But no matter how hard Hoshino Ai racked her brain, she just couldn't grasp that bit of inspiration. She still couldn't figure out what the number represented.
"Ehe!"
Hoshino Ai suddenly tilted her head, stuck out her cute tongue, lightly knocked her right fist on her own head, and showed a cute yet embarrassed smile.
"Sorry, Hayato-kun. I... can't figure it out. Could you... tell us?"
This was a cute action from a girl, but the premise was based on Hoshino Ai's initially cute appearance. With Hoshino Ai's current face covered in patches of dark gray, the girl making this action seemed even more eerie to Hayato.
"Hoshino, watch your behavior."
"Not good?"
She opened her big eyes wide, her face slightly raised fifteen degrees as she gazed at him. Her right hand's slender index finger pointed at her own cheek.
This was another small gesture that could showcase a girl's cuteness.
"Why don't you look in a mirror and see your current condition?"
Instantly, Hoshino Ai understood. She imagined in her mind, herself covered in black spots making cute gestures.
This was straight-up scary even for me!
She couldn't accept it herself. Involuntarily, a strong nauseous impact surged in her heart.
"I'm sorry for leaving a bad impression and feeling with Hayato-kun."
She immediately apologized properly, without a moment's hesitation.
"Pfft, no need to be so serious. I was just joking tho."
The unconcerned tone made Hoshino Ai hum in acknowledgment. She looked up at Hayato again.
"Hayato-kun, just tell us directly! My brain actually... doesn't work that well."
Hayato's gaze fell on Kuroda Hikari. This chestnut twin-tailed girl shook her head vigorously, indicating she hadn't figured it out either.
"I'll give a few more hints then!"
Hayato thought and organized his words.
"When Hoshino and I entered room 306, the number below the clock's time was 0. Around 11 PM, it became 20. After midnight, it was 40."
"As time passed, the number kept increasing."
"So it's contamination value...."
Hoshino Ai and Kuroda Hikari spoke in unison.
Both girls exchanged glances and knowingly showed a smile.
"Right, contamination value. This doesn't refer to our contamination, but this room's contamination value."
"Based on my judgment, starting at 10 PM, the contamination value gradually increases."
"Wait, there's a problem."
Hoshino Ai suddenly thought of something. She looked at the number below the clock. That number was currently zero, but if she remembered correctly, Hayato just said that when they left room 306, the number was 70.
"Starting from zero to 20, 40, shouldn't the next be 60, not 70?!"
Hayato's gaze fell on Kuroda Hikari, and he pointed.
"Me?"
Kuroda Hikari was confused. But immediately, both reacted once more.
"Because there are three people in one room now, so the contamination value increases by 30 per hour."
Following this pattern, the more people, the larger the value increase per hour.
Kuroda Hikari suddenly recalled Sawanaga Taisuke's proposal in the first-floor lobby: "six people in one room." If it really was six people in one room, then... in just two hours, the room's contamination value would reach 100.
All of them would be completely contaminated, becoming total supernatural entities.
Kuroda Hikari's heart trembled. Cold sweat poured down her back. Especially since initially, several of them were planning four people in one room. If that had really happened, she'd already be supernatural now, never able to leave this love hotel alive.
Instantly, Kuroda Hikari cast a grateful gaze toward Hayato.
Hoshino Ai also realized this point.
"Hayato-kun, did you see through this from the very start?"
Her eyes sparkled with starlight. That was admiration for Hayato's wisdom. Firmly trusting and supporting Hayato-kun from the beginning was the most correct choice!
"Experience."
This was an experience he'd gained from reading countless supernatural horror novels and other movies in his past life.
Many people gathering together often led to suicidal tactics.
The rules didn't restrict the upper limit, only the lower limit of people. But that was often a subtle hint too. So choosing two people was most appropriate.
But these words made both girls develop their own associations.
Both instinctively felt Hayato had participated in death games before and had rich experience handling them. Otherwise, why would Hayato be so calm from start to finish, not worried or afraid at all?
Hoshino Ai was even more certain of this idea. Because someone could only obtain miraculous powers by clearing "death games." Hayato's "time stop superpower" must definitely be a reward he obtained by clearing a "death game."
If I cleared this "death game," could I also obtain a miraculous superpower?
Suddenly, Hoshino Ai felt a touch of anticipation for the moment after clearing it.
"Hayato-senpai, the contamination value is related to the number of people and time. So if it's just one person per room, from 10 PM to 6 AM the next morning, it would only increase by 80 contamination value. They could completely survive successfully until checkout the next day."
"This is a love hotel. People who stay here are by default not alone, right?"
Just one sentence made Kuroda Hikari understand what she'd overlooked. Even without Rule 1's clear hint, they shouldn't have one person per room.
"I boldly guess... if a participant stayed alone in one room, the hotel would probably arrange a 'companion' to stay with them."
Both girls' scalps immediately went numb.
What kind of scene would that be? Both had difficulty imagining.
"Then... Sawanaga-kun, he..."
What was room 307's current situation?
Kuroda Hikari instinctively wondered.
"Hope he's okay."
One sentence made Kuroda Hikari understand Hayato didn't hold much hope for Sawanaga Taisuke. But she didn't blame Hayato. She had no right to blame him at all.
Because she knew Hayato had already done his utmost duty toward Sawanaga-kun. "Cleaning room 307" was something Hayato actively proposed to the cleaning staff. The purpose was to hope Sawanaga Taisuke wouldn't simply die from contamination.
Otherwise, Hayato, who'd already seen through this hotel's rules, if he really wanted Sawanaga Taisuke to die, there'd be no need to go to such trouble.
But in the end, Sawanaga-kun betrayed that goodwill.
Kuroda Hikari sighed inwardly.
Two rooms with zero contamination, one person increasing 10 contamination per hour. With over four hours until 6 AM, calculated as five hours, four people would be just right.
But...
"Get lost..."
She recalled Sawanaga Taisuke's final refusal and rebuke, deeply afraid they'd affect his life safety.
The subtle hint Sawanaga Taisuke gave her when first checking into room 307 that for survival, you could make sacrifices, this sentence cut her heart like a knife, constantly piercing her insides.
Kuroda Hikari slowly withdrew her thoughts.
Her gaze landed on Hayato's face.
A certain idea emerged.