I became a heart-stealing thief in Azure Files

Momoi's gaze then lingered on Alice, who was usually looking down at her chest, lost in thought, and she stuck to Yuzu.

Seemingly sensing the intense scrutiny and envy in Momoi's gaze, Yuzu shrank back, her eyes brimming with tears, and let out a soft sob.

"Woo..."

She clutched the pixelated staff tightly in her hand, lowering her head and using the wide brim of her hat to hide her shyness and panic.

Although it sounds unbelievable, in reality...

Yuzu, who usually stays at home, is actually the most 'interesting' of the four members of the gaming club.

—At least compared to Alice, who has no potential for growth, and the Saiyu sisters, Yuzu is already quite promising.

However, she usually wears oversized school uniforms most of the time, so loose that you can't tell at all.

"Speaking of which..."

Momoi tried to get closer to Yuzu, who hurriedly backed away and hid behind Amamiya.

"Yuzu seems to be the 'most interesting' one in our game department right now... (Part 1) Chess Road I] Three Japanese | Nine..."

"Why are we suddenly talking about physical development...?"

Noticing Yuzu's panic, Amamiya interrupted her somewhat helplessly: "Weren't we talking about adventure?"

After blocking Momoi's gaze that seemed to be 'going further', Amamiya coughed lightly, her tone becoming slightly more serious.

"Next up... is Alice's 'First Adventure in Another World'... Everyone, pay attention!"

After a brief moment of seriousness, Midori suddenly moved closer to Amamiya and casually posed a question.

"So...Sensei, do you prefer a fuller figure, or someone like us...?"

Amamiya paused just as he was about to announce that two more support members would be appearing. He glanced meaningfully at Midori, who was looking at him with the "eyes of a lowly woman."

"It's cute even though it's small."

【~??~】(from Little Green)

After a pause, Amamiya continued, "Take Yuzu for example... Putting aside whether I like it or not, I think that for Yuzu's age, developing to this size is just 'perfect'."

【~???~】(from Yuzu)

'...Huh?!'

He clearly noticed that the girl behind him suddenly stopped moving, and his brain went blank.

Amamiya calmly gave her summary.

"In any case, everyone in the gaming club still has room to grow... Let's put the discussion about body shape aside for now."

After ending this 'strange' topic, Amamiya began to contact Hoshino and Shirako, who were already waiting nearby.

"I need to let everyone in the game department know in advance... Today, two former 'phantom thieves' will be joining this adventure as temporary [Support Roles]..."

The four members of the game club, filled with curiosity, waited in place for a moment before seeing what Amamiya called the "Support character".

One of them was a 'corridor girl' dressed in a sporty short skirt, with a blue scarf, heterochromatic eyes, giving off an energetic but somewhat unapproachable vibe.

As for the other one... she seemed easier to approach, because both her seemingly relaxed demeanor and the slight 'sunny' feeling she gave off made her more approachable.

"Please introduce yourselves."

"Um……"

While the four members of the game club were observing Shirako and Hoshino, Hoshino and Shirako were also observing the four members of the game club.

From Bai Zi's perspective... she could vaguely sense that they... seemed to give off a feeling of being relatively approachable.

“Abydos Higher Academy, Countermeasures Committee, Sand Wolf Shiroko.”

“I’m also from Abydos, and I’m currently the chairperson of the countermeasures committee. Nice to meet you, my ‘juniors’.”

After Hoshino and Shirako introduced themselves, Momoi immediately began to express her feelings.

"Wow... this is... a Support character! They seem to have a very strong presence and power!"

Compared to them, who seem to have never experienced any major events... these two 'temporary characters' seem to have a much higher level and more experience!

Just by standing there, he exudes a terrifyingly powerful and oppressive aura...

"Support...the role?"

Hoshino repeated, slightly confused, a term commonly used in online RPG games.

She could understand what it meant, but because she knew almost nothing about the video game industry, she didn't quite understand what the word referred to.

Xiao Lü explained simply: "They are 'special characters' unique to some RPG games. When they join, their level is usually higher than the main character's. They cannot gain experience or loot, and they leave the party after a certain point in the story."

Then, her explanation only made Hoshino and Shirako, who were already a little confused, even more confused.

Hoshino blinked, momentarily confused by the way the game club members were talking—but that didn't stop her from making a summary.

"In short... we will be temporarily joining this exploration of the 'other world'."

Shirako calmly echoed, "Yes... to help Sensei."

Alice, who had 'observed' the entire negotiation, suddenly raised her hand with renewed energy.

"Bangbangkabang-check your guilt`?〦)9Yin〃I?Ba test found that two new members have joined the team."

"Checking the current team status... The team has 7 members (the four members of the game club, Shirako, Hoshino, and Amamiya)... We are one person short of the 'full team' requirement..."

Hoshino:……

what is she doing?

I don't really understand... never mind, I'd better not offer my opinion.

Bai Zi: ……

This trip is for Sensei; nothing else matters to me.

After realizing that neither Hoshino nor Shirako showed any 'special reaction', Amamiya walked over and gave Alice a quick rub on the top of her head.

"You'll meet the remaining person in another world."

He then launched the [Otherworld App].

The world began to be kneaded into a black and red vortex, distorted, and then redrawn.

A slight dizziness spread outwards from Amamiya's phone, instantly enveloping everyone present.

—It wasn't until the 'wind from another world' brushed against my cheeks that the dizziness that made it hard to open my eyes gradually dissipated.

"Oh..."

Upon landing, Hoshino immediately surveyed her surroundings. After discovering that this other world was vastly different from the environment of Abydos, she let out a soft sigh of slight surprise.

"here it is……"

Alice couldn't understand why the world before her eyes had suddenly changed.

The world before our eyes has truly been completely "redrawn"...

It's like loading a map in a game.

Alice, who was trying to connect to the network to get information, quickly showed an expression that was somewhere between panic and confusion, and her tone became slightly impatient.

"Alice can't connect to the internet..."

"Otherworlds are inherently inaccessible by the internet... at least this kind of magical otherworld definitely doesn't have modern internet."

After saying that as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Amamiya began to explain today's exploration mission.

—In this city called "Elidoo", they inquired around, searching for clues about the "Demon King's Castle" (palace).

"Intelligence gathering, you know..."

Hoshino thought it was some kind of difficult mission.

"I understand, you want to find clues about the 'Hall of Fame,' right? I'll try to gather as much information as possible, Uncle..."

After stretching his joints, Hoshino imitated Amamiya's behavior of becoming more alert in another world.

She tied her hair up, and with this movement, the loose, casual aura that had always surrounded her vanished instantly.

'call……'

Clusters of blazing flames suddenly appeared on her cheeks, transforming into a half-face mask that appeared to be modeled after an eagle.

"So... shall we go out into the 'wilderness' and look for some specific targets first?"

Based on his experience in the other world, Hoshino immediately offered a suggestion—grab a target who 'looks like a minor leader,' beat them up, and then get information; that's a fairly standard procedure.

Of course, asking around will also yield results...

However, based on Sensei's 'otherworld activity experience,' such a harvest is far too inefficient, time-consuming, and yields little information, making it not worthwhile at all.

Amamiya nodded, and changed her plans at the last minute, taking the four members of the game club who had originally intended to go to the pub in the opposite direction.

"Let's go to the wilderness first, to the area near the 'Demon King's Castle,' and capture a 'Demon King's Castle member' who might know something."

"But before that..."

Amamiya paused, then magically produced a black cube that resembled a Rubik's Cube.

"Sophie, come out and show everyone what you've got."

After saying that to the Rubik's Cube, Amamiya tossed it into the air like a Master Ball.

The Rubik's Cube, once launched into the air, instantly grew larger and began to emit light.

“clang clang~~”

Playing video game sound effects, a girl suddenly appears, dressed in a strange, tight white outfit and black boots that extend to her upper thighs, wearing a peculiar hood, and using a strange 'LCD screen' and emoticons as her face.

"I am 'Sophia,' a good friend of humans. That's right, it means a very good friend to humans."

"I'm also a member of the Phantom Thieves... My codename is Sophie. Nice to meet you all!"

Momoi was stunned again.

"Hey! Is that Sophia from that story... her appearance in the alternate world of the Seven Winged Beasts?!"

"Why does the face look like a strange LCD screen with pixelated emoticons...?"

Sofia touched her hood and pushed up the strange 'emoticon LCD screen,' revealing the delicate face of a young girl hidden beneath it.

"This is my 'Phantom Thief Mask,' isn't it incredible? It can express my feelings at this moment while I'm wearing the mask!"

Seeing Sophia remove the 'screen' from her face, Momoi was truly speechless.

"It can still be picked off..."

"Of course, you can put on the mask and take it off."

After giving a strange rebuttal to Momoi, who didn't know what to say, Sophia skipped around Hoshino and Shirako.

"Shirako-senpai... and Hoshino-senpai, right? I can sense the presence of Hoshino-senpai's Persona... Jok, what is her 'Otherworldly Code Name'?"

Under Hoshino's slightly surprised and strange gaze, Amamiya calmly replied, "I haven't had time to get it yet."

"That's it..."

Sophia skipped over to the four little ones from the game development department and greeted them one by one.

"Yo~ Hello, I'm Sophia. ...This must be the first time we've met like this."

"Momoi-senpai..."

Momoi, feeling quite pleased by the innocent yet lively "senior," unconsciously puffed out her chest and slightly curled the corners of her mouth.

I never imagined that being called "senpai" would feel like this... It feels strangely good!

"Senior Green".

Compared to Momoi's 'elation,' Midori was much more reserved. She hesitated slightly, a little awkwardly, before responding to Sofia's greeting.

"Um... Hello, Sofia."

"And... Yuzu-senpai."

"Um, you, you... hello... Sofia..."