"..."
"I'm glad you're all right." Takanashi Rikka breathed a sigh of relief and hurried after Amamiya Natsuki. Unable to suppress her curiosity, she asked, "Why were you all right just now?"
"Don't ask me," Amamiya Natsuki said. "Use your invincible Evil King True Eye to see through the truth."
"The Evil King True Eye is still sealed. I can't see the truth."
"..."
They retraced their steps along the corridor.
There wasn't much time left in the ten-minute limit. The corridor's light quickly dimmed, and darkness was almost upon them.
Amamiya Natsuki stopped in front of Room 405 and raised his right hand to knock.
Knocking before entering a room was basic courtesy.
After waiting a few seconds, Amamiya Natsuki grasped the doorknob, turned it gently, and pushed the door open. His gaze immediately fell on Fujiwara Chika, who was wearing nothing but her underwear.
"Sorry to bother you. I'll be going."
Chapter 40: Call You Zhang San—Would You Dare Answer?
Darkness fell.
The corridor quickly grew eerie.
Amamiya Natsuki let out a quiet breath and stepped into Room 405.
Rikka, his little mascot, hurried after him. The door slammed shut behind them.
The room was just as gloomy and dim.
The difference was that there was no television here, only a low card table. A dried bat specimen hung on the wall.
Fujiwara Chika was kneeling beside the table. Sitting across from her was her "roommate."
A delinquent girl with twin tails, exaggerated smoky eye makeup, a curvy figure, and a deranged smile. A bloodstained baseball bat lay beside her.
"Harley Quinn?"
Takanashi Rikka's eyes widened.
That couldn't be right. Harley Quinn was a supervillain from the Marvel Universe. She wouldn't play a pretty-girl cuddling game with Fujiwara Chika.
This vengeful spirit was probably just a Harley Quinn cosplayer. You could tell by her stomach—she didn't even have defined abs. How could she possibly be Harley Quinn?
The ghost lady didn't seem angry. She merely tilted her head toward them, wearing a frightening, deranged smile as she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.
"Well, look what I found. Two more cuties. Come play with me."
What a long tongue.
A thought surfaced in Amamiya Natsuki's mind.
It must feel great learning to tie a cherry knot, right?
He meant literally tying a knot in a cherry. Please don't get the wrong idea.
Amamiya Natsuki pushed the stray thought away and looked at Fujiwara Chika, his tone peculiar.
"So, you're playing the Pretty Girl Stick Together Game?"
The idiot was wearing only two pieces of underwear: a white bandeau and a pink camisole with a big panda on it. Everything else—her uniform, shoes, stockings, skirt, bracelets, and so on—had disappeared.
Amamiya Natsuki's gaze drifted slightly lower.
You wouldn't have guessed it. She gave the impression of being a little chubby, but her waist was surprisingly slim.
"I'm not sticking together with her!" Fujiwara Chika cried, tears in her eyes. "I lost all my clothes!"
"Um... what does 'sticking together' mean?"
Takanashi Rikka asked in a small voice, her curiosity in full force.
"That's a forbidden subject children shouldn't know about," Amamiya Natsuki said solemnly. "Don't ask."
"..."
Fujiwara Chika tearfully recounted what had happened.
After entering the game, she had appeared all alone in this room. Before she could even leave, the vengeful spirit dressed like Harley Quinn had blocked her way and forced her to play Old Maid.
The rules were simple and needed no explanation.
But whoever lost had to give up an item. It could be clothing, or skin, flesh, teeth, eyes... It was an evil spirit's game, not entertainment.
What could Fujiwara Chika do?
She had to take off her clothes whenever she lost, until only her underwear remained.
Amamiya Natsuki looked at Harley Quinn, whose clothes were still perfectly in place, and said, speechless, "You haven't won a single round?"
"She must have cheated." Fujiwara Chika sounded even more aggrieved. "When I play Old Maid with my friends at school, I never lose over and over like this!"
"Oh, cutie, you can't make accusations without proof. Or I'll pull out your tongue." Harley Quinn picked up the bloodstained baseball bat, her smile downright menacing. "Cheating is forbidden at the card table. Even I can't break that rule."
So cheating was fine as long as it wasn't at the card table?
A cheating prompt had already appeared before Amamiya Natsuki's eyes. He smiled. "Count me in."
"Hm?"
"This game looks so fun. I want to play too."
"What an interesting human." Harley Quinn looked over in surprise, then smiled with delight. "Sure, but my game with cutie isn't over yet... It's my turn now."
Fujiwara Chika nervously raised the cards in her hand.
There were only two left: the five of hearts and the Joker.
In other words, this was the final moment.
"Now, which one could it be?"
Harley Quinn's smile grew more excited as her finger moved back and forth between the two cards.
"It should be this one..."
The ghost lady's finger settled on the Joker. As Fujiwara Chika let down her guard for a split second, she suddenly lunged and snatched the girl's most precious possession.
"I-I lost again."
Fujiwara Chika let out a little animal's wail and crumpled to her knees in despair.
"Cuuutie, looks like you're having a very unlucky day." The ghost lady smiled. "Your panties or your top? You have one minute to choose. If time runs out, I'll randomly take something from you."
Fujiwara Chika bit her lower lip, miserable.
She had only two pieces of underwear left. Taking either one off would be awful.
But the rules required her to remove one.
If she had to choose...
"I'll never be able to get married after this!" Fujiwara Chika covered her chest with both hands and looked up at Amamiya Natsuki, wearing the expression of someone making a last stand. "Natsuki-classmate, shall we use that move?"
"We can give it a try." Amamiya Natsuki nodded.
Fujiwara Chika widened her eyes and pointed at the ghost lady. "Outlaw Zhang San, I'm calling your name. Do you dare answer?"
"Who's Zhang San?" The ghost lady froze, then realized her body was no longer under her control. Her mouth moved against her will. "...Th-that's right. I am Outlaw Zhang San."
Amamiya Natsuki walked over and grabbed the ghost lady by the shoulder. A sudden realization came to him.
The skill had worked!
He could capture her with absolute certainty, and pose her any way he wanted. If you called yourself Outlaw Zhang San, even a god could be captured for you!
"Outlaw Zhang San, you're under arrest," Amamiya Natsuki said sternly.
The ghost lady tried to resist, but her body wouldn't move at all. She could only stare in confusion. "Who is Zhang San? I'm not... I-I-I, I am Outlaw Zhang San."
"I'm actually a Time-Space Police officer. My true mission here is to arrest Zhang San," Amamiya Natsuki said, spouting nonsense with a straight face. "Zhang San is a heinous criminal on a multiverse-wide scale, with the most terrifying criminal mind and expertise in countless criminal methods. He's committed countless terrible crimes... I've traveled through countless worlds, following your trail all the while. Outlaw Zhang San, your end has come."
"A-amazing!"
Takanashi Rikka's eyes widened with admiration.
"You humans are full of lies. Plenty of my friends have been tricked by you, but I won't believe your nonsense." The vengeful spirit sneered. "The minute is almost up."
"Hm?"
Amamiya Natsuki paused at her words and looked at Fujiwara Chika.
The airheaded girl stared back at him, just as blankly.
The next second.
Fujiwara Chika's already-large eyes suddenly widened. Both her hands moved behind her back.
"E-eh? My hands are moving on their own..." Fujiwara Chika's voice turned panicked. "Natsuki-classmate, close your eyes! Don't look at me!"
Chapter 41: Five Hundred Kaguya
"I-I'll never get married..."
Fujiwara Chika knelt in the corner, covering her chest with both hands. Wisps of steam seemed to rise from her head.
A boy had seen her naked. She could never get married now.
"My eyes are closed."
"What good is closing just one eye?"
"..."
Their first attempt at working together had gone quite well, but it had also exposed a few problems.
First, Fujiwara Chika said that forcibly changing someone's name could only affect one person at a time. If they designated a second person as Zhang San, the first person's name would revert to normal.
Then there was Amamiya Natsuki's problem.
He could capture a vengeful spirit, but he couldn't destroy one.
For example, the Harley Quinn vengeful spirit before them clearly wasn't happy about it. She kept shouting that she'd make him pay later.
Simply put, he could get the other person's body, but not her soul.
It wasn't that Amamiya Natsuki was particularly interested in vengeful spirits' souls. Just playing with their bodies, watching them insist they didn't want it while their bodies betrayed them, was even more exciting. But it was still dangerous.
The best solution was to destroy the vengeful spirit outright. The problem was that he didn't have the ability.
Thinking about it reminded Amamiya Natsuki of Shinomiya Kaguya. He wondered if that weapon of hers would work.
"Where's Kaguya-chan?" Fujiwara Chika asked, as if they shared a mind. After getting dressed, she asked, "Why didn't she come with you?"
Amamiya Natsuki shook his head.
"Kaguya-classmate wasn't with me. Everyone's in a separate room, so she should be next door."
"Then we should hurry and find her." Fujiwara Chika quickly added, "Let me tell you, Kaguya-chan may look like she isn't afraid of anything, but she won't even watch horror movies alone."
"We can't go out yet. The corridor's dangerous while it's dark."
After briefly telling Fujiwara Chika what had happened earlier, Amamiya Natsuki turned his gaze back to the Harley Quinn vengeful spirit.
There was still some time before the darkness would lift. Since he had nothing else to do, why not play Ning Caichen for once...
"Human, what are you planning?"
The ghost lady sounded wary.
"Let's play a game." Amamiya Natsuki released the ghost lady's shoulder, pointed at Fujiwara Chika, and said gravely, "I raised Chika myself."
Before you continue