Time resumed flowing!
Bzzt...
The showerhead Hayato had turned on sprayed dark red liquid in thick streams.
Sawanaga Taisuke got completely soaked, the liquid running down his face.
"Kuroda, I can't hold back anymore..."
"I want you, give yourself to me..."
Just as the desperate words left his mouth, Sawanaga Taisuke felt countless droplets spray toward him, completely wetting his face.
A flash of bewilderment struck through the haze. But the moment his eyes landed on Kuroda Hikari again, his flames of desire ignited once more, burning even hotter. He struggled against Hayato's grip and tried to lunge at her.
Bang!
But Hayato just kicked him hard, sending Sawanaga Taisuke crashing heavily to the ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
That wasn't enough. Hayato added several more solid kicks to keep him down.
"Look at me."
Hayato raised his voice sharply. In his field of vision, Sawanaga Taisuke's appearance had already changed drastically.
"You... Haya... Monster..."
Seemingly, under fear's overwhelming influence, Sawanaga Taisuke's sexual impulses were restrained by raw terror. He even frantically kicked his legs against the wet tile, attempting to run away.
"Kuroda-san, do you see anything special about the two of us?"
Right now, Kuroda Hikari was still utterly confused by the sudden changes around her. But the moment she looked directly at Hayato, she couldn't pull her gaze away. The thin thread of rationality she'd been desperately holding onto completely snapped, as if Hayato had transformed into the most irresistible, tempting existence imaginable.
She lunged forward with reaching hands.
"I want..."
The words barely left her mouth when Hayato realized the problem immediately. Hayato sidestepped fast, pressing Kuroda Hikari against the cold bathroom wall with one firm hand.
She wasn't particularly tall, didn't have much physical strength, but her body was unexpectedly very soft under his grip.
"What do you see on my face, Kuroda-san? Tell me what you see!"
Kuroda Hikari's eyes held nothing but rising desire as she constantly resisted and tried to break free, not processing his question at all.
Finally, Hayato yanked Kuroda Hikari directly under the dark red water spraying from the showerhead, holding her there.
In just a few seconds, Kuroda Hikari stopped struggling completely. Her emotions gradually returned to something resembling a normal person, and Sawanaga Taisuke's excited, flushed expression rapidly calmed down, too.
But the next second, the instant Kuroda Hikari's cleared eyes landed on Sawanaga Taisuke, her pupils immediately constricted to pinpoints.
"Aaaah!"
A sharp, terrified female scream suddenly tore through the bathroom.
Hayato took a quick step closer, his right hand forcefully covering Kuroda Hikari's mouth to muffle the sound.
Kuroda Hikari struggled wildly, her hands clawing at Hayato's hand, trying desperately to pry it away.
"Sawanaga... Sawanaga-kun... he... he mutated into something..."
"What about me?! What do I look like?"
"Huh?"
What about you?
Kuroda Hikari glanced over at Hayato's face. The dark gray patches covering it immediately came into full view. That eerie infected appearance made Kuroda Hikari's eyes widen in horror. Her body trembled violently. The next second, her eyes rolled back, and she went completely limp.
Kuroda Hikari had been scared unconscious....
Hayato caught her falling weight, feeling extremely awkward about the situation.
"Ha-Hayato-san, don't, don't eat me."
"I don't taste good. Please, don't eat me..."
Sawanaga Taisuke trembled uncontrollably and kept backing away on the wet floor. His eyes filled with intense, primal fear. But right now, he had nowhere left to retreat with his back against the wall.
Hoshino Ai appeared in the bathroom doorway. The instant she stepped into view, Sawanaga Taisuke looked like he was about to cry from sheer terror.
Another infected one!
"Please let me go! I really... don't taste good at all."
"Answer my question first."
"Hayato-san, please ask anything..."
"What do we two look like in your eyes?"
"Good, good people..."
Bang!
Hayato walked over and kicked him without hesitation.
"Ow... aaah..."
"What do we two look like right now? Don't lie."
"No..."
Sawanaga Taisuke shook his head hard, refusing to say it. But when Hayato lifted his foot to kick again, he immediately spoke in a rush.
"Your face, your face has dark gray patches everywhere, like, like that lobby staff member who transformed..."
Sawanaga Taisuke stammered it out between gasps.
Hayato's expression hardened as he realized his theory was completely correct.
We're infected. Both of us. And they can see it clearly. So my guess was right that taking a bath with a partner can break the curse of hallucinations.
"Go to 304."
They moved quickly down the hall.
"Open the door. It's me, Hayato."
Hayato had a bad feeling about what they'd find in 304 right now. After a loud bang from inside, footsteps quickly approached. The door was yanked open.
Kamimura Miho appeared before Hayato.
Right now, all she wore was matching underwear, a lacy set that left little to the imagination. Large patches of skin were exposed to the cool air, and a faint sweet fragrance drifted from her.
"Hayato-san, what's up? Need something?"
"Where's Tanaka?!"
"Resting on the bed. Come in and see for yourself!"
Something's wrong....
Definitely wrong....
No matter how he looked at it, Hayato felt there was something deeply wrong with Kamimura Miho's behavior.
Right now in his eyes, Kamimura Miho's exposed body showed no mutation characteristics whatsoever. She looked completely like a normal, healthy person. But that was the biggest abnormality of all in this hotel.
Without visible mutations, Kamimura Miho should be consumed by flames of desire like Kuroda Hikari and Sawanaga Taisuke had been, not standing here showing absolutely no reaction after seeing a man.
Unless...
"Hayato-san, did you need something from us..."
Tanaka Ichiro also appeared in Hayato's field of vision, stepping into the doorway. He grinned widely and waved in a friendly manner.
"Miho's pretty good, you know. Want to try her? If it's you, Hayato-san, absolutely no problem. I'm getting old, willing but physically unable these days."
Hayato's mind raced as he thought of something critical. Just as he lifted his leg to step inside and investigate further, an intense sense of crisis suddenly exploded through him.
Danger. Immediate danger...
Hayato immediately activated time stop, plunging everything into an absolute frozen state.
Bzzt...
Only then did Hayato carefully step inside the room. He scanned every surface methodically, from the walls to the large bed to the corners, not finding anything obviously wrong. He was preparing to drag the two frozen figures to the bathroom to spray them with water when Hayato suddenly stopped mid-motion.
His eyes locked onto the TV screen mounted on the wall.
On the dark TV screen, the reflection of the two people was exceptionally clear and sharp.
Dark gray patches of varying sizes covered their entire bodies from head to toe. Their eyes were pitch-black voids, completely deathly still without any spark of life. Faint black shadows spread out around them with what looked like bared fangs and claws reaching outward.
This had an even stronger visceral impact than the first-floor female staff member's transformation.
These two had completely turned supernatural...