What is This Mechanical Arm?

Gyakukai pulled up another chair and sat down next to Horikita Suzune.

The mouse clicked briskly across the computer screen.

The advantage of playing games on a computer was the big screen—clear visuals, but the psychological damage also multiplied.

It couldn't compare to a tiny phone.

Horikita Suzune stared intently at the screen. She'd been playing this little game for over twenty days now, and the whole routine was second nature to her.

After all, even with some untranslated versions in between, she could still distinguish things through familiar English letters and button labels, eventually moving on to normal operation.

"The art style's a bit crude, fixed opening sequence, the main perspective is a doctor. Judging by this, it doesn't seem like a story-driven game."

Gyakukai, sitting beside her, watched Horikita Suzune analyze with such a serious face and couldn't help but find it amusing.

Luckily, he was a proper player and didn't do anything as punchable as spoiling the game.

"Slave Girl Silvie? Looks like it's more of a raising sim."

Maybe because Horikita Suzune hadn't been exposed to this kind of game for long, she didn't have much outward emotion toward the characters in it.

So she just casually controlled the in-game time, passing day after day.

Of course, she had some experience with this type of game—she always gave the best food and drink.

Until the in-game days reached six or seven, a new explorable area suddenly appeared on the panel in the top right corner.

"Gyakukai, what's this mechanical arm thing? I haven't seen it in other games. Does this game have some sci-fi setting?"

"Why don't you just play and find out?" Gyakukai naturally wasn't going to answer anything, brushing her off casually.

He found it hilarious watching Horikita Suzune fumble around.

"I guess so." Without paying much more attention to Gyakukai, she curiously clicked the mechanical arm displayed on the panel with her mouse.

What followed was a rather surreal turn of events—

Dazzling white and pink burst straight into Horikita Suzune's mind. In an instant, her pupils lost focus, and her mouth fell open involuntarily.

A constant stream of lewd sounds buzzed in her ears.

Wave after wave of noise assaulted Horikita Suzune's brain, forcing her nearly crashed mind to reboot.

Her face flushed bright red in an instant, a mix of embarrassment and humiliation.

After shooting a fierce glare at Gyakukai Yuki, who was laughing his head off beside her, she quickly moved her right hand and deleted the entire page.

"Rude, filthy, disgusting, obscene, H! You bastard!"

Gyakukai Yuki laughed heartily beside her: "What's that got to do with me? You're the one who clicked it. Hey... Suzune, don't go. Still wanna play?"

"Play your ass, get lost!"

Overloaded with emotion, Horikita Suzune couldn't stand staying in this awkward room any longer, being laughed at.

She quickly slipped on her shoes and bolted out the door. At the threshold, she shot Gyakukai one last fierce glare before slamming the door shut.

Having successfully riled up Suzune, Gyakukai Yuki was in a great mood.

As for Horikita Suzune being angry?

He had experience—she'd get over it on her own after a while.

And so, for the next few days, everyone got back on track.

During that time in the library, when Horikita Suzune saw Gyakukai Yuki, she just gritted her teeth and glared at him, nothing more.

In the library, it was already after school in the afternoon. All four first-year classes—A, B, C, and D—were studying here.

After all, the midterms were coming up. If they failed this exam, they'd face the risk of expulsion.

As things stood, none of the four first-year classes could scrape together two million personal points to avoid the expulsion penalty.

So, to be safe, everyone had started cramming intensely.

"Shiranami, this problem should be done like this..."

As Gyakukai Yuki's assistant, Tomie wasn't too keen on teaching others, but she had no choice—she had to maintain her perfect image in front of others.

"Yes!"

In the area where Class A (formerly Class B) students gathered, Shiranami Chihiro scratched her head as a crowd surrounded her.

Wait, wasn't she supposed to be the one organizing the study session? Why was everyone circling her to teach her?!

Shiranami Chihiro was exasperated, but there was nothing she could do—her grades really were at the bottom of the class.

Across from her, seeing Shiranami Chihiro still looking around, Gyakukai walked straight up and steadied her head.

"Chihiro, listen carefully. You should know that the one explaining problems to you now is the top scorer in academics across the whole grade, first on the beauty rankings, and one of the two beauties of first-year Class A—Miss Tomie. You should feel honored."

"Hai—"

Turning to look in another direction, he quickly strode over:

"Hey, Himeno, show a little enthusiasm, will you?"

Himeno Yuki glanced irritably at the book in front of her, the lollipop in her mouth, meant to replenish sugar, rapidly dwindling.

"I'd like to, but I haven't picked up a book in a while. Feels like my brain's rusted over."

"Then you need to work even harder. Look at the other students in our class—when they found out about the high school entrance exams, they all went to cram school to get ahead. You know, one step slow means every step slow. Some of our classmates are already way ahead of you, so you'd better put in the effort!"

"Tch! Yuki, you really are like a mom, nagging about everything."

Hearing that for the first time, Yuki Gyakukai couldn't help but widen his eyes, taking a fresh look at Himeno Yuki in front of him.

"So that's how you see me? Touching, really. But I'd rather you call me Dad."

Himeno Yuki pressed her tongue against the lollipop in her mouth, staring at the shameless man before her with utter speechlessness.

"Can you have some shame? And now you're pushing it."

"So, are you calling me or not?"

"No. Get lost."

Seeing Himeno Yuki reject his goodwill, Yuki Gyakukai sighed helplessly.

"How can you not even take the easy way out?"

Suddenly, Ichinose ran over from not far away.

"Why are you all out of breath?"

"It looks like something's happened in Class D. Yamauchi and the others got into an argument with Horikita. It's affecting our class's review progress, so I came to let you know."

Hearing Ichinose's reply, Yuki Gyakukai frowned. "What the hell is Class D doing? Even studying in the library turns into a fight. I'll go check it out."

By the time Yuki Gyakukai arrived, the argument was still going strong, and the noise had already drawn looks of annoyance from many people in the library.

"Are you three mentally deficient? Knowing you don't understand the formulas, I started explaining from the first-year material days ago, and you still haven't grasped a single thing. I honestly don't know why I ended up in the same class as you. With your kind of caliber, I can't even imagine what your futures will look like."

Suzune Horikita propped one hand on the desk and pressed the other to her forehead, her face cold as she stared icily at the people in front of her.

"What did you say, you bastard?!"

"Who do you think you are? Just because your grades are a little better than ours?"

Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike flanked Ken Sudou on either side, holding him back to prevent the already red-hot Sudou from snapping and throwing a punch.

"If it weren't for Kikyou-chan inviting me, I wouldn't have come to this crappy study session at all!"

"I even took time off from the basketball club to come study here, and now it's just a complete waste of time. I'm going back to basketball practice."

He shoved off the two beside him, grabbed his bag, and turned to leave.