In the corner.
"Eh, eh, eh, the President and that Evil Spirit boss are fighting!"
Chika's eyes widened, and she was about to rush out to help.
The pendant form was quite boring and tedious, so Chika had temporarily detached herself.
"Don't be impulsive."
Yukino hugged Chika, her expression serious, and whispered:
"Natsuki-kun just gave an OK gesture, so the situation is clearly still under control… If we go out now, we'll only cause him trouble."
Chika tried hard to open her eyes wide:
"Why didn't I see it?"
Yukino whispered: "You're too worried; worry clouds judgment."
"Yukino-chan is still saying I'm worried…" Chika turned to look over, and whispered, "You've already taken out your weapon."
"…"
Yukino looked down and realized that she had somehow taken out her weapon without knowing when, her pretty face flushed slightly, and she quickly put the weapon away, trying to say in a casual tone:
"Just preparing in advance, just in case."
"Yukino-chan, no need to explain." Chika whispered, "You've already officially announced it with the President, so openly admit you're worried about the President; I won't laugh at you."
Yukino: "…"
Taking a relaxed breath, Yukino whispered:
"You… don't mind?"
If the girl beside her were Kaguya, Yukino would definitely not have said this, but Chika was different.
As the team's favorite, she truly had no ulterior motives and never spoke of others' secrets behind their backs; even Yukino was willing to open up to Chika.
Chika naturally knew what Yukino was talking about, and whispered in response:
"Of course I mind! Every day I wish I could beat the President up to vent my anger!"
Yukino turned to look over:
"Then why do you…"
"Because Marin-chan made a lot of sense." Chika extended a finger and whispered, "You never know whether tomorrow or an accident will come first. Perhaps a friend you're talking to today might be separated from you forever tomorrow… Many of the companions who joined the mutual aid group before never had their avatars light up again after entering a dungeon."
"For us, the probability of an accident is a hundred times that of ordinary people."
"When I'm alone, I often ask myself, if an accident were to happen tomorrow, how would I spend today?"
"…"
Without waiting for Yukino to answer, Chika continued softly:
"No matter how many times I think about it, my answer has never changed—if an accident is coming tomorrow, then I must do everything I want to do today."
"I want to go shopping with the President."
"Challenge an eating contest with the President."
"Watch a fireworks display with the President."
"Do many, many happy things with the President…"
Chika clenched her fists and said:
"Even if the President is a scumbag, I still want to be with the President, otherwise, when an accident happens, I'll definitely have super, super regrets, right?"
"There is give and take."
"There is no such thing as perfection in this world; cherishing the present and cherishing the moment are truly meaningful things."
Yukino: "…"
She hadn't expected that secretary Chika, who usually seemed so carefree, would be so open-minded and insightful.
Yukino asked herself, could she do this?
The answer was no.
People can never fully understand each other; she was not Chika, and she had her own dignity and pride.
Garbage-kun, who wanted a sisters rice bowl, would definitely not agree to him!
"Ahhhhhh!" Chika suddenly exclaimed, "The President was punched flying!"
Yukino instinctively widened her eyes at the sound and quickly looked towards the warehouse entrance. Sure enough, she saw Natsuki being punched flying by the Evil Spirit Manager, and couldn't help but clench her fists.
"Steady, don't be impulsive." Yukino took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to go help, and whispered, "Natsuki could clearly use Time Stop, but he didn't. He must be doing it on purpose."
"Eh?" Chika was stunned, still very worried, "Could it be because Hachishakusama is nearby, and he's holding back, so he doesn't dare to use it?"
"The possibility is very low." Yukino bit her lip and said, "Natsuki-kun has only been using ordinary combat techniques and hasn't used any other abilities. It's highly probable that he's doing it on purpose."
Chika finally felt a little relieved:
"Makes sense…"
At the same time.
Natsuki was still fighting the Evil Spirit Manager one-on-one, and the scene looked quite like a live-action version of Baki.
After a back-and-forth struggle, and paying the price of multiple injuries to his body, Natsuki finally defeated the Evil Spirit boss.
"Madam… I won."
Natsuki was panting, looking at Hachishakusama.
"Not bad." Hachishakusama nodded lightly, clearly quite satisfied, and extended a finger, gently lifting Natsuki's chin, "Boy, do you want me to give you a chance to enjoy pleasure?"
Of course not!
Yukino and Chika were watching from the corner, how could he possibly go for such a thing!
"Later." Natsuki coughed twice, "I really have no strength left right now."
"Heh."
Hachishakusama let out a soft laugh, withdrew her finger, looked at the other Evil Spirit henchmen gathering around, and announced loudly:
"From now on, he is your new Manager."
"…"
The training ground was silent; no Evil Spirit raised an objection.
In the park, strength was king.
Although Natsuki was a "little guy," he had just distorted off the Evil Spirit Manager's head in front of everyone. Now that he was sitting in the Manager's position, naturally no one dared to oppose him.
At the same time.
As Hachishakusama gave the appointment, Natsuki quickly received a notification from the game—
[Side Quest: I Want to Be the boss, Completed]
[That year you were eighteen, standing in the park like a nobody, but a person cannot be without dreams. You vowed to climb step by step, through effort, to become the Manager, Vice Manager, or Supervisor of the park, by any means necessary.]
[After the dungeon is cleared, side quest rewards will be issued along with the dungeon settlement.]
"Very good." Natsuki was satisfied, "Another side quest completed."
"And it's a park Manager, second only to one, above tens of thousands. So next is…"
"Let's go to the kitchen." Hachishakusama looked down, "You just proved your strength; next, you need to prove whether you can make me happy."
"I guarantee it will be very happy."
Natsuki was full of confidence, gestured to Yukino and the other in the corner, and then strode towards the cafeteria.
Before leaving, Natsuki turned again to a familiar-looking Evil Spirit henchman not far away and waved:
"You, come here."
"Hm?"
The Evil Spirit henchman was startled and cautiously walked up to Natsuki. A look of fear appeared on its hideous face, thinking Natsuki was going to settle scores.
Three days ago, it was working at the casino and saw Natsuki win hundreds of sin coins in one go, so it directly blocked his way and robbed him, extorting quite a few sin coins.
Three days later, Natsuki, in front of it, directly stepped on the corpse of the original boss and became the new Manager of the park.
Who understands, my people!
This act of feigning weakness to ambush was simply too malicious!
Natsuki only thought it looked familiar and genuinely couldn't remember who the other party was. He got straight to the point and instructed:
"I have something for you to do. Tell the other guards that the previous operation is canceled. Don't call all the shills to the training ground anymore."
"Hm?"
The Evil Spirit guard looked bewildered.
"Didn't you hear?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow, "Does everyone still want to go to work tomorrow? If they mess around on the training ground for a while, they won't have the energy to work tomorrow. Are you responsible for that?"
The Evil Spirit henchman naturally didn't dare to be responsible. It secretly glanced at Hachishakusama. Seeing that Hachishakusama didn't speak, it then took the order and left.
Natsuki turned his head to Hachishakusama and smiled:
"Madam, let's go."
"…"
There was no conversation along the way.
Led by several Evil Spirit guards, the group quickly arrived at the cafeteria.
The rest was simple. Natsuki took out his Dark Chef medal, transformed into a Dark Chef, and tailor-made a Dark Cuisine dish for Hachishakusama using various messy ingredients from the cafeteria's back kitchen.
"Madam, please enjoy."
Natsuki carried the Dark Cuisine to Hachishakusama.
Despite being an Evil Spirit, Hachishakusama's every move was quite elegant. Holding a knife and fork, with a napkin tied around her chest, she slowly speared a piece of an unknown meat dish and put it into her mouth.
As the food entered her mouth, Hachishakusama frowned slightly.
Natsuki unhurriedly took out a cup of dark, murky, bizarre beverage and said with full confidence:
"High-end ingredients often require careful pairing, Madam, please drink the beverage."
Hachishakusama glanced at him, took the beverage, and casually drank it.
She had already decided that Natsuki was just a swindler and no longer held any expectations. She only waited to finish eating before letting Natsuki know the consequences of deceiving her.
However, the next second, the food and the dark juice suddenly produced an incredibly marvelous chemical reaction on her tongue. Hachishakusama only felt an indescribable pleasure instantly sweep through her entire body. Her body couldn't help but tremble slightly, and a soft moan escaped her lips:
"Mmm… Mmm—!"
Seeing this, the three Evil Spirit maids immediately moved forward.
"I'm fine…"
Hachishakusama raised her hand to stop them. A flush of color appeared on her pale, bloodless face, and her already indescribable parts trembled continuously with her breathing, truly embodying what it meant for a raging tide to surge.
Taking a deep breath, and after the surge of pleasure slightly subsided, Hachishakusama impatiently gripped her knife and fork and began eating again.
The pleasure of the food surged like a tide, striking deep into her soul.
Before long, Hachishakusama's clothes were already soaked.
Hachishakusama wanted to stop, but her body completely disobeyed her, simply unable to stop.
By the time the last bite of Dark Cuisine was eaten, Hachishakusama's hair was disheveled, she was panting, and completely drenched.
"Madam, wasn't that comfortable?"
Natsuki stood nearby, asking with a smile.
"Hmph…" Miss Hachishakusama braced herself on the dining table, stubbornly saying, "Barely… I'll consider you qualified."
Natsuki continued:
"As long as Madam signs a contract with me, you can be this comfortable every day from now on."
"Every day… I can?"
Miss Hachishakusama's eyes rippled with spring water, and she subconsciously licked her lips, her heart deeply moved.
"Not only that…" Natsuki lowered his voice, enticing her, "There aren't many high-grade ingredients in the cafeteria. If Madam agrees to me, you can experience cuisine even more delightful than just now."
"I…"
Miss Hachishakusama's eyes gleamed, and she almost blurted out her agreement.
Some things, once experienced, can never be gone back from.
Compared to the Dark Cuisine just now, the tea had completely lost its flavor.
"I, I'll consider it again…"
Miss Hachishakusama took a deep breath, barely swallowing the words at the tip of her tongue.
She was, after all, the behind-the-scenes boss of the park, yet she was almost easily tricked by someone with a single dish. No matter how she thought about it, it was too embarrassing!
And there were other people around, so there was no way she could agree so easily!
"See you tomorrow, Madam." Natsuki was not in a hurry, waving his hand and saying, "I'll go back and rest first. I'll come back tomorrow morning to make Madam's meal."
"…"
Stepping out of the cafeteria.
Natsuki quickly felt his pinky finger move.
After confirming the signal, Natsuki quickly saw Yukino and Chika in the corner.
"President!"
Chika couldn't help but pounce on him, tearfully saying, "Why did it take you so long to come out? I was about to call everyone to rescue you."
Natsuki gently patted Chika's little head, saying softly:
"Didn't I give you a reassuring gesture earlier?"
"That still makes me worried!" Chika said, while checking Natsuki's body with her hands, "Is President injured anywhere?"
Natsuki shook his head:
"No injuries."
Chika retorted:
"You clearly are! Yukino-chan and I both saw you being pinned to the ground and beaten by that Evil Spirit Manager."
Natsuki: "…"
Hey, hey, what do you mean pinned to the ground and beaten?
If he hadn't gone easy, that Evil Spirit Manager wouldn't have lasted three seconds!
Yukino let out a soft breath, asking curiously:
"What happened in the warehouse?"
Natsuki looked at Yukino:
"It's a long story. Let's talk as we walk…"
The three walked back to the dormitory while talking, and Natsuki told the two girls what had happened in the warehouse on the way.
"Eh?" Chika blinked, "She's Ms. Sadako's friend?"
"To be precise." Natsuki nodded, "To be precise, she should be an acquaintance… So I temporarily didn't use the Wife Stealing's ability. If Miss Hachishakusama isn't willing to sign the contract, it won't be too late to use the skill then."
"Also, I just became the park Manager, completing a side quest…"
Natsuki spoke, looking at Yukino, trying to arrange a Vice Manager position for Yukino.
"Yukino, how about it?" Natsuki asked.
"No notification."
Yukino gently shook her head.
"Then it's not allowed." Chika asked curiously, "Does the game only recognize positions appointed by Miss Hachishakusama?"
"Not necessarily, perhaps there are other conditions…" Natsuki pondered and shook his head, glancing at the dormitory building in front of him, "We'll verify the specific situation tomorrow. Let's go back and rest first… Don't tell everyone about the injuries."
Chika looked over worriedly:
"But what about President's injuries?"
Natsuki said softly:
"I'll take care of it myself when I get back, no need to worry."