Room 304.
Sitting on a chair and trying to rest, Tanaka Ichiro listened to the sounds coming from the next room. He'd fallen into a state of complete indignation, fists clenching and unclenching.
"They just went straight at it."
"This is a hotel full of danger where we could die at any moment, and they're doing it now, at the worst time."
"Don't they see what time it is?!"
He'd always thought Hayato was reliable and rational, the coolest-headed person here. But he never expected that after just over an hour, the guy couldn't hold back anymore and started going at it with the idol.
Although Hoshino Ai was a treasure that drove men crazy just by existing, you had to consider the circumstances! Now was clearly not the time for that sort of thing. Even he, an old "player" with plenty of experience, was restraining the flames of desire burning in his chest right now.
Tanaka Ichiro took a deep breath, forcing down the heat rising in his body. He pulled his gaze away from Kamimura Miho resting on the bed across the room.
If he kept looking, he'd probably lose control too.
"Mmm, aaah..."
The sounds went on without pause. Before anyone realized it, dozens of minutes had already passed.
The two people in room 304 could hear every single noise clearly, as if the walls didn't exist at all.
Kamimura Miho lowered her head, thinking about who knows what, her expression unreadable.
Tanaka Ichiro grew increasingly furious with each passing minute.
How good is that man's stamina?! How long has it been already?
He couldn't help but glance at the hotel room's clock [11:39 PM].
If he remembered correctly, these two had started going at it around 11-something PM.
It'd been half an hour already, and still wasn't over.
Is that guy crazy or something?
A few minutes later, accompanied by an intense female cry that seemed to echo through the walls, the sustained sounds finally ended.
Finally, it's over!
But soon, in less than ten minutes, the "mmm, aaah" sounds started up all over again.
Tanaka Ichiro wanted to kill someone.
But deep in his heart, buried beneath the anger, there was an envy he found hard to admit even to himself.
It seems like the room really is safe. Doing whatever you want doesn't seem to be a problem. The guy next door is having such a wild time with no issues at all. No different from casually getting a room with a woman on any normal day.
I also... really want to!
In that moment, his eyes shifted toward Kamimura Miho, filling with erupting flames of desire that threatened to consume his remaining rationality.
Room 307.
Sawanaga Taisuke and Kuroda Hikari also heard the moaning sounds bleeding through from somewhere nearby.
After a brief moment of shock, both realized something critical, whether it was Hayato or Tanaka Ichiro, they both lived across the hall. Sounds couldn't possibly come through those walls. There was nobody in the room next door to 307.
It should be empty.
"Rule 7 says the rooms have excellent soundproofing, and you can't hear sounds from other rooms. If there are sounds anyway, just ignore them. So, Sawanaga-kun, what we need to do now is not be affected by the sounds from the next room."
What would happen if they were affected?
They didn't know for certain, but it definitely wouldn't be good. Nothing good ever came from breaking the rules.
Kuroda Hikari grabbed tissues from the bedside and stuffed them into her ears, pressing them in deep. Sawanaga Taisuke quickly followed her example, wadding up tissues to plug his own ears. But the sounds kept seeping through into their ears anyway, muffled but still audible, like they were coming from inside their own heads.
In their hearts, something primal seemed to be stirring. Certain emotions were slowly spreading through their bodies like warmth, building with uncomfortable intensity.
Room 306.
Hayato ignored the sounds as best he could.
These sounds, added up from front to back, had lasted over an hour now. If this were reality, he'd have to genuinely praise that middle-aged man's physical abilities.
At his age and still this strong? Impressive.
But this was the death game's love hotel. These sounds came from the hotel's trap, designed specifically to break them down.
Ignore them, stay calm, don't be affected. That's the key to getting through this danger.
However, as time dragged on, Hayato clearly felt a certain impulse arising in his chest. Flames of desire were emerging despite his best efforts to suppress them.
Hayato bit his own lip hard enough to taste copper, pinched his arm until the skin turned white, using pain stimulation to keep himself rational and grounded.
"Even if it's supernatural, moaning this whole time without stopping, isn't that a bit excessive!?"
At this rate, it'd be two hours soon. Too much! How could any normal person possibly last this long?
"Hayato-kun, you..."
"Stay quiet. Don't talk to me!"
The instant Hoshino Ai spoke, Hayato immediately felt the flames of desire surge higher, constantly urging him to cross the room and pin Hoshino Ai beneath him on that bed.
If I really did it, I'd be stuck in this hotel forever...
"Hoshino, resist the impulse in your heart. Don't be affected by the sounds."
"Mm."
She made a sound of agreement, voice small.
"I actually..."
Thud.
Hayato's fist slammed on the table hard, the sound sharp and violent. It immediately cut off whatever Hoshino Ai was about to say.
Hayato knew Hoshino Ai wasn't saying it on purpose. She'd been affected too, the trap working on both of them. But... he had no choice but to shut her down now before things got worse.
"Remember, don't lose to desire. Fight it."
But Hayato felt like it shouldn't be like this.
There has to be a solution somewhere. If we can only rely on our own willpower to deal with it, this death game instance would be too easy.
There had to be a concrete answer hidden in the rules or the room itself.
Hayato decided to start over from the beginning, observe everything once more, and sort through all the current item information and clues methodically.
The clock showed the time was 11:56 PM, with the number 40 displayed below representing humidity.
Inside the bedside table were many adult toys, unused and waiting.
The room's soundproofing clearly hadn't worked as advertised. Eerie moaning sounds came from room 308, the empty room able to arouse dangerous impulses. As time passed, this impulse kept increasing in intensity, getting harder to resist.
There were ten rules total, each one potentially hiding something...
Hayato analyzed them one by one from start to finish, running through every detail in his mind.
Could it be Rule 4, going to the first-floor lobby in an emergency?
No. That felt wrong somehow.
Visiting other rooms?
Hayato figured the other two rooms weren't doing much better right now. They might've already failed to resist and become completely immersed in desire, lost to the trap.
Then...
Hayato's mind suddenly caught on something, a detail he'd overlooked.