Chat Group: Traits, Gacha, and Crossovers

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『Ghost Spider』: Wait, that's it?

『Ghost Spider』: That was enough to trigger a quest for you?

『Ghost Spider』: That's insane.

The system notification for a new quest popped up in the group chat. Excited, Gwen tapped open the mission tab… only to see, right there in the quest details, bold and clear: [This mission has been exclusively assigned to group member 'Ordinary Human'.]

After learning what had happened, Gwen raised a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

『Catwoman』: You'll get used to it.

『Catwoman』: (insert image of a smug cat saying "Not jealous at all~")

『Ordinary Human』: ...…

『Earth's Cancer』: Is it just me, or does the Will of the World seem weirdly cooperative when it comes to Mr. Veyron?

『Lady Avalon』: It's not just you. It is weirdly cooperative.

『Hellish Blizzard』: That sounds like you've got some deep insight into this World's Will thing?

『Lady Avalon』: Nope! Not at all!

『Snake Empress』: Based on how fast you denied it, you definitely do.

『Lady Avalon』: I said no!!!

『Earth's Cancer』: She totally knows something. (Confirmed.)

『Lady Avalon』: I said I don't, and that's it!

I mean, what was she supposed to say? That she'd realized the "big bosses" in everyone's world were probably the World Wills themselves, and tried to sneak a peek into the Root… only to get kicked out before she even got through the door?

With Artoria shooting her a confused look from the side, the silver-haired woman stabbed a fork into a piece of cake and shoved it into her mouth, chewing with the speed of someone trying to forget.

『Ordinary Human』: Okay, okay, if she says she doesn't know, let's just roll with that and stop pressing.

『Lady Avalon』: My bro!

『Lady Avalon』: I'm seriously mad now! I really am!

『Ordinary Human』: Easy, easy. Don't be mad.

[Group Notification: Member 'Ordinary Human' has sent a targeted red envelope to 'Lady Avalon'.]

『Lady Avalon』: Hmph~ fine, you're forgiven.

『Earth's Cancer』: Whoa whoa whoa, Miss Merlin, I think you dropped your dignity somewhere. 

『Lady Avalon』: You sure about that?

[Group Notification: Member 'Lady Avalon' has sent a targeted red envelope to 'Earth's Cancer'.]

『Earth's Cancer』: I will always love Miss Merlin!

『Earth's Cancer』: Dropped dignity? My beautiful Merlin is the embodiment of dignity!

『Snake Empress』: Chika… did you just hand over your own dignity to Merlin? (facepalm.jpg)

『Catwoman』: That's just how our little Chika is.

『Ordinary Human』: Alright, enough messing around—back to business.

『Ordinary Human』: You all know what this world's like. It's been over two years since your last visit, but before I showed up, things here weren't all that different from when we left.

『Ordinary Human』: So about this world's "bond" system… any thoughts?

『Lady Avalon』: What's the current situation?

『Ordinary Human』: A week ago, I moved them from the Antarctic base to a seaside resort in Tokonosu City. Between the relocation and cleanup of lingering corpses in the area, that alone gave me an 11.2% bond increase.

『Ordinary Human』: Then over the past seven days, it's been trickling in—like, 0.01% at a time. Total gain in the past week: 0.72%. But I have no idea what's actually triggering the increases.

『Earth's Cancer』: Did you ask the World Will?

『Ordinary Human』: I did. The Will said he doesn't know either. All he could tell me was that I still need another 88.08% to complete the merge.

『Earth's Cancer』: …Oof.

『Lady Avalon』: Look on the bright side. At least you're not stuck like Chika was in that one world. If you're gaining about 0.1% a day, you'll only need to spend, what, around 800 more days there to finish?

『Ordinary Human』: …If you don't know how to comfort someone, you really don't have to try. 

With that, Veyron took off the sunglasses he'd draped over his face and got up from his beach chair.

"Something you need, Sensei?"

A few meters away, Saeko Busujima—dressed in her training outfit and holding the Busujima family's heirloom wooden sword—had paused her kata mid-swing the moment she noticed his movement.

"All good. Just keep doing your thing. I'm heading off to clean up the rest of the contamination in the planet."

He waved a hand, telling her to carry on.

As for why Saeko had suddenly started calling him "Sensei"—well, that started a week ago. She'd suggested something that might help him increase his bond with this world: formally taking her on as a student and teaching her swordsmanship.

Figuring it was worth a shot, Veyron agreed.

And the results? Honestly, mixed.

After giving Saeko a basic run-through on sword use, he saw a tiny increase—just 0.01%—in his bond with this world. But surprisingly, that percentage continued to tick up slightly even as she kept practicing on her own afterward.

Later that evening, after calling her to rest when she was clearly hitting her physical limit, another 0.01% ticked in. Veyron had gotten hopeful that maybe he'd found a winning strategy… but with so many factors in play, he couldn't be sure whether it was Saeko or something else entirely that caused the jump.

"Yes, sir," Saeko replied calmly and resumed her sword practice.

Meanwhile, Veyron leapt into the sky.

Higher and higher he rose, soaring above the earth.

Several hours later, on the opposite side of the planet from Tokonosu, the last corpse—already mostly cleansed by the purified serum—was finally reduced to ash in the black fire. Hovering far above in space, Veyron let out a long breath, completely unfazed by the vacuum.

Honestly, this method of "cleaning up" was a whole lot more exhausting than just setting the entire planet on fire or turning it to ash.

Still… it was worth it.

Tiring? Absolutely. But the rewards made it all worthwhile.

First off, the special quest issued by the will of this Highschool of the Dead world—asking him to give the Earth a second round of cleansing serum—netted him a solid 18,000 chat group points.

Second—and far more important—his [Divine Ki] skill, which had already reached Lv.49 a few months ago, had finally leveled up.

All the experience he'd been saving up finally paid off. The moment he began carefully controlling his Divine Ki to purify the entire planet with the flame of destined death, he hit the mark.

Lv.50: Divine Ki Power +20

That single stat bonus alone meant the strength of his Ki just increased by 2²⁰—that's a whopping 1,048,576 times boost!

(20 points (2²⁰) = 1,048,576x multiplier)

After months of grinding, he'd finally taken a giant leap into a whole new power bracket. To say Veyron was in a great mood would be an understatement.

…The only thing that ruined it a little?

Even after purifying the entire freaking planet, the bond progress for that other mission barely budged.

One quick glance told the whole story: 11.92% ➜ 11.95%

Veyron sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Seriously? You couldn't even round it up to 12% just to make me feel better?"

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