Unlike the heat inside Yu’s cabin, cold wind poured into Sakiko’s Shelter through its three damaged walls.
She sat on the hay pile with her knees hugged against her chest.
Her gaze remained fixed on the translucent screen only she could see.
At its center was a crimson countdown.
[Debt Settlement Remaining: 00:03:17]
The numbers decreased without mercy.
[00:00:16…
00:00:15…
00:00:14…]
Every passing second made Sakiko more anxious.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, nearly drowning out the wind outside.
Her throat was dry, and her palms were covered in cold sweat.
She had no idea what was about to happen.
The uncertainty only magnified her fear.
[00:00:03…]
[00:00:02…]
[00:00:01…]
[00:00:00!]
The instant the countdown reached zero, the original Debt value transformed into enormous crimson words that flashed repeatedly.
[Daily Debt: 0/100]
[Status: Repayment Failed!]
[Punishment in Progress—]
The text had barely appeared when a violent electrical current exploded from Sakiko’s spine.
She received no time to prepare herself.
The electricity surged through every limb and bone, stabbing into her nerves like countless red-hot steel needles.
“Aaaaaah—!”
Her body convulsed as though an invisible giant had seized her and begun violently shaking, squeezing, and twisting her.
Sakiko’s legs snapped straight.
Her toes curled desperately inside her socks and pressed against the floor in search of support, only to spasm uncontrollably a moment later.
“The…
screen…”
Amid the overwhelming pain and loss of control, Sakiko used her last trace of reason to force her unfocused eyes toward the screen responsible for her suffering.
A punishment subpage had automatically appeared.
[Electric-Shock Punishment Remaining: 29:50]
Another countdown ticked beneath it.
“Twenty-nine minutes…
and fifty seconds…”
Sakiko’s pupils contracted.
‘I’ve only endured ten seconds?
It felt like an entire century!
How can there still be more than twenty-nine minutes left?!’
Despair instantly swallowed the last fragment of her reason.
An even stronger pulse of electricity seemed to strike at that moment.
Her waist violently arched upward, lifting almost her entire back from the floor.
Her feet, still covered by white socks, kicked wildly without conscious control.
Then Sakiko felt a completely uncontrollable weakness spread from her lower abdomen.
I can’t…
Please stop…’
Her willpower proved pitifully fragile against physical agony far beyond her limits.
Hiss…
As her body convulsed violently, warmth rapidly spread beneath her.
The white cotton underwear beneath her sailor skirt was instantly soaked.
Warm liquid ran along her inner thighs, dripping onto the floor and quickly forming a small puddle.
The hem of her skirt and the tops of her socks were soon wet as well, leaving them unpleasantly damp and sticky.
She had lost control of her bladder.
Under the relentless electrical torture, Sakiko could no longer control even the most basic functions of her body.
Tears and mucus streamed uncontrollably down her pale, twitching face.
‘I was wrong…
I was so wrong…’
She had overestimated her ability to endure the punishment.
The determination she had felt earlier now seemed like nothing more than laughable self-deception.
“Ugh…”
During a brief gap between powerful spasms, Sakiko used the last of her strength to drag her convulsing body closer to the wall and curl into herself.
Her mind became completely blank.
Only one instinctive plea remained, echoing through the endless pain.
‘Please…
Hurry…
Please let time pass faster…’
[28:17…]
[15:42…]
[07:03…]
[01:59…]
[00:10…]
[00:00!]
When the crimson countdown finally reached zero, the violent electricity that had tortured her for eighteen hundred seconds vanished as abruptly as it had appeared.
The Debt value on the screen refreshed.
[Daily Debt: 0/10]
However, Sakiko could no longer see it.
The electricity had stopped, but her body continued to convulse uncontrollably.
Her muscles still remembered the rhythm of the half-hour torture.
Like a discarded rag doll, she lay curled in the cold, filthy corner with her face buried in her arms.
Only the occasional tremor moving through her body showed that she was still conscious.
The pain had consumed the last of her strength and drained every trace of mental energy.
Still curled against the wall, Togawa Sakiko fell into a deep sleep.
…
Thunk!
Thunk!
Thunk!
The sound of hammering passed through the drafty walls and entered Sakiko’s ears, forcibly dragging her from her restless sleep.
“Mm…”
Her eyelids felt so heavy that she could barely open them.
Aching pain filled her entire body.
Her arms and shoulders burned particularly badly, reminding her of the exhausting labor she had endured the previous night.
Her mind felt dull and heavy, as though someone had stuffed it with waterlogged cotton.
After several dazed seconds, the memories of last night suddenly returned.
“Where am I?!”
Sakiko abruptly sat upright, her heart pounding violently.
She immediately began checking her body in a panic.
Her clothes were still there.
Although wrinkled and covered with bits of hay, they remained intact.
“Phew…”
Sakiko released a long breath.
Her tense shoulders relaxed, though a thin layer of cold sweat covered her back.
Nothing else had happened to her.
Unfortunately, an unpleasant odor soon entered her nose.
She instinctively reached downward.
The fabric of her underwear had dried stiff.
Yesterday’s punishment had made her lose control of her bladder.
Remembering the experience sent another shudder through her body.
She never wanted to endure anything like it again.
Sakiko bit her lower lip, her gaze darkening.
“Forget it…” she murmured hoarsely.
“There’s no point demanding anything more.
Being alive is already good enough.”
She forced herself to ignore her physical discomfort and focused on more practical problems.
After opening her status interface, she saw that the Debt value beneath [Debtor] had refreshed.
[Current Debt: 0/10]
“Ten points?”
Sakiko froze.
She clearly remembered that yesterday’s requirement had been one hundred Debt Points.
Apparently, the daily Debt was not fixed at one hundred.
Did it decrease over time, or did the amount fluctuate according to some unknown rule?
Compared to yesterday, today’s ten-point Debt seemed almost unbelievably merciful.
At least she now had a realistic chance of repaying it.
“I need to hurry…”
Sakiko inhaled the cold air and struggled to climb off the hay pile.
Pain throughout her body made her grimace.
She walked to the door, retrieved the heavy Logging Axe, and pushed open the creaking wooden door.
The bright midday sunlight forced her to narrow her eyes.
When she looked up, the sun was already high overhead.
It was nearly noon.
“I slept for that long…”
Sakiko felt a surge of frustration.
In a strange and dangerous environment, lowering her guard and sleeping so deeply was a serious mistake.
Part of it resulted from yesterday’s complete physical and mental exhaustion.
The rest was probably an aftereffect of that damned punishment.