After deciding to give up, I became popular

"And the key point is... weren't we supposed to be holding hands the whole time?" Shikawa Kanade raised his right hand.

He was still holding onto her tightly, not letting go.

"Uh..." The airhead young lady was stunned.

Oh, right! She almost forgot about that setting!

That was close, she almost let the president discover the truth!

Very worried about the mental state of netizens.jpg

153. The base isn't exploding, no big deal! (5K)

After getting away from the thing making the huge footsteps, Shikawa Kanade and the other person searched all the rooms they came across along the way.

Unfortunately, they didn't find anything that seemed to be the 'soul' the NPC was talking about, so the two became even more convinced that it was referring to another student playing an NPC, rather than some other kind of guiding condition.

But even confirming this wasn't enough, because they still hadn't found anything that could guide them towards clearing the game, but their actions along the way weren't without any gains—they found a lot of 'props' with special effects in the various rooms.

"Bell of Deterrence: As long as you take out the bell and ring it in the face of the 'Butcher' once, you can seal his movements for 5 seconds, but it will lose its effect after being used once. (Hint: Please shake the bell hard until he can hear it! If the sound is too small, he may not hear it!)"

"Cloak of Invisibility: As long as you stick it on your forehead, you can become invisible for 20 seconds, and it will lose its effect when the time is up. (Hint: When using it, be careful not to make too loud of a noise, otherwise it will still attract the 'Butcher's' attention and arouse his vigilance.)"

"Token of Love: A token of love given to her sweetheart by a certain girl, with very important commemorative significance. (Hint: Don't think it's useless and throw it away, this thing is the most important, remember it clearly!)"

"Taunt Doll: A doll with a very hateful appearance. As long as you take it out and shake it at the 'Butcher', you can attract his attention, but at the same time, the holder of the item will be chased by the 'Butcher' all the time, even if you throw the doll away, it will not have any effect. (Hint: If you don't want to have nightmares at night, please use it with caution! The best way to use it is of course with a self-defense item! Be brave, young men and women!)"

"..."

As someone with some game experience, Shikawa Kanade immediately understood the current situation.

With props, chase battles, and slight puzzle-solving elements, the feeling of a horror RPG game immediately hit him, and this was even a first-person real-life version, he was afraid that his heart rate would become uncontrollably active later.

"I roughly understand how to clear the game." Shikawa Kanade pondered, and then began to explain it to Shinomiya Kaguya, who looked puzzled.

"In situations like this, we generally call it a horror role-playing game. You don't need to think too much about the extra content, just remember its essence—we have to use the props in our hands to avoid the BOSS's pursuit and find a way to survive, that is, to clear the game, in the process."

"The so-called 'Butcher' mentioned on these hint notes should refer to the owner of the footsteps we heard earlier. I originally thought that we only needed to avoid his pursuit and find the 'soul', but now that I see these props, I understand that we probably have to face him directly."

"Eh? Isn't it just getting a stamp from the staff?" Shinomiya Kaguya asked doubtfully.

"It shouldn't be that simple." Shikawa Kanade shook his head and continued, "We've searched all the rooms on this floor, and the only things we've found are these props, which means our goal should be in a room on the first floor, but that place must be guarded by the 'Butcher'."

"According to the general flow of this type of game, this 'Butcher' should also have his own mode of action. For example, when we arrive on the first floor and are caught by him, he may come to chase us, but when we come to the second floor, he will not appear."

"The evidence is that we've been on this second floor for almost 5 minutes, but we haven't encountered him once, and we haven't even heard his footsteps once. This shows that he is also restricted and can only move on the first floor. As for more information... we may have to go to the first floor to see the situation before making a judgment..." Shikawa Kanade hesitated.

After all, going downstairs meant that Kaguya had to go with him, otherwise the two of them wouldn't be able to keep holding hands. And he didn't know if there were any cameras in this house. Although it was so dark that it would be difficult to observe what they were doing on the camera screen, it should still be possible to determine whether the two of them were close together.

"Of course, if Kaguya, you mind, we can also choose to give up. This is nothing more than giving up getting the 'Medal of Courage', but it's still okay to experience the other game projects."

"Mind? What do I mind?" Shinomiya Kaguya asked in confusion.

"Uh... of course, it refers to... observing that 'Butcher'. Although we haven't encountered him yet, his appearance shouldn't be something that can be calmly ignored after seeing it..." Shikawa Kanade tried to explain euphemistically.

"..." Shinomiya Kaguya still felt that she was being looked down upon.

"President, please rest assured, the Shinomiya family has nothing to fear, only situations where others fear us, so please act according to your ideas, and of course I will always support you."

"..."

Okay, since you've said so...

So Shikawa Kanade took Shinomiya Kaguya's hand and led her carefully to the first floor, then peeked out a small head while holding onto the handrail, carefully observing the situation in the central corridor.

As he had guessed, there was a huge figure within sight, estimated to be more than 2 meters tall, and its thick volume was even comparable to some heavyweight sumo wrestlers. The entire "person" completely blocked the road to the end, standing motionless in the corridor, blocking the only way out.

Because he was afraid of alerting the enemy, Shikawa Kanade didn't turn on the flashlight. At this moment, in the surrounding dark environment, the appearance of the huge figure was not very clear, and he could only see a general outline. However, it was precisely because of this that Shikawa Kanade breathed a sigh of relief.

Because he didn't need to think carefully to guess that the other party must have also put on that very realistic horror makeup. Not being able to see the other party's appearance at this moment allowed them to avoid extra visual pressure.

After looking around again and finding that there was only this one passage, Shikawa Kanade retracted his gaze and began to discuss with Shinomiya Kaguya in a low voice.

"I've confirmed that the so-called soul should be in a room behind this 'Butcher'. Of course, it's also possible that they're doing the opposite and hiding the target in the rooms in front."

"But no matter what, if we want to search these rooms, we definitely can't get around that guy. He definitely won't just watch us walk over. At this time, we should need to use the props we just got," Shikawa Kanade continued to analyze.

"For example, using this 'Cloak of Invisibility' should help us explore the rooms in front, and then we'll use this 'Taunt Doll' to lure the other party out, and then use the 'Bell of Deterrence' to hold him in place for a while. While we have this time, we'll go and open all the rooms behind one by one to take a look. When we find the target, we'll quickly go in and give this 'Token of Love' to the other party, and that should complete the clearance conditions."

"..." Shinomiya Kaguya was a little confused.

She couldn't understand why the other party could find a way to use all these props in such a short period of time, and it even sounded very credible. Although she also understood the uses of these "props", she only thought about using them to protect herself in the situation of "being about to be caught".

But it didn't matter if she didn't understand, because she was full of trust in her president, believing that he would definitely lead her to perfectly pass this game test.

So with Shinomiya Kaguya's consent, Shikawa Kanade very simply took out the "Cloak of Invisibility" and stuck it on his forehead, then swaggered in front of the other party with Shinomiya Kaguya.

Even because he was afraid that the other party wouldn't see the talisman on his head, Shikawa Kanade specially took out a flashlight and shined it on his head to show that he was using the prop properly.

The huge figure was obviously stunned for a moment, but then he still took heavy steps and walked towards them step by step.

Shikawa Kanade was dumbfounded, but he quickly thought of the reason—it might be because their movements were too loud, or his flashlight behavior "aroused the other party's vigilance", just like it was written on the hint note, so next they needed to pause and not move, wait for the other party to return to their original position, and then lighten their movements.

Logically speaking, things should have developed like this—

As a result, the other party not only didn't turn back, but even took faster steps towards them, faintly showing signs of running.

"Ah?" Shikawa Kanade widened his eyes, thinking how this NPC didn't play by the rules? What happened to "not being able to see them" after using the prop?

Could it be that he forgot about this rule?

Just as he was about to break away from his identity in the game and remind the other party with words, Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly tugged on his sleeve.

"President, let's run first, we'll be caught if we don't run."

"...Okay." Shikawa Kanade reluctantly agreed, but in his heart, he had already decided to find the old woman NPC just now to ask clearly what was going on.

After figuring this out, Shikawa Kanade simply took Shinomiya Kaguya and ran back, but the other party still chased after them relentlessly. It wasn't until the two of them ran upstairs in front of the other party that the latter stopped and turned around, walking back step by step.

"As expected, the first floor is the other party's activity range..." Shikawa Kanade nodded, thinking that he hadn't judged wrong, but what was going on with this prop?

Could it be that this thing had been used by someone before, and the other party thought that this thing could only be used once in the whole game?

Just as Shikawa Kanade was racking his brains, Shinomiya Kaguya suddenly spoke.

"President, could it be because... this prop can only be used by one person?" Shinomiya Kaguya reminded.

Just now, she clearly felt that the other party's gaze, after initially appearing on the president, immediately and without hesitation turned to her, and even their footsteps did as well.

Although the direction seemed to be the same, she had a feeling that only she had become the target the other party was chasing, and the president was just standing next to her by chance.

"Impossible, right? If that's the case, then this prop would be completely useless? After all, we have to hold hands all the time, right?" Shikawa Kanade asked in confusion.

"..." So the airhead young lady was silent.

Now that things had come to this, she was afraid that she had to tell the truth, but if that was the case, would the president misunderstand her because of this? For example, misunderstand that she... she... super likes him or something!... Guu...

So the airhead young lady hesitated again, not knowing whether to open her mouth or not.

But soon she didn't need to make any more multiple-choice questions, because someone had made a decision for her.

"Why are you still here? Leave this place quickly, otherwise in 3 minutes, you will never be able to escape from here!" The stooped old woman appeared again, this time even bringing a kind reminder of the remaining playtime.

"..."

Shikawa Kanade secretly said that she came at the right time, and then immediately repeated what happened just now to this NPC, and also asked if it was because other people had used this talisman.

The old woman didn't answer, but raised her eyebrows, and then gave Shinomiya Kaguya a deep look with a very strange gaze, which made the latter feel panicked.

"Maybe it's just like you said, but you don't need to care about these things anymore. Since this thing is useless, then make good use of your remaining exorcism items to escape from here." Then, without waiting for Shikawa Kanade to reply, the old woman left again, limping on her crutches.

"..." Shikawa Kanade was speechless, thinking how these students were all like this, not being professional at all, and even their attitude towards him, the student council president, was so bad... He must find out who played the role later and remember them harshly!

But the most important thing right now was to figure out how to clear the game. Just like the other party said, there wasn't much time left. This was also normal. After all, it was just a game project and not a real thing. They couldn't keep wasting time like this, after all, there were so many people waiting in line to play outside.

"In that case, we can only use this 'Taunt Doll' to attract the other party to a farther place, and then we'll ring this 'Bell of Deterrence' to hold him in place, and use this time to quickly check each room," Shikawa Kanade suggested.

Shinomiya Kaguya certainly wouldn't refute him. In fact, she was still wondering why the old woman had looked at her with that kind of gaze just now, especially when combined with that makeup, it was really creepy.

After finalizing the plan, the two of them no longer delayed and once again swaggered in front of the "Butcher", and used the "Taunt Doll" on him.

"Big fool, come over here!"

The doll made a cheap voice.

So the butcher "charged" towards the two of them in a fit of rage, even chasing after them relentlessly as they ran up the stairs.

"It really works!" The two exchanged a glance, both inwardly relieved.

Thankfully, the other items were useful, or they really wouldn't know what to do.

With this thought in mind, Natsuki and Kaguya kept the 'Butcher' at a distance, always within sight but just out of reach, until they retreated to the end of the corridor, reaching a dead end.

Watching the figure drawing closer and closer, Natsuki frowned, carefully gauging the safe distance.

Closer and closer... Now!

Feeling like they had dragged it out to the last moment, Natsuki finally pulled out the 'Bell of Deterrence' that he had prepared in advance, and began shaking it frantically at the 'Butcher'.

As expected, the opponent was 'frozen' in place.

Natsuki whispered, "Look down at your feet, don't look up," then immediately ran with Kaguya.

He had to buy time, otherwise all their previous efforts would be completely wasted.

The airhead lady, of course, obediently listened. Although she was indeed curious about what the butcher looked like, she didn't even glance at it as she ran past, obediently following Natsuki's lead with her head down.

However, it was precisely because of this that she didn't notice they were almost at the staircase, and she was about to rush down like an arrow released from a bow.

"Careful!" Natsuki reacted quickly, pulling her back and preventing Kaguya from falling down the stairs.

"Ugh..." The airhead lady cried out in pain, but then felt a warm embrace.

!!!

A-A-A hug, they're hugging!!!

"Kaguya, are you okay?" But Natsuki didn't care about any of that, he was just very worried about her condition.

After all, that muffled groan couldn't have been faked, he was really worried if she had hurt herself anywhere.

"I-I'm fine, thank you, President..." The airhead lady shook her head, her face red.

Luckily, the surrounding environment was very dim, the President wouldn't notice her condition, otherwise she would really die of embarrassment.

Hearing her say that, Natsuki was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but then he heard the heavy footsteps behind him again.

It was the 'Butcher' starting up again.

So the heavy sense of oppression continued to bear down on them, and Natsuki didn't bother with any more pleasantries, grabbing Kaguya and preparing to run again, but as soon as he moved, he heard the airhead lady's soft cry again.

"Ugh..."

Natsuki couldn't ignore it, of course, so he turned to look at her.

Although she seemed to be trying to disguise it, her slightly trembling foot betrayed her true condition.

"You sprained your ankle?"

"..." Kaguya didn't want to lie to him, so she could only nod in silence.

Natsuki thought to himself that this was bad, if that was the case, wouldn't they be completely helpless? Not to mention that there might not be enough time, they might not even be able to escape the Butcher chasing after them.

If that's the case...

"It's okay, President, you can just run, it's just a little pain, I won't... Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh?!" Kaguya was still thinking about comforting him, and then preparing to force herself, but the next moment she was suddenly picked up.

"Sorry, you can scold me however you want later, but we need to hurry now," Natsuki said in a low voice, and then didn't bother to comfort Kaguya any further.

He had already made up his mind to do everything he could to get through this trial.

Because this was the dignity of a qualified game player!

Never give up until the last second!