Kaguya-sama Wants Me to Surrender

He immediately offered three coins, how generous.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely keep my mouth shut. I'll stake my reputation on it."

Amamiya Natsuki collected the coins with satisfaction.

The Vengeful Spirit Boy trembled with rage, bloodshot veins appearing in his eyes.

Even a vengeful spirit is being extorted. This human has no integrity at all!

Amamiya Natsuki stood up, his peripheral vision catching the Vengeful Spirit Girl not far away. She was lifting her hair to peek at him, a look of schadenfreude clearly on her face.

You, who only have one dollar, how dare you mock others!

It seemed that not only humans, but vengeful spirits too, had a penchant for mischief. They could find joy in the misfortune of others.

Seeing Amamiya Natsuki look over, the Vengeful Spirit Girl quickly lowered her hair and sat down, looking down.

Amamiya Natsuki didn't bother her further and continued to search for his next target.

One trick is all you need to succeed.

The effect of "borrowing the tiger's might" was quite good. The Pig-head Butcher was truly a godsend. As Amamiya Natsuki demanded hush money all the way, no vengeful spirit student dared to refuse.

"What's going on with those three players?"

"They're actually asking vengeful spirits for money?"

"Could they be borrowing money?"

"Idiot, vengeful spirits aren't philanthropists. How could they lend money to humans? They must have found a hidden escape route."

"..."

The other players in the cafeteria were all shocked, staring with wide-open mouths.

Unfair!

They had to trade their blood for food, but why was it so easy for these three players?

One player, feeling bold, wanted to imitate them and demand hush money. However, he couldn't speak the Pig-head Butcher's true name and was quickly torn apart by the enraged vengeful spirit, his body dissolving into mist in the cafeteria.

Seeing this, the others quickly calmed down.

Meanwhile.

"Amamiya-kun, help, help, help, help me!"

Fujiwara Chika's cry for help suddenly reached his ears.

Amamiya Natsuki looked over and saw that she and Shinomiya Kaguya had their wrists grabbed by a female vengeful spirit, their situation precarious.

"I didn't secretly throw away my food. I'm not afraid even if the Head Chef comes out," the female vengeful spirit said, her face pale, her eyes pitch black, showing no expression. Her voice was cold and chilling. "You extorted me, so I'm going to eat you."

Demanding hush money requires caution. After all, it's like dealing with a tiger. These evil spirits are not to be trifled with. One wrong move and you could become the next unlucky soul.

It was clear that Shinomiya Kaguya and Fujiwara Chika had very bad luck.

"Snap."

Amamiya Natsuki walked over and flicked his hand, spilling the food from the plate.

The female vengeful spirit looked up blankly.

"You're wasting food now," Amamiya Natsuki calmly pointed to the food on the table.

Hearing this, Fujiwara Chika's eyes widened, and she blurted out:

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that's framing someone, one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems!"

"Let go of my friend first."

Amamiya Natsuki pried open the Vengeful Spirit Girl's pale, cold fingers and pulled Shinomiya Kaguya and Fujiwara Chika behind him. He then extended his right hand: "Hush money. Pay up."

"..."

The Vengeful Spirit Girl clenched her hands into fists, black energy swirling around her like an erupting volcano. After trembling for a while, she finally endured the humiliation and produced the hush money.

"She looks like she's about to cry," Fujiwara Chika whispered. "Are we being a bit too much?"

"Indeed, it's too much," Amamiya Natsuki said in a low voice, rolling up his sleeves. "Giving only one coin for hush money? They're looking down on us. We can't just let this go."

"No!" Fujiwara Chika quickly grabbed Amamiya Natsuki's arm and pulled him away. "Let's go, quickly!"

"..."

The cafeteria wasn't full.

Besides a few unlucky players, there were over a dozen students from the vengeful spirit school. Amamiya Natsuki quickly noticed that these vengeful spirit students were genuinely poor.

Some only had one coin, while the wealthier ones had no more than three or four. It was enough to make anyone weep.

"That's enough."

The three quickly regrouped at the food counter.

"We don't have much time," Amamiya Natsuki said. "Let's finish our meal quest as quickly as possible."

Shinomiya Kaguya's expression was cool and composed, her tone steady: "There are ten minutes left."

"Hey, Amamiya-kun, what do you want to eat?"

Fujiwara Chika asked curiously.

"Honestly, I don't want to eat any of it." Amamiya Natsuki picked up a bone coin and tossed it into the air, catching it with a snap. "Heads it is... I'll have the Borscht."

"Wait, these coins look the same on both sides," Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but point out. "There's no heads or tails, is there?"

"Watson, you've discovered the blind spot."

"I'm not Watson, please call me Sherlock."

"..."

Amamiya Natsuki calmly handed over a coin: "Mr. Head Chef, I'll have a Borscht, please."

"Please wait a moment."

The Pig-head Butcher took the coin and quickly handed over a bowl of Borscht with an unidentifiable main ingredient, black mist floating on the surface, occasionally coalescing into black skulls.

"Mr. Head Chef," Fujiwara Chika raised her right hand, her voice clear. "I'll have a Borscht too. When I was in elementary school, I caught a cold one winter and couldn't stop coughing. My mom made me some traditional Chinese medicine, and it looked just like this Borscht."

Hey, traditional Chinese medicine is definitely bitter, but it doesn't float weird skulls, does it?!

Money exchanged for goods.

The Pig-head Butcher only cared about the coins and paid no attention to the three humans' identities. He quickly handed over a bowl of Borscht.

"Kaguya-chan, what are you having?" Fujiwara Chika inquired.

"I..."

Shinomiya Kaguya moved her lips, a rare hint of hesitation on her face. To be honest, both dishes looked incredibly unappetizing. Even the guard dogs raised by the Shinomiya family wouldn't eat them.

Unfortunately, there was no choice.

"I'll have a Borscht," Shinomiya Kaguya took a deep breath, maintaining her cool and composed expression.

At least she could follow Fujiwara's example and drink it down with her eyes closed.

They finished picking up their food.

The three walked to a corner and sat down.

"Itadakimasu,"

Fujiwara Chika clasped her hands together and said softly, a pained expression on her face. "I already ate tamagoyaki and omurice this morning, drank two cups of milk, and then snuck a roll cake. Eating again now, will I get fat?"

She's worried about getting fat? Your thought process is definitely different from ordinary people!

"Don't worry," Shinomiya Kaguya glanced at her coldly. "It's probably less than the snacks you usually sneak during class. Even if it turns into fat, it'll only settle on your chest."

Fujiwara Chika covered her chest, her tone distressed. "Then I hope it grows on my arms and legs. My chest feels too heavy; it's even inconvenient to squat down and tie my shoelaces now."

Crack.

Shinomiya Kaguya's chopsticks almost snapped in her hand.

Amamiya Natsuki ignored their whispered conversation and lowered his gaze to the Borscht in front of him. After staring for a few seconds, a line of text slowly appeared.

[Borscht with unknown ingredients. No toxic side effects. Safe to consume. Replenishes stamina. Inhaling too much smoke may cause hallucinations. Please maintain a clear mind while drinking.]

"It really is edible."

Amamiya Natsuki was relieved.

Those unlucky players had already received their food, some even eating more than half. They looked lively and showed no signs of dropping dead. Now completely at ease, Amamiya Natsuki picked up the bowl and took a sip of the Borscht.

It was bland and tasteless, like plain water.

Despite the mist, there was no sense of temperature.

"If only it were spicier, hotter..."

Amamiya Natsuki subconsciously thought to himself.

"Huh?"

As he took his second sip, Amamiya Natsuki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

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This bowl of borscht suddenly had a spicy flavor and heat.

What's going on?

Amamiya Natsuki quickly realized that this must be the so-called 'illusion' he had seen earlier.

In essence, it was still an ordinary bowl of borscht, but it would generate illusions based on a person's thoughts. No wonder everyone in the cafeteria, whether vengeful spirit students or unlucky players, ate as if they were eating bitter herbs, their minds convinced the borscht was terrible, making it progressively worse.

"So bitter, it's killing me!"

Fujiwara Chika's voice rang out beside him.

Amamiya Natsuki looked up and saw the pink-haired girl sticking out her pink tongue and fanning herself non-stop with her right hand.

"You drank it all in one go?" Amamiya Natsuki was shocked.

"My mom used to say that traditional medicine has to be drunk in one go," Fujiwara Chika said, lifting her chin. "Drinking it in small sips only makes it worse, so I held my nose and drank it all at once."

To actually find the correct solution, this kind of idiot who managed to grow this big must have luck higher than the average person.

Amamiya Natsuki suddenly noticed that Shinomiya Kaguya was acting very strangely.

The cold, black-haired girl was biting her lower lip, silent. Her right hand was stiffly held in mid-air, her wine-red eyes were misty, and clear teardrops were visibly swirling within, about to fall at any moment.