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"There should still be quite a few players in the Hospital," Fujiwara Chika sat up straight, placing her hands on the table. "When Natsuki went to find me earlier, he met a player in the underground parking lot. Can we find a way to gather other players and clear the game together?"
Amamiya Natsuki shook his head:
"It's very difficult to do, basically impossible."
Shinomiya Kaguya's voice was calm as she said:
"The Hospital now is like the Dark Forest in 'The Three-Body Problem'; players are prey carefully hidden within it. Unless it's someone you trust one hundred percent, no one will expose their true identity."
Hayasaka Ai rested her right hand on her chin: "Everyone's character missions are different; maybe some players' character missions are exactly opposite, or even lead to contradictions and conflicts."
In short, it's impossible to openly form a dark organization in this instance.
"If you encounter them, help if you can, don't dwell on uncertain future events," Amamiya Natsuki skipped the topic. "Everyone, state your character missions again, in case there are any omissions… I am a Doctor, and my character mission is to get ten good reviews. I've already tested it, and forcing patients to give good reviews with force doesn't work."
"Me, me, me," Fujiwara Chika raised her right hand, her voice clear. "I'm an undertaker who secretly snuck into the Hospital, and my mission is to complete a full set of embalming rituals."
Shinomiya Kaguya said softly: "A maid who rose through the ranks… operating a restaurant and turning losses into profits."
Koyasu Tsubame said: "I am a patient in the psychiatric ward, and my main mission is to get a clean bill of health from my attending physician."
Hayasaka Ai continued: "I'm a nurse; I have to make those disobedient patients in the ward take their medicine and get their injections, and then I also have to work night shifts, it's so troublesome."
Kitagawa Marin put her hands on her hips: "I just mentioned my mission, everyone knows it: to become an idol, hold a successful performance, and also gain fans."
Juju, sitting in the corner, whispered:
"I am… Hachishakusama, and my mission requires me to escape the Heavy Care Area. I'm already out; as long as I'm not caught within twenty-four hours, the mission will be completed."
Komi silently held her notebook in front of her; she didn't dare to speak in front of so many people: "I'm a cleaner, and my character mission is to complete three days of cleaning work."
Amamiya Natsuki turned his head and looked at the girl next to Komi: "Yui, what's your mission?"
"Eh, do I have to say it too?"
The inconspicuous girl sitting next to Komi was startled, and a wave of emotion surged within her.
She was just a nobody clinging to their coattails, and she actually had the right to speak; she was immensely grateful.
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"So many things have happened, I almost forgot your character mission."
The unlucky girl: "…"
Quickly give back the emotion!
"These are everyone's missions," Amamiya Natsuki said, interlacing his fingers. "They seem varied and without pattern, but the difficulty can be simply distinguished. Kaguya, Marin, and Hanamori's character missions are clearly more difficult."
Fujiwara Chika argued eloquently: "My mission is clearly very difficult too."
How dare you say that!
If you hadn't chickened out at the last moment, your mission would have already been completed!
Amamiya Natsuki glanced over, his tone subtle: "Indeed, it's very difficult, an extreme test of both body and will."
"Cough cough…"
Fujiwara Chika lightly coughed twice, guiltily averting her gaze.
Kitagawa Marin blinked and said:
"Kaguya-san's mission should be the most difficult, right?"
"It certainly seems so," Amamiya Natsuki nodded, looking at the Sheltered Young Lady. "It's time to prepare the ingredients."
Although there were endless leeks to cut, leeks take time to grow, so supply would eventually fall short of demand.
Besides, a restaurant couldn't just serve leeks to its customers.
"I suggest we go to the artificial lake next," Amamiya Natsuki said, outlining the next course of action. "See if we can get some fish. If there's nothing in the artificial lake, then we'll think of other ways."
"That's settled."
"Let's go."
"…"
The restaurant had become their base camp, so naturally, someone had to stay and guard it. After some discussion, Komi and Juju stayed behind, while the others went with Amamiya Natsuki to the artificial lake.
"Doctor."
Stepping out of the restaurant, the Headless JK, Chainsaw Boy, and Sadako were all waiting outside.
"I need your help with something," Amamiya Natsuki naturally wouldn't leave out a few tools. "Come with me."
"Yes, Doctor."
"…"
The journey was silent.
Everyone soon reached the edge of the artificial lake.
From entering the instance until now, it had always been a moonless, starless dim night. Upon arriving at the lake, looking into it, one could only see a perfectly still, pitch-black water surface, lifeless and making one instinctively unwilling to approach.
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Chainsaw Boy and said:
"Kobayashi, have you ever fished before?"
"Eh?" Chainsaw Boy was startled, then quickly said, "When I was little, I went to the countryside for summer vacation and fished with my grandfather."
"Very good," Amamiya Natsuki smiled, taking out a fishing rod and handing it over. "Now is the time for your training."
Fishing rods didn't need to be handmade; someone had opened one from a daily Blind Box.
With the idea of being prepared, Amamiya Natsuki had bought a few fishing rods, which now came in handy.
Chainsaw Boy took the fishing rod blankly: "I'm sorry, Doctor… what does training have to do with fishing?"
"Your heart isn't calm yet," Amamiya Natsuki said earnestly. "Fishing can empty your mind, allow you to see your true self, and thus find the powerful strength deep within your heart."
"When your grandfather fished, he probably sat there all day, right?"
"Only those with strong enough hearts can endure mosquito bites and sit for an entire day."
"I see," Chainsaw Boy suddenly understood, gratefully taking the fishing rod. "The Doctor is teaching me to temper my mind and face myself… I'll go fishing right away!"
"Doctor, I want one too."
The Headless JK silently extended her hand.
"Of course, you have a share," Amamiya Natsuki took out another fishing rod. "Aoi, good luck."
Watching the two walk to the lake to fish, Fujiwara Chika was a little puzzled, lowering her voice to whisper:
"Is fishing really that enjoyable? Why didn't I feel any joy when I fished?"
Kitagawa Marin nodded at her words: "It sounds very impressive. Does Natsuki usually like fishing a lot?"
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"Not at all."
"Eh?"
"Actually, I'm lying."
"L-lying?"
"We don't know what's in the lake yet, so naturally, we have to let others scout ahead."
Kitagawa Marin said speechlessly: "Isn't that just a guinea pig?"
Fujiwara Chika: "Natsuki is so mean!"
Compared to Marin and Chika, the Sheltered Young Lady greatly admired Amamiya Natsuki's actions.
A wise man does not stand under a tottering wall.
What to do when encountering unknown dangers?
Of course, let others go first to clear the mines. Everyone was already just taking what they needed, so mutual exploitation was certainly not a shameful act.
"Fishing needs bait, right?" Hayasaka Ai changed the subject and said, "Should we dig for earthworms?"
"This instance isn't the real world; there probably aren't any earthworms in the soil," Amamiya Natsuki shook his head, looking at Marin. "Take out what we prepared earlier."
Kitagawa Marin heard him and quickly took out a lunchbox.
"What's inside?" Fujiwara Chika asked curiously.
"It's leftover ingredients from the restaurant earlier, not sure what it is…" Kitagawa Marin explained, opening the lunchbox.
Inside was an unknown, dark red meat, faintly emitting a putrid smell.
"It smells so bad." Fujiwara Chika covered her nose, backing away half a step.
"The smellier the thing, the more fish like to eat it." Amamiya Natsuki took the lunchbox, turned and walked two steps to the Sea, handing it to the Headless JK and Chainsaw Boy.
"This is the bait we prepared."
"As for the chum…" Amamiya Natsuki took out another lunchbox.
When opened, it contained Dark Cuisine made primarily from chives and other ingredients.
The allure of Dark Cuisine needed no further explanation; if there were truly fish in the artificial lake, it would certainly attract them.
After all, they weren't professional anglers, so they could only make do with what was available and adapt flexibly.
Splash.
The Dark Cuisine was sprinkled into the lake.
Amamiya Natsuki stepped back two paces, joining Kaguya-san and the others, waiting patiently.
"It's so quiet." Fujiwara Chika whispered, "Are there no fish in here?"
"Generally speaking, where there's water, there are fish." Amamiya Natsuki said, "The possibility of no fish in such a large body of water is very low."
Kitagawa Marin was very curious: "What if there really aren't any?"
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"If there really aren't any, then we'll just have to become robbers."
"Eh?" Fujiwara Chika looked bewildered, "Become what kind of robbers?"
Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at Kaguya-san, and said:
"You ask Kaguya-san."
The Sheltered Young Lady tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice echoing the tones of the night: "There's more than one restaurant in the Hospital."
"I see." Kitagawa Marin nodded in sudden understanding, slapping her forehead.
"We can go to other Restaurants to grab ingredients."
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"However, robbery is very dangerous; it's best not to do it if possible."
Fujiwara Chika raised her hand again: "It feels like the operating conditions of the Restaurants in the Hospital are all similar. What if other Restaurants don't have food either?"
Amamiya Natsuki said helplessly:
"Don't jinx it."
If other Restaurants had no food, then they would only be able to resort to the darkest method—those chefs and supervisors from before, each one fat and bloated, weighing three to four hundred pounds, indistinguishable from fat pigs, could perfectly serve as emergency rations like Paimon.
At this moment, a ripple suddenly spread across the water, breaking the tranquility of the lake.
"I caught a fish!" Chainsaw Boy shouted in surprise, quickly attracting everyone's attention.
Amamiya Natsuki looked over at the sound and saw that the fishing rod in Chainsaw Boy's hand was sharply bent and deformed, the fishing line taut and straight, and the water surface constantly surged with undercurrents.
It was clear that whatever was underwater had astonishing strength, causing Chainsaw Boy to stumble.
"Kobayashi, keep it up." Amamiya Natsuki cheered from the side, "Think of your senpai and junior classmates, your girlfriend from the same class; don't lose to a fish."
Chainsaw Boy's face flushed red, and he pulled the fishing rod upwards with force.
Due to overexertion, the wound on his head continuously oozed blood.
After a struggle, the fish underwater finally lost.
Splash.
Water splashed.
A monster about the length of an arm was successfully reeled ashore, flapping and struggling on the grass by the lake.
Amamiya Natsuki took a closer look and saw that this fish was strangely shaped, with an unusually large mouth and a circle of protruding jagged teeth… In short, it clearly wasn't a normal fish.
"So ugly!" Kitagawa Marin put her right hand on her hip, giving a disgusted evaluation.
Hayasaka Ai complained:
"It looks somewhat like an anglerfish; it's ugly in a very distinctive way."
"Everyone, don't dislike it." Fujiwara Chika stuck out her pink tongue, licking her lips.
"Although anglerfish are ugly, they're incredibly delicious.
I know a place; after we clear the instance, let's all go eat there together."
"At a time like this, don't think about eating." Amamiya Natsuki complained, "Hurry up and knock that fish out."
Fujiwara Chika was puzzled: "Eh, why me?"
"Didn't you just say you wanted to fish?" Amamiya Natsuki said, "It's a good chance to practice beforehand."
"…"
As they spoke, there was another splash, and the Headless JK also successfully reeled in a fish.
Amamiya Natsuki looked down.
Goodness, this fish was even more bizarrely shaped, with its mouth full of outward-curving fangs, and its eyes even grew on top of its head.
Kitagawa Marin complained:
"What an ugly fish.
Could it be that all the fish in the lake are like this?"
"It's highly probable." Amamiya Natsuki said, "Perhaps they can even be considered high-value."
Thump.
The Headless JK, a person of few words but decisive action, took out her kitchen knife and stabbed it into the monster fish's spine, rendering it motionless.
Then, she silently put away her kitchen knife and continued fishing.
"I'll try too." Amamiya Natsuki quickly made a decision, "The efficiency of two people fishing is too low.
I'll give it a try and see how strong these monster fish are."
"Makes sense."
No sooner said than done.
Amamiya Natsuki took out a spare fishing rod and sat down by the lake.
The others curiously gathered around, watching intently.
It didn't take long before Amamiya Natsuki saw the float on the water suddenly disappear, followed by a sudden immense force from the fishing line.
Anyone who has fished knows that fish, underwater, possess incredible strength.
Amamiya Natsuki almost lost his grip.
"Natsuki, how does it feel?" Kitagawa Marin quickly asked.
"What is learned from books is ultimately shallow; one must practice personally to truly understand." Amamiya Natsuki steadied his stance.
"You can try it yourself."
"I'll try." Kitagawa Marin walked over eagerly, gripping the fishing rod with both hands, then said, "You can let go now."
"You've got it steady."
Amamiya Natsuki released his hands.
The next second.
Kitagawa Marin felt a sudden immense force from the fishing rod, causing her to stumble forward half a step uncontrollably.
Amamiya Natsuki, quick as a flash, embraced the Succubus Girl's soft and slender waist, preventing her from being dragged into the lake.
Just by looking at the teeth of those two monster fish, it was clear that they were definitely not vegetarians, and falling into the lake would be quite dangerous.
"Stare—"
An unhappy gaze looked over.
Amamiya Natsuki looked up at the slightly frowning the Sheltered Young Lady, cleared his throat twice, and invited:
"Kaguya-san, would you like to come fish together?"
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for dozens of advance chapters for over a dozen fics | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter