A vast expanse of white stretched endlessly as far as the eye could see.
And here in this strange space, he stood completely alone.
[Congratulations on successfully clearing 'Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel'.]
[You have the following choices available:]
[First, accept the invitation to become an official player of this game. You will receive related game items, points, skills, and other rewards. You will open a brand new life, experiencing a rich and colorful existence full of challenges.]
[Note: Once you become an official player of this game, you will be required to accept at least one arranged game instance challenge per month. Difficulty will progressively increase as your level rises.]
[Second, refuse the invitation entirely. You will return to your original life, but you will lose all memories of your experiences in 'Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel'.]
[Note: As a reward for clearing, your constitution will increase by a small amount.]
Choose one or the other. You could even choose to refuse to become a player. There was actually a real chance to escape the "death game" entirely!
This death game actually gave first-time clearers a genuine choice.
But this way, many people would choose to give up immediately, right?
Wasn't this indirectly reducing the total number of active players? If the death game's purpose was to select certain specific people, shouldn't the number of participants be as large as possible?
After all, people who'd experienced the death game once, faced with such extreme danger and overwhelming terror, would instinctively want to stay as far away as possible!
"But that's not quite right either when you think about it."
"People who've experienced it once and still choose to stay and become official players have at least demonstrated enough courage."
The death game opened up a brand new world. In this world, participants, regardless of their original identity or social status, would rely only on their own wisdom and ability to survive. Through game after game, gaining valuable items and skills, they improve themselves, becoming progressively stronger.
Compared to the real world with its nearly solidified class system, there were far more opportunities here.
Many people simply couldn't resist this powerful temptation.
Moreover, because of the death game's existence, it must have affected reality, too. This was Hayato's working theory. He absolutely didn't believe the death game was completely separated from reality with zero influence.
That male fan's violent attack on Hoshino Ai also clearly represented the "death game's" influence bleeding into reality.
In the future, there'd probably be more and more similar incidents happening.
"What's there to fear anyway?"
"I have a superpower."
"With this ability, I'd take off in reality anyway."
"Why suffer here?"
This experience also let Hayato understand the real limitations of his time stop superpower.
Time stop ultimately wasn't completely invincible after all.
[Your outstanding performance in Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel has attracted its attention. If you accept the invitation to become a 'Death Game' player,]
[You will receive 5 free allocation points.]
That's it? Just like that?
[You will also receive the following special blessing.]
[Half-point: After clearing each instance game, the game points gained that time increase by 50%.]
"I want to let that female receptionist, Horikita Suzune leave her staff member status and return to being normal."
No response came. The other party didn't respond at all.
"Is there such an opportunity available?"
['It' makes an exception to answer your question.]
[Yes.]
"Good. I accept the invitation to become an official player."
[You have chosen the first option. Congratulations on becoming an official player of this game. Settling this instance game for you now.]
['Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel' exploration degree 93%.]
[Difficulty: One Star]
[Basic Reward: 1000 points, 2 free allocation points.]
[You have completed the following hidden tasks, triggering additional rewards.]
[You successfully spent over 4 hours in the same room with two women. Game points +500.]
[You successfully used adult toys to kill a hotel staff member. Game points +500.]
[You gifted condoms to a hotel staff member, gaining their trust and gratitude. Game points +500.]
[In this game, all keycards were returned. Game points +500.]
[In this game, participants' survival rate reached 50%. Game points +500.]
[Due to your outstanding performance in this game and due to your blessing 'Half-points' effect, your game points will receive a 300% bonus. You ultimately gain 10,500 points.]
[You have achieved the following accomplishments.]
[Restraining Desire: Faced with women and temptation, your will remained firm] [Mental Power +1]
[Profound Interest: You used multiple adult toys on the same sex, causing his violent death] [Agility +1]
[Unconventional: You gifted a box of condoms to the female receptionist, igniting her light of hope] [Charisma +1]
[Verbal Charm: You persuaded and gained the female receptionist's trust.] [Unlocked skill Persuasion lv1.]
[Settlement complete.]
Hayato looked carefully at his personal panel.
Strength, agility, constitution, mental power, charisma, and so on were all listed clearly.
Game level lv1. Only one active skill, the just-unlocked Persuasion lv1.
"My superpower isn't showing on the panel?"
Was the character panel unable to detect and display it? Was it because his superpower had a higher mystery level than the system could measure?
Hayato thought briefly but couldn't determine an accurate answer, so he stopped overthinking it.
No matter what, the superpower was his greatest confidence and trump card.
And now, using the "death game," he'd compensate for "time stop's" inherent weaknesses and shortcomings, reducing his vulnerabilities and inadequacies as much as possible.
[Settlement has ended. You will exit this space in three seconds.]
[You can now access your panel at any time to observe your current condition.]
[Three.]
[Two.]
[One.]
Hayato once again felt the familiar weightlessness acting on his body.
His vision gradually recovered. His eyes focused and clearly saw what was ahead.
Under the pitch-black night sky, streetlights lined both sides of the road. He stood quietly on the left side of the street.
Night wind brought traces of chill.
"Achoo..."
Suddenly, a girl's cute sneezing sound came from right beside him.
Hayato glanced sideways. At one look, he saw the delicate-featured girl beside him, her body slightly curled up. She was clearly a bit cold, her body trembling slightly.
"Tonight's gotten a bit cold. We need to get to the hotel quickly."
"Hayato-kun, we're almost there. It's just ahead."
Hayato immediately understood the reason.
Right....
This was normal....
For ordinary girl Hoshino Ai, choosing to exit the game was the correct choice.
Unlike him, Hoshino Ai had no superpower whatsoever. If she participated in the death game again, she'd inevitably face a fatal outcome.
If that was the case, it was better to exit the game entirely.
Compared to life itself, losing memories of the instance was absolutely nothing.
Tap tap tap...
The two walked side by side. The whole way was quiet. Neither spoke.
Finally, the hotel appeared in view.
But Hoshino Ai suddenly spoke up.
"I'll go to that convenience store over there to buy some things. Please wait for me a moment."
After saying that, Hoshino Ai quickly entered the convenience store with hurried steps. A few minutes later, she came back out carrying several items.
Hayato glanced and saw bread and milk.
Probably tomorrow's breakfast.
At the front desk, they went through checking in.
Hayato couldn't help thinking of that female receptionist at the Koi no Kokoro Love Hotel.
The two took the elevator up to the eighth floor together.
"Thank you so much for today. Tomorrow, please allow me to treat you to a meal to express my gratitude."
"Sure, sounds good."
Beep...
The room door opened.
Hoshino Ai actively said good night and returned to her own room.
Hehehe, it seems my acting managed to fool Hayato-kun...
After turning on the lights, she came to the bedside and took out the stockings she'd secretly pressed under the milk and bread.
"Should I... wear black stockings... or white stockings to go over there?"
This was a genuinely difficult choice.
Hoshino Ai's face turned slightly red.
She had to give Hayato-kun a big, big surprise tonight.