Lady Kaguya Wants Me to Turn Myself In / Kaguya, Could You Try to Have a Little More Ambition?

Kaguya-sama Wants Me to Surrender

Author: Otsuichi

Synopsis:

I accidentally became a player in a real-life horror escape game.

Amamiya Natsuki discovered that he could see prompts above the monsters and his teammates.

And then... the game started to feel a little off.

At Vengeful Spirit Academy, on the Red Light, Green Light Game playground, the Vengeful Spirit Girl teared up: "Don't come any closer!"

At Horror Cafeteria: "You there, Vengeful Spirit classmate, how dare you waste food? I'll keep quiet—pay up."

At the Devil's Examination Hall: "What's wrong with bribing the Vengeful Spirit teacher with money?"

Besides that, he could encourage his teammates.

[Player: Shinomiya Kaguya]

[Status: Crouching and Covering Head, trembling]

[Hint: Please use the following method to restore your teammate's morale]

Amamiya Natsuki sighed. "Kaguya-classmate, could you try to show a little more backbone? Didn't you eat?"

"..."

Volume 1

"...Kaguya-classmate, could you try to show a little more backbone?"

"...Amamiya-classmate, turn yourself in."

A cold, emotionless voice rang in his ears, devoid of the slightest warmth, like a bitter winter wind that would freeze both body and soul.

The girl speaking wore a moon-white satin nightdress made of luxurious fabric. Her silky black hair fell naturally to her waist, framing skin as white as snow and exquisite, flawless features.

If he wasn't mistaken, she seemed to be his classmate... Shinomiya Kaguya?

The new school year had only just begun, and they'd happened to be placed in the same class. But so far, they'd never spoken. She was the very definition of a "classmate who was just a stranger."

Amamiya Natsuki took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. He held a black collar in his left hand and a white traction rope in his right, and couldn't help falling into thought.

He'd clearly been about to take his dog for a walk. He'd only crouched down to tie his shoelaces, and when he looked up, his Akita had turned into an ice sculpture girl in a nightdress?

Was this Dog Girl's Gratitude?

All those hard-earned walks every day hadn't been for nothing... Just kidding.

What kind of gratitude started with telling someone to turn themselves in?!

Amamiya Natsuki raised his head and looked around.

The familiar street had vanished without a trace, replaced by an unfamiliar room. Calling it a room wasn't quite right—who would build one the size of a soccer field?

There were no doors or windows in the walls. Aside from Amamiya Natsuki and Shinomiya Kaguya, there was no one else in the room, not even a single piece of furniture. It was like an empty box.

Strangest of all, despite the absence of any light source, they could see everything clearly.

The bizarre phenomenon was completely beyond scientific explanation, making Amamiya Natsuki wonder if he was dreaming.

"...Turn yourself in."

The girl's cool, pleasant voice rang out again, like the sound of pearls clinking together. Shinomiya Kaguya held a hand to her chest, her face devoid of emotion.

"Sorry, but I refuse," Amamiya Natsuki blurted out.

His first conversation with a classmate had started with her telling him to turn himself in. Something had definitely gone wrong!

Shinomiya Kaguya's voice was cold, her eyes as still as a placid lake. "I don't know how you managed to kidnap me and bring me here, but my bodyguards will track us down soon... Your only way out is to turn yourself in."

What was with that look in her eyes, as if she were staring at a dead man?

If he didn't immediately confess and turn himself in, would he end up in Tokyo Bay as fish food?

"Shinomiya-classmate." Amamiya Natsuki's expression grew serious. "You've definitely misunderstood something."

"..."

Shinomiya Kaguya said nothing. She simply lowered her gaze to the collar and rope in Amamiya Natsuki's hands.

"I was about to take my dog for a walk," Amamiya Natsuki answered frankly. "It's normal for me to be holding a collar and a rope, right?"

At his explanation, the Ice Sculpture Girl's eyes widened slightly, and a chill several times more intense suddenly burst forth.

"Wait." Amamiya Natsuki hurriedly continued. "These really are a collar and traction rope for walking a dog. They're not props I prepared for you."

The temperature plunged again. Even his soul was about to freeze.

Amamiya Natsuki silently raised both hands. "...Is it too late for me to turn myself in now?"

Shinomiya Kaguya said nothing. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her pink lips parted, revealing two neat rows of pearly teeth. Compared to the Ice Sculpture Girl from a moment ago, her stunned expression was unexpectedly cute.

Wait—

"There's something behind you!"

Amamiya Natsuki's heart stirred, and he quickly turned around.

Holy crap!

That was one huge snake!

A giant snake more than ten meters long had appeared in the room at some point. Its body was clearly segmented into rings, and even stranger, aside from its larger head, every part of its body was exactly the same width and thickness.

The next moment,

a strange voice suddenly rang out in both their minds.

[Welcome to the Weird Game]

[Game instance: The Snake Catcher's Tale]

[Clearance conditions: One, successfully catch the snake; two, game time of thirty minutes. Fulfilling either condition will let you leave the instance]

[Clearance reward: See the Truth of the World]

[Failure penalty: Random]

[The game is about to begin. Enjoy, players]

As the strange voice disappeared, the motionless Anaconda suddenly came "alive." Without hesitation or testing the waters, it headed straight toward Amamiya Natsuki and Shinomiya Kaguya.

Amamiya Natsuki took a deep breath and turned to Shinomiya Kaguya, whose face was pale and who clearly hadn't recovered yet. "Why are you spacing out? Run!"

Only then did Shinomiya Kaguya come back to her senses.

Even the Cold Princess Kaguya couldn't stay calm when faced with a giant snake.

Fortunately, the giant snake didn't chase them relentlessly. It turned, swallowed one of the glowing orbs nearby, then slithered away at an unhurried pace.

Besides the giant snake, many scattered balls of light had appeared in the room, each about the size of a soccer ball. One was in the corner beside them. Amamiya Natsuki cautiously touched it, but his finger passed through it as though through air. He felt nothing.

The two stopped by the wall. Amamiya Natsuki caught his breath and looked at Shinomiya Kaguya.

"Shinomiya-classmate, did you hear that strange voice just now?"

"I did." Shinomiya Kaguya's face was pale, her chest heaving. She was clearly terrified of snakes, and seemed to be melting from an ice sculpture into a snowman. She struggled to keep her voice steady. "It said, 'Welcome to the game'..."

So they'd both heard exactly the same thing.

"It seems we're both Game Players," Amamiya Natsuki analyzed in a low voice. "The Snake Catcher's Tale... I guess it means we have to catch that giant snake."

In the entire enclosed space, there were only two "players," Amamiya Natsuki and Shinomiya Kaguya, and one giant snake. The objective was pretty clear.

The problem was, that snake was way too big!

He might grit his teeth and try to catch an ordinary little snake with his bare hands. But catching an Anaconda with his bare hands?

That was like an old man taking arsenic—asking for death!

"That giant snake just appeared out of thin air..."

Shinomiya Kaguya took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly. She could face robbers with composure, but an unknown giant snake that defied all understanding was too much for her to stay calm.

"I was just about to take my dog to the park. I bent down to tie my shoelaces, and when I looked up, I found myself here. Now there's something else appearing out of nowhere... Let's call it an Anaconda, for now." Amamiya Natsuki didn't notice the Ice Sculpture Girl's little movements. He furrowed his brow. "We must have encountered some kind of phenomenon that can't be explained by science."

There was something indescribably strange about the giant snake, as if it weren't a creature from Earth. Of all the snakes, an Anaconda came closest in terms of size.

The question was,

how was an ordinary person supposed to catch a gigantic Anaconda with his bare hands?

Amamiya Natsuki carefully considered every available tool: the collar, the traction rope, and an Ice Sculpture Girl... He soon reached a conclusion.

He couldn't catch it.

Might as well wait to die.

It seemed their only way to clear the game was to survive for thirty minutes...

Looking at the gigantic Anaconda in the distance, Amamiya Natsuki was already prepared to give up when his eyes suddenly grew warm. Then, a line of text slowly appeared above the Anaconda in his field of vision:

[I have a dream...]

[I have a dream... to break through the fourth wall!]

Amamiya Natsuki stared in surprise at the words above the giant snake.

A game prompt?

As Amamiya Natsuki peered at it, more text appeared above the giant snake.

[Name: Snake]

[Level: LV2]

[Status: Happy, evolving]

[Note: A Snake that doesn't want to break through the fourth wall isn't a real Snake]

"...So it's Snake!"

Amamiya Natsuki's gaze sharpened as the strangeness and unease he'd felt earlier suddenly made sense.

No wonder the strange snake's tail was as thick as its body, completely defying the principles of biological evolution. It wasn't a real living creature at all!

"...Amamiya-classmate, what did you just say?"

The Ice Sculpture Girl's cold voice rang in his ears.

"I said it's Snake..." Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at the Ice Sculpture Girl, whose expression was calm, and asked in surprise, "You can't see the words above that snake's head?"

"Hmm?" Shinomiya Kaguya looked toward Snake on the other side of the room, her brows drawing together slightly. "I can't see anything... Amamiya-classmate, are you so scared you've started babbling?"

Amamiya Natsuki was certain he wasn't babbling.

Now, not only Snake but also the Ice Sculpture Girl had a line of text quietly appearing above her head.

[So scary, so scary, so scary (>_<)]

[I hate snakes the most. They're so huge—what if I get swallowed whole?!]

[Status: Trembling]

Amamiya Natsuki: "..."

Damn, she'd fooled him.

Beautiful girls really were better at lying.

He'd just admired how calm she was, how she didn't change expression even when the heavens came crashing down. But it had all been an act. She'd been trembling with fear inside the whole time!

[Note: This player's morale is low. Execution, reaction, speed, and courage have all decreased. Her condition can be restored by boosting morale]

[Recommended method: "...Kaguya-classmate, could you try to show a little more backbone?"]

"It's nothing." Amamiya Natsuki shook his head, suppressing the urge to complain. Then he said, "That snake isn't a real creature. It's Snake from a video game... Look carefully. No snake can move in a straight line without its body wriggling at all."