What Is This Mechanical Arm?

Yuki Gyakukai dragged over another chair and sat down beside Suzune Horikita.

The mouse clicked briskly across the computer screen.

The good thing about playing games on a computer was the big screen. You could see everything clearly, and the psychological damage you suffered was magnified as well.

It was nothing like playing on a tiny phone.

Suzune Horikita stared intently at the screen. She had been playing this kind of minigame for over twenty days, and she had already gotten familiar with the whole routine.

After all, even when she encountered versions that hadn't been translated, she could make out the basics from the familiar English letters and button labels, then proceed with the normal gameplay.

"The art style is a little crude, and the opening sequence is fixed. The player character is a doctor. Judging by this, it doesn't seem like a story-driven game."

Watching Suzune Horikita analyze the game so seriously from the side, Yuki Gyakukai couldn't help finding it a little amusing.

Fortunately, he was a responsible gamer and didn't do something as asking for trouble as spoiling the game.

"Slave Girl Silvie? Looks like a raising-sim kind of game."

Perhaps because Suzune Horikita hadn't been playing this sort of game for long, she wasn't particularly emotionally invested in its characters.

So she simply controlled the game and let the days pass, one after another.

Of course, she did have some experience with this kind of game. She always made sure to give the character the best food and drink.

It wasn't until the in-game day count reached six or seven that a new explorable area suddenly appeared on the panel in the upper-right corner.

"Yuki, what is this mechanical arm? I've never seen one in any other game. Does this game have some kind of sci-fi setting?"

"Why don't you try it yourself and find out?" Yuki Gyakukai, of course, wasn't about to give her any answer. He brushed her off with a couple of casual remarks.

He watched Suzune Horikita operate the game beside him, suppressing his amusement.

"Fair enough." Without paying Yuki much more attention, she curiously clicked the mechanical arm displayed on the panel.

What followed was a rather fantastical turn of events. H

A blinding white and pink flooded straight into Suzune Horikita's mind. Her eyes lost focus in an instant, and her mouth fell open against her will.

A succession of lewd sounds rang in her ears.

The sounds pounded Suzune Horikita's brain again and again, forcing it to reboot just as it was about to crash.

Her face flushed scarlet, from a mixture of embarrassment and humiliation.

After glaring fiercely at Yuki Gyakukai, who was laughing uproariously beside her, she quickly worked the mouse and deleted the entire page.

"How rude, filthy, disgusting, obscene—H! You bastard!"

Yuki Gyakukai laughed beside her. "What's that got to do with me? You're the one who clicked on it. Hey... Suzune, don't go! Are we still playing?"

"Play with your mom! Get lost!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Suzune Horikita couldn't stand staying in that awkward room another second while someone laughed at her.

She quickly changed her shoes and dashed out the door. Before leaving, she glared fiercely at Yuki and slammed the door behind her.

After successfully messing with Suzune, Yusoku Gyakukai was in a great mood.

As for Suzune Horikita being angry?

He had experience with this. She'd get over it on her own after a while.

And so, over the next few days, everyone returned to their usual routines.

When Suzune Horikita saw Yuki Gyakukai in the library during that time, she merely gritted her teeth and glared at him. Nothing else happened.

It was already after school in the library, and students from Classes 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, and 1-D were all studying there.

After all, midterms were coming up, and anyone who failed this exam risked being expelled.

At present, none of the four first-year classes could produce the twenty million personal points needed to avoid the expulsion penalty.

So, to be safe, everyone had begun studying hard.

"Shiranami, you should solve this problem like this..."

As Yuki Gyakukai's assistant, Tomie wasn't particularly keen on tutoring others, but she had no choice. She had to maintain her perfect image in front of everyone else.

"Yes!"

In the area where the students from Class A—the former Class B—had gathered, Chihiro Shiramami looked at the crowd surrounding her and scratched her head.

Wasn't she the one organizing the study session? Why was everyone crowding around her to tutor her?

Chihiro Shiramami felt helpless, but there was nothing she could do. Her grades really were among the worst in the class.

Across from her, Yuki walked straight over to Chihiro, who was still looking around, and held her head still.

"Chihiro, pay attention. The person teaching you right now is the top student in the entire year, number one on the Beauty Ranking, and one of the two beauties in Class 1-A: Miss Tomie. You should feel honored."

"Sure..."

Then he turned to look in another direction and strode over.

"Hey, Himeno, could you show a little more enthusiasm?"

Himeno Yuki glanced irritably at the book in front of her. The lollipop she was sucking on for a sugar boost was disappearing fast.

"I'd like to, but I haven't looked at a book in a while. My brain feels rusty."

"Then you need to work even harder. Look at the others in our class. When they found out they'd be moving on to high school, they went to cram schools to get a head start on the material.

"Remember, fall behind once and you'll keep falling behind. Some of our classmates are already way ahead of you, so you need to give it your best."

"Tch! Yuki, you really are like a mom, always telling people what to do."

Yuki Gyakukai's eyes widened at being called that for the first time. He studied Himeno Yuki again.

"So that's the kind of person I am in your eyes? I'm touched. But I'd rather you called me Dad."

Himeno Yuki pressed her tongue against the lollipop in her mouth and stared at the shameless guy in front of her, speechless.

"Could you have a little dignity? Now you're taking it too far."

"So, are you going to call me that or not?"

"No. Get lost!"

Looking at Himeno Yuki, who wouldn't accept his good intentions, Yuki Gyakukai felt a little helpless.

"How can you not even take a shortcut?"

Suddenly, Ichinose ran over from nearby.

"Why are you so out of breath?"

"There seems to be a problem over in Class D. Yamauchi and the others got into an argument with Horikita.

"It's affecting our class's study session, so I came to let you know."

At Ichinose's answer, Yuki Gyakukai furrowed his brows. "What's Class D up to? They can't even study in the library without arguing. I'll go take a look."

By the time Yuki Gyakukai arrived, the argument was still going on. The commotion had already annoyed quite a few people in the library.

"Are you three idiots? I've been explaining the material to you since the start of the school year, even though you don't understand the formulas. It's been days, and you still haven't understood a thing. I have no idea why I'm even in the same class as you."

"I don't know what people like you are going to do with your lives."

Suzune Horikita braced one hand against the table and pressed the other to her forehead. Her expression was cold as she stared at the people in front of her.

"What did you say, you bastard?"

"Who do you think you are? You're just a little better at studying than we are!"

Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike stood on either side, holding Ken Sudō back to keep him from charging at anyone now that he was boiling over.

"If Kikyou-chan hadn't asked me to come, I wouldn't have attended this stupid study session!"

"I even took time off from basketball club to come study. Now it looks like a complete waste of time. I'm going back to practice."

He shook the two people beside him off, picked up his bag, and started to leave.