Yukinoshita Yukino's head swayed, but her eyes remained locked onto Natsuyu's face as she sank into thought:
"I can't look away. Is this a shift in focus, or a slight case of Brainwashing?"
Sakuraba Ema kept staring at Natsuyu's Ikemen Face, her skin burning as she said bashfully:
"Kikyo-san, can you end the Magic? It feels a bit rude."
"Ah, sorry."
Kushida Kikyo ended the activation of her ability and said thoughtfully, "I feel a bit tired, like I just ran a 50-meter dash."
Natsuyu immediately grasped the key element. "It seems you can't activate your abilities indefinitely. Every use consumes stamina, or perhaps something else."
For instance, the energy represented by the Soul attribute—perhaps it could be called Mental Power.
On Natsuyu's Attribute Panel, he didn't just have Physique; he also had Soul, whose effects were unclear but likely influenced the use of abilities.
Once the effect of the ability ended, Sakuraba Ema and Yukinoshita Yukino immediately looked away.
One did so obviously while the other was more subtle, but both let out a sigh of relief.
Yukinoshita Yukino composed her emotions and analyzed, "Energy is conserved. Activating an ability requires consuming a certain kind of energy; it's a reasonable deduction."
Natsuyu nodded in agreement, but he was thinking to himself:
It seems they don't have Attribute Panels; they've just individually awakened a single Superpower.
The upper limit of a pure Superpower likely couldn't compare to the MC System, but it was still quite good.
Yukinoshita Yukino could act as a scout, and Kushida Kikyo was a powerful support; both could contribute to Wilderness Survival and increase the team's combat effectiveness.
Conversely, Natsuyu hadn't even unlocked the most basic Wooden Sword yet; he might not be able to beat the cat-transforming Yukinoshita Yukino in a fight.
Once he had an Iron Suit, however, he could 100% defeat Yukinoshita Yukino.
Natsuyu planned for the future. Once he knew all their abilities, he needed to unlock Achievements quickly—at the very least, he had to unlock the Stone Sword.
Speaking of which... can Yukinoshita Yukino turn into a Catgirl?
Catgirl Yukino... slurp.
He really wanted to see it.
Natsuyu stole a glance at Yukinoshita Yukino; she didn't notice.
As he withdrew his gaze, Natsuyu's eyes met Kiana's.
Kiana hadn't looked away from admiring Natsuyu's face. Seeing that she'd been caught, she gave a slight nod and appraised him quite openly, "You're very handsome."
You White-haired lewd dog, you've got decent taste.
Natsuyu returned the nod and spoke up, "Who's next to introduce themselves?"
"I'll go."
Sakuraba Ema raised her hand. This time no one competed with her. She shyly avoided Natsuyu's gaze and flashed a bright smile:
"My name is Sakuraba Ema. Like everyone else, I'm a student. Just like Kikyo-san, I hope to make new friends..."
"As for my ability, it seems to be a type of Magic that can absorb the energy of living beings."
"Trying Magic recklessly might hurt everyone, so I shouldn't attempt it."
Ab-absorbing energy?
Kushida Kikyo and Kiana widened their eyes, their faces turning slightly red.
To think there was such an indecent type of Magic.
They hadn't expected the pure and cute-looking Sakuraba Ema to possess such a terrifying Superpower...
Ema didn't notice the ambiguity of her Magic. She felt a bit of regret at being unable to test it, but quickly asked with a smile, "The voice that appeared in my head also used making friends to tempt me. Was it like that for everyone?"
Natsuyu shook his head. "Not for me."
He looked at Sakuraba Ema.
If nothing unexpected happened, Ema's ability should be the Magic known as the Witch Killer, which had the effect of killing any human possessing a Witch Factor.
In the game, the ending of the first playthrough was Sakuraba Ema blackening and destroying the world.
However, that was a special attack against people from her own world; it had no effect on normal people.
Since Natsuyu and the others didn't have a Witch Factor, her original Magic couldn't take effect—so it changed into merely absorbing energy?
Wait.
Was Sakuraba Ema really not from the same world as them?
Natsuyu couldn't be as certain about Ema as he was about the Honkai world.
Therefore, his own body might not necessarily be devoid of a Witch Factor...
Kiana shook her head and said, "The voice in my head wasn't about making friends."
Yukinoshita Yukino crossed her arms. "How could I possibly be attracted by such a strange reason?"
"So... not everyone?"
Sakuraba Ema looked a bit dejected, but then a bright smile surfaced. "It's okay, I will become friends with everyone!"
Kushida Kikyo watched Sakuraba Ema.
She's stealing all my lines.jpg
She really is the same type of person as me. Tsk, how annoying.
Kushida felt that as long as one was alive, they had to have their own place to shine.
Since childhood, although she wasn't bad at studies or sports, her presence would often be replaced by other, more outstanding people.
Thinking of her naturally cute face, she chose to work hard at making friends.
As long as she became friends with everyone, no one could replace her existence.
Kushida displayed her cutest side and made friends far and wide with ease.
Through this, she became friends with everyone in her class, building a "Kikyo Empire."
All her classmates treated her as a best friend, confiding secrets and seeking help.
Kushida enjoyed her irreplaceable sense of presence, but because she suppressed her true nature and fretted over her friends' trivial matters, she accumulated immense pressure. She created a side account on the internet to curse those idiots as a way to vent.
Later, her side account was discovered by a classmate, exposing the truth of her Two-faced personality, which immediately drew a barrage of criticism.
Kushida snapped, too. She went public with all her classmates' disgusting secrets, causing the entire class to suffer social death. After that, she stopped attending school and stayed at home, refusing to socialize.
Now, Kushida had arrived at a new place where no one knew her. She pulled herself together and decided to go back to her old ways.
Sakuraba Ema, since you've also chosen this path, then stay obediently in second place and become my subordinate existence.
I will become the number one person in everyone's heart—including yours!
Kushida made a decision immediately:
She was going to suppress Sakuraba Ema.
"Hey, Ema-san."
Kushida supported her chest with her slender hands, a deliberately cute gesture. She blinked her innocent, large eyes:
"I want to be friends with everyone because I like making friends, and since my friends aren't here right now, I feel lonely."
"What about you? Why do you want to make friends?"
Sakuraba Ema looked at her "good friend" Kushida Kikyo with a sense of shared suffering and said softly, "Does Kikyo feel lonely too... I'm the same. Middle school was very lonely, and my only friend even... had a falling out with me, so I want to make friends."
Ema smiled; she believed she would definitely become good friends with Kushida Kikyo.
Ema is lying.
Kushida was gloating internally, though she wore a confused expression on the surface. "You're so cute, how could you not have any friends? Ema, why are you lying? Are you a bad girl?"
Perfect. By planting the seed that Ema likes to lie, everyone will surely be closer to me than to her.
Sakuraba Ema gasped:
"Kikyo!?"