"I can agree to that."
"But..."
Horikita Suzune changed her tone, her words carrying an awkward air of charity.
"I don't like owing people favors."
"Since you gave the credit to me... in return, I can help you with your studies."
"Huh?" Su Wei stared at her, wondering if he'd heard wrong. "Help me study?"
"That's right."
Horikita Suzune said as if it were obvious:
"I saw your entrance exam scores. You were only two points above the passing mark, which puts you in dangerous territory."
"Since we'll be working together in Black Sphere Space for a long time, I can't tolerate having a teammate expelled for failing his regular classes."
"I'm planning to start a study group for the students at the bottom of the class. You should join us."
Seeing the girl's expression that seemed to say, "You should be grateful," Su Wei couldn't help laughing.
"Horikita, you really do whatever you want, don't you?"
"Have you ever considered changing the way you talk?"
"What?" Horikita paused, taken aback.
"You mean well, but when you say it, it comes across like charity." Su Wei walked past her toward the door. "If you invite Sudo and the others with that attitude, I think all you'll get is rejection."
"Instead of worrying about my grades, you should worry about your own terrible social skills."
With that, Su Wei left the classroom.
Horikita Suzune was left standing there alone, frowning.
What the hell? Is there something wrong with the way I talk?
In the hallway.
Su Wei had barely taken a couple of steps out of the classroom when a faint citrus scent wafted up behind him.
No need to guess—she'd put on perfume. A veteran green tea girl's little tricks.
"Su Wei~"
Kushida Kikyo caught up with a light step, her hands behind her back and her trademark angelic smile on her face.
"Horikita's been like that since middle school. She has a sharp tongue but a soft heart, and she's not very good at reading the room... Don't take it personally, Su Wei."
Su Wei stopped and glanced at her in surprise.
"You two went to middle school together?"
"Yeah."
Kushida Kikyo slowed for a moment, a shadow passing through her eyes, but her perfect smile quickly covered it up.
"Well~ though she seems to have completely forgotten about me."
She didn't dwell on the subject for long, smoothly changing the topic as she pulled her phone from her pocket and waved it.
"By the way, Su Wei. Yesterday, I followed your suggestion and went to see Vice President Nagumo on the Student Council."
"That information sold for a full one and a half million points!"
Kushida Kikyo leaned a little closer, lowering her voice.
"I gave Ichinose fifty thousand as a referral fee. How about we split the remaining million between us?"
"After all, both the last Black Sphere Exam and this one were your doing. All I did was run errands..."
Faced with Kushida Kikyo's sincere expression, Su Wei didn't refuse.
Five hundred thousand points.
That wasn't a small amount at this school.
Even though he was the GM and could alter the data whenever he wanted to get money, that would be too boring. Unless he had to, he wouldn't break the rules.
When Su Wei agreed, Kushida Kikyo's eyes curved into crescents.
She lowered her head and started transferring the points on her phone, casually bringing up another subject.
"Oh, by the way, Su Wei..."
"I heard Kanji Ike and the others say they saw you carrying a black suitcase back to the dorm last night?"
Su Wei simply admitted it.
"Yeah. The Gantz Suit."
"In other words, the so-called Reinforcement Suit."
"Really?!" Kushida Kikyo looked up sharply, her eyes full of surprise. "You actually exchanged for one?"
Su Wei had no intention of hiding it.
After all, he'd bought the thing to bait this bunch of suckers.
If they weren't jealous, how could he motivate them to work hard and improve?
"So how well does it work? Is it as amazing as it looks in science fiction?"
Kushida Kikyo pressed, unconsciously edging closer to Su Wei.
"Well, as for how well it works..."
A lively voice suddenly rang out from farther down the hallway.
"Yahallo~ Su Wei, and Kushida!"
Following the voice, Ichinose Honami was walking toward them, waving from a distance.
"I was just looking for you!"
The update will be posted tonight.
As the title says.
As compensation, I'll post an extra chapter. Please keep reading, everyone. Thank you so much!
While I'm at it, I'll list the Black Sphere equipment I mentioned yesterday. To make it easier to picture, I'll briefly explain what each piece of gear does. The actual Black Sphere doesn't reveal any of this information.
--
Gantz Suit (Reinforcement Suit): See the end of Chapter 2. Omitted here.
X-SHOT GUN (Enhanced Standard Gun)
In other words, a cannon, made by lengthening the barrel of an X Gun and adding an attack mechanism. It has a range of over one kilometer and greater accuracy when firing over long distances. Its power is twice that of the X-GUN, and it can lock onto and attack multiple targets.
Gantz Bike (motorbike)
It has no offensive capabilities, but it moves very fast. The rear seat has a designated position for a sniper. According to the official description, it can climb walls. A special computer installed on the bike can calculate the value of prey in points.
Controller
It can display the locations of enemies and the remaining time, and it can also turn the user invisible by changing the frequency. Once invisible, only other players who are also invisible can see them, though some aliens can see them as well. It can be fastened to the hand. However, if the tight-fitting suit stops working, the invisibility will also fail.
Z-GUN (Gravity Gun)
A powerful weapon worth 100 points. Its power is tremendous. It attacks by bringing an enormous force crashing down from above onto a wide, adjustable circular area in front of the weapon, often instantly reducing the area where the target stands to a pool of blood.
Flight Unit (flying motorbike)
A powerful weapon worth 100 points. It's a machine that can fly freely through the air. It looks like a Gantz Bike fitted with flight equipment. It can also serve as the cockpit for controlling an enhanced robot.
Hard Suit (enhanced suit)
A powerful weapon worth 100 points. Also known as Gorilla Arms, it has far greater offensive and defensive capabilities than a Reinforcement Suit, along with combat features including elbow blades, a palm-mounted energy cannon, and an elbow-mounted energy cannon. The palm cannon is used for close- to medium-range attacks and can fire rapidly; the elbow cannon increases the speed and force of punches. A cable on its back can connect to a piloted robot, and its visor has an X-ray function.
Gantz Robot (piloted robot)
A powerful weapon. After obtaining a Hard Suit, Gantz members can earn another 100 points and choose this more powerful weapon. It's enormous, can turn invisible, moves slowly, and has a certain degree of impact resistance. In the manga, Oka Hachiro only uses it to punch and has no other special abilities. In the theatrical version, however, it can carry a large Combat Knife and unleash sword energy.
"What can I do for you?"
Looking at the girl whose hair color somehow brought to mind a certain pink dumpling, Su Wei asked.
Ichinose stopped in her tracks, the opening line she'd prepared catching in her throat.
Kushida Kikyo covered her mouth and chuckled, smoothly stepping in to break the ice.
"As an international student, Su Wei, you're probably still not used to the customs here, huh?"
"The way people in Japan interact is to pretend they didn't see someone, then act as if they've just noticed Ichinose and exclaim, 'Oh, isn't that Ichinose from Class B?' After that, you chat about inconsequential things like the weather and your hobbies before gradually getting to the point~"
"That's what they call 'reading the room.'"
"Huh?!"
At Kushida's words, Ichinose's fair cheeks instantly flushed scarlet, and she waved her hands repeatedly.
"N-no, it's not that extreme! You're exaggerating, Kushida!"
"Don't take her seriously, Su Wei!"
Su Wei didn't dwell on the matter.
He glanced down at the time.
"So, what is it?"
"If it's not urgent, I still need to go buy Dr Pepper. You know, class is about to start."
"Ah! Sorry, sorry!"
Only then did Ichinose remember why she'd come. She quickly put her embarrassment aside, her expression turning more serious.
"I mainly came to ask what you think about the Black Sphere Trial."
She paused.
"Especially about that... Reinforcement Suit."
"I want to know how well it actually works and whether it's worth having the whole team pool its points to get one for everyone as a priority."
Looking at the girl's serious expression, Su Wei wasn't surprised.
As Class B's leader, Ichinose Honami had far more foresight and willingness to sacrifice for the group than most people.
After their hard-won victory last night, she wanted to improve the team's chances of survival more than anyone.
He thought it over briefly, then gave her a positive answer.
"Well, from what I can tell, it's pretty good."
"But you might not get the full picture just from me telling you..."
Su Wei considered it for a moment, then made a suggestion:
Before you continue