Kaguya-sama Wants Me to Surrender

Shinomiya Kaguya's gaze shifted slightly, turning towards Amamiya Natsuki. Her rosy lips curved upward. "Amamiya-classmate, bring out the 'food'."

"Wait, how do you have food, Natsuki-classmate?" Fujiwara Chika's eyes widened in curiosity. She hadn't quite caught on yet. "Kaguya-chan, did you make a mistake?"

"Kaguya-classmate is correct. I do have 'food' on me for Miss Cow."

Amamiya Natsuki understood Kaguya's meaning. As he spoke, he took out an item from his game inventory.

Its vibrant green color was particularly striking in the gloomy, dim room.

Green.

The color of life and miracles.

"Huh? Chives?"

Several girls widened their eyes.

"That's right, you can feed chives to cows," Fujiwara Chika slapped her forehead, realizing it. "The milk squeezed from them after eating the chives, a perfect cycle!"

"That bunch of chives can actually be useful?"

Kujo Asuka, the previous owner of the chives, stared in disbelief.

Come to think of it... it actually makes perfect sense?

Humans can't eat raw chives, but cows can.

Cows are herbivores, and chives are a type of herbaceous plant. Eating chives is normal, right?

Although surprised, Kujo Asuka had no regrets. Even if the chives stayed with her, they would still be useless garbage. She wouldn't dare feed them to a vengeful spirit.

Trading a bunch of chives for a chance to get close to someone powerful was a steal!

"Here."

Amamiya Natsuki handed the chives to Shinomiya Kaguya. He stood behind the cow-like vengeful spirit, maintaining his capture stance. The feeding task would naturally be left to someone else.

Shinomiya Kaguya took out a small knife, cut off some chives, and then offered the vibrant green chives to the beast-girl vengeful spirit, her voice calm.

"Please enjoy."

"I'm not eating that!" The beast-girl vengeful spirit's voice trembled with anger as she looked at the chives. Her mouth, filled with jagged teeth, revealed, "Look at my teeth, I'm a carnivore now! I want to eat meat!"

"Carnivores can eat grass too," Fujiwara Chika chimed in from the side. "Cats sometimes eat cat grass, and you're a cow to begin with."

"I'm a vengeful spirit, not a cow!"

She was an evil spirit, how could she endure such humiliation!

"Miss Vengeful Spirit..." Shinomiya Kaguya tilted her head slightly, her voice echoing with the tone of the night. "Do you know how foie gras is made?"

The beast-girl vengeful spirit looked bewildered, clearly not knowing.

"I do," Fujiwara Chika raised her hand. "I saw it on Twitter before. They say they keep the geese standing in a special cage, unable to sleep, and then they grab the goose's neck and force-feed it... Foie gras is delicious, but I haven't eaten it since."

Shinomiya Kaguya took over the conversation. "Miss Vengeful Spirit, will you eat it yourself, or should we feed it to you?"

"..."

Tears welled up in the beast-girl vengeful spirit's eyes as she chose to surrender.

Eating it herself was better than being force-fed. At least she could retain a shred of dignity.

"Cough, cough..."

The beast-girl vengeful spirit opened her mouth, bit into the chives, and chewed with teary eyes, vowing, "Humans, I'll remember this!"

Shinomiya Kaguya's expression remained cool and composed, unmoved.

Empty threats from a prisoner only revealed their inner cowardice.

"Amamiya-classmate, go ahead," Shinomiya Kaguya looked over.

Amamiya Natsuki nodded, gripping the beast-girl vengeful spirit's tail again. He had to admit, the feel of it was surprisingly good.

"Wait, wait a minute," the beast-girl vengeful spirit quickly called out. "That little bit of fodder isn't enough. Even if you play with my tail, you won't get any food."

Did they really think a bunch of chives would make her produce food? Humans were celebrating too soon!

"It's okay," Fujiwara Chika pointed to the table, her voice crisp. "The chives will grow back soon."

The beast-girl vengeful spirit turned her head and her eyes widened. The chives were actually growing visibly out of thin air, much to her astonishment.

"Ah, it's ready to be cut."

Fujiwara Chika eagerly took on the task of harvesting the chives and handed them to Shinomiya Kaguya.

"Miss Vengeful Spirit," Shinomiya Kaguya brought the chives to the cow-like vengeful spirit's mouth. "Please continue eating."

"This is too much, too much!" The beast-girl vengeful spirit finally broke. "You won't even spare a vengeful spirit!"

"..."

Resistance was futile.

The beast-girl vengeful spirit soon began her miserable life of eating grass and producing food.

"Tastes good."

"It really does taste like Meiji Milk."

"Speaking of which, there are the words 'Meiji' on the vengeful spirit lady's neck. Was she a cow from Meiji Dairies in life?"

Several girls chatted amongst themselves, drinking the milk one after another and dispelling their 'hunger' status.

Seeing that all the humans had finished their milk, the beast-girl vengeful spirit let out a teary sigh of relief, finally free from the hell of chives.

However, she didn't know that her hell was just beginning.

"Kujo-classmate, Takanashi-classmate," Shinomiya Kaguya said, her voice cool as she clasped her hands behind her back, "you can open the door and start attracting customers according to the plan."

The wicked capitalist young lady, Shinomiya Kaguya, was about to begin building her evil empire.

(PS: Speaking of which, chives can apparently be eaten raw. I once ate raw chives at a roadside stall. They just seemed to be simply pickled with salt, and they tasted alright...)

Chapter 49: Is There Anything Wrong with a Capitalist Exploiting Vengeful Spirits?

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.

Scratch that.

Where there are people, there is commerce.

When commerce develops to a certain extent, it will spawn capital.

As the young lady of a wicked capitalist, Shinomiya Kaguya knew very well how powerful capital was.

So, could one become a capitalist in a horror game?

There was indeed a possibility of operating this way.

Firstly, there always seemed to be many players in each instance. It would be a waste not to utilize so many players.

Shinomiya Kaguya had received elite capitalist education since childhood. The people in the world were divided into two types: those who could be utilized, and useless trash who couldn't.

Since she could exploit vengeful spirits, why couldn't she utilize players?

A person putting themselves in danger and working hard on missions was the most foolish choice. A true capitalist should control and integrate everyone, utilizing all players to clear the game.

I, Shinomiya Kaguya, will be a capitalist in a horror game!

Of course, this was a long-term goal that required gradual development.

For now, she would set a small goal, like earning a hundred million first.

"Knock, knock."

A gentle knock sounded at the door.

Shinomiya Kaguya turned her head and said, "Please come in."

The first customer had officially arrived.

"Excuse me."

A girl who looked like a high school student pushed the door open and walked in. This horror game didn't seem to recruit elementary or middle school students, and she hadn't seen any elderly people either.

"I'm Kiyono..." the girl introduced herself briefly, looking timidly at the vengeful spirit cow next to Amamiya Natsuki, and whispered, "Can I really exchange food with you?"

"Yes," Shinomiya Kaguya nodded slightly, "You've heard the exchange rules, haven't you?"

"I have," the girl quickly nodded, then took out an item from her pocket, "Please give me a glass of milk."

Capitalists usually started as small merchants.

The rules for exchanging food were simple.

One blind box item for one glass of milk. Fair prices, honest business.

Although the items obtained from the blind boxes were a jumbled mess, sometimes even including things like instant noodles or mineral water, they might come in handy in special circumstances.

Standing for too long was tiring, so Amamiya Natsuki was already sitting on the hospital bed. The cow vengeful spirit sat with him, shoulders touching, looking quite intimate.

Out of boredom, Amamiya Natsuki curiously looked at the item.

[Item: Bloodstained Eraser] [Usage: Erase] [Type: Consumable] [Effect: Will definitely erase one incorrect answer on a test paper. This item has limited uses remaining, please use with caution.] [Note: A top student vomited blood and collapsed in the examination hall, reaching out to the desk with bloodstained hands, 'Help me up, I need to delete my browsing history from my phone'... unfortunately, all they managed to grab was an eraser.]

"Um, can this eraser be exchanged for food?" the girl asked timidly.

The bloodstained eraser looked like a useless item no matter how you looked at it. The girl was worried if she could exchange it for food.

"No problem," Shinomiya Kaguya took the eraser, her gaze flickered, "Amamiya-classmate, I'll leave it to you."

No matter what it was, even just a pack of tissues, Shinomiya Kaguya would exchange for it.

What was most important right now was to build her reputation.

Anyway, milk could be obtained by feeding her a couple of bunches of chives, making it a surefire profitable business.

Amamiya Natsuki nodded. "Leave it to me."

"Wait." The beast-girl vengeful spirit, who had just relaxed, sensed something was wrong and looked askance at Amamiya Natsuki. "Humans, what do you intend to do?"

"We're here to do business, of course," Amamiya Natsuki said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Others trade items, we provide food. Perfectly normal, right?"

The beast-girl vengeful spirit gritted her teeth. "I mean, what do you want to do to me?!"

"Please don't ask such a simple question," Amamiya Natsuki sighed, then turned his head. "Fujiwara, come here and feed the chives."

"Coming!"

"..."

The beast-girl vengeful spirit's world went black. She trembled with rage... well, she couldn't tremble right now.

Shameless!

What incredibly shameless humans!

Toying with her wasn't enough; they still weren't satisfied and were treating her like a money-making machine... How could humans be so dark!

A moment later.

A cup of milk appeared out of nowhere.

"Thank you."

The girl, her face full of surprise, repeatedly expressed her gratitude. She quickly drank the milk and, under the vengeful spirit's bloodshot gaze, timidly bid farewell and left.

Other players began to enter the hospital room one after another and trade with Shinomiya Kaguya, receiving many miscellaneous blind box items.

For example, a proper marker pen.

[Item: Proper Marker Pen]
[Description: This pen has been used by someone for years to mark tally marks, and it has gained a special power. Hold it, and you can write a tally mark in one stroke.]