"Just got lucky."
"I poked it once, stretched it out... I told you, I just stole the kill."
"Luck?"
Sakayanagi Arisu gave a soft laugh, clearly unconvinced.
"Being able to skillfully control a Tachi that extends and retracts at will... You can't explain that away with a little luck, Su Wei."
Su Wei neither confirmed nor denied it.
In fact, Sakayanagi wasn't wrong.
An ordinary person might not even be able to hit their target with a handgun, let alone manifest Ichimaru Gin's Kamishini no Yari.
To pull off that strike, he had activated Spectator's Future Sight to predict its trajectory while using Psychokinesis to control the Parasite.
All that back and forth—dear lord... That took way too much effort!
"That doesn't matter."
A cool voice cut into the conversation.
Horikita Suzune realized the Black Gun in her hand had vanished. She turned to the Black Sphere, her eyes uneasy.
"Now that the exam is over, shouldn't we be getting our scores?"
As if responding to her hopes,
light rippled across the Black Sphere's silent surface, and rows of glaring white text appeared.
[All right, time to tally up~]
[Here is the contribution ranking for this trial:]
[Individual Scores]
[1. Su Wei: 7 points (10 points total)]
[2. Ichinose Honami/Katsuragi Kohei: 5 points]
[3. Ryuen Kakeru: 3 points]
[4. Horikita Suzune/Kamuro Masumi/Sakayanagi Arisu/Shiranami Chihiro/Shiina Hiyori: 2 points]
Next came the more important class data.
[Class Rankings and Bonus Points--]
[Class A: 1,030 points (940 + 9 × 1,000%), each class member receives an additional 9,000 spending points]
[Class B: 702.5 points (650 + 7 × 750%), each class member receives an additional 5,250 spending points]
[Class C: 515 points (490 + 5 × 500%), each class member receives an additional 2,500 spending points]
[Class D: 90 points (0 + 9 × 1,000%), each class member receives an additional 9,000 spending points]
[*You may spend additional S Points to increase Class Points at a 1:10 rate]
"9,000 points..."
Horikita Suzune bit her lip, swiped a finger across the Black Sphere, and opened her profile.
[Horikita Suzune: 2 points]
[Evaluation: You went all out and looked like a beast, but the scoreboard says 2.5... No, just 2 points. Classic case of wanting everything but being incapable of getting any of it.]
Horikita's mouth twitched as she read the scathing evaluation.
The intense embarrassment made her ears burn, but she couldn't argue with it.
"Um..."
Shiina Hiyori stepped closer. Looking at the pitifully low individual scores, she asked in puzzlement,
"This was a fight where we risked our lives... Everyone only got a few points. Compared to a hellish challenge like this, aren't the rewards a bit meager?"
"Not at all, Shiina."
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the rankings and explained cheerfully,
"Leaving aside the so-called class scores, which value the overall strength of the entire class, the Black Sphere's points can still be exchanged for Class Points at a one-to-ten rate. A system that puts 'individual performance' above 'collective rules' is valuable in itself."
"Besides..."
Sakayanagi Arisu paused deliberately and turned her gaze toward Su Wei.
"Have you all forgotten?"
"The game's initial explanation."
Su Wei didn't move, still looking completely unbothered.
Ryuen Kakeru, however, walked up to the Black Sphere.
"...Points can be used to buy equipment."
"Gantz, show me the list of equipment you're selling. Let's see exactly how much these S Points of yours are worth!"
Before the words had left his mouth,
the Black Sphere's screen flashed, and a page of exchange options unfolded.
[Gantz Suit: 10 points]
[X-SHOT GUN: 10 points]
[Controller: 40 points]
[Z-GUN: 100 points]
[Hard Suit: 100 points]
[Gantz Mecha: 100 points]
"Oho~"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the exaggerated Mecha image at the bottom of the list, impressed.
"You can even pilot a Gundam?"
"Now this feels like proper futuristic technology."
Katsuragi Kohei was more practical.
He opened each piece of equipment to inspect it, but found no descriptions. In the end, he fixed his gaze on the cheapest option, the Reinforcement Suit.
"So this Reinforcement Suit... is a perk for newcomers?"
"It only costs 10 points. That seems pretty reasonable."
Su Wei silently gave himself a thumbs-up.
He really was pretty reasonable.
In the original Gantz, the Reinforcement Suits were free.
But in a modern system, they were far too overpowered. Even selling them for 30 points wouldn't have been unreasonable, never mind handing one to everyone.
Even the rules in Gantz... If you picked up 100-point equipment, it was automatically unlocked for future scenarios.
No, how could that be allowed?
What did that make all the people who worked so hard to save up points? People who could endure hardship?
But what could he do? Who else but the Main God could understand all the bitterness he'd had to swallow?
For the sake of fairness, he had no choice but to usher in the age of patches...
You could use it, but no freeloading!
Only power you'd paid a price for was worth appreciating, wasn't it?
"Um, Gantz?"
While everyone was studying the equipment, Ichinose suddenly spoke up.
"I wanted to ask something. If we can use 100 points to buy back our own lives..."
"Then if one of our companions actually dies during a mission, can we use points to revive them?"
The moment she said this, the room fell silent.
The next second,
[Of course you can (^_^)/]
[For just 100 points, I can bring anyone back perfectly intact, even if they've been reduced to a pile of minced meat or nothing but ashes.]
"You can even trade points for life and death?"
Shiina Hiyori covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock.
Ryuen Kakeru gave a self-deprecating smile, his words cold.
"What's reviving a few humans to it?"
"Hasn't it been playing with our lives as it pleases all along?"
His words were sarcastic, but everyone who had died once couldn't help falling silent.
Only Shiranami Chihiro looked at the girl beside her with a deeply moved expression.
She knew perfectly well who Ichinose had asked about.
"Ichinose... You really are the sweetest little angel in the world!"
Ichinose felt a little embarrassed.
She suddenly noticed Horikita Suzune taking photos of the equipment list on the Black Sphere with her phone and typing up notes.
She took out her own phone and suggested,
"Why don't we exchange contact information? It'll be easier to get in touch if we want to form a team later."
"No need."
Sakayanagi Arisu reminded them,
"Didn't Kushida make a group earlier? Just post the QR code and everyone can join."
"We can exchange information and occasionally trade points in the group. As for private contact information..."
She let the implication hang in the air. "That's better saved for someone you're closer to."
No one objected.
After gathering around the Black Sphere to ask a few more questions about equipment durability and the details of revival, people began to leave one by one.
After such a heart-pounding battle, all they wanted was to return to the real world and get a good night's sleep.
Soon, only Su Wei, Sakayanagi Arisu, and the unwillingly retained "crutch," Kamuro Masumi, remained in the room.
Sakayanagi Arisu watched Su Wei with a smile.
She said nothing, simply watching him in silence.
The predatory look in her eyes made Kamuro Masumi, standing beside her, feel distinctly uncomfortable.
"Um..."
Kamuro finally couldn't take the strange atmosphere anymore and asked Su Wei,
"Why are you still here...? Everyone's gone. Want to leave together?"
Su Wei ignored Kamuro.
He crouched in front of the Black Sphere and casually tapped the screen a few times.
"Vmm—"
Amid a flash of teleportation light, a black suitcase bearing his name appeared out of thin air at his feet.
He picked up the case and glanced at Sakayanagi, who was still being cryptic:
Before you continue