I remember him. He was the one who gave up his seat on the bus earlier.
Is he one of those overly nice guys? After giving up his seat, he talked with Kushida Kikyo. Maybe it was just my imagination, but he seemed to be deliberately steering the conversation.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.
"Um, Katsuragi, that was quite an unusual introduction."
Yosuke Hirata said with a smile, tactfully cutting Katsuragi Keima off. A smattering of applause came from nearby.
Katsuragi Keima pushed up his glasses, then sat down with a sigh.
The third dimension really was impossible to understand.
Suddenly, Katsuragi Keima seemed to notice something. He abruptly turned toward Suzune Horikita beside him. At that moment, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.
"Hey, were you just laughing at me?"
"I was just thinking that someone who could make such a remarkable declaration must be pretty brave, in a way."
Suzune Horikita made no attempt to hide her mockery.
Just as the introductions were halfway through, a crisp sound rang out from the doorway—the sharp click of high heels lightly striking the floor.
A beautiful woman in a business suit walked into the classroom.
There wasn't the slightest hint of a smile on her face. Her gaze swept over everyone as if she were assessing the value of a collection of objects.
The homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, Sae Chabashira.
After briefly stating who she was, she coldly explained the school's rules.
Once they enrolled, students were not allowed to leave the school or contact the outside world. The academy was fully equipped to meet all their daily needs, including entertainment, and they could buy pretty much anything there.
Students needed to spend the points on their Student ID Terminals to purchase goods. On the first of every month, the school would give each student one hundred thousand points, which could be exchanged for cash at a one-to-one rate.
For ordinary students, that was a considerable sum.
"You probably didn't expect that much. At this school, we measure students by their abilities. In other words, your successful admission means you have value."
As Sae Chabashira spoke, Katsuragi Keima took out the Student Terminal they had received upon entering the school. Sure enough, it showed that he had one hundred thousand points.
After Sae Chabashira finished explaining some things about the school, she left the classroom. Since it was the first day of school, no classes had been scheduled, and the students were free to do as they pleased.
Katsuragi Keima, meanwhile, rushed out of the classroom almost immediately.
"God of Conquest... I mean, Big Brother! Wait up! Where are you hurrying off to?"
Elsie hurried after Katsuragi Keima and asked.
"I'm going to verify something Teacher Chabashira just said."
"Something the teacher said? You mean that 'points can be used like cash at this school'?"
"No, Elsie. Didn't you notice the important information hidden in her words?"
Katsuragi Keima pushed up his glasses.
"What?"
Elsie looked utterly confused. She had no idea what Katsuragi Keima meant.
"Ability. That word came up repeatedly after we entered the school, especially in the teacher's last sentence. These one hundred thousand points are supposed to represent the value of our admission. It's possible that our points will fluctuate in the future, and they'll definitely be tied to this so-called ability."
"As expected of you, Big Brother!"
Elsie's eyes widened in surprise.
"So, Big Brother, are you planning to find a way to prove your abilities now?!"
"What are you talking about? The teacher just said you can buy anything at the school supermarket, so I want to see if they have any handheld consoles and games that are unique to this world!"
"Huh?"
Volume One, Chapter Six: Suzune Horikita: I've Never Been This Speechless
One hour later, at the school supermarket.
"This is great! Just as I thought, you can buy handheld consoles here that I've never seen before!"
Katsuragi Keima's face was full of bliss as he held a shopping basket packed to the brim.
"And they have games here that I've never seen before, too!"
Aside from a few essential daily necessities, the rest of the basket was filled with game cartridges.
Katsuragi Keima, who had earlier been eager to finish his task and leave this world, had now changed his mind.
At the very least, he had to complete every gal game in this world!
"Big Brother, don't you think you've bought way too much?"
Elsie glanced at the console and game cartridges in Katsuragi Keima's basket and sighed.
"And even if I let that go, you bought the cheapest options for your daily necessities!"
"That price range offers the best value for money. Besides, you have to save your points for anything that isn't essential."
Katsuragi Keima's expression turned extremely serious. He pointed toward a place not far away.
"Elsie, look over there."
Elsie followed the direction of his finger. On the front row of shelves, there were a great many free daily necessities.
"What about it?"
"If students weren't short on points, why would the school provide these things for free? They're clearly meant as relief supplies."
Katsuragi Keima pushed up his glasses with his free left hand.
"That means one thing: some students at this school don't have enough points to support their daily lives, and there are quite a few of them. Do you think that would happen if the school always gave out the same number of points every month?"
"Another unfortunate coincidence, huh?"
Just then, a familiar voice sounded beside Katsuragi Keima.
Katsuragi Keima turned toward it. Suzune Horikita stood not far away, holding a shopping basket. She had also come to buy daily necessities, and most of the items she had picked out were just as cheap as his.
Now, as she faced the shelves, Suzune Horikita turned her head slightly and studied Katsuragi Keima from the corner of her eye.
She had accidentally overheard what Katsuragi Keima said and only then noticed the free relief supplies.
Even Suzune Horikita hadn't given much thought to the school's rules at first. She had merely remarked on how generous the school seemed. It was only after hearing Katsuragi Keima's words that she noticed this incongruous detail.
She had to admit, if only a little, that Katsuragi Keima had excellent powers of observation and analysis.
He didn't seem especially smart, given the outrageous things he said during his introduction, but his mind is unexpectedly sharp. I'll give him a little credit... Hmm?
Suzune Horikita turned all the way around, only to find that Katsuragi Keima had already ignored her and walked several steps away. Even Elsie hadn't reacted in time, and she hurried after him, leaving Suzune Horikita completely dumbfounded.
"W-wait, Big Brother! You're leaving already?"
"Of course."
"But this was a rare chance to be alone with Horikita. Shouldn't you take the opportunity to get closer to her?"
"With a character like her, the more you try to talk to her, the worse it might go. On the other hand, keeping your distance and ignoring her could leave a much deeper impression!"
"That doesn't sound like a good impression..."
"Doesn't matter. I told you before: in games, there's a barrier between you and a female character. All it takes is the right opportunity, the right event, to break through it. After that, every impression you've made will turn positive."
Katsuragi Keima said with a smile.
"Besides, running into Suzune Horikita just now wasn't a coincidence. She was bound to come here to buy daily necessities. All I had to do was wait for her and say something that might catch her attention."
"I see! So you were pretending to be torn between games earlier, deliberately killing time until Horikita showed up! And the electronics section really does have the best view of the place—you can see the other sections from there!"
Elsie looked at Katsuragi Keima with even more admiration.
The Skeleton Chief had told her that Katsuragi Keima was the God of Conquest. After meeting him, Elsie had wavered a little in her belief, but after spending the day with him, she was beginning to realize just how different he was.
"So the handheld console and game discs you bought were all part of your cover?"
"What are you talking about? Those are things I actually wanted to buy."
"But didn't you say you had to save money?"
"I also said that some things counted as 'necessary expenses'! Those girls are trapped in the second dimension, waiting for me to save them! How could I just stand by? Come to think of it, I should probably buy a few more. I only had to leave early because I saw Horikita show up. Let's go take another look over there!"
"???"
Katsuragi Keima hurried back to the electronics section.
In the distance, Suzune Horikita watched Katsuragi Keima's back as he grew smaller, then suddenly sped up into a charge. The corners of her usually expressionless mouth twitched despite herself, and her breathing grew a little quicker.
She had never met anyone like Katsuragi Keima.
Suzune Horikita disliked socializing and usually kept people at arm's length, but she had never met anyone who paid so little attention to her.
What on earth is going through that guy's head?
No. There's no need to let someone like that get on my nerves.
Suzune Horikita took a deep breath to compose herself, then hurried out of the supermarket with the things she had bought.
Farther away, a pair of eyes that seemed somewhat languid fixed a sharp gaze on Katsuragi Keima as he browsed the game cartridges.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
He had been quietly observing Katsuragi Keima from the edge of the supermarket.
He had seen Katsuragi Keima browse the electronics section, then make his way to the daily necessities section, where he ran into Suzune Horikita.
That hadn't been a coincidence. It had been deliberate.
In theory, since they had only enrolled today, this should have been the first time they had met.
What was Katsuragi Keima's goal? Why had he done that?
Or—
Had he already begun to set something in motion on the very first day of school?
Could it be...
A theory surfaced in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind.
Volume One, Chapter Seven: Airi Sakura's Little Hobby
"Phew, this should be about enough. Modern-day realism, fantasy in an imaginary world, science fiction... They have all kinds of genres! I've never seen any of them before! The girls inside are waiting for me! I can't let them down!"
Katsuragi Keima gazed with satisfaction at the game cartridges filling his shopping cart.
"God of Conquest... Honestly..."
Elsie sighed.
One shopping cart had already been packed full, and for Katsuragi Keima's sake, she had ended up pushing another one.
"God of Conquest, one hundred thousand points is a lot, but buying this many games must still cost quite a bit, right?"
"It'll cost a total of 39,412 points."
Just then, Katsuragi Keima pushed up his glasses and answered seriously.
"Huh?! You've already calculated the cost?!"
Elsie stared at Katsuragi Keima in surprise, then looked at the things in the two shopping carts, her gaze darting back and forth.
There were a lot of items, and their prices varied considerably. Elsie only knew that the total might be quite high, but she had no idea exactly how much it would come to.
They hadn't checked out yet, but Katsuragi Keima had already memorized the price of every item as he picked it out and calculated the total.
"Although it looks like a lot, some of the daily necessities are the cheapest options. And prices at the school are probably a little lower than outside, so it hasn't cost as much as you'd think."
"But it's still a huge amount! You've already spent almost forty percent of your points!"
"Only twenty percent!"
"Twenty percent?... Wait, did you include my points in that calculation?"
"I'm helping you retrieve the power fragments. It's only fair that I get paid, isn't it? Or are you planning to get my labor for free?"
"Now that you mention it, I guess that makes sense!"
Before you continue