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

Amamiya Natsuki pondered:

"It's probably because after you arrived on the island, you didn't stay in crowded places and came directly to the hospital."

Kaguya Shinomiya nodded slightly and whispered:

"Guild leader, have you completed your dungeon quest?"

“It’s done.” Natsuki Amamiya nodded. “However, a new challenge mission, ‘Shadow Hunter,’ has been started. Kill ten shadow clones. Once you complete the challenge mission, you can clear the dungeon.”

In fact, without the eye-guided clues, becoming a famous detective wouldn't be so easy, and even if one were to solve the case eventually, it wouldn't be as quick as it is now.

"It's so dark inside."

Upon entering the abandoned hospital, everyone couldn't help but squint.

“The electrical system here is damaged.” Yukino Yukinoshita took out a flashlight, turned it on, and said, “We need to use a flashlight for lighting.”

Fujiwara Chika asked curiously:

Why not drink the medicine?

"..."

Upon hearing this, Kaguya Shinomiya and Yukino both fell silent, and even Ai Hayasaka recalled the events at the forest school.

why?

Of course, it's because the side effects are too terrible!

Kaguya Shinomiya turned to look at Chika, her pink cheeks slightly puffed out: "The taste is too strange, I don't want to drink it."

unfair!

I always experience side effects from drinking witch potions, so why... why has this Earth Cancer never experienced any side effects?!

The abandoned hospital was dimly lit, and Kaguya and her two companions, to be on the safe side, did not split up. They were quite cautious, so it was only now that they had managed to explore the entire abandoned hospital.

“This is a simple map of the hospital.” Yukino Yukinoshita took out a piece of paper with a hand-drawn map of the abandoned hospital, marked with various symbols. “This hospital only has two floors. The stairs on the second floor seem to have been deliberately damaged. When we went up, we didn’t see any furniture or anything like that, but there were many black marks.”

"Also, there's a strange statue in this room."

"This is the dean's office. After a thorough inspection, no hidden mechanisms were found."

"Since entering the hospital, I have not encountered any ghosts."

"..."

Amamiya Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly and said:

"Black marks branded onto the ground?"

"What's wrong?" Yukino Yukinoshita looked over when she heard this.

“I was just thinking about what happened earlier…” Amamiya Natsuki looked at Kage Chika, “How so?”

"I don't know." Shadow Thousand Flowers shook her head, her voice calm. "We'll have to go up and take a look to find out."

Amamiya Natsuki nodded and said:

"Let's go up and take a look."

The group walked to the abandoned staircase. The wooden staircase was already damaged and ordinary people could not go up, but players naturally had no problem.

Amamiya Natsuki easily leaped up, then lowered the rope, pulling the others up as well. Just to be safe, it was best not to split up.

"just in front."

Hayasaka Ai led the way.

The group pushed open the door and entered an abandoned room. The musty smell in the air made them frown. The room was empty except for many old medical records and prescriptions scattered on the floor. In the corner of the floor, there were several black marks, as if they were branded onto the ground.

“We’ve tried, but we can’t wipe those black marks off,” Kaguya Shinomiya said softly. “And judging from the outline, they seem to be some furniture.”

"Huh?" Kitagawa Kaimu's eyes widened in surprise. "Those marks... why do they look so familiar?"

Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at the shadowy figure Chika and asked:

"Did you find anything?"

“That’s right, it’s a shadow copy.” Shadow Chika nodded slightly, and as she spoke, she plucked a hair and bent down to pick up an old medical record from the ground.

Under the curious gaze of everyone, the hair in Shadow Chika's hand suddenly twisted and turned into an identical old medical record.

Natsuki Amamiya looked at the medical record and saw that even the handwriting was exactly the same, without any difference.

“For a copy to exist indefinitely, the original must be eliminated. If the original is not eliminated, the data will be gradually lost. Also, only one copy can be made; it cannot be copied infinitely,” Shadow Thousand Flowers said calmly. “When eliminating the copy, if the original comes into contact with the ground, it will leave a black mark.”

Kaguya Shinomiya crossed her arms, already understanding, and whispered:

"So, these black marks on the second floor are actually traces left after the original was eliminated?"

Yukino Yukinoshita let out a soft breath and frowned as she said:

"It seems this abandoned hospital has a deep connection with the shadows."

Next, the group checked the other rooms on the second floor but found no valuable information. They then went downstairs together to the room in the far corner with a strange statue.

“We found a secret room in this room, but it can only be opened with a key,” Kaguya Shinomiya said softly. “But we’ve searched the entire hospital and can’t find the key.”

“This is Hiruko-no-Kami,” Kage Chika said calmly. “She is the island’s fishing goddess.”

Amamiya Natsuki's gaze fell on the strange statue in the corner. The thing had a bizarre shape, no limbs, and looked somewhat like a large leech. It was covered in dust and seemed to be made of bronze.

As she focused her gaze, a prompt quickly appeared before Amamiya Natsuki's eyes:

[Now it's time to solve the mystery. After a hard search, you've finally discovered a key inside the statue's belly. Only the shadow clone can retrieve the key.]

They actually revealed the answer directly, so there was no fun in solving the mystery at all!

“The statue is very heavy, and it seems to be solid,” Yukino Yukinoshita said softly. “We tried turning it left and right, looking for mechanisms, etc., but we found nothing. It seems to be just an ordinary statue.”

Of course you got nothing, because this thing is a tool specifically for use by shadow clones.

“This abandoned hospital is closely connected to shadow creatures, and solving the mystery is likely related to shadows.” Amamiya Natsuki turned to look at the shadow, Chika. “There’s a small opening in the statue’s mouth. Can you take a look and see what’s inside?”

"can."

Shadow Thousand Flowers nodded gently, transformed into a flat shadow, and entered the statue.

A short while later, Shadow Thousand Flowers reappeared and calmly said:

There is a key inside.

Hayasaka Ai suddenly realized:

"No wonder we couldn't find it. It seems only shadow creatures can copy the key from inside... or maybe it's even a hospital run by shadows."

Amamiya Natsuki said:

"Can the key be copied?"

“Okay.” Shadow Thousand Flowers plucked another hair, which quickly turned into a key in her hand.

“This key might be the key to opening the secret door,” Hayasaka Ai said, her eyes lighting up with anticipation. “Let’s give it a try.”

Amamiya Natsuki took the key and said in a deep voice:

"I'll open the door."

After everyone automatically reunited, Yukino Yukino stood with Yukino and stopped talking easily. When she saw Natsuki Amamiya standing at the front of the secret room, she finally realized that Natsuki Amamiya wanted to have a harem but wouldn't be disliked.

He's always the first to step in when there's danger.

Click.

The secret door in the wall opened.

A cold, damp air blew in, making one shiver involuntarily.

“There’s air flowing, so it doesn’t seem to be a sealed room,” Kaguya Shinomiya said softly.

It was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen. Amamiya Natsuki turned her head to look at the young lady and the others behind her and said:

"you……"

Kaguya Shinomiya stepped forward, standing next to Natsuki Amamiya, and said solemnly:

"Let's go together."

“That’s right,” Fujiwara Chika added. “Anyone who acts alone at a time like this is an idiot.”

Seeing that everyone had decided to act as a group, Natsuki Amamiya had no choice but to agree.

The group raised their flashlights and went down the steps.

The deeper they went, the colder the air became. Before long, a vast underground space appeared before them, with countless stalactites hanging down from the top and the sound of dripping water coming from somewhere.

"This is..." Amamiya Natsuki realized, "An underground cave on a small island?"

Shayou covered her pink lips and lowered her voice:

"Doesn't that mean the source of the shadow is inside?"

As Natsuki Amamiya swept her flashlight across the underground cavern, it was pitch black, enormous, and deathly silent. The beam of light from the flashlight was quickly swallowed up by the darkness. The air was cold and damp, even giving her goosebumps.

At this moment, Kaguya Shinomiya whispered:

"The game just sent a notification that the dungeon quest has been completed. The next quest is to defeat a guy called Four-Handed to fulfill the dungeon completion requirements."

Upon hearing this, Natsuki Amamiya looked at Yukino and Hayasaka and whispered:

"What about your mission?"

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded gently and said, "It's done."

Hayasaka Ai followed up:

"I'm done too."

Amamiya Natsuki decisively said:

“Go back, let’s leave here.”

"Huh?" Fujiwara Chika was taken aback, and whispered, "We're going out already?"

“This is the Shadow Mother’s lair, it’s definitely more dangerous than we imagined, and we know nothing about this place,” Natsuki Amamiya said in a low voice. “We might be able to catch them off guard, but we’re in danger too, so there’s no need.”

The mother creature in the cave is definitely a boss-level creature. Reality isn't a game where you can keep trying after losing, so you have to be careful. The dungeon quest doesn't require you to push the boss; only a fool would stubbornly charge in.