Ellen frowned, baffled.
She hadn't seen Yuki move—yet somehow, he was no longer in front of her.
"How did you…?"
"Simple," Yuki shrugged. "I just changed your position instead of mine."
"Ah… so you manipulated spatial coordinates," Ellen muttered, finally grasping it.
"That's just cheating!" Caren blurted out.
Even so, Ellen wasn't ready to give up.
With a burst of speed, she charged again—this time nearing the speed of sound.
Yet the result was the same.
Her blade sliced through empty air as Yuki casually rewrote her location like editing a sentence.
Ten minutes of relentless attacks later, Ellen finally collapsed onto her knees, panting.
"I… give up," she groaned, yanking off her gear. "Can't even touch your sleeve."
A snap of Yuki's fingers—and they were back in the cozy living room.
"Don't sweat it," Yuki said, patting her head. "That equipment's still a prototype. Once it's polished, you'll improve."
"This thing? Pfft. I just swing swords. No idea how to upgrade it."
Ellen gave a weary shrug, as if exhaustion had seeped into her bones, and sank onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
Beads of sweat clung to her skin, her breath ragged and uneven as she sprawled beside Yuki. The heat of her body mingled with his in the close space between them.
A soft, elusive fragrance rose from her—delicate, almost ethereal. Yuki inhaled deeply, the scent stirring something unspoken within him.
As expected from a girl out of the second dimension... even her scent is vivid, almost surreal, fresh like crimson petals in bloom.
"So, this gear… it was developed by your village's sorcerers?"
"Mm. Two geniuses named Isaac and Elliot designed it," Caren confirmed.
Hearing her tone, Yuki relaxed slightly.
Good. They're not close to those troublemakers yet.
"It's pretty crude," he mused. "Tell you what—I'll make you both custom upgrades."
"Really?!"
Ellen shot upright, clamping onto Yuki's arm like an overexcited puppy.
"Of course!"
Yuki couldn't help but smirk as Ellen's soft warmth pressed against his arm, until she suddenly remembered herself.
With a yelp, she sprang back, her cheeks flushing pink.
Oops. Too close.
Karen watched the exchange, a strange, unreadable emotion flickering in her eyes.
Evening Arrangements
As dusk settled, the sisters prepared a room for Yuki, then gathered around the dining table for a meal cooked by Caren.
The food was unexpectedly delicious—rich flavors, perfectly balanced.
"You've got talent," Yuki remarked between bites.
Karen's lips twitched upward, though she hid it behind a sip of tea.
After dinner, Yuki asked for the CR-UNIT prototype blueprints.
Caren handed them over, and Yuki retreated to his room to study.
With his [King of Comprehension] skill, Yuki dissected the designs in under a minute.
Flaws leaped out at him:
Energy inefficiency.
Overly bulky joints.
A glaring vulnerability in the mana-conversion core.
"Pathetic," he muttered.
But now that he grasped the principles, he didn't need materials.
Snap.
A pristine, next-gen CR-UNIT materialized in his hands, crafted from pure cosmic energy.
"Now this is gear."
....
After that, Yukichecked the [Multiverse Chat Group]:
Yuki: "Hey beauties! Miss me?"
Raiden Mei: "Obviously! You've been quiet—busy saving worlds again?"
Saeko: "He is the strongest, after all~"
Artemis: "Ugh, I've been swamped too! Everyone's scrambling to create human avatars."
Rin's eyebrow rose.
Yuki: "Artemis, if you manifest an avatar, won't you need to split your divinity? That'd nerf your power hard."
Artemis: "Yeeep! That's why I'm hoarding group points! Gotta buy a true human form…"
A pause. Then—
Artemis: "So I can finally be with you, Yuki~ 💘"
Raiden Mei: "W-WHAT?!"
Oriental Heiress: "Artemis, you scandalous goddess!"
Yuki choked on his tea.
He couldn't help but chuckle at Artemis's blunt, almost childlike declaration.
It was so like her—this lovestruck, slightly dim-witted Goddess of the Moon.
A warm exhale escaped his lips, a soft sigh of mixed amusement and resignation. The sheer reach of her [Charm Beyond All] truly was terrifying… even a divine being like Artemis had fallen hopelessly for Him.
Time, however, played its own strange game.
Though only a single day had passed in Yuki world, several long years had quietly unfolded in Artemis's realm. The flow of time was erratic across dimensions, unique to each world the group members hailed from.
Yet the group's daily check-in system operated on a unified clock—tied not to any individual timeline, but to the consistent rhythm of the chat group itself.
As a result, despite the years that had passed for her, Artemis had only managed to sign in twice.
She was still painfully short of the points she needed—far from reaching the quota required to claim the item she desired.
Yuki: "Ahem. Where's Seitenshi and Saeko ?"
Raiden Mei: "Seitenshi is investigating the Gastrea Virus. No clue about Saeko."
As if summoned—
Saeko: "Here. And… we've got a problem."
Rin's smile vanished.
Ah. So her world's apocalypse just started.
Raiden Mei: "What's wrong?!"
Artemis: "Wait, isn't Saeko's world non-magical?"
Saeko: "It was. Until zombies started biting people an hour ago."
Saeko: "Also… the group just assigned me a mission."
[Time-Limited Mission: Eliminate 100,000 "Dead ones" within 24 hours. Reward: 20,000 Points + 1 Intermediate Lottery Ticket.]
Oriental Heiress: "What are these 'Dead ones'?!"
Raiden Mei: "Saeko, send pics!"
Saeko: [Image: Grotesque, bloodied humanoids with milky eyes and gnashing teeth.]
Seitenshi: "Huh. Looks like… zombies?"
Huaizhu: "Oh! Seitenshi is back! Any progress on your end?"
Seitenshi: "Some leads, but nothing concrete yet. Let's focus on Saeko's crisis first!"
Raiden Mei: "Stay safe out there."
Huaizhu: "Will do! Now—Saeko, explain!"
Saeko: "They are like movie zombies. Normal people turn after being bitten."
Oriental Heiress: "That's terrifying! One slip and you're one of them?!"
Artemis: "But if they're just infected humans, can't you mow them down easily?"
Saeko: "A few, yes. But *100,000* in a day? Impossible."
Yuki: "Yeah, considering the state of Saeko-senpai's world, it's basically a full-blown apocalypse now. Every nation's crumbling under the weight of disaster."
Fujimi Academy,
Purple hair whipping like a banner with each swing of her wooden sword, Saeko stood amidst five crumpled corpses.
Her mission counter ticked up:
[5/100,000]
Her deep blue eyes narrowed.
Even if these things are slow…
Alone, with only a naive school nurse to watch her back?
This mission's suicidal.