Bang.
Having likely heard the commotion inside, someone quickly shoved the door open.
"What are you doing?!"
Upon seeing the "internet-addicted youth" tied to the chair, Mrs. Takagi's face instantly distorted in anger; her eyes shifted rapidly from distinct black-and-white to pitch-black, and blue veins bulged on her face as she began to transform into an evil spirit.
The three girls following behind instinctively recoiled at the eerie sight.
Just then, the youth hurriedly shouted:
"Mom, I'm fine! Don't scare the guests!"
"Huh?"
Mrs. Takagi was taken aback and paused her transformation.
"Ma'am, please don't be alarmed. I was just communicating with your child in a special way—I assure you, there was absolutely no corporal punishment..."
As Natsuki explained, he untied the magical ropes binding the youth and lowered his voice to add:
"If you behave yourself, I'll give your hard drive back in a few days... so you know what to say, right?"
The youth was merely headstrong and impulsive, not stupid or a fool; he immediately shouted:
"I won't play on the computer anymore; I promise to study hard..."
Hearing this, Mrs. Takagi's eyes widened in incredulous delight, and the evil spirit manifestation vanished completely.
Natsuki said calmly:
"That's not enough. Apologize to your mother now."
Gritting his teeth, the youth bowed reluctantly:
"I'm sorry, Mom. I'll never yell at you again."
Mrs. Takagi covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes misting over with tears of joy.
"Th-thank you... Mr. Security guard, I am endlessly grateful!"
Amidst Mrs. Takagi's profuse expressions of gratitude, the group stepped out of the house.
Meanwhile.
A game notification popped up before their eyes:
[Side Quest: Redemption of the Internet-Addicted Youth — Completed. Quest rewards will be issued upon clearing the dungeon.]
"Huh? The quest is already done?"
The "Ami" widened her eyes in disbelief, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. It had barely been ten minutes—had the side quest really been completed without a sound?
That was way too easy!
The upperclassman was curious too; she whispered:
"What did you do inside the room, underclassman?"
"This."
Natsuki took a computer hard drive out of his pocket.
Tsubame didn't recognize it at first:
"It looks kind of familiar..."
The "Ami," however, recognized it and whispered:
"Is that... a computer hard drive?"
"That's right, just a hard drive." As he walked downstairs, Natsuki remarked dryly, "Adolescent boys always have 'socially fatal' secrets on their computers that they don't want anyone to know about. Targeting that weakness works way better than yelling or hitting."
"Pfft—"
Tsubame quickly realized what kind of content would be on such a drive and scoffed:
"Pervert."
How was that perverted?
Junior high is an age of rapid physical development; curiosity is only natural. It's the boys who don't have any desires you should be worried about.
Natsuki glanced at her, his tone carrying a teasing undertone:
"You seem to know a lot about this, Senpai."
"Shut up." Tsubame's pretty face flushed slightly as she gave Natsuki a playful poke in the waist. "Let's just get moving."
"..."
The group walked through the residential complex and returned to the security booth.
Since there were no new calls coming in for the moment, they briefly conferred and decided to help the upperclassman and Ami complete the trash collection task first.
The trash was all dumped at designated locations, so there was no need to go door-to-door collecting it. The danger lay in the "collection" and "sorting" phases; after all, this was a horror-themed instance, and much of the trash was bizarre and sinister.
Take, for instance, the doll Natsuki had just picked up—its head could turn on its own.
The doll had black gemstones for eyes and a tattered body covered in gashes. Who knew what was hidden inside? Dark, viscous fluid oozed from the wounds, resembling dried blood.
Their eyes met.
The creepy doll silently opened its mouth, revealing a bottomless, pitch-black void within, from which sharp fangs slowly began to sprout. Then...
Slap!
Natsuki delivered a resounding smack, instantly stunning the thing.
After a brief silence, the mutilated doll began to struggle; despite being a mere doll, an expression of furious embarrassment was clearly visible on its face.
Slap!
Natsuki landed another heavy blow. This time, he used more force, spinning the doll's head a full 360 degrees. He raised an eyebrow and said:
"Keep squirming, and see if I don't twist your head right off."
"..."
After those two solid slaps, the mutilated doll immediately quieted down, clamped its mouth shut, and played dead.
A terrifying premonition washed over the doll; the human before it was incredibly dangerous. If it didn't behave, its head really might get distorted off.
Natsuki had already seen a notification: this thing was a "Horror Doll." Like Sadako, it was a supernatural entity that grew stronger by feeding on fear.
Simply put, the more afraid you were, the more terrifying it became.
Unfortunately for it, it had run into Natsuki.
Having witnessed so many horrific entities, a mere doll couldn't make his fear levels so much as flicker.
"Senior, what kind of trash does a doll count as?"
Natsuki turned to ask.
"Hmm, let me check..." Tsubame took out a chart, studied it for a moment, and said, "Worn-out toys fall under recyclable waste."
"Got it."
Natsuki casually tossed the horror doll into the recycling bin.
A passing girl carefully placed a picture frame into the trash can. Inside the frame was a woman weeping and covering her face—she was truly crying, and the occasional sound of a resentful, wailing voice drifted out. It was unclear exactly what the object was, but fortunately, after being carefully placed in the bin, the woman in the frame didn't suddenly lash out or attack. "Whew..."
The random girl exhaled, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and couldn't help but remark:
"There are so many terrifying things here; waste disposal is just too dangerous."
Natsuki casually quipped:
"Stay calm. At least the dangers here are visible; you don't have to worry about being exposed to nuclear radiation without even realizing it."
Tsubame looked up and said:
"Speaking of which, I saw a news report a while back about dozens of tons of radiation-corrupted metal being stolen from the Fukushima area."
Natsuki analyzed the situation:
"Forget dozens of tons of metal—even dozens of tons of cotton would be impossible for a single person to move, so it had to be the work of a gang... You can't move that much metal by hand; you'd need heavy machinery or vehicles. Since they managed to do it without being detected despite the noise and commotion, it was almost certainly an inside job."
"Wow, Natsuki-kun, you're so smart!"
The random player looked over in surprise, her eyes sparkling:
"I was nervously scrolling through my phone to calm down before entering the instance, and I happened to see the follow-up to that story. It turned out the corrupted metal was stolen by a crew of four workers from a local demolition project. Unfortunately, the metal had already been melted down by the scrap dealers and re-entered the market, so it couldn't be recovered."
Komi blinked and whispered two words:
"...Enchanted?"
Natsuki turned to look at her and praised:
"Concise, accurate, and spot-on. Full marks."
Nuclear radiation clings to metal and deals indiscriminate AoE damage; calling it an "enchantment" was no exaggeration at all.
Komi's lovely face flushed slightly, and she hurriedly looked away. "But then again..." Natsuki shifted his tone, adding a touch of sarcasm. "They can recall millions of mobile phones and hundreds of thousands of cars distributed worldwide, yet they can't recall a mere few dozen tons of civilian-grade metal? Does that really make sense?"
"Huh?" Tsubame blinked, tilting her head. "So, what you mean is..."
Natsuki waved his hand dismissively.
"If they're capable of dumping nuclear wastewater into the ocean, there's no point even discussing the rest."
"..."
After a long, busy spell, all the trash was finally collected and stowed away.
"Phew..."
Tsubame let out a soft breath, a satisfied smile gracing her lovely face as she said brightly:
"Today's mission is complete."
Pausing for a moment, she added:
"Even though I was wearing gloves, I still feel really uncomfortable."
Natsuki replied:
"If you're uncomfortable, go take a shower."
Tsubame pursed her lips and looked up at him:
"But there's nowhere to shower, is there? The security booth is tiny, and there's no hot water..."
Natsuki retorted:
"Of course you wouldn't shower in the security booth. It's drafty on all sides; if you accidentally exposed yourselves, I'd have to go and slaughter every single resident in the complex."
A faint blush colored Tsubame's lovely face; she shot him an annoyed look and chided him lightly:
"Don't say such weird things."
"I'm really not just spouting nonsense..."
Natsuki recalled his time playing Red Dead Redemption 2. He remembered strolling through a small town on a balmy spring afternoon when a goat suddenly charged out and knocked him over from behind. Passersby laughed uproariously at the sight, so he proceeded to slaughter the entire town... Come to think of it, that game came out five years ago.
Time truly flows like water, slipping through one's fingers before one even realizes it; everyone is simply pushed forward, unable to ever turn back. "Naturally, we're borrowing the bathroom," Natsuki said matter-of-factly. "Curing a gaming-addicted boy of his addiction is a huge favor; surely Mrs. Takagi won't refuse our request."
As for Mrs. Kato... the thought of that poor, unfortunate soul being scrubbed clean inside and out in the bathtub made him decide to steer clear—borrowing that bathroom was absolutely out of the question.
"Hmm..."
Tsubame pursed her lips, feeling a flutter of interest.
After sorting through so much trash—even though it wasn't particularly filthy—a lingering sense of psychological discomfort remained. The more she thought about it, the itchier and more uncomfortable she felt; she really did want a proper bath.
"Ami-san, Shoko-chan, what do you think?"
The girl from the crowd quickly chimed in:
"I'm fine with it."
Komi seemed a bit dazed for some reason; it took her two seconds to snap back to reality before she stammered softly:
"I... I'm okay with whatever..."
Natsuki turned around and said:
"Let's go, then."
"..."
The three girls hurriedly followed him.
They walked the rest of the way in silence.
Upon arriving at Mrs. Takagi's doorstep, Natsuki stood at the front and knocked.
The door opened quickly.
"Mrs. Takagi, sorry to bother you..."
Natsuki spoke gently as he explained the reason for their visit.
"Come in, come in."
Mrs. Takagi certainly didn't turn them away; she warmly welcomed them into the house:
"There's hot water in the bathroom—feel free to take as long as you like."
Natsuki thanked her politely, then looked at his upperclassman:
"Senpai, you go take a bath first."
Tsubame nodded:
"Alright, I'll go first."
The bathroom was tiny. Although there was a bathtub, no one wanted to soak in it after hearing Natsuki's story about Mrs. Kato's wild behavior; they just wanted a quick rinse.
Tsubame entered the bathroom, while Mrs. Takagi went into the kitchen, where the sounds of clattering and bustling soon began. "Let's go sit on the sofa for a bit."
Noticing that the random girl and Shoko both looked a bit nervous, Natsuki took the lead, walked over to the sofa, sat down, and offered some reassurance:
"Don't be nervous; just relax. Think of it like visiting a neighbor's house in real life."
The random girl: "..."
But this is a horror instance—there are evil spirits and monsters everywhere! That housewife nearly transformed into an evil spirit earlier, so how could anyone not be nervous?
She couldn't help but glance at Natsuki, thinking to herself:
This guy looks like he's just a high school student, so why isn't he scared at all?
"Huh...!"
Her eyes suddenly widened and her heart began to pound; she had just spotted an incredible "secret."
Th-they're actually holding hands?!
At some point, Natsuki had taken the hand of the girl with the long, straight black hair and was gently toying with her slender, snow-white fingers.
The beautiful girl with the long, straight black hair didn't pull away; she simply lowered her head slightly, her face flushed pink, and let him play with her hand.
Wh-why?
Isn't Natsuki-kun dating Tsubame?
They even kissed before!
And now, while Tsubame is taking a bath, he's holding hands with another girl...
Two-timing!
Cheating!
Scum!
These words flashed through the random girl's mind, and the admiration she had previously felt for Natsuki came crashing down.
No matter the reason, a guy who toyed with a girl's feelings was absolutely despicable!
"What's wrong?"
Natsuki tilted his head and looked over at her.
"N-nothing..."
She hurriedly looked away, clutching her chest as her heart raced nervously.
I've stumbled upon his secret—will he threaten me?
And... should I tell Tsubame about him cheating?
If I snitch, will he lash out in anger and do something terrible to me?
She bit her lip, torn by indecision.
On one hand, she had been well looked after by her upperclassman and felt she ought to tell Tsubame the truth, so she wouldn't be blinded by a scumbag. On the other hand, she worried that if she blew the whistle, Natsuki might lash out in anger and hurt her.
Natsuki could more or less sense the conflict playing out in the random girl's mind, but he didn't give it a second thought.
He was building his harem openly and honestly; with a clear conscience, he had absolutely no fear of being reported.
It was the Shoko by his side who commanded more of his attention...
"Are you not feeling well?"
Natsuki looked at Shoko and asked softly.
The Shoko had seemed off ever since they finished cleaning up the trash.
"Um..."
The Shoko parted her lips, a look of hesitation crossing her lovely face. Just as she was about to speak, the bathroom door suddenly slid open, and the upperclassman emerged, having finished her shower in record time.
"I—I'm going to take a bath!"
The Shoko quickly pulled her right hand free and fled into the bathroom.
"Huh? What's wrong with Shoko?" Tsubame asked curiously. "She seemed to be in such a rush."
"I don't know." Natsuki interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them. "Something feels off. Usually, given Shoko's personality, she'd choose to bathe last..."
"I'll go ask Shoko-chan."
Tsubame pursed her lips and turned back toward the bathroom.
Behind the upperclassman, the random girl agonized over the decision for a long while, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to speak of what she had seen and heard; she simply lowered her head in guilt.
A moment later.
The bathroom door slid open just a crack, and Tsubame peeked out, her expression serious.
"Natsuki-kun, come here for a sec."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow at her words, stood up, walked to the bathroom door, and asked in a low voice:
"What is it?"
"It's hard to explain..." Tsubame opened the door wider. "Come inside."
"Mm."
Natsuki agreed, stepped into the bathroom, and his gaze fell upon Shoko. The shy girl had already stripped off most of her clothes, leaving only her undergarments. Even in the dim bathroom light, her skin remained as smooth and white as ivory; her legs, in particular—slender, straight, and snow-white—looked especially alluring.
Sensing Natsuki's gaze, she shyly turned away, covering her chest with one hand and her lower abdomen with the other.
"Senior, what happened to Shoko?"
Natsuki asked in a low, serious voice.
Tsubame spoke softly:
"Something strange has appeared on Shoko's legs... It seemed dangerous, so I called you in to take a look."
Natsuki shifted his gaze down to the girl's legs and commanded:
"Turn around."
Her dark hair trembled slightly as she turned, her pretty face flushed with embarrassment.
In the light, Natsuki quickly saw the condition of Shoko's legs. A patch of black markings had appeared on her right leg; radiating outward from her lower leg, the pattern was spreading steadily upward, having already reached her thigh.
The markings were pitch-black, contrasting sharply with her smooth, snow-white skin. They looked as though they were growing from deep within the flesh, creating a rather eerie appearance.
"When did this happen?"
Natsuki asked Shoko in a low, serious voice.
"U-Um..."
Shoko stammered, whispering:
"While I was clearing away the trash earlier, I felt a slight sting in my lower leg—like something had bitten me."
No wonder you were so restless earlier; you'd already been bitten back when you were cleaning up the trash!
Natsuki raised an eyebrow:
"We went over this when we entered the dungeon, didn't we? If you feel unwell or encounter anything unusual, you have to speak up immediately. Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"..."
Shoko's eyelashes fluttered, and she lowered her head in silence.
Tsubame gave a soft cough and interjected:
"Shoko-chan was probably worried about causing us trouble, which is why she didn't say anything."
Natsuki put on a stern face:
"She was worried about causing trouble, yet now the problem is clearly much worse. And I've said time and again that you need to report issues right away... If I don't punish her properly today, she's bound to make the same mistake again."
Thud.
Natsuki reached out and conjured a chair out of thin air, placing it on the bathroom floor. He sat down, looked at Shoko, and commanded:
"Come here."
"..."
Shoko's dark hair trembled slightly as she cautiously walked over to Natsuki.
Natsuki pointed to his thigh and ordered:
"Bend over across my lap."
"N-No..."
Shoko blinked; once she realized what Natsuki intended to do, her pretty face flushed bright red. She hurriedly shook her head, reaching behind her to cover her buttocks with her hands.
It would be one thing if it were just the two of them in the bathroom, but having to bend over a boy's lap and obediently get spanked right in front of her upperclassman—it was just too humiliating!
Tsubame whispered:
"Junior... Shoko knows she made a mistake..."
"She knows she made a mistake, but she'll do it again," Natsuki interrupted. "If there's a mistake, there has to be a punishment; that's the only way to make the lesson stick."
"..."
Tsubame pursed her lips and fell silent. To be fair, it really was Shoko's own fault; she should have spoken up the moment she realized she'd been attacked by that bizarre entity instead of keeping it to herself. A spanking to teach her a lesson wasn't exactly unreasonable.
Seeing that the Shoko still refused to come over, Natsuki simply reached out his right hand and grabbed her.
The bathroom was small, leaving nowhere to hide; the girl was quickly caught and pinned across his lap.
"Disobedient children get punished."
Natsuki raised an eyebrow, lifted his right hand, and brought it down with a sharp whoosh.
Whack!
The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the bathroom, lingering in the air.
"Whimper..."
The girl's body shuddered violently as a low, pained sound escaped her lips; she instantly stopped struggling. Viewed from the side, half her face had flushed a deep, beet red.
"Ahem..."
Tsubame gave a soft cough. Feeling a phantom twinge in her own backside—as if the blow had landed on her—she spoke with a slight blush:
"I'll step out for now; call me back in a bit."
Seeing that Natsuki didn't object, Tsubame hurriedly opened the bathroom door and stepped out, her face still flushed.
Whack.
Just as the door closed, the crisp sound of another slap rang out.
Tsubame's face turned pink; she instinctively covered her own backside before quietly walking away from the bathroom.
There were plenty of ways to punish someone, yet he chose spanking... He really was such a pervert.
Inside the bathroom.
Natsuki delivered another slap, then asked:
"Do you know what you did wrong?"
The girl's face was flushed crimson, and faint wisps of steam seemed to be rising from the top of her head. She opened her mouth but couldn't utter a sound—she was clearly too overcome with shame to speak.
"Not talking, huh?"
Natsuki raised an eyebrow, lifted his right hand, and brought it down once more.
Whack.
His palm met a sensation of firm, springy resistance—the tactile feedback was excellent. "..."
The Shoko kept her head down, resting against Natsuki's lap; she bit her lip, and aside from the slight trembling of her dark hair, she refused to utter a single sound.
"So, you're resisting with silence, huh?"
Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly, his voice dropping to a low, deep register:
"In that case, I'll have to change the method of punishment."
"..."
The girl felt a sense of aggrieved helplessness; she bit her lip even harder, remaining stubbornly silent.
Even if you change the punishment... if I can't speak, I just can't... Wait—huh?!
The next second.
Her body shuddered violently, and her beautiful eyes flew wide open. Steam seemed to hiss and billow from the top of her head as she scrambled to get up in a panic.
"Don't move."
Natsuki applied slight pressure with his left hand to keep her pinned down, preventing her from rising. Meanwhile, his other hand shifted from a spanking motion to a caress, sliding downward until it finally landed on...
"N-no...!"
Her voice was laced with flustered embarrassment; she felt so mortified she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
The upperclassman was right outside the bathroom door, yet Natsuki-kun was... doing that... No! Absolutely not!
"See? You can speak after all," Natsuki said unhurriedly, pausing his movements. "Do you realize your mistake now?"
Fighting back the overwhelming tide of shame, she gripped his right hand tightly to stop him from moving further, her eyes misty with unshed tears:
"I... I was wrong..."
Natsuki asked again:
"What did you do wrong?"
Her lovely face was flushed a deep, blood-red, and her voice trembled; the blush had spread from her cheeks to stain her entire body a rosy hue:
"I should have... I should have told Natsuki-kun sooner..."
"Good, as long as you know." Only then did Natsuki withdraw his hand, putting on a stern expression. "That was just a minor warning. If there's a next time, I won't be taking my hand away so easily."
As soon as he released his hold, she scrambled to her feet, covering her backside with both hands, and retreated tearfully into the corner. "Come over and sit down." Natsuki stood up and offered his chair. "The punishment is over; come here so I can treat the curse on your thigh."
The Shoko sniffled, hesitating and afraid to approach.
Natsuki used a menacing tone:
"The black lines are still spreading upward. You remember the Bureau's manual on instances, right? There was a case involving a 'spirit fetus'—if the black lines reach your abdomen, you might end up pregnant with an evil spirit..."
"N-no, stop it!"
Shoko shook her head in a panic and quickly walked to Natsuki's side, sitting down on a chair.
Natsuki squatted down in front of Shoko and instructed, "Move apart a bit so I can properly check the situation."
Because the 'Ghost Embryo' dungeon mentioned just now was too terrifying, Shoko dared not hesitate. She could only bite her lower lip, turn her pretty face away in shame, and obediently comply.
Natsuki leaned closer and meticulously inspected with a serious expression, "Does it hurt?"
Shoko shook her head, her voice faint, like a mosquito's hum, "It doesn't hurt."
Natsuki asked again, "Do you have any other sensations?"
Shoko stammered, "It's...it's a bit numb and itchy..."
Natsuki pondered, "It should be some kind of cursed object that has drilled into the skin, or it might even be some kind of living thing... The only solution now is to suck it out."
In fact, a prompt had just appeared before Natsuki, informing him how to deal with the strange object under Shoko's skin, which was why he remained calm.
"Eh?" Shoko's beautiful eyes widened. "...Suck it out?"
Natsuki said seriously, "There's another way, which is to cut the skin with a knife and dig it out. Which do you choose, Shoko?"
"..."
Shoko immediately fell silent.
The black line had already spread to the inner thigh. Sucking it out was really terrible, but cutting the skin with a knife and digging it out sounded incredibly painful...
"Then let me choose," Natsuki instructed. "Shoko, close your eyes."
"..."
Shoko's eyelashes trembled slightly as she hesitated. Seeing Natsuki already leaning in decisively, she frantically closed her eyes, then quickly raised her hands to tightly cover her rosy lips, determined not to make any strange sounds.
At the same time.
Outside the bathroom door.
Hearing the slapping sounds inside cease, Tsubame secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She listened intently; only strange smacking sounds remained inside, and she didn't know what was happening. She quietly asked, "Natsuki-kun, do you need help?"
Natsuki looked up, wiped the corner of his mouth, looked at Shoko, and whispered, "Do you want Tsubame-senpai to come in and help?"
Shoko covered her rosy lips with both hands, shaking her small head like a rattle drum.
Having Natsuki help alone was already her limit; if Tsubame also came in to help... Komi only had to think about it in her mind to feel so ashamed that she wanted to hold her breath and commit suicide.
Natsuki turned and called out, "Shoko said she doesn't need Tsubame-senpai to come in and help."
"Alright then..." Tsubame was a bit worried. "Shoko-chan won't be in danger, will she?"
Strange smacking sounds echoed in the bathroom again, as if someone was eating ice cream. Natsuki's muffled voice could be heard saying, "Tsubame-senpai, don't worry, I've found a way to resolve the crisis."
"That's good," Tsubame said softly. "Junior, take good care of Shoko-chan."
"..."
Ten minutes later.
Seeing that Shoko had reached her limit and her brain was about to crash and faint, Natsuki finally stopped.
"Hoo..."
Natsuki exhaled lightly, wiped his mouth clean, then took out a dagger, and forcefully cut his fingertip. Crimson blood immediately gushed out.
Immediately after, Natsuki extended his bleeding finger towards Shoko's thigh. The 'black line' on the inner side of her skin seemed to smell blood, instantly throbbing and twisting, as if it wanted to break out of her body.
In a short while, a venomous snake distorted from a strand of black hair suddenly emerged from under the skin and sharply struck the wound on Natsuki's finger.
Natsuki squinted his eyes, swiftly reached out, grabbed the strand of black hair, and pulled it out by the roots.
This thing was quite bizarre; even after being pulled out, it still distorted frantically like a living creature, appearing eerie and disgusting.
"Snap."
Natsuki took out a lighter, lit a flame, and ignited the strand of hair.
The flame quickly spread, burning the black hair to ashes, leaving only a wisp of black ash and a pungent burnt smell.
Natsuki raised his hand and waved away the air in front of him, then said, "Done, it's resolved."
Shoko opened her eyes upon hearing this, looked down at her thigh, and seeing her skin fair and clear, with no more of the previous black lines, she couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of relief.
Natsuki reached out, picked up Shoko, then put the chair back into his game backpack, and said, "I'll help Shoko take a bath."
Shoko's pretty face flushed hot, and she quickly shook her head, saying, "I...I can wash myself."
Natsuki retorted, "It's not that I'm saying... can you even stand steadily right now?"
Shoko: "..."
Having been taken advantage of by Natsuki for so long, her legs were now weak and her brain was deprived of oxygen. She indeed couldn't stand steadily. If Natsuki hadn't supported her, she would probably be sitting on the ground by now.
"Hurry up and take a bath, we've already wasted a lot of time, and there are people waiting outside," Natsuki said, grabbing the showerhead. "We can't keep bothering people."
"..."
There was no other way; she really couldn't take a bath herself right now. Shoko had already closed her eyes, deciding to let Natsuki help her.
However, the next second.
Shoko felt her conscience attacked and hastily raised her hands to cover her chest.
"Don't..."
"Don't what?" Natsuki retorted with a serious expression, "Do you intend to shower with your clothes on?"
Shoko: "..."
"Take your hands away," Natsuki instructed. "Don't hinder me from taking off your clothes."
"..."
Ten minutes later.
Natsuki and Shoko finished their bath and left the bathroom.
The main reason for the delay was clearing the strange object, and there were people waiting outside. Otherwise, a shared bath would have taken at least an hour.
"Natsuki-kun, you're out?"
Tsubame had been waiting by the door. Seeing them emerge, she quickly stepped forward and asked softly, "How is Shoko?"
Shoko's pretty face was flushed crimson, whether from the steam or some other reason, and she stammered softly, "It's alright now."
"Let me see..."
Tsubame was still worried. She squatted down, lifted Shoko's skirt, and looked inside. Seeing her skin delicate and smooth, with no more of the previous ghastly black lines, she finally truly relaxed.
Upon seeing this scene, Ami on the sofa was completely bewildered.
Meow meow meow?
What was the relationship between these three people?
Her own boyfriend showered with another girl, and not only was Tsubame not angry, but she even squatted down to lift someone else's skirt?
Could it be... that Tsubame was actually bisexual, liking both, which was why she didn't mind?
"Miss Ami, you can go take a bath now."
Tsubame turned and called out softly.
"Coming."
Ami quickly responded, chasing away the chaotic conjectures in her mind, and stood up to walk towards the bathroom.
Ask less, listen more, and try not to draw attention to oneself—that was the correct way to latch onto someone powerful.
A moment later.
Ami finished her bath as quickly as possible and left the bathroom.
"Mr. Security guard, have you finished your bath?"
Soon after she sat down, Mrs. Takagi came out of the kitchen carrying dishes, her voice gentle and warm, "I've made some food. You must be hungry, hurry and eat something."
Looking at the fragrant, unknown dishes in front of her, Ami swallowed hard, about to shake her head in refusal.
Are you kidding?
Who knew what would happen if she ate the food made by the evil spirit wife.
However, the next second, she saw Natsuki clasp his hands together and politely thank her, "Thank you, I am indeed hungry."
Natsuki picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began to eat.
Tsubame and Shoko also ate without hesitation, replenishing their stamina.
Stamina and energy were very important in the dungeon. Although there was food stored in the game backpack, every bit saved was a bit.
Ami, however, was restless and hesitant to speak.
What's wrong with you guys?
That was food made by an evil spirit wife, why did you eat it without hesitation?!
"Miss Ami, would you like to eat something with us?"
Tsubame asked.
Ami hesitated for a while, but ultimately shook her head, "...I'm not hungry, you guys eat."
After eating their fill.
Natsuki and the others said their goodbyes and prepared to return to the security booth.
A cold wind blew in their faces. Ami shivered slightly, feeling an unbearable hunger in her stomach. She suddenly regretted not eating earlier... So much time had passed, and they were perfectly fine, so those foods were actually safe?
Back at the security booth.
Natsuki was about to sit down and rest when he suddenly heard low barks echoing in the night.