Saeko might have said that, but she definitely couldn't do it herself. There would always be time to chat and catch up with her sister; it would be better to develop the virus antidote first...
Yeah! What she needed to do now was explain her situation to her sister first...
Still, seeing her sister like this made her stomach hurt after all...
Persecuting Illya Couldn't Stop for Even a Moment!
Haibara Ai's full-day check-in had concluded. Please select one reward from the following: 1 Skill Enhancement Card, 1 Holy Grail Wish opportunity (defective version).
Congratulations, you obtained 1 Holy Grail Wish opportunity. This Holy Grail's wish defect has been removed.
Chu Chen was dumbfounded. Ai's haul today was the smallest he had ever seen, but he quickly figured out why. Ai had barely gone out all day. First, she went to Saeko's world to help complete the World Salvation Mission. Then, halfway through, she returned to expose Conan's identity and complete the Holy Grail Wish Mission. By then, almost the entire day had passed. Where would she have found the time or opportunity to trigger any other check-in missions...
Thinking about it, Chu Chen could understand why Ai had gained so little today.
It was like writing webnovels. If you had time and energy, you would write more. If you had neither, you might even take the day off.
A Holy Grail suddenly appeared in Chu Chen's hand, but the moment he saw it, his head began to ache.
What wish should he make with this Holy Grail? Under normal circumstances, a Holy Grail was an almost inexhaustible Mana Source. After all, this was not the legendary true Holy Grail supposedly stained with divine blood. Still, such an enormous amount of mana was more than enough to grant wishes, and ordinary wishes fell well within its capabilities. The problem was...
For Chu Chen, there was nothing worth wishing for among those ordinary wishes. But if there was nothing worth wishing for, what was he supposed to wish for?
Chu Chen's gaze landed on the Rider Class Card on his desk, and he fell into thought.
Should he obtain the means to manufacture Class Cards? For Chu Chen, a method capable of producing Class Cards would greatly diversify his options. He could connect to the Throne of Heroes and possess himself with the power of Heroic Spirits. Coupled with the vast reserves of mana already within him, he would not feel the slightest bit intimidated even when facing Heracles next.
"For me, the Holy Grail is better than nothing, but not quite enough..."
He could use the Holy Grail's power to obtain the Five Great Magics of this world, but that was too dangerous. To gain the Five Great Magics through the Holy Grail, he would have to take a trip to the Root. There were far too many uncertainties involved. Wouldn't it be better to wait until someone acquired magic through the system and simply take it from them later? Why waste the Holy Grail on it?
Wouldn't it be better to make a whole pile of Class Cards and equip Heroic Spirits one by one? One card, one Noble Phantasm—wasn't that perfect?
He couldn't help it. After all, he possessed the power of system creation, something even more useful than the Holy Grail...
Of course, Chu Chen could have chosen the Skill Enhancement Card from the start, but all of his own skills had already been strengthened repeatedly. He had to consider the battles ahead... Against Heracles, the issue was not whether his skills were powerful enough, but whether he had enough methods at his disposal... He did not have a Light Cannon capable of taking out multiple lives of Berserker in one go.
"Then that settles it. Holy Grail, please let me grasp the principles behind Class Card creation..."
In an instant, the Holy Grail transformed into golden light and flowed into Chu Chen's mind. The manufacturing principles of Class Cards contained extraordinarily profound Displacement Magic. The moment he acquired those principles, he also obtained Displacement Magic itself... Einsworth's near-magical Displacement Magic was completely mastered by Chu Chen in mere moments.
Chu Chen could not help but chuckle inwardly. If the people of Einsworth found out, they would probably cry.
At that moment, Chu Chen focused his attention on the Class Card before him once more. This time, countless things he had not understood before suddenly became crystal clear. He was even confident that, given one day, he could create an entirely new Rider Class Card. When the time came, perhaps he could test the power of this new Class Card.
However, using Class Cards carried a certain degree of danger. After all, the consciousness of the Heroic Spirit within a Class Card could not be erased. For instance, when Miyu used Gilgamesh's card in the original story, Gilgamesh's overwhelmingly strong ego directly took control of Miyu. In other words, without sufficient mental strength, one probably could not command the power of a Class Card.
But if one could synchronize with the consciousness of the Heroic Spirit in the Class Card, then, like Illya in the original story, one could bring Saber's power to its fullest extent and even pull off a Spiritual Foundation Advancement on the spot!
Miyu's full-day check-in had concluded. Please select one reward from the following: Magical Girl Fate Transformation Card, Skill Card "Photon Spirit Gun Shine," Strength +1, Stamina +1...
Miyu had also earned quite a few automatically issued check-in missions at school throughout the day.
After glancing over the rewards that followed, Chu Chen quietly ignored them. He had originally intended to choose the Skill Card, but his gaze fell upon the final reward... This reward...
Chu Chen frowned slightly and silently reviewed Miyu's completed check-in missions from today.
Miyu triggered an Item Check-in: Rider Class Card.
Check-in time limit: 5 minutes.
Check-in reward: One random skill of Rider Medusa.
Miyu completed the Item Check-in and obtained Petrifying Magic Eye.
After looking over Miyu's reward record, Chu Chen's expression immediately became exceedingly colorful.
Tsk, tsk, tsk... Illya, look at what a European Emperor is! This was a true European Emperor!
Nearly the same mission, nearly the same reward—how could the gap between what you two received be so enormous?
Illya got Blood of the Unlucky from Rider, while Miyu got Petrifying Magic Eye from Rider...
Was the world he was in called Magical Girl Illya or Magical Girl Miyu?
Thinking back on how much of the main plot Miyu occupied throughout the entire series, renaming it Magical Girl Miyu would not have been wrong at all.
Even the Magical Girl Illya movie was about how Miyu's brother fought through seven opponents and bulldozed the Holy Grail War.
And afterward, it even spawned a meme about persecuting Illya—I can actually see a moving Illya in Illya's movie!
Poor Illya. If this kept going, Miyu might steal your protagonist position in the future.
Though he mocked her like that, Chu Chen had forgotten that the person who had enjoyed persecuting Illya the most had always been himself.
Sometimes, Chu Chen even persecuted Young Master Emiya alongside her terribly.
Right now, poor Young Master Emiya was still at home receiving Sella's Ideological Education.
Mages Need to Go to School Too!
"Yo... you two new students. We meet again..."
Chu Chen looked teasingly at the two girls standing before him, their files still in his hand.
Tohsaka Rin and Luvia... the two students who had transferred to Hohomihara Academy... That was right, students!
Even mages needed to attend school... No matter what, they still needed ordinary identities in the normal world. The profession of mage could not be exposed, and maintaining mystery was standard practice for magecraft.
In ancient times, something like magecraft could easily be regarded as a miracle. That was why Divine Era Magic was immensely powerful. In the Age of Gods, magecraft was magic itself, and all sorts of casually performed feats surpassed those of modern mages by countless levels.
Unfortunately, with the development of technology, mystery was no longer what it had once been.
People held less and less reverence for nature, because science existed to unveil mysteries.
Thus, the magecraft wielded by mages gradually changed from the magic of old into modern magecraft.
The most typical example was the Primordial Rune of the Age of Gods, the primordial script that reached directly toward divine authority and could stand at the pinnacle of magecraft.
By the modern age, the Primordial Rune had long been lost, resulting in an incomplete foundation. Aozaki Touko had indeed established the foundation of the declining Rune magecraft, but reconstructing it did not mean perfectly restoring the foundation of the Age of Gods.
You could not compare Aozaki Touko's Runes with Scathach's Runes. They were not even on the same level.
The Runes of the Age of Gods were far beyond anything modern Runes could compare to.
Getting back on topic, Tohsaka Rin and Luvia both had complicated feelings upon seeing Chu Chen.
Fortunately, they had known beforehand that Chu Chen was a teacher at this school, so they had come mentally prepared.
They simply had not expected Chu Chen to be their homeroom teacher... That was truly...
That was right. Chu Chen was the teacher in charge of Emiya's class. If he had been the teacher of Illya's class, then when Miyu enrolled, Chu Chen could have simply taken Miyu to the classroom himself after handling the paperwork. There would have been no need for Fujimura Taiga to bring her there.
"Um... Teacher Chu Chen, right? I didn't expect us to meet again so soon either..."
To be honest, Tohsaka Rin felt rather awkward. Just yesterday, she had been thinking about remaining wary of him, yet the next day, he had become her teacher. The feeling was... unexpectedly complicated.
Luvia merely curled her lip. She had guessed yesterday that this would happen today.
No matter what, Chu Chen was a teacher at this school. Since he taught here, whether it was the elementary division or the middle school division, he would always be somewhere on campus. Besides, Chu Chen was so close to Illya and even picked Miyu up from school. As long as they wanted to meet Illya and Miyu, they were bound to run into him. There was nothing strange about it.
With that thought, Luvia inwardly despised a certain brainless country monkey once again...
Of course, in front of Chu Chen, Luvia would not voice her contempt. Otherwise, she would end up arguing with Tohsaka Rin. If she and Tohsaka Rin started arguing here, it would be troublesome. This was the faculty office, after all. Two students arguing in front of teachers would not look good no matter how one viewed it.
"Alright, I'll take you directly to your classroom now..."
Chu Chen glanced at the other teachers in the office before silently leading the two girls out.
There were too many people in the office, after all. It was not convenient for him to discuss anything with Tohsaka Rin and Luvia there.
Chu Chen intended to ask about retrieving the Class Cards tonight. Anime was anime, and reality was reality. He had been in this world as a butterfly for quite some time now. What if a butterfly effect occurred—what if they went to fight Berserker tonight, for example? He had to be prepared... He had studied the Class Cards for so long last night, yet he had not tested whether they could be put to use.
"Huh? You're asking about where we'll collect the Class Cards tonight?" Tohsaka Rin was rather surprised.
"That's right. Where are we collecting the Class Cards tonight? You should have already investigated it, right?"
Tohsaka Rin and Luvia exchanged looks. Neither said much, merely answering quietly.
"The location is near Fuyuki Bridge... What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking about this..."
Tohsaka Rin did not think Chu Chen planned to go to Fuyuki Bridge early and take the Class Card himself. The fact that he had directly asked her about it proved he did not intend to do that. Otherwise, it would have been far too obvious...
If he wanted to secretly take the Class Card, he would definitely investigate in secret.
Besides, one could only enter the Mirror World at midnight. Chu Chen had no way of sneaking in anyway.
"It's nothing. I was just asking in advance..." Chu Chen shrugged. So it was Caster...
Chu Chen's gaze briefly swept over a Class Card in his pocket, and the corners of his mouth curled upward.
Last night's Class Card duplication operation had indeed succeeded, and the Heroic Spirit on this Class Card was not Rider Medusa, but another Rider... That was what truly excited Chu Chen. His methods would become far more varied from now on...
Each Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasms and inherent skills could work together. He might even be able to perform a fusion summon like Illya.
Tohsaka Rin and Luvia exchanged another glance, each seeing the confusion on the other's face.
Neither of them had figured out what Chu Chen was plotting.
"Um, Teacher Chu Chen, have you always lived in Fuyuki City?" Tohsaka Rin asked.
"Yeah. I've always been a teacher at Hohomihara Academy. I've been here for several years..."
Chu Chen calmly stated his identity. In any case, he was not afraid of them verifying it. His identity had all been arranged by the identity card, so he was completely unconcerned about any investigation.
"Several years..." Tohsaka Rin gave a bitter smile. She had gone to the Clock Tower several years ago as well.
Because the Fourth Holy Grail War had developed differently in this world, Tohsaka Rin had gone to study at the Clock Tower at an early age.
If she had remained in Fuyuki City all this time, she definitely would have known about a mage like him in the city.
According to Chu Chen, he had lived in this city for so long, taught at this academy the entire time, and lived as an ordinary person. By all logic, he should not covet the power of the Class Cards.
Of course, that was merely Tohsaka Rin and Luvia's speculation. As for the truth...
They would probably need to keep testing him as they spent more time together.
Illya: I Want to Grow Strong While Lying Down Too...
Busujima Saeko completed a staged event check-in. The number of people under her protection had reached 500. She obtained E-Rank Leadership!
Haibara Ai: "Congratulations, congratulations! A joyous occasion for all!"
Illya: "Congratulations, congratulations! A joyous occasion for all!"
Yukino Yukinoshita: "Congratulations, congratulations! A joyous occasion for all!"
Busujima Saeko: "Ai helped with this too. If not for the Temporary Antidote Ai created, I would not have been able to gather so many people..."
Administrator: "Temporary Antidote?! (⊙ω⊙`)!"
Chu Chen was utterly bewildered. There were temporary antidotes for the Zombie Virus? Ai, when you made APTX, you made plenty of temporary antidotes, but how could an antidote for the Zombie Virus be temporary? Did it slow down the zombification of people who had been bitten?
But what was the point? You did not have a proper antidote. Slowing down the process did not mean they would not turn into zombies!
Busujima Saeko: "That's right. Quite a few people bitten by zombies can be saved with a 20% chance if they take the Temporary Antidote... Of course, even with such a tiny success rate, many people have still gathered around me."
Twenty percent? How did you calculate such an exact figure? And with such a tiny success rate, how was that supposed to save anyone?!
Haibara Ai: "My antidote was only a small part of it. More importantly, Saeko, it was your strength. Takashiro Saya's father would probably have taken control of me already if you had not been by my side..."
Having once lived in the Black Organization, Ai immediately saw the desire for talent in Takashiro Soichiro's eyes. His domineering personality also made her realize that if Busujima Saeko were not so powerful, he would probably have taken control of her long ago... Of course, even without Busujima Saeko, Ai could still roam that world freely on her own.
With the Magic Crest on her body, a physique strengthened enough to contend head-on with sturdy adults, and Item Creation allowing her to produce a large number of fodder troops, she might not compare to Medea's Dragon Tooth Soldiers, but that was only because she was limited by materials.
But this world had already become an apocalypse. Whatever materials she needed, Ai had long since gathered along the way.
Though they could not compare to a world that possessed mystery, under the effects of Item Creation, the Magic Crests and fodder troops Ai made were not something ordinary people in a normal world could handle...
Administrator: "Looks like things aren't going too well on your side either... Are you alright? If you need help, I can step in!"
Haibara Ai: "Actually, I wanted to complain about this last time. We seem to have never known what kind of world you're in, Administrator... I always thought you might be something like an artificial intelligence, but judging from when and how you speak, you should be human too... In other words, you're also a human selected by the system..."
Yukino Yukinoshita: "But whenever we trigger a check-in mission, there is a notification in the System Network. Only the Administrator has none. Could it be that the Administrator was simply set up as the administrator of this System Network?"
Ai and the others had begun to grow curious about Chu Chen's identity. After all, none of them had ever met him.
Other than inferring from his manner of speech that Chu Chen might be male, they had no other information.
It was impossible for Ai and the others not to be curious about Chu Chen.
Ai especially. With her high intelligence, she had constantly been considering the significance and identity of the Administrator within the System Network.
Before you continue