The Reincarnation Game's notification chime rang out while most players were still fast asleep. They had no idea the system had introduced some new MVP mechanic.
By the time they jolted awake, the world around them had already snapped back to reality.
And yet...
"AAAAAAAHHH!"
The scream that tore through the Kudo family's Western-style manor was raw, broken, the sound of someone unraveling.
Shinichi Kudo's legs were still gone.
His age had reset to sixteen, matching his real-world body. But the wounds from the other world had carried over without mercy. Every last one.
Then the morning news anchor's voice drifted in from the television:
"Late last night, world-renowned mystery novelist Yusaku Kudo passed away at his home from a sudden cardiac arrest..."
Across the city, other players stirred awake in their own rooms. The Yukinoshita sisters. Ai Hayasaka. Yotsuba Nakano. One by one, they returned to consciousness.
"So that's how those superhumans awakened their powers."
Hayasaka muttered to herself as she pulled on her school uniform with practiced efficiency. She threw a casual punch at the air.
A sonic boom cracked through the room.
With her current abilities, winning a world martial arts championship would be child's play. Over thirteen years in the Chainsaw Man world, her body had been enhanced when she was selected as a Reincarnation Game player.
Combined with relentless, unbroken training, her physical capabilities were probably on par with an elite genin from the Naruto world.
Nowhere near Makoto or the monsters under his command. But in this world of ordinary humans, she stood at the peak.
Without ninjutsu or genjutsu, in pure hand-to-hand combat, she might even surpass Himeno.
Talent gaps were what they were. No getting around it.
Against something on the level of that crab fiend, though, she'd still fall short by a wide margin.
"At least I'm good enough to be Lady Kaguya's shield." A small smile crossed her lips.
Her bond with Kaguya Shinomiya was genuine. Even now, her first thought was how to protect her.
Still, rather than fighting on the front lines herself, Hayasaka figured the smarter play was deepening Kaguya's connection with Makoto.
Unlike Yotsuba Nakano and the Yukinoshita sisters, who woke up alone in their own homes, most players found themselves waking in the Suzuki estate.
Utaha Kasumigaoka, the Akizuki sisters, Megumi Kato, and the others had already been living there before the transfer.
"Mister!"
Makoto had barely stepped out of the bathroom when a slender figure launched herself into his arms, cupping his face and planting kiss after kiss on him.
"Reze, that's enough. That's enough."
He returned a few kisses, but she only pressed harder, her hand already sliding toward his waistband. He caught her wrist.
"I can't believe you're actually from another world. Best surprise ever." She gazed up at him, eyes glazed with adoration.
He smiled. "I'll take you to register for school later. We'll be classmates."
"Yes!" Reze nodded eagerly.
Truthfully, when she'd first learned how many women surrounded him, a flicker of irritation had sparked inside her. The occasional impulse to blow every last one of them sky-high wasn't entirely foreign.
But after arriving in this world, all those thoughts had evaporated.
All she wanted was to be a normal girl by day and cling to this man without restraint by night.
"So... Mister, tonight, can we do it in devil form?"
Makoto blinked.
Well. That's creative.
He recalled that in her devil form, Reze's chest grew noticeably larger. The physics behind it remained a mystery.
The thought stirred something.
Feeling his growing arousal pressing against her, Reze narrowed her eyes, a flush creeping up her cheeks. "C'mon, let's just do it now. Seeing you this young again, I'm already..."
"Thief!"
Before she could finish, a translucent chain shot from the side and pierced into her mind. Reze froze mid-sentence, locked in place.
Makoto followed the chain to its source and frowned. "Nayuta, I told you not to use your powers on family."
"She's stealing my property!" Nayuta puffed her cheeks, fuming.
"I'm not your property."
He walked over and scooped her up, landing a firm swat on her backside. "Release Reze. Now."
"You have to register me for school first." Her lips jutted out in a stubborn pout.
"...Fine."
He'd planned to enroll her anyway. Leaving a child with that kind of power idle all day was asking for trouble.
Nayuta huffed. "Me first. Then the woman."
"Yes, yes, yes." He sighed.
This girl's possessiveness is going to be a problem. Need to work on that.
Moments later, Makoto strode into the estate's main hall with Nayuta perched on his shoulders and Reze's hand in his.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. One trip to another world and Sensei-kun comes back with a new girlfriend and a daughter. Impressive." Utaha smirked from across the room.
Airi Akizuki, Marina Akizuki, and the others wore similar expressions. None of them looked angry, exactly, but beneath the smiles, a thread of jealousy wound tight. They were used to it by now. Didn't make it sting less.
Before the return trip, Makoto had asked the Reincarnation Game system whether he could bring people from the other world back to reality. The system confirmed that only an MVP player could do so.
He qualified.
So he'd brought Reze, Nayuta, and a handful of devils back with him.
He reached over and gave Utaha's nose a playful pinch. "Tease me all you want, but watch it around Nayuta. She's petty."
"Who's petty?! Who's petty?!"
Nayuta grabbed his face from atop his shoulders and squished his cheeks back and forth.
Shiro Suzuki and the other non-players stared, slack-jawed. Who was this little girl? And how did she have the nerve to manhandle Makoto like that?
Was she really his daughter?
"Oh my! What an adorable child! Come here, let Auntie hold you!" Kayoko Akizuki's maternal instincts surged. She stretched out her arms.
Mrs. Yuigahama's eyes sparkled too, privately wishing Yui could produce something this cute.
Nayuta turned her head away with undisguised disdain, leaving the two women visibly crushed.
Every female player residing in the Suzuki estate filtered into the hall and gathered around Makoto. To the non-players like Shiro and Tomoko Suzuki, they'd only been apart a single night. In truth, thirteen years had passed since they'd last seen each other.
Megumi Kato and Airi Akizuki rushed him first, throwing their arms around him and pressing hot, desperate kisses against his skin. One after another they came, unable to hold back.
Even Yui Yuigahama, who'd guarded her modesty for over a decade, mustered the courage to step forward and pull him into a fierce hug.
Makoto turned to Yumiko Miura, whose expression was a complicated tangle. He considered for a moment, then opened his arms. "Want one?"
Her cheeks flared red. She was halfway through her reflexive retort when Hina Ebina swept past her and seized Makoto in a tight embrace.
"Hina?!"
Hina retreated to Yumiko's side and whispered, "Sorry, Yumiko. Being a virgin this long is killing me. I just needed a chance..."
Yumiko's eyes went wide.
Good grief. Are they all this desperate?
"W-well, if... if everyone else is... then I guess I..."
She steeled herself and started forward, only to find Makoto already walking away, surrounded by the others.
Yumiko nearly blacked out from rage.
That dog. He did that on purpose.
On the way out, Makoto left Reze in Ran Mouri's care and headed to Shuchiin Academy's elementary division with Nayuta.
His reasoning was practical. He didn't trust his other women with Reze quite yet. They'd accepted each other's existence, sure, but a brand-new rival from another world would scratch at old wounds.
Ran, on the other hand, had no romantic entanglement with him. And her temperament was as gentle as they came. Safe hands.
"Let's get going, then. Um... is it okay if I call you Reze?" Ran offered her warmest smile.
All the girls around him are so cute, she thought.
"Sure! Then I'll call you Ran." Reze leaned in with a grin. "Hey, Ran, are you one of Mister's women too?"
"Wha... no! No, I'm not!" Ran waved her hands frantically.
"Oh come on, Ran. Forget about that mystery-obsessed detective and just join the sisterhood. Makoto would love it." Sonoko Suzuki appeared beside them and gave her best friend's rear a playful pinch.
There was a time when guys would always approach Ran first whenever the two walked together. But ever since Sonoko started wearing her hair down, she'd pulled dead even in the looks department.
"Hehe, yeah, yeah. It feels sooo good." Reze ran her tongue across her lips.
Ran's face went scarlet. She bolted.
Perverts! Both of them!
Halfway down the road, she stopped. "Sonoko, Reze, can you wait here a minute?"
Sonoko blinked. "What's up? Forget something?"
Worry creased Ran's brow. "I want to check on Shinichi. I don't know how he's doing."
The reminder hit Sonoko like a cold splash. Shinichi had lost his legs in the other world. Yusaku Kudo was dead. Things had to be bad.
No way she was letting Ran go alone. "I'm coming with you."
Think about it. After everything Shinichi had been through, his mental state might be completely shot. What if he lashed out at Ran?
"Who's Shinichi Kudo?" Reze tilted her head.
Sonoko studied the clueless girl and suddenly remembered what Makoto had said at last night's banquet. This one was powerful. Extremely powerful.
She grabbed Ran with one hand and Reze with the other. "Change of plans. All three of us are going."
"Huh?" Ran balked.
It was a sick visit, not a raid. Did they really need this much firepower?
Sonoko's face was perfectly serious. "If Shinichi snaps, Reze takes him out."
Shuchiin Academy, Elementary Division.
Fortunately, this campus sat far enough from the connected middle school, high school, and university buildings that Makoto's previous rampage hadn't reached it. The grounds were intact, classes running normally.
The moment he appeared, every parent in sight went pale and scattered, keeping their distance like prey avoiding a predator.
What stunned them even more was the little girl riding on his shoulders, utterly fearless, one hand gripping his head, the other thrust forward like a general commanding troops. "Forward! Forward, forward, forward!"
If not for the boyish youth still clinging to his features, they could've passed for father and daughter.
Several parents quietly memorized Nayuta's face and whispered urgent warnings to their children. Under no circumstances were they to provoke that girl. Anyone could see she had a special relationship with Makoto. Cross her, and the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Hey, who's she?"
A sweet, piping voice rang out.
Heads turned. Someone actually dared approach?
Makoto looked over to find Kokoro Katsura, and beside her, nearly bursting out of her school uniform, her older sister Kotonoha Katsura. The same Kotonoha who'd attended last night's banquet.
Thirteen years in the other world had eased Kotonoha's fear of men somewhat, though she still hadn't managed to speak to Makoto at the party. Too many people around him. She couldn't get close.
But she'd left an impression on him. The twenty-nine-year-old version of Kotonoha had a figure so absurdly exaggerated it defied anatomy—her chest was quite literally bigger than his head.
"Oh, it's been a while, Kokoro. Kotonoha."
Hearing him say her name, Kotonoha's cheeks colored. She dropped her gaze, then couldn't resist peeking back up at him.
Kokoro, meanwhile, stared at Nayuta atop his shoulders with a pang of envy. The most she'd ever managed was clinging to his leg. She'd never gotten the shoulder treatment.
"Hey, who's she..."
"Ugly, what are you staring at?"
Nayuta's opening volley was a kill shot.
Makoto: ...
Kokoro: ...
Kotonoha: ...
He silently lifted Nayuta off his shoulders, set her down, and gave her backside a pat. "Don't be rude."
Then he nudged her toward Kokoro. "You two will probably be classmates. Kokoro, I need you to look after Nayuta. There's a lot she doesn't understand yet."
Nayuta clicked her tongue and looked Kokoro up and down with imperial contempt. "If you're willing to be my dog, I suppose I could take you under my wing."
Silence.
Makoto rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Can I leave her with you, Kokoro?"
"Mmm..." The little girl chewed her lip, visibly torn. Her first impression of Nayuta was, to put it mildly, terrible.
"I-if you promise to come over and play with me next time, then... then I'll do it."
"Deal."
Kokoro's eyes lit up. She thrust out her pinky. "Pinky swear!"
Makoto grinned and linked his pinky with hers while Nayuta watched with naked disgust.
The administrative office.
Enrollment paperwork complete, Makoto handed Nayuta over to her visibly trembling homeroom teacher.
"Ms. Matsuzaka, treat her like any other student. No special treatment."
"R-really?" The woman looked like she couldn't believe her ears.
He nodded three times before she finally stammered her agreement. "Of course. No special treatment. But rest assured, I'll teach her with everything I have."
"Appreciate it."
He ruffled Nayuta's hair. She glared. "Should I pick you up after school, or..."
"I'll come find you at the high school. I'm not three years old."
She walked out of the office without a backward glance, heading for Kokoro's class, 1-A, with the brisk confidence of someone who'd been doing this her whole life.
Not three years old, she says. Her actual age probably isn't even three days.
He stepped out and found Kotonoha still waiting by the door. "You haven't left?"
She startled, caught mid-thought. Their eyes met and she jerked her head aside. "I-I-I just realized I never thanked you last night, so I..."
"Walk with me, then."
Joy flickered across her face. She nodded, hard.