Hearing the commotion, Junichi and his companion quickly left the water.

Because she was in a bad mood, Ogasawara Kaori went up to me with a slightly questioning tone: "What exactly happened?"

When Ryohei Oshima saw that it was the other party, he first glared at the two uninvited guests, and then explained the situation.

They were sunbathing when these guys suddenly dribbled the ball over to them. At first, the short-haired girl named Yao kindly passed the ball back.

But to everyone's surprise, the group slapped the ball over again, and this time it hit Yao directly in the forehead.

The group glanced at Yao's forehead, where there was still a faint red mark, indicating that the force was considerable.

As for Hayakawa Sakuno's statement that they kicked the volleyball like a ball, there might be some exaggeration involved, but it does show that they did hit it a bit too hard.

Junichi glanced at the location of the other party's companion, who was at least 50 yards away.

It would be very difficult to deliberately hit someone from such a distance, but if it were a normal volleyball game, hitting the ball that far would just be a coincidence, and Junichi Se would never believe it.

"Gentlemen, I'm truly sorry. My friend only knows how to use brute force; it wasn't intentional. How about this, we'll treat you all to dinner tonight as an apology?"

The speaker was a boy wearing blue swimming trunks, a red headscarf, a nose ring, and a skull tattooed on his arm. Although he had a smile on his face, he didn't seem very approachable.

As for his friend, good heavens, he really was like an iron tower, probably over 1.9 meters tall, half a head taller than Oshima Ryohei who was 1.86 meters tall. He had a buzz cut and many knife scars on his arms. Just standing there made several girls sweat.

Yao said it was nothing because she was afraid of causing trouble. Compared to the two guys in front of her, she felt that her so-called hot girls and tough guys were no match for them at all.

We were just a few rebellious kids who were dissatisfied with our family atmosphere, and we were not on the same level as these real biker gangs.

Actually, her forehead is still a little burning!

At this moment, not only Haruka, but even Hayakawa Sakuno and Ogasawara Kaori, who had initially been aggressive, couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines and start pounding their bellies after seeing the newcomer's attire.

I wondered if I had spoken too loudly just now!

Fortunately, the two uninvited guests have been relatively polite so far, and have even taken the initiative to apologize.

But everyone wasn't stupid; these guys clearly wanted to get close to the girls, leaving them in a bit of a dilemma.

In contrast, only Ryohei Oshima, this hothead, remained relatively calm, though he was prone to getting carried away in front of the person he liked, occasionally widening his large, bell-like eyes.

But this guy was really bad at talking. Seeing that Sei Junichi, who was about the same size as him, was coming, he became even more confident and shouted, "Now that you've apologized, hurry up and leave. We don't associate with shady people."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air visibly froze.

Kaori Ogasawara couldn't help but want to scream out loud.

This bastard, does he want to die?

Hayakawa Sakuno instinctively moved closer to Sei Junichi; when girls encounter danger, they instinctively seek someone to rely on.

Even if you usually think the other person is unreliable, in this situation, even getting just a little closer can greatly increase your sense of security.

The boy in the headscarf, who had been all smiles, suddenly stopped smiling and squinted at Ryohei Oshima: "Could you please explain to me what 'neither fish nor fowl' means?"

"Ade, Iron Man, are you done yet?"

At this moment, the other side's companions seemed to be getting impatient and started shouting. Seeing that there were more people on Sei Junichi's side, they seemed to want to come over.

But the number of people is more than twice that of Junichi's side!

Although these guys in front of him were no good, Ryohei Oshima's words were tantamount to tearing off their mask, completely blocking their way out.

Junichi Sei wasn't one to fuss over details, so he brought up the system without saying a word.

Name: Junichi Se

Intelligence: 6

[Charm: 8]

[Stamina: 2 (+3)]

[Dislike level: 24, redeem/draw (2 times)]

[Ability: Volleyball Proficiency]

(Note: 1 point of dislike = 10,000 yen. 10 points can be used for one lottery draw. Accumulated points can be exchanged for shares of any medium-sized or lower-sized company in Tokyo.)

Volleyball proficiency adds 3 points to your stamina, but that's only equivalent to the average level. Fighting is all about skill; brute force alone is far from enough.

Let's just unleash the golden light!

Junichi prayed devoutly.

"What are you doing?!"

Just then, a clear, cold voice came from afar.

Junichi's spellcasting was also interrupted, and he looked up into the distance.

Then, Shiina Hitomi, who had initially led her bespectacled underlings to go scuba diving, slowly walked over with her two long, slender legs that seemed to reach for the sky. As she walked, her wet hair moved without any wind.

If it weren't for the fact that the bespectacled boy's back was slightly hunched, which detracted from the overall impression, it would have been even more perfect.

When the short-haired girl named Yao saw her leader arrive, she immediately ran up to him. But as soon as she took a step, she noticed a commotion caused by the menacing group.

The turban-wearing boy, who had a menacing look on his face, suddenly changed his expression, a hint of fear flashing in his eyes: "Shiina, are these guys your friends?"

Shiina Hitomi was also somewhat surprised to run into him here, and she also keenly noticed the strange look on her companion's face. Her expression turned cold: "Ade, what are you up to now?"

The man in the turban had shifting eyes, seemingly extremely wary of Shiina Hitomi, but he couldn't bring himself to do it in front of his friend, so he stood there speechless.

"Shiina, it's just a small misunderstanding. We'll clear it up soon."

Soon, a man with long hair came up, but he spoke with a lisp, as if he had just had a few front teeth knocked out.

As they spoke, the long-haired man winked at Ade and the other man, who then stepped behind him. Even the incredibly strong guy looked more honest and simple, completely different from before.

"Since there's nothing else, let's leave quickly!"

Shiina Hitomi said calmly.

Seeing that the other party didn't intend to pursue the matter, the group led by the long-haired man secretly breathed a sigh of relief and politely asked, "We're playing volleyball. If you're interested, you can join us."

Shiina Hitomi raised her eyelids slightly but didn't speak, clearly not wanting to waste any more words with the others.

"Wait a moment!"

Those who heard the sound were startled and immediately stopped in their tracks.

At the same time, Shiina Hitomi pointed to the red mark on the short-haired girl's forehead, her heavy makeup so cold it seemed like ice shards could fall from it: "Who did this?!"

Oh no!

Their hearts skipped a beat, and their breathing became uneven.