"Eh, eh, eh, the instance actually crashed?"
Chika exclaimed softly.
The girls also discovered the instance crash announcement:
[The instance crashed prematurely due to an unknown reason. Therefore, all players who participated in this instance will receive one hundred game coins as compensation]
"The so-called unknown reason..." Hayasaka blinked and said softly, "Is it because we set fire to the entire park?"
Kaguya crossed her arms and said:
"Perhaps it's also because of President kidnapping Hachishakusama."
Yukino exhaled softly, pressing her fingertips gently against her brow, and said:
"It seems there might be other hidden players in the park."
Natsuki nodded and said:
"I agree with Yukinoshita's view."
Everyone walked out of the park openly, which was a clearance method recognized by the game, yet the announcement stated 'premature crash,' which most likely meant there were other players still in the park.
After painstakingly hiding their identities and diligently working in the park, then happily attending the park's evening party, only to see the entire park burned to ruins upon leaving the warehouse... How could they still play?
Play my ass!
"No matter what, it's a good thing. One hundred game coins in compensation is a lot." Mitsui smiled and said, "Everyone, follow me. Let's go take a bath first."
...
The hotel where everyone was staying was originally a high-end hot spring resort hotel.
After the Strange Tales Management Bureau was established, it directly contracted the entire hotel to provide various convenient services for players. Mitsui, as a member of the management, directly used her authority to book the entire floor for use... With money and power, she could naturally be willful.
The hot springs were naturally separated by gender.
The girls walked together, chatting and laughing, while Natsuki could only turn and walk into the men's bath alone. First, he thoroughly washed his body, and then he entered the hot spring pool.
"Hoo..."
Natsuki let out a satisfied sigh.
The joy of the wealthy, it truly can only be understood after experiencing it firsthand, just how much joy it brings.
What?
It's too hot in the summer to soak in a hot spring?
An indoor hot spring with constant temperature, you should check it out.
It's like, even though summer is hot, if you turn the air conditioning to eighteen degrees, you can still wrap yourself in a blanket and sleep with your head covered. Of course, you can comfortably soak in a hot spring in the summer.
Natsuki closed his eyes and soaked in the hot spring for a while, then continued to check the dungeon settlement.
The single dungeon's game coin income exceeded one thousand, plus the additional compensation for the dungeon collapse, it was close to fifteen hundred. This was indeed cause for celebration, and the key was that he wasn't the only one; the other people's clear rewards were also very generous.
There's no need to mention the several free attribute points; just add them directly. If you're going to be something, be a hexagon warrior.
Besides that, Natsuki found that he had obtained a brand new title.
[You have obtained a new title: Friend of Strange Tales]
[Achievement Condition: In a single dungeon, you have accumulated the friendship of over one hundred evil spirits]
[Attribute One: A Traitor Among Us. When equipped with this title, negative existences such as Strange Tales, evil spirits, and ghosts will significantly reduce their hostility towards you]
[Attribute Two: Please Help, My Friend. When you request help from Strange Tales or evil spirits, they will likely agree and comply]
[Note: Only one title can be equipped at a time]
"Tsk~"
After reading the title description, Natsuki clicked his tongue lightly.
To gain the friendship of so many evil spirits in one go, the truth was clearly only one thing: the spoils distribution party in the warehouse.
So, how can a company or an enterprise grow bigger and stronger and win people's hearts?
Team building?
Team building my ass.
It's better to stay at home and play games.
The method is actually very simple: of course, it's to give money directly!
As long as there's enough money, things like people's hearts and friendship will naturally pour in.
"Both title effects are passive attributes, and there are no active attributes…" Natsuki secretly shook his head, "It's a pity that it's only effective against existences like Strange Tales and evil spirits. I always feel it's overkill."
So far, among the several titles, what Natsuki liked most was the Prime Minister's skill.
At first, one might dislike Wife Stealing, but only after using it more and more times can one discover the joy of Wife Stealing.
Throwing the title aside, Natsuki continued to look at the dungeon MVP's pick-two section.
Perhaps because the entire park was burned down, the rewards were quite ordinary. Besides a Dungeon Exemption Card, the remaining three items were trash. There were no skill cards, no Skin Cards, let alone another golden legendary skill.
Only the item in the last card piqued Natsuki's interest.
[Special Item: Russian Roulette]
[Attribute: This is a gambling tool favored by the God of Gambling, which survived a great fire and is eager for more gamblers to use it]
[Passive: Wager and Accept. All parties place their hands on the roulette wheel and place their bets. The content of the bet is unlimited; money, lifespan, body, commands, etc., can all be bet, but they must be confirmed as one's own. When the bets paid by all parties are equal, the roulette can be activated, and the final winner takes all]
[Note: Gambling must be based on the fair will of both parties; coercion is invalid]
"This item is quite interesting…"
Natsuki pondered for a moment, then chose the Dungeon Exemption Card and the special item Roulette, discarding the other three trash items directly.
Just as he was about to close his eyes and rest for a while, a pattering sound of footsteps suddenly came from behind him.
"Hmm?"
Natsuki turned his head to look behind him and saw a blonde maid wrapped in a white bath towel walk in. His eyes immediately lit up, and he asked expectantly:
"Hayasaka? Do you want to soak in the hot spring together?"
Seeing the undisguised burning gaze in Natsuki's eyes, Hayasaka immediately knew what he wanted to do. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes showing disdain:
"The perverted president wishes."
She was here for an important matter. Not to mention staying for an hour, if she didn't go back in ten minutes, Kaguya would definitely be suspicious.
Natsuki said speechlessly:
"Hayasaka suddenly came running over. If it's not to soak in the hot spring, what else could it be?"
"There's an evil spirit soaking in the hot spring next door." Hayasaka covered her chest, glancing over, "It's completely green, as if it just crawled out of nuclear wastewater. It looks too disgusting. Perverted president, hurry up and banish that evil spirit."
Splash.
Natsuki stood up and said:
"Wait for me to take a cold shower."
Hayasaka's gaze involuntarily shifted downwards, her pretty face flushed slightly, then she gave a light spit, quickly averted her gaze, turned around, and walked away, saying:
"Perverted president, hurry up. I'm going first."
"…"
Natsuki first went to the bathroom to take a cold shower. After he had calmed down, he put on a bathrobe and went to the hot spring bathroom next door.
"President, you're finally here."
"Quickly banish the evil spirit in the hot spring."
"So disgusting!"
Girls take a long time to bathe. Natsuki had already been soaking for quite a while, and the girls seemed to have just finished their baths, surrounding the hot spring pool with disgusted expressions.
"Mitsui-san, are you alright?"
Natsuki looked at the girl with a pale face and asked casually.
"I… I'm fine."
Mitsui bit her lip, turned her head to look elsewhere, her face clearly very pale.
After becoming a formal player, one could gain 'True Sight' and see various terrifying evil spirits lurking in reality.
Even though Mitsui had already prepared herself mentally, after facing the impact of the evil spirit directly, her face was still pale, and she was flustered.
This thing is a human physiological instinct and cannot be easily overcome. Just like everyone knows that the content in horror movies is fictional, but they are still afraid—it's the same principle.
"Don't worry." Natsuki comforted, "You'll get used to it after being scared enough."
Mitsui: "…"
Stepping to the side of the hot spring bath, Natsuki curiously looked inside and couldn't help but show a disgusted expression.
Oh boy.
Floating in the water was a huge, fat evil spirit, completely green, as if it had dyed the hot spring green. It had strange growths on its face and algae resembling human hands on its body... It looked like a piece of trash that had just crawled out of nuclear wastewater.
Without another word, Natsuki decisively activated Evil Spirit Exorcism, quickly dispelling this evil spirit.
"Done. I'm going back."
Natsuki clapped his hands, then prepared to turn and leave.
"President, wait a moment." Hayasaka suddenly called out to him.
Natsuki turned his head to look: "What's wrong?"
Hayasaka covered her bath towel with one hand and smiled:
"Although the evil spirit is gone, it's still a hot spring where a nuclear-polluted evil spirit bathed... President, you wouldn't want us to soak in this kind of hot spring, would you?"
Evil spirits can't interact with things in the real world, so they can't possibly dirty the hot spring!
Natsuki blinked, his eyes quickly brightening, and he said seriously:
"That makes a lot of sense. This is a never-before-seen nuclear waste evil spirit, and it might have special corruption... Let's go, everyone, come and soak in the hot spring with me."
"We can go by ourselves." Hayasaka smiled and stopped him, "President, you stay."
"Huh?"
Question marks appeared above Natsuki's head.
"Mitsui-san hasn't had a boyfriend yet, so of course, she can't soak in a mixed hot spring with boys." Hayasaka tilted her pretty face, "So, President, you stay, and we'll go soak in the hot spring next door."
Hey, hey, that's too much!
The hot spring that an evil spirit soaked in, not only do you all find it disgusting, I would too, right!
"Kaguya-chan, what do you say?"
Hayasaka asked again.
"Um…" Kaguya coughed lightly, guiltily turning her head and averting her gaze, "...I think that makes some sense."
Where does that make sense! It's just that you all feel it's unclean psychologically!
"How about Yukino?"
Hayasaka asked again.
Yukino, with a white towel wrapped around her head, was already walking towards the door, her voice cool:
"Natsuki-kun stays, we'll go soak in the hot spring."
You're making decisions for others without even asking for their opinion! You're going too far!
The girls all went to the next room, leaving Natsuki alone in place. His dream of soaking in a mixed hot spring hadn't even begun before it was shattered.
Natsuki sighed helplessly and could only walk into the hot spring to continue bathing.
As for disgust… he had seen too many disgusting evil spirits, so there wasn't much disgust, actually.
Natsuki closed his eyes, preparing to rest well.
Pitter-patter.
Suddenly, clear footsteps sounded from behind him, followed by a bright and familiar female voice:
"Everyone, I'm here!"
"Hmm?"
Natsuki turned his head and saw a pink-haired girl running over in wooden clogs.
Who else could it be but Chika.
"Eh, eh, eh?" Chika also saw Natsuki's presence and couldn't help but widen her eyes, instinctively wanting to brake, "Pr-President?!"
However, she was wearing wooden clogs, and in her haste, she couldn't stop herself from braking, and she fell into the hot spring with a splash.
Splash!
Natsuki reached out and pulled Chika up, saying speechlessly:
"If your balance is poor, don't run around recklessly."
"Cough, cough…" Chika coughed twice, wiped the water from her face, and argued, "My foot slipped just now, it wasn't because my balance was poor… Wait, wait, wait, why is the President here?!"
Natsuki casually pulled Chika into his arms, his gaze burning:
"This is a long story. Let me tell you slowly…"
"I don't want to!" Chika's pretty face flushed, and she had already understood Natsuki's gaze, warning, "President, hurry up and tell me!"
"Yes, yes, I'll tell you right away…"
Natsuki spoke while reaching out and grasping secretary Chika's conscience.
Indeed.
When it comes to conscience, secretary Chika, as the light of humanity, would never be inferior to anyone.
A moment later.
"Eh, everyone, everyone went to soak in the hot spring next door?" Chika's pretty face was already flushed like fire, and even her voice became stammering, "Pr-President, let me go, I want to go soak in the hot spring next door too."
Let you go?
Of course not!
Natsuki already deeply understood how boring it was to soak in a hot spring alone, so it was naturally more enjoyable to soak together.
Natsuki pretended not to hear and changed the subject, "Speaking of which, why weren't you here just now?"
"I, I was in the bathroom…" Chika's breathing was slightly hurried, and she stammered softly, "Moeha called me… I was wearing headphones, so I didn't hear everyone talking, I guess…"
"I see."
Modern people can no longer live without headphones; many people not only wear headphones when they go out but even wear them all night when they sleep.
Natsuki said seriously, "You can't wear headphones for too long, do you hear me?"
"I didn't wear them for long at all." Chika puffed out her cheeks. "I only wear them when I usually listen to music or make calls… Wait, wait a minute, President, don't change the subject!"
Chika finally reacted belatedly, tightly pressing down on Natsuki's right hand, her pretty face flushed red as she said, "I, I'm going over!"
Natsuki lowered her voice and said, "Let's soak in the hot spring together?"
"I don't want to." Chika quickly shook her head. "If I don't go over soon, everyone will definitely get suspicious."
If it were just the two of them, soaking together would be fine, but everyone else was there, so she decided not to be caught!
Natsuki settled for the next best thing and whispered, "Then how about we soak for twenty minutes?"
Chika continued to shake her head and said, "No, I refuse!"
Natsuki continued, "Then ten minutes."
"I won't believe the President!" Chika's pretty face was flushed, and she couldn't help but retort, "You said the same thing before… but ten minutes was never enough!"
Natsuki looked over with a surprised expression:
"I was just talking about soaking in the hot spring, not doing anything else, secretary Chika, why would she think ten minutes isn't enough?"
"Ugh…" Chika's cheeks quickly puffed out, like a pufferfish after getting angry. "President, take your hand away, I'm going over!"
"Wait a moment." Natsuki hugged Chika. "I just got a very interesting item, do you want to play with it?"
"What item?"
Chika looked over curiously.
Angry or not, if there's something fun, she naturally still wants to play.
"It's this." Natsuki took out the roulette wheel. "My reward from the dungeon I just got."
"Eh?" Chika curiously took the roulette wheel and carefully read the item's properties. "It does look very interesting."
Natsuki said, "I just got it, so I haven't tried how to play it yet. How about we play a round?"
"Hmm…" Chika hesitated for two seconds, then agreed, "Alright, just one round, and after we finish, I'll go soak in the hot spring."
"No problem."
"…"
The two placed their hands on the roulette wheel, and a subtle sensation quickly arose in their hearts:
It's now the betting phase.
"What is the President betting?"
Chika said excitedly.
"It's just a trial, so something simple will do." Natsuki pondered, "How about this, the bet is that the winner gets to make the loser do one thing?"
Chika asked curiously, "Eh, can something like that be a bet?"
As soon as she finished speaking.
A crimson light quickly lit up on the roulette wheel.
"Quite obviously." Natsuki shrugged. "The roulette wheel has accepted our bet."
"Then that's it." Chika was excited. "Next is rolling the dice, right?"
The roulette wheel item was not as complicated as those in a casino; it only had two dice, clearly meant for comparing sizes rather than guessing points.
Natsuki nodded and said, "Chika, you go first."
"I'll go first." Chika didn't back down either. She picked up the two dice and casually tossed them into the air.
Plop.
The two dice bounced and rolled on the roulette wheel, and under the influence of a mysterious force, there was no need to worry about the dice rolling off the wheel.
After a short while, the two dice slowly stopped, finally landing on a total of ten points.
"Heh heh." Chika proudly raised her chin and urged, "President, it's your turn."
Natsuki took the dice and prepared to throw them.
"Eh, wait a minute." Chika asked curiously, "Can I cheat with Time Stop?"
"I don't know." Natsuki threw the dice with interest. "But we can try."
The two dice rolled on the roulette wheel.
One of the dice quickly stopped, showing five points, while the other dice rolled for a bit, and it was about to settle down, clearly showing two points.
"Hahahaha." Chika's face immediately broke into a bright smile. "President, I won."
"That's not necessarily true…" Natsuki said slowly, "Take another look."
"Eh?"
Chika looked down at the roulette wheel, and her beautiful eyes widened. "How could this be? It was clearly two points just now… President, did you cheat with Time Stop?"
"I didn't." Natsuki said righteously, "The roulette wheel recognized the final points, how can that be considered cheating?"
Clearly, the Time Stop skill lived up to its legendary status; when Natsuki activated Time Stop and gently nudged the dice to change the points, it was not judged as cheating by the roulette wheel.
"How unfair!" Chika puffed out her cheeks. "The President clearly cheated to win!"
"Anyway, I won." Natsuki leaned back, looking at Chika, her eyes burning as she said, "Now it's time to honor the bet… My request is for Chika-chan to serve me."
"I don't want to!" Chika snorted lightly, puffing out her cheeks, indicating that she was very unhappy. "The President clearly cheated to win against me… Eh eh eh?!"
But before she could finish speaking, Chika suddenly let out a small cry and involuntarily extended her right hand, grabbing towards Natsuki.
"…My, my body is moving on its own!!!"
Natsuki was stunned:
"Moving on its own?"
Could it be that once one side loses when playing the roulette wheel, they are forced to fulfill the bet?
The more Natsuki thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
If there were no coercive measures, and the loser just walked away, what would be the point?
After losing, one either voluntarily fulfills the bet or is forced to fulfill it; in short, it's about honoring the bet, no backing out.
"P-President…" Chika's pretty face was flushed, filled with shame. "Q-Quickly, stop it!"
Natsuki said innocently, "You're the one being proactive…"
"I'm not being proactive!" Chika shouted in embarrassment. "President, quickly cancel the bet!"
"I'll try…"
Natsuki tried to cancel the bet, but it had no effect, so she could only say, "Sorry, it seems the bet must be fulfilled."
"H-How unfair…" Chika's voice somehow became indistinct. "President, you're still smiling!"
"I'm not, don't talk nonsense."
"You clearly… Mmph…"