Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head, but her eyes remained glued to Natsuyu’s face.
‘I can’t look away…
Is this a visual disruption, or a mild form of brainwashing?’
Emma Sakuraba kept staring at Natsuyu’s face, her cheeks flushing red as she said shyly:
“Kushida-san, could you please stop this magic?
I think it’s a bit rude.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
Deactivating her ability, Kikyo Kushida let out a soft sigh:
“Phew…
using that ability made me feel kinda tired, like I just ran a 50-meter dash.”
Natsuyu immediately grasped the key mechanic:
“It seems abilities can’t be used infinitely.
Each use consumes physical stamina, and there might be other energy factors involved.”
For instance, spiritual power represented by the Soul attribute.
Natsuyu thought to himself:
‘My character panel has not only physical stats, but also a Soul attribute with unknown effects, which likely governs ability usage.’
The moment Kushida’s ability ended, Yukino and Emma broke eye contact.
One let out a visible sigh of relief, while the other did so silently.
Yukino calms down and analyzes logically:
“The conservation of energy…
Activating supernatural abilities requires consuming energy.
That is a very logical conclusion.”
Natsuyu nodded in agreement, but thought to himself:
‘Looks like they don’t have a status panel system like mine—they only awakened a single superpower.’
‘While pure superpowers might lack the endless scaling potential of the Minecraft system, they’re still pretty damn cool.’
‘Yukino can act as a cat scout, and Kushida is a crowd-control support.
Both can contribute to our wild survival and boost our team’s combat effectiveness.’
‘On the other hand, I haven’t even crafted a basic Wooden Sword yet, so right now I might not even be able to beat Yukino in her agile cat form.’
‘Once I craft a full Iron Armor Set though, I’ll be able to beat cat Yukino 100% guaranteed!’
‘I need to unlock achievements quickly—at least unlock a Stone Sword first.’
‘By the way…
could cat Yukino be a catgirl?’
‘Catgirl Yukino…
man, that sounds hilarious and awesome.
I really wanna see it.’
Natsuyu stole a glance at Yukino, but she didn’t notice.
As everyone looked away, Natsuyu’s eyes locked with Kiana’s.
Kiana hadn’t taken her eyes off Natsuyu.
Caught red-handed, she gave a casual nod and commented bluntly:
‘White-haired chick, you’ve got pretty good taste.’
Natsuyu nodded back smoothly:
“Who’s introducing themselves next?”
“I’ll do it!”
Emma Sakuraba raised her hand.
This time nobody contested her.
She shyly avoided Natsuyu’s gaze, flashing a sweet smile:
“My name is Emma Sakuraba.
I’m a student like everyone else, and just like Kikyo-san, I hope we can make new friends…”
“As for my ability…
it seems to be some kind of magic that allows me to absorb the energy of living beings.”
“Using magic recklessly could put everyone in danger, so I can’t test it out here.”
Absorbing energy?!
Kushida and Kiana stared at her with wide eyes, cheeks blushing slightly.
That sounded like a very unusual and suggestive magic!
Who would’ve thought that sweet, innocent-looking Emma harbored such a scary ability…
Unaware of the unintended suggestive ambiguity, Emma regretted not being able to test it, but quickly smiled and asked:
“The voice in my head also tempted me with promises of making friends.
Was everyone’s prompt like that?”
Natsuyu shook his head:
“Mine wasn’t.”
Natsuyu looked at Emma, thinking:
‘If I remember correctly, Emma’s signature ability in Witch Trial should be the magic called [Witch Killer], which instantly slays anyone possessing the witch gene.’
‘In the game’s true ending, Emma turns evil and destroys the world.’
‘However, that magic was a specialized anti-witch attack meant for people from her original world.
It shouldn’t affect normal humans.’
‘Since none of us have witch genes, her magic degenerated into raw energy absorption?’
‘Wait…
or does Emma actually come from the exact same world as us, or a different one?’
‘Unlike Kiana’s Honkai world, I can’t be 100% sure if Emma comes from a different universe.
What if someone here actually possesses witch-like traits…?’
Kiana shook her head:
“The voice in my head didn’t say anything about making friends.”
Yukino crossed her arms:
“Why would I ever be interested in such an absurd prompt?”
“None of you…?”
Emma looked slightly disappointed, but then a bright smile warmed her face:
“That’s okay!
I’ll still be good friends with everyone!”
‘She’s stealing all my lines!’
‘She’s pretending to be the exact same innocent angel type as me!
Ugh, how annoying!’
Kushida believed everyone should have their own place in life and shine brightly.
Although she was good at academics and sports since childhood, she was always overshadowed by people who were even more accomplished.
Realizing her naturally cute face was her greatest asset, she decided to work hard at making friends.
As long as she became friends with everyone, no one could replace her!
By showing her cutest side, she easily won over her entire middle school class, building the “Kikyo Kingdom”.
Everyone treated her as a trusted confidante, sharing secrets and seeking her help.
Kushida loved being irreplaceable, but suppressing her true dark nature and listening to everyone’s pathetic drama caused immense stress.
To vent, she created secret alt accounts online to viciously trash talk those idiots.
Later, her alt account was exposed by her classmates, revealing her true dark personality and her secret “Cold Noodle Faction” rants, igniting widespread backlash.
In retaliation, Kushida broke her silence and leaked ALL of her classmates’ disgusting secrets at once, causing her entire class to collapse.
Afterward, she was suspended and hid at home.
Now, in this new world where nobody knew her past, Kushida had fully reset and decided to return to her old craft.
‘Emma Sakuraba, since you chose the exact same persona, you’d better obey and stay in second place as my subordinate!’
‘I will be number one in everyone’s heart—including yours!’
Kushida immediately made a move to put pressure on Emma:
“Hey, Emma-chan~”
Kushida placed her slender hands over her chest, making a cute gesture and blinking her big, innocent eyes:
“I want to make friends because I love being around people, but right now none of my old friends are here, and I feel so lonely…”
“Why do you want to make friends so badly, Emma-chan?”
Hearing this, Emma looked at Kushida with a sympathetic, mournful expression, saying softly:
“Kikyo-san…
do you feel lonely too…?
Me too.
In middle school, I was so lonely…
and my only best friend, Hiiro…
we broke up and drifted apart.
That’s why I wanted so badly to make new friends…”
Emma smiled innocently, confident that she and Kushida would become great friends.
Kushida twitched inwardly, gloating while pretending to be shocked:
‘She’s lying!’
Kushida put on a confused, hurt expression:
“How could a girl as pretty as you have no friends?
Why are you lying, Emma-chan?
Are you a bad girl?”
‘Great!
This will plant the idea that Emma is a fake liar, and everyone will naturally favor me over her!’
Emma gasps in shock:
“K-Kikyo-san?!”