That said, to be fair, Muzan Kibutsuji really was a bit of a coward.
But drop that cowardice into a special exam with a hard, clearly defined time limit, and it turned into a genuine threat.
Picture it: a monster that, the very instant you meet it, bursts into a thousand-plus scraps of flesh and scatters in every direction.
Inside this labyrinthine Infinity Castle, how were you supposed to wipe it out completely within the allotted time?
As long as the mission went unfinished, the moment time ran out the examinees would face nothing but an erasure ending.
In a sense, Muzan's threat level was no worse than Jogo's back in the midterm exam.
But what a shame.
He was up against Nagumo Miyabi, who held the Rose of the Destitute.
Since Nagumo Miyabi had already confirmed Nakime's existence, he naturally understood Muzan, their final objective.
After cutting down Nakime—who had zero direct combat ability, and who had frozen up in a daze because her revered Lord Muzan had "blown up" right in her face...
With Nakime's death, the once topsy-turvy Infinity Castle began to tremble violently. Watching the ornate wooden panels around him collapse, gradually exposing an oppressive, heavy layer of soil—
Nagumo Miyabi grasped the situation in an instant.
This place was underground?!
If they didn't take Muzan down fast, the moment the Infinity Castle crumbled every last one of them would be buried alive down here!
"Damn it..."
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Kiryuuin Fuka had likewise sensed something was off.
Without hesitation, she decisively summoned her Stand.
A iewona!
As the ashen-gray world descended, Kiryuuin used those few seconds of frozen time to frantically close the distance between herself and the classmates scattered all around.
The moment she could use it again, she froze time once more!
Rushing for all she was worth, she finally managed to link up with Nagumo Miyabi's main force just before the structure collapsed entirely.
Time was tight—no room for pleasantries.
She watched as Shiina Hiyori yanked these upperclassmen into the Mirror World for protection.
Nagumo Miyabi drew a deep breath and grabbed Kiriyama Ikuha beside him.
"No time to go hunting for that cowering turtle."
Nagumo Miyabi whipped out the rose he'd swapped in not long ago.
"Just detonate it!"
As for the classmate who'd served as bait to lure them into this whole setup—the one who needed rescuing? Naturally, there'd been no time to find them.
Faced with the trolley problem, Nagumo Miyabi and the others had no choice.
They had to blow Muzan away before he could escape, or everyone would be dragged into the grave alongside him.
For the greater good, all they could do was console themselves about the classmates they hadn't managed to save—just pretend they'd already been slaughtered by the demons long ago.
Though... Chris, the mastermind pulling the strings, knew full well that he hadn't actually planted any extra intruders in this exam zone from the very start.
After all, given the density of demons inside the Infinity Castle, sending in an ordinary intruder with no equipment would be pure suicide—not an ounce of training value to it.
People like Tsukishiro Tsunenari and Ayanokoji Atsumi—who weren't cultivation targets yet had practiced Ki and were on standby as intruder candidates—Chris didn't want to burn through all at once either.
So the classmate the Black Sphere flagged as "in crisis" was none other than Kanzaki Ryuuji!
As an earthbound spirit, he really was in a Schrödinger-like state where he could perish at any instant, wasn't he?
And besides, the clearance requirement the Black Sphere gave him was merely "don't be seen by the living."
Being an earthbound spirit, Chris could even rule him a clear, letting him move on quite naturally to the later 'Cabin in the Woods' final revival match.
"Haah..." Just from a quick review, Chris felt he was honestly being far too kind-hearted.
Not only had he set the difficulty low, he'd also handed the upperclassmen a perfect stage to grind points and test out new items.
The only cost... was that their next exam's difficulty would tick up by just the tiniest bit. Perfectly fair.
So Chris mused, turning to look at Ichinose Honami beside him, who seemed a little distracted.
He waved a hand in front of her eyes and reassured her:
"Since Amanatsu and Shiina have already gone in as intruders, us fretting blindly out here doesn't really accomplish anything."
"The most practical thing is to build up our own strength. Once we've saved up enough points down the line, we can revive everyone who was sacrificed."
Ichinose Honami fell silent for a moment, then answered softly:
"Senpai, I understand that logic, of course."
"But right now, reviving a single person costs 100 S-points... which is still a bit too extravagant for us. Even if we do want to bring everyone back, it'll have to wait until our combat power is fully formed."
A trace of worry colored the girl's brow:
"But it's hard for me to grasp—just how strong do we actually have to get... before we count as truly 'formed'?"
Chris patted her somewhat slender shoulder and said gently:
"It's really just like playing a game."
"Maybe once the items on us are pretty much fully upgraded, and even the classmates who only take the preliminary tests have enough power to protect themselves... that's when we truly enter the 'grass-growing endgame lull,' and can freely go about reviving everyone."
When the main carry has nothing left to level up for the time being, they naturally start thinking about filling in the features they'd shelved earlier.
Hearing the analogy, Ichinose let out a wry, sighing laugh and was about to say something.
Suddenly, on the open ground not far from them, two familiar figures gradually took shape amid a fading beam of blue light.
The words on Ichinose Honami's lips changed abruptly as she cried out in delight:
"Amanatsu, Shiina? You're back already?"
"Is this exam over already? But... it's been less than ten minutes, hasn't it..."
Amanatsu Kazuha drew a deep breath of fresh air.
Ambling over to the two of them, she handed over two dull capsules and explained with a grin:
"Class President, Chris-senpai... I've got good news and bad news for you."
"The good news is that the final BOSS of this upperclassman exam was worth only 60 points at most! Looks like the two-hundred-point Darkness Devil we faced last time was entirely senpai's doing~"
Chris took the blame without so much as a flinch:
"So then... what's the bad news?"
Shiina Hiyori paused, then picked up the thread softly:
"This exam's target had an extremely strong ability to flee."
"To secure the kill, Student Council President Nagumo used the [Rose of the Destitute]. I'm afraid... the difficulty of their next exam will rise accordingly."
At that, Ryuuen, who was leaning against the wall, couldn't help raising an eyebrow:
"Ha? A 60-point BOSS, and they had to nuke it with a hydrogen bomb?"
"Was it really that tough to deal with? Don't tell me it was some gimmick-type monster?"
Shiina Hiyori shook her head:
"I don't really know the specifics either, since we weren't beside Student Council President Nagumo and the others at the time."
"All I know is that toward the end, the buildings around us suddenly started vanishing, replaced by thick, dense layers of earth... If we didn't finish the exam quickly, every one of us would be buried alive underground."
"I imagine that's why the Student Council President and the others made the call they did."
Taking the capsules from Amanatsu, Chris said with a touch of feeling:
"Looks like this was planned out by the Black Sphere too... a kind of inevitability, I suppose. Otherwise, with the Controller's function for viewing enemy data, it shouldn't have ended this way."
Amanatsu Kazuha raised her hand, glanced at the fingers that had brushed against Chris's when they handed over the capsules, and smiled as if casually:
"Perhaps..."
Then she changed the subject, her tone lifting: "Oh, right! During this exam we also discovered a hidden function of the [Blank Card Box]."
"The Kamen Rider it transforms into can drag ordinary people into the Mirror World, sealing them off from real-world monsters and physical attacks."
Horikita Suzune, who had been listening quietly this whole time, perked up, her phoenix eyes brightening, and pressed with some surprise:
"Hiding inside the Mirror World? An ability like that... surely there's a cost?"
Shiina Hiyori picked up the thread, refuting the notion that there wasn't:
"From what I saw, the first few classmates who were pulled in started showing signs of particle-like disintegration after staying inside for a while."
"Ordinary people probably can't last long in there—a few minutes at most, it seemed."
Sakayanagi Arisu, resting her cheek on one hand as she sat on the bench, gave a slight nod:
"Even so, it's a rather fine means of refuge."
"And since it's a Rider of the mirrors, presumably it can move freely through the Mirror World and slip back out from another mirror somewhere else... That strategic value is far greater than the Leo Cavalry, which merely provides armored defense."
Chris pondered for a moment, then proposed:
"Looking at it this way, there really is a need for everyone to buy the [Blank Card Box]."
"Even the [Controller]—a crucial item for pinning down enemy info, positions, and teammate coordinates—is probably not quite enough if the whole team only has one."
Chris set the tone: "This is the kind of place worth spending points on—no need to skimp."
Ichinose Honami wholeheartedly agreed:
"Then let's hand senpai's Controller to the classmates who'll take the preliminary tests later."
"I still have some S-points left over, so I'll buy another Controller for us to use in the main match. As for the card box... 30 S-points each..."
"Ichinose, you don't need to foot the points for this one."
Sakayanagi Arisu pursed her lips and cut off her goodwill outright:
"Better to have those who follow Chris-kun into the extra dungeons pay for themselves. Taking on everything yourself isn't a good habit."
Ryuuen nodded in agreement from the side: "As it should be."
Though in truth he'd been hoping to rope Yamada Albert into it too.
Unfortunately, Yamada didn't have enough points.
Right now, in all of Class D, apart from himself, Shiina Hiyori was truly the only one who met the conditions to buy.
There was nothing he could do about that.
Not to mention Shiina Hiyori had just taken part in an upperclassman exam as an intruder, so her point balance was even more comfortable.
If he objected on top of all that, he'd only come off as tactless.
Ryuuen honestly never expected that in all of Class D, aside from himself, the role of load-bearing pillar would fall to a girl who normally never fought for anything and just liked to read...
Truly, fate loved to toy with people.
Compared to Ryuuen's gloom, Chris's focus was far more offbeat.
Stroking his chin, he spoke in a musing tone:
"Come to think of it, Ichinose's upgraded [Love-Love Fruit] can now force petrification without any charming, right...?"
"So, combine that with the Controller's invisibility function... turn invisible, sneak up close, and silently cop a feel. Why does that feel a little sinister?"
Sakayanagi Arisu shot him a glance and teased him crossly:
"As for how it actually works, just lend Ichinose the Controller later and let her try it out, no?"
Chris showed no intention of refusing.
Just then, accompanied by several somewhat heavy footsteps—
Kiryuuin Fuka arrived fashionably late, leading Nagumo Miyabi, Fujimaki, and the others.
Ryuuen arched a brow: "This lineup... looking to start a team battle?"
Nagumo Miyabi smiled faintly and met Ryuuen's gaze without yielding an inch: "We could give it a shot."
Ryuuen grinned mockingly: "Looks like you raked in quite a haul of points this time."
"Confident about facing the upgraded high-point BOSS next time?"
Nagumo Miyabi's smile faded slightly, and he didn't take the bait.
Kiryuuin Fuka strode straight past Nagumo Miyabi. She walked right up to Chris and tossed the [The World] Stand capsule in her hand back to him.
Then she turned to Horikita Suzune beside them and asked:
"Little junior."
"I deliberately left your [Black Key] behind in the exam grounds."
"Check your equipment list now—is this item still an option for you?"
At that, Horikita Suzune raised her hand and flipped through the equipment tab on her Black Sphere wristwatch.
A moment later, she shook her head: "It's gone..."
"So when Ayanokoji withdrew from school back then, he assigned the equipment's lending rights only to Chris and Ryuuen—had he already taken this into account?"
Chris caught the capsule steadily and tucked it into his pocket:
"That's understandable. There's always got to be some kind of cost."
"Either the item wears down, or the dungeon difficulty rises to match—the presiding god isn't likely to let us enjoy this equipment-lending 'perk' for free."
"For the Black Sphere and the presiding god, who are devoted to 'cultivating' us, that would be rather unacceptable."
Kiryuuin Fuka's eyes tilted slightly. Her gaze swept, without a trace, over the several surveillance cameras blinking red nearby, and she guessed idly:
"But the Black Sphere—or rather the presiding god—doesn't actually object to us probing the boundaries like this, does it?"
"Otherwise, it could simply cut off our hopes outright, the way it stops the Parasytes from materializing on campus."
On this point, however, Chris had his reservations.
"That's not something you can conclude so lightly."
"After all, it's just a program. In the end, everything comes down to its underlying design logic."
"As long as you don't go raving in its minefield, exploiting loopholes however you like shouldn't be much of a problem... But there's too wide a gap in status between us and it. A little caution never hurts."
Kiryuuin Fuka neither agreed nor disagreed.
She stretched lazily and, quite naturally, draped a hand over Chris's shoulder, saying breezily:
"Alright, now that the small talk's done, it's time we got started on today's planned agenda."
"Even though a little mishap kept us from running into this round's Mysterious Merchant in the exam grounds to update our gear..."
"the procedures we ought to go through still need doing. Besides..."
Kiryuuin clenched her fist:
"We'd also like to take this chance to get a taste of just how tough that Darkness Devil you ran into before really is."
Hearing this, Chris spread his hands helplessly:
"The price to simulate a target is the monster's own value times ten."
"In other words, summoning the Darkness Devil as a sparring partner would cost two thousand class evaluation points."
"Our class can afford it, sure, but it'd genuinely sting."
Nagumo Miyabi stepped forward:
"All you need to do is enter the Time Chamber with us and help unlock the purchase eligibility."
"This class-evaluation cost, we'll cover ourselves."
Chris gave him a long, searching look: "Looks like you really did scoop up a lot of points this time."
Nagumo Miyabi's eyes narrowed halfway, and he replied with neither joy nor sorrow:
"With Shiina's [Blank Card Box] as a preview, I'm no longer too worried about the safety of the preliminary-test members. But if we ultimately can't defeat the BOSS in the main match, it all amounts to empty talk."
"We've no experience with high-point monsters, so all we can do is use you as an intermediary to feel that pressure in advance."
Chris nodded in understanding: "That's fair enough."
"Still, mind giving a little hint about exactly how many points you took in this time?"
"Last time, during your exam, I scored close to four hundred."
Nagumo Miyabi said nothing, merely raising all five fingers of his right hand in silence.
Chris put on an astonished expression: "Five thousand points?!"
Nagumo Miyabi's mouth twitched. He gave a light cough, hastily masking his embarrassment, and corrected himself:
"Ahem... it's 500 points."
"But that's just mine personally. Kiriyama, who coordinated the detonation with me, also earned 300 points."
Chris fell silent for a moment. "Good luck to you."
——End of Chapter——
Note ①—Nakime: The Infinity Castle is Nakime's alternate dimension; the moment she dies, it collapses. In the original work, Yushiro, seeking to avenge Tamayo, used Blood Demon Art to manipulate Nakime's residual cells and raised the entire Infinity Castle toward the surface, and only then did it fully disintegrate—so it was originally supposed to be underground.
Note ②—Blank Card Box: In Kamen Rider Ryuki, the Mirror Monsters can pull people into the Mirror World, and the Rider the card box turns into should be able to do the same. It's just that, as I recall, ordinary people can't stay in the Mirror World too long—stay too long and they particle-ize, a few minutes or so.
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