Chapter Thirty-Five: The Angel's Sugoroku

Flipping through the system notifications, it turned out that performing "Vermilion Bird" and "Yellow Dragon" five times in succession had caused a skill mutation.

Sichuan Cuisine Master, E-vo-lu-tio-n~~~~~~

Trajectory Cuisine~!

Alright, enough fooling around.

Hao Ren glanced at the plate before him containing the "Vermilion Bird" and took a bite.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! So spicy! So spicy! My throat burns!" Hao Ren instantly felt he had the potential to become a fire demon—he could almost breathe flames! "But after the fiery sensation, the flavor... I see now, it’s truly worth the challenge."

Immediately, Hao Ren joined the ranks of the water-consuming army.

"Hmm? Shiina, what are you doing?" Hao Ren finally noticed Shiina inexplicably holding a broom upright on her fingertip, while her other hand wandered between the white rice and tofu with a spoon.

"I'm practicing concentration," Shiina replied to Hao Ren, still not putting down the broom balanced on her finger.

"Why?" Hao Ren was baffled.

"Because I failed the previous mission. After much reflection, I concluded it was due to lack of focus. So since entering the kitchen, I’ve been supporting this broom on my fingertip," Shiina answered with impeccable logic.

...

Well, intelligence really is an Achilles' heel.

After the late-night snack.

"Will you invite me again?" The only one who hadn’t drunk a drop of water throughout, Kanade Tachibana, tugged at Hao Ren’s shirt as he was clearing the dishes.

"Of course, you’re always welcome," Hao Ren replied with a smile, secretly wishing Kanade would stick by him more often.

"Thank you." This cold, emotionless Kanade actually smiled a little, and Hao Ren cursed himself for not always carrying a camera like some sycophantic side characters.

"Relationship between Player 73950 and storyline character Kanade Tachibana has changed—now Intimate."

The effect of the mapo tofu was terrifying! It was so easy to get on good terms with Kanade.

Actually, Hao Ren was oversimplifying things. First, he had to make a deep impression on Kanade; his earlier foolish act when Yaya impaled him had left a mark on her heart. Second, gifting the mapo tofu voucher made Kanade feel a bit of goodwill toward Hao Ren. Finally, due to the accidental destruction of the voucher, Hao Ren happened to be able to cook mapo tofu himself—and not just any, but a dish that far surpassed ordinary high-level restorative items, "Yellow Dragon" and "Vermilion Bird," completely conquered Kanade’s small appetite. As the saying goes, to win a woman, first conquer her stomach. Hao Ren did it, and not just perfectly.

It seems there’s a good chance of winning Kanade over.

"You, name?"

"Hao Er, just call me Hao Er."

"My name is Kanade Tachibana."

And so the two gazed deeply into each other's eyes.

"Idiot, hurry up and finish cleaning," Shiki Ryou, unable to bear the sight, pinched Hao Ren’s waist.

"Hiss~" Hao Ren sucked in a sharp breath.

Meekly, he resumed clearing the dishes, and Kanade bid her farewell at the right moment.

Men’s dormitory.

Hao Ren wore a serious expression, and the seven girls also adopted solemn faces.

They were facing an important issue: how to divide the beds.

Seeing these freshly washed, beautiful girls, Hao Ren felt a headache coming on.

The problem wasn’t the size of the room or whether it could fit them all, but how to assign the two spots right next to Hao Ren.

If the guys in the dorm heard about this enviable dilemma, Hao Ren would probably be "Aruba’d" to death. (Good kids, don’t look up Aruba—it’s a very dangerous activity. If you try it and anything happens, I take no responsibility [laughs].)

"You all decide," Hao Ren said irresponsibly, burrowing into the middle blanket, not even showing his head, and leaving the problem to them.

Little Darkness took the initiative, leading Tear to sleep on the outer side. Shiina leaned against the wall, eyes closed in meditation, and still hadn’t put down her broom—even Hao Ren’s orders were useless, so he gave up on commenting.

The other four girls exchanged fierce glances.

In the end, they settled it in the most traditional way—rock-paper-scissors!

As expected, Shiki and Saeko teamed up to trick the beginners Nemesis and Yaya, successfully grabbing the spots next to Hao Ren. The other two glared at their matching stone hands, sulking.

"Ah! You cheated!" Saeko exclaimed, seeing that Little Darkness had already somehow claimed Hao Ren’s arm while asleep.

Women’s battles are terrifying. Exhausted, Hao Ren drifted into sleep with this thought.

In the morning, Hao Ren was awakened by the system notification sound.

"Player 801 (Yao Yi) has used the item ‘Sugoroku Board.’ The instance will be reconstructed, using Angel Beats! as the base and becoming a board game instance. All players within the instance will re-enter in 300 seconds."

Still groggy, Hao Ren and all his summoned creatures were tossed out of the instance, landing beneath the glowing orb in the main brain space. The main brain thoughtfully teleported their clothes out as well.

Eh? Hao Ren was full of question marks now. Sugoroku Board? What’s that? And the player called 801—must be that Shibuya type. Didn’t expect that demoness to be a fujoshi as well. The world is truly scary.

He explained briefly to the other equally confused girls, then told them to dress and enter the summoner’s cabin. He linked Shiki Ryou, Shiina, Golden Darkness, Yaya, and Nemesis, instantly boosting his stats.

Attributes: Strength 13+43=56

Agility 11+54=65

Constitution 14+45=59

Intelligence 9+31=40

Spirit 13+45=58

Charm 10+1=11

All in all, a little abnormal—far beyond a normal human.

Unable to return to the real world or visit the plaza, Hao Ren idly daydreamed.

Five minutes later, Hao Ren re-entered the instance.

Instance name: Angel’s Sugoroku

Instance difficulty: Unknown

Instance type: Board Game

Instance players: 801, Lilith, Black Flame Dragon, Dense Black Hair, Six-Pack Abs.

Instance task: Reach the goal.

Clear reward: Unknown

Hao Ren found himself once again at the familiar academy, except the ground beneath his feet had changed to Monopoly-like squares. He estimated it was roughly ten by ten meters. Four others appeared beside him, each with their name floating overhead like game characters.

The Mediterranean uncle was named "Dense Black Hair," the beer-bellied official was called "Six-Pack Abs."

...

Are you forcing me to make jokes?

The one labeled "Lilith" was that Shibuya type. Wait—did I guess wrong?

Lastly, there was a tall, black-stockinged office lady with "801" above her head. Big sister, who are you? And "Black Flame Dragon" was missing—could it be...

Sure enough, Hao Ren looked up and saw "Black Flame Dragon" over his own head.

Eh! When did I pick such a cringe name for myself? Checking the system log, it turned out that since Hao Ren never set a game name, the system auto-generated it.

I’ve read those cringe manga! I’ll never be able to take Black Flame Dragon seriously again—what do I do?

Hao Ren suddenly fell into an OTL pose, startling the others, who thought something had happened.