"Aoi's mother can't recover?"
Tsubame bit her lip and secretly glanced at Aoi, her eyes filled with heartache.
For a child, the most important thing is the companionship of family.
Aoi currently sees her as her mother mainly because of memory confusion, but there will be a day when she regains clarity.
Once Aoi regains consciousness and discovers her mother is insane, she will definitely be super scared and panicked, right?
Natsuki whispered:
"It's already good enough for ordinary people to survive an anomaly. Tsubame, you don't need to blame yourself."
"I know, it's just…" Tsubame let out a sigh. Seeing Aoi tilt her head and look over, she quickly forced a bright smile and whispered, "It's just, what should Aoi do?"
In that nightmare where she transformed into Kayako, she and Natsuki took care of the child together, spending every day with Aoi, and their feelings could be said to be quite deep.
Natsuki had thought about this problem on the way and whispered:
"We can entrust Aoi to Mitsui's care."
"Aoi will cry, won't she?"
Tsubame bit her lip and looked up pitifully.
Whether it was entrusting Aoi to an orphanage or to someone else's care, Tsubame would not feel at ease no matter what.
Natsuki said:
"Adopting a child requires the consent of both husband and wife, and there are also age restrictions. Even if we get married now, we wouldn't be old enough to adopt a child."
"N-now get married…"
Tsubame's pretty face flushed slightly, and she couldn't help but glare at Natsuki.
If it was for Aoi, she could actually agree to marry now… but unfortunately, they weren't old enough.
Natsuki played with Tsubame's fingers and whispered:
"If Tsubame-senpai is worried about Aoi, there is actually a way."
"Eh?" Tsubame immediately looked over expectantly. "What way?"
Natsuki smiled without speaking, raising a hand to point to his cheek.
Tsubame's pretty face flushed, and she naturally knew what Natsuki meant. She shyly glared at him and whispered:
"...Kiss me when we get back."
Natsuki said:
"Kissing now only needs one time, but when we go back, it'll be at least three times. Tsubame, you choose."
Tsubame's cheeks puffed out slightly, and she couldn't help but say:
"Natsuki-kun is taking advantage of me!"
Natsuki smiled and said:
"Taking advantage of others is super fun."
"..."
Tsubame reached out her right hand and pinched Natsuki's waist, then lightly snorted and said:
"Three times it is… Natsuki-kun, hurry up and tell me."
Anyway, they had already kissed many times, so there wasn't much difference between kissing once and kissing three times.
"It's actually very simple." Natsuki said, "It's summer vacation now, so Aoi doesn't need to go to school for a while. We can temporarily adopt Aoi."
"Eh?" Tsubame was stunned and whispered, "But didn't Natsuki-kun just say we couldn't adopt her?"
Natsuki said:
"We just don't go through the legal procedures; we're just adopting her in substance."
It's like the crime of bigamy. To commit bigamy, one party must have a legal marriage. So as long as you don't get a marriage certificate, marrying eight wives at once is not illegal.
Adoption is the same.
As long as you don't go through the adoption process and just raise the child at home, actually not many people would know.
Of course, without adoption papers, the child would have problems with schooling and so on in the future.
But these things are very troublesome for ordinary people, but for players, they are nothing at all.
Natsuki continued:
"We just need to bring Aoi home and tell Mitsui."
What is extremely difficult for ordinary people is, in the eyes of the privileged class, just a matter of a single word.
Players just happen to be the 'privileged class'.
It would be foolish not to use privilege when you have it.
"That's good." Tsubame breathed a sigh of relief.
Natsuki then said:
"However, we are not her biological parents after all. Once Aoi's memory clears up, she will probably still want her real mother, so within this period, we must cure Miss Hebei Caihua."
Tsubame whispered:
"Didn't Natsuki-kun just say that there was no way to cure her?"
Natsuki said:
"Modern medicine cannot cure her, but that doesn't mean the game can't."
"You're right." Tsubame's eyes lit up slightly, and she covered her chest, saying, "Having hope is enough... Should we tell Mitsui now?"
Natsuki said:
"I've already told her. Mitsui said it's no problem."
Tsubame: "..."
The discussion concluded.
First, bring the adopted daughter home, take care of her, and at the same time, look for a way to treat mentally collapsed patients. With the existence of supernatural powers, healing is not a baseless claim.
In short, it's a two-pronged approach.
There's no other way; facing her 'daughter', Tsubame naturally had to do her best.
"Mom, I'm done eating!"
The child spread her hands, seeking praise from Tsubame.
"Aoi is so amazing~" Tsubame smiled, took out a tissue, and wiped the sweat from Aoi's forehead. "Natsuki-kun, are we going home now?"
Natsuki pondered:
"First, find medical personnel to have Aoi's body checked for any hidden minor issues."
"Good point." Tsubame stood up and said, "Let's go find medical personnel now!"
...The hotel's search and rescue efforts were still ongoing.
The players from the advance team had all been rescued. Each of them was dispirited, and a few with severe conditions showed symptoms of mental derangement, but overall, it was acceptable.
However, the situation for the ordinary guests who checked in earliest was not good at all.
Mental derangement was the mildest condition; there were countless people with mental breakdowns, and some guests with pre-existing conditions had even passed away.
Many medical personnel in white coats were going in and out, carrying the tourists out on stretchers, putting them into ambulances, and then sending them to the Hospital.
Natsuki and Tsubame found Mitsui, explained their purpose, and immediately got into an ambulance to go to the Hospital.
Next was a series of full-body examinations, no waiting in line, green light all the way.
The final result was that, apart from some malnutrition and lingering mental side effects, Aoi had no other major health problems.
"Tsubame-senpai, you take Aoi to the hotel first." Natsuki stroked his adopted daughter's little head and said gently, "I still need to go to the Strange Tales Management Bureau to handle the follow-up work."
"Okay." Tsubame nodded, holding her adopted daughter's small hand. "Aoi and I will go ahead."
"Go ahead."
Watching Tsubame and his adopted daughter leave, Natsuki got into a taxi and returned to the Strange Tales Management Bureau.
"Natsuki-kun, you're back?"
Mitsui greeted him warmly, first asking about Aoi's condition, then talking about the hotel's follow-up situation.
"One hundred twenty-five guests, plus thirty-four staff members, have all been found. A total of twenty-eight people unfortunately died..."
Natsuki remained silent.
These statistics, written on paper, were just light numbers, but in reality, they represented the suffering of over a hundred families.
Natsuki didn't think it was his fault; he wasn't a saint and never believed he could save everyone, but his basic human empathy wasn't lacking.
Human life, indeed, was too fragile.
"Mitsui can issue a bounty." Natsuki said softly, "There are hidden talents among players; someone should be able to treat symptoms of mental breakdown."
"Understood." Mitsui nodded, "I'll arrange for someone to do this immediately."
After a pause, Mitsui said softly:
"Natsuki-kun, during the time you were in the hotel, a new anomaly appeared in Kyoto..."
Natsuki's lips twitched slightly.
Hey, hey, that's too much! Even a donkey in the production team couldn't handle your endless exploitation!
"Natsuki-kun, don't misunderstand." Mitsui observed his expression and quickly explained, "I just wanted to ask you to help the players of the Strange Tales Management Bureau paste skills."
Although temporary skills were pasted, they might save lives at critical moments. From any perspective, life was more important.
"Pasting skills is no problem." Natsuki nodded and agreed, "Where are the players who need skills pasted?"
Mitsui said:
"They are already waiting in the lounge. After the skills are pasted, they will take the first flight to Kyoto to deal with the Strange Tale."
As more and more Strange Tales appeared across the country, it was naturally impossible to rely solely on Natsuki and others. Developing other forces was very necessary.
Natsuki nodded and said:
"Let's go to the conference room."
...Skill pasting completed.
Natsuki had no intention of worrying about the Kyoto Strange Tale; he just wanted to rest well now.
"Mitsui, is there anything else?"
Natsuki yawned and asked.
"No more." Mitsui bowed, "Natsuki-kun can go rest at the hot spring hotel. We have arranged the most professional physical therapy team and psychological counselors. After Natsuki-kun has recuperated, professional staff will come to build anomaly archives. We hope Natsuki-kun can cooperate appropriately at that time."
"No problem."
Natsuki waved his hand and left the Strange Tales Management Bureau.
"We've arrived at the hotel."
Natsuki stepped out of the special car and looked at the magnificent hot spring hotel in front of him. This was a luxurious hot spring hotel, but the Strange Tales Management Bureau, being wealthy, had booked the entire place for players to rest and relax. Apart from necessary staff, there were no other guests—
Doing the most dangerous work, the pre and post-treatment were naturally the best.
The advance team players who entered the hotel at the same time as Yukino would also come to the hotel to recuperate, but those guys were all mentally deranged and had been taken to the Hospital by ambulance.
"Natsuki-kun!"
"President, you're back?"
"Dad!"
...Seeing Natsuki return, the girls came over to greet him one after another.
"Wahhh~ Kaguya-chan!"
Mrs. Shimizu, who had been forgotten for a long time, emerged from Natsuki's shadow, hugged Kaguya, and rubbed against her continuously, "Mom didn't help at all, I feel so guilty!"
"It's not Mom's fault that you couldn't appear in the nightmare." Having not seen Mrs. Shimizu for a long time, Kaguya's voice involuntarily softened, "Mom doesn't need to feel guilty."
"No! I feel too guilty!" Mrs. Shimizu clenched her fists and said seriously, "It's decided! I'm going to punish myself by eating a whole table of food and stuffing myself to death!"
Kaguya: "..."
Upon arriving at the hotel, Natsuki still didn't have much free time. He first greeted the girls, released Mrs. Shimizu who had been cooped up for too long, and then went to follow the staff's arrangements.
First was psychological counseling, then a physical examination, and so on. By the time everything was done, it was already dark without him realizing it.
Dinner was at the hot spring hotel's buffet center. A long table was filled with various delicacies and fruits, exclusively for the players. It looked incredibly luxurious and wasteful.
However, to be fair, although wasteful, it was very satisfying.
After dinner.
Finally, it was time to rest.
"President, let's go soak in the hot spring!" Chika clenched her fists and said, "There's a super big hot spring in the hotel; you can even swim in it. It's perfect for us today!"
Natsuki retorted:
"The hotel already has a swimming pool. Don't swim in the hot spring."
Following the girls, they arrived at the hot spring area, which was indeed a super large open-air hot spring.
"It certainly looks good." Natsuki nodded with satisfaction, "I'll go shower first."
After a quick rinse in the shower room, Natsuki walked into the hot spring and sat down, involuntarily exhaling a long breath, then lazily closing his eyes.
After being busy for so long, finally being able to sit down and soak in the hot spring, he felt his body and mind completely soothed. In short, it was quite blissful.
He didn't know how long he had slept, but when Natsuki opened his eyes, he found the hot spring filled with girls.
"President is awake?"
Kaguya looked up, a towel on her head. In the misty steam of the hot spring, her skin was moist, radiant, and incredibly delicate.
"Awake..." Natsuki covered his forehead, almost choking on water, and quickly cleared his head. "Wait, isn't this the men's hot spring? Why are you all here?"
"Of course, it's because we were worried about the President." Hayasaka crossed her arms over her chest, also with a towel on her head. "You fell asleep without realizing it, and you were super sound asleep. We called you many times, but you didn't answer, so everyone was worried and came over to check."
As for bathing together, during their days of survival on the deserted island, everyone bathed together in the sea, so even Yukino didn't resist bathing with Natsuki in a mixed hot spring.
Of course, with everyone present, even in a mixed hot spring, Natsuki remained quite well-behaved.
After exchanging a few words with Kaguya, Natsuki began to check the rewards for this kill.
First were the game coins. Apart from the daily Blind Box and the basic attributes that occasionally appeared in the rotating several-day schedule, Natsuki had saved most of his game coins, now accumulating several thousands.
This was mainly because as his horizons broadened, he was no longer interested in ordinary-level game items.
Next were three random skill scrolls.
Natsuki casually opened the first one.
[Passive Ability: Godspeed]
[Your reflexes are superior to ordinary people. All your speed-related abilities will receive an additional bonus.]
[Note: Godspeed, it starts fast, and it ends fast too.]
Looking at the final note, Natsuki felt a subtle urge to retort.
"Hmm? A purple skill?"
Setting it aside for now, Natsuki took out the second skill scroll, surprised to find that it was actually a purple-level skill.
[Skill: One-Punch Man]
[Category: Active]
[Description: When you are a transgender person, a racist, and minor, your fists will possess special power. With one punch, even evil spirits will kneel and admit their mistakes.]
[Note: Standing at the pinnacle of political correctness, you tell me, who can withstand this punch?]
After reading the skill description, Natsuki's expression immediately became complicated.
When he first saw 'One-Punch Man', he thought he had hit the jackpot, but now he was just full of complaints with nowhere to vent.
In a sense, this thing could be considered the true One-Punch Man, right?
"President, what's wrong?"
Kaguya tilted her head and looked over, her eyes curious.
"This is a purple epic skill... You all take a look."
Natsuki said as he handed over the One-Punch Man skill scroll.
No.
He couldn't be the only one suffering.
"A purple skill?"
Kaguya curiously took the scroll, her expression immediately becoming complicated, and then she silently passed it to the others.
When all the girls had finished reading, everyone's expression was very complicated.
Chika complained, "This skill is too strange. It's not the One-Punch Man I imagined at all."
Juju crossed her arms over her chest:
"No one can meet the required conditions, right?"
Haruno shook her finger, "There definitely are, but they're definitely not ordinary people."
Tsubame curiously asked:
"What should we do with this skill scroll?"
Natsuki silently said:
"Let's sell it."
Hayasaka: "That's right, let's sell it."
...
Everyone quickly reached an agreement; they should indeed sell it.
This 'One-Punch' skill, which was overflowing with political correctness, couldn't be handled, absolutely couldn't be handled.
Natsuki finally took out the third skill scroll and casually opened it. Since a purple skill had already appeared, he didn't have much hope now.
However, the moment it opened, a brilliant golden light instantly attracted everyone's attention.
"Eh, eh, eh? How can it be golden light?"
"It's a Golden Skill!"
"The President's luck is defying the heavens; he actually managed to open a Golden Skill!"
...
In the game, skills were already rare, and Golden Skill-level skills were even rarer. So far, among all the players counted by the Strange Tales Management Bureau, only Natsuki possessed the unique Golden Skill-level skill, Time Stop.
Of course, other players could occasionally find Golden Skill-level skills in the mall, but the prices were all breathtakingly expensive. Even if they found them, other players simply couldn't afford them.
Game currency could not be transferred or spent with real money; players could only accumulate it through hard work.
Therefore, it was foreseeable that even official players, who were cultivated with concentrated resources by the Strange Tales Management Bureau, would find it difficult to obtain a large amount of game currency in a short period, thereby preventing a situation where veteran players were inferior to newcomers—
An individual's strength was actually as small as dust before a collective.
If game currency could be transferred and acquired, the officials could completely allow new players to become super experts at rocket speed. Many lone wolf recluses in novels would be crushed into dregs in the blink of an eye.
"It's actually a Golden Skill!" Chika said expectantly, "President, quickly take a look, what kind of skill is it!"
"Mmm."
Natsuki nodded, also full of anticipation for this golden skill.
It was just an ordinary skill scroll, yet it opened into a Golden Skill. Natsuki's mood right now was like buying a lottery ticket casually on the street and winning a hundred million; his feelings were exceptionally subtle.
[Your... World's Strongest...]
Just as he opened the scroll, Natsuki hadn't even clearly seen the skill name when the text on it seemed to come alive, flying out of the scroll and then splitting into two golden light masses in mid-air.
"Eh, eh, eh? What's going on?"
The girls were startled.
"I don't know." Natsuki frowned, "Perhaps it's because Golden Skill skills are super special?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden light divided into two masses. One mass quickly merged into Natsuki's body.
The other mass of golden light flew around the hot spring, circling each girl once, and then finally merged into Kaguya's body.
"Kaguya-chan, President, are you two alright?"
Chika asked worriedly.
Hayasaka raised an eyebrow:
"Miss, do you feel anything unusual?"
"I'm fine..." Kaguya blinked in confusion, "My body doesn't feel strange at all."
Marin asked in confusion:
"Strange, what's with those two light masses, Natsuki, do you know?"
Natsuki was about to say he didn't know, when he suddenly had a thought, summoned his skill panel, and found that a golden skill had appeared on his skill panel, and his expression immediately became subtle.
Seeing this, Kaguya curiously summoned her skill panel. After only two glances, her pretty face quickly flushed at a visible speed.
"Kaguya-chan, why did your face suddenly turn red?"
Chika asked curiously.
"Cough, cough, it's nothing..."
Kaguya lightly coughed twice, raised her hand to cover her cheeks, and turned her head to look elsewhere.
Tsubame curiously asked:
"Were those two light masses the golden skills?"
"Tsubame-senpai is right." Natsuki pondered for a moment, then displayed his skill panel. "This Golden Skill skill is very special. I didn't learn the skill just now; it changed on its own initiative... You can see the specific content yourselves."
No choice.
The skill panel still needed to be used, so there was no way to hide it.
Instead of being sneaky, it was better to display it openly.
The girls widened their eyes and looked over with curiosity, finally seeing the specific information of the brand new Golden Skill.
[Ability: Father of the World's Strongest]
[Category: Unique Skill]
[Quality: Golden Skill]
[Attribute: When you meet your destined other half, the child you bear will be the strongest in the world, without exception.]
[Note: You seem to have found a special way to save the world.]
"Eh, the child born will be the strongest in the world?" Chika, covering the towel on her chest, couldn't help but complain, "This skill is too strange!"
Hayasaka's heart stirred slightly. She turned to look at Kaguya and asked curiously:
"Could Miss's skill be...?"
The girls' eyes shifted, and they all looked towards Kaguya.
Kaguya's pretty face flushed even deeper, like fire, almost dripping blood. Knowing she couldn't hide, she could only take a deep breath and display her skill panel.
[Ability: Mother of the World's Strongest]
[Category: Unique Skill]
[Quality: Golden Skill]
[Attribute: When you meet your destined other half, the child you bear will be the strongest in the world, without exception.]
[Note: Only the first child can become the strongest.]
"It's exactly as I thought..." Hayasaka crossed her arms over her chest and smiled, "I remember when I was looking at files at the Strange Tales Management Bureau, I saw a player whose skill was called [Good Pregnancy in Pairs], meaning that whenever they got pregnant, it would definitely be twins..."
"N-no more!" Kaguya finally couldn't hold on and hid herself in the hot spring. "I don't want any Golden Skill!"