A few seconds later, Uesugi Futaro couldn't wait to climb onto the earthen platform: "I'll do it!"
The ones who most craved superpowers were naturally the new players who were powerless to tie a chicken.
Although Makoto had just said this thing tasted like shit, if it meant gaining superpowers, they wouldn't just eat something that tasted like shit, they would even eat real shit.
This was not only the capital to survive in this world, but also something that could allow them to soar in the real world upon returning.
Look at people like Yukino and Hayato... their strength was only in the lower-middle tier, or even lower, among superpowered individuals.
But as long as they had superpowers, they received extremely high treatment in the real world.
Futaro suddenly felt that all his years of hard study had been wasted… why study? Superpowers are what make you successful!
"Brother, are you serious?" Futaro's sister, Uesugi Raiha, turned pale. She knew how clumsy her brother was when it came to sports.
"Me too!" Miyuki also climbed up, unwilling to be outdone.
Compared to Futaro struggling quite a bit just to climb the platform, Miyuki appeared slightly more graceful, pushing himself up with both hands.
Although it was only slightly.
"Oh~ Kei, your brother is very motivated, isn't he?" Moeha sidled up to Kei.
"Well, that's his only good point." Kei pouted.
She really disliked how her brother nagged like an old mother no matter what she did.
But she didn't hate Miyuki for it, because she knew he meant well for her.
She just didn't like him being so naggy. She was in her rebellious phase.
Looking at the two on stage, Makoto also became somewhat interested.
These two were quite similar in a way... both came from poor families, worked part-time jobs to earn money, and were both straight A students.
If there was any difference, it was that Miyuki was basically devoted to one person in the original work, while Futaro was the complete opposite, never confirming a relationship with a girl until the very end.
"Hayasaka, do you want to try?" Kaguya asked Ai in a low voice.
These past few days, she had also learned that Ai had experienced a crossing before.
No wonder she had become so strong.
But compared to the truly strong, Ai still wasn't good enough.
Ai opened her mouth, hesitating.
She naturally wanted to become stronger too, as she knew she was far from sufficient now.
But to be honest, the two on stage were new players without any combat ability. She really didn't have the heart to go bully them.
"Don't act rashly, Ai."
Just then, a beautiful woman who was eighty percent similar to Ai walked up and put her arms around the shoulders of Ai and Kaguya.
Hayasaka Nao, Ai's mother, and also an executive of the Shinomiya Zaibatsu.
She had been pulled into this round of the Reincarnation Game as well.
"Mother, what do you mean?" Ai asked curiously.
Although she had been playing the role of a sister to Kaguya for years, the truth was, she was just a seventeen-year-old girl herself, severely lacking maternal love.
Seeing her mother also pulled into the game, she naturally felt worried for her, but deep down, she also felt a little glad.
Because this way, her mother would have more time to spend with her.
Nao said quietly: "Don't you find it strange? If eating that fruit can give you superpowers, why wouldn't our Commander give it to his own wives?"
At these words, Kaguya and Ai instantly understood.
Exactly!
Makoto could easily have given it to Megumi, Yui, or even little fangirls like Kokoro and Moeha.
Why would he bring it out as a prize? Just to watch the noobs on stage fight?
Yes, the fight now on stage between Miyuki and Futaro was a classic example of a noob fight.
These two weren't just new players without superpowers... they also lacked any fighting skills like Ai or Saeko. They were purely flailing around.
In the end, Miyuki, with bruises around his eyes and mouth, secured a relatively easy victory.
Although he was terrible at skilled ball sports, he had quite good stamina and endurance.
Before the era of superpowers, he consistently achieved good results in unskilled events like long-distance running and sprinting at the school sports festival.
When Miyuki knocked Futaro off the stage with a lateral hook punch, Makoto, Nayuta, Reze, Yukiko, and others erupted in cheers.
It had to be said, there was a reason they got along so well with Makoto.
Generally speaking, two types of matches are most exciting: one is a contest between masters, the other is a fight between noobs.
The former is like the UEFA Champions League, the latter like a village super league.
The most annoying type is the in-between kind… lacking both technical content and excitement.
Everyone knows who that refers to.
And the fight between Miyuki and Futaro clearly belonged to the latter.
Of course, it lacked technical content, but it was fun!
Seeing Makoto and the others cheering, Miyuki suddenly felt incredibly cool and couldn't help grinning at them.
Little did he know, although his injuries weren't severe, his face was still bruised and swollen. Grinning like that showed all his teeth.
Kei was too embarrassed to look, 'How mortifying.'
"Yotsuba, you go up. Take him down!" Nino patted Yotsuba's back, pointing at Miyuki on stage, like a trainer sending out a Pokémon.
Yotsuba looked bewildered: "Huh? Me? But I don't want to bully an ordinary person."
"Don't overthink it. This is a great chance to get superpowers!" Nino encouraged repeatedly.
If it were an ordinary girl, she might dare to go up and have a go. But against a guy, it was different.
Only those women on certain social media platforms truly believed that untrained women could beat men.
Even with professional training, it's not easy for a woman to defeat a man at the same level.
But Yotsuba was different. She had trained for over a decade in the Chainsaw Man World.
And in the few months in the real world, she had continued special training with Makoto.
Her strength was at least as good as, if not better than, the Elite-Genin level like Ai.
Yotsuba, already a people pleaser by nature, couldn't resist her sister's encouragement any longer and was about to go on stage.
But just then, Yotsuba noticed Makoto diagonally opposite giving her a slight shake of his head.
Yotsuba's expression changed slightly, and she shouted, "I'm not going!"
Her four sisters were startled.
But seeing Yotsuba's determined expression, they didn't push her further.
Nino muttered, "If you don't want to go, fine. Why get so angry?"
Subsequently, several more new players took the stage to challenge.
Although some veteran players were tempted, most of them had already acquired superpowers to varying degrees and had enough self-respect not to embarrass themselves by bullying ordinary people on stage.
Just as everyone thought this Devil Fruit would go to Miyuki, Haruno suddenly said, "Hey, Hayato! Go up!"
Hayato: "???"
"Ha-Haruno-san, are you calling me?" Hayato pointed at himself, looking incredulous.
"Yeah, don't you want to take this opportunity to strengthen yourself?" Haruno said matter-of-factly.
Hayato's expression was a bit strange.
He also had self-respect and really didn't want to bully ordinary people.
Moreover, the Miyuki on stage now was barely hanging on.
And Hayama was very curious. Since it was such a good opportunity, why didn't Haruno herself go up?
"What's wrong, Hayato? You don't want to?"
Haruno raised her hand to her cheek, striking a pitiful expression.
Hayato's heart leaped violently. By the time he came to his senses, he found himself already on stage.
He looked just like Tom chasing the little white female cat.
At this moment, one word appeared in everyone's mind simultaneously… Simp.
"Shirogane-kun, you're no match for me." Hayato looked sympathetically at the exhausted Miyuki.
Miyuki panted heavily, didn't answer, just used his last bit of strength to rush forward and punch Hayama.
But Hayama didn't even fight back... he just slightly bent his waist.
Miyuki stumbled, losing his balance, and seemed about to fall off the stage.
"Onii—" Kei was startled.
At the critical moment, a giant skeletal hand reached out and caught Miyuki.
Kei, her mouth wide open, looked at Makoto, then quickly bowed: "Th-Thank you, Commander."
Makoto placed Miyuki beside the Kuja crew: "Have your ship's doctor take a look at him."
He didn't have a healer on his team, after all, his people could all revive by drinking blood.
"Hey, Hayama, that's too much." Yumiko, who had once had a vaguely romantic relationship with him and was now a maid in Makoto's household, said somewhat disdainfully.
Fighting an ordinary person, and one who was already weakened, how could you bring yourself to go up?
Hayato scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. It couldn't be helped... it was the first time Haruno had looked at him with such a pitiful expression. He just couldn't resist.
Makoto glanced at Hayato.
He had a premonition that this guy was going to die soon.
After all, simps don't deserve houses.