Fujiwara: Use Your Fat to Think of Something! / Vengeful-Spirit Classmate, Please Give Me Hush Money

"I don't know." Amamiya Natsuki shook his head.

It was just an ordinary road sign. Amamiya Natsuki stared at it for a moment, but no prompts appeared.

Fujiwara Chika looked disappointed. "It'd be nice if we could ask someone for directions."

This was Vengeful Spirit School, and the whole school was full of wraiths. Was it really a good idea to ask one for directions?

The entire school felt bleak, cold, and desolate. They couldn't even spot a single Wraith Student wandering the road, so they had no idea who they could ask for directions.

"Let me think for a moment..."

Fujiwara Chika held two fingers to her temples and closed her eyes like someone with psychic powers, murmuring indistinctly.

"Ah, I've decided!" Fujiwara Chika quickly opened her eyes. The black bows by her temples bobbed gently as she spoke in a bright voice. "Let's go to the cafeteria."

"Why?"

Amamiya Natsuki looked at her curiously. Could this Fujiwara have some kind of special ability like he did?

Fujiwara Chika giggled. "Because the cafeteria is the closest. It's right ahead, and we don't have to turn anywhere. We can get there just by walking straight."

"..."

Amamiya Natsuki's lips twitched.

Fujiwara, you really are a genius.

Chapter 9: Fujiwara: Use your fat to think of something!

"Qianxun E 12814139"

"The cafeteria, huh..."

Amamiya Natsuki pondered for a few seconds. "Let's go take a look."

The three of them followed the road and soon saw a cafeteria building ahead.

"Come to think of it, our school has a cafeteria too. I've eaten there with my friends before—the food is super delicious." Fujiwara Chika clasped her hands behind her back and looked around. "Have you ever eaten at the cafeteria, Kaguya-chan?"

"No."

Shinomiya Kaguya answered calmly.

"What about you, Amamiya-classmate?"

"I have," Amamiya Natsuki said.

"Really? What do you like to eat, Amamiya-classmate? My favorite is the cafeteria's teriyaki chicken. It's absolutely delicious."

Amamiya Natsuki sighed silently, finally confirming that the Fujiwara in front of him... really was a genius.

This was Vengeful Spirit School, where danger lurked everywhere. Could you at least show a little respect?

The whole way there had been peaceful. They hadn't encountered any other players or Wraith Students.

The three soon arrived at the cafeteria entrance. After exchanging glances, they stepped inside.

The scene before them suddenly changed.

The light was dim, and the yellowish lamps flickered as though they might go out at any moment.

A faint smell of blood hung in the air, along with another strange odor that was hard to describe.

Thud, thud, thud.

The dull sound of a cleaver chopping bones came from the back of the cafeteria.

Apart from that, they couldn't hear another sound. The whole place felt oppressively still.

There weren't many customers inside, all of them Wraith Students. As the three living people walked in, every wraith turned to look at them in unison.

All the wraiths had deathly pale faces, and some didn't even have eyes. Their sudden movement startled Fujiwara Chika, who couldn't help letting out a small cry.

"Why are there wraiths in the cafeteria?!"

Obviously, students came to the cafeteria to eat. What was so strange about that?

Shinomiya Kaguya remained cold and expressionless, as if nothing could ever trouble her. The words above her head, however, were completely at odds with her calm demeanor.

[So scary, so scary, so scary.]

At the same time,

a cold, hoarse voice sounded in the minds of all three.

[You have entered the scene: Vengeful Spirit Cafeteria]

[Game Rules: Good students must eat on time. Please finish The Last Supper and leave a five-star review.]

[Cafeteria Dining Rules: Each meal must contain at least 200 grams.]

"If all we have to do is eat, this seems way easier than the wooden dummy game."

Fujiwara Chika's eyes lit up.

"Easy?" A cold laugh rang out. "Let's see if you're still saying that once you start crying."

Amamiya Natsuki looked toward the voice and saw a player wearing a hood. Whatever he'd been through, his face was pale and his forehead was covered in cold sweat. A bowl of soup sat in front of him. Inside it... mist had gathered into a black skull that was slowly drifting upward.

"What kind of dish is that?"

The smile gradually froze on Fujiwara Chika's face.

"It looks like the kind of dish that gets people killed." Amamiya Natsuki's eye twitched slightly. He took a deep breath. "Let's go see what's being served at the counter first."

The three walked up to the cafeteria counter.

The dull chopping sounds stopped. Then a figure emerged from the darkness.

It was a pig-headed man nearly two meters tall, with a burly build. He held a blood-dripping cleaver, and his apron was splattered with so much blood that its original color was impossible to make out.

As the Pig-head Butcher appeared, the Wraith Students in the cafeteria all lowered their heads. His presence alone was intimidating.

"Good evening. What would the three of you like?"

A low, hoarse voice came from the Pig-head Butcher's mouth. As he spoke, he pointed to a notice board. "Here is today's menu. Please choose for yourselves."

Amamiya Natsuki looked at the notice board and saw that there was only one dish.

[Today's special: Borscht made with unknown ingredients. Whatever you find in it, please don't be surprised.]

[Today's special: Rice topped with meat cutlet made from unknown ingredients. Please do not ask where the meat came from.]

Amamiya Natsuki looked down the menu. Good grief, every dish was straight out of the underworld. There wasn't a single normal human meal.

"Is it really safe to eat this stuff?" Fujiwara Chika muttered.

The three soon realized that whether the food would upset their stomachs was one thing. Whether they could even get any was another.

"The cafeteria closes in thirty minutes. Please finish your meal before then," the Pig-head Butcher said in a low voice. "Anyone who fails to finish their food, or doesn't eat during the allotted time, will be left in the cafeteria."

"Um, thank you for the warning..." Fujiwara Chika blinked and tried to make a run for it, then cried out a moment later. "Huh? The door's gone!"

At her words, Amamiya Natsuki looked back. The cafeteria door had disappeared, leaving only a dark red mist.

Apparently, leaving without a care in the world wasn't going to be an option.

He turned his gaze back to the Pig-head Butcher. A line of text slowly appeared.

[Real name: Oink]

[Hates wasting food more than anything]

"In that case, we can only choose something to eat."

Young Lady Kaguya folded her right arm across her chest, her expression as calm and composed as ever.

And then there was the question of how.

"The three guests will have to pay first," the Pig-head Butcher said in a low voice.

"Huh? We have to pay?"

Fujiwara Chika's eyes widened.

The Pig-head Butcher silently gripped his bloodstained cleaver. "Are you planning to dine and dash?"

"Please don't misunderstand." Shinomiya Kaguya pulled Fujiwara behind her, her expression serious. "We hate people who dine and dash more than anything."

"I'll try something."

Amamiya Natsuki suddenly thought of a possibility. He quickly took out his wallet and pulled out a Noguchi Hideyo. Then the worst-case scenario occurred.

"The cafeteria only accepts school currency. Money from the human world cannot be used," the Pig-head Butcher said in a low voice.

That made perfect sense.

This was Vengeful Spirit School. Of course human-world money wouldn't work here.

"Money really won't work..." Fujiwara Chika said pitifully. "Then how are we supposed to buy food?"

"The guests may trade one thing for another." The Pig-head Butcher began wiping down the counter. "For 200 grams of food, you need only offer 200 grams of body tissue. A fair trade, with no tricks."

"Would clothes work?"

"No. It has to be body tissue with potential as an ingredient."

Was this cafeteria actually the witch's bun shop? First, she served buns to the customers, then they fainted after eating them and got dragged into the kitchen to be made into more buns. The cycle would never end!

Amamiya Natsuki finally understood why the hooded player had looked so smug when they first came in.

"For you humans, 200 grams of body tissue won't be fatal," the Pig-head Butcher said in a low voice. "Blood, muscle, bone, and useless fat can all be traded at equal value."

"Useless fat..."

Amamiya Natsuki's heart stirred, and he couldn't help looking toward Fujiwara Chika.

Shinomiya Kaguya also pressed her lips together and looked over.

The useless fat was right there in front of them. There was more than enough to cover all three portions.

"What are you two looking at?" Fujiwara Chika quickly covered her chest and cried out, "Not my boobs!"

Chapter 10: Wraith Student, Pay Me to Keep Quiet

There was no such thing as a free lunch. Fair trade was perfectly reasonable.

Trading fat for an equal weight of food was practically a dream come true for anyone trying to lose weight.

Unfortunately, Fujiwara Chika wasn't willing.

"Absolutely not!"

The pink-haired girl clutched her chest tightly and couldn't help protesting. "It's not useless fat! If I get married and have a baby someday, the baby will go hungry without it, right?"

You're thinking way too far ahead. Let's get through this first!

"Fujiwara, calm down. Being nervous and panicking will only affect your judgment." Shinomiya Kaguya's voice was calm, and her pretty face showed no sign of emotion. She continued evenly, "We can't buy food, so we can only trade for it. From what we can see, the smallest price to pay is blood..."

After finishing, Shinomiya Kaguya looked toward the hooded man nearby, who was watching them with glee. "If I'm not mistaken, that's what he did."

Fujiwara Chika blinked, uncertain. "Like donating blood?"

"Exactly."

"Then we can try it..." Fujiwara Chika stammered. "I donated blood once before. It hurt so much, I cried at the time. Have you ever donated blood, Kaguya-chan?"

"..."

Amamiya Natsuki silently looked at the words above Young Lady Kaguya's head.

A line of text appeared.

[Sorry, I've never done it even once. I'm terrified of needles, terrified of needles, terrified of needles... I hate shots more than anything!]

She said such rational things, her expression as cold as the snow atop a mountain, yet her inner thoughts were so vivid. Was this what they called saying one thing and meaning another?

No.

It was more like her carefully cultivated persona had fallen apart.

Amamiya Natsuki suddenly had a new idea.