"An idol-raising card game?" Hara Kei raised an eyebrow, looking mildly surprised.
"You mean one of those gacha-heavy mobile games where you have to pay to draw characters? Of course I know about those. But why bring this up all of a sudden?"
It was lunchtime. Hara Kei and Fujiwara Chika were walking together toward the club building.
After the whole "Hara Kei Great Contest" incident, Chika had somehow overcome her initial shyness. Now, it had become routine for her to accompany him after morning classes to the Lambs' Society clubroom for lunch and afternoon activities.
As they stepped out of the main school building and crossed the courtyard, Chika suddenly looked as if something had popped into her mind. Grinning, she asked cheerfully,
"Hey, Hara Kei, do you know those raising-type card mobile games?"
That was what led to the earlier exchange.
"Well, it's good that you do!" Chika said with a nod. She pulled out her phone from her skirt pocket and handed it to him.
"Apparently, the IT Club's president, Akasaka Ryūnosuke, is experimenting with making one. He's already posted a prototype on the school forum and wants players to test it—collecting feedback, running bug checks, that sort of thing."
Kei accepted the phone from her and looked at the screen. The moment he saw the app icon she was pointing at, his expression turned into the classic "old man staring blankly at a phone on the subway" face.
No wonder—
The icon design was outrageously tacky.
It featured an anime-style girl making a heart sign with her fingers, under which the words were written:
Heartbeat St. Eden Academy!
What is this, a relic from the PS2 era? Kei thought dryly.
Don't tell me it starts with something like, "In this academy, there stands a legendary tree where love blooms eternal…"
Still muttering mentally, Kei tapped the icon with a single finger.
As questionable as the logo and title looked, it was still a game. Who knew—it might actually be fun.
Five minutes later, before they even left the courtyard, Kei exited the app with a cold, decisive swipe.
"This game is hopeless," he declared flatly.
"Eh?" Chika blinked wide-eyed and took the phone back from him. "Really? I actually thought it was kind of fun."
"Fun? Where?" Kei shook his head.
"The only decent thing about it is how smoothly the program runs—you can tell the developer knows their coding. But aside from that, it's a disaster in every possible way."
He started counting on his fingers, voice laced with disdain.
"A fake FGO-style combat system. They mashed together weapon pools, character pools, and costume pools in the same gacha—idiotic design choice. The tutorial's unclear, the upgrade materials are ridiculously convoluted, and there are some stages so obviously malicious that you can feel the developer's contempt for players…"
By the time he reached the tenth complaint, he was running out of fingers.
"But the worst part," he continued, sighing, "is that they used real people as the models for the cards. Even if they added an anime filter over them, that's a massive legal gray area. The only reason the Student Council hasn't shut it down yet is probably because it's still a free prototype. And I'm guessing the President is just waiting to reel in the big catch."
"So… that means the game won't be playable much longer?" Chika asked, sounding genuinely disappointed.
"Games like this die by the dozens every day, Chika. For all I care, Sakurajima Mai probably gets deleted hundreds of times daily," Kei shrugged indifferently. "If you really want to play this kind of thing, there are plenty of decent ones out there. No point wasting time on garbage like this."
"But you can raise you in this one!" Chika said brightly.
"…What?"
She reopened the app, navigating to her character storage page.
Sure enough, the top-ranked card on her account was an anime version that looked unmistakably like Hara Kei himself.
The game, Heartbeat St. Eden Academy!, only featured "notable figures" from the school—local celebrities and popular students. Kei had ended up in that category thanks to something Ningguang had said earlier in the semester, which spread through campus rumors like wildfire.
Although that particular incident had mostly died down after the Student Council intervened and midterms rolled around, some echoes still lingered—this game being one of them.
On Chika's account, her [Hara Kei] card wasn't just high-level—it was maxed out. All abilities, gear, and skills were fully upgraded.
The game didn't have a payment system yet, so the gacha currency and stamina items were unlimited. But like any grind-heavy mobile game, leveling up required farming endless materials from various stages—the sort of repetitive toil players called "the grind."
It was tedious, mind-numbing labor designed to trap players by making them reluctant to abandon their progress—a classic tactic to boost player retention.
Judging by how far she'd taken "him," Kei estimated that Chika must've spent several solid hours grinding for that one card.
He sighed inwardly.
All that time and effort… on this trash heap?
Chika, however, didn't seem discouraged. "Hmm… maybe I can talk to Akasaka Ryūnosuke about saving some of the data? At least keep my [Hara Kei] card? I wouldn't mind even paying for that."
"That would still violate my image rights," Kei said bluntly. "So no."
"Ehh?! Can't you make an exception, Hara Kei?" she pleaded, her face crumpling into mock despair. Then she brightened, inching closer with a teasing smile. "Come on, I trained you all the way to max level! Doesn't that count for something?"
That's not even me.
Kei extended a finger and pressed it against her forehead, stopping her advance.
"No amount of flattery will change my mind. It's a matter of principle."
"You're so mean!" Chika puffed out her cheeks.
Still bickering, the two finally arrived at the door of the Lambs' Society.
When they slid it open, they found that two familiar black-haired girls had already arrived ahead of them.
Spending extra time testing that awful game had made them a little late.
Shinomiya Kaguya gave them a polite nod, while Yukinoshita Yukino waved softly from her seat.
Huh…? Something feels off about Yukinoshita today, Kei thought, frowning slightly.
Before he could pinpoint what it was, a voice called from behind him—
"Excuse me, is this the Lambs' Society?"
He turned around. Standing there was a female teacher with a sharp, confident gaze.
"I'm the advisor for the girls' swim team," she introduced herself briskly. "Lately, our club has been targeted by a thief—or rather, a phantom thief. I'd like to request the Lambs' Society's help."