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"It's not mind reading."
Amamiya Natsuki retorted, "I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at your expression."
Fujiwara Chika nodded in agreement:
"She's really easy to read."
Juju followed suit: "I agree."
Komi: "…"
After a brief thought, Amamiya Natsuki quickly said:
"Let's walk a little slower, no need to rush. Chika, you and Juju help Komi."
Komi quickly shook her head at his words.
"You want to say you don't need it?" Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Then I'll carry you on my back?"
"…"
Komi's body trembled, and she quickly shook her head.
Being carried by a boy was completely impossible for her.
"It's okay, you just helped me." Fujiwara Chika stepped forward and supported Komi's arm. "In such a dangerous place like a dungeon, everyone should help each other anyway."
Juju walked to the other side and supported Komi: "That's right, next time you're in danger, Komi can help us back."
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Fujiwara and said:
"Don't submit the Ghost Stories video tapes for now. You'll exchange possession every few minutes."
"Eh?" Fujiwara Chika was startled, "Why?"
Amamiya Natsuki said: "We'll do another verification when The Narrator appears next time."
"…"
Amamiya Natsuki walked in front, with the three girls following behind. The four walked together towards the Convenience Store, though at a slower pace.
Most of the buildings in the town were pitch black, likely abandoned houses.
Occasionally, light would emanate from a house, but with Madame's prior example, they dared not trust whether the occupants were human or not.
The journey was silent.
Fortunately, the road was safe and sound. Although shadows occasionally flickered in the darkness, they did not encounter any unexpected attacks, and the four successfully reached their destination.
"We've arrived at the Convenience Store."
Amamiya Natsuki looked at the shop across the street.
It was a standard Convenience Store from the last century, a low wooden building with dim lighting that made one feel depressed.
Walking into the Convenience Store, Amamiya Natsuki saw an old Grandma sitting behind the counter at the entrance. She looked quite old, her hair already white, and her face full of wrinkles and crevices.
There weren't many shelves in the Convenience Store, the lighting was dim, and the number of goods was clearly very small.
"Grandma, do you have a printer?"
Fujiwara Chika asked softly.
Looking at the appearance of the Convenience Store, Secretary didn't hold much hope for a printer.
"Yes, yes." The old Grandma replied tremblingly.
"Eh, really?"
The old Grandma stood up, leaning on her walking stick, and led them to a corner. There really was a printer, an old antique model.
"What do you want to print?"
"This is it."
Fujiwara Chika handed over the recently modified hand-drawn map, which had several precautions and useful information added to it.
"How many copies?" The Grandma asked again.
"Hmm, let's print a hundred copies first." Fujiwara Chika quickly said, "If it's not enough, we'll come back and print more."
"Please wait a moment."
"…"
The old Grandma coughed twice, then quickly got busy.
A green light illuminated on the printer, and then the machine began to hum.
"It really works." Fujiwara Chika breathed a sigh of relief, tiptoed slightly, and leaned into Amamiya Natsuki's ear, whispering, "I thought something dangerous would happen, but it went incredibly smoothly."
Amamiya Natsuki's gaze fell on the old Grandma, and he said faintly:
"You're celebrating too early."
A moment later.
One hundred maps were printed successfully.
"Thank you, Grandma." Fujiwara Chika politely thanked her and began to organize the printed maps.
"You're welcome." The old Grandma coughed twice, "One map is one hundred yen, so it's ten thousand yen in total."
Fujiwara Chika was surprised: "That expensive?"
"The price is written on the wall, no deception." The old Grandma bent down, her voice low and hoarse, "If you don't have money, you can use other things to pay."
"Eh, what things?"
Fujiwara Chika asked curiously.
"Teeth." The old Grandma raised her head, her eyes having turned into cat-like vertical pupils at some point, emitting an eerie green light, and she said in a hoarse voice, "When people get old, their teeth fall out. Without teeth, they can't eat anything… Your teeth are very beautiful, I want your teeth."
"…"
Fujiwara Chika was so scared that she took half a step back, quickly raising her hand to cover her pink lips.
How could teeth be used to pay off debt?
I didn't realize, you're not human!
"That's right." Amamiya Natsuki nodded in agreement, "I also think they're very beautiful."
Fujiwara Chika's cheeks puffed out, and she glared at him.
The old Grandma trembled and looked at Komi again, saying in a hoarse voice:
"When people get old, their hair turns white… Your hair is very good, you can also use it to pay off debt."
Komi's body trembled, shivering.
"As for you…"
The old Grandma turned her head again, looked at Juju, then shook her head and sighed.
Juju: "…"
It's hard, it's hard!
My fists are getting hard!
What does that shaking head and sighing mean?
She's looking down on me too much!
"Don't mind it." Amamiya Natsuki reached out and ruffled Juju's little head, "Respecting the elderly and loving the young is a traditional virtue. Being young naturally comes with special treatment."
"Don't touch my head."
Juju puffed out her cheeks, unhappy.
What special treatment, it's clearly discrimination!
"It's not fair." Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but say, "Why are you taking us to pay the debt, and Natsuki doesn't have anything?"
The old Grandma glanced over, and said slowly:
"You are the ones who consumed, not the young man, so naturally, he won't be used to pay the debt."
Amamiya Natsuki gave a thumbs up, praising:
"Grandma is indeed a reasonable person."
"Alright, I've made the rules clear." The old Grandma's voice was hoarse, "Who will 'pay' then?"
"Fair trade, no deception." Amamiya Natsuki stood beside the old Grandma, "Since you used the printer, of course you have to pay."
Juju put her right hand on her hip and couldn't help but retort:
"...You're standing in the wrong place, aren't you?"
Clatter.
A wallet fell to the ground.
Grandma looked down.
Amamiya Natsuki bent down to pick up the wallet and handed it to Fujiwara Chika with both hands: "Chika-sama, your wallet."
"Hmph."
Fujiwara Chika took the wallet, pulled out a ten-thousand-yen bill, and said, "Here, keep the change."
"..."
After paying, the group walked out of the Convenience Store, clutching their flyers.
"I thought Grandma was a good person, but she turned out to be a Ghost Story too. She only told us the price after printing everything; she was clearly trying to bully us." Fujiwara Chika was indignant. "Should we turn her into Don?"
"No." Amamiya Natsuki shook his head. "We can catch her, but we can't eliminate her, and we can't carry a personal Grandma with us everywhere we go. It's too much trouble."
"It's a good thing we brought money, otherwise it would have been dangerous." Juju said softly. "But this is the first time I've heard of buying things in a game."
Amamiya Natsuki said casually:
"Clearly, this is a trap."
"Eh?" Juju was startled. "How so?"
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Juju: "With forty-eight hours of game time, can you manage without eating or drinking?"
"...I can't."
"Most players' game inventories have very little food and water. In other words, while players are filming Ghost Stories videotapes, they also have to work hard to solve survival problems. If they can't solve them..." At this point, Amamiya Natsuki paused slightly. "Then mutual contention is inevitable."
"Also, the setting that videotapes cannot be put into the game inventory, must be held for ten minutes, and can only be submitted by one person—it all seems designed to force players to compete with each other and destroy the basis of player cooperation."
"Let's not worry about that for now." Fujiwara Chika said, "Let's put up the flyers first."
The town wasn't large; a hundred flyers could cover most of it.
It was the same method.
Intersections, colorful spray paint graffiti, glue, map flyers with multiple precautions indicating player identity—this time, there was an extra Komi, making the process even faster.
The four openly posted flyers everywhere.
"Phew~ Finally finished posting." Fujiwara Chika wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and let out a light breath. "Kaguya-chan, Marin-chan, Hanamori-chan, and the other players in the town, as long as one person sees it, our goal will be achieved."
Just as Amamiya Natsuki was about to speak, the familiar voice sounded again out of thin air.
"Eh, it's The Narrator."
"The Narrator appeared again."
"..."
To constantly refresh the ten-minute holding time, the 'Sweet Home' videotape circulated continuously among the three girls.
At this moment, the videotape happened to be in Komi's hands.
Seeing Amamiya Natsuki look over, Komi's body suddenly tensed.
Slap.
Amamiya Natsuki snatched the videotape from the girl's hand.
"I've wanted to fill your thighs with tally marks for a long time!"
The The Narrator in the void paused slightly, then the content suddenly changed.
(The young man, named the brave one, once again snatched the Ghost Stories videotape from his companion, and was about to fill the girl's thighs with tally marks...)
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Chika and Juju, and said with a stern face:
"If you don't want to be bullied, hold her hands and feet for me."
Fujiwara Chika and Juju exchanged glances, then grabbed Komi, one on each side.
The Narrator kept up with the times.
(The brave young man's companions chose to assist him in his evil deeds, grabbing the desperate girl...)
"You actually pasted all the painstakingly collected information onto the wall." Amamiya Natsuki stepped forward and extended his demonic claw towards the black-haired girl. "Writing tally marks no longer satisfies me."
(Important information was pasted on the wall, and the young man named the brave one decided to take revenge...)
A moment later.
The Narrator fell silent.
"Komi, you worked hard." Fujiwara Chika said, letting go.
The black-haired girl quickly covered her skirt with both hands, her pretty face flushed crimson, as if on fire.
Although no tally marks were written, the pose just now was too embarrassing!
"This is the third time The Narrator has fallen for it." Amamiya Natsuki mused. "It seems we've successfully grasped the wealth code."
Fujiwara Chika said speechlessly, "What's that?"
"It's naturally a good thing." Amamiya Natsuki said. "For example, just now, we successfully used The Narrator to give us a wave of advertising."
"Na-Natsuki."
Juju suddenly pulled his sleeve nervously. "Something's coming."
Amamiya Natsuki looked in the direction of the sound.
A wild Bunny Girl appeared under the streetlamp...
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