"Charge is full?"
Kitahara eagerly received the Pandora blind box, and a notification quietly popped up in front of him.
[Item: Pandora's Box]
[Type: Wonder]
[Attribute: All-encompassing within the magic box. Once you open the box, the reward you receive will be completely random—it may be a calamity, or it may be a blessing]
[The current conditions for opening at the highest tier have been met. Do you wish to open Pandora's Box now?]
"After working so hard for so long, the day of harvest has finally arrived."
Kitahara sighed internally, suppressing the urge to open the blind box on the spot, and reached out to rub Hana's small head:
"When we go back tonight, I'll buy you ten cupcakess as a reward!"
"Thank you, Master."
Hana tilted her small face up and thanked him happily.
"Brat, don't take things too far."
Seika crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave him a look of disdain:
"It's been so long, and you're still having Hana call you Master?"
What's wrong with calling me Master?
What he signed with Hana was a Mount Covenant; calling him Master was completely normal!
Kitahara pointed a finger at Seika:
"Hana, call her Mama."
Hana tilted her small face up toward Seika, her voice soft and sweet:
"Mama."
Seika's blonde hair quivered slightly, and her pretty face flushed crimson at a speed visible to the naked eye. Glaring over both bashfully and angrily, she snapped:
"Brat! What are you making Hana call me?!"
Kitahara smiled and looked over: "When Hana calls you Mama, Seika-nee is actually very happy, right?"
"Not happy at all!"
Seika flatly denied it.
She wouldn't admit it!
She would absolutely never admit it!
Normally, she could only act as a 'kind person,' but now she had suddenly been upgraded to a mother. Of course she was happy, but such an embarrassing little secret had to be hidden away!
"Admit it, Seika-nee, you're actually very happy." Kitahara remained calm and composed, lowering his voice into a faint whisper, "Humans naturally love taboo forms of address. Just like you're happy when Hana calls you Mama, I'm happy when Hana calls me Master, so neither of us wants to change it at all."
Seika crossed her arms over her chest and glared over in flustered embarrassment:
"You perverted lolicon!"
Kitahara didn't counterattack either, merely looking down to instruct Hana:
"Hana, use Splash... my bad, call her Mama."
Having received the promise of cupcakess as a reward, Hana didn't resist in the slightest:
"Mama."
Seika's pretty face flushed deep red:
"Brat, don't push your luck too far!"
"Hana, keep calling her Mama..."
"Know when to stop, you lewd brat!"
"..."
Seika was, after all, thin-skinned and quickly suffered defeat.
If it were the trashy Ryo instead, by this point she would have definitely found a spot to lie down, having Hana call her Mama while feeding her cupcakess.
"Seika-nee worked hard today." Kitahara brought up the main business, "The Mapo Tofu is already sold out, so that's all for the morning. Seika-nee can rest now."
"I'm so exhausted. Customers came one after another without a single break. So many customers in line didn't get any and were even asking me what time in the afternoon I'd set up the stall again..." Seika grumbled while wiping the thin layer of sweat from her forehead, "What time should I come over this afternoon?"
Kitahara shook his head: "No need to sell Mapo Tofu this afternoon."
"Eh?"
"The magic box's charging is already complete." Kitahara held up Pandora's Box in his hand, "Seika-nee should rest well this afternoon."
"If there's nothing to do, all the better; I'll go back and catch up on sleep this afternoon." Seika raised her hand to cover her mouth and yawned, "Can we leave now?"
"Let's go." Kitahara nodded slightly, "I'll send Seika-nee back."
"Hmph."
Seika gave a soft huff, but did not refuse.
After experiencing the joy of fast travel, there was no going back. If she had to return on her own, she'd have to take a train and transfer to the subway—just thinking about it was troublesome.
The two walked together and soon left the school, arriving at the quiet alley from before.
"Let's go to the Onsen Dimension first, try on the wedding dress, and then I'll send Seika-nee home."
Kitahara stopped in his tracks and looked at Seika beside him.
"I'm covered in sweat right now." Seika's pretty face blushed, subconsciously trying to evade, "Let's wait until I go home and finish showering..."
"You can take a bath in the Onsen Dimension just the same."
With a wave of Kitahara's hand, the light distorted slightly, and the figures of the three, along with the cart, completely vanished.
"Damn it...!"
Now that she had arrived in the Onsen Dimension, Seika knew that without taking the photo she definitely wouldn't be able to leave. She could only cover her chest with both hands and grit her teeth, looking over:
"Where is the wedding dress?"
"Right on the clothes rack over there." Kitahara pointed with his finger.
Seika turned to look and soon spotted the Pure White Bride hanging alone on the rack, her eyes brightening instantly.
"It looks so plain..."
Though Seika's eyes were shining bright, her words remained as tsundere as ever.
"If I weren't being coerced by you, I would never wear something so troublesome."
Despite her disparaging words, one could clearly see her eyelashes trembling slightly and her eyes full of anticipation—she was plainly eager to give it a try.
Although Manager Seika was twenty-nine years old, she had been a rebellious rocker in her youth and the big sister boss of a gang of delinquent girls, so nobody dared to mess with her. Later, after her mother passed away, she supported the entire family on her own and had to raise Nijika, having neither the time nor the energy to date anyone...
In short, Kitahara could be considered Manager Seika's 'first boyfriend.'
Of course, Seika still didn't admit that the two of them were dating.
"This is a brand-new wedding dress obtained just this morning; nobody else has worn it yet." Kitahara looked over with a smile, "Seika-nee is the very first person to wear it."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Seika's heart suddenly raced, and the corners of her lips curled upward involuntarily.
She was the first owner to wear this wedding dress?
Neither Nijika nor Ryo had worn it?
Finally getting a first time...
Noticing the change in her own mood, Seika hastily pressed her lips together to keep from showing a happy expression:
"Cut the crap, whether anyone else has worn it or not has nothing to do with me."
Saying it has nothing to do with you—why didn't you stop secretly smiling just now!
Such a super-tsundere personality wasn't cute at all. If she hadn't met him, she'd likely have grown old and died alone in this life!
Kitahara continued:
"This wedding dress is very special; it has now turned into a special item."
"Eh?" Seika looked over curiously, "How is it special?"
Kitahara said softly:
"Seika-nee will know once you put it on."
"I hate riddle-makers the most." Seika rolled her eyes at him in annoyance, "I'll go take a shower first. I sweated a lot; after showering, I'll put on... that wedding dress."
He really wasn't playing the riddle-maker on purpose; neither of the two affixes had an intuitive visual effect, so it was hard to explain!
Kitahara raised his hand: "Do you want me to help scrub your back?"
"Not needed at all." Seika covered her chest with her right hand, stopping at the bathroom door and turning back to give an embarrassed, angry warning, "If you dare barge in, you're dead meat!"
"..."
Her tone was fierce.
Unfortunately, it lacked any intimidation.
Although things like affection points couldn't be seen, Seika's favorability was most likely already maxed out; otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have let Kitahara enjoy a 'two-in-one special.' Even if Kitahara barged in right now, Manager Seika would probably half-heartedly scold him while giving in to bathing together with him.
However, Kitahara had no intention of going in to bathe together; right now, there was another matter that was even more eagerly anticipated.
"...It's you."
Kitahara took out Pandora's Box, extending his right hand full of anticipation.
[The current conditions for opening at the highest tier have been met. Do you wish to open Pandora's Box now?]
Looking at the prompt floating before his eyes, Kitahara took a deep breath to calm his mind.
The last time he opened a blind box was during the summer vacation; in the blink of an eye, over a month had already passed, and the day of harvest had finally arrived once again.
"The highest-tier charge can unlock top-tier rewards—please don't let me down..."
Superstitious rituals like bathing, burning incense, closing eyes, and praying were completely unnecessary, because Kitahara himself was the greatest metaphysical force.
Buzz~
The moment the box opened, Kitahara felt an invisible string in his mind being lightly plucked; amid the soft buzzing, his consciousness abruptly entered an endless quantum sea.
Gacha mobile games all use pseudo-randomness, but opening the magic box is truly random, so...
[Schrödinger's Cat], activate!
Time lost its meaning in the quantum sea, so Kitahara was in no hurry at all. He could take his time inspecting the attributes of all the prizes until the very moment he made a choice, when countless possibilities would collapse into a single option.
Kitahara quickly scanned the clusters of starlight around him and found that the contents of the lower-tier rewards had not updated; they were still items like the Cursed Paintbrush and the Hypnotic Pocket Watch, most of which were related to plagues and curses.
After grasping the general situation, Kitahara's gaze quickly fell upon the few largest clusters of starlight circling beside him.
Without a doubt.
The items inside were the rewards that would only appear once the charge was maxed out.
Kitahara's gaze sharpened, focusing on one of the starlight clusters, and a prompt soon surfaced before his eyes:
[Name: Seed of Plague]
[Type: Ability Seed]
[Quality: Mythic]
[Function: After fusing with the Seed of Plague, you will become the master of all plagues in the world. Every time you spread a plague, your power will increase. This ability has no upper limit]
[Note: At regular intervals, you will suffer a backlash from the plague; if you fail to resist it, you will be consumed by the plague]
Kitahara: "..."
Screw that!
No wonder the Pandora's Box of mythological lore could destroy the world. If this thing were accidentally leaked out, god knows how many people would suffer catastrophe!
Kitahara shifted his gaze away warily and looked toward another cluster of starlight.
"Horseman of the Apocalypse... harvesting life to strengthen oneself?"
"Good grief, getting stronger by killing people, huh..."
A bad premonition quietly welled up in his heart.
Kitahara continued looking down. Sure enough, the subsequent rewards were all similar items, with various drawbacks so exaggerated that one might even drop dead on the spot.
Inside Pandora's Box, countless calamities and horrors were inherently concealed, while the light of hope was exceptionally faint.
"If it were an unlucky person, they'd definitely super regret their impulsive box opening, wouldn't they?"
Kitahara complained while looking toward the only 'reward' that caught his eye.
[Name: Scale of God]
[Type: Wonder]
[Quality: Mythic]
[Function: By merely paying an equivalent price, you can realize any wish in the world]
[Note: Fairness! Fairness! It's damn well all about fairness!]
Compared to plague, war, and death, the Scale of God was instead the most well-behaved and standard, although it was unclear what the so-called price would be.
And then... as long as enough of a price was paid, could even a god be insta-killed?
"It's you."
Kitahara extended his right hand, reaching toward the cluster of starlight enveloping the Scale of God.
The instant his fingertips touched the Scale of God, the endless quantum sea instantly collapsed into a single point of origin.
"Mmh..."
Kitahara let out a soft groan as his consciousness returned to his body.
Click.
Pandora's Box quietly snapped shut.
Kitahara felt a slight weight in his hand; looking down, a delicate balance scale seemingly cast from gold had already appeared in his grip.
"This is the Scale of God?"
Kitahara looked over with keen interest, pondering how this thing was supposed to be used.
The next second.
The [Scale of God] quietly transformed into a stream of light, merging into Kitahara's wrist and turning into a mark resembling a tattoo.
A realization quietly arose in Kitahara's heart:
The two sides of the scale did not strictly require physical objects to be paid; gold, silver, miscellaneous items, flesh and blood, or even intangible things like familial affection, romantic love, lifespan, and so on, all counted as payable items.
However, there was one condition: it had to be something Kitahara owned to fulfill the payment requirement. Things that did not belong to him would not work, such as being unable to pay with the Earth beneath his feet, or the lives of others, and so forth.
Aside from that, as long as Kitahara willed it, the mark formed by the Scale of God would conceal itself, avoiding the trouble a tattoo might bring.
With a slight stir of his thoughts, Kitahara muttered inwardly:
"If I want to insta-kill the Master of Calamity, what kind of price would need to be paid?"
A wisp of insight quietly emerged in Kitahara's heart:
[Activation Failed: The chips you can pay are insufficient to equate to 'Destroy the Master of Calamity']
"Insufficient chips, rather than being unable to destroy the Master of Calamity?"
Kitahara's eyes lit up slightly.
Kitahara wasn't surprised by the activation failure, but the subsequent content was a pleasant surprise.
It seemed the [Scale of God] truly could accomplish many incredible things, far more powerful than the [Wish Sticky Notes] obtained previously.
Kitahara had tried writing a wish concerning the Master of Calamity on a sticky note before; as a result, the moment the name was written, the note simply couldn't bear the weight of a god's name and directly turned into ash.
"I want to become the chief of Earth!"
[Activation Failed: The chips you can pay are insufficient...]
"I want to become the Prime Minister of Japan?"
[Requires you to pay 1.08 billion yen plus 10 years of lifespan. Do you wish to activate the Scale?]
Kitahara decisively refused.
Making a wish was only to test the abilities of the Scale of God; a Japanese Prime Minister who could be taken out by two gunshots—even a dog wouldn't take the job.
"Come to think of it, 1.08 billion yen happens to be my current savings... In other words, as long as there is enough money, one can truly make wishes come true?"
Next, Kitahara began testing out of curiosity, discovering it was indeed so: as long as it wasn't an overly exaggerated wish, the price could entirely be paid using money.
"Give me an ice cream."
[Requires you to pay 5,000 yen. Do you wish to activate the Scale?]
"Activate the Scale."
Kitahara chanted silently in his heart while carefully observing the scale mark on his wrist.
The next second.
The scale mark suddenly emitted a faint glow, followed immediately by a Häagen-Dazs ice cream dropping out of thin air.
Kitahara reached out to catch the ice cream and inspected it carefully, quickly confirming that this thing was just an ordinary ice cream.
"A 5,000-yen ice cream..." Kitahara peeled open the outer packaging and took a bite. "Well, as expected, it's just an ordinary flavor."
At the same time.
Seika finally finished her shower and walked out wrapped in a bath towel, her pretty face slightly flushed, her eyes carrying a trace of shyness:
"I'm done washing, going to change now... if you peek, you're dead meat!"