Kaguya-sama: Love Is War wants me to turn myself in.

And that bizarre and unpredictable curse of pain—even I wouldn't be able to endure it for long.

Thinking of this, Hayasaka Ai suddenly felt a little guilty.

Amamiya Natsuki risked so much danger to save me, and all I'm thinking about is winning over the guy in front of me? Isn't that a bit too much?

“Senior, I feel so guilty.” The spy maid tiptoed and whispered in Amamiya Natsuki’s ear, her voice soft and gentle, “Senior risked so much danger to save me, and I didn’t even give you a token of my gratitude. It’s too much, it’s not right, and it’s a disgrace to the Hanamori family’s family motto.”

"How about this?" Hayasaka Ai tilted her head, closed her eyes, and pointed to her cheek. "I've decided to let you steal a kiss, senpai, but only on the cheek. No other places for now."

Natsuki Amamiya said expressionlessly:

"I'm not interested. I just want to see you do a backflip."

Hayasaka Ai was furious: "Senpai, you big blockhead!"

"..."

The two climbed the steps and soon reached the twelfth step.

Amamiya Natsuki stopped and said:

"Try stepping on it first. In every version of the urban legend, it seems that the thirteenth step can only be triggered by a single person."

"Ah."

Hayasaka Ai nodded gently, without saying anything sentimental. With the notebook there, there was no need to worry about Amamiya Natsuki's safety.

Taking a deep breath, Hayasaka lifted his right foot and gently stepped onto the thirteenth step.

next second.

The spy maid's figure vanished in an instant.

Natsuki Amamiya looked down and saw that the ground was flat, and the thirteenth step had also disappeared, clearly indicating that its location had been changed.

well.

Verification successful.

The thirteenth step is both the 'entrance' and the 'exit'; indeed, to get out, one must pass through this step.

Chapter 290 The Secret to Wealth - Komi-kun

at the same time.

the other side.

Hayasaka Ai felt the world in front of her darken slightly, as if darkness was sweeping in. The next second, she saw a beam of bright light shining on her.

Then I heard a girl's joyful cry:

"Hanamori-chan!"

Hayasaka Ai subconsciously raised her right hand to shield her eyes from the glaring light, and judged in her mind that it was Kitagawa Kaimu's voice.

"They're out! They're out!" Immediately afterward, another cheerful voice rang out; it was Secretary Kaguya. "Kaguya-chan's deduction was indeed correct."

"Move the flashlight away, don't shine it in your eyes."

"Hanamori-chan, I've finally found you!"

"Hey, where's Xia Shuren?"

"..."

Various sounds entered her ears, and the last sentence made Hayasaka Ai frown and quickly turn her head to look at her side.

As expected, he was the only one on the steps; Natsuki Amamiya was nowhere to be seen.

"Hua Shou, are you alright?"

Kitagawa Kaimu ran up the stairs and came to the spy maid's side.

"I'm fine." Hayasaka Ai quickly turned her face away, messed up her hair, and covered her face to avoid being recognized by Kaguya. "...Senpai is still inside and hasn't come out yet."

"Hmph, that guy might be dead."

A gloating voice rang out.

Hayasaka Ai looked in the direction of the sound, her brow twitching slightly.

The speaker was actually an elementary school student with pale skin and a mouth full of shark-like serrated teeth—it was none other than Hanako from the ghost story series.

"Hanako." Kaguya Shinomiya crossed her arms and looked down. "Where are the steps now?"

"Humph."

Hanako reluctantly revealed her location.

"Wait a minute," Kitagawa Kaimu reminded her, "I forgot to bring the ghost story videotape."

Hayasaka Ai looked down and noticed a videotape at her feet. She bent down, picked it up, and put it away for the time being. Then, the group headed towards the place where the ghost story's steps appeared.

Fourth floor.

East side corridor.

"One, two, three, four, five... thirteen steps." Fujiwara Chika quickly finished counting the steps. "This is the right place."

Kaguya Shinomiya turned her head to look at the girl with long, straight black hair and said softly:

"Thank you for your help, Komi-kun."

"..."

Komi nodded quickly, still sparing with words, and hurriedly picked up his notebook to begin transmitting information.

Hayasaka Ai saw it all and understood.

Is this the random player that Natsuki was talking about?

The fact that this player can transmit intelligence remotely clearly indicates strategic significance; this player must be taken under our control!

Noticing Hayasaka Ai's gaze, Komi trembled again.

After a while.

Under the tense gaze of everyone, a figure appeared out of thin air on the thirteenth step.

It was Natsuki Amamiya.

"Natsuki, you're back!"

Everyone was overjoyed to see Natsuki Amamiya return safely, and even Ai Hayasaka breathed a sigh of relief.

Just come back.

pat.

A videotape appeared and fell at Natsuki Amamiya's feet.

Seeing this, Kaguya Shinomiya, whose lips were slightly upturned, narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You're back." Amamiya Natsuki walked down the steps, rubbing her shoulder. "My shoulder hurts so much."

Kitagawa Kaimu quickly raised her hand and said:

"Let me massage your shoulders."

Amamiya Natsuki looked at Chika: "My legs hurt too."

Fujiwara Chika: "...Shall I massage your legs?"

"I'm just waiting for your words."

"..."

The rescue mission was successfully completed.

"Hanamori-chan, you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?"

Kitagawa Kaimu asked softly.

"No." Hayasaka Ai shook her head.

There was no food in the alternate dimension, but there was water in the bathroom. Who knew if it was clean? Hayasaka Ai dared not drink it at all.

"As expected, no one ate." Kitagawa Kaimu put down the box she was holding, opened it, took out some food, and said with a bright smile, "Hurry up and eat something."

Hayasaka Ai's eyes widened: "...Where did this food come from?"

“The dishes that Natsuki bought before,” the succubus girl said, her right hand on her hip. “When the restaurant closed, Natsuki said you might not have eaten yet, so she specially packed a few takeout orders, but unfortunately they’re cold now.”

Upon hearing this, Hayasaka Ai couldn't help but look up at Amamiya Natsuki, just in time to see Kaguya standing next to Amamiya Natsuki, looking at her.

Eye contact.

The spy maid quickly looked away and lowered her head to eat.

"That Hanamori-san... I feel like I know her for a strange reason..."

Kaguya Shinomiya withdrew her gaze, looked at Natsuki Amamiya, and said softly:

"When Hanamori came out just now, a ghost story videotape fell out of her hand."

"Ok?"

Natsuki Amamiya looked at the ghost story videotape in her hand and instantly understood Kaguya's meaning: "The videotape will fall down as long as you can come out of the other dimension?"

Kaguya Shinomiya nodded slightly: "That possibility cannot be ruled out."

Amamiya Natsuki decisively said:

"Let's verify it."

There are two main quests in the dungeon.

The first requirement is to survive for 48 hours, and the second is to submit a videotape containing a ghost story.

Putting the first task aside, the second task is very difficult.

Ghost story videotapes are not easy to obtain. Simply jumping around at the entrance of a ghost story won't work. You need to make contact and communicate with the ghost story and get it "in the frame" in order to complete the filming.

So far, not many people have submitted the ghost story videotapes. Kaguya, Haimeng, and Komi-kun, three random players, haven't even received a videotape.

If the alternate dimension on the thirteenth step can reliably produce ghost story videotapes... then Didi's level-clearing service can be launched again.