Turned Into Gacha?! - 501 - 510

Turned Into Gacha?! - 501

--+--

With three monsters on hand to milk for information, Saitama split them into three groups, interrogating each separately.

He hadn't wanted to make such a fuss at first, but Genos's words had given him pause.

Fresh off the battle, Alice was covered in dust, her hair a bit of a chaotic mess. Tagging along with them to hunt people down in that state felt a little inappropriate.

After all, Alice was still a young girl.

If that were the only issue, it would have been fine—they could have just left her behind—but Alice had stared up at them with watery eyes, making it crystal clear she wanted to come along.

That made it rather hard to say no.

After weighing his options for a moment, Saitama told Alice to head home first, clean herself up, and then meet back up with them.

In the meantime, the two of them would cross-examine the three monsters. Comparing their stories later would keep the creatures from getting any bright ideas about feeding them fake intel.

Alice's round trip would take less than half an hour, but factoring in the time she'd need to freshen up, they rounded it out to an hour.

The trio decided to set off in one hour.

Alice was understandably pleased that she got to clean up before heading out, but the Blizzard Group was anything but happy when they saw her walk in covered in a layer of grime.

Smiling on the surface, they watched her walk over to her dorm—which they had rented for her next door once they came into some money—but the moment she was out of sight, everyone's faces instantly dropped.

What did she mean, "I went to an old guy's house today because he was attacked by monsters, so I stepped in and beat them up"?

What did she mean, "To make sure that old guy doesn't get hounded anymore, we're going to hunt down the monsters' nest together later"?

What was the deal with this old guy? What was the deal with these monsters? And why on earth was Alice's friend some "old guy"?

"Miss Fubuki... what should we do...?"

Eyelashes stared blankly at Fubuki, who was sitting in the Blizzard Group's boss chair.

Even though Alice had become the highest-ranking and most famous hero in the Blizzard Group, Fubuki was still the leader; it wasn't about to suddenly become the Alice Group.

After all, anyone who had spent time with Alice knew her true nature. Most of the time, she was just a little girl who loved playing video games—innocent, kind, warm, and affectionate.

They adored her for it, of course, but putting her in charge as the boss was definitely not something they could do in good conscience.

However, if someone was exploiting that sweet nature of hers, that changed everything.

"That so-called 'old guy' must know how strong little Alice is and wants to use her to deal with monsters!" Mountain Ape growled, his face twisting with rage as he jumped straight to conclusions. "And now he expects her to go handle even more of them...!"

"Could he be one of those heroes who steals credit from others?" Lily added, looking at Blizzard with deep concern.

"This is the first time Alice has made a friend outside."

Sitting in her chair, Fubuki's beautiful face was frozen into a terrifyingly cold expression. She crossed her hands over her lap, her voice carrying a chilling, lethal calm as she spoke slowly.

"The 'first' of anything usually plays a vital role as a guidepost in one's life. We cannot allow this guidepost to be stained with filth."

Hearing this, everyone knew Miss Fubuki was about to take action.

"Find that man for me, no matter the cost, and then find a way to make him vanish by some force majeure. Get it done within three days."

With that, Fubuki looked down at her phone.

If necessary, she... might even bow her head to that person for the time being.

Receiving their orders, the Blizzard Group bowed in unison and chorused, "Understood!"

Lily was the first to move.

She slipped into Alice's room and, the moment Alice stepped out of the bathroom, held up a hairdryer and offered to help blow-dry her hair.

Alice's hair was incredibly long, draping past her actual height, so drying it always took quite a while. Having two people work on it—one drying the top half and the other taking the bottom—saved a ton of trouble.

As she worked, Lily slipped into the role of the "best girlfriend" and began casually probing for information about Saitama.

Alice didn't hide anything. The only reason she hadn't mentioned him before was simply because the Blizzard Group had never asked. Saitama's existence wasn't a secret; there was no reason to keep it classified.

Lily quickly organized the intel she gathered and synced it with the rest of the team.

[Bald, twenty-five years old, lives in the abandoned zone of City Z. He's a hero but has no other job, occasionally doing odd jobs. He lives an incredibly destitute life, and his apartment is roughly the size of Alice's bathroom.]

The Blizzard Group fell into a dead silence.

This guy was a total deadbeat at the absolute bottom of society!

Granted, calling him an "old guy" was a bit of a stretch since many of them were over twenty-five themselves, but everything else about him was a massive red flag.

To them, Alice looked exactly like an innocent, clueless girl being completely taken advantage of. They couldn't stand for this!

Three days was too long! They had to get this guy out of Alice's life by tomorrow!

Taking a deep, sharp breath and exhaling it heavily, Fubuki sought out Alice alone.

She didn't want to crush the girl's beautiful illusions about her first friend, but she still gave her a firm warning. "If that friend of yours ever asks you to do something improper, you must absolutely refuse... Actually, if he asks you to do anything at all, you must tell me first!"

Uh...

It was only then that Alice realized the Blizzard Group had developed a massive misunderstanding about Saitama.

It was true that he had no job, no savings, could only afford discounted groceries, had no friends, lived in total isolation, and was completely bald, but...

But he...

Well, Alice honestly couldn't think of any glowing traits to highlight about Saitama besides his overwhelming strength and his unbreakable mental fortitude. And trying to explain those two things out loud would sound entirely too abstract and unbelievable.

Left with no other option, Alice could only offer a dry defense. "Saitama-san wouldn't do anything like that. He's a very upright person!"

But just as expected, Fubuki merely gave her a look that said, 'I'm not surprised you'd defend him.'

On the surface, she nodded, but her eyes held absolutely zero belief.

In Fubuki's eyes, no matter what Alice said, she was just thoroughly brainwashed by the baldy.

Seeing that she was getting nowhere, Alice helplessly gave up trying to explain.

It didn't matter... once Fubuki and Saitama actually met, the misunderstanding would clear itself up!

Strapping on the Sword of Light, which gleamed brilliantly after being thoroughly scrubbed and polished by Piko, Alice offered everyone a cheerful goodbye before leaping away onto the distant rooftops.

A dozen or so minutes later, Alice arrived at the base of Saitama's apartment building at breakneck speed. There, she spotted a thoroughly despondent Armored Gorilla, alongside a frog and a slug tied securely together.

Sensing Alice's arrival, Genos and Saitama leaped down from the ruined room upstairs.

Seeing Alice looking all clean and refreshed, Saitama finally flashed a smile. "Alright then, let's head out."

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 502

--+--

According to the accounts of Armored Gorilla and Ground Dragon, the genius scientist targeting Saitama went by the name of Genus. Not only had he unlocked the secret to reversing aging, but over the years, he had also managed to engineer an array of incredibly formidable monsters.

However, because his experimental data was far too sparse, the best samples he could ever secure were Demon-level threats.

As a result, Genus was currently limited to engineering monsters capped at that exact level.

To take things a step further and achieve his grand vision of forced human evolution—allowing him to finally have true peers instead of a bunch of "monkeys" as his counterparts—Genus had never once halted his progress.

And Saitama, who had effortlessly pulverized Mosquito Girl, was blatantly the next test subject, or rather, the next prime sample for this ultimate goal.

Saitama, however, couldn't care less about the convoluted schemes happening behind his back.

If it weren't for the fact that he had to wait around for Alice to arrive, he wouldn't have even bothered listening to a single word.

Long story short, all he knew was that he needed to head out to M-City to hunt down the mastermind.

Armored Gorilla handed over the exact coordinates of the House of Evolution to Genos, mapping it to a dense, forested mountain ridge on the outskirts of M-City.

While L-A-Citynd Z-City were neighboring areas that allowed for a quick round trip, M-City lay on the complete opposite end of a vast distance. Considering that Genos needed to conserve his energy reserves, a trek out there would take the trio well over three hours.

At this stage, Saitama couldn't bring himself to suggest acting alone anymore.

As for taking a train or a plane... well, even a flight wouldn't match the raw speed of the three of them running on foot. It was simply more efficient to sprint the entire way.

Genos also took this opportunity to realize that Alice's true strength far exceeded his initial impressions.

After all, Armored Gorilla had explicitly stated that his own power was inferior to the Beast King's, yet Alice had managed to finish off the Beast King even faster than Genos had handled his own opponent.

Though the ordeal had left Alice looking a little worse for wear, it was more than enough to prove her capabilities.

Add to that the fact that Alice could effortlessly keep pace with Genos sprinting at full speed without him even needing to overclock, and Genos understood clearer than ever that she was not to be underestimated.

Reflecting on how he had confidently tried to lecture Alice right before being utterly overwhelmed by Mosquito Girl, his past actions now felt remarkably shortsighted.

Fortunately, Genos wasn't the type to shy away from admitting his faults.

On the contrary, he thrived on analyzing his own blunders—after all, only by recognizing your shortcomings could you find a way to make up for them.

Naturally, the trio didn't spend the entire journey in dead silence. Genos earnestly opened up about his inner reflections, earning a warm, friendly response from Alice.

While Saitama initially found little interest in the conversation, the moment Alice steered the topic toward video games, he suddenly found himself with plenty to talk about.

Getting to know each other is a vital step in forging closer bonds. Even though they were rushing to a destination, by the end of those three long hours, the atmosphere between the three of them had grown noticeably closer.

"So this is the House of Evolution?" Saitama muttered, sizing up the massive building towering before them.

Staring at the eight-story structure, Alice’s eyes sparkled with sheer excitement. "It looks just like a Demon King's castle! Alice wants to go on an adventure inside!"

Genos, who had initially planned to obliterate the entire facility along with every target inside in one single strike, paused for a moment at her words and lowered his hands.

"The enemy has likely laid numerous traps," he reasoned. "If we proceed inside, it may cost us a significant amount of time."

Finished speaking, he turned his gaze toward Saitama.

Saitama hadn't wanted to waste too much time either, but seeing how high Alice’s spirits were, and considering he didn't have much else to do today anyway, he simply went along with it. "Sure, why not?"

As long as he didn't get back too late, it was fine. The late-night anime he was keeping up with lately was turning out to be pretty entertaining.

For a guy like him who didn't have the cash to buy the box sets, he had to rely entirely on home recordings or catching the live broadcast.

"Hooray! Well then, the Demon King’s castle adventure of the Hero and her companions begins now!" Alice cheered excitedly.

Thrusting a hand into the air, she confidently took the lead and promptly blasted the front doors wide open with a single shot from the Sword of Light.

Deep within the subterranean research facility, Genus watched their every move through the surveillance monitors. Beads of sweat lined his brow as he turned to look at his clone assistant beside him. "How is the situation with Carnage Kabuto?"

"Sir... we have deployed a substantial number of armed clones to fight him and keep him occupied, along with several of our higher-ranked monsters..."

As the assistant spoke, the monitor displayed footage of Carnage Kabuto in the middle of an absolute slaughter.

Compared to the rampaging original, the clone assistant was visibly drenched in cold sweat.

"Excellent... once he has had his fun, persuade him to eliminate these three intruders!"

Genus was currently in a foul mood, but over on the intruders' side, Alice was experiencing a bit of a letdown herself.

The trio quickly discovered that this so-called Demon King's castle didn't actually have any real monsters for them to fight. Instead, it was filled with nothing but gimmicks and traps.

Even when a few monsters did pop up, they were so incredibly weak that far from hindering the trio's progress, they practically shattered upon the slightest contact.

It was an overwhelmingly fragile defense that anyone could see was just a stall tactic. The enemy's main forces were undoubtedly using this window to handle something else.

Consequently, Genos, being the straightforward type who never minces words, spoke up and voiced this exact conclusion.

Alice could only nod in agreement; after all, she wasn't the type to throw senseless tantrums.

Seeing how well-behaved and cooperative Alice was, Saitama couldn't help but view her with a sort of 'ideal child' admiration.

For someone who usually found kids a massive handful to deal with, a sudden urge to pamper her welled up inside him.

Maybe I should scrape some money together next time and invite Alice over for some sukiyaki... always hosting her with instant powdered drinks really is a bit cheap...

With both Alice and Saitama nodding in approval, Genos blasted a massive hole straight through the side of the building. Once the three of them leaped clear of the structure, he channeled a surge of energy into his palms, unleashing a devastating blast that vaporized the entire building along with dozens of meters of the mountain ridge behind it into nothingness.

"Found it. So this is the escape route they were trying to conceal."

As the smoke and dust cleared, Genos spoke with zero surprise, looking down at an entrance sealed shut by heavy alloy doors.

"An underground dungeon!"

Alice's deflated mood instantly surged back to life.

"Looks pretty interesting," Saitama agreed, nodding along.

Genos had no clue what exactly had triggered their sudden burst of enthusiasm, but seeing both of them so invested, he figured it was simply due to his own lack of knowledge failing to comprehend the appeal.

"In any case, let us head down first," Genos said to the two of them after ripping the alloy doors apart.

Following the stairwell deep underground, they were greeted by the expected dim lighting and a narrow, seemingly endless tunnel.

At a glance, it certainly looked like a secret passage meant for an emergency escape. However, as the trio pressed forward, they began encountering branching paths, various laboratories, and medical equipment, indicating that this place served a purpose far beyond a simple getaway route.

But just as the three of them were pondering where this hidden passage ultimately led, Genos’s radar picked up a biological signature rapidly closing in on their position once more.

A rear guard?

Before he could process the thought entirely, the roaring sound of rushing wind blasted directly into his face.

BOOM!

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 503

--+--

A massive impact slammed into Genos's face, the violent force rattling through his entire frame. Utterly powerless to resist, he felt himself thrown like a ragdoll and smashed deep into the adjacent wall.

Even though the terrifying burst of power lasted only an instant, error messages of varying severity began flashing all across his mechanical chassis.

How could there be a monster this strong here?!

His body had already been upgraded once; it was supposed to be vastly superior to the version that fought the Mosquito Girl. Yet here he was, rendered entirely non-functional in their very first encounter.

"Alice?! Genos?!"

Saitama paid no attention to Carnage Kabuto standing right in front of him. Instead, his eyes darted to either side of the corridor.

CRACK—

Compared to Genos’s current predicament, Alice was undeniably in much better shape.

Granted, she was so light that even though she had managed to raise the Sword of Light to block, that fist—which was practically half her size—had still sent her flying into the wall.

However, she had caught the blow dead-on. Aside from being dusted with a bit of debris, she didn't look injured at all.

"Alice is okay! How is Genos?"

"Uh... he should be fine?" Saitama glanced over at Genos. While the blonde cyborg's current posture looked incredibly awkward and undignified, he didn't seem to have sustained any fatal damage.

He looked temporarily paralyzed, but his eyes were still darting around with plenty of life left in them.

"Ho~ you actually blocked my attack, and you still have the breath to worry about someone else?" Carnage Kabuto’s highly expressive features twisted into a sickening grin.

He poured more strength into his fist, continuing to press down on the young girl, though it didn't seem to be doing much.

"You're not bad for a little shrimp."

"Alice is Alice, not a little shrimp!" Throwing her weight forward, Alice shoved Carnage Kabuto’s massive fist aside and dropped cleanly back to the floor.

"My bad, my bad. The weak don't usually get a say around me, but I'm actually having fun right now."

His massive, heavily armored frame could barely move in the narrow confines of the tunnel.

Carnage Kabuto flashed the two of them a provocative smirk. "There's a specialized combat lab just down the way. Why don't we go play in there?"

It was phrased as a question, but his tone left absolutely no room for refusal.

Then again, neither Alice nor Saitama had any intention of backing down anyway.

"You hurt Alice's companion. Alice will definitely defeat you!"

Clearly, rather than just enjoying a chance to cut loose, the girl was far more upset about her failure to protect Genos.

Seeing this, Saitama swallowed the offer to step in for her. After all, it was a good thing for a kid to have a strong sense of justice, and it wasn't like he was itching to fight anyway.

It wasn't that he disliked fighting. To say he hated it would be a lie, even if avoiding conflict altogether was always the easiest path.

But that was exactly the problem. For him, a true 'battle' hadn't happened in a very long time.

Every time he threw a punch nowadays, it couldn't even be called a fight anymore—it was just a tedious, repetitive motion.

There was no joy or fulfillment in it for Saitama. By now, he only threw a punch when it was absolutely necessary.

Fearing that moving Genos recklessly might cause some irreversible damage to his machinery, and knowing there were no other monsters left in the facility, the two decided to leave him behind for the moment.

With Carnage Kabuto leading the way, the three of them arrived at a massive, enclosed space constructed entirely of gleaming white metal.

The entire combat simulation lab was built from a specialized shock-absorbing alloy; Genus had clearly spared no expense building this place.

Carnage Kabuto unhurriedly led Alice and Saitama toward the center of the arena.

"Spacious, isn't it? This is the largest room in the entire facility. This lab is exactly where we measure whether someone's combat capability is actually worth a damn!"

Despite his monstrous, towering physique, Carnage Kabuto feigned polite hospitality as he introduced the room. Yet, the murderous intent swirling in the depths of his eyes had already utterly betrayed his impatient, bloodthirsty nature.

Sure enough, a split second later, the sheer eagerness in his voice practically boiled over. "Now then... let's begin!"

Before the final echo of his words could even fade, his massive frame—which easily equaled four Alices stacked on top of one another—instantly vanished from the spot.

The insectoid gene splicing had granted him a level of power that defied human comprehension.

Just as an ant could lift several times its own body weight, this seemingly lumbering beetle had a speed that shattered the sound barrier.

Before the thunderous roar of the sonic boom could even register in the ear, his silhouette was already bearing down on Alice. A fist the size of a giant iron fan tore through the air, whistling with lethal force as it smashed directly toward her.

However... the expected image of a direct impact never materialized. Alice, who should have been rooted to the spot, managed to narrowly evade the heavy blow.

Her blue-black hair trailed through the air like a ribbon of fine silk as she leapt high into the sky, having read the very first twitch of Carnage Kabuto's muscles before he even moved.

Faint blue currents of electricity crackled and surged around the barrel of the Sword of Light. As a railgun, the energy beam it fired also possessed supersonic velocity.

To dodge it, one had to break free from its line of sight before the trigger was pulled—but at this coordinates in time, Carnage Kabuto clearly didn't have that luxury.

BANG—!

The energy beam slammed violently against his arm, which was heavily plated in a brown carapace. The full, explosive might of the Super Electromagnetic Cannon erupted in an instant.

This strike was entirely different from her previous uncharged, casual shots.

Alice had already deduced that Carnage Kabuto's strength far exceeded a standard Demon-level threat; even without entering his Asura Mode, his defensive capabilities were a cut above the Beast King's.

An attack that would usually incapacitate the Beast King in a single hit was clearly going to fall short against him.

And reality proved Alice exactly right.

She had begun charging her weapon before she even jumped. Though this high-altitude blast failed to inflict any critical damage on Carnage Kabuto, it still left the brown carapace on his arm scorched black, as if it had been roasted by an open furnace.

"What, are you just scratching an itch for me?!"

Carnage Kabuto let out a harsh, mocking laugh, but the underlying fury bleeding through his voice gave him away—this was definitely more than a mere "scratch." At the very least, he had felt actual pain.

But Alice had no time to dwell on it.

Before his mockery had even finished leaving his mouth, his figure suddenly leapt to match her altitude.

A massive fist, carrying the devastating momentum of a literal cannonball, came crashing down toward the mid-air girl.

Alice immediately brought the Sword of Light—which was taller than her entire body—transversely across her chest, using it as a makeshift shield to block the trajectory of the fist.

In the next fraction of a second, the girl's figure was sent hurtling toward the ground like a kite with its string cut. Yet, she possessed a physical durability that defied human logic.

Without even needing to perform a complex maneuver to break her fall, she adjusted her posture mid-air and slammed her feet firmly onto the ground, her cannon barrel already locked back onto her target before she even landed.

But Carnage Kabuto’s onslaught wasn't about to stop there.

While still suspended in mid-air, several pairs of thin, insect-like wings suddenly sprouted from his back.

With a violent flutter of his wings, Carnage Kabuto descended from the sky like a meteor, wrapping himself in a tremendous shockwave as he plummeted directly toward Alice's position.

"Light, heed my call!"

Without a single shred of hesitation, Alice pulled the trigger.

The Sword of Light, which she had kept constantly charging, unleashed a massive beam of brilliant blue radiance into the sky, far vaster and more blinding than any shot she had fired before.

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 504

--+--

Carnage Kabuto thought he could easily break through and smash the young girl into scrap metal, but now, a suffocating sense of danger gripped him.

He desperately wanted to dodge, but the hard truth had already been established moments ago.

Once you were locked on, the difficulty of evading multiplied exponentially—especially since he was currently falling right down the trajectory of the barrel.

Even though he realized something was terribly wrong, there was no longer any room to dodge the incoming strike.

Blue light collided with deep brown fists dead center in mid-air. After a brief, grueling stalemate, sweating profusely, Carnage Kabuto frantically beat his thin wings to wrench himself away from the impact.

Boom!

The shock-absorbing alloy—a material Genus had spent a fortune on, and one that even Carnage Kabuto found nearly impossible to break—was shattered and pierced right through by the light crackling with blue electrical arcs.

True, a railgun wasn't a weapon that relied solely on blunt kinetic force, but... wasn't this a bit too absurd?

Landing on the ground, a look of wariness and surprise washed over Carnage Kabuto's face, but it was quickly eclipsed by a surge of sheer thrill and excitement.

"This is how it should be... this is exactly how it should be!!"

Every single one of his past battles had been an effortless victory; at most, he would play along a bit longer if he was in a good mood.

This kind of crushing, one-sided combat had long since bored Carnage Kabuto to death.

An enemy who could actually make him feel a sense of crisis? It was absolute perfection!

Then, he glanced down at his fists. Only now did a delayed, numbing ache catch up to him.

This was the second time. In fact, this time hurt even more than the last. For a creature who hadn't felt pain in ages, this was a long-lost sensation.

When insects suffer damage, they produce specific proteins that act as a natural pain reliever.

Fused with insect genes as he was, he naturally possessed the exact same mechanism.

He tried clenching his charred, crack-riddled fists. The green blood seeping across them looked incredibly glaring.

With that, whatever rationality Carnage Kabuto had left instantly vanished.

"Oh?"

Saitama immediately noticed the shift. It probably would have been a good time to step in and interrupt, but after glancing at Alice, he ultimately kept the suggestion to himself.

Driven by Carnage Kabuto's fury, his originally deep brown carapace rapidly expanded, gradually becoming overlaid with a bruised, bluish-purple hue.

In the seams of his armor, muscles engorged with green blood bulged violently.

His frame swelled to nearly one and a half times its previous size, and his eyes were entirely consumed by a crimson glow. One look was all it took to know he had gone completely berserk.

"It's Unit-01..."

"It's Unit-01!"

Saitama and Alice spoke practically at the same time. After all, it was a wildly famous anime, so neither was surprised that the other had seen it.

"What the hell is a Unit-01?! I am Carnage Kabuto!"

No longer able to restrain his tyrannical emotions, Carnage Kabuto lunged at Alice once more.

Fists as massive as the girl's entire body slammed heavily against the Sword of Light, which she had already raised in a defensive stance.

"Just defending isn't going to stop me! Aren't you a hero?! If you're a hero, then try and defeat me!"

An unprecedented rush of adrenaline made Carnage Kabuto howl an ear-splitting screech. His fists rained down at blinding speed upon the shield-like, white railgun, every single punch accompanied by a sonic boom loud enough to shatter the surrounding space.

The sheer speed and power of this barrage was enough to level a several-hundred-meter-tall mountain into flat ground in a matter of seconds.

Yet, despite taking the brunt of such an assault, the Sword of Light showed absolutely no sign of damage. Forget breaking—not even a single scratch was left upon its surface.

Watching through the surveillance monitors, Genus felt an intense wave of curiosity burn within him toward the railgun. His emotions were incredibly conflicted right now.

He had assumed that once Carnage Kabuto was deployed, even an S-Class hero would struggle to resist. Instead, reality had dealt him a crushing blow.

Don't just look at how incredibly sturdy that Sword of Light was to withstand Carnage Kabuto's attacks; the robot girl wielding it was utterly terrifying in her own right.

Even the strongest shield ultimately requires a solid anchor to brace it.

Yet under Carnage Kabuto's relentless onslaught, forget losing her footing, the girl didn't show even the slightest hint of stepping back.

While Genus was still lost in thought, Genos—who had recovered his functions and rushed to the combat lab—stood frozen, completely dumbfounded.

He knew Alice was a robot, and he knew there was a performance gap between them, but... only now did he realize that the chasm between their abilities was this staggeringly vast.

Forget intervening in a fight like this; even just watching from a distance made his core shudder.

Looking over at Saitama, who remained completely unfazed and even looked a bit bored in the face of such destructive shockwaves, Genos felt like the collective shock he had experienced over the years couldn't match what he had witnessed in this single day.

Alice was a robot, which meant her creator must possess incredibly advanced technology and power.

Normally, it would seem highly logical for Genos to ask Alice for help to meet her creator as a means to grow stronger.

But Genos had no such intention right now.

Or rather, the moment the thought even crossed his mind, he immediately discarded it.

No matter how talented or brilliant Alice's creator might be, he would only ever entrust his body to Dr. Kuseno, the man who had saved his life.

Just as Genos was lost in thought, a massive explosion shattered his train of consciousness.

Having endured the onslaught all this time, Alice finally caught a fleeting opening between Carnage Kabuto's punches. In a flash, she violently swung the Sword of Light upward from where it rested on the ground.

Several hundred pounds of weight felt like absolutely nothing as it carved a half-circle through the air, parrying Carnage Kabuto's fists while simultaneously forcing his center of gravity off-balance, leaving him completely wide open.

Utilizing her own raw strength combined with the massive recoil generated when she pulled the trigger and fired the Sword of Light, the heavy, colossal railgun smashed directly toward Carnage Kabuto's head.

Crack!

The sound of fracturing echoed from the sharp, massive horn on Carnage Kabuto's forehead.

Having just been in the middle of a crazed frenzy of consecutive strikes, Carnage Kabuto felt his consciousness violently drift away.

A dazing vertigo flooded his brain, leaving him to dig his heels in purely on physical instinct just to stay upright.

But Alice's assault was far from over.

She was a girl who looked no bigger than her enemy's fist, yet the power she unleashed was nothing short of monstrous.

She swung the Sword of Light like a giant brick, smashing it right into his relatively vulnerable flank. As the sound of cracking carapace rang out once more, Carnage Kabuto was sent flying backward by the sheer, overwhelming force of the impact.

Like a cannonball shot from a barrel, the massive hunk of flesh slammed hard against the distant white wall. But even before he hit, a brilliant blue-and-white light was already pulsing at the muzzle of the Sword of Light.

The railgun, which had previously been close to the girl's own size, now revealed its true form.

Through a sequence of mechanical shifts and structural reconfigurations, a three-meter-long weapon resembling a battleship's main cannon materialized in the young girl's hands.

"Balance collapsed!"

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 505

--+--

A brilliant beam of blue light tore straight through the wall of the training laboratory, allowing the dim evening sunlight from outside to pierce into the dust-choked room.

Is it over?

The question couldn't help but pop into the minds of everyone present.

As the smoke gradually cleared, everyone finally caught sight of Carnage Kabuto's current state.

Visually speaking... Carnage Kabuto was collapsed on the ground, his entire body covered in scorch marks, and his right arm was completely carbonized.

The purple carapace on his front was shattered down to the base. It was webbed with a dense network of fractures, making him look like a sheet of glass that had been struck by a window-breaker.

Because of the thick armor, no one could tell if he was still breathing.

So strong!

Genos marveled internally. He had watched the entire attack unfold, and according to his analysis, the energy from that single blast alone was enough to drain 80% of his own power core.

Yet Alice didn't look the least bit worse for wear; if anything, she seemed even more spirited.

Could it be that this railgun possessed its own independent power core?

"Ta-da! Alice has successfully defeated the guardian of the underground labyrinth! We can now proceed to explore new areas!"

"Ah... if we're going to keep exploring, let's save it for tomorrow." Even though they had just won a battle, Saitama’s face showed absolutely no sign of excitement.

He merely glanced at the sky outside and said, "If we don't head back soon, I'm going to miss the late-night anime. Alice, don't you need to get home early too?"

This kind of casual remark, spoken as if it were the most trivial thing in the world, made Genus nearly lose his mind.

What do you take the House of Evolution for, a public park? You think you can just come and go as you please?

But regardless of his mental collapse, losing Carnage Kabuto—the ultimate fighting force of the House of Evolution—had fundamentally shattered his worldview.

The mutant he had painstakingly cultivated and nurtured had managed to do nothing more than kick up a little dust on his opponent during the entire fight?

How could he possibly accept something like that?

Consumed by impotent fury, Genus could only vent his emotions wildly around the laboratory, scaring his clones so badly that they didn't dare to move a muscle.

"If you ever dare to send people after us again, I'll be paying you another visit."

Remembering why he had made this trip in the first place, Saitama called out to the training room. He didn't know if the guy could actually hear him, but at this point, he just had to assume he did.

The trip back would take over three hours. He just hoped they could get home sooner.

Genos also knew Saitama was in a hurry. When they had walked over earlier, a big reason for their slow pace was to preserve as much of Genos's energy as possible.

Now that they were rushing back and the matter was resolved, Genos naturally had no intention of holding back.

As they dashed along the return path, Genos ultimately couldn't resist asking Alice about the nature of the energy source she used.

On the way back, Alice was still keeping up with him effortlessly, making it impossible to see where the limit of her energy lay.

More importantly, he couldn't fathom where a power core could possibly fit inside a body as petite as Alice's.

"A power core?" However, faced with Genos's confusion, Alice looked even more bewildered. No matter how one looked at her, she didn't seem to have the kind of physique that could house a power core.

After all, Genos had seen her eating at Saitama’s house with his own eyes. That meant Alice had a digestive tract inside her to store food.

Trying to fit an energy core into an already cramped space would leave absolutely no room at all, wouldn't it?

Coupled with Alice’s soft skin, which felt almost identical to a normal human's, the remaining space was even tighter.

Genos had actually thought the same thing, but he had his own hypothesis: "I was thinking that perhaps you possess technology that transcends our current understanding, so the size of the power core might be smaller than imagined."

That being said, he also caught the implication in her reaction: "So, you don't actually have one?"

"Hmm... Alice doesn't really understand it either, but Alice guesses that the thing keeping Alice moving freely might be this." As she spoke, Alice pointed to the halo floating above her head.

This thing could certainly be called unique. At the very least, Genos had never seen anything like it.

But could this thing... really serve as an energy source?

"Sensei [Amber] once said: 'There's no need to understand the things of Kivotos so clearly!' or something like that." Alice truly didn't know much about it herself. Perhaps Herta would understand?

"Sensei? Kivotos?"

Genos tilted his head as they sprinted along. 'Sensei' was understandable enough. Although he hadn't expected Alice to have a teacher too, considering his own situation, it wasn't that hard to grasp.

However, he still seized the opportunity to ask: "Are you referring to your creator? Is Kivotos your model number?"

"Alice doesn't know who her creator is. Sensei is Alice's teacher, and Kivotos is the name of the Academy City!"

Why did it feel like Alice’s background was getting more and more complicated the more he listened?

There was actually an 'Academy City' behind her? While he didn't know its exact scale, since it was called a 'city', its area shouldn't be small.

After running a quick search through his database and finding absolutely no relevant information, Genos could only give up with a sigh of regret.

Saitama didn't overthink it nearly as much as Genos.

He just found himself wondering if androids taking on masters was becoming a bit too common nowadays. Was this some kind of new-era trope?

With Genos running at absolute full throttle, the trio managed to return to Z-City in just an hour and a half this time, cutting their travel time practically in half compared to their journey there.

Once they arrived back in Z-City, Genos bid the two of them farewell, his mind already drifting to whether he could equip a railgun of his own.

He honestly wanted to hang around Saitama a bit longer, but too much had happened today, and he needed to carefully organize his data.

Alice also remembered her promise to Piko and everyone else to return early, so she followed suit and said goodbye to Saitama.

The sudden silence around him felt a bit unfamiliar to Saitama for a moment. But since he had always been a loner, he steadied his breathing and headed back inside his apartment.

Meanwhile, in L-City, the Blizzard Group—who had been waiting for Alice's return for ages—finally saw the young girl walk back into the headquarters, her face brimming with joy.

"Alice and her companions raided the Demon King’s castle today, and we even explored a dungeon! Although the dungeon wasn't fully explored, Alice has gained a lot of valuable experience points!"

The girl, though covered in dust, was clearly bursting with energy. Once the Blizzard Group confirmed she was safe and sound, they temporarily let their worries slide.

But... they also caught a specific detail in Alice's choice of words.

'Companions'? Meaning Alice hadn't gone alone this time? That fraud of a bald guy had actually brought along 'accomplices' this time?

The moment the thought crossed their minds, they felt their blood pressure skyrocket.

This turn of events wasn't entirely outside their expectations; after all, there were countless people who wanted to exploit Alice, so it was only natural for a couple of fools who didn't know the rules to pop up.

But it's only natural for us to keep an eye on Alice's social circle and handle friendships that aren't quite friendly enough, isn't it?

--+--

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--+--

Saitama had absolutely no idea that the Blizzard Group already saw him as a thorn in their side.

Ever since he found out Alice was a wildly popular hero, he had been ego-searching his own name every now and then.

He wasn't obsessively refreshing the pages, but he was genuinely a little curious to see just how popular he had become.

Saitama knew his looks weren't exactly the type to easily win people over like Alice's did, but surely there were plenty of people out there who admired pure, powerhouse talent, right?

Yet over the past few days, his searches had turned up absolutely nothing. Not a single shred of information about him existed online.

Finally, when Genos showed up at his apartment the next day, Saitama couldn't hold his question in any longer.

"Given the sheer strength of the monsters I've beaten, I should be a household name by now, right?! But forget about being famous, I can't even find a single whisper about myself!"

Genos didn't doubt Saitama’s strength for a second. Even though he had only seen his master strike a single blow, Alice had used what looked like her full output just to blast a corridor wide enough for a person through the laboratory.

Meanwhile, Saitama had casually punched a gaping hole three stories high.

That alone was proof enough of how ridiculously absurd Saitama's destructive power was.

But come to think of it, Genos realized he really hadn't ever heard of his master's name before either.

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his head as he realized something.

"Master... by any chance, do you not have a hero license?"

"...Huh?"

What on earth was that?

--+--

Inside the Hero Association headquarters.

"Why would you go to such a dangerous place without prior authorization?!"

Alice had been summoned to the building, thoroughly confused by the sudden invitation.

However, she was quickly escorted into a conference room, only to be met with a barrage of harsh questioning the moment she walked in.

"The House of Evolution is a dangerous organization we've been monitoring closely. We only just discovered their main hideout, and it houses numerous Demon-level threats!"

"How dare you recklessly barge into a place that dangerous?!"

Three or four middle-aged men in business suits glared at her with deep disapproval, clearly furious over Alice's unauthorized solo operation.

Yet... Alice was entirely baffled by their accusations.

"They tried to hurt Alice's friend, so Alice went and took care of them." A look of pure, unquestioning justice washed over the girl's face. "Besides, as a hero, it is only right for Alice to vanquish evil!"

Vanquish evil? Right or wrong? What nonsense.

"We are saying you cannot put yourself at risk like that!" one of the men roared. "If anything were to happen to you, the capital we invested would—!"

"That's enough!" Yamada interrupted from the side, cutting the man off mid-sentence.

As the person who had personally scouted and recruited Alice into the Hero Association, Yamada understood her personality quite well.

Pure, righteous—whether this was a pre-programmed disposition or a personality shaped by her emerging consciousness, it didn't matter.

What mattered was that Alice undeniably viewed 'heroes' and 'champions' through a heavily idealized lens and held herself to incredibly high standards.

To a member of the purist faction like Yamada, this was an exceptionally admirable trait.

The purist faction usually turned a blind eye to the corporate faction's methods. They knew perfectly well that most heroes joined the Association for incredibly practical reasons. In other words... money.

And the corporate faction was the heavy financial backing that allowed the Hero Association to provide such vast sums of money. At this point, the Association could no longer be completely severed from corporate interest.

But... that didn't mean the purist faction was entirely spineless. They didn't care about the heroes who were only in it for the paycheck.

But for a hero like Alice, who purely looked up to the ideal of being a 'hero,' Yamada wasn't about to let the corporate suits push her around right in front of him.

The suit frowned and shot Yamada a glare, but ultimately swallowed the rest of his words.

Even so, he was in a foul mood.

After all, Alice was their next big cash cow. Their promotional campaigns for her had only just started bearing fruit, and they were finally ready to rake in the profits.

Who could have guessed this brainless robot would almost get herself killed?

Fortunately, her strength was a bit more reliable than they had anticipated, since she actually managed to tear the House of Evolution apart. If she had died out there without a sound...

Dammit! Do you have any idea how much money we would have lost?!

In truth, they had already raked in plenty of fan donations through Alice. But in their eyes, the long-term value Alice could generate was already money in their own pockets.

If they failed to secure it, they considered it a personal loss.

"My apologies. The Hero Association actually called you here today to ask you about something."

Yamada didn't bother wasting any more time on the corporate executives; they had already vented enough anyway.

Bringing the conversation back on track, he pulled out a photograph. It showed an eight-story building with three figures standing down below.

Alice’s silhouette was unmistakable—anyone could recognize her. The other two were a bald man in a yellow suit with a white cape, and a blonde, fully mechanized cyborg.

Or possibly a robot.

"Our scouts spotted you and immediately rushed back outside to report to headquarters. By the time they returned to the site, they captured this image,"

Yamada then produced another photo, this one showing the ruins of the House of Evolution after Genos had incinerated it.

"Did you do this?"

"It was Genos! A companion Alice met recently!" The girl naturally refused to take credit for her companion's hard work.

"Genos..." Yamada pointed to the blonde cyborg in the photo. "Is it this one?"

Alice nodded.

"I see. Then the monsters inside...?"

"Alice and Genos took care of them together!"

After a few more questions, Yamada had a decent grasp of the situation. "Do you mind if I ask... who is this bald man? What role did he play in this incident?"

What role?

"Hmm... a victim? Alice and Genos only went there because Uncle Saitama was attacked by the House of Evolution." Alice thought about it for a moment before offering her answer.

"Very well, that concludes our meeting. I'm sorry for summoning you so suddenly, but this pertains to your rank promotion, so we had to verify the details with you directly."

Though Alice wasn't as difficult to deal with as the other S-Class heroes, Yamada still gave the interrogation a dignified excuse.

The corporate executives badly wanted to warn her against taking such reckless risks in the future.

However, they didn't want to openly sour relations with the purist faction in an official setting like this—after all, the purists were technically the Chairman's people.

Alice didn't pay much attention to the lecture she had received at the start. To her, that kind of talk went in one ear and out the other. Seeing that they were done with her, she left the conference room.

And that was when she ran into someone rather unexpected.

"Sweet Mask?"

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 507

--+--

"Yo."

In the face of Alice’s surprise, Sweet Mask merely offered a smile and a greeting.

Compared to his attitude during their last encounter, he seemed undeniably a lot friendlier this time around. There was even a hint of warmth etched into his features as he walked toward her.

"Our last meeting was already half a month ago. I never expected that in just two short weeks, your name would reach my ears through my manager." His words sounded almost like those of a rival, but the man’s expression carried genuine joy.

Yet, in response to his delight, Alice only tilted her head in confusion.

Sweet Mask wasn’t surprised by this reaction. If anything, this was exactly what earned her his approval.

"No, forget what I just said. I came here because I heard about your actions yesterday."

Sweet Mask brushed past the topic he had just brought up himself, shifting the conversation back to the matter that had just concluded in the conference room.

It was understandable for the Hero Association to know about it, but how did Sweet Mask know?

Then again, considering his ties to the Corporate Faction, it wasn't all that surprising.

Actually, even putting the Corporate Faction aside, his relationship with the Pure Blood Faction was also exceptionally good. His ability to hold down the Rank 1 spot in A-Class so securely relied not just on his strength, but also on the immaculate image he maintained with both sides.

He could rake in money for the capitalists while remaining fiercely dedicated to a hero's character and justice. These two supposedly conflicting traits somehow managed to fuse perfectly within him.

"You probably had to listen to a lot of unpleasant things just now, didn't you? Don't misunderstand, I'm not here to hold you accountable."

Seeing the conflicted look on Alice's face, Sweet Mask jumped to what he assumed was the obvious conclusion. He knew exactly what kind of people made up the Corporate Faction; from the moment Alice was fast-tracked to S-Class, he knew it had to be their doing.

That was precisely why he had rushed over to test her boundaries earlier.

Looking back now, however, his actions had been entirely unnecessary.

At that thought, Sweet Mask’s smile grew even warmer. "I just wanted to tell you that you did a wonderful job. You did exactly what a hero... no, what a true champion of justice should do.”

“Defending the innocent, eradicating evil—as a hero, there is no achievement more worthy of praise."

It seemed she had finally heard words she could understand and receive validation from.

The gloomy atmosphere that had been hanging over the young girl instantly vanished, replaced by her usual vitality as a smile bloomed on her face once more.

"For a hero, that is only natural!"

"Exactly. But treating such a 'natural thing' as a solemn duty has ironically become a rare quality among most 'heroes' these days." The moment he said this, Sweet Mask’s eyes darkened considerably.

However, he quickly composed himself.

"Alright, that's all I wanted to say. Hero Alice, I'll be looking forward to your performance in the future." Sweet Mask smiled at the girl, then stepped past her, walking straight down the corridor.

But just as Alice turned around to politely bid him goodbye, the man looked back over his shoulder.

"Right, if the Association ever asks you to do public appearances, like 'promotional work,' you can contact me."

Sweet Mask drew a business card from his breast pocket, flicking it effortlessly between two fingers toward Alice.

Only after watching the girl catch the card did he continue, "I'll help you handle it when the time comes. I assume you don't want your daily routine cluttered with too many unnecessary events either, right?"

"Bang-bang-ka-bang! Alice has made a new companion!"

Yet, the girl didn't give him a proper answer right away.

Instead, she pumped one fist at her side and held the business card high in the air, striking a pose like a plane taking off while shouting her bizarre catchphrase.

A companion, huh... That really is a childish way to put it.

Sweet Mask let out a helpless smile, though he didn't deny it.

As long as Alice stayed exactly the way she was now, he would undoubtedly be her companion.

"Thank you for the encouragement! See you next time, Sweet Mask!" Recharged by her new companion, Alice was noticeably bursting with energy. Sweet Mask gave her a slight nod before turning to leave.

Not long after he departed, a middle-aged man in a suit approached Alice.

"Lady Hero, could I please trouble you for a private word?" The man had a smile plastered on his face, but his expression was visibly awkward.

"Is there something you need Alice's help with?"

Alice hadn't expected that a single trip to the Hero Association would result in three different groups of people cornering her back-to-back.

"Yes... uh, no... there is a certain VIP who insists on meeting you no matter what. I'm just passing along the message," the man explained. "If you aren't busy... I hoped you could come with me..."

A certain VIP?

A VIP within the Hero Association would either be a high-ranking executive or a top-tier hero, right? Since she had just met with the executives, it probably wasn't them.

A top-ranking hero who wanted to see her... Metal Knight? Or maybe Tatsumaki?

Regardless of who it was, she had no reason to refuse. For one, they were bound to meet sooner or later anyway, and secondly, there was no need to make things difficult for this staff member over such a small matter.

Hearing that Alice was willing to come along, the man was visibly moved and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

The two walked away from the conference room, heading into increasingly secluded corridors until they finally arrived before the massive doors of the S-Class Training Room.

I have a bad feeling about this...

The middle-aged man clearly knew that choosing this specific location wasn't a good sign. After telling Alice she could head inside whenever she was ready, he immediately scrambled off to a short distance away to make a phone call, seemingly contacting someone.

Alice thought about it for a moment, then decided to push the door open and walk in.

Though she hadn't been upgraded to the point of being completely invincible, killing her would still be an incredibly difficult task. If things really went south, she could always call for backup.

Completely free of worries, she stepped inside, only to be instantly greeted by a string of complaints.

"What took you so long to get here?! Do you have absolutely no concept of time? If you don't even have a timer function, why didn't you just become a digital watch instead?!"

It was Tatsumaki's voice.

Floating in mid-air, her entire body enveloped in a vibrant green glow, the green-haired 'little girl' stared down at Alice with a comically contorted face of pure disgust.

Just from her tone alone, one could tell how massive her grievance was right now.

Still, just being a little late shouldn't have warranted this much anger, right?

"Who are you...?"

Alice tilted her head. Her pure, innocent confusion made it obvious to anyone that her inquiry held no malice whatsoever, but was simply a question born from the bottom of her heart.

But that was hardly an excuse for the green-haired girl to let the matter slide. Or rather, it was precisely because of this question that Tatsumaki instantly found her excuse to pick a fight.

In the next heartbeat, a suffocating pressure wrapped around Alice's entire body.

As if seized by an invisible hand and violently hurled away, the young girl's figure vanished from the spot, crashing heavily against the wall of the training room.

"Are you provoking me? You mechanical blockhead."

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 508

--+--

Perhaps the Hero Association's training room hadn't received as much funding as the House of Evolution's laboratory, or maybe Tatsumaki's attack was simply leagues more powerful than Carnage Kabuto's. Either way, Alice's body effortlessly smashed a massive crater into the training room wall.

Her body, which hadn't felt a hint of numbness even after being battered countless times by Carnage Kabuto, actually throbbed with pain from that single impact.

Though the sensation vanished as quickly as it came—feeling like nothing more than a funny bone bumped against a school desk—it was still more than enough to prove the terrifying sheer force of the assault.

Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, Alice finally pushed herself up from the floor.

She didn't look injured at all; her clothes were merely a bit disheveled from the high-speed impact.

"Why did you suddenly attack Alice?!"

Coming to her senses, the young girl looked at the expressionless Tatsumaki with a mix of shock and grievance.

"For a machine, you look surprisingly well-made." Tatsumaki could easily see the confusion and hurt written all over the girl's face.

To her, however, this was nothing but an illusion woven from cold steel and lines of code.

"I'll put it simply. That pathetic little club you're hanging around with is something my sister put together. I am her older sister, Tornado of Terror, Rank 2 of the S-Class. All you need to know is that after today, you are to stay far away from her."

She delivered her demands and warnings as though they were absolute law.

"I can't exactly turn you into scrap metal right here, but I'll track down your creator and teach them a proper lesson. Do you understand?"

"Alice does not understand!"

Yet, the young girl didn't simply comply with her demands. Instead, her face hardened into a serious expression.

"Staying with Fubuki and everyone else was Alice's choice, and it was Fubuki and everyone else's choice too. Even if you are Fubuki's sister, you can't just ignore her choices!"

"Huh?"

The veins on Tatsumaki's forehead bulged, shattering her cold facade. Her eyes widened slightly as she radiated sharp, venomous hostility.

"If it didn't sink in the first time, let me say it again. I refuse to tolerate a suspicious piece of junk with no clear origin or purpose loitering around Fubuki every single day."

If this machine had been some weak little trinket, Tatsumaki might have let it slide. She could have tolerated Fubuki keeping it around as another prop for her little game of playing hero.

But this robot was clearly far stronger than her sister. If its creator had sent it to Fubuki's side with some ulterior motive, using her sister as a hostage at a critical moment to blackmail her, things would get incredibly messy.

Tatsumaki would never allow such an unpredictable hazard to endanger her sister.

"...Alice is not a suspicious person!"

"..."

The air fell completely silent. Neither side had any intention of backing down from their convictions.

Tatsumaki felt like she had just been wasting her breath; how could a robot bound by its creator's programming ever listen to reason?

A robot that blindly followed orders was nothing but a defective piece of junk, wasn't it?

But this did make things a bit troublesome... No matter how you looked at it, this machine was an S-Class hero who had done her fair share of decent work.

Dropping the hammer on her without a shred of evidence...

No... If she waited until there was evidence, it would already be too late.

You can't just wish for someone to swoop in and save you when danger strikes. Tatsumaki knew she would always fly to Fubuki's rescue, but as acutely aware as she was of her own strength, she knew exactly how fragile her little sister was.

If real danger struck, could Fubuki even hold out until she arrived?

At that thought, a flicker of madness flared in Tatsumaki's eyes.

Alice caught that subtle shift with perfect precision. Dropping into a defensive stance, she spoke up, "Alice does not want to fight you. Alice does not want to hurt you, and Alice does not want to be hurt by you!"

"What's this? Do machine brains beg for mercy too?" Tatsumaki sneered.

"Alice just doesn't want Fubuki to be sad!"

"...!"

The contemptuous smirk vanished instantly, swallowed by a wave of pure fury.

Hovering in mid-air, cloaked in a faint green aura, the green-haired girl erupted. "Ha?! Who do you think you are to say something like that?! What right do you have?!"

"I am Alice!"

"Who asked for your name?!"

The tempest of emotions churning in her chest was impossible to suppress. Burning with a desperate need to vent, Tatsumaki snapped and pointed a sharp finger directly at the black-haired girl on the ground.

"I might as well just scrap you and send you back to the factory! You stupid machine, you can't even understand plain English!"

"Hold on!!"

The explosive tension was suddenly cut short by a voice both of them knew intimately, forcing their gazes toward the entrance of the training room.

Standing at the door was a trembling, overly cautious middle-aged man, and right beside him stood a woman clad in a plush coat and a dark green dress.

It was Fubuki.

"What are you doing here?" The words caught in Tatsumaki's throat, leaving her with an incredibly stifling, suffocating feeling.

Frowning, she stared at Fubuki before a realization dawned on her, and she shot a freezing glare at the middle-aged staff member.

The man didn't dare utter a word, ducking his head to make himself as invisible as possible.

"Is there a problem with me being here? After all, you're about to lay a hand on my subordinate." Fubuki had rushed over the second she received the call. Worried a car wouldn't be fast enough, she had directly channeled the power of the Sephira Crystal.

This desperate dash had finally shown her just how fast she could go when pushing her limits. It had taken a mere three minutes to cross over a hundred kilometers, easily shattering the sound barrier.

However, the sheer exhaustion that came with it was nothing to scoff at...

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Fubuki spoke as she walked directly between Alice and Tatsumaki.

Looking at the massive crater carved into the training room wall, she knew instantly that her older sister had crossed the line with Alice yet again.

It had always been like this, from childhood until now. Everyone who ever got close to her would inevitably end up hurt by her sister.

But this time was different!

Feeling the residual power of the Sephira Crystal humming inside her, even if that girl in the pointed hat had claimed it was only a half-finished prototype, the sheer strength it provided gave Fubuki an intoxicating sense of omnipotence—as if she could achieve absolutely anything.

Though Fubuki rationally knew it was just an illusion born of newfound power, it still gave her something she desperately needed.

The backbone to look her sister in the eye and say "no."

"I won't let you hurt Alice."

The tall, elegant Fubuki stepped forward, completely shielding Alice behind her.

Though she had to look up at her hovering sister, the aura and resolve radiating from her were stronger and more genuine than they had ever been before.

This stance cut Tatsumaki straight to the quick.

The very person she was trying to protect was stepping in front of the threat, telling her to stop, and even looking ready to fight her?

What a ridiculous joke. The person standing in her shoes right now had to look like a complete and utter clown, right?

Except that person was her!

Tatsumaki ground her teeth so hard they nearly shattered. How could a nightmare scenario she had never even conceptualized manifest into reality?

"You...! How long are you going to keep playing these childish clique games?! Do you even know where this machine came from? Do you have any idea what she actually..."

"I know."

"If you don't know, then—wait, what?"

‘You know?’

How could you possibly know something even the Hero Association hasn't managed to dig up?

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 509

--+--

It wasn't just Tatsumaki; the staff monitoring from the control room and those standing by the doors were all left stunned by Fubuki's words.

The Hero Association was the source of Tatsumaki's information, and while there might have been plenty of things the Association knew that she didn't, Alice's data was certainly not among them.

When it came to Alice, the current Hero Association was practically blind.

Their only understanding was pieced together from video footage and the firsthand accounts of Child Emperor and Metal Knight; anything beyond that only covered the period after Alice officially became a hero.

Yet, here was Fubuki, claiming she actually knew something about it.

"Do you even know what you're saying?" Tatsumaki's brow furrowed heavily. Her expression didn't soften in the slightest; instead, it grew increasingly terrifying.

Fubuki knew? Didn't that mean she had likely met this so-called creator?

Why hadn't this person approached anyone else? Why hadn't they approached her?

Psychic powers always invited greed and schemes—a reality Tatsumaki knew all too well. Her years of fierce, overprotective vigilance around Fubuki were specifically meant to keep anyone from targeting her sister because of those very powers.

Fubuki, having never experienced it herself, simply couldn't understand.

"Who is it...?! Where did you meet them?!"

Tatsumaki made no effort to hide her explosive rage. Without needing to think twice, Fubuki immediately understood why her sister was reacting this way.

"This was my own decision!" Fubuki argued. "That person only asked me to act as Alice's temporary guardian while she was away!"

"That's nothing but a lie!"

"It's not a lie!"

Staring at her sister, who was so stubbornly defying her, Tatsumaki knew that further explanations would be pointless. Fubuki hadn't lived through it, so it was only natural that she couldn't comprehend.

She just needed to protect her. That was all that mattered.

With that thought, Tatsumaki gave up on words and simply reached out toward Fubuki.

Manipulating her invisible psychokinesis, a powerful, binding force coiled tightly around both Fubuki and Alice.

"Sister!!"

Seeing how Tatsumaki, as always, completely disregarded her thoughts and judgment—refusing to believe a single word she said—Fubuki felt a suffocating wave of distress, even though she knew full well this stemmed from Tatsumaki's protective nature.

Without a moment's hesitation, Fubuki drew upon the power of the Sephira Crystal. In the blink of an eye, a tempest swept through the entire training ground.

As the wind completely shattered Tatsumaki's binding hold, Fubuki channeled the gale into a crushing wall of atmospheric pressure, wrapping tightly around Tatsumaki from every single angle.

‘This power isn't Fubuki's... No... Wait? This is definitely Fubuki's own psychic energy, isn't it?’

It was an unfamiliar power, yet it flowed with genuine psychic energy. This utterly bizarre anomaly instantly made Tatsumaki realize that this strength was connected to the creator behind that robot.

Of course. Fubuki's power had suddenly grown significantly stronger, but at what cost?

Merely helping to look after a robot for a little while? Who would ever believe a story like that?

Tatsumaki's guard was now raised to an unprecedented height.

It was no longer a mere suspicion; she was now certain that Fubuki had been targeted by some researcher and had already undergone an experiment.

The realization nearly drove her mad. She had wiped out countless psychic research laboratories over the years, yet there were still rats that had slipped through the net?

Why couldn't these gutter rats just stay in the dark where they belonged, forever?

Yet, at the absolute peak of her fury, Tatsumaki suddenly calmed down.

She stood effortlessly against the crushing wind pressure converging from all sides.

To anyone else, it was a force capable of compacting a skyscraper into a solid sphere, but in her eyes, it didn't even warrant her full attention.

She recalled the fools at the Hero Association mentioning that the creator had suddenly vanished a short while ago, with no further trace. At least the person wasn't entirely stupid; they knew that after tricking her sister, they wouldn't survive if they caught her attention, so they went into hiding.

Unfortunately, this rat had concealed themselves incredibly well, leaving absolutely no trail to follow.

Instead of throwing around her weight and making the rat even more cautious—forcing them to dig themselves in deeper—it would be better to bait them out.

It would also serve as a perfect opportunity to show Fubuki exactly what kind of dangerous people these individuals trying to get close to them really were.

With that in mind, Tatsumaki gave a sharp wave of her hand.

The raging winds filling the training room vanished in an instant.

Then, wearing an expression of deep thought and feigned confusion, she slowly drifted down from the air, landing right in front of Fubuki. "Since when did your psychic powers get this strong?"

She appeared completely caught off guard by Fubuki's sudden surge in strength, masking a heavy dose of curiosity beneath her expression.

Naturally, it was all an act. Though she lacked any formal training in acting, using psychokinesis to micro-manage her own facial expressions was child's play.

"This was just the down payment."

Seeing her sister finally calm down, Fubuki secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Though she hadn't actually used her full strength just now, her intuition told her that even if she had, it wouldn't have amounted to much against her sister.

Damn it... even though she had clearly gotten stronger...

But it didn't matter. Since that lady possessed something as incredible as a Sephira Crystal, she was bound to have even more things that could grant power. If she could just build a good relationship with her, she could undoubtedly become even stronger!

Hearing those words, however, Tatsumaki barely managed to keep her temper from flaring up again.

Right, right, right. Quite the master of stringing people along. Truly worthy of a psychic researcher.

"Since the misunderstanding is cleared up, I'll be taking Alice and leaving now." Fubuki took two steps back, taking the hand of Alice, who had just been standing by watching the drama unfold.

For the first time in all these years, her sister had backed down and compromised. Though Tatsumaki still maintained her haughty, arrogant posture, Fubuki knew very well that her sister had yielded.

The feeling—this entirely unprecedented feeling—made Fubuki want to burst out laughing on the spot.

Not yet... she couldn't laugh just yet, or her sister would definitely lash out from sheer embarrassment.

But... how was she supposed to hold it in? She needed to get out of here, fast!

If this were the Fubuki of any other day, she might have realized just how incredibly bizarre and miraculous it was for Tatsumaki to suddenly change her mind.

But right now, the intoxication of her new power, combined with her lifelong craving to see her sister yield, and her internal script of 'one day growing strong enough to make her sister look at her differently' all came together.

The combination of these three factors made Fubuki completely accept the logic of how things were playing out.

Yet, the exact moment the two of them stepped past Tatsumaki, the green-haired girl suddenly spoke up. "Hold on."

"...?"

The slightly cold tone caused Fubuki's excitement to instantly plummet.

Tatsumaki turned around, her eyes locking onto the pair. "A researcher who can actually amplify psychic powers is quite a rare find... I'd like to see what kind of person they are myself."

Of course they were rare, because she had already exterminated the rest.

Fubuki realized something was wrong.

"...As for Madam Herta... I don't actually know where she is. After all, she only entrusted Alice to me because she's currently so busy that she doesn't have time to care for her," she said, which was the absolute truth.

"Oh, that doesn't matter."

However, there was no way Tatsumaki was going to let them off the hook that easily.

"That Madam Herta will have to come looking for this machine eventually. For the time being, just leave the machine with me. Don't worry, I just want to get to know her. I won't do anything to the machine."

--+--

Turned Into Gacha?! - 510

--+--

"Sister!"

If she hadn't realized it before, things had been laid bare to such an extent that Fubuki couldn't possibly keep lying to herself anymore.

Right now, Tatsumaki was clearly letting her words go in one ear and out the other.

Or rather, she still believed Fubuki was being tricked, treating her like a naive child incapable of making her own judgments. This was something Fubuki found completely unbearable.

"Stop messing around! You know exactly what kind of people those researchers are, don't you?!"

Tatsumaki barked, her voice laced with intense frustration at her sister's refusal to live up to expectations.

Fubuki did know. Even though Tatsumaki had been aggressively cracking down on these researchers, she could only ever sabotage them indirectly.

She mostly relied on things like the 'collateral damage of battle' to ruin their progress at the final hurdle. Deprived of results, their funding would dry up, making it impossible for them to keep operating.

However, there were also many laboratories backed by massive corporate funding—or completely owned by corporations.

Against those, Tatsumaki could only cause minor interference; she really couldn't take any drastic action. But that was generally enough. After all, her goal wasn't to save the world, but to let everyone know better than to target her and her sister.

Precisely because she understood her older sister's desperate efforts and good intentions, Fubuki felt a chaotic mixture of anger and utter helplessness.

"I..."

Fubuki found herself at a loss for how to refuse. She realized that her lifelong habit of bowing down to her sister had become second nature.

More importantly, she had absolutely no solid evidence to rationally convince Tatsumaki otherwise.

Logically speaking, she truly knew next to nothing about Herta. Her defense of Alice stemmed entirely from her fondness for her, which wasn't a logical argument at all.

Emotionally speaking, her sister's protectiveness—and her desire to keep Fubuki from risking her life for a potential threat—was far more compelling than Fubuki defending a robot of unknown origins whom she had known for less than two months.

Even if the Blizzard Group never treated Alice like a mere machine, in the eyes of outsiders, that was exactly what she was.

With that thought, the weight of her helplessness grew even heavier.

"It's alright."

Just as the silence in the room grew suffocating and Fubuki was drowning in her uncertainty, Alice's free hand reached out and gently clasped the hand Fubuki was using to hold her.

What started as two palms lightly overlapping turned into Fubuki's hand being completely engulfed by Alice's. It felt as though those hands possessed the power to entirely shut out the storm raging outside.

"Alice doesn't want to make things difficult for Fubuki. And besides..."

The black-haired girl looked up at Tatsumaki, who was still hovering in mid-air.

Tatsumaki's face was incredibly dark, her eyes fixed firmly on their intertwined hands.

The fury burning in her gaze seemed on the verge of erupting, and she didn't offer a single shred of warmth when she noticed Alice looking her way.

"Alice also wants to prove to Fubuki's sister that Alice would never do anything to hurt Fubuki. That way, Fubuki won't have to fight with her sister anymore."

The girl's voice was gentle yet unwavering, acting like a splash of life-giving spring water onto Fubuki's parched and fragile heart.

"Alice..."

Courage surged back into Fubuki's heart to face Tatsumaki once more, but Alice had already gently slipped her hand away.

She offered Fubuki a confident, radiant smile. "Alice will definitely pass the test in no time!"

"...Yeah, I understand."

Faced with such an attitude, Fubuki couldn't bring herself to stop her.

Or rather, precisely because she had always been the one overprotected by her sister, she understood that no matter how worried she was right now, she needed to give Alice her absolute trust.

She could only nod in agreement.

This scene undoubtedly grated on Tatsumaki's nerves, but remarkably, she didn't let her anger cloud her judgment this time.

She was proud and arrogant. While she didn't believe the universe revolved around her, she did believe she could easily bend the world to her will.

But... what was with Fubuki's smile just now? She was clearly planning to keep arguing with me, wasn't she?

It wasn't that Tatsumaki actually wanted to be argued with, but... why did Fubuki back down? She was clearly terrified of that robot being taken away, wasn't she?

Why, under these circumstances, could she flash a smile like that—a smile she had never once shown to me?

An incomprehensible wave of confusion washed over Tatsumaki, completely distracting her from her anger.

"Sister... I'll take my leave first. You promised me you wouldn't hurt Alice, right?" Fubuki asked, turning her gaze back to Tatsumaki.

"Didn't I already say so?" Tatsumaki muttered gruffly in response.

Having received the answer she wanted, Fubuki said goodbye to Alice and walked out of the room.

The staff member who had been stuck sitting in the front row for all this drama felt like they were sitting on a bed of needles, wondering if they were allowed to leave too.

Why did they have to be so incredibly unlucky? Of all people, they had to be spotted and ordered around by Tatsumaki herself... It was absolutely terrifying.

However, Tatsumaki had practically forgotten the person even existed.

Glancing at Alice, who was smiling at her with pure friendliness, Tatsumaki figured that no matter how much she said, it would probably go right over this robot's head. She gave up on communicating entirely.

Dropping lightly to the ground, she began walking toward the exit, tossing a single command over her shoulder: "Follow me."

Tatsumaki's demeanor was anything but welcoming, but Alice wasn't particularly surprised. Put aside someone like Tatsumaki—who was a fiercely proud, utterly obsessive sister-complex incarnate—even an ordinary older sister would feel uneasy knowing a robot of completely mysterious origins had cozyed up to her sibling.

Alice didn't hold any real grudge against Tatsumaki for getting violent, but... it was hard to say how things would go once Herta arrived.

Unlike Alice—or rather, unlike the vast majority of the Amber Clones—Herta was the least Amber-like version of herself. At the same time, her definition of 'offense' was measured strictly by her own personal standards.

While Alice would look at things from Tatsumaki's perspective and forgive her, Herta would step into the other person's shoes just to fully understand the situation before thoroughly punishing them.

After all, there was no way she would let just any random nobody walk all over the precious head of a certified genius.

Realizing that Tatsumaki's volatile personality would inevitably offend Herta once she arrived, Alice decided to put in some effort of her own.

"You're Fubuki's sister. Can Alice just call you Tatsumaki?"

Jogging a couple of steps to catch up and walk side-by-side with her, Alice initiated the conversation cheerfully.

Tatsumaki flicked her green eyes sideways to glance at her, quickly snapping her gaze back forward before speaking indifferently. "Whatever floats your boat."

"Do you have anything you like?"

"No."

"What about things you hate?"

"No."

"That's wonderful!"

"?"

What did she mean, 'that's wonderful'? Did this robot just short-circuit?

Tatsumaki looked askance at the black-haired girl who was currently sporting a totally goofy grin.

She couldn't wrap her head around why Alice would suddenly say something like that. Couldn't she tell that Tatsumaki was only giving half-hearted answers because she couldn't be bothered to talk to her?

"Alice thought Tatsumaki was giving short answers because you hated Alice!"

As if sensing Tatsumaki turning to look at her, the silly robot's smile grew even wider.

Before Tatsumaki could fire back with a sharp 'I do hate you,' Alice beat her to the punch.

"If it's because you're troubled by something that you don't want to talk to Alice, then let Alice help you solve your problems together!"

"...?"

--+--