If they followed the universal scheme, Noire City could be considered a third-tier city at best, not at all comparable to a first-tier city like the provincial capital.
Then again, each province could afford to maintain one top-tier city, and this is when talking about a superpower country like the Nexus Country.
Some countries can't afford to keep up with the standards of top-tier cities, even though Hiro was oblivious to the hidden conditions a city must meet to earn its position as a top-tier city.
As for countries, at least from the Paranormal Society standpoint, Hiro understood that a superpower country has control over many pocket dimensions with friendly environments towards humans.
It was an open secret at this point in time.
Hiro's thoughts were simple; since the brutal war decades ago started due to the discovery of those pocket dimensions, could it be that the registered loss of billions of lives was a smokescreen practiced by some countries to facilitate an easier migration?
How deep is the foundation of the superpowers? How many generations of humans have been raised in the pocket dimension? What are the odds that most of those humans were now Paranormals thanks to the nourishment of the dimension's laws?
The more Hiro understood the Paranormal Society, the less he understood the current world.
He still couldn't see things clearly. It was too scary.
"What are you thinking about? Dude, this is a vacation! Do I have to spell it out for you? Stop having that 'I have the world on my shoulders' expression and relax!"
Vanti ambushed Hiro with a slap on the shoulder the moment they left the bus station.
"For once in your life, Vee, you're right," Hiro rubbed his shoulder and smiled.
He decided to spend the next few days as a normal high schooler without much worries in his mind.
Hiro recognized that he didn't have any pressing matters to call for his immediate attention.
His company? Arabella is doing just fine, especially with the contracts to create new VR games on a joint venture with other companies.
His high-priority mission? The four beast kings in the four directions are doing fine, except for the fact that with higher intelligence, their desires and ambitions are getting amplified.
Conflicts over territory are bound to happen, but what was a pleasant surprise to Hiro was that once a creature with high spirituality died, their souls broke down into as many fragments as was required for blank reincarnation.
In a sense, if a creature's intelligence was high enough as reflected upon their spirituality, one death could result in the birth of tens or hundreds of creatures.
As for these newly born creatures, while the intelligence and spirituality of their fragmented souls would be low, the potential would still be there.
Once he made this discovery, Hiro almost tossed humans into his pocket dimension and used them as living sacrifices.
Most people didn't believe in the existence of souls, but as a transmigrator, Hiro would be the first to slap such people in the face.
Hiro realized that his thoughts had arrived at a bleak, dark place—and he quickly shook himself out of it.
So what if sacrificing human lives can escalate the development of my pocket dimension? I'm not that desperate.
Thinking about it, how old is this world? How many billions of lives were lost to the river of time and the mindless wars? Most of the landmass now lay in ruins across the vast oceans, but this world is still as fragile.
Hiro forgot that the current world's source of mystical energy was the countless pocket dimensions feeding power into the world and that this world didn't have an energy core of its own.
Otherwise, it might have long evolved into something greater than a pocket dimension, a realm, or a small world.
However, it was fine that Hiro didn't know.
At the very least, these things aren't something he should dabble into at the moment.
After sorting out his thoughts, Hiro approached Vanti, wrapped his arm around this good friend's shoulder, and chuckled.
"Alright Vee, let's have fun and relax while we still can. I'm afraid that the locals will murder us once I wipe the floor with their soccer team."
Vanti blinked, not expecting the sudden wave of enthusiasm. It was rare to see Hiro without a deep frown or an absentminded gaze.
"I know a good gaming workshop nearby," Vanti tested the waters. "Are you coming with? Seeker's Legend is a pretty good game."
Hiro cinged hard. "No, pick something else—if I wanted to relax in the real world, why would I dive into a simulation game?"
Hiro thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to a waterpark, the zoo, the shopping centers, or anything like an entertainment facility—I haven't tried karaoke yet, I also heard that there's a good ice skating ring in this city."
Vanti had a serious expression as he asked in a deep voice, "You're paying for it?"
Hiro blinked. "Of course, why not?"
Vanti laughed heartily and patted Hiro's back, yelling to the bus behind them, "Guys! Come on quickly, our ace striker will bring you to experience the world of the rich!"
Hiro's eyes widened. However, before he could say anything, a host of hot-blooded students rushed over.
"Eh?" Hiro blinked and rubbed his eyes. "It's fine if Kenshin was here, but where did Marcus show up from?"
Marcus smiled. "I'm the only willing errand boy in our year, so…"
Bullshit, Hiro exclaimed inside his heart.
As if I'd buy such an excuse.
Wait… Hiro's eyes glimmered as he silently used the treasure-scanning feature on Marcus.
Then… his entire body exploded with golden light.
I fucking knew it! Hiro almost yelled the moment he confirmed the ridiculous number of magical treasures on Marcus' body.
"I'll be supervising your group activities in the city to avoid any misunderstandings or accidents."
Looking back, Hiro noticed that Teacher Aiya had also arrived, and her excuse was quite solid.
Helpeds, Hiro laughed and decided not to think about it.
For these two weeks, he would just take it as having a small field trip with his friends and schoolmates.
…
Ever since he transmigrated, these must have been the most relaxed two weeks Hiro had experienced.
He didn't enter the system space, he didn't check the notifications, he didn't contact Arabella, he didn't check the PARA app, he didn't do any of that.
During the day, he would relax and play.
During the night, he would relax and sleep.
Today was the eve of the friendly soccer match with Noire's Third High, and the students of both teams decided to spend the evening in one of the large resorts in the city.
Of course, Hiro paid for the full booking.
His extravagance and generosity stunned a lot of people, but it also helped him make a lot of friends.
Male friends, female friends, and special friends…
…
Resonating laughter and giggles in a five-star hotel suite woke Hiro up from a satisfying slumber.
He slowly opened his eyes, and his bodily senses flickered to life at the same moment.
A sensation of heavy softness pressed on Hiro's chest as flashes from last night's special massage service flooded his mind.
Well, unsurprisingly, the special massage escalated to something pink and fluffy in the large hotel suite.
Looking down at the beautiful brunette's head occupying his chest, Hiro pulled up the silky covers from her lower back up to her shoulders before slowly disentangling himself from her tight hug.
The door to the bathing chambers was wide open, allowing the laughter and conversation between the number of girls inside to echo out.
"Haha, when you called for reinforcements last night, I thought you were joking with me."
"Aya~ I wish I was joking, I wouldn't have called for you if the two of us could have handled it. Sigh, poor Mei Mei is still sleeping like a log of wood! I doubt she'd wake up anytime soon."
"Haha, who told you to tempt death? He didn't ask for special service, but you had to push your buttons with such a cute guy."
…
Hearing the conversations, Hiro shook his head with a bitter smile. Well, there goes his V-card, and he can't even remember which one of the girls took it.
The lights were too dim at the time.
However, from their conversation, it should have been this brunette who took the brunt of the assault.
Hiro went to the clothing rack in the corner where his clothes had been neatly arranged for him. Just as he was sorting them out and deciding what to wear, a wet and warm body hugged him from behind.
What followed was a giggle and, "What are you doing? You can't leave without having a good bath to clean your body. Come, us sisters will scrub you clean… I promise we won't bite this time."
Hearing her reminder, Hiro turned to look at the bite marks on his left shoulder with a chuckle.
"Well, I can't guarantee that I won't bite, though."
As he said that, Hiro spun around and carried the eldest and most mature of the girls in his arms, and as she wrapped her legs around his firm waist, another off-screen action scene played out.