Miss Kaguya Wants My Surrender

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"After we split up on the second floor just now, it wasn't long before we encountered other monsters. Everyone had to scatter. I and that one hid in a room, but who knew there were monsters in the room too? I barely managed to escape…"

The girl speaking was pale, breathing nervously, and quickly recounting her experiences after they separated.

"We came out into the Corridor, still wondering where to go, when that boy suddenly fell to the ground."

Seemingly recalling a terrifying scene, the girl's face showed a hint of terror, and she said nervously: "…That boy's expression was super scary."

Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this: "Are you sure he died?"

"I… I don't dare." The girl timidly shook her head, "After I saw him fall to the ground, I called out to him, but he didn't react at all, so I ran away."

"Natsuki-kun, should we go and take a look?" Fujiwara Chika decided immediately, "Maybe he just fainted."

As the game's recognized light of humanity, Fujiwara Chika naturally wasn't willing to abandon any human player.

"Let's go take a look."

Amamiya Natsuki nodded slightly and led the way forward.

The other girls naturally followed behind, as there was no safe place in the old castle anyway, and it was the same no matter where they went.

Not far after walking, Amamiya Natsuki saw a boy lying on the ground, face up, his pupils already starting to dilate.

"It's Izumi."

Amamiya Natsuki recognized the boy's identity at a glance.

It was the thin boy who looked like he neglected exercise and coughed occasionally.

"…His smile is so strange."

Fujiwara Chika was startled and couldn't help but take half a step back.

On the boy's face, for some reason, there was a strange smile that looked quite eerie.

Amamiya Natsuki took a light breath, half-squatted down, and began a simple examination.

"Breathing… none."

"Heartbeat also gone."

No breathing, no heartbeat, it could basically be concluded that the person was dead.

"And body temperature…" Amamiya Natsuki reached out and closed the boy's eyes, "Very cold."

A prompt appeared before his eyes.

"You've observed carefully and found that your Roadside Girl teammate's body temperature is very abnormal."

Hey, hey, there's clearly a name called Izumi, so why doesn't the Roadside Girl teammate deserve a name?

But then again, her body temperature was indeed very abnormal.

Shinomiya Kaguya covered her skirt with one hand, half-squatted, her willow-like brows slightly furrowed: "Her body is too cold."

"It really is," Fujiwara Chika exclaimed, "It's as cold as ice."

That's an exaggeration.

It wasn't as cold as ice, but it was clearly very strange.

According to the girl, it had only been a few minutes since they escaped the room and came to the Corridor, no more than ten minutes at most.

In such a short time, her body couldn't possibly be this cold.

"Could it be a Werewolf Lady who specifically devours others' life and heat?" Takanashi Rikka whispered, guessing.

You're not talking about a Werewolf, but a succubus, aren't you?!

The Roadside Girl shook her head: "There are only two of us in the Corridor, I didn't see any other monsters."

Takanashi Rikka: "Werewolf Misses can turn invisible."

Invisibility is already out, if we keep going, will there be super-powered individuals? That would be too much cheating!

Yukinoshita Yukino clasped her right arm across her chest, her willow-like brows furrowed as she said:

"Could it be… a game countdown?"

"…"

The air suddenly fell silent.

After entering the ancient castle and learning about the countdowns for their respective main quests, everyone had two theories.

One possibility was a survival countdown; as long as they persisted until the countdown ended, they could leave the game.

The other possibility… was naturally a death countdown.

It was just that no one wanted to say it out loud.

Now that Yukinoshita Yukino had blurted it out, the other players grew nervous and hurriedly checked their game countdowns.

The countdown had unknowingly passed its halfway point, and most people had only an hour left.

Because of the badge item, Amamiya Natsuki's countdown was slightly longer, with nearly an hour and a half remaining.

To verify whether it was a death countdown, the method was simple: just observe what happened when the second-to-last person's time ran out, and the truth would be clear.

And the second-to-last person…

Amamiya Natsuki frowned, looking at the Dumbfounded Miss.

It was Kaguya.

Everyone's countdown difference wasn't significant, but the person ranked second to last happened to be Shinomiya Kaguya.

"How much time is left on the countdown?" Amamiya Natsuki asked in a low voice.

Shinomiya Kaguya lightly bit her lower lip: "Fifty-three minutes."

"That short?" Fujiwara Chika was startled and quickly said, "Natsuki-kun, quickly extend Kaguya-chan's time."

Why does that sound like topping up at a Net Cafe?

But he really did need to help extend it.

If the second-to-last person were someone else, Amamiya Natsuki might choose to stand by and observe the rule, but he definitely wouldn't just watch the Dumbfounded Girl encounter danger.

Amamiya Natsuki said directly:

"Give me your hand."

"Mm."

Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her pink lips, her expression cool and composed as she extended her right hand.

Amamiya Natsuki held the Dumbfounded Miss's hand, feeling only its boneless softness and exceptionally delicate, smooth skin.

In contrast, Shinomiya Kaguya's face still held a cool and composed expression, but a blush was clearly and rapidly rising on her cheeks, and even her ear tips were tinged with a hint of crimson.

You are the Kaguya-hime of ice and snow, it's just holding hands, why are you blushing?!

"How's the countdown now?" Amamiya Natsuki asked.

Shinomiya Kaguya quietly took a breath, answering in a casual tone: "The countdown is slowly increasing."

"And now?"

Amamiya Natsuki released her hand.

"The increase has stopped," Shinomiya Kaguya quickly said, "The countdown is starting to decrease… and it's decreasing very quickly."

"Try again."

Amamiya Natsuki held the Dumbfounded Miss again.

After several verifications, Amamiya Natsuki quickly reached a conclusion.

The "extension" effect was actually very mediocre; once physical contact stopped, the increased time would rapidly decrease until it returned to the original countdown.

Amamiya Natsuki looked down at Puppet Billy and asked, "When Butler-san said 'time is running out,' did he mean the countdown is running out?"

"I'm sorry, I cannot say," Puppet Billy said meaningfully, "Please, esteemed guests, proceed to the Restaurant as soon as possible to enjoy dinner."

Amamiya Natsuki said, "Let's go to the library first."

"Eh?" Fujiwara Chika asked curiously, "What are we going to the library for?"

"To verify a theory."

"…"

The library was on the second floor, so there was no need to go out of their way.

Amamiya Natsuki walked forward, and the girls followed; as for the Izumi girl whose body was already cold… he could only offer his apologies.

The group quickly arrived at the library.

Amamiya Natsuki pushed the door open and entered.

There were no monsters in the library; it was quite silent, with ten rows of bookshelves standing quietly, filled with books as vast as the sea. The books burned before were just a drop in the ocean.

Amamiya Natsuki stopped and looked at the long-haired, dark-haired girl: "Yukinoshita, please come here."

"Hmm?"

Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes showed confusion.

"I have something to tell you," Amamiya Natsuki finished, then looked at Miss Ice Princess beside him, "Kaguya-san, please move a little further away."

Shinomiya Kaguya: "…"

To whisper to another girl in front of her, and even tell her to go away and not listen, it was too much!

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