, Erza and Shinobu, Tetsuya closed the chat group and decided to go to sleep. After all, he had just finished his first mission earlier that day and had spent five days in Saeko's world.
It wasn't that he hadn't slept while he was there, but still, getting proper rest after your first mission was a good thing, right?
Tetsuya went to his room, curled up on his bed, closed his eyes, and drifted off into dreamland. Ahem! He's already asleep, let's be quiet and not make any noise.