A Very Expressive Gesture

After calming down, Shea picked up another game controller from the low table. Since they hadn't turned off the game before heading downstairs, she and Reina were able to jump right back into playing.

Arifureta also pulled Eriri into the game, forming two teams. They agreed to rotate players after each loss.

Taking advantage of this moment, Eriri retrieved her smartphone, which had been turned off for the past five days, from her storage space. To her surprise, she found several new text messages and missed call notifications.

In the past, when she was in elementary and middle school, she had little interest in socializing with her classmates. As a result, her classmates saw her as unapproachable and didn't dare ask for her contact information.

To this day, her phone had only five contacts, and she hadn't yet exchanged contact information with her new high school acquaintances, Kiyo Ishimaki and Azusa Satomi.

Excluding the four people who knew her whereabouts, it was clear who had sent the messages and made the calls.

Opening the messages and call logs, she confirmed her suspicions: all the unread messages and missed calls were from the same person—Utaha Kasumigaoka, the elegant senpai with the seductive figure and black stockings.

The messages were all sent the day after she left for the other world, and the content was just as she expected—simple greetings, such as "Sawamura-san, are you there?", "Sawamura-san, why weren't you at school? Are you sick?", "Sawamura-san, are you busy?", and so on. It was reminiscent of someone nervously messaging their crush.

Of course, for Utaha Kasumigaoka, these might just be simple expressions of concern for her junior.

"She was probably worried because I took time off from school without notice, so Senpai couldn't help but send messages and call to check on me," Eriri thought.

With that in mind, she opened the message editor and quickly typed out a reply to Utaha Kasumigaoka.

"Senpai, it's been a few days. Did you miss me?"

After sending the message, Eriri opened her messaging app and selected her conversation with Megumi Kato.

Eriri: "Megumi-chan, did you miss me these past few days?"

True to her reputation as someone who always kept her phone close, Megumi replied instantly, even though it was already past 10 PM.

Megumi: "I missed you every day, every moment. Welcome back, Eriri."

Megumi: "Missed you.jpg"

Seeing Megumi's response, a warm smile spread across Eriri's face.

This caught Arifureta's attention, and she couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly. Seeing the glow of Eriri's phone, she sensed that something was amiss.

Eriri: "Yes, I'm back!"

Megumi: "How was the other world, Eriri?"

Megumi: "Curious.jpg"

Eriri: "It was pretty nice. I saw some sights I'd never seen before and met people from other races."

Megumi: "That sounds amazing. I wish I could go too."

Megumi: "Dreaming.jpg"

...

Eriri and Megumi continued chatting about the various experiences and scenery Eriri had encountered in the other world. During this time, Shea and Reina finished a game, but Eriri let Reina continue playing with Arifureta for another round.

Eriri: "By the way, Megumi-chan, I brought three friends from over there."

Megumi: "Are they the Arifureta and the others you mentioned earlier?"

Eriri: "That's right."

Megumi: "Hmm… are they my new sisters?"

Megumi: "Thinking deeply.jpg"

Eriri: "Ah, well… You'll know when I introduce you to them next time."

Megumi: "Alright, tomorrow is Monday. Are you coming to school?"

Megumi: "Excited.jpg"

Eriri: "I'm taking Arifureta and the others shopping tomorrow. I took a seven-day leave, so I still have two days off. Do you want to take a day off and come hang out with us? It'll be a good chance for you to meet them."

Megumi: "Sure! See you tomorrow!"

Eriri: "See you tomorrow. Love you."

Eriri: "Kiss.jpg"

Megumi: "Kiss.jpg"

After finishing her chat with Megumi, nearly twenty minutes had passed, and there was still no reply from Utaha Kasumigaoka. Eriri figured she must be asleep; after all, not everyone was like Megumi, who, having become a transcendent being, didn't even need sleep.

Once Eriri put her phone away, Arifureta, who had been sitting beside her, tugged at her arm and whispered in her ear, "Eriri, who were you chatting with just now?"

Eriri didn't hide anything and replied directly, "Megumi-chan."

"Megumi-chan?" Arifureta was puzzled for a moment, not immediately recalling who that was. Then, suddenly remembering the highly popular character from her previous life, she asked quickly, "Megumi Kato?"

"Yes, Megumi Kato."

"You two got together that quickly? But didn't you just start high school? Did you know each other before?" Arifureta's mouth dropped open as she fired off three questions in rapid succession. She couldn't help but marvel at how Eriri had managed to win over the original main heroine so fast.

"Megumi-chan and I got together the day before I met you."

"Did you two… do it?" Arifureta asked, making a suggestive gesture by rubbing her thumbs and forefingers together.

"Ah… no, but where did you even come up with that gesture?" Eriri chuckled, pinching Arifureta's cheek in amusement.

"Hehe, isn't it pretty descriptive?" Arifureta said proudly, tilting her head up as if she'd accomplished something worth boasting about, though it was hard to tell why she was so pleased.

Then she suddenly let out a sigh of relief and said, "Phew, for a moment there, I thought I wasn't your first."

Just then, Reina, who had been playing games while sitting in Eriri's lap, suddenly looked up at Arifureta with innocent, wide eyes.

"Yue-neechan, what do you mean by 'first'?"

Arifureta froze for a moment, then quickly covered it up with a laugh, brushing it off casually, "Oh, you'll understand when you're older."

To avoid further questions from Reina, Arifureta swiftly changed the subject, asking Eriri another question.

"Eriri, is there no magic in this world?"

Ever since they stepped out of the world portal, Arifureta hadn't felt any magic in the atmosphere. The question had been lingering in her mind, but she only now decided to voice it.

"That's right. This world is just an ordinary one, with no magic or any other mystical energy."