Natsuki's eyes flashed with determination. "Chika, chop up another bunch of leeks and bring them here."
The beast girl ghost bowed her head in defeat, snarling, "I'll remember this!"
"Let's hear everyone's thoughts," Kaguya said, arms folded across her chest. "Chika, you go first."
"Right." Chika cleared her throat, then spoke confidently. "So, each ward has different ghosts with unique personalities. Some we can talk to, others are super dangerous."
"Earlier, a player mentioned getting an item-detecting skill from a loot box. He sensed something valuable on his ward's ghost but was too scared to ask for it, let alone take it." Chika glanced at the beast girl ghost. "That player also said you've got something important."
"I'm not some dairy cow!" the beast girl snapped, baring her teeth. "Look at these chompers! I'm a carnivore!"
Asuka muttered, "You sure gobbled down those leeks, though."
"Because you humans are the worst!"
"Sorry..."
Natsuki eyed the beast girl ghost, extending his hand. "Hand it over."
"I've got nothing," she growled.
"If that's how you want to play it..." Natsuki sighed, pushing her onto the bed. "Chika, come strip her down. I've always wondered – we're born naked, so why do ghosts get clothes?"
"Time for some research."
"Miss Ghost, please cooperate."
The ghost girl knelt on the bed, trembling with rage and embarrassment. "You pervert! Let me go!"
Chika hesitated. "Stripping a girl seems wrong..."
Natsuki whispered, "She called you fat earlier."
"I am NOT fat!" Chika's face hardened. "I'm in."
"Asuka, Rikka, join in," Natsuki called. "Strength in numbers."
"Um, okay..." Asuka mumbled, feeling weirdly guilty about the situation.
As Chika tugged at the ghost's shorts, she finally broke. "Stop! I'll give you the stupid thing!"
"Aw, so soon?" Chika pouted. "I wanted to see where her tail was."
Natsuki helped the beast girl sit up.
"It's... in my chest," she grumbled, eyes misty. "Let me go, I'll get it."
"No need to trouble yourself." Natsuki's gaze dropped to her cleavage. "I'll handle this."
The girls all stared daggers at him.
"Natsuki," Chika crossed her arms. "That's basically assault."
If we're talking crimes, you all barged in here and force-fed me grass! You're all guilty!
"I've got this," Chika declared, reaching into the ghost's chest to search for the item.
"It's... so big. My hand's stuck," Chika mumbled.
"And so soft..."
"Cold, though. If it were warm, it'd be perfect to cuddle while sleeping."
Natsuki thought, You'd suffocate if that thing pressed on your face while you slept!
"I finally get what the land of milk and honey means," Chika mused.
That's ancient Canaan, not your personal playground!
"Got it!" Chika finally pulled her hand free, revealing a small black object hovering in her palm.
"What is that?" Natsuki squinted at it, but all he could see was "a piece of debris."
Kaguya collected the fragment and said, "I counted only eighteen questionnaires total."
That's right - at Kaguya's request, Natsuki and the others had filled out questionnaires too. Natsuki's was simple:
[Roommate: Sadako]
[Danger level: unknown]
[Traits: shy, socially anxious, cute mole by her eye, very teasable...]
"Is something wrong?" Chika asked, confused.
"The numbers don't add up," Natsuki frowned. "There are twenty wards on this floor."
Asuka guessed, "Maybe two players are trapped in their rooms?"
"One unlucky player got taken out early by a nurse with a needle," Natsuki explained. "We're missing info on the last ward."
Kaguya nodded. "When the lights come back on, we'll check the ward info at the nurse's station."
The darkness faded, and the corridor lit up again.
Natsuki released the ghost girl and headed out with the others.
"Kaguya and I can handle this," he whispered. "You guys stay here."
"Be careful," Chika warned. "Don't make a sound."
Natsuki nodded, creeping to the nurse's station with Kaguya.
The puffy-faced nurse was still zoned out. As long as they didn't interrupt her slacking, she didn't care about players coming and going.
"Found it." Natsuki gently lifted the ward info sheet. Something was off.
Each ward listed two occupants: a player and a ghost. Players had game-assigned nicknames like "Earth's Cancer" for Chika or "Evil King's Eye User" for Rikka. Others had names like "Hellfire Lotus" or "Not Actually Obsessed with Elementary Schoolers." Ghost identities were blacked out.
But the last ward only showed a blacked-out entry. No player listed.
"So... there's no player in the last room?" Natsuki murmured.
"Something's not right with that ward," Kaguya agreed, meeting his eyes.
Everyone else has a roommate, but this ghost's flying solo? What's the deal with this loner?
It's clearly signaling a big problem.
Kaguya traced a message with her slender finger. "Let's find the specific medical record card."
Natsuki nodded. "Got it."
They had to search through files one by one, eliminating known patients to find the mystery ward's occupant.
Finally, Natsuki's eyes lit up. "Found it!" He pulled out a paper file.
"That's our cue," he signaled to Kaguya. "Let's bail."
They tiptoed away from the nurse's station, where the burned-out nurse was still slacking off.
"You're back!" Chika sighed with relief. "Why don't we just arrest that nurse?"
Natsuki thought, Sure, we could. If you say she's John Doe, she'd have to be John Doe.
But while other spirits are ward-bound, the nurse roams free. If she chased us into a room... who knows what'd happen?
"Chika, level up quick," Natsuki said hopefully. "Once you can rename everyone 'John Doe,' we'll be unstoppable."
"No way!" Chika protested. "That's impossible, no matter how you spin it."
"Without dreams, how are we different from dried fish?"
"It's pure fantasy!"
Kaguya cut in, "The lights will go out soon. Let's head back."
Feeling guilty about exploiting the cow ghost, Natsuki led the girls to his ward.
Sadako had crawled out again, standing silently in the corner, terrified.
The girls froze, but Natsuki casually waved. "We're back, Sadako!"
Seeing Natsuki, her "evil nemesis," Sadako's hair trembled. She turned to escape into the TV but got stuck, her chest too large to fit through.
"Aren't you scared, Natsuki?" Chika asked curiously.
"Of course I am," he replied honestly.
"Liar. You were smiling!"
Natsuki thought, If you saw Sadako's true face, you wouldn't be scared either. Next time, I'll part her hair so you can see.
That gentle, wifely face. The cute teardrop mole by her eye.
Except for her pale skin, she's perfect wife material.
Cuteness trumps being a vengeful spirit. Just look at folk heroes like Xu Xuan or the undead knight Ning Caichen!