Natsuki simply rinsed his mouth, then turned to look at the bathroom door, saying nonchalantly:
"Kaguya-san's clothes accidentally got wet from the shower. Hayasaka, please get some clean clothes."
Hayasaka responded calmly:
"Going right away. Natsuki-kun, how long do you want me to take to bring the clothes?"
Natsuki pondered:
"Take your time, an hour is fine."
"An hour is too long!" Kaguya covered her chest with both hands, her pretty face flushed, and she couldn't help but shout, "Hayasaka, don't listen to the president, go get the clothes, the faster the better!"
"Yes, Lady Kaguya."
Hayasaka took her leave.
As the footsteps outside the door faded, Natsuki looked back at Kaguya in the bathtub.
"..."
Kaguya nervously hid in the water, only her mouth and eyes exposed, shyly turning her head to look elsewhere.
"Do you think Hayasaka can be back within half an hour?"
Natsuki leaned back, slowly breaking the silence.
"It won't take that long at all." Kaguya's eyelashes trembled slightly, her pretty face flushed as if on fire, and she stammered softly, "At most five minutes, Hayasaka will definitely be here."
Natsuki smiled:
"Then let's make a bet. We'll bet on whether Hayasaka can be back within five minutes. If she comes back, you win, and you can make me do anything. Conversely, if Hayasaka doesn't come back within five minutes, I win, and Kaguya-san must also agree to one request within your ability."
Kaguya's eyes shifted slightly, and she looked over:
"...What request?"
Natsuki said:
"Of course, it's a request within your ability, something easy to do, definitely not against public order and morals, and won't harm anyone else... Kaguya-san isn't scared, are you?"
"President, don't look down on people!"
Kaguya couldn't help but puff out her cheeks slightly.
Although she knew Natsuki was using a provocation, she still felt sulky.
Would she be afraid?
Of course not!
She and Hayasaka grew up together; they weren't sisters, but closer than sisters. Hayasaka would never betray her!
However, recalling Hayasaka's 'forced humiliation' plan, Kaguya felt a vague unease and hesitated:
"Five minutes is too short, Hayasaka isn't that fast... Ten minutes, Hayasaka will definitely be back within ten minutes."
Natsuki said:
"So, you agree to the bet?"
"That's right." Kaguya slightly raised her chin, revealing a long, slender, snowy-white neck, "I trust Hayasaka."
"Then let's wait ten minutes and see who wins."
Natsuki spoke while leaning closer to Kaguya.
The bathtub was super large; two people bathing together didn't feel crowded at all.
"Wh-what is the president doing?"
Kaguya immediately became flustered.
C-could it be that the president wants to do what he did just now?
No!
She would absolutely not agree to such a terrible thing again!
Natsuki said earnestly:
"As the saying goes, learning is like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall back. It's been a long time since I helped you with a massage, so it's necessary to make up for it today."
Kaguya quickly raised her arms to cover her chest, shyly saying:
"I don't need help with a massage! President, go away!"
"..."
Unfortunately, the bathtub was only so big. Kaguya barely managed to hide for a while, but was eventually embraced by Natsuki.
A moment later.
"Ten minutes have passed." Natsuki exhaled lightly, "I won the bet."
"Eh?"
Kaguya's long eyelashes trembled slightly, her eyes misty and full of confusion:
"The president is lying! It was just a blink of an eye, how could ten minutes have passed?"
"See for yourself."
Natsuki picked up his phone and held it in front of Kaguya.
Kaguya looked closely and soon widened her beautiful eyes:
"It, it really has been ten minutes?"
Meow meow meow? What's going on?
How did ten minutes pass in a blink of an eye?
Why did she not feel it at all?
And Hayasaka... why hasn't she come back with the clothes after ten minutes!
"A bet's a bet. I won now." Natsuki looked at Kaguya, his gaze burning, "Kaguya-san won't go back on your word, will you?"
Kaguya's pretty face was burning hot, and she stammered softly:
"What does the president want to do?"
"It's very simple." Natsuki lowered his voice, like the Big Bad Wolf enticing Little Red Riding Hood to pick mushrooms, and whispered, "There's a term in international economic law called 'Most Favored Nation Treatment.' I'm asking the Miss for reciprocity, treating each other equally. That's not too much, is it?"
"Eh?"
Kaguya blinked, her eyes a little bewildered, clearly not understanding.
"It's like this..."
Natsuki patiently guided her, imparting forbidden knowledge to Kaguya.
"Eh? Eh? Eh?!"
Kaguya finally reacted, and steam immediately billowed from the top of her head.
"President, you're going too far!"
To actually want her to do such a terrible thing, it's too unhygienic!
But... but it seems to be common in books, so is it a normal interaction?
Should I agree to the president?
No!
No no no!
It won't fit! No matter how I think about it, it won't fit!
Half an hour later.
"Lady Kaguya, the clean clothes are here."
Maid Hayasaka's calm voice finally sounded from outside the door.
"Cough cough..."
Kaguya covered her mouth and coughed twice, as if hearing a life-saving siren, sighing with relief, and quickly shouted:
"Put the clothes at the door, I'll be right out!"
Covering her body with a towel, Kaguya quickly escaped the bathtub, put on her clean clothes, and then rushed out the door.
"Whew..."
Coming out of the bathroom, Kaguya clutched her chest and let out a long breath, then turned to look at Maid Hayasaka standing beside her, puffing out her cheeks and questioning:
"You said you were going to get the clothes. It's only a few steps away, why did you take so long to come?"
Hayasaka said indifferently:
"Something held me up."
Kaguya persisted:
"What could possibly hold you up for so long?"
"Well..." Hayasaka tilted her head and thought for a moment, then extended a finger and said casually, "It was your happiness that delayed my steps."
"Eh? Eh? Eh?" Kaguya paused, "What are you talking about, Hayasaka!"
Hayasaka crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head, saying:
"You were actually very happy bathing with the president, weren't you?"
Kaguya guiltily turned her pretty face away and said:
"I wasn't happy at all."
"The mouth can lie, but the body doesn't deceive." Hayasaka's lips curved slightly upward, "For example, when people are happy, their faces turn red and their spirits are high... Miss, do you want to look in the mirror and see your current complexion?"
"I don't want to look in the mirror." Kaguya turned to leave. "I'm going back to my room to rest first."
Hayasaka sighed, reached out to stop Kaguya, and said:
"Sure enough, girls who are love-struck tend to become idiots."
Kaguya subconsciously retorted:
"I'm not an idiot."
Hayasaka crossed her arms over her chest:
"So, Miss, you're not denying the fact that you're love-struck, are you?"
Kaguya puffed out her cheeks and said:
"Hayasaka is so mean, suddenly calling me an idiot. I'm angry."
Hayasaka said unhurriedly:
"The **Strange Tale** hasn't been found yet, and Miss actually wants to go back to her room alone. What else could that be but an idiot?"
Kaguya: "..."
Alright, I really forgot about the Strange Tale. My mind was completely filled with the President.
At the same time.
In the bathroom.
Natsuki finished his bath, stepped out of the bathtub refreshed, and went under the shower to rinse off.
At this moment, the knocking sound suddenly rang out again.
Bang, bang.
Natsuki thought it was Kaguya or Hayasaka, and casually said:
"Come right in."
"..."
However, the person knocking did not come in, but continued to knock unhurriedly from outside.
"Hmm?"
Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly, wrapped a towel around his body, walked to the bathroom door, and reached out to open it.
Unexpectedly, the person knocking was neither Kaguya nor Hayasaka, but a strange girl he had never seen before.
"Long time no see."
The strange girl's voice was faint as she greeted him.
The next second.
Countless memories flooded into Natsuki's mind.
The girl in front of him was named Mei, his childhood friend since kindergarten. They grew up together, talked about everything, were the closest of friends, and even promised to get married in the future... The memories were very clear, but there was an indescribable sense of incongruity.
The strange girl then stretched out her right hand, her voice calm:
"I'm very short on money right now, could you lend me something?"
Natsuki subconsciously replied:
"What do you want to borrow... just say it."
Although the girl in front of him was a bit unfamiliar, she was his lifelong childhood friend, so lending her something was naturally not a problem.
The strange girl said faintly:
"In that case, how about you lend me a year of your life?"
"Okay..."
Natsuki was about to agree subconsciously.
At this moment, a line of text suddenly appeared in front of his eyes:
[After careful recollection, you realize that you do not have a lifelong childhood friend. You suddenly understand that your memory has been tampered with, causing you to mistake her for your closest friend...]
"Memory tampered with? What does that mean?"
Natsuki frowned slightly, instinctively feeling something was wrong.
The memories of Mei in his mind were exceptionally clear, including every little detail of growing up together, and even a certain afternoon after school in the third year of junior high, when it rained on the way, and they ran to a shrine by the road to take shelter. Behind the shrine, they found a discarded notebook, and he even remembered the title very clearly: "After-Rain Stories of Adolescence"... Could all of these be false memories?
[You decide to be cautious and use the Black Mud Clone...]
"Oh, right, there's also the Black Mud Clone."
Natsuki's heart stirred.
The memories of the Black Mud Clone were not tampered with; he remembered them clearly. A black bracelet quietly appeared on his wrist, and then he quietly hid his consciousness within it.
The next second, the tampered memories immediately revealed their true form.
"I remember now... I don't have a lifelong childhood friend at all! And I never had any after-rain stories!"
Natsuki's body suddenly tensed.
He was actually tricked by this thing in front of him into having his memories tampered with!
"Lend me a year of your life, I have an urgent need."
The strange girl stretched out her right hand, her voice mechanical and stiff.
"Whew..."
Natsuki let out a soft breath, looking at the woman in front of him. The familiar closeness he felt before was gone. From her appearance to her voice, everything was completely unfamiliar.
"Just taking a bath, and an anomaly actually came knocking."
Natsuki hid half of his consciousness in the Black Mud Clone, retrieving it once every second, then hiding it again. Through this method, he 'refreshed' his tampered memories, keeping himself awake at all times. It felt very uncomfortable, but it was quite effective.
"Hurry and lend it to me..."
Seeing Natsuki unmoved, the Strange Tale in front of him began to urge, its expression subtly contorting into a sinister look. At the same time, the frequency of his mental tampering clearly accelerated.
"I'm not even willing to lend money, and you actually want to borrow a life..."
Natsuki took a deep breath and decisively activated Time Stop.
Time suddenly stopped flowing, and everything froze, but the tampered memories in his mind did not automatically recover.
Natsuki suppressed the inexplicable feelings of closeness and joy, decisively activated Psychic Power 100%, bursting out with blue psychic flames all over his body. Then he pulled out the blood-stained fire axe, and blue and blood-red flames intertwined on the axe head. He directly swung the axe down.
Strike while the iron is hot!
The safest way to deal with an anomaly that can tamper with memories is to smash it until nothing is left!
Boom!
The axe landed on the Strange Tale girl's body, instantly creating a horrifying wound. Blood splattered, and black mist surged wildly into it.
In the Time Stop state, this Strange Tale could not resist. Its body was like a mud doll, and it was quickly torn apart by Natsuki.
Three seconds of Time Stop ended.
Time resumed flowing.
All the damage and actions during this period erupted instantly. The Strange Tale directly crashed into the hallway wall, her body splattering with large amounts of blood.
"Whew..."
Natsuki let out a soft breath and relaxed slightly. The next second, his expression suddenly became grave.
Something's wrong.
Very wrong!
If the Strange Tale was truly eliminated, why didn't the game notify him?
Natsuki immediately opened the game panel and looked at the notification bar.
[You have encountered the Strange Tale 'Evil Neighbor'...]
[Reality guardian mission triggered!]
[Mission Objective: Eliminate the Strange Tale Evil Spirit]
[Upon successful kill, you will receive the following rewards—]
[One thousand five hundred game coins]
[Ten free attribute points]
[Three random skill scrolls]
[One Skin Card]
[One exquisite item]
[One Dungeon Exemption Card]
"No Strange Tale mission completion notification..."
Natsuki's expression was grave. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the deformed creature on the ground.
"If the game isn't wrong, then the previous attack didn't eliminate the Strange Tale."
Natsuki gripped his axe, on guard against a sudden attack from the Evil Neighbor, but the deformed creature on the ground did not stand up, still lying there like a pile of mud.
At the same time, hurried footsteps came from the back of the hallway.
Kaguya, who had just changed, and Hayasaka, as well as the other people in the manor, ran over together.
"President, what happened?"
Kaguya asked nervously.
Natsuki pointed: "Bad luck. I just finished bathing and didn't even have time to put on clothes before I encountered an anomaly."
"Eh, is that it?"
Kaguya and Hayasaka quickly looked down.
"The President's expression is so serious..." Hayasaka raised an eyebrow slightly, "Has the Strange Tale not been eliminated?"
Natsuki shook his head:
"Indeed not."
At the same time, the black mist in the Strange Tale girl's body finally completely dissipated, and then a prompt quietly appeared in front of Natsuki:
[You used one hundred percent of your strength and successfully eliminated a sub-entity of the Evil Neighbor...]