"It really is the beach."
Kasumi, wearing a blue swimsuit with a tropical-patterned sarong tied around her waist like a short skirt, looked around in surprise.
A boundless ocean stretched before them.
They were currently standing on warm, golden sand.
Kasumi could not help but wiggle her toes, feeling the soft, comfortable sand beneath her feet.
After yesterday's rather informal activity notice, they had expected to take a car to the beach for a vacation today.
Instead, they were led to an empty room first thing in the morning.
After being told not to be surprised by anything that happened, they lost consciousness.
When they woke up again, everyone found themselves in a pure white space.
What Kasumi did not expect was that this white space was actually a changing room.
After choosing their preferred swimsuits according to the prompts, they successively left the space and arrived at the beach.
"Are we really at the beach already?"
Momo immediately came over when she spotted Kasumi.
"I guess so. I didn't expect to arrive in an instant. I thought it would be a long car ride."
Kasumi turned to look at Momo, who was wearing a cute, ruffled one-piece swimsuit.
"It's very cute, Nishimiya."
Kasumi complimented her.
"You too. I didn't expect you to be so bold."
Momo looked Kasumi up and down.
This made Kasumi's face flush slightly.
It was Kasumi's first time wearing a swimsuit, and although she had fantasized countless times about how she would look in one, she was still a bit shy now that she was actually wearing it.
Fortunately, the sarong around her waist could be tied like a skirt, or if necessary, opened and tied in front of her chest to become a long dress similar to a sundress.
"Take this, Todo!"
Yuji happily ran to the sea, then scooped up seawater and threw it at Todo.
Noritoshi, Todo, Megumi, and Toge all chose simple swim trunks.
Yuji, however, chose a top with a hood in addition to a pair of blue swim trunks.
Since they arrived earlier than the girls, the bored boys had already started playing their own games.
"Hmph, how childish."
Zenin Mai, who had been invited to participate in this summer operation, glanced at the boys before looking away.
As soon as Panda heard it was a beach activity, he, being averse to water, showed strong resistance, and Zenin Mai ultimately took his place.
If Kasumi was merely a bit bold in choosing a bikini to fulfill her past fantasies, but still shyly prepared a sarong to cover herself, then Zenin Mai was truly daring.
Her red bikini, exuding youthful vitality, perfectly showcased her figure.
The high-waisted design made Mai's legs appear visually longer.
"They've always been like that."
Maki, wearing a black one-piece athletic swimsuit, quickly walked over to her sister Mai when she saw her come out.
Even though it was just a plain black one-piece athletic swimsuit, it highlighted Maki's figure to perfection.
'Damn it, I lost again.'
Mai's heart was filled with unwillingness.
She had meticulously chosen a swimsuit that perfectly displayed her charm, yet her sister simply picked a very common swimsuit and achieved a similar effect.
This made Mai very frustrated.
Of course, Nobara was even more frustrated.
She also chose a red bikini, but not only did it somewhat clash with Mai's, the crucial point was that her chosen style was not as good as Mai's.
Nobara even had the urge at one point to pull out a straw doll and curse Mai.
"Since everyone is here, I will announce the rules for this activity.
Over the next few days, you will complete several competitions on this island, and the side that wins the most competitions will be victorious.
Today's task is simple: build yourselves a comfortable house for the next few days.
The construction methods are in your respective operation panels. Please explore them yourselves."
Eichi's voice quickly faded, leaving everyone looking at each other in confusion.
"Operation panel?"
Yuji's eyes turned into dots, his mind struggling to understand what an operation panel had to do with the beach.
"Salmon."
Toge's voice called Yuji, whose head was smoking, back to reality.
"There really is one? How do you call it up? Quick, teach me."
Seeing the translucent panel appear in front of Toge, Yuji was very excited.
It was just like the System in an anime.
Yuji remembered Sword Art Online, which he had watched before.
Then the two began a coded conversation.
Although Panda, Toge's personal translator, was gone, and Yuji, who was not good at thinking, had not learned Inumaki's language, he still understood what Toge wanted to express through his strong empathy.
"So I just have to silently say it in my mind to call it up?"
Yuji rubbed his chin, then closed his eyes and began to call out constantly in his mind.
'System?'
"Panel?"
"Operation panel?"
...
"Is this my status panel?"
Beside Yuji, Megumi had already successfully called up his status panel.
"Status panel?"
Yuji looked at Megumi in confusion.
The next second, his own status panel appeared in front of him.
"Wait, didn't the broadcast just say operation panel? Why is the activation word status panel?"
...
Megumi looked at Yuji speechlessly.
"Is my only attribute 1?"
Todo, standing nearby, fell into thought as he looked at his panel.
"It seems all of us have 1."
Noritoshi opened his eyes, casually scanning the status panels of the others.
He then noticed that everyone's basic attributes, including Todo's, were all 1.
He certainly would not think this was because he and Todo had similar strength. It could only be due to some other reason.
Hearing this, Mai poked her head out and looked at Maki's status panel. A mischievous smile appeared when she saw that her sister's panel also showed 1.
"Whoa, Mai, what are you doing?"
Maki, who was suddenly pushed down by Mai, looked at her sister in confusion.
"The strength really is the same."
Mai looked in surprise at Maki, who was struggling beneath her but could not break free.
"Hehe, usually you're the one bullying me, but now the tables have turned, haven't they?
Come on, say 'Onee-chan~' for me."
Maki had countless times pulled her out of bed, disrupting her sleep-ins.
Scenes of her forcibly taking Mai to training and other activities appeared in Mai's mind.
Before, her sister had been too strong, and she could not resist her.
But now everyone's attributes were 1, so the situation was hard to say.
"Huh?"
Just as Mai was fantasizing about becoming the older sister, she found that she was suddenly the one being pinned down.
"You're really naughty, Imouto."
"Wait, I was wrong. I really was wrong, yamete!"
Although their attributes were the same, the skills honed through countless trials remained. Maki used her strength to make Mai once again face reality.
Your sister was still your sister.
However, Maki was not too excessive. After all, everyone was wearing swimsuits, which were very revealing clothes.
Just then, the broadcast sounded again.
"One more piece of information: the swimsuits you are wearing are Spirit Clothes, and you can think of them as cursed tools.
They possess the characteristics of being indestructible and impossible to forcibly seize, so everyone does not need to hold back due to clothing concerns. That is all."
Mai: "...Please open the microphone for communication!"
(To be continued.)