How many people concentrate on practicing?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.
Alice and Kenzaki were easier to deal with.
But Sagiri? Not possible at all.
The flow of time had already been adjusted by Takumi.
At the same time, he had subtly influenced them.
He hinted that they should concentrate on training.
Otherwise, they would've gotten bored.
Maybe Sagiri would've already taken out her pen and paper to start drawing again.
After all, Eromanga-sensei was totally capable of doing that.
It wasn't until dinner that Takumi released the three of them.
Inside, they had focused on training for nearly a year, tirelessly honing their abilities.
They were from Penglai, so they weren't afraid of death.
When they returned, they were dazed.
Recalling their experience, they were horrified.
"Brother Takumi!!"
"What did you do to me?!"
"Why was I so focused?!"
Sagiri didn't understand.
Takumi must have done something.
Otherwise, she would've never been that diligent.
Sagiri was dumbfounded.
That state of complete focus terrified her.
If possible, she never wanted to experience it again.
Who would understand how it felt?
To focus so intensely on one thing…
To completely lose track of time…
To dive into the knowledge implanted in her mind…
Time passed unknowingly.
When they snapped out of it, they were shocked.
"I added a little something to help you concentrate."
"Otherwise, how would you be able to train properly?"
"Look at yourselves."
"If you had been this diligent earlier, we wouldn't have needed this."
"It's only been a year, and your strength has already skyrocketed."
Their laziness had caught up to them.
If they'd been hardworking from the start, they wouldn't have needed drastic measures.
Hearing Takumi say this, everyone was left speechless.
"I never want to do that again…"
Sagiri looked miserable.
She was traumatized.
Even though it had been effective, she didn't want to go through it again.
Alice, however, was unbothered.
"That was like when I focus on cooking."
"This time, I made up for all the time I wasted."
"But I'm on the gourmet cell path."
"If I eat something good, I'll get stronger."
"So I should be able to absorb that energy now, right?"
Unlike Sagiri, Alice still needed energy replenishment.
Hearing that, Takumi poured a stream of Honkai energy into her.
"Wait!!"
"Hey!"
"Too—too much!"
"Just a little bit would've been enough!"
Alice was stunned.
Her body was overloaded.
Takumi gave her the full dose at once.
"Done."
Alice was frozen in place.
She instinctively clutched her stomach and glared at Takumi.
"A warning would've been nice, you know."
That sudden surge had caught her off guard.
It was too much.
"Your power is now on par with Aki and the others."
"If Aki can absorb it, so can you."
"So go."
Takumi opened a space portal.
Hearing that, Alice snorted.
She was still salty about what had just happened.
Takumi really had no chill!
She turned and left without another word.
"I'm going too!"
Kenzaki quickly followed her.
Sagiri rushed after them.
"Wait for me!!"
The three left Takumi together.
When they reached the portal, Sagiri called back:
"Leave some food for us!"
"We're coming back for dinner!"
They hadn't eaten in what felt like forever.
It was Takumi's fault.
She'd forgotten what food even tasted like.
So, no matter what, she was coming back for a feast.
"Go ahead."
"I'll save you some."
Takumi waved.
They had nothing to worry about.
Sagiri nodded and jumped into the portal.
When they returned, they were stronger.
By this point, everyone in the group had powered up.
They had all hit a bottleneck.
To get stronger, they would either need help from the chat group or wait for Takumi to advance and pull them up with him.
But through the chat group, it would be difficult.
All the points in the group now belonged to Takumi.
Once he finished strengthening, everyone else could consider their turn.
Now, all the points were being funneled into Takumi's upgrade.
This was how to maximize benefits.
If everyone powered up individually, only they would get stronger.
But if Takumi powered up, the entire group would benefit.
Everyone understood that clearly.
They were all tied to Takumi's world.
Ever since they were tricked by him, their fates had been linked.
The stronger Takumi became, the more benefits they would receive.
Back with Takumi, Sagiri, Alice, and the others rushed to the dining table.
They were starving.
Or more accurately, greedy.
They hadn't eaten in ages.
Seeing how they acted like starving ghosts, Takumi muttered:
"Are the side effects really this bad?"
He was surprised.
His method seemed to have made them worse.
"Hmph!!"
"What do you think?"
"Brother Takumi, that was just too much."
"You subtly influenced us into that state."
Though Takumi had only muttered, Sagiri and the others still heard him.
They were still bitter.
If they had remained immersed in the state, it wouldn't have mattered.
But after coming out, the mental fatigue was awful.
They felt like they'd been lost in a trance.
It felt like forever had passed.
Now, they'd probably become lazy.
At the same time, after this experience, they started to admire those who could endure solitude.
Those who weren't influenced by others…
Who could just train in seclusion by choice.
That was something they could never do.
Now, they truly respected it.
Takumi scratched his head.
He didn't know what to say.
It seemed like he should avoid using that method again in the future.