In the kitchen, Zane tied on his apron and expertly prepped the ingredients.
He grabbed two sharp chef’s knives and used them with skill.
Chop, chop, chop!
In just a few seconds, the vegetables were all cut evenly.
He threw some minced garlic into a hot wok, and the delicious smell quickly filled the room.
As he cooked, he also scrolled through the group chat without missing a beat.
He had made the [Ultimate Grind Squad] group chat as just another fun thing with his powers.
[Holy Spirit]: “To all the lurkers currently reading the screen, my name is Zane.
The IDs assigned when you joined were randomly generated based on your specific ‘Traits.’ Feel free to change your ID to your real name to make things easier.” [Paramecium]: “Traits?
What the heck kind of trait is a ‘Paramecium’?!
And why do you get to be the Admin?
Also, I clearly pressed ‘NO’, so why didn’t it work?!
You definitely rigged it, didn’t you?!” Kiana fired off her messages like a machine gun.
Her blunt and straightforward style was obvious to everyone in the chat.
Right away, they could tell she was energetic, a bit too aggressive, and probably a huge airhead, though it was actually kind of charming.
[Kiki Cat]: “Welcome to Himeko’s Mini-Class: A Paramecium is a single-celled organism.
Its structure mainly consists of cilia, a macronucleus, a micronucleus, and contractile vacuoles.” Himeko also added a simple diagram to help explain.
[Paramecium]: “I don’t get it.
So what?” [Holy Spirit]: “Cough—to put it in layman’s terms, a Paramecium is a simple-minded creature with zero brain cells.
It usually describes a sweet but naive girl who thinks in a straight line, relies entirely on instinct, and gets easily hot-headed over the smallest things.
It’s an adorable trait.” The group chat went quiet for a few seconds as everyone tried not to laugh.
[Paramecium]: “You…
you’re the one with no brain cells!
You’re the airhead!
I AM SO MAD AT YOU RIGHT NOW!!!” Even if he called her ‘adorable’, she couldn’t stand being disrespected like that!
[Paramecium has changed her ID to ‘Kiana’.] [Silly Furina has changed her ID to ‘Furina’.] Hmm…
realistically, ‘Silly Furina’ wasn’t all that different from ‘Paramecium’ anyway.
[Pink Piggy has changed her ID to ‘Elysia’.] Elysia quickly changed her name too.
There was no way she wanted to be called ‘Pink Piggy’ forever.
She was just a bit plump in the right spots!
And she definitely didn’t weigh over 55kg!
The others didn’t bother changing theirs.
Himeko was quite satisfied with ‘Kiki Cat’.
Miyabi Hoshimi felt that ‘Martial Arts Addict Fox’ perfectly encapsulated her life’s pursuit and her bloodline.
As for Evanescia, ‘Eva Can’t Fly’ was already her alt-account name, which she regularly used to spam the comment sections of hollow investigators asking for updates.
[Elysia]: “I’m super curious, Mr.
Admin.
What kind of trait does ‘Holy Spirit’ represent?
It sounds incredibly powerful~♡” [Holy Spirit]: “I just inherited His abilities, that’s all.” After some chatting, the group began trying out the chat app’s built-in features.
Feature 1: Daily Check-in.
Rewards random points that can be used in the System Mall.
Feature 2: Item Upload.
Members can upload physical items into the Mall space.
The system evaluates the ‘quality’ of the item and awards points accordingly.
The item then becomes available in the Mall for others to purchase.
Feature 3: Group Traversal System.
[Kiki Cat has uploaded the item ‘Himeko’s Special Hand-Brewed Coffee’.
Reward: 1 Point.] …
In the parlor car, Himeko frowned as her cup of coffee suddenly disappeared from her hands.
Her coffee…
was only worth a single point?
She had picked the best beans and brewed them with perfect technique and temperature.
It was the Astral Express’s signature drink!
Was there something wrong with the system’s scoring?
[Furina has uploaded the item ‘Colorful Macarons’.
Reward: 100 Points.] …
At the Palais Mermonia, Furina was surprised when her plate of macarons vanished from her desk.
She quickly checked her account balance.
She didn’t really know what the points were worth, but ‘100’ was clearly better than ‘1’!
The little hydro archon put her hands on her hips and laughed with pride.
“Hmph~ It seems my dessert-making skills are universally recognized, no matter what universe I’m in!” Zane laughed.
The Hydro Archon really was a great cook.
[Elysia has completed her Daily Check-in.
Reward: 66 Points.] “66?
What a lucky number~” Elysia smiled as she claimed her daily reward.
Her eyes wandered until she noticed her half-empty glass of juice.
[Elysia has uploaded the item ‘Elysia’s Half-Drank Juice’.
Reward: 8 Points.] “Hehe~” She giggled, thoroughly amused.
…
Meanwhile, Himeko grew even more frustrated.
A half-finished glass of juice got 8 points, but her carefully made coffee was only worth 1?
Outrageous.
The chat was getting livelier by the moment.
Back in the kitchen, Zane added some salt to the soup and glanced at the new items in the Mall.
[‘Himeko’s Special Hand-Brewed Coffee’ (1 Cup).
Price: 1 Point.] [Description: The exclusive craft of the Astral Express Navigator.
Provides a significant ‘refreshing’ effect with a very unique flavor profile.] [Warning: Depending on the user’s constitution, severe side effects may occur.
Please purchase with extreme caution.] “…” Zane couldn’t help but twitch his lips.
Wow.
Himeko’s coffee was notoriously potent enough to knock out the Stellaron Trailblazer and even cause temporary amnesia.
The Mall’s warning system was surprisingly accurate.
Suddenly, a purchase notification popped up.
He really wanted to buy ‘Elysia’s Half-Drank Juice’, but he had to keep his dignity.
He told himself not to click the button…
[Martial Arts Addict Fox has purchased ‘Himeko’s Special Hand-Brewed Coffee’ (1 Cup).
Points: -1.] Zane’s eyes widened in horror.
Oh shit!
[Holy Spirit]: “@Martial Arts Addict Fox, Miss Miyabi, wait!
Do not drink that coffee!
It’s toxic—” Alas, he was a second too late.
—•——•——•——•——•——•— New Eridu, Section 6 Office.
After a long day of dealing with paperwork about Hollow Ether anomalies, even Miyabi Hoshimi felt tired.
She saw a cup of coffee from another universe in the Mall for just 1 point and bought it on a whim.
It seemed like a fun novelty.
A hot cup of coffee with a very…
peculiar aroma suddenly appeared on her desk.
Miss Miyabi picked it up and calmly brought it to her lips.
“Gulp.” As soon as she swallowed the dark liquid, a wave of bitterness, sourness, exhaustion, and total despair hit her taste buds and left her mind blank.
This wasn’t just a bad taste.
It felt like an attack on her whole being.
“Ugh…!” Miyabi’s body froze.
Her pupils widened, then narrowed, as memories of her life rushed through her mind.
Her usually sharp gaze went blank, and her eyes rolled back.
Clang!!
The ceramic cup slipped from her fingers, shattering on the floor.
Miyabi stayed sitting upright for a second, then fell straight back and hit the floor hard.
Right before her consciousness completely faded to black, a single thought crossed her mind: My training…
still isn’t enough…
Just then, the office door swung open, accompanied by a very energetic voice.
“Yanagi and I are back!
Today’s training was arguing with a cat— WAAAAAH!!!” Soukaku, just back from fieldwork, opened the door and saw her respected and reliable Section Chief lying flat on her back, eyes white and totally unconscious.
The blue oni girl’s smile disappeared.
Her fragile little mind was thoroughly traumatized.
Next to her, Tsukishiro Yanagi’s eyes went wide with shock.
—•——•——•——•——•——•— “…” “Miss Miyabi has departed from us.
Her ‘passing’ warrants at least a half-day off for us to mourn her loss properly,” Zane typed, pretending to be serious.
“WHAAT?” Everyone in the group chat gasped.
Was Himeko’s coffee really that scary?
Anyone thinking about buying the coffee quickly changed their mind, especially after seeing the warning.
Yikes.
Himeko: “…” [Holy Spirit]: “Just kidding.
But seriously, if you want to try Himeko’s coffee, order at your own risk.
By the way, Miss Himeko, how many Nameless are currently on the Express?
@Kiki Cat” [Kiki Cat]: “Including me, three.
One is named Welt, and the other is Dan Heng.” Zane breathed a long sigh of relief.
Perfect…
His future wife, March 7th, hadn’t boarded the train yet.
He just had to intercept her thawing process when the time came.
He couldn’t let anyone else lay eyes on her first.
Every little bit helps the story survive and grow!