Monday morning.

  After finishing a math css, Eriri seemed completely drained and slumped over her desk.

  "High school math is so hard…" she muttered.

  Just as she was about to take a break, a cssmate's voice called out, "Sawamura-san, someone's looking for you!"

  "Huh?" Eriri sat up, confused. She didn't know anyone in other csses, so who could be looking for her?

  She turned around and saw Utaha Kasumigaoka standing at the back door, smiling and waving.

  Eriri's face instantly stiffened. She hurriedly stood up, rushed to the back door, and quickly dragged Utaha away.

  The cssmates watched their interaction with curiosity and started whispering among themselves.

  "Isn't that Kasumigaoka-senpai from the second year? Does Sawamura know her?"

  "No idea, but it seems like they do."

  "Kasumigaoka-senpai is so pretty… and what a great figure!"

  Leaving the cssroom gossip behind, Eriri continued pulling Utaha along, going up to the fourth floor. The fourth floor was where the club rooms were, and it was completely empty at this time—perfect for a private conversation.

  Letting go of Utaha, Eriri turned and gred at her. "What the heck, why'd you come to my cssroom? You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

  "Tsk, tsk," Utaha chuckled, crossing her arms. "You've got to work on that attitude. I didn't even say what I was going to do, and you're already this scared. If you accidentally spill the beans one day, you might as well head to the rooftop, huh?"

  "Hmph, keep dreaming! I'm not going to crack that easily!" Eriri retorted, shooting another gre at Utaha. "So, what exactly do you want?"

  Utaha waved her hand dismissively, trying to calm Eriri down. "Rex, it's good news. After lunch, come find me in room 502. You like pying games, right? Ichin's game is almost done, but he's short on testers. I recommended you. What do you think, interested?"

  "Huh? A game?" Eriri blinked in surprise. She suddenly recalled seeing Utaha and Ichin during the weekend when Ichin mentioned he was working on a game.

  "Already finished?" she asked.

  "Not completely, but it's pyable from start to finish. I pyed it all day yesterday," Utaha replied, looking at Eriri. "The game's quite impressive, so don't underestimate it just because you've pyed a lot of games. I've said my piece. Yes or no?"

  "Game testing, huh…" Eriri hadn't expected Utaha's visit to be about this. To be honest, it piqued her interest.

  "During lunch, right? Sure, I'll come after css."

  "Alright, I'll be waiting for you then." With that, Utaha left as css was about to start.

  Eriri returned to her cssroom just in time for the start of the next period, conveniently avoiding the curious stares from her cssmates about her retionship with Utaha Kasumigaoka.

  ...

  The morning csses ended quickly, and Eriri declined a few girls' invitations to have lunch together. Carrying her bento box, she made her way to room 502, an empty cssroom.

  Utaha had already gotten the key from Ichin earlier that morning, so she was the first to arrive and had opened the cssroom door.

  After entering, Eriri gnced around the empty cssroom and asked, "Is it just you? Where's Ichin?"

  "He won't be here at noon. He's having lunch in his cssroom," Utaha replied, taking out her lunch and ptop. Plugging in the power, she said, "The game's on the desktop. Py it on your own. I'll be eating, so just ask me if you don't understand something."

  Eriri sat down in front of the ptop and opened her bento.

  "Hmph, don't treat me like you. I've pyed all sorts of games before," she muttered, finding the game icon on the desktop as soon as the computer booted up.

  "Sythespire?" She awkwardly read the name aloud. It just so happened that except for the "the" in the middle, Eriri didn't recognize the English words before or after it. But she didn't want to admit it, so she clicked on the game without asking.

  Remembering what Ichin had mentioned in a previous conversation with her mother, Eriri knew the game was card-based, so she was mentally prepared.

  "Hmm, it feels a bit like Hearthstone since it's all cards," she mumbled, selecting the warrior and entering the first level. Looking at the screen, Eriri felt a slight headache. Games like Hearthstone weren't her forte—she hated all the calcution involved and remembering each card's effects.

  Thankfully, this game wasn't as over-the-top as Hearthstone, and after getting a little familiar with it, Eriri got the hang of it. But her strategy skills weren't as sharp as Utaha's, and combined with her poor luck, she lost a lot of health to an elite monster in the first level. By the time she reached the boss, her health was only at two-thirds.

  Naturally, she ended up losing to the boss in the first level.

  "Oww, how did I lose in the first level!" Eriri grumbled angrily as she prepared to start another round.

  "Hold on a minute," Utaha stopped her. "Let's eat first, and continue testing after we finish. There's plenty of time, and you can always come back after school since neither of us are in any clubs, right?"

  "Not yet, but a few cssmates have been inviting me to join the art club. I'm still deciding," Eriri replied, putting off her frustration with the game and opening her bento to start eating.

  While eating, Eriri curiously asked, "You were pying this game all day yesterday—did you beat it?"

  "Of course, I beat it ages ago. I even cleared several levels of the harder mode after beating it," Utaha replied with a chuckle. "But don't be too curious about that yet. Focus on reaching the third level first."

  "Tch, you just pyed it before me. What's so great about that?" Eriri muttered quietly, then began eating her lunch at lightning speed—the fastest she had ever eaten since coming to Toyogasaki.

  However, despite her renewed determination, Eriri still couldn't beat the game within the lunch break. Her best attempt only reached the third level, where she was defeated by an elite monster.

  For the rest of the afternoon, Eriri was completely distracted in css, her mind running over strategies and ways to improve her game pn. She nearly got caught out by the teacher when she didn't respond to a question promptly.

  When the final bell rang, Eriri packed her bag at the speed of light and dashed out of the cssroom before anyone else had even processed what was happening, leaving her cssmates in stunned silence.

  …