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The slight dizziness dissipated, and Amamiya Natsuki opened his eyes, finding himself back in the hotel in the real world.
"We finally cleared it."
A girl's joyful gasp sounded beside his ear.
Turning his head, he saw Kaguya, Chika, Nekonoshita, and Rikka; all four girls were beside him.
Sayu was a passerby player. After the instance was cleared, she naturally returned to where she entered the instance. According to their conversation when they parted, she should be in Hokkaido now, currently a runaway, penniless, and homeless, having entered the instance from a corner of a park.
However, before they separated, they had already exchanged contact information, so they could contact each other at any time.
"It's cleared..." Yukinoshita Yukino exhaled lightly, her right arm wrapped around her chest, gently holding her left arm, her eyes puzzled, "Why did the instance collapse?"
"It should be that the Ghost Bride is gone," Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at the Sheltered Young Lady, and said seriously, "Unlike us good-for-nothings, Kaguya-sama, by her own power, successfully defeated the instance's final Boss."
Fujiwara Chika clenched her fists: "Kaguya-chan is amazing!"
Shinomiya Kaguya was so angry that she bit her silver teeth, unable to help but shout: "That guy is just a clone, she's not me!"
"Even if Kaguya-chan says so..." Fujiwara Chika clasped her hands over her chest, looking up at the sky, "Human souls are inherently composed of memories and emotions. From that perspective, the blackened Kaguya-chan is still Kaguya-chan."
Shinomiya Kaguya's pretty face tightened: "So I said, don't confuse me with her!"
"What time is it?" Yukinoshita Yukino extended a finger and gently rubbed her brow, her face looking a bit tired.
"My phone... oh, found it."
Takanashi Rikka went to the cabinet, took out her phone, and pressed the power button.
When players entered the instance, besides the clothes on their bodies or personal accessories like collars, earrings, or leashes, phones naturally couldn't be brought into the instance.
So every time before entering an instance, everyone would turn off their phones and put them away.
"It's already past twelve," Rikka quickly said.
They entered the instance at 9 PM. Upon returning after clearing it, only three hours had passed in reality, so it was just past midnight.
"President, how is the injury on your shoulder?"
Shinomiya Kaguya pursed her pink lips and asked.
"Don't worry," Amamiya Natsuki turned his head to look at his shoulder. The hemostatic bandage from the game worked super well; the wound already showed signs of healing. "The bandage works very well, plus the healing spell, it should be fully healed in a couple of days."
The Sheltered Young Lady was still worried, so she walked over and examined it carefully before finally relaxing:
"Not bad, the wound has already started to heal."
Amamiya Natsuki lowered his voice:
"If Kaguya-sama's energy could be replenished, it would definitely heal faster."
Shinomiya Kaguya's pretty face tightened: "There's no such thing."
Kissing that clone right in front of her, how could she easily forgive him!
"Everyone is already very tired," Fujiwara Chika stood up and said, "Let's go back to our respective rooms and get some good rest."
Before entering the instance, a few of them had booked rooms at a hot spring hotel.
Amamiya Natsuki had a single room, Kaguya and Chika shared one, and Rikka and Yukinoshita shared another.
However, when entering the instance, the girls would all gather in Amamiya Natsuki's room.
"I'm going back first."
Yukinoshita Yukino stood up, about to leave.
"Yukino-chan, wait a moment," Takanashi Rikka quickly reminded her, "Your cat ears haven't changed back yet, and you have school tomorrow."
"..."
Yukinoshita Yukino's steps paused, and she instinctively raised her right hand, touching her cat ears. The soft, furry sensation reminded her of the side effects.
The duration of the side effects was generally three to seven days. Whether calculated from within the instance or from reality, it would take several days for the cat ears to disappear.
If she went to school with such a pair of cat ears...
Yukinoshita Yukino could already imagine that as soon as she stepped through the school gate, she would become the focal point of everyone's attention. From then on, there would be no more Yukinoshita, only Nekonoshita.
Amamiya Natsuki spoke:
"Do you want me to help remove the side effects now?"
"No need," Yukinoshita Yukino hesitated slightly, then shook her head, "Let's talk about it tomorrow morning. Let's rest today."
"Alright."
"..."
As the girls left one after another, the room quickly fell silent.
Amamiya Natsuki picked up his phone and pressed the power button.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
As soon as he turned on his phone, a series of messages popped up.
Kitagawa Marin: "Natsuki, I can't sleep. Message me when you clear it."
Hayasaka Ai: "Senpai, are you done yet?"
Juju: "Let me know when you clear it."
Koyasu Tsubame: "Natsuki-kun, remember to message me as soon as possible."
Miko: "What are we eating tomorrow night?"
"..."
Amamiya Natsuki replied to the messages one by one in order.
Although it was already past midnight, none of the girls were asleep, and they all replied instantly after receiving his messages.
Kitagawa Marin: "Wahhh, you finally replied! I was so worried!"
Amamiya Natsuki: "Everything's fine. I'll be back tomorrow morning."
Hayasaka Ai: "Senpai, is the Young Lady alright?"
Amamiya Natsuki: "Kaguya is fine, but from now on, you can have two Young Ladies."
Hayasaka Ai: "???"
Juju: "Stupid Natsuki, I just fell asleep. Don't send messages so late."
Koyasu Tsubame: "Natsuki-kun, is everyone alright? No one got hurt, right?"
Miko: "It's good that you're back."
"..."
Besides the team members, there were also messages from other players. Amamiya Natsuki almost couldn't reply to them all. Fortunately, after Fujiwara Chika returned to her room, she pulled everyone into a private chat room and explained in detail what happened in the dungeon, which allowed Amamiya Natsuki to have some temporary peace.
Amamiya Natsuki scrolled through the chat history and didn't see any messages from timid girl, so he sent a message to Komi.
"Already asleep?"
Komi replied instantly: "Not yet."
Amamiya Natsuki sent a fierce emoji: "You knew I cleared the dungeon, and you didn't even send me a single message?"
Komi, hiding under her covers, holding her phone with both hands, became anxious: "Th-that... let me explain..."
The message was already drafted, but thinking that everyone must be sending messages, she didn't send it out immediately, hesitating until now.
Amamiya Natsuki: "Don't explain. You must give me ten lap pillow tickets, not one less."
Komi bit her lip, gathered her courage, and weakly protested: "Ten is too many."
Amamiya Natsuki: "Then let's change it to five body pillow tickets."
Komi: "Body pillow tickets... What are those?"
Amamiya Natsuki: "It's the thing you're holding in your arms when you sleep right now."
Looking down at the body pillow in her arms, Komi's pretty face quickly flushed red: "...N-no!"
After teasing timid girl, Amamiya Natsuki felt refreshed and got up to take a shower.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
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