In the Lab
Tap tap tap tap!!!
The sound of keyboards clattered nonstop. Chisa and Kohei's hands were nearly broken, yet they couldn't finish inputting the data.
"This data volume—manual entry is impossible!"
Kohei roared, feeling nothing but despair after so long.
"Then write a program!"
Not just Kohei—Anzai-senpai and Glasses-senpai were roaring too, buried in their own data piles.
"I don't know how! You forgot I'm a first-year?!"
"Then start learning *now*!"
"Are you devils?!"
Kohei's rebellion failed, and he was forced to study programming.
Chisa, nearly numb, her fingers stiff, began expanding her knowledge too.
While the lab dished out mental torture, the workshop was pure physical agony.
With broken parts halting data entry, they were now in the machine shop, *making* parts!!!
Shirou had never imagined he'd one day craft a machine part himself!
It came with a tiny sense of accomplishment.
But that accomplishment… was *way* too painful!!!
The machine shop's heat was melting Shirou and Iori, and for safety, they wore thick clothing.
"Why no AC? (?′ω`?)"
"I'm gonna die…"
"It's not off—it's just useless."
Shiro wiped sweat from his brow. In a machine shop, even the lowest AC setting did nothing.
(っ╥╯﹏╰╥c)
Despairing, the two sped up, hoping to earn more rest time.
Hours later~
Shirou and Iori collapsed on the machine shop floor.
They'd given their all.
Thankfully, their efforts weren't wasted. The machine parts were nearly done, with just a few steps left.
They'd even made extras to avoid issues.
"I don't wanna reach fourth year anymore…"
"Can I still switch majors?"
After hours of this, Shirou seriously considered switching.
He should've gone for finance!
More girls, and easier!
At least no hand-crafting parts!
He finally understood why mechanical engineering paid more—it was earned through blood, sweat, and tears (╥_╥).
"You guys look hot."
As they teetered on the edge of heat-induced sleep, a deep voice rang out.
"Afro-senpai?!"
Yes, the afro-senpai made a grand entrance, bringing a wave of cool air.
"Haha, heard you're helping Kotobuki. Here, a reward!"
Seeing their state, Afro senpai understood, handing them each a popsicle.
"Popsicles?!"
"Thank you!"
Seniors were reliable after all. The popsicles were flavorless, but the cold was a lifesaver. Shirou felt revived.
"Did seniors make these?"
Seeing the mold in Afro-senpai's hand, Shirou knew these weren't store-bought.
"Yup, made them after Kotobuki's message."
"That fast?"
Shirou was shocked. Kotobuki senpai's message was only half an hour ago.
Even the coldest fridge couldn't work that fast.
"Nah, not that. We used the lab's liquid nitrogen. Instant freeze."
Afro-senpai lifted a bucket of liquid nitrogen to show them.
The duo's lips twitched. The lab's stuff was useful, but this felt like overkill?
"Haha, and if you do *this*!"
Noticing their looks, Afro-senpai decided to show off, scooping a spoonful of liquid nitrogen and splashing it into an empty area.
The surrounding temperature dropped instantly.
Laboratory
"Finally, the experimental apparatus is repaired..."
"It's really great that it can operate normally now."
Kamishiro Shiro and Iori walked in as if all the life had been drained from them.
They never wanted to return to the mechanical workshop again.
"Oh, good job, you two."
"The data sorting here is almost done as well."
As they looked at each other, Shiro and the others saw mutual exhaustion and relief in one another's eyes.
Relief that this cursed task was finally over.
Though Chisa and Kohei hadn't been doing physical labor like Kamishiro and the others, trying to self-learn programming without any prior knowledge was incredibly difficult for them.
You could tell how desperate Kohei had gotten just by the bite marks on his programming textbook.
"By the way, where's Kotobuki?"
Only now did Senior Anzai notice someone missing from the lab.
"Ah, I think Kotobuki-senpai already started the experiment."
"I see. Then the results should be out around eight."
Kamishiro Shiro checked the time. It was around 7:10 now, meaning the experiment had been running for about 50 minutes?
Did that mean they could go home today?
He had already decided that once he escaped this hellhole, he would never return… at least not until junior year. This was too torturous!
After all, someone like him was more suited to spending time happily with girls on the ocean.
"So what should we do before that?"
"Is there anything left unfinished?"
Iori and Kohei asked. What Kamishiro thought of, they had also realized. To ensure a smooth escape, they decided to wrap things up first!
"Ah, that…"
Vroom vroom!
Just as Senior Anzai was about to explain the situation to them, the sound of a car starting came from downstairs.
At that moment, Kamishiro saw serious expressions appear on the faces of the two upperclassmen!
"Did he leave?"
"He left!"
"Who left? Are you talking about that scumbag Ushiromiya?"
Gulp…
Kamishiro swallowed nervously. He had a bad feeling that something unexpected was about to happen—and hoped it wouldn't delay his "off-duty" time.
The glasses-wearing senior pushed up his frames and smiled mysteriously, "Yes. From now on—"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The upperclassmen sprang into action to show what was coming next!
In a flash, they pulled out all sorts of things that absolutely should not be in a laboratory.
A projector!
A gaming console!
Discs!
Snacks!
Alcohol!!!
In an instant, before Kamishiro and the others could even process what was happening, this once-serious laboratory transformed into a man's paradise!
"Now it's our time!"
"No one could keep going without this kind of break!"
"Woooohoooo!!!"
The seniors' bold move left Kamishiro and the others stunned—then they immediately joined in with excitement!
Kohei, in particular, looked like he wanted to bring his entire collection from home.
"You can play games on a projector this big?!"
"Are we really allowed to do this?!"
"Heaven! This is heaven! So the seniors weren't lying!"
Kamishiro remembered what they had said before. So "fun" and "enjoyment" really did exist. He now seriously suspected the seniors' weight loss was from gaming marathons.
In an environment like this, he wouldn't mind staying longer!
"Haha, would we ever lie to you guys?"
"As long as the professor's gone, this place is ours!"
Once Ushiromiya left, the seniors' postures immediately turned smug.
The bespectacled senior even cracked open a beer and took a long, satisfied drink.
Senior Anzai tossed three cans of beer to Kamishiro and his group.
"So, will you guys keep us company until the experiment results are out?"
"No problem!"
"Happy to!"
"Let's pull an all-nighter!"
They grabbed the beers. In this kind of environment, they'd long forgotten all about escaping.
And 50 minutes wasn't nearly enough time!
Young people don't need that much sleep anyway—pulling an all-nighter now and then is good for physical and mental health!
"Um… I should probably get going."
Chisa said a bit shyly. She had to help her family with chores tomorrow, so she couldn't stay up all night with the others.
Thankfully, the upperclassmen were understanding and let her off the hook.
"Thanks a lot!"
"Thanks for helping out!"
"..."
Chisa didn't hesitate and walked out. Listening to the cheers from the lab behind her, she figured the next time she'd see those three idiots would be next week.
This was clearly a trap!
Those three fools had fallen right into it!
Sure enough, give them some alcohol and they'd stop thinking entirely.
Half an hour later
Inside the lab, Kamishiro and the others had completely let themselves go. Though they were still eating dinner, so they restrained themselves from stripping down.
"Man, staying overnight in the lab is actually kinda fun."
"If it's like this, we could stay forever!"
"Right? If we had a short-haired senior girl here, it'd be perfect."
Drinking beer, eating pizza, gaming—it was paradise, aside from the missing short-haired girl.
The upperclassmen smiled at their words, mysterious gleams in their eyes.
"Haha, is that so? Then stay a while longer."
"The apparatus is fixed, after all."
"And the experiment's already started…"
(′｀;)?
Kamishiro and the others looked at the senpais, puzzled. Why did they look unhappy?
In an environment like this, how could anyone be upset?
"Why those expressions, seniors?"
"This is the time to be happy!"
"Shouldn't you be glad it's all fixed?"
"..."
At that moment, the seniors went quiet. After a long pause, Kotobuki finally spoke.
"Of course we're happy. But... now that the experiment has started, we need to keep conducting tests… nonstop."
"The experiment requires 300 continuous operations at 50-minute intervals."
"Whoa!"
The three—Kamashiro Shirou, Iori, and Kohei—were quite surprised. This was an extreme experiment.
Then suddenly, it dawned on them… this was their experiment.
In an instant, the trio's expressions stiffened.
"Three hundred times at 50-minute intervals?"
"No breaks for day or night?"
"No exceptions for special circumstances?"
"Of course!" ×3
Their seniors nodded firmly—this was the bare minimum for experimenters.
"..."
The trio fell into silence, then bolted toward the door with all their might!
#GRAB!
Their seniors were prepared and each tackled one of them!
"Didn't you agree to help us finish this experiment?"
"We even prepared games and alcohol!"
"You've gotta help for the course credits too~"
"Nooooooo!!!" ×3
The trio cried out in despair. No one said they couldn't take breaks before!
One week later
The trio, now ten pounds lighter, finally returned to the diving shop.
And now… they finally understood what the legendary "ten hours" really meant.
It meant they'd just been through hell.