After deciding to give up, I became popular

So it seems that the so-called right to choose is actually a very useful thing. It can perfectly help you eliminate the possibility of being randomly matched with weak teammates, giving you a chance to make your own decisions.

This is clearly an excellent opportunity to latch onto a strong player! As long as you find someone brave and daring, reaching an agreement with them can ensure your chances of winning a prize!

The only downside is—

Huh? Surely no one participates in such activities for the completion reward, right?

Inviting your favorite girl, watching her clutch your sleeve in fear, trembling and hiding in your arms after being startled, isn't that wonderful?

Even if she can't handle it and chooses to quit, you can gently comfort her, rest with her backstage, warm her heart with your words, and bring each other closer...

Isn't that better than teaming up with some muscle man or a big guy for an adventure?

This isn't Dungeons \u0026 Dragons, show some atmosphere!

————

"President, I think I just saw... two boys holding hands go by?" Kaguya Shinomiya said hesitantly.

After entering the forest, the surrounding light sources basically disappeared. At this moment, they only had a prop flashlight emitting a faint warm light in their hands, and nothing else to provide illumination.

"...I saw it too." Natsuki Kagawa nodded with a complicated expression.

Despite the limited brightness and narrow field of vision, Natsuki Kagawa clearly recognized those two broad backs and identical crew cuts.

"They seem to be from the weightlifting club. I remember their hairstyles..."

"..."

So the two of them fell silent.

They just held each other's hands more tightly, thinking how great it was that the person next to them was Kaguya (President)!

...

As the two of them went deeper, the noisy sounds from the venue had completely disappeared. The surroundings were eerily silent, with only the caw of crows coming from who knows where, adding a touch of life to this secluded forest...

Of course, this wasn't scary. What was scary was that they had been walking this path for nearly 5 or 6 minutes.

They hadn't seen a single person the entire time, nor had they heard any sound other than their own. There was only a rugged path, and signposts that appeared only once or twice—'Go this way, don't let them catch you...'

The enclosed environment, the unknown road ahead, and the vaguely discernible crisis events, some of humanity's greatest fears were all crammed together and presented before their eyes.

They didn't know what to do, they didn't know what was happening, they could only keep walking along this seemingly endless path...

"Kaguya, are you okay?" Natsuki Kagawa turned around and asked the girl who was following closely behind him, with some concern.

"Yes, I'm fine..." Kaguya Shinomiya shook her head, her face not looking too bad.

But she really hated this kind of environment, because it reminded her of the times she was locked up—

When she was younger, whenever she failed to complete her assigned learning tasks, the main family would unceremoniously lock her in a room, preventing anyone from communicating with her, and even the person who provided her meals wasn't allowed to say a word to her...

So later she learned to "study" and became the "all-around genius" that people talked about...

That's why she didn't want the President to see, didn't want the President to know how she was feeling now...

"Okay, it's good that you're okay..." Natsuki Kagawa nodded, feeling a little relieved.

"The road ahead may still be like this. If you feel uncomfortable, tell me. Don't push yourself. I'm always here."

He had actually made all sorts of preparations along the way, such as sudden scares or staff "chasing" them, but the actual experience was this more profound fear that went straight to the heart, which caught him a little off guard.

Fortunately, after a period of adaptation, his mood wasn't as uneasy as it was at the beginning. What's more, the girl behind him kept giving him strength, so as a boy, he naturally had to take the right action.

"...Okay." Kaguya Shinomiya nodded lightly, responding almost inaudibly.

The President is really showing off, isn't he? He was holding my hand so tightly until just now, so nervous as if he was afraid I would suddenly disappear. Now he can turn around and say such cool things to me. Does he want to rescue me from the closed room?...

How cute, silly President...

The mood of the idiot young lady suddenly became much lighter, her steps also became lighter, and her body involuntarily moved closer, her pace changing from the original following closely to now only lagging behind by a shoulder.

Just like usual, she followed the respected President, patrolling every place on campus, her eyes only on the excellent and reliable him...

"..."

After who knows how long, the rugged path became narrower and narrower, and the signposts pointing the way hadn't appeared for a long time. Just when Natsuki Kagawa thought he had taken the wrong path, a particularly conspicuous light suddenly appeared in front of him.

It flickered on and off, as if attracting passing travelers.

"We should be at the checkpoint. Let's go take a look," Natsuki Kagawa said.

He turned around, just wanting to check on his female companion, but found that she had already moved to his side at some point.

So close.

So close that he only needed to tilt his head slightly to smell her breath, smell her hair, smell her in the darkness, as she lightly teased with her crystal clear lips:

"President, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"..."

149. I don't know anyone with that kind of name...

My heart is beating so fast.

As if it's trying to muster all its strength to break through the shackles of my body.

It's the suspension bridge effect, right? Natsuki Kagawa thought.

Because he had been maintaining a state of high tension all the way, the sudden relaxation after seeing the light allowed his tense body to relax...

Of course, he couldn't misunderstand, couldn't mistake this for being moved by Kaguya.

So he took a small step back before answering her:

"It's nothing, I just wanted to see how you were doing..." Natsuki Kagawa shook his head, explaining to her softly.

"I don't know who designed this checkpoint, it's quite well done..." Natsuki Kagawa continued, his face full of approval.

"Actually, I've been worried that someone would suddenly jump out and scare us, but we've reached the checkpoint and haven't seen a single person... But I have to say, this road has put a lot of pressure on me..."

He was talking so eloquently, occasionally commenting, and the female companion beside him didn't interrupt him, just looking at him expressing his feelings with a smiling expression.

"Uh... so sweating... is also a normal reaction..."

"..."

"Sorry, I think it's better not to hold hands all the time later..."

"That won't do," Kaguya Shinomiya shook her head.

"..."

"The rules say we have to hold hands all the time. President can't give up halfway."

"Ugh..." Natsuki Kagawa opened his mouth. He wanted to remind her that it was okay as long as no one saw them.

But the words came out like this in the end:

"If you don't mind my sweaty hands..."

"It's okay..."

If it's the President, it's okay, Kaguya Shinomiya thought.

Rather, this situation is just right.

Her hand will be covered with the President's scent, and this way he won't notice even if she accidentally sweats a little.

But more importantly, such a cute side of the President is rare. She must use her eyes to carefully preserve this scene.

"Well... let's go check in first," Natsuki Kagawa suggested.

"Okay."

So the two of them walked towards the direction of the light source.

The road wasn't very long, and they arrived in a few steps, but what surprised them was that there was no one there, only wooden tables and chairs placed by the roadside and a flashlight lying alone on the table.

"Where are the people here?" Natsuki Kagawa frowned. "Did they go to the bathroom?"

People have to relieve themselves, which is unavoidable, but considering the normal operation of the activity, there should be a second person to fill in, right?

But the two of them had no other choice but to wait patiently in place, but they waited and waited and waited, but no one came back. Instead, they heard a few faint sobs.

"Did you hear that?" Natsuki Kagawa turned his head and said softly to Kaguya Shinomiya.

"Yes, it's coming from over there." Kaguya Shinomiya pointed in a direction, also lowering her voice.

"Let's go see what's going on over there first. If it's just a game, that's fine. If it's something else... you go back and call for help," Natsuki Kagawa instructed, his eyes becoming serious.

He couldn't help but think too much.

Even though he knew that this was still part of the test of courage event, what if?

In the dark forest at night, an empty checkpoint, and the occasional low sobs... If the scene he saw was some kind of ghost or monster, Natsuki Kagawa's mood wouldn't fluctuate in the slightest, because at least he would be sure that this was just part of the play.

But what if he encountered a man-made crisis? Then, as the student council president, he must stand up and not disregard the safety of other students.

After making a decision, the two of them lightened their steps and slowly moved towards the direction of the sound.

So the original low sobbing sound became louder and louder, until the two of them confirmed after approaching that the source of the sound was behind this row of bushes.

"I'll go take a look first. If anything is wrong, you run back immediately," Natsuki Kagawa gestured, handing the flashlight in his hand to the other party.

Then, in Kaguya's silent gaze, he got up and stood up, crossed the bushes, and came to the other side, and then the next moment he secretly thought something was wrong—

Several students wearing Shuchiin Academy uniforms were sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, leaning against a large tree.

Kidnapping? Or were they tied up because they ran into something they shouldn't have seen?

But in any case, what happened here had exceeded his expectations, and he could be sure that this was not part of the game at all, but that a sudden crisis event had really occurred.

After carefully observing the surroundings and not finding any trace of the culprit, Natsuki Kagawa stepped forward to untie the people. Unexpectedly, Kaguya's voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"President!" The girl's voice seemed a little hurried.

Natsuki Kagawa subconsciously turned his head to look, but found that Kaguya Shinomiya had been controlled by someone at some point.

Several burly men wearing strange masks surrounded a slender figure and slowly appeared from behind Kaguya Shinomiya.

"..." Natsuki Kagawa was a little annoyed. If he had acted with Kaguya just now, at least she wouldn't have been caught by the other party now.

"Who are you? What are you going to do by kidnapping our academy's students?"

Natsuki Kagawa was still thinking about trying to negotiate, after all, the other party had only kidnapped a few of them, and they didn't seem to be inflicting abuse or anything, so they must have some kind of plan.

Considering the background of their academy, this group of people probably planned it long ago, and perhaps the purpose was to obtain a huge ransom.

That's what he originally thought, until the slender figure at the head of the opposite side spoke—

"Hmph, you don't need to know who we are, just know that we're going to kidnap you!"

"..."

"The purpose is of course for ransom! It just so happens that there are two of you here, so just choose one person to stay, and the rest will go back to report the news... Okay, I've finished speaking, you decide for yourselves!"

"I understand..." Natsuki Kagawa nodded expressionlessly, and then said to Kaguya Shinomiya to the side.

"Kaguya, you understand the situation, right?"

"Yes... It's okay, President, you go back. They shouldn't hurt us before they get the ransom." Kaguya Shinomiya pursed her lips.

Compared to hearing the President apologize to her, she would rather take the initiative to sacrifice herself and stay. This is not only because she is from the Shinomiya family and has more value in staying, but also because this way she can have a fantasy—

Perhaps the President is also prepared to sacrifice himself and stay? It's just that she took the initiative to say that she wanted to stay first...

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about?" Natsuki Kagawa asked in confusion, but the next second he understood that the other party should be acting.

Although Kaguya looked very interested, he couldn't help it himself, so he said to the slender leader on the opposite side:

"I said that's enough, right? Let Kaguya go now." Natsuki Kagawa pointed to his female companion.

"Oh? So your choice is to stay as a hostage yourself? I didn't expect you to be so brave." The other party praised him first, and then waved his hand to let his subordinates release him.