Chapter 110: System Mall (Bonus Chapter)
And so, Otonashi Chiya, Reze, and Shingetsu began their "roleplay game" in that small house. Chiya took on the role of the teacher, while Reze and Shingetsu played the students. Although Chiya had never taught professionally, he was the only one present who had actually attended school, and his grades back in high school were decent enough. As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen a pig run—he simply recalled how his former teachers taught him and applied it to Reze and Shingetsu.
However, before the "game" could begin, they had to clean the dust-caked desks, the podium, and the blackboard.
"We should at least get this place clean first," Chiya suggested.
"Of course~" Reze immediately found a broom and prepared for a deep clean. Chiya and Shingetsu joined in to help.
While they were cleaning, Shingetsu suddenly asked Reze, "Have you never thought about escaping the military's control? Are you really willing to keep risking your life for them forever?"
The fact that Shingetsu could even ask such a question showed that her understanding of the military's power and the nature of "Hybrids" was still quite shallow.
"One has to actually be capable of doing that first..." Reze replied, her voice tinged with helplessness.
She had certainly thought about escaping, but such a notion was fundamentally unrealistic. Unless she could escape across the Soviet border before the military could react and hide in some undiscovered corner of the world, she would never truly be free from their pursuit.
Setting aside the fact that the chances of the military failing to react were slim to none, a life of constant hiding directly contradicted her dream of freedom. If she wanted to go to school and live a normal life, she would inevitably be found by other Soviet agents. The Soviet intelligence apparatus was among the best in the world, and Reze was essentially a novice in terms of seniority.
Once found, she would face an endless hunt by other Hybrids until she was incapacitated and brought back to the Soviet Union. Due to their immortality, those Hybrids could restart one another's hearts; if Reze were alone and died even once, she would have no way to "reboot," and her immobilized body would be taken back.
Unless Reze could kill all the other Hybrids simultaneously—which was virtually impossible—she would need overwhelming strength to pull it off. In short, without Chiya's influence, Reze wouldn't have dared to rebel.
In less than half an hour, the three of them had cleaned the entire house. A few sets of desks and chairs were arranged neatly, even though Reze and Shingetsu were the only two students.
Since Chiya preferred mathematics, he started with that subject. "Do you two students know the multiplication tables?"
"I do! I do!" Reze was the first to raise her hand eagerly.
"Then, Student Reze, please answer: what is four times five?" Chiya asked in a typical teacher's tone.
"Yes~" Reze stood up immediately. "It's twenty!"
Chiya nodded. "Correct. Student Reze, please take your seat."
"Hehe~ Since I answered so quickly, isn't Master... oh, I mean, 'Teacher,' going to praise me?" Reze said with a smile as she sat down. Though she had never been to school, it didn't mean she hadn't self-studied; basic knowledge like this was a requirement for an operative.
"You did very well," Chiya nodded. "And... Student Shingetsu?"
Chiya was about to ask Shingetsu a similar question, but he noticed a look of resistance in her eyes.
"I don't know..." Although it was a bit embarrassing, Shingetsu had to admit the truth.
Not only had she never been to school, but she had never bothered to self-study mathematical concepts like this. Normally, she wouldn't have cared at all, but the current situation was different. The fact that Reze knew something so simple while she didn't made her competitive nature flare up. She felt a deep sense of frustration.
"It's okay if you don't know it. I'll teach you once, and then you can memorize it later."
Seeing that Shingetsu didn't even know the multiplication tables, Chiya guessed she hadn't had much schooling either. He stepped down from the podium, intending to teach her how to write the tables himself.
While the "multiplication chants" are a specialty of East Asia—particularly China—other countries have their own versions of multiplication tables. Regardless, this was basic math one simply had to know. He reached out and placed his hand over Shingetsu's as she held the pen, guiding her hand to write out the equations on the paper.
With her body pressed so close to Chiya and her hand almost entirely enveloped by his, Shingetsu suddenly felt that not knowing such a simple thing wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Watching this scene, Reze became visibly dissatisfied. "Ehh~?" she said with a resentful pout. "Teacher is being so biased, treating Student Shingetsu so well~"
"If there's something you don't know, I can teach you as well," Chiya said while finishing the full table for Shingetsu. He seemed genuinely intent on having Shingetsu memorize it, though whether she was actually willing was another story.
"I do, I do! For example, I don't know what nine times nine or eight times eight is. I need the teacher's personal guidance too~" Reze chirped.
"..."
Chiya was speechless. Even though Reze was obviously faking it, he still wrote out the equations for her. In the end, this was just a "roleplay game," so he didn't mind playing along.
Next, Chiya taught them a few other mathematical concepts, all on the simpler side. However, no matter how simple they were, Shingetsu struggled while Reze understood them all. Before long, the forty-five-minute class came to an end.
"Class is dismissed for now. Students, take a break."
As he spoke, Chiya sat down in the chair behind the podium to rest. He would continue the next lesson after a ten-minute break.
Out of boredom, Chiya suddenly remembered to check his system panel.
[Host: Otonashi Chiya]
Strength: 150
Speed: 159
Vitality: 467
Unallocated Attribute Points: 0
System Mall LV1 (Unlocked at 500 cumulative attribute points)
Note: Reach 1000 cumulative points to unlock LV2.
Chiya hadn't opened the panel in a long time; usually, he just allocated his points and ignored the rest. He had no idea when this new "System Mall" feature had appeared. Looking closely, it had unlocked once his total points hit 500, but the system had never sent him a notification. If he hadn't opened the panel on a whim, who knows when he would have discovered it.
"Let's see what's in the mall..."
Filled with both anticipation and curiosity, Chiya opened the System Mall with a thought.
Item: Normal Black Pupils (Contact Lenses)
Effect: Vitality +5. Can be toggled on or off at any time. (Note: Double Kamui techniques cannot be used while active.)
Price: 10 Attribute Points
Item: White Mask Obito (Skin)
Effect: Vitality +5. Provides a certain amount of armor protection.
Price: 10 Attribute Points
Item: Massacre Night Obito (Skin)
Effect: Vitality +5. Provides a certain amount of armor protection.
Price: 10 Attribute Points