"I'm back!"
With a cheerful smile, Chika pulled her suitcase behind her as she returned home.
The house was unusually lively.
Not only were her father, mother, older sister, and younger sister present, but also her grandfather, grandmother, uncle, and aunt. Nearly all the key members of the family were gathered.
"Chika's home."
Her grandfather greeted her with a broad smile in response to her bright expression.
"How was it? How did you feel about this trip?"
"It was great!"
Chika smiled and made a "yeah" gesture.
"I saw a lot of amazing things on this trip. But there were some accidents. When Kaguya was testing Hayasaka's resistance to pressure in another dimension, something went wrong. The dimension collapsed, and the iceberg created by Kaguya's Ice-Ice Fruit attack in that space ended up crashing into the island."
"It was really dangerous. It looked like two-thirds of the island ended up buried under that iceberg."
Just listening to their granddaughter's description, both grandfathers could already picture how intense the experience had been.
Another dimension collapsing, an iceberg crashing into the island… the two elderly men were left dumbfounded.
They glanced at each other, seeing surprise and doubt reflected in each other's eyes.
Are we… outdated?
The moment that thought crossed their minds, Chika quickly shook her head to deny it.
"No, Grandpa and Grandpa, you're not behind the times."
"It's just that Kaguya and the others were working really hard during training, and they're pushing their limits right now. So, loud and dramatic stuff like this is normal. It's just that since you haven't been exposed to this kind of thing, it makes sense that you're not used to it yet."
Hearing their granddaughter say this, the two elders' shock began to settle down.
They were both aware of the mysterious, but they hadn't experienced the level of destruction the true mysterious world could cause.
After all, the mysteries they had encountered in the past weren't nearly this dangerous or influential.
While the elders calmed down, Fujiwara Maho, seated in the main seat, looked at Chika with slight suspicion.
Considering the kind of world Chika had been exposed to lately, Maho didn't hold back and asked directly:
"Chika, weren't you a little too quick to respond?"
"Eh???"
Chika blinked in confusion at her mother, then quickly realized what she'd done. Her mother's questioning gaze made it clear.
"Ah… because I also stepped into the mysterious during this trip."
"…"
The entire Fujiwara family stared at her in stunned silence.
None of them had expected Chika to enter the mysterious world so soon.
Her younger sister, Moeha, was the first to react.
"Really? Sis entered that fast? What kind of ability did you get?"
It wasn't just Moeha. Everyone in the Fujiwara family was curious. Chika was the first in their household to enter the mysterious. How could they not be interested in her abilities?
"The power I got is probably the lowest-tier one. It didn't show immediate effects like Kaguya's. Right now, my physical abilities haven't changed. I've only gained enhancements in mental capacity and observation."
"As for how those enhancements work... well, I can already tell what Moeha is thinking right now."
"Even though her expression hasn't changed at all, her fingers twitched, her breathing got a little erratic, and her pupils contracted unnaturally."
"And now she's wondering how I figured out what she was thinking."
After explaining, Chika folded her arms and chuckled. Her tone had unconsciously become a little proud.
"Moeha's thoughts are completely visible to me. I can see through her actions and micro-expressions and deduce her true intentions through observation."
Upon hearing that, Moeha widened her eyes and pointed at her sister in protest.
"This is mind reading! That's cheating, Sis!"
"It's not mind reading! I'm just a Spectator from the first sequence. Mind reading is at Sequence 8. I'm just interpreting behavior and language to infer purpose. That's not actual mind reading."
Hearing her sister's shameless rebuttal, Moeha's cheeks puffed up in frustration.
At that moment, she realized—pranking her sister in the future was no longer possible.
Her sister's ability completely countered any sort of trickery. She couldn't even play mind games anymore. She would just end up getting outmaneuvered and humiliated by her sister's newfound skills.
Watching Moeha's flustered face, Chika proudly crossed her arms and held her head high, clearly basking in her victory.
Moeha grew even more irritated seeing her sister's smug look.
"But even so, isn't Kaguya still stronger?"
Her comment hit Chika square in the pride.
Her triumphant expression froze on the spot. She glanced at Moeha, then pulled out her phone and made a call.
The call connected quickly. Chika turned on the speaker, and a male voice came through the other end.
"You already have something to talk to me about after getting home, Fujiwara?"
"Sorry to bother you, Amamiya. I just got home."
"You called me as soon as you got back? What is it?"
"Well… my sister Moeha said my ability isn't as good as Kaguya's. Could you help me refute that?"
"…You're putting this out in public?"
"Yep."
"I just reminded you, you're a Spectator, not an Actor. Spectators aren't supposed to interfere with events directly. If you're not careful, the Spectator's potion won't digest properly."
After the reminder, Ren paused for a moment, then sighed with a trace of helplessness in his voice.
"To satisfy both your and your sister's curiosity… yes, Kaguya's abilities are indeed exceptional. If she continues to push her powers to the limit, she'll definitely reach the peak I expected—demigod level."
The moment the word "God" came out, the entire Fujiwara family froze.
To them, that concept was completely beyond reach, and it shattered their previous understanding of power.
(To be continued.)
***
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