The next morning.
Allen was struggling to pick a nice outfit for his date, but he couldn't find one that suited his style—because his gender had changed from female to male.
Frustrated, Allen decided to wake up Rika.
"Oi, Rikaaa, wake up, you lazy bum," Allen said while shaking Rika's body.
Rika didn't respond and just rolled over in the opposite direction.
"Rika, come on... wake up…"
Allen looked up and smirked mischievously.
"Lazy people need to be taught a lesson," Allen pointed at the ceiling and used his water magic.
A large amount of water poured down on Rika, hitting her with surprising force.
She jolted awake, soaked.
"Morning, Allen…" Rika said sleepily.
"Rika, I need your help."
"For what? It's still a holiday... I wanna sleep more."
"Please help me pick an outfit that suits my new style!!"
Rika glanced at Allen with a sleepy expression.
"You'd be better off just wearing a mask to hide that dumb face of yours."
Allen was stunned by her words.
"Oh right, that would also help cover up your pervy expression. Don't tell me you stood there on purpose to stare at my soaked, see-through clothes?"
Allen scratched his head awkwardly.
"Hehehe…"
"You damn pervert NPC," Rika grumbled and went back to sleep.
"Phew, at least there wasn't an explosion—"
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared beneath Allen's feet.
"Explosion."
BOOM.
A huge blast tore a hole in the apartment wall.
SYSTEM: REACTIVE EVOLUTION
+1 EVOLUTION
Allen quickly repaired the damage using his earth magic.
"Good thing Stella's working overtime."
He changed into his school uniform and headed to the meeting spot with Marie.
---
Meanwhile, in an old shack…
"Please, have mercy..." a woman begged.
But the man who had been torturing her drove another nail through her hand.
She screamed in agony.
"My lord, I believe it's time to 'appreciate' this woman," said the mad professor.
"Very well, Professor Uno."
Uno approached the woman. She tried to resist, but the nails had pinned her down.
"Someone… please help me…" she cried, tears running down her cheeks.
Uno injected something into her neck.
She screamed again.
---
Back in the isekai world…
Allen waited for Marie. Not long after, she arrived, accompanied by a hooded figure.
"Allen!" Marie ran up to him, panting. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"No problem. Uh, who's that?" Allen asked, pointing at the hooded person.
The figure removed their hood.
Allen was shocked—the person looked exactly like him.
"Nice to meet you. I'm known as That's Me, one of the Seven Great Students."
"Why do we look exactly alike?"
"It's one of my abilities—Mimicry. I can perfectly copy someone's appearance, hair, blood type, and even their abilities after just one glance."
"Alright, now show me your real form."
That's Me smiled gently and put the hood back on.
"Sorry, Allen, but I don't have a fixed physical form. Technically, I do, but it's made entirely of glass and metal."
"Oh…"
Marie grabbed both of their hands.
"Come on, you two are totally ignoring me!"
They headed to a café to hang out.
Allen ordered a caramel coffee.
Marie ordered pancakes.
That's Me ordered black coffee.
They chatted and laughed while waiting for their orders.
Once the food arrived, they eagerly dug in.
"By the way, Allen," Marie said, "have you ever heard of an organization called Masumi Tania?"
The atmosphere turned serious.
"I've never heard of it," Allen replied.
Marie and That's Me exchanged glances. Marie nodded at them.
That's Me snapped their fingers.
System: Welcome to the Multiverse.
Reactive Evolution +1
Adaptation +1
"Multiverse?"
Confused, Allen reached out and touched one of the floating multiverse projections.
System: Reactive Evolution +1
Adaptation +1
As he touched it, Allen saw his old world—the one he lived in as a woman named Kanaya.
He turned back and saw Marie and That's Me frozen, shocked.
"What's with those looks? Don't tell me they're amazed by their own magic," Allen muttered.
He walked up to them.
"Yo."
They looked at him with wary eyes.
"Allen… are you really just an NPC?" Marie asked cautiously.
"Yep."
That's Me didn't buy it.
"Who are you really? Your existence level is off the charts—3D, 4D, up to 12D."
Allen paused.
"You don't have to worry. I'm not dangerous."
"Not dangerous, my ass!" Marie snapped.
"Relax, I just want to know more about this Masumi Tania group."
That's Me calmed Marie down.
"They're an organization that conducts experiments on women," they explained.
"Why women specifically?" Allen asked.
"Because they're sick—they torture them, abuse them, and turn them into unrecognizable creatures."
Allen clenched his teeth.
"Bastards…"
That's Me handed him an address.
"We got info that one of their bases is nearby."
They snapped their fingers, restoring the world to its original state.
"How many bases do they have?" Allen asked.
Marie pulled up a laptop and showed the data.
"There are 25 active branches."
To be continued.