"Don't suddenly act like you've had some great realization! Besides, I was just saying that offhand. Under normal circumstances, there's no way I'd use your points."
"Don't worry, God of Conquest! My points are your points! Just say the word, and I'll give you all of them!"
"Don't make me sound like a kidnapper!"
While Keima Katsuragi was talking with Elsie, his gaze seemed to catch sight of something, and he looked in the other direction.
A familiar figure appeared nearby.
Airi Sakura.
Airi held both hands lightly against her chest. She looked a little nervous as she scanned the rows of merchandise.
A gleam flashed in Keima Katsuragi's eyes.
Could it be...
Was Airi Sakura a fellow enthusiast?!
But Airi's gaze didn't linger in the gaming section for even a moment. Instead, she focused on the rows of cameras.
"Hey, I remember you're... Sakura, right?"
Keima slowly walked over to her and greeted her softly.
"I, I... you... I... you're Katsuragi, Katsuragi..."
Airi took a step back like a cat that had been shocked by a sudden touch. She hadn't expected a classmate to recognize her.
Although Airi had introduced herself earlier that day, she'd been so nervous and shy that her voice had been barely audible. Most of the class hadn't even heard her, and the vast majority hadn't remembered her name.
Keima, however, was the complete opposite.
His outrageously bold speech had made almost everyone remember his name.
Airi included.
"Hello, Sakura! I'm God of Conquest's—my big brother's younger sister! Keima Katsuragi's sister, Elsie! Nice to meet you! I didn't get a chance to introduce myself earlier!"
Elsie came over to Airi as well, wearing an incredibly enthusiastic smile.
"N-Nice to... meet you..."
Airi pressed her lips together and gave a slight nod. Her voice was little more than a whisper.
Unlike Suzune, who was aloof and cool, Airi was a complete social recluse. Talking to anyone she didn't know well made her feel as if she were sitting on pins and needles, with thorns in her side and a lump in her throat.
Even at her old school, Airi had been practically invisible. She had almost no social life and no friends.
Now, Airi's body was even trembling slightly.
Sh-should I just leave?
It was the first day of school... If I just walk away, it'll seem rude...
Wh-what should I do...
Airi's face flushed red with nervousness. Just then, Keima spoke again.
"Sakura, do you like photography?"
Keima's gaze passed over the rows of cameras before settling on Airi's face.
"Yeah."
Only when answering that question did Airi seem to find a little of the confidence she'd previously lacked.
"I once knew a girl who liked taking pictures, too. She liked using her camera to record all kinds of things, and she knew a great deal about all sorts of cameras!"
As Keima spoke, he watched Airi's reaction. When he mentioned photography, the distance between them seemed to lessen a little.
"Oh, it's getting late. We shouldn't keep Sakura any longer. Elsie, let's go!"
"Huh? We're leaving already?"
Before Elsie could react, Keima took her hand and led her away.
Airi watched Keima and Elsie's retreating figures for a moment, then let out a long breath. She felt as if she'd been freed.
She turned around and gazed at the rows of cameras with eager anticipation.
"God of Conquest, was it for the same reason as with Horikita that you didn't talk more with Sakura?"
After paying for their purchases, Keima and Elsie walked back to their dorms, each carrying a heavy bag.
"More or less. They're both the sort of people who are hard to get along with, but Sakura and Horikita are quite different. Rather than being hard to get along with, Sakura just doesn't know how to interact with other people. When I spoke with her just now, I could tell she was very nervous, so I chose to leave first."
Keima answered seriously.
"Then who was that girl you mentioned earlier, the one who liked taking pictures?"
Elsie's eyes were filled with curiosity.
"She was a character in a game I played once."
"Huh? So you just made it up after all?"
"What are you talking about? I didn't make it up! As far as I'm concerned, every character in a game is real, and I treat them with the most sincere feelings!"
After walking for about ten minutes, Keima first saw Elsie to her room, then finally returned to his own dorm room.
He gently set the things he'd bought that day on the table, then looked around the room provided by the school.
The room wasn't very spacious, but it was neat and cozy, with all the necessary furniture. It had a private bathroom, a small kitchen, and a desk. There was even a laptop on the desk.
It was practically the perfect studio apartment.
"Now I can play games here without anyone bothering me!"
As Keima looked forward to his life ahead, Elsie's head suddenly popped out from under his arm.
"Hey! There's only one bed! How are God of Conquest and I supposed to sleep?"
"Of course you're going back to your own room to sleep!"
Keima was startled by Elsie's sudden appearance. He stumbled backward a few steps and nearly fell over.
"Huh? I thought brothers and sisters were supposed to live together."
"That's when they're at home! But our school is a boarding school, so of course we each get our own room!"
Keima explained helplessly.
"And there's no point in pretending to be my sister in the first place!"
"I did it so I could live with you, God of Conquest!"
"But we're both living at school now, so we're already living together!"
"Hmm... That actually sounds pretty reasonable, God of Conquest. So that's how it is! It's completely different from what I expected!"
Elsie nodded in sudden realization.
"So... you didn't prepare at all before taking on this mission?"
"Well, before this mission, my job was just to clean. I did that for about three hundred years."
"..."
Keima felt a little helpless. As they talked, he even started to feel a little sorry for her.
No.
I'm the one who deserves sympathy.
I was living a peaceful life, and out of nowhere I got dragged into this world—though it does have games I've never played before, so I should give them a proper try.
"God of Conquest, what are your plans from here?"
Elsie asked curiously.
"Plans? It doesn't really matter. You gave me so many missions, so I'll take my time. Besides, time flows differently in this world compared to the others, right?"
As he spoke, Keima crouched down and rummaged through his shopping bag, then took out his handheld console, ready to play.
But just then, Elsie spoke again.
"We can't take too long! In theory, our mission still has a time limit."
"Huh?"
"At least, we have to finish within three years! It'll be a problem if our targets graduate from high school!"
"That's true. But we have three years?"
Keima smiled and pushed up his glasses.
"That's more than enough. I'm a god who can clear several games at once. If I calculate based on the time we have left..."
"God of Conquest! I'm not talking about games! I mean the targets of this mission! What are you planning to do next?"
Elsie's voice grew a little hurried.
"For now, I'll start with a few people from our class. I'll adapt as we go for the rest. I've played a lot of games, but I've never seen one with so many characters to pursue. If this were really just a game, it'd be fine, but this is an actual world..."
Keima set the handheld console on the desk and took a thick stack of cards from his pocket. He sighed, but then seemed to remember something and turned to Elsie.
"By the way, we came to this world from somewhere else. Our identities and backgrounds won't cause any problems, will they?"
"Don't worry! Skeleton Chief told me our identity information would be adjusted to fit the circumstances of our original world, so we shouldn't have to worry!"
"Are you sure we don't have to worry...? I get the feeling you demons aren't very reliable."
Meanwhile, in the school office.
Sae Chabashira's gaze passed over the rows of student records.
At this school, A, B, C, and D weren't merely class labels; they also represented the students' rankings, with Class D being the lowest.
Sae had once been a student assigned to Class D. She had come close to being promoted to Class A, but failed at the last moment. That left her with a powerful obsession with reaching Class A. She had eventually returned to the school as a teacher, hoping to lead Class D to Class A.
In her first year at Advanced Nurturing, Sae had been a meticulous teacher. She wrote neat, detailed lesson plans, never missed a chance to tutor students after class, and did everything she could to help them with class competitions—as long as it didn't break any rules.
But the students in Class D were simply too weak overall. They only wanted to slack off and had no ambition, so no matter how hard she tried, the class never advanced.
On top of that, Chie Hoshinomiya, another teacher, went out of her way to sabotage Sae's class. As time passed, the once meticulous Sae gradually became someone who just let things slide.
Until not long ago.
At that moment, Sae's gaze settled on one student's file.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Academic ability: C
Intelligence: C-
Judgment: C-
Physical ability: C-
Teamwork: D
The student who concerned her most was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
She had heard about him from the school's head, Chairman Sakayanagi.
He wasn't an ordinary student but someone who was hiding his true abilities. He had deliberately made his entrance evaluation results look average or even poor.
After learning about Ayanokoji, Sae had wanted to make use of his abilities to achieve her goal once more.
Promote Class D to Class A.
But now, someone else had caught Sae's attention.
Keima Katsuragi
Academic ability: A+
Intelligence: A+
Before you continue