Chapter 368: The Student Council’s Chaotic Group Chat

"Hmm... this smartphone's actually pretty handy."

"I'm amazed you held onto that flip phone this long, Kaguya-sama."

At the Shinomiya estate, Hayasaka was fiddling with her phone while Kaguya, now in her pajamas, lay on her bed staring at her screen.

She was in the group chat.

Before handing over the new phone, Rinji had already installed LINE and added all the student council members as friends, then put them in a group chat.

The group had all six members.

"I understand it's new and exciting to use a smartphone for the first time... but you've been staring at that screen for two hours now," Hayasaka said flatly.

Since coming home, Kaguya had collapsed onto her bed and hadn't moved, doing nothing else but staring at the screen. She hadn't even sent a single message.

She really just wanted to see what the others usually talked about in the group.

Because she had been using an old-style flip phone, Kaguya was completely unable to install or use LINE, which had left her feeling a bit excluded.

"Ah, they sent a message."

Shirogane Miyuki: [Shinomiya, getting used to using a smartphone?]

Shirogane Miyuki: [(Hey sticker)]

Kaguya Shinomiya: "...What should I reply to this?"

Hayasaka Ai: "Just respond with something casual."

Shirogane had posted in the group chat, not through a private message.

Because if he messaged Kaguya privately, he figured she'd probably reply with something like: "You went out of your way to DM me even though we have a group chat? Trying to hide our conversation? That's kind of cute."

So he chose to post in the group.

Rinji's earlier setup had not only ruined Kaguya's little fantasy, but also inadvertently made things awkward for Shirogane.

Since it wasn't a private chat, Kaguya had no reason to play hard to get. She just replied straightforwardly:

Kaguya Shinomiya: [I've gotten a little used to it after exploring the features. I'm fine now.]

Fujiwara Chika: [Look, my glasses fogged up! (attaches a silly selfie of her eating noodles with fogged glasses)]

Kaguya chose not to reply to Chika.

Yako: [This is Iino Miko, welcome, Shinomiya-senpai! ٩(ˊωˋ*)و So glad you're using a smartphone now! Looking forward to staying in touch.]

A simple message, yet filled with emoji and cute text decorations.

Kaguya Shinomiya: "...So this is what Iino is like online?"

ISI (Ishigami Yuu): [I'm Ishigami, nice to meet you. (attaches a funny meme)]

Kaguya: "Everyone seems so different in the chat."

Maybe even before she joined, the atmosphere in the group had always been so cheerful.

Thinking that, she couldn't help but smile.

The laid-back energy in the group was surprisingly nice.

A few minutes later, the messages continued.

Macho Man (Rinji): [(Acting Reckless.gif)]

Macho Man (Rinji): [(Acting Reckless.gif)]

Macho Man (Rinji): [(Acting Reckless.gif)]

Shirogane Miyuki: [Hahahahahahaha]

ISI (Ishigami Yuu): [This is killing me]

Fujiwara Chika: [wwwwwwww]

Kaguya: "…What are they even talking about?"

Everyone except Kaguya was already familiar with Rinji's LINE antics—his phone was full of ridiculous stickers and memes, and he often flooded the chat with them.

But as a sheltered young lady, Kaguya had no idea about any of that.

Macho Man (Rinji): [Haven't played that in a while.]

ISI (Ishigami Yuu): [Let's give it a go.]

Shirogane Miyuki: [Sure, who's starting?]

Macho Man (Rinji): [Creeper?]

Shirogane Miyuki: [Awwww man.]

Fujiwara Chika: [So we back in the mine~]

ISI (Ishigami Yuu): [Got our pickaxe swinging from side to side~]

Yako: [Side-side to side~]

Kaguya: "?????????"

She was totally lost. Even though she had joined the group, she still felt left out.

Kaguya Shinomiya: [What are you guys talking about?]

Macho Man (Rinji): [Tch. Look what you've done.]

Kaguya Shinomiya: [Ehhhhh!?]

ISI (Ishigami Yuu): [Senpai doesn't get our vibe at all.]

Kaguya: "…"

Feeling wrongfully blamed, Kaguya turned around on her bed and looked pitifully at Hayasaka.

"Hayasaka… I'm being excluded."

"…"

Even though Kaguya didn't understand, Hayasaka certainly did.

"Creeper" referred to the Minecraft mob. Some foreign players had made a parody song called Revenge that became a meme. People would type the lyrics in sequence, and if someone messed up, everyone would react, starting over from "Creeper," like a group sing-along.

Pointless, but weirdly fun.

"Just type out the lyrics," Hayasaka said.

"Huh? That's it?"

Kaguya immediately turned back to her phone.

"That's easy."

"Wait—"

Before Hayasaka could finish explaining, the group chat had already restarted.

Macho Man (Rinji): [Creeper.]

Kaguya Shinomiya: [歩くほどに踊るほどに (As I walk, as I dance—Japanese song lyric)]

Macho Man (Rinji): [Fuck!!]

"Ehhhhhhh!?"

Watching Kaguya panic, Hayasaka covered her face with her hand.

Shirogane Miyuki: [Forget it. Shinomiya probably doesn't know this. Let's change the topic.]

Yako: [That's all we can do.]

Kaguya Shinomiya: [Sorry about that…]

Macho Man (Rinji): [Then I'll start a new topic. I bet everyone's interested.]

Fujiwara Chika: [Go ahead! If it's about love even better—tell us about your girlfriend!]

Macho Man (Rinji): [Alright, I'll go.]

Shirogane Miyuki: [Please.]

Macho Man (Rinji): [How's everyone doing with studying for finals?]

[…]

The next hour, Kaguya stared at her screen, but not a single person replied.

There was no doubt who the loser of the day was.