[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Eriri, what's with this Kaori Miyazono? How did you end up bringing her in too? Curious.jpg]
[Kaori Miyazono (Level 1, Stage 2): Um... hello everyone, I'm Kaori Miyazono. I was the one who asked Eriri-nee to invite me into the group. Please don't blame Eriri-nee...]
After sending her very first message in the Multiverse Same-Sex ♀ Friendship Group, Kaori Miyazono shifted her attention away from the chat and turned toward Eriri with a pitiful look.
"Eriri-nee... are they not happy to have me here?"
Although Kaori had appeared cheerful and full of life when she first met Eriri, the truth was that, not too long ago, she had been a timid and insecure girl.
It was only after she had seen her parents crying in despair outside her hospital room because of her illness that she decided to change herself—and that's how the bright and energetic girl came to be.
"Of course not," Eriri replied with a soft smile. "Chika-chan just likes to tease people. If you don't believe me, check the chat again."
"Mm-hmm!"
Encouraged by Eriri's words, Kaori immediately perked up, nodded seriously, and returned her attention to the chat group.
At her current stage, Kaori still couldn't multitask well—she could only focus on one thing at a time. So, she either watched the chat or the outside world, but not both.
When she re-entered the group, she saw messages from Chika Fujiwara and the others already filling the chat window.
[Asuna Yuuki (Level 7, Stage 2): Chika-chan, stop bullying the poor girl!]
[Kaguya Shinomiya (Level 7, Stage 2): As expected of the Cancer of Earth.]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Don't mind that idiot. We all welcome you to the group.]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Hey hey! What do you mean 'idiot'? And Kaguya, how come you still remember that ridiculous nickname? It has nothing to do with me!]
[Kaguya Shinomiya (Level 7, Stage 2): Heh!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Kaori-chan, I'm sorry! I was just joking with you earlier. Don't worry! Since you've joined our chat group, from now on, we're all family!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): You don't mind if I call you Kaori-chan, right? @Kaori Miyazono (Level 1, Stage 2)]
[Kaori Miyazono (Level 1, Stage 2): Not at all! Then, can I call you Chika-nee?]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Of course you can! From now on, I'll look after you. If you ever need help, just come to me.]
[Kaori Miyazono (Level 1, Stage 2): Thank you, Chika-nee.]
Seeing the messages in the chat, Kaori finally let out a sigh of relief, and a bright smile once again spread across her face.
At that moment, she noticed Chika-nee sending another message.
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): By the way, Kaori-chan, you said you asked Eriri to invite you—does that mean you're with her right now?]
[Kaori Miyazono (Level 1, Stage 2): Yup.]
Kaori replied without hesitation.
When Eriri had traveled to the Your Lie in April world, she hadn't told anyone in the chat group—not even Arifureta knew about it.
Originally, she had planned to heal Kaori's body and then immediately return to the Saekano world. It wasn't supposed to take long, so she didn't feel the need to inform the others.
But because Kaori had earnestly requested for her to stay longer, Eriri had agreed to remain in the Your Lie in April world for a while.
Without saying much more, Eriri simply sent a photo of herself with Kaori to the group.
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): [Photo]]
Seeing the photo Eriri sent, the veteran members didn't react too strongly. Most were merely surprised that she had gone to another world without saying anything.
Of course, some couldn't help but feel a bit envious of Kaori for being able to spend time alone with Eriri.
For instance, Elf Yamada was currently looking at the picture with undisguised jealousy.
However, remembering the promise Eriri had made earlier—to go on a private date with her—she managed to calm down, her mood improving considerably.
For Aoyama Nanami, Keika, and Elf Sister—who were seeing Eriri's real face for the first time—the photo was almost too much to take in.
It wasn't even an unusual picture: just Eriri and Kaori sitting side by side in a café booth. Yet, after having watched the Your Lie in April memory video Eriri once uploaded to the Multiverse Chat Group, everyone already knew Kaori Miyazono quite well.
Their focus, however, was completely on Eriri.
Eriri's beauty was so dazzling it almost didn't feel real. Even the self-confident Elf Sister couldn't help but feel inferior in comparison.
[Aoyama Nanami (Level 1, Stage 4): That's Eriri? She's way too beautiful!]
[Keika (Level 1, Stage 4): I never knew someone could be this stunning. It's unbelievable.]
[Frelia (Level 1, Stage 4): ...]
[Adele (Level 7, Stage 1): Haha, I knew you'd react like that.]
[Mei (Level 7, Stage 2): Eriri-nee is the most beautiful person in all the worlds!]
As Mei's message appeared, the chat instantly filled with waves of lively responses—everyone began showering Eriri with endless compliments.
Seeing the constant stream of praise, Aoyama, Keika, and Frelia finally understood just how beloved Eriri was within the group.
...
After the flood of admiration died down, everyone finally shifted focus to the newly added system features.
[Ruri Gokou (Level 7, Stage 2): Anyway, these three new features from the update are pretty good, huh?]
[Arche (Level 7, Stage 2): Definitely. Especially the first and third—they're both solid ways to earn points.]
[Natsuki Minamiya (Level 4, Stage 9): The first one is great. You can train your combat experience and earn rewards at the same time. As long as you don't surrender, you can't technically lose!]
[Natsuki Minamiya (Level 4, Stage 9): But that third one's different. You only earn from enhancing weapons, and there's still a failure chance. I wonder how high it is?]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): What's there to think about? Just go for it! You've got ten enhancement chances anyway~]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Why aren't any of you mentioning the second feature? I think it's amazing. If you accelerate time in your own world, you might even surpass the others!]
[Risa Shiramine (Level 7, Stage 2): Honestly, it feels kind of pointless. Even if time flows faster, it doesn't mean we live faster. It's still the same experience. What difference does it make~]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Don't you want to surpass everyone else?]
[Risa Shiramine (Level 7, Stage 1): I mean, sure, but that kind of hyper-competitive grind just feels exhausting.]
[Arche (Level 7, Stage 2): Agreed.]
[Fujiwara Moeha (Level 7, Stage 1): I think it's great! If I slow time down, I can use my weekends to take long vacations in other worlds. Just thinking about it feels amazing!]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): That's a good idea—I'm in!]
...
Seeing how lively the chat was becoming, Eriri decided it was time to interrupt—there was something far more important to do.
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Alright, that's enough chatter. You can explore the new features later. For now, it's time to divide the points we recovered from the Multiverse Chat Group.]
As soon as her message appeared, all discussion about the new systems instantly vanished.
Compared to the massive amount of points about to be distributed, those features were nothing in comparison.
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Yay!]
[Elaina (Level 7, Stage 2): Hurry up already—I've been waiting for this!]
[Natsuki Minamiya (Level 4, Stage 9): How many points did we get from reclaiming that chat group?]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Not too much, not too little—exactly 100 billion points.]
[Natsuki Minamiya (Level 4, Stage 9): !!!]
[Kyoko (Level 5, Stage 4): That's so much! We're rich!]
[Elaina (Level 7, Stage 2): So it's the same as when we got the that system, huh?]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Of course. After all, that Multiverse Chat Group was also an Advanced Intermediate System.]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): Ahhh, I haven't even finished spending my last twenty billion points, and now we're getting more! I'll never be able to use it all!]
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): In that case, should I just remove your share?]
[Arifureta (Level 7, Stage 3 / Group Leader): Great idea. Let's split Chika-chan's share among everyone else.]
[Chika Fujiwara (Level 7, Stage 2): No no no, I was joking!]
[Aoyama Nanami (Level 1, Stage 4): You guys are terrifying... You talk about points like they're pocket change.]
[Keika (Level 1, Stage 4): Yeah, I remember when we used to be thrilled just getting a few dozen points from daily check-ins. Now it feels... surreal.]
Keika didn't continue her sentence, but everyone could understand what she meant.
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Don't worry. Soon, your points will also be counted in billions.]
Reading Eriri's message, Aoyama and the others couldn't help but hold their breath.
They had assumed that, since they'd just joined, they wouldn't be included in the point distribution.
But now, it seemed they were part of it too.
[Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9): Right now, our group has sixty-seven members in total. As usual, I'll exclude myself from the division. That leaves sixty-six members, meaning each of you gets 1.5 billion points. The remaining 1 billion will go to the system reserve.]
Since Akame had been invited by Mine at the start of June, over four months had passed—and four more members had joined before the Multiverse Chat Group's absorption.
They were: Momo (invited by Lala), Hana Yurikawa (invited by Miko Yotsuya), Kurome (invited by Mine), and Laika (invited by Azusa).
Without wasting any time, Eriri sent out a massive red packet containing 99 billion points.
[Ding! Eriri (Level 8, Stage 9) has sent a normal red packet.]
The enormous packet—divided into sixty-six portions—was snatched up within seconds.
Even though every share held the same amount, that didn't stop anyone from clicking furiously to grab theirs.
While the total amount was higher than last time—100 billion more, in fact—the member count had nearly doubled. So, each person's share was roughly half of what it had been before.
...
[Ding! You have received 1.5 billion points.]
Staring at the system prompt and the dazzling number in her point balance, Aoyama Nanami swallowed hard.
To be honest, she was completely stunned by Eriri's generosity.
She knew exactly how much 1.5 billion points meant—it was enough to push her strength all the way up to Level 7, Stage 1!
Even though that wouldn't put her anywhere near the group's strongest members, it was still something she could've never imagined back in the old Multiverse Chat Group.
Even as a soon-to-be superpowered individual, she still needed to work part-time jobs to survive. After all, she couldn't just conjure money from thin air, nor could she use her powers illegally to get it.
And her pride wouldn't allow her to beg other members for help.
However, she had completely overlooked the simplest solution—she could easily trade points with other members for gold bars, saving herself endless hours of labor.
For now, though, she decided to use some of her new points to enhance her physical abilities.
It was lunchtime at school, the perfect time for a quick upgrade.
Lying face-down on her desk, Aoyama closed her eyes and began channeling points into her body.
There was no way she was going to waste her free time.
After all, as a new high school student, she didn't have many close friends to talk to anyway.
As the minutes passed, she could clearly feel her body rapidly improving.
Normally, her daily check-in points would run out in barely a minute. But now, the continuous surge of strengthening energy made her feel incredible—an exhilarating sense of growth that she couldn't get enough of.
—
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