"Hello, everyone. I'm a newcomer too."
"..."
"Why does that voice sound so familiar?"
Though it was a particularly... tacky way of greeting people in certain worlds, it did seem capable of scaring people stiff depending on the occasion?
No, that wasn't what they cared about at all! They hadn't realized anything upon hearing his voice, yet Kaguya's voice immediately struck them as familiar? Hadn't they seen the situation clearly yet, boys!?
"Oh! Isn't that the female voice that explained the rules to us? What about this guy?"
"His voice isn't familiar. Never paid attention to it."
"Enough! Listen to me from now on." Jiu Ming coughed heavily. Seeing that all their attention was on Kaguya, he hurriedly pulled it back to himself. Then again, it made sense—when there was a beauty to look at, who would look at a man?
In every sense, beauties could draw all kinds of gazes—whether it was eyeballs being drawn in by them, or envy, jealousy, and hatred from their own kind. Men could do it too, of course, but Jiu Ming apparently hadn't met that standard.
"First of all, congratulations on surviving seven days..."
Before he could finish, the three wore expressions of deep grievance and aching indignation. "It was clearly eight days! It was because of those extra two days that a few people relaxed a little, and got taken out..."
"That only means your vigilance was slightly lacking. You were too naïve. Can a woman's words be trusted? Especially a beautiful woman's words—you didn't lose out!" Jiu Ming wiped away sweat without changing expression, forcibly making an excuse.
Kaguya, her hands tucked into her sleeves, shot Jiu Ming a sidelong glance. "Passing the blame onto women—you've really grown capable, huh. I admire you."
"Hm? Weren't you the one who said it?"