Miss Kaguya Wants My Surrender

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"Eh~ this card is so pretty."

Kitagawa Marin's eyes widened, looking over curiously.

The lantern had transformed into a card at some point, larger than a regular playing card, somewhat resembling a Clow Card.

Under the pure white light, the card's edges glowed with a beautiful, deep purple, exceptionally pretty. The front depicted a Halloween Pumpkin Head wearing a cloak, carrying a lantern in his hand, and the lantern even swayed slightly within the card.

Amamiya Natsuki set the card's attributes to display mode.

[Rule Card: Midnight Nightmare]

[Quality: Beautiful Purple / Epic]

[Attribute: Unique. This item is unique, cannot be strengthened, cannot be damaged, cannot be transferred. As long as you hold this Rule Card, no second 'Midnight Theater' Rule Card will appear through any other channels, until the holder dies.]

"Got it."

There was a lot of text, but Amamiya Natsuki immediately grasped the true Key Points of that sentence.

"Eh?" Kitagawa Marin blinked, muttering softly, "…Why does it feel a bit like a Devil Fruit from One Piece?"

Unique existence, no identical second Rule Card will appear, drops upon death… Aside from not being edible, it was super similar to a Devil Fruit in other aspects.

Amamiya Natsuki continued reading.

[Ability One: Midnight Theater. Every midnight, you can open a dedicated Theater for a performance.]

[Ability Two: Rule Repulsion. When you use Midnight Theater, other rules will be repelled.]

[Warning: You obtained this Rule Card through theft, and some permissions are sealed. You currently cannot use the Theater performance ability. Please explore how to unseal it yourself.]

[Note: Only rules can contend against rules.]

"It's even a semi-Sealed Artifact."

Amamiya Natsuki flicked the card with a finger, and it spun in his palm.

"That's so unfair. Natsuki got it by taking such a big risk." Kitagawa Marin crossed her arms over her chest, speaking up for him, "For Players, can stealing a book be considered theft?"

"I didn't steal it."

Amamiya Natsuki shook his head in denial.

"Eh?"

Amamiya Natsuki said earnestly:

"This is a card I openly snatched. How can something openly snatched be considered stolen?"

Kitagawa Marin: "…"

Buzz, buzz.

His phone vibrated repeatedly.

Amamiya Natsuki picked up his phone and had already received many new messages.

In the Player Mutual Aid Group, Players from the Midnight Mall had already joined and were discussing the sudden collapse of the instance.

Others sent messages individually.

Shinomiya Kaguya: "What happened afterward? Are you hurt?"

"Hanamori" Hayasaka Ai: "Senpai, are you okay?"

Miko: "I saw a figure moving in the window, Natsuki, you guys are back, right?"

Clearly, Miko hadn't slept and had been waiting up until now.

Amamiya Natsuki opened the window and waved to the long-haired black-haired girl next door: "We're back, all accounted for."

Miko breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

In the middle of the night, talking across rooms could easily disturb others, so Amamiya Natsuki continued to send messages.

"I want to eat potato curry beef stew."

"I'll make it tomorrow at noon."

"And green onion ice cream."

"So what even is that!"

"…"

After a brief exchange, Miko yawned, covered her mouth, rubbed her eyes, and waved: "I'm going to sleep first. I still have to get up to make breakfast tomorrow."

Amamiya Natsuki closed the window, and his pinky finger suddenly twitched, followed by a video call invitation popping up.

Accept video invitation.

A pink-haired idiot instantly appeared on the phone screen.

"Natsuki-kun, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?" Fujiwara Chika leaned closer to the phone, her pink eyes large and bright, with a lustrous glow, exceptionally pretty. "Why did the instance suddenly collapse?"

"I'm not okay."

"Eh?"

Amamiya Natsuki's voice was faint: "I'm super thirsty right now, I'm going to die…"

"Bah!"

Fujiwara Chika lightly spat, quickly covering her pink lips with her hand.

Don't even think about making me feed you water. The same thing won't happen a second time… no, it's the third time!

"Where's Marin-chan?" Fujiwara Chika asked in a low, guilty voice, "How come I don't see her?"

"She went to the bathroom to shower."

"I want to shower too. I'm so sweaty, it's super uncomfortable." Fujiwara Chika muttered, "I went to the bathroom just now, but there was an evil spirit in the bathroom, sitting in the bathtub. It was so disgusting, I couldn't even take a bath."

"You can close your eyes and pretend you don't see it."

"No, it's too disgusting."

"…"

The two talked for a while until Kitagawa Marin finished her shower, then Fujiwara Chika yawned and ended the video chat.

"Natsuki, you can go shower now."

Kitagawa Marin walked over, wearing a white bathrobe, with a pink towel wrapped around her head, and smelling of shampoo and shower gel.

"Mm."

Amamiya Natsuki responded, grabbed his change of clothes, and walked towards the bathroom.

The Midnight Mall instance involved physical teleportation, and after several hours of running around, he indeed needed a good bath to relieve fatigue.

"Natsuki-kun, should I help you scrub your back?" Mrs. Shimizu sat on the sofa, resting her chin on her hands, her voice sweet, "You worked hard today."

Amamiya Natsuki turned his head, looking at the now transparent Mrs. Shimizu with a look of disdain: "Do you even have the strength to scrub my back now?"

"Hmm~ I guess not."

"Then go play on your phone."

Promising something you can't deliver, there's no sincerity at all!

He walked into the bathroom.

Amamiya Natsuki had just finished undressing when he suddenly heard footsteps outside the door.

No need to say, it must be Kitagawa Marin.

Ghosts don't have footsteps.

"Natsuki, should I help you scrub your back?"

The golden-haired girl's voice came from outside the door.

Amamiya Natsuki froze, instantly realizing why Mrs. Shimizu had spoken just now. Her true intention wasn't the wine, but to say it for Kitagawa to hear.

"No need," Amamiya Natsuki said, "Don't let Shimizu-nee mislead you."

"I know," Kitagawa Marin said softly from outside the door, "It's just scrubbing your back, it's nothing… You even helped me scrub my back a couple of days ago, besides, you have a wound on your back, it must be inconvenient to wash by yourself."

"It is something. As the saying goes, men and women should not touch each other…"

"Tsk, I'm coming in."

"…"

Kitagawa Marin pushed open the door, her gaze falling on Amamiya Natsuki. Her pretty face only flushed slightly, and she let out a light breath, stepping in as if nothing was amiss.

She had seen what should be seen and what shouldn't, there was nothing to be shy about anymore… at most, her heart was secretly racing, and her face felt a little hot.

"Sit still and don't move." Kitagawa Marin squatted down, reaching out her hand, "Give me the towel."

"Many thanks." Amamiya Natsuki handed over the towel, "My life is complete."

"Bah, bah, bah~" The golden-haired girl lightly spat, clenching her pink fist and tapping Amamiya Natsuki's shoulder, "Stupid Natsuki, don't say inauspicious things."

"Yes, yes."

"…"

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