"Three people actually holding hands together… What a chaotic and indecent display!"
However... Kaguya lowered her gaze, staring at her right hand.
She had also held hands with Amamiya before, back at that snow-covered mountain villa. The warmth of his palm still lingered in her memory. She really had no right to criticize anyone else.
As she recalled that moment, Kaguya lifted her head, only to find Amamiya already holding hands with the other two girls, forming a united trio.
Wait—how did they link up so fast?!
There wasn't even a hint of hesitation!
Even if they weren't anxious about it, couldn't they at least show a little restraint?
"How infuriating…"
Kaguya clenched her delicate finger in silent frustration.
I was clearly the first person to come to mind for the verification, so if someone was supposed to hold hands first, it should have been me!
"Alright, here we go."
Amamiya, holding Umi's hand on his left and Chika's on his right, silently activated his 'Touch of Fate' skill.
The next moment, a mysterious, subtle sensation welled up inside him.
[Fate is resonating... Resonance successful.]
Skills, basic attributes, health points—everything turned into glowing orbs of varying sizes in Amamiya's mind. With a single thought, he could access each orb's details.
Focusing, Amamiya quickly found the orb representing 'Evil Spirit Repel'.
With a thought, the ability was successfully copied.
Now, the only step left was to paste it.
[Would you like to initiate a Fate Link?]
"Link."
[Pasting ability...]
Amamiya glanced at Kaguya, who was sitting across from him, and said, "Shinomiya-san, please keep track of the time."
Single-person fate links, multi-person links, copying and pasting different skills—how long the abilities lasted after copying—it all had to be recorded precisely. That was the point of this experiment.
Kaguya: "..."
Too much.
This is too much!
He's holding hands with other girls right in front of me, and on top of that, he's asking me to time it? How infuriating!
"...Understood."
Kaguya bit her lower lip in frustration, took out her phone, and activated the stopwatch.
"I feel it..." Chika was the first to speak, blinking rapidly. "It feels like something strange has entered my body."
"Yeah, I feel it too," Umi said, propping her chin up with her free hand. She shifted slightly, pressing her legs together as a light blush spread across her face. "It's kind of warm... and oddly pleasant."
"Eh?" Chika was startled. "Why don't I feel warm?"
"Enough," Amamiya interrupted, unable to hold back. "It's just a temperature difference between our hands."
How could there be some strange warmth just from holding hands?
The verification continued.
Time ticked by.
Kaguya stared at the timer on her phone, biting down on her pink lip with frustration.
It's been so long… Why isn't it over yet?
Just how long are you going to keep holding hands?
"It's done." Amamiya exhaled softly and released the two girls' hands. "Pasting was successful."
"I got a notification from the game!" Chika's eyes widened, and a bright smile spread across her face. "Hey~ I successfully obtained the 'Evil Spirits Repel' skill!"
"Me too!" Umi's face lit up. "But it's a consumable skill. Even if you don't use it, it slowly fades over time."
"That's a shame," she added, pouting. "It would've been amazing if it was permanent."
Randomly copying and pasting permanent skills would be ridiculously overpowered, no matter how you think about it!
Even though the skills are temporary, it's still a huge advantage. For example, you could assemble an entire team of villains, and the first thing they'd say to each other upon entering the game would be:
"So... you're the outlaw Don?"
Amamiya pondered for a moment and then said, "Let's test the skill's effect first."
"I'll test it!" Chika volunteered eagerly, turning around to search for an evil spirit. "Where's the evil spirit? Where is it?"
These spirits are usually everywhere, but now that she needed one, they were nowhere to be found.
Amamiya sighed. "It's in the refrigerator."
"Let me check."
Chika walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. Sure enough, a human-headed evil spirit was inside.
"Another one of these creepy human-headed spirits," Umi grumbled, placing her hand on her hip. "There's one in my fridge too. The first time I saw it, I nearly screamed!"
"I have one at home as well," Chika chimed in, then turned and asked, "Kaguya-chan, what about you?"
Kaguya averted her gaze slightly: "...I haven't opened the refrigerator."
Of course.
As expected of a wealthy heiress with a team of maids—no need to open the fridge herself!
As they spoke, the dark, hollow eyes of the human-headed spirit shifted and locked onto Chika.
Their eyes met.
A cold, eerie voice echoed softly.
"You... can see me?"
"Hmph~" Chika cleared her throat, raising a fist to her mouth. She pointed dramatically at the spirit and declared, "There's something I've wanted to say for a long time. Yes, I can see you!"
"You... can see me?!"
As soon as Chika spoke, the spirit's eyes turned blood-red, and it shot out of the refrigerator.
"Evil Spirits, begone!"
Without delay, Chika activated the skill, and the human-headed spirit immediately ignited in translucent flames, disappearing into thin air.
"It worked!" Chika let out a sigh of relief, proudly raising her chin, revealing a sliver of her pale neck. "I don't have to be afraid of these spirits anymore!"
"Don't celebrate just yet," Amamiya interjected. "Remember, it's a temporary skill, and we don't know how long it lasts."
"Let me check... Huh?" Chika's triumphant expression quickly faded, and she looked up with a pout. "After using 'Evil Spirits Repel', it only lasts for an hour. That's way too short!"
"That's not short at all!" Umi chimed in cheerfully. "You can use it in an emergency when you really need it."
"..."
"It's been exactly five minutes." Kaguya glanced at her phone before lifting her eyes to look at Amamiya. Her cheeks puffed out slightly in frustration. "You've been holding hands for five minutes."
"Five minutes isn't too bad," Amamiya nodded thoughtfully. "That's an acceptable duration."
If the copy-paste process took too long, it would drastically limit the skill's utility.
"It felt like forever!"
Kaguya couldn't help but grumble quietly.
Amamiya blinked in surprise. "What was that?"
"Nothing." Kaguya turned away, expressionless. "It's not like I care."
"..."
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
At a supermarket.
Hayasaka paused, pressing the earpiece in her ear, her pretty face displaying a hint of surprise.
The bug she planted in the living room hadn't been retrieved yet, so she could still hear the conversation between Amamiya and the others.
"New skill... 'copy and paste'?"
"Wait, can he share his ability to repel evil spirits?"
"...Damn it, I want that too!"