Marin stared at Yu’s bare upper body.
She let out a soft “Oh,” her eyes sparkling like a child who had just discovered a new toy.
“So…
this is what a guy’s body looks like,” she murmured, her earlier shyness completely forgotten as curiosity took over.
She even reached out, her slender fingertips lightly tapping Yu’s erection, pressing down on it.
“It’s so hard…” She blinked, then, as if she’d just noticed something amusing, she burst out laughing.
“And it’s so ugly!”
Yu: “…”
He was left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
The steamy, romantic atmosphere from moments ago had been shattered by Marin’s single comment, leaving only a sense of absurdity and helplessness.
Her thought process was truly unique.
He simply couldn’t understand it.
But Marin’s curiosity was far from satisfied.
She reached out again, trying to wrap her palm around it.
“One hand…
can’t even fit around it,” she murmured in awe, as if taking a measurement, her voice brimming with excitement.
Before Yu could even react, she tentatively slid her palm up and down.
“Ngh!”
Caught completely off guard, Yu let out a muffled groan, a sharp gasp escaping his lips.
The sensation…
Marin’s palm was unexpectedly soft, and a powerful jolt of electricity surged from where she held him, racing through his entire body and making his scalp tingle.
He looked down at Marin, who was kneeling before him.
She kept her head lowered, the top of her golden hair facing him as she seemed to be still focused on her “research.”
‘I can’t let her keep “exploring” like this.’
Yu took a deep breath, forcing down the impulse that was nearly spiraling out of control.
He pressed his hands firmly onto Marin’s smooth, rounded shoulders.
“Marin…
come here.”
With her shoulders held, Marin finally snapped out of her “curious as baby” state.
She looked up, meeting Yu’s gaze—a look so scorching it felt like it would melt her.
The blush that had just begun to fade from her face instantly surged back, flooding her cheeks once more.
Biting her lower lip, her eyelashes trembling, she gave a soft nod.
“…Mm.”
Then, guided by Yu’s hands, she slowly lay back, her body unfolding across the clean wooden floor.
Faint light spilled from the Core, illuminating the stunning curves of her figure.
Marin, utterly shy, brought her hands up to cover her chest.
But for Yu, how could this be enough?
A good little bunny knows to open the door.
Yu reached out and pried them apart.
Two big, white rabbits…
their pink tips standing out.
The big white rabbits trembled with fear, so naturally, Yu had to soothe them properly.
“Hmph, hmph, hmph…”
Yu hummed a cheerful tune.
But…
Yu was just scratching an itch.
His little brother was already dying of thirst!
Unsheathe!
Marin’s eyes widened as she stared at the sword bathed in holy light, gulping.
So this is…
Excalibur!
…
Meanwhile, inside Togawa Sakiko’s cabin…
Thunk!
Thunk!
Thunk!
The heavy hammering echoed through the badly leaking cabin.
Sakiko bit her lower lip and gripped the Crude Wooden Hammer with both hands.
Using all her strength, she repeatedly struck the least damaged wall before her.
The recoil sent pain through the space between her thumbs and forefingers, while sweat ran down her pale cheeks and soaked the tips of her blue hair.
Unlike Yu, Sakiko did not possess a Cheat Engine capable of instantly shifting her attributes.
She could rely only on her six points of Strength and nine points of Constitution to endure the demanding physical labor.
Naturally, their efficiency could not be compared.
“Hah…
Hah…”
At last, the [Repair Progress Bar] reached its end.
The damaged sections were restored, and the cold wind entering through that wall abruptly stopped.
Sakiko released the hammer as though all her strength had vanished.
Clatter!
It fell to the floor while she braced herself against the newly repaired wall and gasped for breath.
She checked her Storage.
[Wooden Plank ×4]
[Tough Vine ×2]
The two Tough Vines had dropped while she was chopping trees, but they were currently of little use.
“This is all I can do…”
Sakiko spoke quietly, her voice filled with helplessness.
She had calculated everything carefully.
Repairing one wall consumed five Wooden Planks, leaving her with four—not even enough for another wall.
She also had no idea what tomorrow’s Debt would demand.
She needed to conserve both her strength and any potentially useful resources.
In the end, Sakiko had chosen to repair the wall beside the corner where she intended to sleep.
It faced away from the prevailing wind, so resting there would at least provide some shelter from the cold.
The other three walls still leaked wind, and the damaged roof looked ready to collapse at any moment.
They would have to wait until tomorrow—or perhaps even longer.
‘I hope I can gather more Wood tomorrow…’
Sakiko approached the moldy pile of dry grass serving as her bed but did not immediately lie down.
She summoned the personal interface only she could see and stared intently at her [Debtor] talent.
[Debtor]
[Current Debt: 2/100]
[Resets and generates new Debt daily at 00:00.]
Four hours remained until midnight.
There was nothing she could do.
Darkness had arrived far too early, and the overcast sky meant there was no light for working outside at night.
The required one hundred Debt Points were also far beyond what she could currently repay.
She had tried submitting items during the day, only to discover that one Wooden Plank provided merely two Debt Points.
Sakiko had immediately abandoned the attempt.
However, looking at the punishment notification made her fingertips feel numb and caused her heart to tighten uncontrollably.
She did not know what the punishment would involve, and that uncertainty made her even more anxious.
Sakiko sat on the hay pile with her back against the repaired wall.
She curled into herself and hugged her knees tightly, as though it might provide a tiny sense of security.
Cold wind poured freely through the other three damaged walls, pressing her thin sailor uniform against her body and chilling her to the bone.
It also carried the unfamiliar sounds of the wilderness at night.
The wind moaned through the treetops.
Unknown insects cried in the distance, while grass rustled softly outside.
Then Sakiko heard another faint sound mixed with the wind.
Her body suddenly stiffened, and her arms tightened around her knees.
The sound was soft and intermittent, shattered by the wind.
But listening closely, it seemed to be…
a woman’s weeping?
Sobbing, whimpering, filled with agony and…
some other, indescribable emotion.
Sakiko’s scalp prickled.
She had grown up in modern society and received an education grounded in atheism.
Rationally, she knew ghosts and monsters did not exist.
But was this still the world she knew?
Alone in a strange and isolated environment, her fear of the unknown grew far beyond reason.
“N-No…
It must be the wind, or some kind of animal…”
Sakiko tried to reassure herself, but her body continued trembling—and not entirely from the cold.
The strange sounds did not stop.
During every lull in the wind, they became slightly clearer.
Her face grew paler until even her lips lost their color.
‘What is happening out there?
Is this a prank?
Am I imagining it, or is something truly haunting this awful place?’
Curiosity and fear warred within her.
Eventually, Sakiko decided that discovering the source would be better than remaining here and terrifying herself with speculation.
She rose from the hay pile, inhaled deeply, and approached the unsteady wooden door.
Her fingers trembled as she carefully pulled it open a crack.
Freezing night wind immediately roared inside, forcing her eyes nearly shut.
Sakiko squinted and cautiously peered outside.
No clawed monster or drifting white apparition appeared.
At some point, a gap had formed in the previously heavy clouds.
Cold moonlight poured through like liquid silver, coating the dark wilderness in a hazy glow.
The moonlight revealed the clearing outside and the dark silhouettes of the distant trees.
Everything looked exactly as it had during the day.
There was nothing there.
Yet the strange sounds had not disappeared.
Without the door blocking them, they became even clearer.
They did not seem to come from the unknowable darkness beyond the clearing.
Sakiko tilted her head and listened carefully, following the direction of the wind.
The intermittent noises appeared to be coming from the cabin diagonally ahead—the one belonging to the man she had met earlier.
She froze as confusion replaced her fear.
Were the sounds coming from that man or from the blonde girl, Kitagawa Marin?
What were they doing inside?
After several seconds of hesitation, Sakiko gritted her teeth, pushed open the door, and cautiously stepped outside.
The night wind was even colder, raising goosebumps across her exposed legs.
Keeping close to the walls and using moonlight and shadows as cover, she silently approached Yu’s cabin.
The sounds grew clearer the closer she came.
When Sakiko finally reached the front of his cabin, the sight before her made her freeze again.
Yu’s cabin stood silently beneath the moonlight, looking completely different from how it had during the day.
All four walls were intact, and the roof was tightly sealed without a single hole.
Although still crude, it had become a proper wooden cabin capable of keeping out wind and rain.
Compared to it, Sakiko’s cabin—with only one repaired wall—looked unbearably miserable.
“He repaired everything…”
A complicated emotion flashed through her as she murmured to herself.
Was it envy?
Surprise?
Something else?
That man had worked with astonishing efficiency.
In pure physical labor and early resource accumulation, men clearly possessed a significant advantage.
However, Sakiko quickly suppressed the feeling.
She lifted her chin slightly.
Rather than becoming discouraged or jealous, she calmly reassessed the situation.
‘This is nothing more than an early-game advantage.’
‘My [Debtor] talent consumes resources, but its potential is enormous.
If I survive the early stages, manage my daily Debt, and claim the rewards, I’ll gradually build an advantage.’
‘I’m a late-game hero.
I might not lose to him once I reach that point.’
‘This is only a temporary setback.’
Sakiko quickly regained her composure.
The unidentified sounds continued from inside the cabin, leaving her deeply confused.
‘What exactly is happening in there?’
…