"So refreshing."
Emerging from the bath, Natsuki felt utterly invigorated from head to toe.
How does one dispel worries?
Only through bathing.
As for the remaining fifth reward...
[Reward: Cold Resistance]
[Having endured the tempering of a blizzard, your cold resistance is permanently increased by +10%]
There was no time limit on selecting rewards, so Natsuki wasn't in any rush.
"Come eat." Miko, wearing an apron, had just emerged from the kitchen. "It's already past two in the afternoon. I only made omurice. We'll save beef rice for dinner."
"Thanks for the meal."
Natsuki walked over and sat at the table.
Yotsuya Miko clearly hadn't eaten either. She turned back, brought out another bowl of omurice, sat down, and ate with Natsuki.
Mrs. Kaguya, unable to taste food, reclined lazily on the sofa. Her body briefly solidified as her ten fingers flew rapidly across the phone screen.
"While little Natsuki was bathing, a whole bunch of people joined the player mutual aid group. They must be the companions who just participated in the game with you, right?"
"As a senior, it's necessary to teach them survival techniques!"
You're a ghost—what kind of senior does that make you?!
Natsuki ate his omurice at a leisurely pace, then stood and walked over to the refrigerator.
Opening the door, the automatic sensor light came on. A human-head evil spirit was squatting inside the fridge, its dull, lifeless fish eyes staring directly at Natsuki.
"Can... can see me..."
Natsuki's expression didn't change. He didn't even bother activating his Evil Spirit Repelling aura. He simply reached out his right hand, passed it straight through the head of the evil spirit, and pulled out a carton of milk.
Humans really were creatures shaped by circumstance.
In the past, opening the fridge and seeing such an ugly human-head evil spirit—even if he didn't scream, he'd at least have been startled.
Now, though...
Natsuki felt like if he opened the fridge one day and didn't see the head evil spirit, he'd actually feel a bit unused to it.
Taking the milk over to the table, Natsuki first poured a glass for Miko, then poured one for himself. As he drank, he picked up his phone.
The player mutual aid group established by Beacon of Humanity Chika Fujiwara had successfully surpassed ten members. Messages had already hit 99+.
Natsuki tapped in and took a glance. Every teammate from the last game had joined without exception—but the ones actually chatting and flooding the group were still the usual suspects.
Chika Fujiwara: "Getting lost on a snowy mountain is way too dangerous. I'm never going skiing in the Alps again!"
Hinata Hiyori: "I'm so lucky to have survived."
Kitagawa Marin: "That sounds super dangerous. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have figured out how to clear it."
Natsuki briefly scrolled through the chat history.
At first, these people had been seriously debriefing the game—but later on they'd gone completely off-topic, chatting about eating, drinking, and having fun during Golden Week.
Natsuki turned his head to look outside.
The rainy season hadn't arrived yet.
Outside, the weather was bright and sunny—perfect for basking in the sun. That is, if it weren't for all the evil spirits wandering around everywhere.
A Golden Week filled with evil spirits at every turn was clearly not as wonderful as it should be.
Eight o'clock at night.
Natsuki was reading in the living room when his pinky finger suddenly began to twitch.
Once.
Twice.
Three times...
No need to guess—it had to be the bored Chika Fujiwara.
Shortly after, his phone began buzzing.
Natsuki picked it up and checked the message.
"Ahhhhh! So mean so mean so mean so mean so mean—I just experienced something super duper mean!"
The pink-haired girl's resentment practically leapt off the phone screen.
"Speak."
Natsuki's reply was short and to the point.
If it were some other girl, she'd probably be losing her temper by now. Chika, however, didn't care in the slightest. She chattered away:
"Just now—just now! That super-mean evil spirit crawled under my bed right in front of me again!"
"It comes by every day or two. I've never seen such a mean evil spirit."
"I can't stand it anymore. I'm done putting up with it!"
"Today I'm definitely going to see what it's doing hiding under my bed."
Watching an evil spirit crawl under your bed every single day—anyone would lose their patience. Chika's resentment was completely understandable.
Chika continued:
"Amamiya-kun, are you free right now? If you are, could you come to my house?"
Hey now—asking a male classmate to come to your house at night, is that really okay?!
Natsuki pondered: "It's already nighttime."
"That's fine." Chika had absolutely zero sense of caution. "Mom and Dad aren't home today, so we can do whatever we want."
That sentence is even more dangerous!
Don't you know what it means to invite the wolf into the house? What it means to open the door and welcome in a thief? Your parents aren't home, yet you're calling a male classmate over in the middle of the night—watch out or you won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow!
"Please, Amamiya-kun!" Chika sent several dogeza emojis in rapid succession. "This is the request of a lifetime!"
Natsuki sighed: "Tell me your address."
"Amamiya-kun really is a good person!"
"A good person card?"
"Sorry! I have tons of snacks saved up—I'll give them all to you when you get here."
"..."
Natsuki stood, walked to the entryway, changed his shoes, memorized the address Chika had sent, and headed out.
The journey passed without incident.
Half an hour later.
Looking at the mansion before him, Natsuki pulled out his phone and messaged Chika.
"I'm outside your door."
"Don't ring the doorbell. I'll come downstairs and let you in." Chika replied instantly. "Moeha's still home. We can't let Moeha know about our business."
It's just coming over to help you exorcise a spirit—why does it have to be so secretive?!
One minute later.
The door gave a soft click and was pulled open. A little head wrapped in a towel peeked out through the crack—it was Chika.
"Amamiya-kun, come in, come in."
Seeing Natsuki at the door, Chika's eyes lit up. She quickly pulled the door wide.
Natsuki stepped into the entryway and looked at Chika.
The pink-haired girl had clearly just finished bathing. Her hair still carried traces of steam, her skin was white with a rosy flush—like a freshly peeled water chestnut, extraordinarily tender. It felt as though if you pinched her, water would come out.
"Why are you bathing now?" Natsuki kept his voice low.
Calling someone over in the middle of the night, only for them to arrive and find you fresh out of the bath—if a criminal incident accidentally occurred, you'd bear half the responsibility!
"I kept wanting to look under the bed." Chika answered in a small voice. "To suppress my curiosity, I went to take a bath. After coming back from the game, I finally realized how amazing baths are. Kaguya-chan is taking a bath right now too... Here, slippers. These are the ones prepared for Dad—he hasn't worn them yet. Hurry and change, then come to my room."
Natsuki changed into the slippers. A large dog came trotting over, wagging its tail.
"This is Pesu. I raised Pesu with my own hands since he was a puppy." Chika tilted her chin up, then looked down. "Pesu, this is Amamiya-kun. Say hello—quietly, so you don't wake Moeha."
Hey now, asking a dog to greet a person is a bit much, isn't it?!
"Woof."
Pesu sat on the ground and gave a single low bark in Natsuki's direction.
Chika continued: "Shake hands."
Pesu raised his right paw toward Natsuki, a pair of dog eyes filled with intelligence.
Natsuki: "..."
The intelligence gap between dog and dog truly could not be generalized.
After shaking hands amicably with Pesu, Natsuki followed the pink-haired girl and prepared to head upstairs.
"Wait a second."
Chika suddenly slapped her forehead, bent down, and crouched. She picked up Natsuki's shoes and tucked them into the very bottom of the shoe cabinet. "As a detective, I can't overlook any detail. It's safer to hide your shoes."
An unknown gravitational force suddenly appeared in the air, causing Natsuki's gaze to slip downward. He quickly confirmed two things.
First.
Girls at home after bathing apparently didn't wear undergarments.
Second.
This pink-haired airhead's sense of caution was absurdly weak.