"There really is a negative status…"
Kaguya gritted her teeth, not even needing to read the description of the negative status, instantly judging:
"It must be from drinking the potion!"
Why?
Why is it always me who gets affected?
It's so unfair!
[Negative Status: Daydreamer]
[Effect: You will passively receive others' daydreams, with a probability of experiencing mental trance, absentmindedness, becoming lost in them and unable to extricate yourself, etc.]
[Duration: Unknown]
"Daydream… that's a daydream, right?"
Kaguya took a deep breath, looking resentfully at Hanamaki beside her.
Why would this woman fantasize about doing such things with the President?
And it's truly too vulgar!
With a single thought, the daydream that had just been suppressed resurfaced, and she unconsciously put herself into it.
Kaguya's pretty face flushed like fire. She quickly shook her head to suppress the daydream again, held her breath, and quickly contacted Chika.
"P-President… I've contacted Chika…"
"Then we can go out."
…
A moment later.
The three of them stepped onto the thirteenth step, leaving the alternate dimension.
"President, you're out…" The scene shifted, and Chika's clear and bright voice echoed in her ears, followed by a surprised tone, "Eh, Miss Hanamaki?"
Hanamaki's expression was a bit awkward, but at this point, she could only grit her teeth and see it through:
"Ahem, it's me… I had a stomachache just now and went to the restroom. I accidentally got lost and then fell into an alternate dimension."
"I see." Chika quickly chose to believe her, "I thought Miss Hanamaki didn't want to be with us, so she chose to act alone."
Hanamaki: "…"
I'm sorry.
I really did choose to sneak away before, but I was just unlucky and fell into an alternate dimension.
After encountering danger once, Hanamaki gained a deeper understanding of her own abilities. She no longer thought about sneaking away, but instead went to a corner, trying to minimize her presence while opening her mind and letting her imagination run wild.
Speaking of which, what is the relationship between these cute girls and Natsuki?
Dating?
Or, like Mitsui, is it a master-slave relationship?
The few of them call each other by name, and judging by their expressions, actions, and tone, their relationship is clearly very close, definitely not just ordinary partners… Could they have already had an orgy together?
It's very possible.
Once boys become perverted, they are much scarier than animals!
Some perverted men even enjoy public executions in crowded places…
"Ugh—"
Kaguya swiftly raised her right hand, covering her lips, just in time to stifle the gasp that had almost escaped her.
(Wh-What's going on?)
(This time, there was no physical contact, so why am I still having strange fantasies in my mind?)
Kaguya turned her head to look at Hanamaki standing in the corner, her gaze unfocused and her expression distant, and couldn't help but clench her silver teeth.
(With so many people around, you can still indulge in your fantasies!)
(And why are the contents of your fantasies getting worse and worse!)
(Before, the scenes were only two-person, but now they've directly become multi-person… This is bad! Too bad!)
Kaguya had never imagined that a girl's imagination could be so lewd.
She had once seen a fun fact on Twitter that said girls' lewd levels were several times that of boys, and Kaguya hadn't believed it, but now she had no choice but to believe it.
If this wasn't a horror game, but a lewd game, this college girl could definitely clear it by herself with ease!
(Wh-What should I do?)
Kaguya bit her lower lip, trying hard to divert her attention.
However, it was useless.
Because of the previous physical contact, a void channel seemed to have been established between her and the passerby player, and all sorts of lewd fantasies poured in endlessly, making it impossible to block them.
She couldn't control what was happening in someone else's mind, even if she wanted to.
In desperation, Kaguya thought of one last method.
(There's no other way, I can only ask the President for help to reverse this negative status…)
"What's wrong with you?"
Yandere Kaguya tilted her head and suddenly asked.
"I, I'm fine…"
Kaguya guiltily averted her pretty face, looking elsewhere, not daring to meet her gaze.
Yandere Kaguya narrowed her eyes slightly, looking down and saying:
"Your face is flushed, your voice is trembling, your legs are slightly shaking, and your expression is shameful… Useless woman, did you use that kind of item?"
"Eh?" Kaguya looked puzzled, not reacting, "What item?"
"Those items from the doujin." Yandere Kaguya clasped her hands across her chest, showing no restraint whatsoever, and said directly, "Under the master's command, you [bleep] under your skirt, which is why you [bleep]."
It was unclear what Yandere Kaguya said, but it was all censored.
"I'm not! I didn't! Don't talk nonsense!" Kaguya bit her silver teeth in shame and anger, "I absolutely didn't use those awful items you're talking about!"
What kind of awful girl would use something like that in public!
Her current abnormality was all due to Miss Hanako's daydreams; anyone else would have the same reaction!
Fortunately, the next second, with Chika's soft exclamation, everyone's attention was quickly drawn away.
"President, that step is glowing!"
"I see it."
Natsuki held his breath, looking at the thirteenth step.
As the passerby player was brought out, the 'impurities' in the Different Space were finally removed. A previously unremarkable step suddenly emitted a faint purple light, and then the step disappeared, transforming into a purple card. Even in the dim night, the card still radiated a captivating, magnificent purple.
"Eh?" Chika's eyes widened, "Such a beautiful color, could it be…?"
"A Rule Card?"
Natsuki's eyes lit up as well.
He had been guessing what the precious treasure was earlier, but now that he saw it, the word "precious" was an understatement; it was clearly a unique treasure.
Natsuki took a deep breath and turned to look at Yandere Kaguya and the others:
"Which of you wants it…?"
However, before he could finish speaking, the Rule Card transformed into a streak of light and flew into Natsuki's body, silently dissolving and disappearing.
At the same time.
The game began to pop up notifications one by one.
[You have obtained a Rule Fragment]
[This fragment has merged with the rule you possess]
[You have gained a new ability: Cage of Time. You can create a Cage of Time. Within the Cage of Time, the flow of time will be significantly slowed.]
[You have gained a new ability: Canyon Relativity. You can choose to accelerate your own time, or you can choose to decelerate the time of others.]
[The ability 'I'll Extend My Life by One Second' has an excellent affinity with the Rule Fragment. This ability has been greatly enhanced. You can now pause time for up to the human limit of five seconds.]
If the first few messages were extremely satisfying, the final notification was inevitably a bit of a letdown.
The human limit for Time Stop is only five seconds?
No wonder Dio chose not to be human; Natsuki said he didn't want to be human either.
"President, how's the harvest?"
Chika asked expectantly.
"The harvest is very significant." Natsuki opened his eyes and looked at the girls in front of him. He chose not to hide it but spoke honestly, "This is a Rule Fragment, not a complete Rule Card, but it happened to merge with the previous rule, granting me the ability to accelerate my own time or decelerate yours. Not only that, Time Stop has also been extended to five seconds…"
Playing dumb to catch a tiger is one choice; demonstrating one's strength is also a choice.
In fact, in nature, animals never deliberately conceal their strength; demonstrating their power is the common practice.
Whether strong or weak, one will always be coveted in secret, so it's better to highlight one's value. The greater the value, the more one can dispel others' covetous desires.
"Eh?" Chika's eyes sparkled, and she said expectantly, "President, let us experience it."
"No problem."
Natsuki nodded in agreement. He also wanted to try whether Canyon Relativity was a single-target or area-of-effect ability.
Snap.
Natsuki raised his right hand and lightly snapped his fingers.
"Pre…sident… Huh?"
Chika was about to say she felt nothing, but the next second she realized her voice had become 0.5x speed, and she gasped in surprise. When she tried to raise her arm, she also found her body moving sluggishly, like a sloth from Zootopia.
"It seems the effect is very significant." Natsuki looked at Yandere Kaguya and the others, "You all try to move too."
Without Natsuki needing to say more, Kaguya, Mitsui, Momo, and also Hanako and Yandere Kaguya, all began to try moving their bodies.
Natsuki observed curiously and found that whether it was humans like Kaguya and Chika, or Strange Tales like Yandere Kaguya and Hanako, all targets' mobility was affected, becoming sluggish and very slow.
Natsuki then tried accelerating his own time and found that he entered a super-speed state similar to Quicksilver, where even raindrops falling in mid-air became slow-motion.
"Tsk, no wonder it's called Canyon Relativity."
Natsuki sighed inwardly.
With one increasing and the other decreasing, Chika and the others' movements directly became snail-like.
Snap.
As the finger snap sounded, time returned to its normal flow.
"Ah, ah, it's so strange!" Chika's eyes sparkled, and she said excitedly, "The feeling of my body slowing down is super strange!"
Momo clasped her hands across her chest and couldn't help but complain:
"What's so strange about it? It's clearly uncomfortable… You'll know how bad it is when you encounter an enemy."
Chika giggled:
"The President is on our side, so the others should be worried."
Mitsui smiled:
"Congratulations, Natsuki-kun, you've gained another powerful ability."
At the same time.
Hanamaki standing behind everyone, having personally experienced the effect of time deceleration, also had sparkling eyes.
"So, so wonderful!"
"Accelerating time and decelerating time?"
"And Time Stop?"
Hanamaki's eyes widened, her head buzzing. She suddenly remembered that on the player forum, there were many popular threads, and one of them was a ranking of abilities currently mastered by players.
The ability at the top of the list was Time Stop.
When she saw the post at the time, Hanamaki was filled with envy; she was just a struggling newbie trying to survive, while others could already stop time. The gap between people was clearly greater than that between humans and paramecia.
Now, discovering that Natsuki was the owner of the Time Stop ability, Hanamaki finally understood.
It wasn't that Mitsui, a high-ranking member of the Strange Tales Management Bureau, was being trained when she willingly called someone 'Master'; it was simply an admiration for strength.
"So Natsuki-kun is the ultimate carry!"
"No wonder he could easily put a pet collar on Hanako… For a player with average abilities to survive in the game, finding a strong leg-provider is very important."
"So… becoming someone who can't be provoked doesn't seem unacceptable?"
"Although Natsuki-kun is just a high school student, he's not only a strong player but also exceptionally handsome… Will he use his Time Stop ability to toy with me in the future?"
Hanamaki's imagination ran wild, and at once, various doujin related to Time Stop surged forth from her memory.
"It, it's happening again…!"
Noticing that terrible fantasies were pouring into her mind again, Kaguya's pretty face changed slightly, and the temperature on her face involuntarily rose again.
"Why… why can a college girl be so lewd!"
"Why is her head full of lewd things!"
What Kaguya was grateful for was that the college girl's lewd daydreams were all about Natsuki and no one else. What was bad was that the side effect was not just receiving others' daydreams, but it would even make one involuntarily immerse themselves in them, creating a kind of immersive illusionary experience.
The Cage of Time ability has not been tested yet; there are still many important things to do.
"Hanako, you know that inexplicable thing in the swimming pool, right?"
Natsuki looked down at Hanako.
"Of course, I know her." Hanako proudly raised her chin, "There's no one in the entire school I don't know."
Chika half-crouched down and discussed:
"We have a mission related to her. Hanako-chan, can you trick her out?"
"What?" Hanako's eyes widened in anger, "Cow girl, you're asking me to betray a friend?"
Kaguya clasped her hands across her chest and said from the side:
"We'll pay more."
The anger on Hanako's face immediately disappeared, and she held out her small hand:
"Deal."
"…"
The Seven Mysteries of the school were actually not partners; they just happened to be in the same school. Despite Hanako's small stature, she was the big boss among the Seven Mysteries.
They left immediately.
The group headed straight for the swimming pool.
Upon reaching the outside of the swimming pool, Hanako turned and said:
"You wait for me outside, I'll go grab her."
Chika said with some concern:
"Hanako-chan, are you okay by yourself? Do you need our help?"
"Cow girl, don't look down on me." Hanako was quite arrogant, putting her hands on her hips and saying, "Once that guy leaves the swimming pool, she's just a small fry. I can catch her in minutes."
Chika puffed out her cheeks and couldn't help but exclaim, "I'm not a cow!"
Hanako-chan's eyes showed disdain: "You're so big, and you still say you're not a cow?"
"Ugh…"
Chika covered her chest, defeated.
Natsuki waved his hand and said, "Then I'll leave it to you. If you can't handle it, we'll come over and help."
Hanako-chan waved her hand and stepped into the pitch-black swimming pool. The others stayed outside, waiting patiently.
A moment later.
"…You can come in now."
Hanako-chan's voice came from the swimming pool.
"Let's go, we're going in."
Natsuki led the way into the swimming pool.
With a sweep of the flashlight, they saw Hanako-chan sitting on the shoulder of a soaking wet Female Ghost by the swimming pool, waving at them:
"Come quickly, it's her."
Momo bit her silver teeth lightly and nodded, saying, "That's right, it's her."
It was because of this Female Ghost's attack just now that she was touched by Natsuki in her absolute forbidden zone. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
Seeing so many people come in, the Female Ghost in the swimming pool turned to jump into the pool.
"Don't move."
Hanako-chan grabbed the other party's hair and quickly subdued her.
Perhaps due to the suppression of strength, the water ghost Female Ghost lowered her head and stood obediently in place.
The rest was simple.
Momo's main quest was not to kill the Female Ghost in the swimming pool, but to obtain an item she guarded. The means didn't matter; stealing, robbing, or deceiving were all fine.
It was just that Momo wanted more game rewards, so she chose to kill the Female Ghost along with obtaining the item.
Now that the final boss was subdued and had become a docile sheep, the quest item naturally fell easily into her hands.
"Momo-senpai, have you received the game notification?"
Chika asked.
"I have."
Momo nodded lightly, biting her lip with her pearly teeth, her expression a little complex.
The task she had struggled to complete, and almost failed, was just a matter of a single sentence for someone else… The gap in strength was indeed incredibly huge.
On the other side, Natsuki tried to recruit the water ghost Female Ghost, but unfortunately, she remained silent from beginning to end and completely ignored him.
Seeing no response, Natsuki was too lazy to waste any more time. He waved his hand, telling Hanako-chan to release the other party, and then said, "It's time to leave… Let's go to Hanako-chan's house first, so Hanako-chan can reunite with Ms. Hoshino."
"Hmph." Hanako-chan put her hands on her hips, her small face full of anticipation, "Given your good performance, I won't call you a minnow for now today."
The group turned and left the swimming pool, walking towards outside the school.
"That's strange." Chika tilted her head and said, "I feel like I've forgotten something. Kaguya-chan, do you feel that way too?"
"…What?"
Kaguya looked over blankly.
Chika asked, puzzled:
"Why has Kaguya-chan been spacing out?"
"N-nothing." Kaguya snapped back to reality. Fortunately, it was dark, so the blush on her pretty face wasn't noticed. She took a deep breath and said, "It seems like I've forgotten something."
Natsuki said:
"Forgotten what?"
Chika shook her head and said:
"I just can't remember."
The group chatted as they walked out of the school.
At the same time.
In a corner of the school, the passerby player who had not yet appeared cautiously peered outside:
"What exactly happened?"
"Why did the empty school suddenly have a bunch of Female Ghosts?"
"Just appearing out of nowhere, right? This broken game is unplayable!"