Classic Misunderstanding

"Something like that."

"Shouldn't you ask the person involved first?"

Sakayanagi Arisu didn't answer. She only tilted her head up and blinked at him.

Chapter 6: Classic Misunderstanding

Night deepened, and the streetlights stretched their shadows along the tree-lined path at Advanced Nurturing High School.

Most of Sakayanagi Arisu's weight rested against the boy beside her. With every step, he had to slow his pace to match hers.

Under normal circumstances, this helplessness—the need to rely on someone else—would have been enough to irritate the proud queen.

But at that moment, she was in an unusually good mood.

So this is... what healthy legs feel like?

They had only been simulated, a fleeting illusion that lasted a few minutes.

Yet the sensation remained so vivid in her memory. It was an addictive poison.

Looking back on the past decade and more, Sakayanagi Arisu had rarely experienced regret.

The weakness caused by her congenital heart condition had robbed her of the chance to run beneath the sun like other children.

But when God closed one door, He would surely open a window.

Because she couldn't engage in much physical activity, she had more time than most to think, read, and understand people.

Naturally, she became what people called a prodigy, a genius in everyone's eyes.

Until she saw, in a pure white room, that emotionless, machine-perfect masterpiece—the strongest artificial genius.

As a swan born with truly exceptional blood, and as someone who prided herself on being a natural genius,

she could never tolerate the absurd theory that "ordinary people can surpass innate talent through hard work."

A genius wasn't limited by their body, either.

So she had to bury that counterfeit, proving the absolute superiority of bloodline and talent.

That should have been the only pleasure she had in her three years of high school.

But now...

Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head slightly, looking past Su Wei's shoulder toward the vast night sky, toward the black sphere that didn't exist in the empty air.

As long as I have enough points...

Can even this broken body be remade?

Before, she had focused on Ayanokoji to prove the superiority of talent. Now she had glimpsed a chance to become a truly perfect being.

Make up for her final shortcoming and become an immaculate "god"!

At the thought, the smile on the girl's lips grew wider, and a feverish flush gradually crept across her cheeks.

That smile, of course, didn't escape Su Wei, who was holding her.

"...Classmate Sakayanagi."

Su Wei stopped walking.

"I'm happy to play the gentleman, but this clearly isn't the way back to the dorms."

"Where exactly are you planning to go in the middle of the night?"

His tone turned a little odd as he continued:

"Come to think of it, we're not close enough for this, are we? However you look at it, you should find someone you know to ditch me, so our classmates passing by won't get the wrong idea."

"Hm?"

Sakayanagi Arisu reined in the wildness in her eyes. A veil of moisture seemed to cloud her pale violet gaze.

She didn't answer his question about where they were going. Instead, she reached out and lightly pinched the sleeve of Su Wei's jacket, her voice plaintive.

"We were just so in sync fighting side by side. Now you're in such a hurry to distance yourself from me?"

"Or..."

She paused, her voice turning soft and sweet.

"Have you already grown tired of me... so soon?"

"We've only just begun..."

"..."

Watching this textbook display of coy manipulation, Su Wei rolled his eyes.

Tired of her?

He was a Fengling Yueying player. He always went straight to the CG.

It didn't even count as having begun, so how could he be tired of her?

Though that was what he thought, Su Wei didn't comment.

He ignored the girl in his arms and looked toward the blue-brick path a short distance ahead.

The convenience store stood right beside it, where they had fought the Parasite earlier.

And yet now...

The pavement, which should have been stained red with Ryuen Kakeru's blood, was spotless, as if rain had just washed it clean.

Even the vending machine the Parasite had wrecked stood there, perfectly intact.

Everything had returned to normal.

It was as though everything that had happened was nothing more than an absurd collective dream.

Su Wei paused for two seconds, lifting his brows in mild surprise.

"It's... completely intact?"

"That really is... a monstrous ability."

The subtle change in his expression naturally didn't escape Sakayanagi Arisu.

Another polished but clumsy performance.

The girl laughed quietly to herself.

There wasn't a trace of surprise in his eyes, yet he still pretended to be stunned.

Just like that room's creation, he really was another inhuman thing wearing a human skin.

Still...

Since we're both artificial monsters, I'll make you the first test subject after I've fixed what's lacking in myself.

Having made up her mind, Sakayanagi Arisu stopped putting on a show of weakness.

"We both know that what just happened wasn't an illusion."

"Compared to Instant Transmission, which pulled us into another dimension, this kind of large-scale matter reconstruction is nothing, is it?"

She lifted her chin and looked toward the 24-hour convenience store ahead.

"Rather than marveling at this, wouldn't it be more important right now to check whether that clerk is still there?"

Su Wei gave a slight nod and didn't argue.

The two of them walked slowly toward the convenience store, their arms linked.

They had just reached the entrance.

A familiar figure blocked their way.

"Hey, Ryuen."

Su Wei greeted him first. Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Ryuen Kakeru's shifting expression and chuckled pointedly.

"Looks like we don't need to check anymore, Classmate Su Wei."

"Sure enough, resentment over being cut in half is stronger than the desire to investigate the truth."

"..."

At the sound of his voice, Ryuen Kakeru turned around. His bloodshot eyes stared blankly at Sakayanagi Arisu, but, unusually, he didn't lash out.

"That mouth of yours..."

Su Wei sighed. "If he actually hits you in a moment, I'm not helping."

"Oh, how heartless."

Sakayanagi Arisu feigned surprise, covering her lips as she teased him without the slightest sincerity.

"When it comes to running away, this cripple certainly can't keep up with a brute who has no baggage."

"Sorry, Classmate Su Wei. I'm holding you back."

"Shut up, cripple."

Ryuen Kakeru's lips twitched. He seemed too drained even to get angry.

His voice was hoarse now, and he clearly had no interest in maintaining his usual sharp-edged demeanor.

"...He doesn't remember anything."

Ryuen turned slightly away, his voice frighteningly low.

"His memories seem to have been altered. He thinks he's just gotten back from vacation and is working the night shift."

Sakayanagi Arisu let out a soft gasp. "Then is he..."

Ryuen Kakeru didn't answer right away.

He took a couple of steps to the side and looked through the glass at the young clerk behind the counter. The clerk was smiling as he rang up a customer, looking honest and unassuming.

The monster whose head had been bursting open just an hour ago.

"For now, I'd say he still counts as 'human.'"

"After all, given that monster's nature, if he knew he'd been exposed, he'd definitely get rid of me, since I'm a loose end..."

"But when he saw me just now, he smiled and asked if I wanted a discounted bento that was about to expire..."

Ryuen Kakeru didn't go on.

But from his inscrutable expression, it wasn't hard for Sakayanagi Arisu and Su Wei to guess what he was worried about.

Both of them fell silent.

Sakayanagi Arisu knew all too well that even her father, as chairman of the board, only had a certain amount of power. He certainly couldn't perform miracles like controlling people's memories at will and repairing reality.

That only confirmed how terrifying the power behind the Black Sphere was.

As for Su Wei, he simply didn't care.

When it came to the main characters of Classroom of the Elite, he would at least maintain a shred of humanitarian spirit. At a life-or-death moment, he would pull them into Black Sphere Space for treatment, rather than just create new ones to replace them.

But as for the passersby who had already died in this sprawling world...

The so-called reset NPCs.

That was all he could do for them. There was no need to do more.

Just as the atmosphere sank into an awkward silence,

a woman's voice, tinged with surprise, suddenly came from the convenience store entrance.

"...Huh?"

Kamuro Masumi had just come out with a bento in hand when she spotted the princess who usually held herself high, leaning against an unfamiliar boy without a shred of dignity.

The intimacy of the scene took her by surprise. She nearly dropped the bento she had just bought.

I'm screwed.

Did I just see something I wasn't supposed to?