"Ryo-senpai..."
A familiar, soft voice called out—sounding at once infinitely distant and right beside her.
"Mmm..."
Seika let out a low, humming response.
She wanted to open her eyes, but an overwhelming wave of exhaustion washed over her entire body; her throat was parched, her eyelids felt like lead, and she barely had the strength to even twitch a finger.
(So tired...)
(I just want to rest...)
(I... I think I'm about to break down...)
Her consciousness felt hazy, as if she were sinking into a boundless ocean of chaos.
"Ryo-senpai, would you like some water?"
That gentle, refined voice—the kind that made one want to lean on the speaker—sounded again.
"...Water?"
Seika's long eyelashes fluttered slightly; the intense thirst in her throat finally overcame her exhaustion, and she spoke in a hoarse, weak whisper:
"I want water..."
"Just a moment; I'll feed it to you right away."
Moments later, a cool liquid moistened the corners of her lips.
Seika instinctively parted her lips and summoned every ounce of her remaining strength to drink.
Gulp, gulp...
As the cool liquid flooded her mouth and flowed down her throat, the burning pain deep within vanished rapidly; her body—like a long-dehydrated sponge meeting a sudden downpour—began to revive and relax.
(I... I survived...)
(Water is the best thing in the world!)
(If we don't protect our freshwater, the last drop of water on Earth will be a human tear...)
(But a single watering session at a golf course uses enough water to last an ordinary person a lifetime; why don't the rich conserve water instead of making the poor do it?)
As her dehydrated body rapidly rehydrated, her groggy mind finally began to function again, and a jumble of random thoughts flooded in.
A moment later. Haa...
After downing an entire bottle of purified water in one go, Seika finally let out a breath of relief. She felt a spark of vitality return to her exhausted body, giving her just enough strength to open her eyes.
Kitahara's familiar face came into view, followed immediately by his concerned voice:
"Do you want some more water, Nijika-senpai?"
Seika blinked, her dazed gaze resting on Kitahara's face. Terrifying memories came flooding back like a tidal wave; she finally remembered why she was so utterly exhausted and why her throat felt parched and raw...
"I'm sorry... I was wrong...!"
The apology slipped out before she could stop it.
She was the quintessential tsundere—someone whose sharp tongue refused to melt even when her body had gone limp as ice cream. Yet, as it turned out, no one could stay stubborn forever if they suffered enough.
(It was all that cookie's fault. I am absolutely, positively, definitely never eating a cookie that awful again!)
(I'd rather starve to death or jump off a building than ever eat one again!)
"I'm the one who should be apologizing," Kitahara said, looking genuinely contrite. "If you hadn't insisted on playing the tsundere and refused to back down, I wouldn't have had to use seventy percent of my output power."
Seika: "..."
(No wonder the brat didn't suspect anything—he thought 'I' was just roleplaying?)
(It wasn't roleplaying! I had actually swapped bodies with Nijika, for crying out loud!)
"W-Wait a minute..."
Seika suddenly realized something, her eyes widening in disbelief:
"What do you mean by 'seventy percent output power'?"
Kitahara spoke with a pointed undertone: "I meant exactly what I said."
"Y-You're kidding... right?"
Seika instinctively swallowed hard.
(This brat... he hasn't even shown his true strength yet?)
(Impossible!)
(Humans aren't that terrifying!)
(Wait... Ryo said before that this brat is actually a monster, so maybe he really wasn't lying?)
"Ryo-senpai doesn't seem to believe me." Kitahara raised an eyebrow slightly, his voice low and enigmatic. "It looks like I'll just have to let you verify it yourself."
"N-No...!"
Seika panicked instantly and hurriedly said:
"I believe you!"
Kitahara raised an eyebrow. "You really believe me?"
Seika didn't dare be stubborn now. "Absolutely—so there's no need to verify it!"
"Alright then." Kitahara sighed in disappointment. "Let's call it a day."
"Phew..."
Seika let out a quiet sigh of relief, her face still showing lingering traces of alarm.
(Ryo was absolutely right; there's no need to worry about this brat's physical condition—my own safety is what I should be worried about!)
"I'll share the ability with you first, then take you to the [Onsen Village] to get some proper rest."
Kitahara casually laid out his plan.
"But the patrol isn't finished yet..."
Seika spoke hesitantly; despite her exhaustion, she hadn't forgotten her duties.
"Leave it to me." Kitahara said gently. "I can actually move faster on my own."
"Alright then..." Seika agreed hesitantly, adding a worried instruction: "Make sure to call me out before you go back to the cave; don't let me look bad."
They had set out to patrol the island, but if she ended up just hiding in the hot spring village... even if people didn't say anything out loud, they'd surely be whispering about it behind her back, right?
She absolutely couldn't let something that embarrassing happen! "Understood." Kitahara nodded reassuringly. "I'll definitely wait until Ryo-senpai is back to full strength before heading back to the cave."
Seika breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and was just about to close her eyes and rest when Kitahara's voice suddenly rang out again:
"Ryo-senpai remembers what I said earlier, right?"
"Huh? What was it?"
Seika didn't catch it at first.
Her mind had been battered and scattered; she remembered Kitahara saying a lot of things, but the specific details of many of them had slipped her memory.
Kitahara raised an eyebrow and asked:
"What should you do if you encounter an inexplicable, supernatural phenomenon?"
Seika blurted out instinctively:
"Tell you immediately!"
"Good." Kitahara smiled with satisfaction. "You really do remember it clearly, Ryo-senpai."
After all, this was Seika's first time in Otherworld. With everyone around her, she might not fully grasp the dangers lurking there, so it was necessary to drill the instructions into her mind repeatedly.
Pausing for a moment, Kitahara suddenly asked in a low voice:
"What should you call me when we're alone together in private?"
"Master..."
Seika blurted it out instinctively once again.
(W-what is happening?)
Seika looked bewildered, her eyes widening in disbelief.
(Why did my mouth involuntarily blurt out... blurt out something as scandalous as 'Master'?)
(What on earth is going on?)
(Could it be Ryo...?)
Fragments of memories welled up in her mind, and the heat in her cheeks rose rapidly.
(No, it has nothing to do with Ryo; it was all me...)
Kitahara smiled. "Excellent. It seems my words have been branded deep into your soul, Ryo-senpai."
"..."
Seika suddenly felt a wave of panic. (D-Damn it...!)
(Surely that awful title hasn't actually been branded onto my soul, has it?)
(If that's the case, doesn't it mean that even after I switch bodies back with Ryo, I might still accidentally blurt out "Master" in a moment of carelessness?)
(Damn it! I absolutely refuse to let something that embarrassing happen!)
"Let's go. We're heading to the [Onsen Village]."
Although Seika wasn't in the best of moods, Kitahara was feeling quite cheerful. Smiling, he accompanied the manager, Seika, into the Onsen Village; after getting her settled in, he stepped back outside to continue patrolling the island.
The rest goes without saying.
While Eden Island was dangerous, having the "Walkthrough" in hand meant one could easily avoid the truly terrifying entities; the other areas were quite safe. During his patrol, he spotted several traces of monsters clambering onto the island, but without exception, driven by instinct, they all rushed toward the Eden Tree and ultimately became nutrients for the colossal plant.
"Come to think of it, the sheer cliffs surrounding Eden Island are strange. They look just like a circular wall enclosing the Eden Tree—it doesn't look natural at all... So, was it man-made?"
A question suddenly popped into Kitahara's mind.
He pondered it for a moment but couldn't make heads or tails of it. Shaking his head, he temporarily put the thought aside, deciding to ask the "Book of Answers" later if he remembered.
That was, of course, assuming he could actually decipher the answers it gave.
Ever since the incident at the shopping district, Kitahara had been asking for information about the mastermind behind the scenes. Unfortunately, many of the answers came back as indecipherable garbled text or blacked-out blocks; clearly, the Book of Answers had its limits.
The rest of the journey passed in silence.
Kitahara quickly finished patrolling the remaining route, and the cave was soon visible in the distance.
"I'll head to the [Onsen Village] first to see if the manager has woken up..."
With a slight flicker, Kitahara vanished.
Upon entering the [Onsen Village], he found that Seika had indeed woken up and was leisurely soaking in the hot spring all by herself. "Finished your nap, Senpai?"
Kitahara's eyes lit up as he strode right over:
"Does that mean your stamina is fully restored?"
Their eyes met.
Seika instantly read the lewd desire in Kitahara's gaze, and a deep blush rapidly spread across her lovely face.
He actually wanted to mess with her?!
As if she'd let him get away with it again!
Splash.
Water flew everywhere.
Seika didn't even care about the risk of accidental exposure; she shot up from the hot spring, grabbed her clothes, and bolted for the changing room:
"I'm getting dressed and leaving!"
Kitahara: "..."
A short while later.
Seika was fully dressed and walked back over, looking wary:
"Are we near the cave entrance yet?"
"Not yet," Kitahara said, looking exasperated. "Time moves ten times slower in the Hot Spring Realm. You could soak a bit longer—there's no rush to go back."
"I've soaked long enough." Seika gave a disdainful huff, her eyes full of caution. "We're leaving. Right now."
She had no desire to repeat that terrifying experience of constantly teetering on the edge of life and death!
"Alright, then..."
Although slightly disappointed, Kitahara never forced himself on others; he reached out, took the 'Ryo' Senpai's right hand, and the two left the Hot Spring Realm together, returning to Otherworld.
Upon seeing the cave entrance nearby, Seika breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly put a few paces of distance between herself and Kitahara, then carefully checked her clothes for any creases or tell-tale marks.
"Isn't that a bit of an overreaction?"
Kitahara looked on, speechless.
"Shut it." Seika crossed her arms over her chest. Once she was satisfied everything was in order, she headed toward the cave without looking back. "...Keep what happened earlier a secret, or you're dead meat!"
"..."
The two soon returned to the cave, walking one after the other. "Ryo, you're back?"
"Welcome back, Kitahara-kun."
"You must be tired. I just brewed some black tea—why not have a cup and take a break?"
The girls chimed in one after another, and the previously quiet cave quickly bustled with lively chatter.
Seika wasn't familiar with the other girls, so aside from whispering with Nijika, she mostly remained silent; Kitahara-kun, meanwhile, chatted casually with the group, vividly recounting the sights and experiences of his journey.
Naturally, he glossed over the incident involving the "max-sensitivity" cookies.
After a brief rest, Kitahara-kun brought out the game disc.
"Alright, everyone get ready. We'll head into the game space for an adventure first, then go pick some Eden Fruit..."
Their primary goal in entering the "Otherworld" this time was to refresh the curse marks on their bodies and avoid being plagued by hallucinations or auditory illusions. However, since they were already there, the Eden Fruit was an opportunity not to be missed.
One fruit beautified the complexion, two extended one's lifespan, and consuming enough could even grant eternal youth. Even setting aside those miraculous properties, the fruit's status as a supreme delicacy made it simply irresistible.
"So, we project our consciousness into the game disc?"
Seika crossed her arms over her chest, a look of anticipation on her face.
"That sounds like fun."
Back when she was a delinquent, she had frequented arcades and was genuinely interested in gaming. However, after her mother died in a sudden car accident and she had to grit her teeth to hold the family together on her own, she naturally lost the time and energy for games.
The thrilling, high-octane adventure in the dream world the previous night had left Seika incredibly excited, quietly reawakening the dormant gamer spirit within her. Just then, Nijika suddenly turned her head and, lowering her voice, said:
"Ryo, didn't you say you weren't feeling well? You shouldn't join us in tackling the game space."
"Huh?"
Seika was slightly taken aback and looked over in confusion:
"When did I ever say I wasn't feeling well?"
"..."
Nijika stared intently at the "scummy Ryo" for a couple of seconds, then suddenly let out a resigned sigh; as if having made up her mind, she reached out and grasped Seika's wrist:
"Come outside with me for a moment."
Baffled but compliant, Seika stepped out of the cave alongside Nijika.
Naturally, for the sake of safety, neither of them strayed far; they were only a few steps away from the cave entrance.
"Ahem... So, what did you want to say, Nijika?"
Seika gave a small, awkward cough, feeling inexplicably guilty and uneasy.
She didn't know exactly what Nijika wanted to discuss, but the fact that she'd been pulled out of the cave—clearly to avoid prying ears—suggested it was something important.
Could it be that Nijika had found out about the magical cookies?
The more Seika thought about it, the guiltier she felt; she instinctively looked away, unable to meet Nijika's gaze.
After a brief silence, Nijika finally spoke, though her words had absolutely nothing to do with cookies:
"You wouldn't want everyone to find out your secret... would you, Onee-chan?"