"It's getting late, let's head back to the Onsen Dimension."
With the card pulls finished, Kitahara glanced at the time on his phone, then brought Anon and Tomori back to the Onsen Dimension.
"Tomori, you can take off the mask now."
Kitahara reminded softly.
"Okay."
Tomori softly agreed and took off the Fox Spirit Mask from her face; next came the 'debt repayment' time.
An hour slipped by quietly.
Wearing the Pure White Bride, Tomori sat quietly on the bench, during which no unlucky incidents occurred at all.
"Nothing bad happened at all..." Anon lay across the table, watching Tomori sitting opposite her, still feeling a tiny bit uneasy, "After taking off the Bride dress, will the misfortune make a comeback?"
"Tomori." Kitahara looked up at her, "Take off the Bride dress so Anon can be completely at ease."
"Understood."
Although Tomori felt a bit reluctant, she knew it was impossible to keep wearing the Bride dress forever. She stood up and went to the fitting room with Anon to take off the Pure White Bride.
In the blink of an eye, another half hour passed.
Seeing that Tomori was still safe and sound, Anon finally felt completely relieved:
"Me, me, me! I want to wear the Bride dress too!"
"Tremble! Your gacha master has returned!"
"Wear it tonight; it's too late now." Kitahara poured a bucket of cold water over her excitement, "There's barely any lunch break left; we have to go back and continue working."
"Eh?"
Anon's face instantly took on an expression as if the sky had fallen, her voice full of resentment:
"Makoto is so biased! Tomori-chan got to wear it, but I can't wear the Bride dress—that's way too biased!"
"It's not that I'm biased; clearly you were the one too scared to wear it, alright?"
"Not listening, not listening, words of a bastard chanting sutras."
"..."
Complaints aside, Anon didn't force the matter. Soon, she left the Onsen Dimension together with Tomori, and they each went their separate ways.
The remaining half of the afternoon passed in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, evening arrived.
The first day of the School Festival concluded smoothly. After the guests left, all the students began the general classroom cleanup together.
Carrying some items out into the hallway, Kitahara happened to see Succubus Saki and Shimizu Rin returning together from throwing out the trash.
"Saki, I'm thirsty. Could you please go buy some drinks?"
Kitahara stopped in his tracks and spoke softly.
"Eh?"
Exceptionally clever, Succubus Saki quickly realized that Kitahara wanted to talk to Shimizu Rin alone, so she turned and said softly:
"Rin-chan, what would you like to drink? Thanks for your hard work today, my treat."
Shimizu Rin remained expressionless and didn't stand on ceremony:
"I'd like coconut milk."
"Got it." Succubus Saki nodded gently, then looked at Kitahara, "What does Kitahara-kun want to drink?"
Kitahara said casually, "Get me a can of cola."
"Alright then." Succubus Saki waved her hand and took her leave first, "I'll go buy the drinks now."
"..."
Watching Saki leave, Kitahara turned to look at the setting sun outside the hallway, hands in his pockets, his tone calm:
"Shimizu-san, if I am safe and sound tomorrow, will you be punished?"
Shimizu Rin remained expressionless: "No."
"That's good." Kitahara said softly, "I wouldn't want Shimizu-san to run into danger."
These words were sincere, without a shred of falsehood.
Eliminating the eyepatch girl with a single punch would indeed be easy, but the Master of Calamity behind her would certainly not let the matter rest. Therefore, Kitahara preferred that the eyepatch girl continue to 'lurk' by his side.
For one, her identity was already exposed, so there was no need to worry about being suddenly backstabbed.
Secondly, having already learned Shimizu Rin's upcoming actions in advance through the Book of Answers, he could completely guarantee his own safety. If the Master of Calamity suddenly dispatched a new servant over, it would be far more dangerous instead.
Thus, Kitahara's plan was very simple—to 'act along' with Shimizu Rin, thereby buying time for himself.
The Master of Calamity was formidable indeed, but the System held boundless possibilities.
As long as he had enough time to grow stealthily in secret, perhaps he could resolve the Master of Calamity without even needing to burn himself out.
Staaaaare—
Shimizu Rin looked up, seemingly trying to determine whether Kitahara's words were genuine.
Without flinching in the slightest, Kitahara looked down into her eyes.
Their eyes met.
Shimizu Rin's eyelashes trembled slightly, and in the end, she silently averted her gaze, her face still bearing no expression:
"...I can recommend you to become a servant of Lord God. When Lord God purges the sins of the mortal world, you will not have to face judgment."
"I appreciate Shimizu-san's kind offer." Kitahara shook his head, "Unfortunately, I don't have 'Golden Knees'."
"Mmh?"
Shimizu Rin tilted her head in confusion.
"It's a special ability that went viral on the internet..."
Gold lies beneath a real man's knees—now is the exact time to cash it in.
Kitahara didn't think surrendering was shameful, but the problem was that surrendering was equally dangerous.
The eyepatch girl beside him was a servant of the Master of Calamity. The reason torture and interrogation couldn't be used to extract information from her was that inside her soul existed the Master of Calamity's 'button'; the Master of Calamity only needed to activate that button to instantly burn the eyepatch girl's soul to ashes.
A so-called servant was merely a slave to the Master of Calamity in reality, with life and death entirely at the whim of another person's single thought. Naturally, Kitahara would never agree.
While they spoke, Succubus Saki jogged back holding the drinks.
"I'm back~"
"Thank you for the drink, Lady Saki. Much appreciated."
Kitahara took the cola, chatted briefly, and then excused himself and walked away carrying his things.
"Rin-chan, your coconut milk."
Succubus Saki handed over the fruit juice drink.
"Thank you, Saki."
Shimizu Rin thanked her softly, a touch of gentle warmth flickering in her eyes.
"Rin-chan, what did Kitahara-kun say to you?"
Succubus Saki asked in a low voice, her face full of curiosity.
To this day, Succubus Saki was still kept in the dark, knowing nothing about the true relationship between Kitahara and Shimizu Rin.
Shimizu Rin silently shook her head without answering, merely giving a soft reminder:
"Be careful of the people around you tomorrow."
"Eh?"
"..."
The classroom cleaning was finished.
Kitahara walked downstairs to the bicycle shed, preparing to head home.
"Kitahara-kun~"
Just as he arrived in front of the shed, Hitori, who had been eagerly waiting, came forward with small, quick steps to greet him.
"What's the matter, Hitori?"
Kitahara asked curiously.
Hitori usually waited obediently beside the scooter, but today she happily came up to meet him with 'Praise me, quickly' practically written in bold across her face, which naturally made him very curious.
"Kitahara-kun, for you..."
Hitori looked around left and right, and after confirming no one was around, stealthily opened her school bag and took out a palm-sized badge from within.
"An optimizable item?"
Seeing the badge emitting a faint white glow, Kitahara raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Sharing the [Optimization] ability with the girls was originally just a spur-of-the-moment whim; he hadn't expected it to actually yield results—truly cause for celebration.
"When I went downstairs, I passed by the neighboring class and suddenly saw it glowing. It's a free bonus gift given with any purchase." Hitori looked up, her peach-blossom eyes looking forward expectantly through her bangs, "It's the item Kitahara-kun wants, right?"
"It is indeed a special item that can be strengthened. Lady Hitori is amazing."
Kitahara reached out his right hand, rested it on Hitori's head, and praised her generously without holding back.
"Ehehe~"
Hitori's eyes curved into crescent moons, quickly showing a proud and pleased little expression.
"Let me see the affix after optimization..."
Kitahara took the badge and examined it closely, finding that it was an ordinary Kamen Rider badge.
Of course, this badge was about to become anything but ordinary.
[You have discovered an optimizable item. Optimize it?]
A notification quietly popped up before his eyes. Kitahara silently activated his Domain, then made his choice.
"Optimize it for me."
As his spirit and vitality rapidly burned and consumed away, fine stardust quietly drifted down, sinking into the Kamen Rider badge.
[Item: Evolution Badge]
[Current Status: Optimized]
[Added Affix: Infinite Adaptation. After equipping this badge, whatever doesn't kill you will only make you stronger!]
[Remark: This affix is a passive attribute and does not require active activation. Please note that the Law of Conservation of Mass-Energy is the supreme law of the universe; during the adaptation process, your spirit, vitality, and sanity points will be consumed rapidly. Please make reasonable arrangements on your own.]
"...Good stuff!"
Kitahara's eyes couldn't help but light up.
Although only one affix was optimized, it was definitely super good stuff! No flashy, complicated fluff—just pure aesthetic strength!
As for having side effects, Kitahara found it completely reasonable; otherwise, it would look far too exaggerated no matter how one looked at it.
"Kitahara-kun, how is the badge?"
Hitori looked up with curious eyes.
"It has already been optimized successfully."
Kitahara lowered his head and swiftly planted a kiss on Hitori.
"Ah..."
The ahoge atop Hitori's head trembled shyly as she flusteredly looked down toward the tips of her feet, her neck and earlobes rapidly flushing crimson.
"The badge's effect is super amazing..."
Kitahara softly explained the affix effects of the Evolution Badge.
Hitori half-understood in a daze, not entirely clear on it, merely speaking in a bashful tone:
"I-It's good as long as it's useful... Shall we head home?"
"Home, let's head home!"
Gathering his mood, Kitahara rode the little scooter home together with Hitori.
6:30 PM.
The bathroom door was quietly pushed open a crack. A pink-haired girl poked her head out and peered around; after confirming no one else was in the living room and only Kitahara was sitting on the sofa, she pushed the door wide and rushed out, acting coy in a sweet, sticky voice:
"Small fry~ I'm here!"
Kitahara looked up, watching the pink-haired girl trot over, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly:
"Didn't Anon arrive way too early today?"
"What's that?" Anon quickly puffed out her cheeks, "Could it be that small fry doesn't want to see me in the Bride attire sooner?"
"Of course I want to." Kitahara replied with a calm face, "Though Anon just wanted to come early to pull cards, didn't you?"
"I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense." Anon crossed her arms over her chest, flatly refusing to admit it, "small fry feels guilty himself, so you defame innocent people to change the subject. That's really pathetic, you know."
"Tch~"
Kitahara clicked his tongue softly and simply raised his right hand.
Smack.
A crisp, loud spank instantly echoed through the living room, its lingering sound reverberating endlessly.
"Ngh..."
Anon groaned in muffled distress, taking two exaggerated stumbling steps. With one hand covering her perky rear and the other propped against the sofa, her pretty face was covered in a look of disgust:
"No strength at all. Could it be that small fry hasn't eaten?"
Kitahara: "..."
It had to be said, Anon actually had a hidden mesugaki trait, though ordinary people never got to see it.
Compared to standard, conventional interactions, Anon actually preferred playing exciting little games—like this mesugaki punishment scenario right now, which she never grew tired of.
"No strength, is that it?"
Kitahara raised his right hand and struck down once more.
Smack.
The crisp spanking sound rang out even louder.
"Ah..."
Anon let out a low cry involuntarily, this time sprawling entirely across the sofa. The little tiger tooth at the corner of her mouth glinted coldly as she feigned stubborn defiance:
"Heh, is that all?"
Anon adjusted her posture to make lying down more comfortable:
"A mere small fry, totally useless as expected. Even if I'm held captive by you, you can only cover my face in drool, right?"
When speaking, Anon's voice was distinctly laced with embarrassment, alongside an unmistakable trace of excitement and anticipation.
"Can only cover your face in drool, huh?"
Kitahara straightened his face and stood up with burning eyes.
Mesugaki brats truly needed some stern discipline!
"Hmph." Anon snorted softly, her voice charmingly sweet, "I won't beg small fry for mercy—don't even dream of making me yield!"
Seeing the plot about to escalate into R-rated territory, the bathroom door was suddenly pushed open. A red-haired girl stepped out with brisk, light steps, her voice brimming with cheerful energy:
"Kitahara-kun, good evening... Eh-eh-eh?"
Catching sight of Kitahara and Anon's current posture, Kita's small face quickly flushed crimson:
"Sorry, excuse me!"
Anon hurriedly scrambled upright, acting on quick wits to offer an embarrassed explanation:
"Kita-chan, listen to me explain! Just now I wanted to wear the Bride dress to pull cards in the mobile game, but Kitahara-kun insisted on bullying me before agreeing to let me wear it. That's all it is!"
Kitahara: "..."
Good grief, your blame-shifting skills are far too practiced, aren't they!
"Kitahara-kun is so terrible!" Kita was originally preparing to leave, but hearing those words, she decisively turned around, pattered over, and spread her arms wide in front of Anon, "Don't take advantage of Anon!"
"I'm sorry, my bad, I promise not to take advantage of Anon in the future." Kitahara raised both hands, "Has Kita eaten dinner yet?"
Verbal arguments were meaningless; physical lessons made a lasting impression.
"No."
Kita shook her head.
"What about Anon?"
Kitahara looked back at the pink-haired girl.
"I haven't either." Anon followed, shaking her head.
Kita's parents were so busy every day that they barely touched home, while Anon lived alone in an apartment; coming over before it was even dark, they naturally hadn't eaten yet.
"Conveniently, I haven't eaten either. Let's eat together tonight."
Kitahara took Anon with one hand and Kita with the other:
"Let's go to the Onsen Dimension."
"..."
After eating and drinking their fill, Kitahara looked at the two girls:
"Which of you will wear the Bride dress first?"
Kita's small face blushed slightly as she modestly deferred: "Let Anon-chan wear it first, I'm not in a rush."
"Kita-chan wear it first." Anon followed with an excuse, "I just want to wear the Bride dress to pull cards, that's all."
Kitahara opened his arms wide, pulling both Kita and Anon directly into his embrace, saying shamelessly:
"How about this: we soak in the onsen together, and whoever can't hold out and surrenders first gets to wear the Bride dress first."
"Phooey~"
Kita and Anon blushed at the same time, spitting in unison.
Call that soaking in a onsen?
You clearly just want to take advantage of people!
Without any surprise, Anon was the first to fall. Wailing, she raised the white flag in surrender and changed into the Pure White Bride.
"A-Anon-chan, save me..."
While Anon was changing, Kita had already held out to her absolute limit, only able to reach out a tearful hand for help.
"Hang in there, Kita-chan." Anon cheered her on from the side, "Wait till I do a card pull first."
Kita: "..."