After deciding to give up, I became popular

Chika Fujiwara waved her hand, looking at Kanade Natsukawa with a disgusted expression, then hopped over to Kaguya Shinomiya to snuggle with her, "Kaguya-chan, I'll come play with you after I finish work."

"..."

Seeing Chika Fujiwara's determined look, Kanade Natsukawa had no choice but to give up trying to persuade her.

In that case, he had no choice but to try to find a way to eliminate the negative impact that this performance segment might bring.

Kaguya Shinomiya was still being held by Chika Fujiwara, so Kanade Natsukawa simply approached the staff member who was helping people check in and instructed:

"If anyone asks who designed the content of this activity when they come to check in later, just tell them it was the student council. And if they ask who specifically, tell them—"

"—President Natsukawa proposed it."

151. Please Don't Do This, I'm Scared

After successfully passing the stage, Kanade Natsukawa and Kaguya approached the check-in staff, but to their surprise, the staff didn't stamp their cards. Instead, they were given a pair of small bracelets with some words engraved on them, something like "Sincere Feelings."

The airhead lady, of course, happily accepted it. Although Kanade Natsukawa was a bit puzzled, he certainly wouldn't dampen her enthusiasm and accepted it as well. When they asked why they weren't given a stamp, they received this answer:

"Because this project was actually added as an extra. Secretary Fujiwara said that it wouldn't be part of the game's trials, but there would be an extra reward for passing it."

"Okay, thank you for letting us know..." Kanade Natsukawa nodded, indicating that he understood.

The content of the game aside, Fujiwara did a good job of removing it from the trials.

After all, traditionally, the so-called trials should be things like ghosts, specters, or monsters, using these non-existent fantasy creatures to test people's courage in dark environments.

But if it were like the stage designed by Fujiwara, then the things being tested would be completely different. It wouldn't be "courage" at all, but rather so-called "human nature."

And as everyone knows, "human nature" is the thing that can withstand the least amount of testing, so Kanade Natsukawa suggested that they expose more flaws during the performance.

This wasn't to help connect other people's relationships, but simply to change the essence of the game, turning it from a test of human nature into—a rather interesting performance.

Just like he said before, anyone with a bit of emotional intelligence and IQ would never fail to see through the truth in that situation.

And when he learned that this was specifically for the group of people who voluntarily chose partners, he realized that his worries were likely unnecessary—you can get the right to choose, can you really be so stupid as to think this is really happening?

But he was relieved about this segment, what about the other content?

The entire venue has more than just this one module, and he entrusted all the design to the Game Club, and the supervision was handled by Chika Fujiwara. This gave him such a big surprise right off the bat, he didn't even dare to think about the content that would follow!

He even regretted entrusting the matter to the Game Club, after all, those guys have a history of designing terrible games to harm people...

"Kaguya, we probably need to speed up," Kanade Natsukawa said seriously.

"Eh? Why are you saying that all of a sudden?" The airhead lady was still immersed in the joy of receiving the gift.

The two bracelets, clearly presented as a pair, constantly reminded her of one thing—the bracelets are a pair, and she and the president are also a pair... This is a perfect match!

But the next second, she heard the president tell her that they had to speed up.

What does that mean? Doesn't the president want to enjoy this alone time with her a little longer?

"To be honest, I'm a little worried about what the game content will be like later..." Kanade Natsukawa said truthfully.

Then he explained his concerns to her.

"Uh... it shouldn't be that bad, right?" Kaguya Shinomiya looked a little hesitant.

Although Fujiwara is indeed a bit unreliable, she forgets to bring her wallet when going out, gets lost alone during school trips, and all kinds of plans she painstakingly arranges are messed up by this idiot...

"No, President, you're right, we really should review the game content they designed carefully," Kaguya Shinomiya said seriously.

Although the bracelet is very beautiful, and she really likes receiving a pair, one thing is another, she must not let that idiot Fujiwara ruin her long-awaited date!

She also doesn't want that idiot's weird participation mixed into her precious memories with the president!

So the two reached a consensus, and their pace quickened in unison.

They were silent all the way.

In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the next project point, where a house that was obviously designed as a stage appeared.

In addition to Kanade Natsukawa and Kaguya, there were also several other teams of members here. When they saw the two of them arrive, they greeted him in a low voice.

"Do we have to queue here? Why aren't any of you going in?" Kanade Natsukawa asked, puzzled.

"Uh... actually..." One of the boys clearly knew something, but just as he was about to explain it to him, they heard a series of terrifying screams coming from the house.

"Eeeek!!! Yamete!!!"

"Mom, I want to go home, waaaah!!!"

"Don't come over here!!!"

"..." So Kanade Natsukawa fell silent.

It wasn't that he was frightened by the shrill screams inside. On the contrary, hearing such sounds made him feel that everything was normal, because this was the normal development of a test of courage.

But was it necessary to make it so...horrifying?

It felt like the people participating in it weren't just afraid to an ordinary extent, but more like they came home one day and found that their long-cherished collection of erotic books had all been dug out and stacked together, and their parents and friends were all looking at him with serious faces on the sofa...

Although the emotions were not quite the same, the severity was clearly the same, both of which made people want to start over!

"Where's the person in charge here?" Kanade Natsukawa asked with a complicated expression.

"It seems to be inside a certain room in this house..." the kind student explained, then asked him with a cautious expression.

"President... are you going in?"

"..."

Could he say no? Kanade Natsukawa thought.

So many eyes on the scene were looking at him with an expectant look, he couldn't say a word of wanting to back down.

"After all, I'm also a participant, of course I have to experience it," Kanade Natsukawa replied with a serious face.

Then there was warm applause on the scene.

"Great, as expected of the president!"

"Good luck, President! We support you!"

Even the kind student in front of him said to him with a tearful expression: "Waaah, President is so great, waaaah... I'm counting on you, President!"

"..."

He was really a little scared by you guys, okay? What exactly is inside? Why is it like a farewell to life and death now?

Kanade Natsukawa was almost unable to hold on, but he couldn't possibly go back on what he had promised in public, so he looked at Kaguya Shinomiya and winked at her, hoping she could find a reason to ease the situation.

Kaguya Shinomiya looked at him and found that he was blinking frantically, as if he was conveying a signal, and she immediately understood his thoughts.

"Of course, I will also participate with the president and will never give up halfway!" Kaguya Shinomiya said firmly.

This is her, this is the determination of a woman from the Shinomiya family!

She will never retreat in the face of battle, she will definitely advance and retreat with the president, and be his solid backing!

"..."

Okay, he's really done for now.

152. It's a Thrilling Chase!

Bearing everyone's expectant gazes, with his staunch supporter expressing her feelings beside him, there was no way Kanade Natsukawa could escape the fate of entering the tiger's den.

Since that was the case, he could only resign himself to standing on the steps leading to the "haunted house" with Kaguya Shinomiya.

It was definitely right to call it a haunted house, but it wasn't the usual kind, but in the literal sense—as a substitute for the door, there was an upper face of a demon on the eaves of the house. The originally rugged path had now completely disappeared, and the last traces were clearly imprinted on the throat leading to the demon's abdomen. The wide-open bloody mouth could cause physiological discomfort with just one glance.

However, even though the entrance of the house was decorated in such a creepy way, Kanade Natsukawa still didn't feel anything.

Nothing else, only familiarity.

Whether it was when he was pursuing them before, or when he was in the club to respond to everyone's call, he had experienced amusement park projects like this haunted house, and he had experienced it quite a few times.

Naturally, he was frightened quite a few times at the beginning, but as the number of experiences increased, he gradually felt that it was just like that.

Until the end, he got used to it, and there would be no more excessive reactions or lingering thoughts about the content of the experience after it was over.

But even so, he still maintained a full vigilance against this type of facility, because he knew very well that this type of amusement project was all about "sudden surprises."

When you are unprepared, when you think you have reached a safe area, when you think you are so scared that the staff shouldn't take special care of you—suddenly, some inexplicable things will pop out to scare you.

Some even not only want to scare you but also chase you, and the more you run, the happier they are, chasing you even more happily, highlighting an S-attribute explosion, it can only be said.

Of course, Kanade Natsukawa would definitely not run. At most, others would suddenly appear and cause him to have an stress reaction, but afterwards he would calm down. But the girls he brought with him would not be so calm.

Each of them would be so frightened that they would tremble, and some would even be so scared that they would squat on the spot and hug their heads and shiver...

But this was still good, after all, if they had a reaction, they would know how to comfort them. What he feared was that the other party was the type who wanted to save face and suffer, and they were clearly so scared that they couldn't move, but they insisted on not saying it. As a result, just bringing the teammates could make him feel mentally exhausted.

So compared to those girls who would run away, he felt a little more at ease—at least she would run! And running around like this would allow them to end this bad trip sooner.

I wonder what type Kaguya is, Kanade Natsukawa thought.

"We're going in, Kaguya, be prepared."

"Okay, I'm ready, President."

So the two walked in together and accepted this test.

Although they were all scenes in the dark, compared to the outside of the house, which had a few people and was full of flashlight light, the inner room could really be called dark, where you couldn't see your fingers.

After his eyes had adapted a little, Kanade Natsukawa could see the things around him, but compared to the scenes he saw, the unhurried footsteps that had been coming from not far away attracted his attention even more.

Is this a show of strength? They didn't give me any time to react.

Kanade Natsukawa frowned, then pulled Kaguya Shinomiya behind him, his eyes fixed on the direction the sound was coming from.

The footsteps came from inside the house, and they didn't stop from the moment they entered the door, until its owner appeared in front of them, limping with an old crutch.

"Heh, another pair of challengers who don't know the immensity of heaven and earth."

The person who spoke was a hunched old woman with black spots all over her face and skin that was frighteningly dark. Her face was full of wrinkles that were so heavy that they could crush flies. She just gave the two of them a contemptuous look, then shook her head and prepared to leave without saying anything.

Seeing this, Kanade Natsukawa quickly asked, "This fellow...old woman, how can we leave this place?"

He originally thought that they were going to scare them right away, but he didn't expect that it would still be like an RPG game. Then he certainly couldn't let this character who was obviously an NPC leave like this, at least he had to ask for information first.

"Want to leave? Heh, you can't do it! Unless...you can find the wronged soul who died here! As long as you can find her, you can escape this place."

"Uh...excuse me, after finding her..." Kanade Natsukawa still wanted to ask something, but suddenly heard an unusually heavy footstep coming from behind him.

Step by step, like a heavy hammer, it directly hit his heart.

"I seem to...smell the scent of living people..."

Accompanied by a series of heavy gasps, a tooth-aching creaking sound also rang out, as if the floor of the house was collapsing piece by piece, but on closer listening, it clearly felt like it was chewing something, creaking and creaking, and the sound was getting closer and closer.

"I'm so hungry!"

"..."

Kanade Natsukawa looked at Kaguya Shinomiya, who happened to look over as well, so the two looked at each other and said in unison: "Run!"

Although they hadn't seen what the thing behind them that was making heavy footsteps was, just hearing those strange sounds and speeches, and referring to the old woman's professional dress, it was not difficult to guess that it was definitely not something worth their attention.

Fortunately, neither of them were fools. They quickly understood that the challenge was to find a wandering soul hidden somewhere in the large house while being chased by the ghostly figure behind them. They would then need to use the soul's help to escape the haunted house, and this help likely involved getting their cards stamped.

"President, what should we do now?" Kaguya Shinomiya asked. It was her first time experiencing such a game, and she felt a considerable amount of interest, completely forgetting why she had initially participated.

"Should we split up? If we're looking for someone, that might be more efficient..."

"No, we'll stick together," Kanade Natsukawa said, shaking his head.

"The rules don't specify a time limit. We can simply search the rooms here one by one. The only thing we need to watch out for is that thing, and avoid getting caught," Kanade Natsukawa analyzed.

"So, rather than splitting up, it's better to stay together. At least we'll have each other's backs."