The Mastermind Behind the Scenes, Starting with *The Fruit of Grisaia*

The pulsing blood-red numbers were as unsettling as a death warrant.

"Tch." Ryuen Kakeru spat in annoyance, "Even with just a blade, I could clear this."

Su Wei sighed and stepped forward quickly.

"Catch."

He tossed the X-GUN to Sakayanagi, who caught it with one hand, her movements as practiced as if she had rehearsed them.

Following that, he shoved two strangely shaped Y-GUNs into the hands of the still-dazed Ichinose and Kushida.

"Take them. Better than being empty-handed."

As for himself, he naturally chose the classic X-GUN; it made no difference to him what he picked.

"I don't know swordsmanship, so picking the blade would just hold everyone back... I'll go with this."

Ryuen Kakeru offered no comment.

Sakayanagi Arisu praised him, "A rational judgment."

"As a 'princess,' I am indeed ill-suited for charging into the fray."

Kushida Kikyo and Ichinose Honami gripped the heavy firearms tightly, their knuckles turning white as they exchanged a glance, seeing the despair in each other's eyes.

[00:00]

[Weapon selection complete.]

[Teleportation of all personnel commencing.]

Note 1: Gantz Suit: Grants immunity to one fatal injury and boosts a warrior's physical capabilities tenfold. If the rings on the suit are destroyed, the suit becomes ineffective.

Note 2: X-GUN (Standard Gun): Features an X-ray targeting screen and positioning capabilities. It has two triggers: the top for locking on, the bottom for firing. The projectile penetrates the skin to detonate inside the target, dealing true internal damage. Range: 9 meters.

Note 3: Y-GUN (Capture Gun): Fires a restraint cable that immobilizes aliens. Once bound, they are teleported to an unknown world. No delay.

Note 4: Gantz Sword: Extends by instantly altering its nanoparticle structure, capable of slicing through any conventional metal with ease.

Chapter 3: Accepting Reality

The moment the sensation of weightlessness vanished, a cool night breeze brushed against their faces.

Everyone opened their eyes, and what greeted them was not the moldy tatami room, but the familiar commercial pedestrian street.

The streetlights glowed a dim yellow.

A vending machine nearby hummed.

Further away, a 24-hour convenience store was brightly lit.

"We... we're back?"

Ichinose Honami looked around blankly, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly. "Is this the school's pedestrian street? Are we... saved?"

She reached for her pocket, intending to find her phone to contact a teacher.

"Heh, Ichinose-san, I suggest you take a look at your right hand first."

A soft voice, laced with a hint of mockery, rang out.

Sakayanagi Arisu sat on the cold concrete ground.

Even without her cane for support, her posture remained composed.

She raised the X-GUN. The sci-fi metallic body of the gun refracted a cold luster under the lights, looking completely out of place in the surrounding scene.

"Since this unreasonable weapon is still in your hand, it means the exam has already begun." Sakayanagi stroked the gun barrel, her eyes unreadable. "Or perhaps you believe Advanced Nurturing has mastered virtual reality technology so advanced it can deceive the five senses?"

"That kind of thing... how is that possible?"

Beside her, Kushida Kikyo pursed her lips, her voice trembling like a startled deer:

"Since we're back at school, shouldn't we call the police? Or find Chabashira-sensei... We can't possibly deal with these abnormal creatures. That 'extermination' the black sphere mentioned must be an over-the-top prank, right?"

"Call the police?"

Ryuen Kakeru stood in the shadow of a streetlight, gripping the black hilt of his sword, his expression one of disdain. "Typical of Class D, is your head filled with mush?"

"Since the other party could teleport us here instantly, do you really think those tax-wasting parasites at the police station could do anything?"

Stung by his harsh tone, Kushida's eyes reddened, and she instinctively leaned toward Su Wei, her soft warmth pressing against his arm.

Su Wei did not push her away; his gaze remained calm as he looked into the distance.

A few ordinary students were walking by a few meters away, carrying convenience store bags and chatting about tomorrow's club activities.

"Calling the police is indeed one approach," Su Wei took up the thread. "But I think the risk of gambling with our lives is too high. Perhaps... we could try asking those passing students to call the police for us?"

"After all, if there are more people involved, the other side might be forced to show restraint."

"I'll go try!"

"Right, that's Hamaguchi-kun from Class B! I'll go call him!"

Ichinose Honami seemed to have grabbed onto a straw of hope, hurriedly picking up her pace as she ran toward the edge of the sidewalk.

"Hamaguchi-kun! Help us! There's—"

The moment she stepped toward the curb, a visible blue ripple suddenly pulsed through the previously empty air.

"Thud!"

Ichinose was sent flying back by a massive, rebounding force, landing on the ground in a heap.

She reached out in disbelief, her fingertips touching the void, where the water-like ripples manifested once more.

"An air wall...?" Ichinose's face turned deathly pale. "Are we... trapped in a box?"

"Hmph, idiots."

Ryuen let out a cold snort, his eyes darting to the nearest object before he swung his hand.

Like a hot knife through butter, the solid wooden bench was sliced into two, the cross-section as smooth as a mirror.

His eyelids twitched, but he forced himself to remain calm.

"Since this is an 'exam' belonging to us, there's no way those fools on the outside could possibly interfere."

Forced to accept reality, Ichinose returned to the group, bracing herself as she tried to analyze the situation. "Since this is at the school... or rather, an exam defined by the Black Sphere, it surely wouldn't go so far as to wipe out the students entirely."

"That's right!" Kushida Kikyo chimed in, trying to ease the oppressive atmosphere. "Didn't the Black Sphere just say that points earned after completion can be converted into class points? Perhaps this exam is essentially a 'special project' arranged by the school's upper management, just with an exaggerated presentation."

"And... didn't the Black Sphere say we each have three chances?" Ichinose gripped her clothes over her chest, as if trying to convince herself. "So even if we fail, surely we won't actually die? At most, it would just count as an expulsion, right?"

"And what if all three chances are used up?"

Su Wei interjected calmly. "Is it true death, or... merely expulsion?"

Everyone's breath hitched in unison.

According to the rules set by Su Wei, anyone who died three times or received a zero score on three consecutive missions would trigger the Black Sphere's cleanup protocol.

It was indeed as Ichinose Honami said: the losers would have their memories wiped and their injuries healed before being expelled.

But in the isolated island of the Advanced Nurturing High School, in the perception of these players.

Once stripped of the right to exist on this island, the distinction between so-called expulsion and death was, in a sense, nonexistent.

It was, perhaps, even more terrifying than simple death.

"Tch," Ryuen Kakeru glared viciously at the distant shopping street. "You don't actually think we have a choice, do you? What we are facing now is a one-hour hunting mission. And the opponents... haven't even shown their faces yet."

"Ryuen-kun may be crude, but his reflexes are certainly worth noting."

Sakayanagi Arisu rested her chin on one hand, raising the X-GUN in her hand to study the precision screen on its side.

"However, instead of obsessing over expulsion or death, aren't any of you planning to study the things in your hands?"

"If a Gantz monster suddenly jumps out, we might be wiped out without a shred of resistance."

Hearing this, everyone lowered their heads.

"What is this?" Ichinose Honami noticed the LCD screen on the stock of her Y-GUN, where a red dot was blinking incessantly. "Is this our target?"

"Ha? So for me with the sword, there's absolutely no source of information?"

Ryuen Kakeru furrowed his brows, his gaze fixed unkindly on the standard gun in Su Wei's hand.

Sakayanagi Arisu, however, turned the gun around without hesitation, showing the screen to Ryuen. "For everyone's safety, I suggest you keep your cool, Ryuen-kun. Look at the screen; it's getting closer."

Ryuen glanced at the distance rapidly shrinking on the screen and spun around abruptly.

Almost simultaneously, the automatic sensor chime rang from the side door of the convenience store not far ahead.

"Welcome--"

A clerk in a green uniform, looking lean and honest, walked out carrying two bags of trash.

He looked so ordinary, rubbing his neck in exhaustion from working overtime.

But when he turned his head and saw Ryuen holding a blade in the darkness and the others raising their guns, the honest look on his face vanished instantly.

"Is it him?"

Ryuen Kakeru raised his long blade, his muscles tensing instantly—the instinctual reaction of a beast encountering its natural predator.

The clerk tilted his head, his voice too deep to be human.

"Exposed, are we?"

"I was hidden perfectly. I had intended to wait until that girl who often comes to buy red bean bread was alone."

"Forget it, since I've been discovered..."

Before the eyes of everyone, the clerk's entire face split horizontally from the eye sockets and bridge of the nose, and blood-soaked tentacles writhed under the dim streetlights!

"Then all of you can just die here."

"Swish!"

Ryuen Kakeru only felt a chill on his cheek as a few strands of hair drifted through the air.

The vending machine behind him had been severed clean in half.

Beverage cans rolled across the floor, emitting a harsh, clattering sound.

The monster sighed with a hint of regret:

"...Missed."

"How annoying."

Looking at the trench carved into the ground, Kushida Kikyo, who had still been harboring a sliver of hope, felt her legs give way, and she nearly collapsed to the floor.

She would die.

She was truly going to die!

A monster like this was simply not something they could contend with!

The very instant fear crawled up her spine and took hold of her entire body—

"Don't space out!"

Sakayanagi Arisu, who had been sitting on the ground, had raised the X-GUN with both hands at some point, pulling the trigger without a moment's hesitation.

"Vwoom!!"