Kaguya-sama Wants My Surrender!

[Let's end this year with a bang! 🎉 For every 1 review, I'll upload 1 chapter!

The extra chapters, along with the regular daily uploads, will kick off at the start of 2025!

P.S.: For those interested only.]

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"We actually trapped it!"

Everyone was shocked, staring at the Shadow Cat now securely sealed in the shadowy box, though the whole thing felt bizarre.

Using shadows to lure and contain a shadow monster—it was something beyond ordinary reasoning.

"Don't just stand there—get that box reinforced, fast, so the Shadow Cat can't break out."

The spiky-haired boy jumped into action, crouching down to reinforce the cardboard box. They'd managed to trap the creature—there was no way they'd let it slip away.

Meanwhile, Amamiya stood back, watching as his teammate reinforced the box. Quietly, he took out a baseball bat—an ordinary item from a blind-box set, typically harmless against spirits and shadow creatures but well-suited for other purposes.

Admittedly, it worked very well when aimed at other players, too.

"Admiral, what are you doing?"

Shikimori's eyes widened in confusion as she watched him. Not only was he not helping, but he was preparing a baseball bat as if he was ready for something.

"Just being cautious," Amamiya replied seriously.

"Cautious? Against what?"

The girl with pigtails looked at him with furrowed brows, mind racing. Was he planning to use it on one of them?

In treasure-hunting movies, teams often faced hardships together only to turn on each other at the last moment. But here, they weren't dealing with any treasure—just a shadow monster.

Then, suddenly, something strange occurred.

Another Shadow Cat appeared on the wall—a shadow even darker and larger than the first. Without a sound, it launched down from above, crashing into the spiky-haired boy and knocking him flat on the floor.

With a loud thud, he went sprawling, the force almost dragging him into an inky, invisible pit.

"Ahh! Someone help me!" His panic turned to shouts and frantic cries, and chaos broke out.

"There's a second Shadow Cat!"

"Of course—our mission notes said, 'The cats are thirsty and hungry,' meaning there was never just one!"

The two girls glanced at Amamiya, finally understanding what he had been ready for.

"Hold on!"

Shikimori's face tensed as she tightened her grip on her bamboo sword and charged forward to assist.

With a determined shout, she swung her bamboo sword downward, aiming right for the shadow.

And… nothing happened.

The sword swished harmlessly through the air, connecting with nothing, and the force of the swing strained her arms painfully.

"…Oh no!" Shikimori immediately understood. The cat on the wall was just a shadow, as was the teammate being attacked. No matter how much she swung, her bamboo sword couldn't reach them.

"What do we do?"

Pansy bit her lip nervously, glancing over to Amamiya. Somehow, she trusted he'd know what to do.

"Huh?"

Her eyes widened as she noticed Amamiya standing beside the flashlight, his body turned to the side, gripping the baseball bat with both hands. He took a standard batter's stance and swung with a sharp, practiced motion.

On the wall, the bat's shadow mirrored his movement, striking the second Shadow Cat dead on.

The shadow cat on the wall leapt up and fled into the darkness.

"Home run," Amamiya murmured with satisfaction.

When he swung the bat, Amamiya could feel a slight resistance at its tip, like he'd made contact with something invisible. Yet, the effect was almost negligible—if he'd hit an ordinary cat, animal rights activists would be pounding on his door with sharp words and sharper blades.

But for Shadow Cat, it was as though nothing had happened. Maybe it sustained some kind of damage, but nothing perceptible to human eyes.

"Yes, only shadows can affect other shadows," Pansy said with sudden clarity, her eyes wide.

Despite their previous analysis, their instincts kept pulling them back to ordinary methods, delaying the right reaction.

"Get up quickly," Shikimori said, exhaling in relief as she pulled the spiky-haired boy to his feet and helped him out of the flashlight's range.

"I barely made it out alive," the boy muttered, face pale and breathing fast. Blood had started seeping through the bandage on his right hand.

Shadow Cats could injure human shadows, transmitting that damage back to their physical bodies in ways they couldn't fully comprehend.

"What now?" Shikimori asked with a frown, their earlier triumph over trapping the cat now entirely overshadowed by the challenge of catching a second Shadow Cat. If they didn't, everything they'd done would be pointless.

"Maybe set up another cardboard trap?" suggested the girl with pigtails. "After all, no cat can resist a cardboard box, right?"

Kaguya nodded slightly, considering the suggestion. "We could give it a try."

"But we only have one flashlight," Shikimori replied, frowning. "There might be another one hidden here, but at this point…"

"There is," Pansy interjected, "there's a second flashlight—the one I took earlier!"

As she said this, the girl with pigtails glanced at Amamiya, memories from earlier coming back to her. Had he known they needed the flashlight all along? Did he already have a plan for clearing the level?

"Every setback is a chance to learn," Amamiya noted. "If the Shadow Cat were truly cunning, the cat lady herself wouldn't have been able to catch it. But let's test our theory."

"I'm ready," Shikimori said, poised and eager to act.

"Hold on," Amamiya cautioned, stopping her with an outstretched hand. "Reinforce the cardboard box first to ensure the cat stays inside."

At this, the others hesitated. The lesson was fresh in their minds, and none were willing to enter the light hastily.

"I…"

Shikimori took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and prepared to step forward.

"I'll do it."

At the crucial moment, Kaguya stepped up with quiet resolve.

"Wait, really?" Shikimori stared at her in surprise, noticing her calm demeanor. Glancing over at Amamiya, who was still armed with the bat, she quickly grasped her intentions.

It wasn't that she was fearless—she trusted that the guy with her would protect her if anything happened.

"Shikimori-san," Amamiya called to the pink-haired girl.

"What's up?"

"Stand guard on the left side; I'll handle the right." He guided her to a position near the flashlight. "Hold steady here and don't move. Practice your swing and get a feel for the shadow's movements and attack trajectory."

"Got it."

Shikimori drew a deep breath, gripping her bamboo sword with both hands. With a serious expression, she focused on the wall, readying herself to anticipate and counter the shadow's next move.

Once he was sure of the shadow's attack range, Amamiya gave a small nod. "Alright."

He then looked to Kaguya, pulling several bricks from his game storage. "The task of reinforcing the cardboard box is yours."

"Wait—why do you have bricks in your backpack?" the hedgehog-haired boy exclaimed, incredulous. "Who even keeps those? Any normal person would've tossed them ages ago!"

Amamiya sighed, passing the bricks to Kaguya. "They're a relic from my last game."

"What, now?"

"Well," he started, "Ukraine's comedian president was rallying to join NATO. Then global fuel prices spiked, economies tanked, a worldwide food shortage hit, a supervolcano erupted in the South Pacific causing a year without summer, and international tensions spiraled. Nuclear doom was practically around the corner…"

The spiky-haired boy squinted skeptically. "Why does this sound… oddly familiar?"

Unfazed, Amamiya continued, "About a century after the apocalypse, I was scavenging trash with my loyal dog, Pace."

"Wait, is this based on that famous game?" Pansy asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Amamiya steepled his fingers. "Either way, I developed a pretty good habit of thrift. Even a brick could come in handy as a weapon."

"…Right."

With preparations done, Kaguya stepped forward to reinforce the trap. Amamiya stationed himself on either side of her, standing guard. As anticipated, another Shadow Cat appeared and attacked Kaguya, but she was ready; each strike missed.

"Could we use this to get through the corridor?" Pansy wondered aloud.

"It's too risky," Kaguya replied, shaking her head. "There's more than one light source in the hallway."

"Good point," Pansy said with a frown. "With multiple lights, everyone would have multiple shadows. Defending against them all would be exponentially harder."

"Let's set up the second trap," Shikimori interjected quickly.

The abandoned warehouse was vast, so the team set up a second trap in a distant corner to avoid overlapping flashlight beams. Soon enough, they had a similar setup ready.

Only this time, it didn't work.

The larger shadow cat circled the trap, completely ignoring it. Even when Kaguya stood in the light as bait, the cat stayed put.

"There are two possibilities," Kaguya observed with a frown. "Either it's spooked or it's clever enough to stay hidden and weigh the risks."

With limited options, the players exchanged frustrated looks. Their traps weren't working, and the larger Shadow Cat clearly wouldn't fall for the same tricks. How could they possibly catch and contain it?

"I have an idea," Amamiya announced, breaking the silence.

"What is it?" they asked, eyes hopeful.

"If the Shadow Cat is alive and has a level of intelligence, it must also have another vulnerability…" Amamiya paused, gesturing for everyone to follow him back to the first flashlight. The reinforced cardboard trap sat within its beam, containing a shadow too dark to escape.

"Stray animals in the city will always protect their young," he explained. "In short, it's an instinct—a mother's love."

Kaguya's eyes widened as she grasped Amamiya's plan. "You're suggesting…?"

"It's straightforward," he said, extending a baseball bat so that its shadow fell over the cardboard trap. Locking eyes with the large shadow cat lurking just outside the light, he took a deep breath and called out, "Madam, you wouldn't want your daughter getting hurt, would you?"

A message appeared in his mind, echoing as though from another realm: [Do not harm the kittens in front of their mother, or face serious consequences.]

The clues were clear—these two Shadow Cats were indeed a mother and her kitten.

And where there's maternal love, there's an opportunity...

The other players stared in shock as Amamiya spoke. 

Wait, what?

"Are you… actually threatening a mother with her own daughter?" Shikimori's expression shifted between awe and disbelief. "Doesn't that… seem a little off?"

Pansy adjusted her glasses, muttering, "It's just ordinary words, but somehow, they feel… unsettling when put together."

"It's very unsettling," muttered the spiky-haired boy, rolling his eyes. "Threatening someone's daughter? If the roles were reversed, we'd be the villains, wouldn't we?"