Why Can't We Eat People?

Ichinose didn't explain any further.

She simply bent down and reached into the basket, casually picking out a brand-new basketball.

Then, without any leverage, relying on nothing but the grip of one hand,

her five fingers suddenly tightened against the surface of the ball.

"Creeeak—"

A teeth-grinding crunch rang out.

The next second,

"BOOM!!!"

A loud explosion.

To everyone's horror, she crushed the basketball with one hand!

Fragments flew in every direction, and the powerful gust even blew the bangs of several girls in the front row.

"Holy shit?!"

Unlike the students from Class B, who already knew what was going on and could just barely keep their composure,

Sudo and the others from Class D gasped in shock. As if they'd seen a ghost, they all looked at Hirata Yosuke, who had handed out the reports earlier.

"How is that possible?"

"Crushing a basketball with one hand? It's gotta be a magic trick! There's something wrong with that ball!"

Hirata Yosuke shook his head at their doubts, his tone serious.

"It's real. I checked."

"And... I got caught up in the Black Sphere Exam yesterday. The photos in the report you saw were taken by Ayanokoji-kun and me, at the risk of our lives."

"That's why we decided to share this information instead of keeping it from everyone."

Thanks to the trust Hirata Yosuke had built up over time, no one spoke up to challenge him.

Besides, the sight had been so shocking that it was hard to stay calm.

Ichinose Honami nodded.

"If you don't believe it, you can come test the quality of the other basketballs here yourselves."

At that moment,

Horikita Suzune, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, suddenly walked forward.

She didn't pick up a new basketball. Instead, she reached down and picked up a broken piece of the ball's outer layer, carefully feeling the torn edge.

A moment later, she looked up, her voice cool and certain.

"There's no need to test it."

"To crush a regulation basketball with your bare hands, you'd need to exert around 500 to over 1,000 kilograms of pressure in an instant."

"And that's only accounting for the air pressure. The hardest part is the nylon winding inside the ball. It's an extremely tough material, designed to prevent the ball from deforming."

Horikita Suzune dropped the fragment in her hand and looked at the black material on Ichinose's wrist with a complicated expression.

"An average adult man's grip strength is usually around 40 to 50 kilograms. Even the world's strongest strongmen only have a quarter to a sixth of the strength needed to crush a basketball."

"Humans... can't do something like that," Sudo agreed.

As an athlete, he was awed by a display of strength that could at least crush bricks.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he looked at Ichinose, his gaze changing in an instant.

It was a mixture of reverence for the unknown and longing for superhuman strength.

If he could play basketball in that outfit, what could stop him from making the national team?

Assuming he was allowed to wear it during a game, of course.

Seeing that she'd made her point, Ichinose offered one last enticement.

"The Special Exam is dangerous, but it's also an opportunity."

"This Combat Suit is one of the cheapest things you can redeem, and it's already this incredible... If you're capable and have the mental fortitude, you can try taking part. Even if you don't want to participate, you should still learn a little about it."

"So you won't be caught off guard if you're randomly pulled into an exam—and end up losing your life for nothing."

Note ①—Magic Glove: An item resembling a glove. When worn, it lets you touch objects from several meters away. It's a little like the Unseen Hand of the Sloth Archbishop.

Note ②—Magic Butt: When the user smacks the model's buttocks, the target feels as if they've been struck for real, but the actual body part hit suffers no physical damage. The strength and point of impact can be controlled by adjusting the model's position.

For trading: <Honkai: Star Rail—My Absurdity Refreshes Every Week>

A friend's book—it's almost finished, so you can start reading it now.

Why Can't We Eat People?

Watching Ichinose Honami firmly take control of the situation, Su Wei stood at the edge of the crowd and nodded to himself.

He approved not only of Ichinose's leadership, but also of... Kushida Kikyo.

She hadn't come to him first, even though he'd been the first to redeem a Combat Suit. Instead, she'd chosen Ichinose.

Maybe it was because Su Wei usually didn't seem easy to approach, and she was afraid of putting herself out there only to be rejected.

Still, it was hard to deny that in the unsettled atmosphere of Class D, she'd shown some cleverness. She knew how to use her informational advantage to quietly raise her standing in the class, rather than shortsightedly hiding what she knew.

He didn't expect much from Kushida, anyway.

Considering that her two enormous treasure chests had already taken all the hardships she'd face in the future on her behalf, it didn't hurt to let her enjoy a few privileges and some peace for the time being.

Just then,

a trembling hand rose from the crowd.

"Um... Ichinose?"

With a few girls around her egging her on, Karuizawa Kei bit her lip. Her voice trembled, but she asked the question most people there were desperate to know the answer to.

"What if—I mean, what if..."

"What if we don't want to take part in such a dangerous exam, but we also don't want to spend every day worrying that we'll be randomly dragged into one..."

"Can we only choose to drop out?"

As soon as she asked, many people's eyes lit up.

The Combat Suit Ichinose had shown them was undeniably powerful—superhumanly powerful, even.

But you had to risk your life to get it!

People were afraid of dying.

Even if they made it through this school and graduated from Class A, all they'd get was a guaranteed job.

Risking their lives for some uncertain future? Any way you looked at it, it wasn't worth it.

If you can't take them on, can't you at least avoid them?

I'm done playing your game. I'm leaving, okay?

Wouldn't it be better to go home and inherit the family business, or find some regular high school and fall in love?

But faced with everyone's hopeful gazes, Ichinose Honami couldn't hide her bitterness.

She shook her head and sighed.

"I'm sorry... I asked Hoshinomiya-sensei about this a long time ago."

"The answer was... before the Black Sphere arrived, students could choose to drop out. But now, the rules have changed."

Ichinose paused. As everyone's expressions stiffened, she forced herself to continue.

"After Amikura and Hirata got pulled into the exam yesterday, I went to ask the teacher again..."

"She said the school has updated the rules."

"Students used to be expelled for failing competitions. Now... all students who would otherwise have been expelled—including anyone who tries to leak information about the Black Sphere to people outside the school after the next exam begins—will be assigned to future Black Sphere Exams as 'expendable' and left to fend for themselves."

A deathly silence spread through the crowd.

A few seconds later, panic erupted like a tidal wave.

"What?!"

"That's way too much!"

"This is unlawful confinement! I'm calling the police! I'm getting a lawyer!"

Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, Kushida Kikyo, who'd been serving as little more than background scenery, stepped forward.

She took a step toward them and spoke loudly, her voice incredibly persuasive.

"Everyone! Please calm down!"

"If we can't fight back, then we have to pull ourselves together and face reality!"

"Of course, the Black Sphere Exam is brutal, but I believe there must be some way for the school to give us a chance!"

Kushida Kikyo looked around at everyone, her eyes bright and determined, yet also warm and accepting.

"Maybe the school is already working on new assessment standards. For instance, if you perform well in a future exam, you might earn an exemption—or even the chance to graduate early..."

"After all, the school wants to cultivate talent, not kill us all, right?"

Her words were entirely made up, with nothing to back them up.

But in a moment of extreme panic like this,

the more afraid people were of dying, the more easily they gave in to fear; and the more easily they gave in, the more they needed a reason to convince themselves to stay alive.

Once someone gave them a reason, even if they didn't entirely believe it, they'd instinctively grab onto it like a lifeline.

The commotion gradually died down.

Su Wei gave Kushida Kikyo a surprised look.

He wasn't sure if Ichinose had gotten under Kushida's skin earlier, but this compassionate, saintly act of hers... she played it pretty well.

He just didn't know how long she'd be able to keep up the act.

If people found out what she was really like and the very people she'd just calmed down turned on her, would she lose it on the spot?

Honestly, Su Wei was looking forward to it.

But he didn't plan to expose her himself.

After all, the truth couldn't stay hidden forever. There was no need to go out of his way to play the villain.

Kushida Kikyo's suggestion had some merit, though. It was worth considering.

Aside from random encounters, the others needed some way to feel involved, too.

Not far away, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was just as surprised as Su Wei.

But he hadn't seen through Kushida's true nature—to be fair, she was usually pretty good at keeping up her act.

Ayanokoji was simply surprised that Kushida Kikyo had such a broad perspective despite being surrounded by Class D's "even after they're cured, they still drool" atmosphere.

Is it because selling information to upperclassmen earlier broadened her perspective?

Ayanokoji had a vague understanding.

At the same time,

on the other side of the crowd,

Koenji Rokusuke had learned from his family that he couldn't get them to pull strings and get him out for the time being. They'd even been deliberately evasive about it. At last, he lowered his phone, his expression grim.

"If I'd known something like this was going to happen, I'd have refused to come even if they broke my legs... This is a real mess."

He sighed. Just as he was about to fix his hair, his gaze happened to fall on Sudo Ken's phone screen beside him.