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

The sensation of one's body being dismantled and reassembled was far from pleasant, yet it did not hinder him from making a rational judgment.

Such technology, which far surpassed the current human technological tree, was clearly not a product that should exist in this era.

Since they possess technology that can be called a dimensional strike... then, knowing my background, or even gaining insight into that man's ambitions, does not seem like something entirely unacceptable.

His vision cleared completely.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka tilted his head, immediately turning to observe the surrounding environment.

Not far to his side was a massive floor-to-ceiling glass window; the blood-red sunset slanted through the glass, casting long, reflective streaks across the tiled floor.

On both sides of the floor-to-ceiling windows were deep, wide corridors, closed storefront shutters, and overhead lights that flickered intermittently, likely due to poor contact.

"It looks like a large shopping mall?"

Kaneda Satoru, who had been transported along with them, had already put his plain-glass spectacles back on.

He scanned the area, his tone grave:

"No sound, no living people. Was it cleared out in advance, or are we being shielded?"

"If it's the latter... are we even still within the school's perimeter?"

Regarding this near-soliloquy, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, like Machida Koji, did not speak to interrupt.

The two merely exchanged a silent glance.

Seeing that Kaneda Satoru seemed to be deep in thought, Machida Koji spoke first:

"We don't know the number of intruders, nor how far we are from the main force."

"Let's not split up for now. It's best to find a conspicuous location or obtain a mall map to make it easier for Kanzaki and the others to identify our position and rendezvous."

Ayanokoji nodded slightly, signifying his agreement.

At the same time, he used his peripheral vision to size up these two temporary teammates.

Faced with a desperate situation where their survival was uncertain, these two had not panicked; instead, they had immediately analyzed the environment and proposed countermeasures.

He did not believe these two represented the average level of Class A and Class C; he assumed they must have been carefully selected by their respective class leaders.

Just as Ayanokoji was pondering this, he suddenly paused his steps and signaled with a subtle wave of his hand.

The two behind him fell silent instantly.

Kaneda Satoru adjusted his glasses, squinting as he looked down the corridor toward the shadows illuminated by the faint fluorescent light.

There, a dark figure was slowly pacing out.

"This physique..."

Kaneda Satoru swallowed hard:

"It doesn't look like a normal adult. Its gait is steady but not fast... It's not a Kabane, nor does it look like an incorporeal Evil Spirit."

"Could it be... a Parasite?"

He suddenly felt a twinge of toothache: "That's not right. According to Ryuen, Parasites usually appear as high-scoring hidden bosses. We just landed; we shouldn't be hitting the jackpot this quickly, right?"

Machida Koji's mouth twitched, and he lowered his voice to curse:

"Shut up! If it really is a Parasite, and you just blurt it out without even trying to act, aren't you just giving it a reason to kill you?"

"It's fine," Kaneda Satoru gritted his teeth, "Small fry don't need to run, and big monsters can't be outrun... How about this, want to take a gamble? We have two lives anyway."

Machida Koji fell silent.

Just as his eyes flickered, intending to abandon Kaneda Satoru and call on Ayanokoji—who seemed relatively normal—to run away together:

"Thump, thump, thump!"

A burst of rapid footsteps suddenly approached from the corridor behind them.

Wolves in front, tigers behind?

Before the despair of being caught in a pincer attack could even rise, a voice that was unmistakably human and familiar rang out through the empty corridor.

"Stop dawdling! What kind of bullshit tactics are you still discussing?"

"Look ahead, that monster is practically pressing its face against your noses! If you ask me, when you run into a straggler like this, you just charge in and be done with it!"

Hearing this, the corner of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's eye twitched imperceptibly.

"It's Sudo, from our class."

Kaneda Satoru and Machida Koji finally let out a long sigh of relief.

As Sudo Ken arrived, the dark figure in front stopped in its tracks.

By the light of the setting sun, everyone finally saw its appearance clearly.

It was a creature with a hunched back, wearing an ill-fitting suit, with a physique similar to a human's, yet its arms hung almost to the ground, and it possessed an ape-like face full of wrinkles.

"This..."

Machida Koji was stunned: "Did an ape cheat on its partner, or did some siblings commit incest? This looks way too abstract, doesn't it?"

Kaneda Satoru and Ayanokoji were both surprised; the art style was indeed bizarre, almost like a joke.

But before they could dwell on it, Sudo Ken, who had rushed over, spoke first.

"Holy crap! I was wondering why that picture looked familiar—it really is this anti-human Ape-Man!"

Sudo Ken brandished his combat blade, pointing it directly at the Ape-Man, his face full of mockery:

"Haha, perfect! Now I can finally show you animals at the bottom of the food chain exactly why humans are at the top!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka furrowed his brows.

Judging by Sudo's reaction, the Ape-Man before them was clearly one of the targets for this Gantz mission.

The problem, however, was that Gantz had always provided only the characteristics and verbal tics of the monsters, never their fatal weaknesses.

This meant that the true combat strength of any monster could only be determined after engaging in battle.

Come to think of it...

This is likely one of the reasons why Hirata didn't disclose the identities of Su Wei and Kushida.

He wanted to prevent the blindly overconfident idiots in the class from thinking they could slack off just because they had veterans backing them up.

To think Hirata's worries would be validated so quickly... should I call this Murphy's Law?

Ayanokoji pondered to himself, his feet moving naturally half a step back to hide his position in the shadows cast by Kaneda and Machida.

To everyone's surprise.

Facing Sudo Ken's provocation, the Ape-Man did not fly into a beastly rage.

It simply tilted its head, looked at Sudo Ken, and said expressionlessly:

"Actually... I only came here to ask for directions."

"But I am quite interested in what you just said."

The Ape-Man tugged at its tight suit tie, as if uncomfortable with the human attire:

"Although, by the biological definition, you humans do seem to be at the apex of the food chain in this world."

"But unfortunately, I don't see any essential difference between the humans of this world and the humans of the world I was born in."

"Just as arrogant, just as... fragile."

"To be honest, I could easily wipe out a fully armed human military unit a long time ago. I don't think you can compare to them."

The Ape-Man sighed, delivering its final assessment:

"You are nothing more than mortals born in an era without me."

Alchemy Principles of the Type-Moon World

Chapter 40: Something Big is Coming

Facing the Ape-Man's mockery, Sudo Ken instantly lost his cool.

"Don't look down on me, you beast! You're just an animal that hasn't been civilized!"

He roared and raised his blade, unleashing a powerful overhead strike, intending to gut the creature.

The Ape-Man, known as Charlie, merely shook its head.

"Such a slow blade... are you trying to perform acrobatics?"

"Forget it. Although I don't like hurting animals, I'm not afraid of violence either."

Charlie shifted slightly.

The moment Sudo Ken's blade descended, it simply sidestepped, causing the strike to miss.

Immediately after, it tripped Sudo with its foot while reaching out with a long arm, intending to snatch the weapon from his hand.

In that split second.

"Zzzzt—!"

Accompanied by a low hum, a triangular Laser Rope shot straight toward it.

Charlie decisively gave up on grabbing the blade, instead grabbing the collar of the stumbling Sudo Ken, attempting to pull him in front as a meat shield.

Unfortunately, it underestimated the value of Gantz technology.

The Laser Rope seemed to have eyes of its own; it curved at an incredibly strange angle, bypassed Sudo Ken, and instantly wove into a net behind Charlie, binding it tight!

"Thud!"

Having lost the support, Sudo Ken face-planted onto the cold tiles, sliding several meters away.

By the time he scrambled up, covered in dust, and saw who had arrived behind him, he felt no relief at having survived. Instead, he felt humiliated and flew into a rage:

"Who asked for your help?! I could've handled it myself!"

Not far down the corridor.

Su Wei, putting away his Capture Gun: "..."

What the hell.

Sometimes, when a person is speechless to the extreme, they really can't help but laugh in anger.

Honestly, could he and Ichinose, both wearing Reinforcement Suits, really not catch up to Sudo Ken?

Obviously not.

It was purely because this guy was acting as if he didn't take the Black Sphere exam seriously at all.

Just after teleporting and landing, while everyone was still checking their radar maps and formulating a preliminary plan, Sudo Ken had simply glanced at the location of the survivors and, completely ignoring the fact that a second red dot was not far from Ayanokoji and the others, rushed out alone in a frantic hurry.

Even when Ichinose tried to call out to him, telling him not to rush to his death, she was stopped by Ryuen Kakeru with a cold sneer.

"Let him go," Ryuen had said. "Unless he suffers a bit, this mad dog will never learn to listen."

After all, everyone here could be considered an experienced player.

They all knew the nature of the Black Sphere—it loved to drop a hidden boss right next to the last regular monster, just to give you a "surprise."

Now that the two Ape-Men were so close together, the implication was quite clear.

That's right, this was naturally arranged by Su Wei on purpose.

He wanted the battle to be decisive from the very start; he wanted this kind of hair-trigger tension! That was the only way it would be exciting!

But in order to maintain his persona as a "coerced ordinary student," he still timed it perfectly, arriving just in time to save Sudo Ken.

And this was the thanks he got?

Fine, fine, fine. You've got some nerve.

How many lives do you have, daring to speak to the Main God like that? I'll make you the first one on the chopping block later!

"The monsters arranged for the Black Sphere exam generally have physical capabilities several tiers higher than an ordinary person."

Rubbing the Magic Glove, which was currently invisible thanks to the Invisibility Spray, Su Wei spoke in a flat tone: