Tetsuya watched as the frozen world, locked in shades of gray, slowly regained its colors and began moving again. So time truly did stop while a mission was in progress, something that made everything much more convenient.
"Tetsuya-kun."
At that moment, Megumi, who had been motionless in the time freeze just moments ago, walked over to him. She raised an eyebrow slightly, for some reason sensing that something about Tetsuya's aura felt different now.
It was strange.
Still, Megumi didn't think too deeply about it and simply shook her head inwardly. Marin also came over, and as usual, the two of them invited Tetsuya to eat lunch together.
As the three of them walked out of the classroom, Miko, who was being teased by Hana Yurikawa, noticed them and wanted to follow. She hesitated for a moment, then eventually gave up and left with her friend, who had chased her all the way there.
…
Tetsuya walked up to the rooftop. Besides him, there were three girls there as well. Three, because Utaha had joined them partway through. After lunch, the four chatted for a while before returning to their classrooms when the bell rang.
They split up to go to their respective classes, with Utaha leaving first since she was in a different grade. After sitting down at his seat, Tetsuya immediately focused on the chat group system.
[Points: 125,428.]
He had made a huge profit from his first group mission. The 60,000-point reward was doubled for completing his first mission, giving him an additional 120,000 points. Added to the points he earned from killing thousands of zombies, his total exceeded one hundred thousand group points.
"It's gacha time!"
Tetsuya rubbed his hands together, feeling extremely excited. During the mission, even though he had earned over a thousand points from killing zombies, he hadn't used the lottery and had waited until the mission ended to accumulate more points.
Because of that, all the zombie-kill points had piled up until now.
He immediately switched to the lottery function and pulled a 5× draw in one go.
Gacha was rarely kind, and most results were trash. Tetsuya clasped his hands together and prayed to anyone who might be listening for this fifth pull.
[Congratulations! You have obtained the ability: Electrokinesis!]
"Yes!" Tetsuya was so happy he almost cheered out loud, but he quickly realized where he was and suppressed his voice.
He then checked the details of the ability. As the name suggested, it allowed him to manipulate electricity and lightning, including sub-abilities such as electromagnetic manipulation. Tetsuya could shape, generate, guide, and exert complete control over electricity and lightning.
There were countless ways to apply this power, anything related to electricity, lightning, or electromagnetism. However, it was still only level one, and upgrading it with points was extremely expensive per level.
Since he still had plenty of points, Tetsuya tried pulling again. Once, nothing. Twice, nothing. Three times… and even the fourth pull was still empty.
"No way?! Did I run out of luck?!" Tetsuya couldn't believe it and pulled one more time.
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Sixth Sense!]
"Finally!" Tetsuya was thrilled. Sixth Sense allowed him to sense danger and gave him sharp intuition. It was an excellent ability, very similar to Spider-Man's spider-sense.
…
[March 7th: @Tetsuya Hiratsuji @Saeko Busujima. Tetsuya, Saeko! Hey! Is the mission over?! How did it go?]
[Saeko Busujima: The mission has ended. Tetsuya-kun has already returned to his world.]
[March 7th: Wow! Traveling to another world! I want to do that too!]
[Tsunade Senju: How many points did you get?]
[Saeko Busujima: I got 40,000 points plus the points from the zombies I killed. And Tetsuya-kun got about 120,000 points.]
[March 7th: That's so many!]
[Tsunade Senju: Tsk! Why was only Tetsuya chosen as a mission participant? According to the chat group, I could gain abilities and increase my strength too. This is amazing!]
[March 7th: @Tetsuya Hiratsuji. Tetsuya! Hey, say something!]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Relax a little, March-chan.]
[Tsunade Senju: Hey, kid! You made a huge profit! What are you doing with those points?]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: I pulled the lottery and got the Electrokinesis ability.]
[March 7th: Electrokinesis? What's that?]
[Saeko Busujima: Simply put, it's control over electricity and lightning. Tetsuya-kun pulled something really good, he has lightning powers now.]
[March 7th: Wow! Lightning? That's so cool!]
[Tsunade Senju: Lightning, huh? That's excellent. Lightning has tremendous offensive power.]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Hahaha! Yeah, I got lucky. Saeko-senpai, you should try the lottery too, maybe you'll get something valuable.]
[Saeko Busujima: Alright.]
…
The second-period teacher entered the classroom, a female teacher with long black hair named Shizuka Hiratsuka. She was also known as "Iron Fist Shizuka," because if any student (or even a teacher) dared mess with her, they'd be taken down with a single punch.
Naturally, with a teacher like this, even the laziest students had to focus intently on the lesson, even if they didn't fully understand what she was explaining.
Only Tetsuya wasn't listening, his attention fixed on the chat group. However, since he was looking forward with a calm expression, neither bored nor sleepy, he appeared to be paying attention like normal.
At that moment, Saeko had already pulled her first lottery.
[Saeko Busujima: I got an ability; Enhanced Sense who strengthens my senses to sense danger, and Strength Enhancement, which increases my physical strength.]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Oh, that's good. I also got an ability to sense danger.]
[March 7th: Woo woo! I want powers too! Why wasn't I chosen?!]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Alright, don't cry. Won't there be chances in the future?]
[March 7th: Really?]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: Maybe.]
[March 7th: Wah! (Pom-pom crying loudly.jpg)]
"…"
March 7th was incredibly adorable, she even sent a crying Pom-Pom sticker. It was way too cute.
[Saeko Busujima: Tetsuya-kun, don't make little March 7th cry anymore. March 7th, it's okay, you'll be chosen in the future too.]
[Tetsuya Hiratsuji: There's no helping it. March-chan is too cute, so teasing her is unavoidable. It's fun, this might become my hobby.]
[Tsunade Senju: That's a terrible hobby.]
Tetsuya closed the chat group and switched to his personal information panel. Both Electrokinesis and Sixth Sense were still at level one. Since he still had over 115,000 points, he immediately upgraded both abilities to level two, spending 1,000 points each.
A warm current spread through his body, and he felt his senses sharpen. At the same time, he could feel an energy pulsing inside him, making his body tingle, almost like a mild electric shock.
"Student Tetsuya Hiratsuji, pay attention when the teacher is speaking."
Shizuka's annoyed voice rang out.
Holding her book, Shizuka looked at Tetsuya, who seemed slightly dazed and inattentive, with a surprised and displeased expression. Sure, this male student was handsome and talented in many ways, but did he really think he could space out in her class? Maybe she needed to show him why she was called Iron Fist Shizuka, even if she disliked the nickname.
"You, stand up and solve the problem on the board!"
"Ugh…" Tetsuya stood up and looked at the irritated Shizuka with a wry smile. "Shizuka-sensei, the answer is…"
"Correct. Alright, you may sit," Shizuka said, rubbing her aching head as she continued the lesson.
Tetsuya sat down with an awkward smile.
Maybe next time, he shouldn't upgrade his powers in a crowded classroom.