Chapter 22: Minimap Prototype

(Authors Note:

Aight, it's Monday again.

My update schedule is 5 days a week, Mon-Fri.

Throw stones for extra chapters on Saturday or Sunday.

100 stones on Friday = extra chap on Saturday.

250 stones on Saturday = extra chap on Sunday.

(Frenda POV)

'Eh? Isn't that the fresh face who just snagged the number 3 spot? He's kinda cute, I like.' Our gazes locked, and without missing a beat, I flashed him a grin while giving a playful wave with my hand.

'That look of surprise on his face when I waved at him, it's adorable. Is he really number 3?' I pondered silently to myself, my thoughts drifting back to the events of last night.

As our team rested within our base, a directive arrived from the head honcho at the board, along with a file.

Upon opening it, we were greeted with the sight of the newly promoted rank 3 Level 5 Esper, Point Blank.

With our team deeply entrenched in a critical mission, any disruptions were out of the question.

Thus, a cautionary warning was attached to the directive: 'Avoid accidental encounters.'

The file also contained a detailed report regarding the circumstances leading to the hospitalization of the current number 1 following a confrontation with the newly appointed number 3, who appeared to overpower him effortlessly.

'Mugino wasn't exactly thrilled about getting her rank pushed back by some newbie, it's good that she decided to keep her feelings to herself for now. Mission comes first, after all.' With those thoughts swirling in my mind, I took a final sip of my coffee, rising from my seat and making my way toward number 3.

(Dante POV)

'Oya? Did my handsome face catch Frenda's eye? That grin of hers was pretty cute, not gonna lie.' As I gazed at Frenda, she seemed to be lost in thought for a few seconds before she stood up and walked toward my table.

As she sat down across from me, I grinned and said, "To what do I owe the honor of having such a beauty join me?"

With a cute smile, she said, "Heh? I'm a beauty, huh? Well, you're not bad-looking yourself. You're cute, just my type."

'That wasn't the reply I was expecting. Are high schoolers this bold nowadays?' I thought, blinking in surprise at Frenda's response.

"Heh, your reactions are adorable. I'm Frenda Seivelun," she said, gazing at me with a playful smile.

Her shoulders pressed into the table, and her face rested in between her hands.

"Dante Yamamoto. A pleasure to get to know you, my lady," I replied, still confused about why this girl was talking to me.

'Damn, this is really awkward. I'm pretending to be some smooth guy, but I am not really cut out for it like wtf.' I said as I noticed how Frenda was smiling at me.

"You know what? I like you. Your reactions and your face just suit me. Let's exchange contacts." She pulled out her phone and waited expectantly for mine.

'Aight. This is sus. I know what's sus when I see it, and this is super sus. But hey, having an ITEM member's contact isn't a bad deal. But given how aggressive this chick is, I'm sure there's some scheme cooking. Just need to stay cautious.' I said to myself.

As my mind snapped out of the stupor induced by the presence of a cute girl aggressively approaching me, I returned to my normal thought process, pondering the reasons why this chick was talking to me.

'ITEM is essentially a pawn of one of the board members. Considering the number of scientists present during my tests at Kirihara's, it's not unlikely that my identity has leaked to the board members. Assuming they're aware of me beating the crap out of Accelerator, this girl approaching me starts to make sense. Whether it's just to establish contact or some scheme or whatever, it's fine.' My thoughts raced as I felt I grasped the situation.

Pulling out my phone, the two of us exchanged our contact information.

As I stored my phone back in my pocket, Frenda stood up.

"It was a pleasure meeting a cutie like you, Dante-kun. But alas, duty calls, and I gotta jet. Let's catch up later, alright? I'll give you a ring." With a wink and a playful grin, she said before turning on her heel and sauntering out of the restaurant.

'Yep, that girl is cooking something alright. Whatever, she is cute so it's forgiven.' I said to myself as I started eating my breakfast.

'Damn, I can't shake the feeling that I completely embarrassed myself in that brief exchange. Definitely need to polish up my poker face; I'm willing to bet she found my expressions quite amusing. Besides Kanzaki's poker-faced response and Komoe-chan being her usual self, it's been over six years since I've had a conversation with a woman, particularly one who speaks so boldly.' As I take a sip of my cola, I find myself observing the lively crowd outside the restaurant.

'Anyways, Great Sage, don't forget to mark Frenda purple so I can easily find her,' I instructed, recalling a function I saw in the anime Isekai Smartphone.

(Author's note: Aight, before people complain about Minimap is not only from that anime, which is obvious, what I mean is the direction of evolution of the minimap is going to be Isekai Smartphone style.)

Earlier, while I was still training my spear techniques, the idea of creating a minimap came to me as I tried to divert my attention to different things.

When I suggested the idea to Great Sage, I initially thought it would take time to create the function.

However, being the best skill there is, Great Sage managed to create a prototype for the minimap effortlessly.

Utilizing spatial manipulation and Mana/AIM sense to recognize individuals, Great Sage conjured a map displaying the surrounding 1km radius in all directions.

The map displayed roads and dots of different colors representing people: green for me, blue for recognized allies, red for recognized enemies, white for unmarked individuals, and purple for important targets.

By creating a mark utilizing a specific combination of Mana and AIM, Great Sage employed spatial manipulation to implant it inside the body of a target, causing them to appear on my map as Blue, Red, or Purple.

If the Great Sage perceives a human whom I don't know personally nor through the knowledge of the plot, he will leave it unmarked, displaying a white dot.

As the mark powered itself using ambient energy, it would remain active until I left the world, deactivating once the caster was gone.

'Well, the marking system is still flawed. It's just Great Sage marking them after they enter my minimap's range using my understanding of people. Unless I obtain a skill that can read people's emotions and sense bloodlust, the minimap will continue to stay as a prototype.' With these thoughts in mind, I left the restaurant, gazing at the purple mark on a building a few hundred meters away from my location.