NOVEL WEB Chapter 305: Gathering
"Eriri, you're here!" Seeing Eriri and her group appear before her, Erina's face lit up with a bright smile.
Standing next to her, Nakiri Alice looked curiously at the large group of beautiful women and girls that had suddenly appeared. Her gaze lingered particularly on Eriri, whose beauty made it hard for Alice to look away.
"Hey, hey, Erina, are these the chat group members you mentioned yesterday?" Alice tugged at Erina's sleeve and asked directly, paying no mind to the three bewildered women standing behind her.
These three were current members of Tōtsuki's Elite Ten Council: second seat Rindō Kobayashi, fourth seat Momo Akanegakubo, and sixth seat Nene Kinokuni.
With Erina, the tenth seat, present as well, all the female members of Tōtsuki's Elite Ten had gathered.
However, unlike Alice, the three had not been informed about the existence of the chat group.
Erina had invited them under the pretense of participating in a special week-long culinary training session on behalf of the Nakiri family. From the moment they entered this world alongside Erina and Alice, they had been utterly confused, their understanding of the world completely turned upside down.
"When did you all get here, Erina? Looks like you were the first ones to arrive," Eriri greeted Erina with a smile as she led her group toward them.
She then glanced at Alice Nakiri and the three Elite Ten members standing nearby. "These are the chefs you brought along? Isn't it a bit too few?"
Eriri was familiar with the three and knew that as members of the Tōtsuki Elite Ten, their culinary skills were beyond question.
Feeling Eriri's gaze, Alice Nakiri and the three Elite Ten members couldn't help but grow a little tense.
"It's more than enough. Even if there are over a hundred spectators this time, we can handle it perfectly fine," Erina replied confidently.
Eriri nodded and didn't press the matter further.
Erina then introduced Alice and the others to everyone, allowing them to get acquainted.
Over the next period of time, other group members who hadn't yet departed learned through the chat group that Eriri and her companions had already arrived at the martial arts tournament site. They quickly used the world portal created by the chat group to join them.
The first to arrive were Chika Fujiwara, her elder sister Toyomi Fujiwara, and her younger sister Moeha Fujiwara. As expected of the Fujiwara family, all three sisters shared a striking similarity: they were all exceptionally… endowed.
Shortly after, Kaguya Shinomiya arrived with her maid and close friend, Ai Hayasaka, stepping through the portal.
The arrival of Chika Fujiwara immediately made the atmosphere lively. With her boisterous personality, it was almost impossible for things to remain quiet.
A few minutes later, another world portal opened on the arena. This time, it was Yuuki Asuna, accompanied by Aiko Konno and her younger sister Yuki Konno.
When the Konno sisters saw Eriri, they were overjoyed. It had been over half a month since they had last seen her, and they had missed her greatly.
One by one, world portals began appearing in quick succession, and the number of people on the martial arts stage steadily grew.
The first to arrive were Ruri Gokou and her two sisters, Hinata Gokou and Tamaki Gokou.
Arche paused her world travels and brought along her two younger sisters, Kuuderika and Ureirika, as well as their guardian, Leinas.
Hinata, Tamaki, Kuuderika, and Ureirika were immediately pulled away by Sakura and Reina to play together off to the side.
Nodoka Haramura arrived with members of the Kiyosumi High School Mahjong Club: Saki Miyanaga, Yuuki Kataoka, Mako Someya, and club president/student council president Hisa Takei.
Rias Gremory showed up with her only two female peerage members, Akeno Himejima and Koneko Toujou. She also brought her childhood friend Sona Sitri along. In addition to the four of them, there were two more arrivals: Grayfia Lucifuge, dressed in her maid outfit, and Serafall Leviathan, dressed as a magical girl.
At Eriri's request, the little Bible Loli Goddess, who had been busy resolving long-standing issues in Heaven, was also brought over by Rias. Accompanying her was Gabriel, one of the Four Seraphim and widely regarded as the most beautiful woman in Heaven.
Gabriel's figure, especially her chest, was unmatched among those present. Even the famously well-endowed Fujiwara sisters couldn't compare. Only Nodoka Haramura, often jokingly referred to as having "5 kilograms of weight in her chest," could rival Gabriel in this regard.
Myne and her sister Tuuli also arrived through a world portal. Since their lives had become more affluent, they no longer wore tattered clothing. Both now sported beautiful dresses, their brightly colored hair neatly groomed and shining. They looked absolutely adorable.
Fumino Furuhashi appeared alongside Mafuyu Kirisu, Rizu Ogata, and Uruka Takemoto. Their arrival was quiet and didn't draw much attention.
Even though Kirisu, Ogata, and Takemoto had learned about the existence of other worlds from Fumino Furuhashi the day before, witnessing it firsthand still left them in awe.
Soon after, Fubuki emerged from another world portal, with her sister Tatsumaki floating beside her, scrutinizing the crowd gathered on the stage.
Standing next to Fubuki was one of her Blizzard Group members and personal assistant, Lily of the Three Section Staff.
From the moment Fubuki opened a world portal before her eyes, Tatsumaki's young and delicate face had been frozen in an expression of shock.
Now, standing in another world, Tatsumaki finally accepted the reality of the chat group's existence and grew genuinely curious about the martial arts tournament she had previously dismissed.
Elsewhere, Ais Wallenstein arrived with Riveria, Lefiya, Tione, and Tiona through another world portal.
The Loki Familia had been on an expedition for nearly half a month, and the mission had just concluded. They were currently on their way back.
Before Ais and her group arrived, they had been resting on the 50th floor of the dungeon.
Initially, Riveria and the others were hesitant to leave the Familia during their return journey, but upon learning from Ais that the chat group would pause the time in their world during their absence, Riveria was reassured.
Indeed, the martial arts tournament was destined to last several days. To ensure that no one's personal matters were delayed, the chat group allowed members to suspend the flow of time in their respective worlds if they chose to.
For example, those living in modern worlds like Fumino Furuhashi and Ruri Gokou would undoubtedly need to pause the time in their respective worlds. Otherwise, they'd have to skip school or take leave for several days, which would be especially difficult for Mafuyu Kirisu, who was an active teacher.
If the option to pause time wasn't available, someone as serious as Mafuyu Kirisu would certainly never agree to come along with Fumino Furuhashi.
As for Erica, she arrived with her maid Arianna, accompanied by Liliana's maid, Karen.
Although Karen often teased Liliana, seeing her master again after more than a month still made Karen extremely happy and excited.
Meanwhile, the only individuals who arrived alone were Luo Hao and Irene.
Rin Tohsaka and Haruno Yukinoshita had already arrived at Eriri's home the previous day. However, Mrs. Yukinoshita didn't join in the fun this time.
Unlike Mrs. Yukinoshita, Miss Sayuri greatly enjoyed such lively events and had stayed overnight at the villa.
Also staying at the villa overnight were Megumi Kato and Yuzuru Hanyu.
As for Gabriel, she hadn't even considered returning to her world to bring her sister Zelel or friends Vignette and others along. She wasn't about to invite anyone who might end up monitoring her behavior.
The final arrivals were Mine, Akame, and Kurome, followed by a large group of people.
This group consisted of the original members of their revolutionary team—Cornelia, Bonnie, Tsukushi, Remus, and Gin—as well as later additions such as Leone, Sheele, Esdeath, and Saeko Busujima.
Upon learning about the upcoming martial arts tournament, Esdeath and Saeko Busujima became incredibly excited, eager to engage in thrilling duels as soon as possible.
However, when they learned that only chat group members could participate in the tournament, their excitement quickly dissipated.
Mine then raised the issue in the chat group, prompting Eriri to immediately decide to include an additional event: a free duel segment.
In this segment, any audience members, including group members, could freely choose opponents for duels. The only requirement was mutual consent—no coercion would be allowed.
Additionally, the world Eriri had created for the martial arts tournament had a special rule: any injuries sustained during a duel on the stage would be fully healed the moment the duel ended. Even if someone died accidentally during the duel, they would immediately revive on the spot, fully restored.
However, these free duels would not have power-level restrictions, which might put weaker participants at a disadvantage.
While the main martial arts tournament among group members offered a grand prize of 100 million chat group points to the winner, the free duels also featured rewards granted by Eriri.
In these free duels, the victor would receive a small energy gift from Eriri.
Though this energy wasn't exceptionally powerful, it was sufficient to help a Level 3 transcendent break through a minor stage.
While the chat group members might not value such rewards highly, to others, this energy gift was a rare treasure capable of significantly enhancing their strength.
In particular, for those who had not yet reached the transcendent realm, obtaining this energy seed could elevate them from ordinary humans to the Level 2, mid- or even high-stage.
Indeed, even ordinary people could participate in free duels, where the victor would be decided through a contest of physical skills.
One of the most important rules of free duels was that both participants must genuinely want to compete and test their skills. Half-hearted efforts made solely for the sake of rewards were strictly discouraged.
If anyone attempted to take the duel lightly, not only would they forfeit the rewards, but they might also leave a poor impression on Eriri. Such a misstep would be highly inadvisable, so naturally, no one would risk it.
Upon learning about the free duel system, Esdeath and Saeko Busujima became excited again.
With this, all chat group members and their companions had arrived at the martial arts tournament site.
Including Eriri's household, a total of 110 people had gathered in the world Eriri had created.
This number was neither too many nor too few. At the very least, the martial arts stage was bustling with activity.
Not far from Eriri, Yuzuru Hanyu was curiously observing the crowd on the martial arts stage.
As a transmigrator and a fan of anime in her previous life, she recognized at least 90% of the more than 100 people present, even if she didn't know all of them.
Although she had already met many anime characters during her time in Eriri's household, seeing so many gathered all at once still left her feeling slightly exhilarated.
With electrical powers similar to the protagonist of A Certain Scientific Railgun, Yuzuru Hanyu had, through Eriri's help, developed her abilities far beyond their initial level.
Her current power had reached the highest rank allowed by the Sawamura Conglomerate for superpowered individuals: LV.10, equivalent to the Third-Level Peak.
While her strength couldn't match that of the chat group members, she was among the strongest of the non-group members present. Only a few individuals, such as Tatsumaki and Aoi Kujo, surpassed her.
Eager to test herself, Yuzuru also wanted to participate in the free duels. Since awakening her powers, she had only used them a couple of times in minor scuffles with small-time delinquents.
Now, she wanted to see how far her abilities could go when pushed to their limits.
On the first day in this world, the group didn't rush to begin the martial arts tournament or the free duels. Instead, everyone explored the beautiful city.
Though the city was uninhabited, it was fully equipped with entertainment facilities: amusement parks, sports centers, arcades, cinemas, and more.
Moreover, these facilities required no maintenance and would never break down.
As lunchtime approached, Erina Nakiri, Hisako Arato, and the other chefs from Tōtsuki Academy began preparing the meal under the guidance of Aoi Kujo and Momo.
In addition to the eight chefs, several others skilled in cooking voluntarily joined to help prepare the dishes.
The kitchen, located near the martial arts stage, was equipped with state-of-the-art cooking facilities. All the necessary ingredients had been prepared the day before.
Fresh ingredients were stored in several warehouses. In this world, food items were impervious to spoilage.
Even a piece of fresh meat left unattended for hundreds of years would remain in its prime state.
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