Becoming a Behind-the-Scenes Master from *The Fruit of Evolution*

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled without a word, shifting her gaze toward Horikita Suzune, who was pressing her lips together tightly while staring intently at the screen.

"It seems there is some conflict between you two?"

"Yes, although I don't know what happened, it certainly isn't Su Wei's fault!"

"If it isn't Horikita-san's fault, then the only thing at fault must be the world~"

Su Wei: "..."

What are you pretending for, you mere spectator?

Horikita Suzune ignored Sakayanagi Arisu's near-direct mockery.

It wasn't just because she didn't want to waste time on such tedious bickering, but because her attention was now completely captured by the radar in her hand.

"Enough talk."

Horikita Suzune spoke coldly, pointing toward the corner of the corridor ahead:

"There are three in the classroom on the left, and the display shows a green dot nearby... a student must be trapped there."

"And at the end of the corridor to the right, the radar shows five wandering about."

She quickly made her judgment:

"Besiege a point to strike reinforcements."

"We'll go to the left first, rescue the student, and then use the noise and the scent of blood from the Kabane to lure the other five over."

"How about we use the terrain to wait for them to come to us?"

Su Wei: "...I have no objections."

Kamuro Masumi tightened her grip on the X-GUN:

"Then I'll be responsible for watching the radar and guarding the rear? To prevent any stragglers from ambushing us."

"A reasonable judgment."

Sakayanagi Arisu nodded with a smile, then looked at Su Wei with a hint of anticipation.

Su Wei didn't hold back either.

He took a step forward, leading the way.

"Keep up."

The lights in the corridor buzzed and flickered.

Turning past the fire door, a bloody scene crashed into their field of vision.

Two Kabane were pinning a fallen student against the corner, his throat already torn open.

Then, just as the Kabane were about to tear off more flesh, the "student's" body eerily turned into a blue fluorescent light and dissipated into thin air.

"Disappeared?"

"...Not infected?"

Horikita Suzune paused, her voice tinged with surprise.

"Because everyone has one chance to restart."

Sakayanagi Arisu watched the dissipating light particles and speculated:

"It's just that they used up that life right now."

"It's a pity we lost out on protection points and a monster hunt, but this might not be a bad thing."

"At the very least, we don't have to face the moral drama of our former classmates turning into Kabane and then turning their blades against us."

Horikita Suzune and Kamuro Masumi were both rendered speechless.

Even if they agreed with Sakayanagi's logic rationally, seeing a living person vanish before their eyes still left them with a sense of sorrow for a fellow creature.

"Roar?"

At this moment, perhaps because their target had suddenly vanished, the three Kabane that had been feeding paused in their movements.

They turned their heads in unison toward the sound, their dull, crimson eyes locking onto the group standing at the entrance of the corridor.

"ROAR--!!"

Accompanied by roars, some accelerated on all fours, while others leaped high using the walls for leverage, charging toward the intruders with movements that completely defied human common sense.

Greeting them were the pitch-black muzzles that had already finished charging.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two dull gunshots rang out.

Even intelligent Parasites would fall victim to the X-GUN due to a lack of understanding of its properties, let alone these beasts driven only by the instinct to "feed."

The two Kabane were struck by gravity waves in mid-air, half of their bodies instantly exploding into fragments.

The last straggler, using its companions as cover, charged right up to them.

"ROAR--!"

It roared and lunged toward Su Wei, who was at the very front.

Su Wei's expression remained calm as he simply swung his blade.

There were no flashy techniques; it was purely a matter of overwhelming force, raw stats at work.

"Swish!"

A black arc of light traced a perfect circle, and the Kabane was severed, head from body, like a kite with a broken string.

The headless torso stumbled forward a few steps due to momentum before collapsing listlessly at Su Wei's feet.

"Iron heart..."

Watching the corpse, which was otherwise unscathed save for the missing head, Horikita Suzune mused:

"But decapitation still kills them."

"Does this count as finding another one of their weaknesses?"

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled:

"Think about it. Even if we were to turn into Kabane, if we lost our hands and feet, wouldn't our threat level be nearly zero?"

"Hmm..."

Kamuro Masumi couldn't help but shiver, raising the screen of the capture gun in her hand to warn them:

"Um... it looks like they're coming."

Su Wei looked surprised: "Although it's not far off from the plan, the X-GUN makes almost no sound when fired. Can they really hear us through two walls?"

"Their senses are sharp, but still not on par with a Parasite."

Horikita Suzune held her gun horizontally, staying alert, though her eyes were more relaxed than before:

"The Kabane shouldn't be much harder than those Evil Spirits, and the point value shouldn't be that high either."

"If we want to widen the gap, it ultimately comes down to that 'hidden monster'."

"The point value is definitely low."

Sakayanagi Arisu added unhurriedly:

"But if we don't clear out these mobs early, the remaining survivors facing so many Kabane..."

"I'm afraid what we end up earning won't even be enough to cover the point deductions~"

Kamuro Masumi: "..."

Lives are at stake, and this is what you're worried about?

Sigh, typical point-grinder mentality.

You've been completely alienated by that damn scoring system!

As for Su Wei, he nodded in agreement.

Indeed.

Aside from the "Skill Corpse" that could wield weapons and move with agility, the rest of the Kabane were truly just mobs meant to pad the numbers.

The real enemy...

Was still that nest of "The Silence" that would be forgotten the moment one looked away.

The third floor of the school building, chemistry lab.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka pressed his side against the door, observing the dim corridor through the crack.

Aside from a few sensor lights in the distance buzzing due to unstable circuitry, he heard no footsteps or the sound of beasts dragging limbs along the floor.

After confirming it was safe, he withdrew his gaze and gestured to the two people behind him.

"We're safe... for now."

Seeing this, Hirata Yosuke, who had been leaning against the lab bench, finally dared to take a deep breath.

His face was pale, his right hand clutching his left arm tightly.

Wrapped in strips of cloth torn from his shirt, the wound was soaked through with blood, turning a dark crimson.

"Sorry..."

Hirata gave a bitter smile, cold sweat sliding down his forehead. "As expected, I was pushing myself too hard... In the end, not only did I fail to save anyone, but I also dragged everyone down with me."

"Don't say that, Hirata-kun."

Amikura Mako, who was scrolling through her phone trying to contact a teacher, comforted him:

"That zombie that suddenly crawled up from the wall... it was actually holding two katanas and moved more agilely than a monkey. To survive an encounter with a monster like that, you've already done your best."

Recalling the situation from moments ago, Amikura Mako still felt a lingering sense of dread.

That dual-wielding Kabane was not only incredibly fast, but it even knew how to parry and slash.

If Hirata hadn't risked his life to shove it down the stairs, the three of them would likely have become corpses in the hallway long ago.

"But..."

Hirata Yosuke remained deeply ashamed, looking up at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"If Ayanokoji-kun hadn't pulled me back in time, or even used the fire extinguisher spray to obstruct its vision... I probably would have become one of those zombies myself."

"I only made the most basic of judgments."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head, his tone indifferent:

"Furthermore, based on my observations, the situation might not be as dire as you think."

"The students who were bitten didn't mutate like in the movies; instead, their bodies dissolved into specks of blue light."

"While it's unclear if that signifies death, it at least indicates... that there is a set of operating rules here that we do not understand."

"Rules?"

Amikura Mako was taken aback, then, as if realizing something, she looked at the two of them with surprise:

"Wait... are you two still unaware of the 'Black Sphere Trial'?"

"Black Sphere Trial...?"

Ayanokoji and Hirata exchanged glances, clearly unfamiliar with the term.

"Ah, it's the 'Special Exam' the teacher mentioned!"

As she spoke, Amikura Mako hurriedly pulled up the long infographic Ichinose had summarized earlier and handed it to them.

Ayanokoji took the phone and quickly scanned the information on the screen.