Chapter Eighteen: Night Raid

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Overjoyed at finally getting rid of a burden, Hao Ren suddenly remembered that he still had an unopened blue badge. As someone who loved lotteries (even though he’d never won more than five yuan in the two-color draw), he hurriedly retrieved the "Blue Badge" from his inventory (wait, did I ever mention having an inventory? Just pretend I wrote that before).

Use…

“Player 73950 has activated the Blue Badge: you have obtained one Scenario Card, one Summon Card, and 10 lp.”

Scenario Card: [High School of the Dead]. After using it, you can enter the "High School of the Dead" game instance (the scenario will be based on the user’s past experiences). Each person within the instance consumes 2 lp per day (excluding summoned creatures). When a user leaves the instance, time within the instance stands still.

Item: [Fantasy Creature Summon Card]. Using this item has a chance to summon a fantasy creature. Activation consumes 2 lp.

Upon seeing the Scenario Card, Hao Ren suddenly recalled that while the resilient Saeko and the innocent Shizuka would probably be fine, the tsundere Saya might be homesick by now.

A scene flashed through his mind: Saya Takagi huddled in a dark room, wrapped in a blanket, arms hugging her knees, head buried in her chest, quietly sobbing…

Hmm? Why does this feel kind of cute? Is something wrong with me?

With the nagging worry that something might indeed be wrong, Hao Ren returned to the real world.

Back in his own room, he immediately sensed something off. The scattered clutter on the floor had been neatly placed on the desk, the blanket was perfectly folded, the computer showed signs of having been used, and his stash of adult magazines in the closet had vanished…

Don’t tell me…

Like someone with his tail on fire, Hao Ren rushed to turn on his computer, only to find that the pitiful 300mb of free space on his F drive had miraculously become a spacious 480g, and the hidden file titled “A Scientific Social Study Based on Personal Organizational Mechanisms” was gone…

Hao Ren collapsed onto the floor as if his spine had been removed, tears streaming down his face as he pounded the floor. “Why did I, in my infinite stupidity, ever prepare a spare room key in the living room…”

No need to guess—it was obviously the work of those four women.

The door was flung open with force, and there in the doorway stood Saya Takagi, absentmindedly twirling a key in her hand. She looked as though she had just come out of the shower, droplets of water still clinging to her skin.

“Ah, our esteemed master has returned. We found your room a bit too messy, so we tidied up a little,” Saya said with a mischievous smile. “And as for certain things detrimental to your physical and mental health, we took care of those too.”

“Thank you for your profound wisdom. It’s truly a blessing to have such capable subordinates,” Hao Ren replied, bleeding internally for the loss of his spiritual sustenance.

“Don’t think I can’t understand Chinese!” A pillow whizzed from Saya’s hand and struck Hao Ren, who played dead.

“With all of us here, you’re still thinking about those pointless things?” Saya flushed, murmuring under her breath.

“I’m just a nerd with lewd thoughts but no guts to act on them.” Hao Ren, whose stats weren’t exactly low, overheard and mumbled in self-deprecation.

“Ah, master is home! Perfect timing—come out for dinner,” Saeko Busujima appeared at the door, clad in the ultimate male fantasy. Wait, what is the ultimate male fantasy? Naturally, drills and a white shirt! Observing the way Saeko’s crisp white shirt accentuated her chest, Hao Ren was sure she wasn’t wearing anything underneath—or at least, not on her upper half.

Hao Ren was a true gentleman (though in today’s ever-evolving vernacular, I can no longer look at the word “gentleman” the same way; good children, go look up what it really means).

After summoning the still-sleeping Shiki, the five of them sat down for their first true communal dinner.

Afterward, with their stomachs full and their hearts content, everyone felt a rare, profound fatigue—perhaps the result of finally being able to relax. They agreed to leave any further analysis and discussion for tomorrow.

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True to expectation (or rather, because I didn’t want him to have it too easy), Hao Ren was banished to sleep on the couch in the living room. Saeko had suggested sharing a bed, but Saya had strongly opposed it. Shiki and Shizuka offered no comment.

Room assignments turned out surprisingly straightforward: Shizuka got one room, Saya another, and Shiki shared with Saeko. When did Shiki and Saeko become so close?

At one in the morning, Hao Ren lay restless on the sofa, hugging his blanket, unable to sleep. Reflecting on his actions in the last game instance, he felt a bit lost.

Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared before his eyes. Before he could cry out, a sharp pain shot through his neck, and then everything went black.

In winter, the sun rises late—only after seven does the sky begin to lighten.

Drowsily, Hao Ren tried to sit up, only to find himself unable to move. It took a while for him to realize the serious predicament he was in: on both sides, someone was clinging to him. Considering the house’s current occupants, it didn’t take a genius to realize they were women.

And he was certain they weren’t wearing any clothes (trust me on this). You might wonder how he could tell? Because he wasn’t wearing anything either…

What the hell is going on!?

He remembered rolling around on the sofa last night, and then… nothing.

Hao Ren dared not move a muscle. Stiffly, he turned his neck to the right—good morning, Saeko Busujima…

To the left—hello, Shiki…

Wait! Shiki!? Saeko doing something like this was only mildly surprising, but Shiki?! When did you start staging nighttime raids too! Not that he minded, in the end…

Feeling the warmth and softness of the bodies pressed to him, Hao Ren—along with his lower self—experienced this kind of stimulation for the first time in his life. A salute was only natural, wasn’t it? Just then, whether by accident or design, Saeko’s voluptuous thigh happened to cover Hao Ren’s "little self," crushing the last strand of resistance.

The result…

“Idiot master, hurry up and come out! You’ve been in the bathroom for over half an hour!” Saya Takagi pounded on the locked bathroom door.

“I’ll never get married, never get married…” Hao Ren muttered, squatting on the closed toilet lid.

“Master, hurry up and come out. I’d like to wash the stuff off my leg—it’s already dried.” Saeko held the bedsheet, flashing a mysterious smile.

“Nooooo! I don’t want to hear it!” Hao Ren let out a wail of despair.

“Huh? What does that mean?” Saya, who hadn’t participated in the incident, was utterly confused.

“It’s nothing, just ignore him. Let’s eat first, Saya.” Shiki, acting as if nothing had happened, calmly picked out fish bones from her dish.

At the table, Hao Ren—who in theory had been taken advantage of but in practice had gained the most—glared resentfully at Saeko, who teased him by deliberately caressing her left leg. Hao Ren shuddered and shifted his gaze to Shiki, who turned away and pretended to sip her egg drop soup.

In the living room.

“So, what should we do next?” Now that everyone was well-fed, the group began discussing their future plans.

With considerable effort, Hao Ren forced himself to forget the morning’s string of pranks (or benefits, depending on your point of view). He explained about selling the key, then placed the items obtained from the blue badge in front of everyone.

“So, does this mean I can go back and find my mother?” Saya’s hand trembled as she held the Scenario Card.

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“Yes, but I think it’s better to wait a while. After all, the scenario is based on what we’ve already experienced. We should get stronger before going back. Until then, your mother will be perfectly safe,” Hao Ren reassured Saya.

“Exactly, Saya, don’t overthink it. We’ll go back sooner or later,” Shizuka gently supported Saya’s trembling shoulders.

“You promised, so you can’t go back on your word,” Saya said, rubbing her reddened eyes.

“Now, let’s get back to the main topic. We can form teams, know in advance about the instance details, and trade freely. That’s the important information Hao Ren got at the plaza this time,” Saya said, holding up three fingers.

“But why don’t they bother to hide their faces?” Hao Ren couldn’t understand.

“There are two possibilities. One, recording equipment doesn’t work in reality, so they’re not worried. Two, they’re all wearing disguises,” Saeko mused, stroking her smooth chin.

“Good thing I brought a mask,” Hao Ren said with relief.

“Looks like you only got a small windfall,” Saya remarked, pointing at Hao Ren. “Otherwise, you’d have been targeted by now.”

“Oh right, there’s something very important I need to tell everyone,” Hao Ren suddenly stood up, adopting a solemn expression.

“What’s so serious?” Saya asked, adjusting her glasses in confusion.

“I only have less than a thousand yuan left,” Hao Ren announced gravely.

…The whole house fell silent.

“Tch, I thought it was something important,” Saya scoffed.

“Master really is just a small-time guy,” Saeko laughed softly.

“Does that mean my designer handbags are out of the question?” Shizuka was clearly just stirring the pot.

Shiki was actually the easiest to feed (nonsense, can you even afford Haagen-Dazs!).

“Earning a bit of money is nothing for me,” Saya declared, her pride on full display.

“Oh~ Saya, we’ll be watching then,” Saeko seized the opportunity to snuggle into Hao Ren’s arms.

“Saeko, stop messing around,” Hao Ren said awkwardly, blocking her hand as it tried to slip under his shirt.

“Master, you’re shameless!” Saya’s face turned crimson.

“But you already call him ‘master,’ what’s the point of dignity now?” Shizuka giggled.

Shiki said nothing, but quietly hugged Hao Ren’s arm. Seriously, Shiki, your character keeps changing too much.

For a while, Hao Ren’s apartment was filled with chaos and laughter once again.