"A dairy cow?"
"Well, since it's a vengeful spirit, it's not strange for it to look like anything."
"By the way, how would a dairy cow produce food?"
The group sat in the hospital room, discussing and analyzing together.
"I've got it." Chika raised her hand eagerly. "It should be by milking the—bleep..."
"Stop talking. Sit down." Natsuki couldn't help interrupting. "You can't drink that stuff without pasteurization and sterilization."
"Why not?" Chika argued back. "You can drink freshly squeezed juice directly. When I was little and visited a farm, I even saw the farmers drink fresh milk straight from the source."
Juice and raw milk are completely different things!
Chika crossed her arms and continued:
"I also read a manga recently. It was about four beautiful girls who got in a plane crash and ended up stranded on a deserted island..."
A beautiful-girls version of Robinson Crusoe?
If a boy showed up too, it would become a standard galge plot.
"One of the girls accidentally fell asleep on a raft and drifted far out to sea. When another girl caught up to her, the one who'd drifted away was already dehydrated and about to pass out. You can't drink seawater, so to help her companion rehydrate, the other girl took off her..."
At this point, Chika suddenly hit the brakes. She covered her pink lips with both hands, and a flush rapidly rose to her pretty face.
"Took off her what?" Natsuki said expressionlessly. "Please continue."
You were doing so well. Keep going. Why did you stop?
"I can't say." Chika shook her head rapidly. "That's forbidden knowledge that must not be spoken."
"S-so amazing!"
Rikka clasped her hands before her chest, stars lighting up in her eyes.
Natsuki remained unmoved:
"Spoiling movies, saying 'whatever' when asked what you want to eat, and leaving sentences half-finished are all supremely annoying behaviors."
"Fine, fine, I'll say it." Chika puffed up her cheeks, took a deep breath, and her face showed an expression of burning one's boats. "What she took off was..."
It was proper survival knowledge anyway. It had even been serialized in Jump magazine. There shouldn't be any problem saying it, right?
"Don't say it." Kaguya pressed her fingers to her brow, exasperated. "Let's end this topic here."
Although she hadn't read the manga, as a genius girl with broad knowledge and extensive learning, Kaguya had already guessed what it was.
The group continued discussing and exchanging information on various issues.
For example, everyone who passed the first game, without exception, received the reward of "being able to see the world's truth."
"I don't want that reward at all. I don't want to look at those evil spirits one bit."
"Me neither."
"Me me me, same here."
"..."
The girls quickly reached a consensus. Even Kaguya nodded slightly. The discussion meeting had accidentally turned into a grievance session.
After seeing the terrifying evil spirits, their lives had been seriously affected. They couldn't eat well, couldn't sleep well, spent every day in fear, and couldn't even tell anyone because no one would believe such things.
"Piling salt in the corners of my room, crosses, prayer beads, omamori, holy water, peachwood swords, praying at shrines... I've tried every method. None of them worked."
The speaker was Asuka Kujo—the second newbie clinging to their legs. Her eyes were brimming with tears. "I used to be on the volleyball team at school. Ever since I was chosen by the game, I discovered that a super scary evil spirit was clinging to my friend all the time. Now I don't even dare attend volleyball club practice anymore."
"Asuka-chan, you've had it rough."
Mama Fujiwara's social skills had already been maxed out. In a short time, she and the stranger were already calling each other by first name. "Keep opening mystery boxes. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get an evil-dispelling aura ability like Natsuki did. Then you'll be able to drive away the evil spirit on your friend."
Hearing this, Asuka looked even more aggrieved. "I don't have any Game Coins, and I only get weird stuff from the mystery boxes."
"Come to think of it, I feel like the vengeful spirits in the game are actually easier to deal with than the evil spirits in reality." Natsuki said thoughtfully.
The evil spirits in reality couldn't be communicated with. They held only malice toward the living. The vengeful spirits in the game were much better. Take Miss Sadako, for example—though she was scary, you could actually communicate with her.
After parting her hair, he'd even wanted to give Miss Sadako maternity leave...
Kaguya nodded slightly, analyzing calmly:
"The game and reality must have some kind of connection. We just don't know what it is yet."
The darkness dispersed. Light returned once more.
"Miss Sadako, we're heading out." Natsuki patted the television. "Watch the house while we're gone."
Miss Sadako, who had been eavesdropping on gossip from the edge of her well, trembled. She quickly retreated back into the well.
Natsuki sighed.
With skin that thin, how are you supposed to survive in society?
Looking at your identity earlier, you seemed to be a former employee of Himura Dairy. Being this timid, you must have been bullied a lot!
The group left the hospital room and came to the corridor.
"This is the place."
Rikka stopped at the door of her hospital room and said quietly.
"Don't worry." Chika clenched her right fist, full of confidence. "Natsuki and I can use our combo skill. We definitely won't lose."
"Please don't raise flags."
Natsuki gripped the door handle and pushed it open. He quickly understood why Rikka had said it was a dairy cow.
The vengeful spirit in the hospital room had a humanoid appearance, but a pair of cow horns grew from the top of her head, a cow tail swished behind her, and a large bell was tied at her chest. As for her volume... she absolutely deserved to be called a dairy cow.
However, her eyes were blood-red, and the teeth in her mouth were all serrated like a shark's. If she went to Hijima's dental clinic, she probably couldn't leave even if she pawned her underwear.
Chika's eyes went wide. "A cow girl?"
Cow girls were supposed to be the honest and adorable type. One bite from this vengeful spirit in front of them would probably crush bones!
"Human, you actually dare come back to see me?"
The vengeful spirit heard the commotion and turned to look. A bloodthirsty smile quickly appeared on her face. "Bringing back so many food sources at once. Not bad. I'll temporarily forgive you."
"That fattest human—let's start with you."
Chika looked around curiously. "Who's the fattest one?"
"..."
Everyone silently looked toward Chika.
"Wait." Chika took half a step back. "Why are you all looking at me?"
"Fujiwara-san, accept reality." Natsuki's tone was somber.
"What do you mean? I'm not fat at all." Chika couldn't help protesting. "I'm not even fifty kilograms."
The beast-girl vengeful spirit swished her tail and pointed at Chika impatiently:
"Enough nonsense. It's you. Get over here."
Chika's cheeks puffed up rapidly, like a gray squirrel stuffed full of chestnuts. Who could endure such humiliation?
"Outlaw Zhang San, you're under arrest!"