"Eh, eh, eh?" Chika's eyes widened. "That figure looks so familiar!"
Hayasaka narrowed her eyes: "It really is familiar..."
Kaguya hesitated:
"...Miss Hachishakusama?"
"Judging by her appearance, it is indeed Miss Hachishakusama." Natsuki nodded in agreement and said in a low voice, "I was very familiar with Miss Hachishakusama's body back at Miroku hospital, between life and death."
"Eh?"
Kaguya tilted her head in confusion.
"I misspoke." Natsuki immediately corrected himself, "I'm very familiar with Miss Hachishakusama's appearance."
"..."
In the hospital dungeon, every player had to role-play as a doctor, nurse, patient, etc., and could not reveal their true identity. Once exposed, they would be killed by the monsters in the hospital.
And Juju's role was Miss Hachishakusama. Natsuki had measured Miss Hachishakusama's conscience when no one was around... It could only be said that it exceeded human limits; he couldn't hold it, absolutely couldn't hold it.
"Miss Hachishakusama?" Mitsui's eyes were vigilant. "Is it the Hachishakusama from the urban legend?
Miss Hachishakusama is a well-known urban legend in Japan. Unlike the idol in the internet age, Miss Hachishakusama in traditional legends is a terrifying evil spirit, specializing in eating children. In short, she is quite terrifying
The female player leaned close to Natsuki, her expression nervous, and whispered:
"The legendary Miss Hachishakusama has the ability to control people's hearts... Will we be found out?"
"Don't worry." Chika raised her chin, her voice confident, "Just leave it to the President."
"That's right." Hayasaka crossed her arms and glanced at Natsuki, "Such a tall Miss Hachishakusama must be exactly to the President's liking, right?"
"I'm not, I don't, don't talk nonsense." Natsuki denied all three. "Miss Hachishakusama and I are innocent, there's no unspeakable relationship between us.
The other player: "..."
According to everyone's original plan, once the park supervisor appeared, they would directly use force to kill or control them, then use a transformation skill to replace them, indirectly taking control of the park and completing the other side quests.
This plan was simple and crude, but it required sufficiently strong combat power. Once it failed, they could only flee in disarray.
But the 'owner' of the park who came was actually Miss Hachishakusama, so another plan could be used...
At the same time.
At the park entrance.
The open gate quietly closed again.
Miss Hachishakusama, two meters six tall, wearing a white dress and a white sun hat, stepped forward to the park Manager. Because the distance was too far, they couldn't hear what the two said, but not long after, the park Manager stood up as if greatly pardoned, bowing and leading the way
As for the other evil spirit thugs, they remained kneeling in the dogeza posture, and only stood up and followed after Miss Hachishakusama had walked past
"Being able to make so many evil spirits bow down must mean Miss Hachishakusama's combat power is very high." Natsuki narrowed his eyes slightly. "Next, fewer people should follow, to avoid accidents... Kaguya."
Natsuki turned to look at Kaguya and said in a low voice:
"You take everyone back to the dorm first. Yukinoshita and I will follow and act as the situation dictates."
Due to the warehouse theft, the park's alert level was raised again, especially since most of the stooges had already returned to their dorms. Continuing to track them would be quite dangerous and would require the Shadow Cloak.
The reason he brought Yukino was not out of any selfish motives, but entirely because Yukinoshita had a very good detection skill, which could act as a monitoring radar. When tracking others, one must also prevent others from setting traps and ambushes along the way.
"Okay."
Kaguya didn't act difficult and nodded seriously in agreement.
Important matters came first, and she naturally knew what was more important. In the face of everyone's safety, a love triangle was naturally nothing.
"President, President, do you want my help?"
Chika looked over eagerly.
Natsuki nodded and said:
"Chika, come along."
"It's finally my turn to shine!"
Chika's eyes lit up, and she happily agreed.
"President, Chika…" Kaguya's gaze shifted, then she glanced at Yukino, and whispered, "Be careful, both of you."
After her instructions, Kaguya turned around decisively, without any hesitation, and returned to the dormitory with Hayasaka, Mitsui, and two passerby girls.
Natsuki took out the Shadow Cloak and said:
"The Cloak can only cover two people at most, so someone has to sacrifice themselves and become a leg attachment… Who wants to do it?"
"I'll do it." Before Yukino could speak, Chika raised her right hand and volunteered, "Back on the hunger island, I was Yukino-chan's leg attachment, so I have experience."
Yukino's pretty face flushed slightly, and she bit her lip, averting her gaze with a guilty conscience.
It was precisely because Chika was there that, to avoid being discovered, Natsuki had his way in the tree hollow… In short, her feelings were complicated.
"I'll equip the Skin Card first."
Chika's Skin Card was the Intern nurse she obtained in Miroku hospital. After equipping the Skin Card, she transformed into a nurse, and then immediately became a leg attachment, attaching herself to Yukino.
Natsuki looked at Yukino, opened the Cloak with his right hand, and smiled:
"Yukino, do you want me to carry you, or carry you on my back? You choose."
Yukino: "…"
He says he'll let me choose, but there's no real choice at all!
She pressed her fingers to her forehead in exasperation, gently rubbing it, and Yukino finally made her choice.
"…Carry me."
Yukino turned her pretty face away, parted her lips, and whispered two words.
It wasn't a matter of oppressive feeling; as a double-A certified girl, she couldn't truly be oppressed. The main reason was that the hugging posture wouldn't restrict movement, allowing her to react in time to sudden situations, whereas being on Garbage-kun's back would greatly affect both their movements.
"Understood."
Natsuki stepped forward half a step, reached out, and directly lifted Yukino into his arms, then covered them both with the Cloak and strode to follow Miss Hachishakusama
At this hour, the park was already deep in the night, and with the concealment effect of the Shadow Cloak, Natsuki and Yukino moved like ghosts, stealthily creeping through the park.
"Stop." Yukino suddenly spoke, her hands having wrapped around Natsuki's neck at some point, and she whispered, "There's a trap ahead."
Natsuki immediately stopped, and as he stopped moving, he seemed to vanish into the night:
"Where?"
Yukino had already activated her detection skill, her ears turning into a pair of fluffy white cat ears that were twitching gently, her gaze fixed on a roadside flowerbed not far ahead:
"It's in that flowerbed, the bush in the middle. I just heard the faint rustling of leaves."
There was no wind in the park at all, yet the bush moved on its own, clearly indicating that something was hiding inside.
"Got it."
Natsuki silently circled to the back of the flowerbed, squinted his eyes to look, and saw an Evil Spirit Imp crouching behind the bush.
"Those guys have become more vigilant." Yukino frowned slightly.
"It would be strange if they weren't vigilant after being stolen from so many times." Natsuki whispered, "Next, I'll still have to rely on Yukino. It would be very troublesome if we were discovered halfway."
Yukino responded softly:
"Understood."
Natsuki resumed his steps:
"Then, let's continue forward."
"…"
During the subsequent tracking, Natsuki encountered several more 'hidden sentries,' such as Evil Spirit Bats hanging from trees, and Evil Spirit Heads buried in the soil, etc. Fortunately, with Yukino's radar detection skill, they successfully avoided all the traps.
A moment later.
Surrounded by countless Evil Spirit thugs, Miss Hachishakusama walked into the warehouse.
"Will Miss Hachishakusama discover the secret?"
Yukino frowned slightly.
Standing two meters six tall, clearly an Evil Spirit, yet exuding an elegant and noble aura, Miss Hachishakusama exerted a considerable oppressive force
"It doesn't matter if she discovers it." Natsuki's tone was steady, "Our target isn't those sin coins, but Miss Hachishakusama
Aside from the Evil Spirit guards maintaining vigilance in the park, all other guards were gathered outside the warehouse. Even with the Cloak, Natsuki couldn't get close, so he held Yukino and waited silently in the shadows.
Not long after, the warehouse door was pushed open, and Miss Hachishakusama, dressed in a white dress, walked out first.
"You, go and call all the park employees to gather on the sports field."
Miss Hachishakusama's voice was elegant as she issued the command.
Natsuki and Yukino were hiding not far away, so they clearly heard Miss Hachishakusama's command.
Yukino frowned slightly upon hearing this and whispered:
"Does Miss Hachishakusama have the ability to see through disguises?"
"I wouldn't rule out that possibility." Natsuki said calmly, softly, "Knowing that there are ruthless bandits in the park who can transform into anyone, Miss Hachishakusama is still willing to come in person, which clearly shows she's confident in capturing us.
At Miss Hachishakusama's command, all the Evil Spirits in front of the warehouse door scattered, heading towards the dormitories, casino, cafeteria, and other places
With the Evil Spirit guards dispersed, only a solitary Miss Hachishakusama was left at the warehouse entrance.
"Should we act?"
Yukino's eyes lit up slightly.
A lone Miss Hachishakusama was the perfect time to strike.
Natsuki narrowed his eyes and whispered:
"That's a fake."
"Eh?"
Yukino's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly chose to believe him.
Regarding the truth, she fully trusted Natsuki's judgment.
In fact, Natsuki relied not on judgment, but on a prompt—
[After careful observation, you found that the Miss Hachishakusama in front of you lacked a certain languidness and nobility. You judged that the other party was an Evil Spirit disguised as her. The real Miss Hachishakusama is still inside the warehouse.
"Tsk~"
"That's an Evil Spirit with transformation abilities…" Natsuki sighed softly, "Miss Hachishakusama actually wants to use our own methods against us."
She's just an Evil Spirit, yet she's playing tricks and schemes. Miss Hachishakusama's intelligence is quite high!
Yukino couldn't help but glare at him:
"We're doing the same thing. We're not in a position to talk about others."
"It's completely different." Natsuki said earnestly, "I chose to become a dark force for your sakes."
"Heh."
"…"
Getting back to the point.
Yukino quickly frowned and whispered:
"Those Evil Spirits have already gone to the dormitory. What should we do now?"
"Naturally, we capture the king first."
As Natsuki spoke, he put Yukino down from his arms, then took off the Cloak and draped it over Yukino.
"Eh?"
Yukino was slightly startled, then quickly reacted, frowning:
"You're going to act alone?"
"Do you remember the Evil Spirits Miss Hachishakusama brought earlier?" Natsuki whispered, "They shouldn't be just simple sedan bearers. Since they remained in the warehouse and didn't appear, there's likely an ambush set up inside."
Natsuki extended his right hand, patted Yukino's head, and said softly:
"It's safer for me to go in alone. You and Chika will support me from outside."
Yukino let out a soft breath and whispered:
"I understand."
From a rational perspective, it was indeed the best choice. With their current abilities, even if they couldn't deal with Miss Hachishakusama, they wouldn't be caught by her.
But… she really wanted to act with Natsuki. If they encountered danger and traps in the warehouse, they could share the burden together.
Natsuki took off his clothes and put them into his game backpack. These were all clothes opened from Blind Box, and although they didn't have attribute bonuses, they could be stored in the Backpack and used at any time, so they naturally couldn't be wasted.
"I'm ready to act…" Natsuki stripped off his clothes and turned to look at the black-haired, long-haired girl beside him, "This journey will be fraught with danger. Shouldn't Yukino-sama give me a kiss as encouragement?"
Yukino's pretty face stiffened, and she couldn't help but grit her teeth:
"Don't even think about it."
It's such a dangerous situation, yet he still wants a kiss! What in the world are boys thinking about!
"Alright then." Natsuki sighed, and said gloomily, "This journey will be fraught with danger…"
"Are you still going to talk?"
"If anything unexpected happens, don't worry about me, and leave first, you and Chika…"
Thud!
A pink fist landed directly on Natsuki's abdomen.
Yukino's pretty face was taut as she said:
"Don't jinx it!"
"Yes, my deepest apologies."
"…"
Unable to get Yukino's kiss of victory and oath, Natsuki could only sigh regretfully, then his figure suddenly vanished, disappearing into the shadows.
"Phew…"
Watching Natsuki disappear, Yukino let out a soft breath, her heart filled with regret.
Just now… should she have reluctantly agreed to him?
At the same time.
Natsuki had already entered the shadows and stealthily infiltrated the warehouse.
"Found her."
As soon as he entered the warehouse, Natsuki spotted Miss Hachishakusama, after all, Miss Hachishakusama, being two meters six tall, was too difficult to hide.
A dining table had appeared in the middle of the warehouse at some point, with candles lit on it, their light flickering faintly. Miss Hachishakusama, dressed in a white dress, sat on an oversized chair, holding a teacup and slowly sipping tea.
Beside Miss Hachishakusama, three other Evil Spirit Maids stood respectfully, with their hands by their sides.
"Next is to inherit the will of the Prime Minister…"
Natsuki silently calculated the remaining time of his shadow state while looking for an opportunity.
That's right.
It was precisely the 'Love Warrior' title skill.
This skill only works on the opposite sex. As the opposite sex, Miss Hachishakusama could naturally trigger the effect, but it required direct eye contact and at least several seconds of gazing. Rushing out might lead to an interruption from the three Evil Spirit Maids' attacks.
Also, Miss Hachishakusama was constantly wearing a white sun hat with a very wide brim, making it impossible to see her eyes
After waiting silently for a while, still unable to find a good opportunity, and seeing that the duration of his shadow state was about to run out, Natsuki quickly made a decision.
If he couldn't wait for a good opportunity, then he would take the initiative and create one!
He acted as soon as he decided.
Having made up his mind, Natsuki immediately exited the Shadow state.
"Hmm?"
The moment Natsuki revealed himself, Miss Hachishakusama, who was quietly drinking tea, suddenly tilted her head and looked over, saying lazily, "There's a mouse.
Hearing this, the three evil spirit maids immediately turned around and rushed towards the corner where Natsuki had appeared.
And then…
"I surrender!"
The clear, resonant shout made the three evil spirit maids stop in confusion.
What's wrong with this mouse?
It hadn't even been touched, yet it surrendered so easily?
"I surrender!"
Natsuki raised his hands and walked out from the shadows of the corner as he spoke.
"An interesting bug." Miss Hachishakusama remained seated, still elegantly sipping her tea, her gaze casually falling on Natsuki, and she said lazily, "Did you steal the sin coins from the warehouse?
Natsuki nodded and said, "That's right, it was me."
Miss Hachishakusama took a sip of tea: "Why did you come out yourself? You should know the consequences of theft, right?"
Natsuki said earnestly, "I know, but I couldn't help it."
"Hmm?"
Miss Hachishakusama tilted her head slightly
"Me, well…" Natsuki said as he stepped closer, "I've actually always admired Miss Hachishakusama."
"…"
The three evil spirit maids were utterly stunned, so much so that they didn't even move when Natsuki walked past them.
You actually admire Miss Hachishakusama?
You must be tired of living!
Miss Hachishakusama's lips curled slightly, but her words were cold and ruthless: "I'm not interested in males over twelve years old.
Tsk, as expected, she's a complete perverted Strange Tale, just like the legends say, only interested in shotas.
Natsuki didn't mind and had already walked to the dining table:
"Even if Miss Hachishakusama doesn't like me, I still want to offer Miss Hachishakusama a treasure.
"What is it?"
Miss Hachishakusama's voice was curious.
Natsuki took out a momotaro rice ball and spoke nonsense with a straight face: "This is a rice ball with special power. It can beautify your appearance, increase stamina, and keep you eternally young…"
As long as Miss Hachishakusama ate the rice ball and her favorability increased, he would be able to make her take off her hat and reveal her eyes
Although Time Stop could be used, Natsuki had never used the Wife Stealing skill during Time Stop, so he wasn't sure if it would work. To be safe, it was better to be cautious.
However, Miss Hachishakusama did not take the rice ball. Instead, she suddenly sniffed her nose, and a hint of curiosity entered her voice: "I smell a very familiar scent on you…
This time, it was Natsuki's turn to be surprised:
"What scent?"
Miss Hachishakusama extended her pink tongue, licked her lips, and an excited expression appeared on her face: "It's that woman's scent.
Natsuki: "…"