The two locked eyes for about half a second before simultaneously shifting their gazes away.
However, something new had been appended to the wall right behind Marin Kitagawa.
A toilet?
No…
it would be more accurate to call it a bathroom.
Hiroto Tachibana’s gaze swept over it as a thought bubbled up in his mind.
The last time they had been trapped in here for so long, they unexpectedly hadn’t felt much of an urge to use the restroom, had they?
It was likely due to the fact that only four hours had elapsed in the outside world, so their bodies hadn’t entered that biological cycle.
The bathroom spanned roughly eight or nine square meters at a glance.
A walk-in shower, a bathtub, a vanity, a mirror…
it was fully equipped with everything one could need.
But if you were to ask why Hiroto could see everything so vividly from the outside?
That was because the glass partition of the entire bathroom was completely transparent, devoid of any frosting or obstruction whatsoever.
Standing anywhere within the main room, one could take in the entire interior of the bathroom at a single glance.
Right at that moment, that anonymous voice echoed once again.
[The Room Where You Cannot Leave Until You XX!
Remember, leaving is impossible!]
The exact same lines as last time, delivered with the exact same flat intonation.
Hiroto stood rooted to the spot, waiting to see if there would be any new tricks.
There were none.
The voice dissolved, and the room succumbed to silence once more.
He turned his head to look at Marin Kitagawa.
Compared to their very first time, she didn’t seem quite as constrained or guarded.
Hiroto watched her.
Marin’s breathing pattern wasn’t entirely steady; the rise and fall of her chest was a fraction more pronounced than usual.
Though even without the heavy breathing, the curvature was already exceptionally pronounced.
She was tense.
The atmosphere lapsed into another bout of silence.
Hiroto stood on the spot, looking at her.
The packet of compressed emergency rations was still tucked away in his pocket, though from the looks of it, it probably wouldn’t be serving any purpose this time.
”Um…
what were you trying to say just now?” Hiroto spoke up first, shattering the silence.
Marin kept her head lowered, her fingers nervously gathering folds in the bedsheet.
“It’s just…
about what happened before, I’m really sorry.
You clearly weren’t in the wrong either, but my words were far too harsh and aggressive.”
”It’s fine,” Hiroto leaned against the wall, his tone flat and even.
“Under those circumstances, it’s completely normal for emotions to destabilize.
If I were to put myself in your shoes—actually, forget it, I can’t put myself in your shoes.”
Marin lifted her head, stealing a brief glance at him.
”In short, don’t take it to heart,” Hiroto continued.
“I’m the type who will argue tooth and nail even when I’m in the wrong; if I were truly angry, I would have fired back a long time ago.”
”Mm.” Marin’s mood visibly brightened, her shoulders dropping in a subtle release of tension.
Hiroto mentally calculated the time.
It was 8:30 AM when they arrived at school, and classes were scheduled to commence promptly at 9:30 AM.
The time dilation ratio between this place and the outside world stood at four-to-one; pulling it to the absolute limit meant they had roughly four hours at their disposal.
That was quite a generous window.
”By the way, Kitagawa-san,” he opened his mouth.
”Eh?”
”After entering the room last time, did you notice any structural anomalies or changes afterward?”
Marin tilted her head in thought.
“Ah…
I felt like my skin became a bit better, I suppose.” She gently patted her own cheek, and then, as if suddenly recalling something, her speech quickened a fraction.
“And also…
I-I was actually a virgin last time.”
”I know.”
Marin froze for a second, and her face flushed an even deeper shade of crimson than before.
She parted her lips, likely wanting to ask how on earth do you know, but ultimately, she failed to articulate a single syllable.
Hiroto maintained a completely deadpan expression, continuing down his line of thought.
“Kitagawa-san, you have your phone on you, right?
Later on, you can keep a log of the time ratio between here and the outside world; it’s roughly four-to-one.
Furthermore, compared to the last instance, the room has expanded slightly, and a bathroom has been appended.”
He felt it was imperative to let her know these details.
After all, nobody could guarantee whether they would be pulled into this room again next time, or if the companion would be swapped out for someone else.
”I-Is that so?” Marin was momentarily dazed.
She hadn’t consciously processed most of those elements; she only knew there was a discrepancy in time, but the exact ratio was completely beyond her.
She stared at Hiroto, taking in the way he was analyzing, recording, and speaking with absolute solemnity.
Why exactly was her heart rate inexplicably accelerating?
”Um…” she murmured softly, “Could Tachibana-kun sit down first while we talk?”
Hiroto cast a glance at her, walked over, and took a seat right beside her.
They were positioned incredibly close.
The exact instant he sat down, he finally registered that the dimensions of the bed had also undergone a transformation.
Last time, it had merely been a standard double bed, but right now, it appeared to have enlarged just a tiny fraction—almost as if it were trending toward the scale of a triple bed.
Even heroes fall for beautiful women.
To claim he didn’t harbor a single shred of biological reaction would be an absolute lie.
Given Marin Kitagawa’s physique and raw visual aesthetics, launching a career in showbiz wouldn’t pose the slightest difficulty—not to mention she was already working as a model.
Marin’s shoulder had already leaned flush against his.
For a moment, her hands didn’t seem to know where they belonged; they rested on her knees one second, tightly clutched the bedsheet the next, and then released their grip entirely.
”Um…
Tachibana-kun,” she began.
“You seemed incredibly occupied previously, and you’re even working a side gig writing web novels…
Did you run into some sort of financial hardship?”
Marin desired to understand him; she wanted to listen to the deep-seated grievances of Hiroto Tachibana’s background.
Hiroto tilted his head to look at her.
The atmosphere had already escalated to this threshold.
There was no real necessity for him to conceal anything.
He disclosed the vast majority of what could be spoken of: the sudden family upheaval, the outstanding debts, his parents returning to the mainland while leaving him behind here completely solitary, and writing web novels to clear the debt liabilities…
As he articulated his story, Marin’s entire form had already leaned completely into him.
A highly unnatural flush of heat bloomed across her face, her eyes locking onto him without blinking for even a single frame.
Sensing his aura drifting over, she knew she was currently exhibiting a severe lack of composure.
Her heart was thumping at a ridiculous velocity.
In a mild panic, she wrenched her gaze away, her line of sight landing squarely upon that newly appended bathroom.
”S-Should we…” she opened her mouth, her voice trembling slightly, “Take a bath first?”
”Even though I just washed up last night, a good several hours have already elapsed between then and now.”
Marin didn’t even register that with her current vocal timbre, her words sounded far more akin to a desperate plea or an earnest request for permission.
The transparent glass door of the bathroom remained shut.
Everything transpiring inside could be observed with absolute clarity from the outside.
PS: Another chapter will be landing shortly.