3.

Roderick told Anaïs they had to take turns sleeping.

She was tired to death right now. Anaïs despaired at the news that she couldn’t sleep straight through until morning. Whether it was due to the unfamiliar environment or the infection, her condition was worse than usual. It was obvious that if she didn’t sleep properly, tomorrow would be difficult again.

“Do we have to stand watch too?”

“We take turns sleeping every three hours.”

Roderick ignored her complaining question and showed her the watch at his waist. He seemed to have no intention of indulging her whining. He seemed to have mastered surviving, but was very cold in return.

Fortunately, he wasn’t a completely heartless cold-blood without any human heart, as he was considerate enough to let Anaïs sleep first.

“Looking at your current state, you’d probably just fall asleep completely.”

It might simply be that he didn’t trust her. The latter was probably the bigger reason. Anaïs speculated, but was grateful anyway that he let her sleep first.

Anaïs, who lay down in her sleeping bag, didn’t need to try to fall asleep. Her eyelids quickly became heavy and her consciousness grew distant.

The man who had decided to stand watch first sat on large tree leaves and looked at his watch relying on moonlight. Due to the shadows, his already deep-featured face looked even more distinct.

Was that watch something he bought from that store where he was witnessed? She suddenly remembered Mr. Fred saying he had found some information and went out to check that place.

‘Please take care, assistant. Assistant. Assistant……!’

Mr. Fred’s last words echoed in her ears like an echo.

What was he thinking about his assistant who had suddenly disappeared by now? She hadn’t even been able to lock the door. Hadn’t a customer come by before Mr. Fred returned? Her boss might have been bewildered seeing the office left with the door open.

She thought it would have been better if at least he hadn’t gone out. Then he would have known that she hadn’t disappeared leaving the office behind due to negligence, that it was a force majeure completely unrelated to her will.

Even if she finished this game and returned home, could her life really be the same as before? She suffered from anxiety for a while before her mind, having reached its limit, fell into deep sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Anaïs dragged her extremely tired body and followed behind Roderick. It was because she had only slept about three hours after taking turns with him standing watch.

“Hey.”

Her mind was hazy and she didn’t hear Roderick calling.

“Anaïs!”

Finally, only after Roderick raised his voice did she startle and inhale while lifting her head.

“Y, yes?”

“Don’t tell me the gauge filled up again?”

He suspected that the reason for Anaïs’s absent mind was because of the gauge. Anaïs waved her hands in denial. The gauge was still only about one-third full.

Unfortunately, for Roderick, Anaïs’s trustworthiness seemed to approach zero. He glared at her with sharp eyes and interrogated her.

“I hope that’s not a lie. If the gauge is full and you lie so monsters chase us, I’ll put a bullet in your head before the monsters do for the crime of being detestable.”

“Yes……”

Anaïs answered dejectedly. The gauge. She could tell that this gradually filled up over time. But it was hard to know whether it was simply proportional to time or if there were other factors.

Please let it fill slowly. She prayed sincerely. She didn’t want the same situation as yesterday to happen again. It was too shameful and was one of the worst events in her entire life, ranking within her top ten.

Anaïs watched the gauge whenever she had a chance, monitoring whether the red bar was rising. Monitoring didn’t change anything. It would rise while eating biscuits, or not rise for a while then suddenly shoot up all at once when encountering monsters.

Eventually that night, the gauge filled to a dangerous level again. Her cheeks flushed red and the shallow breaths that came out from the heat weren’t something she could hide with her will.

“Wa, wait a moment, Roderick……!”

Roderick ignored Anaïs’s words that she would do it herself and grabbed her legs to spread them. That was the way to finish quickly, and they needed to sleep soon after resolving it.

Ultimately it was the right thing to say. But how shameful was it to have to feel climax in front of a man who made an irritated face while touching her below?

‘You said never to think about borrowing your hands again……!’

Anaïs wanted to die every time she cl*maxed with his hands.

But that was only the first few times. As she mechanically did that thing, Anaïs also became numb. It no longer felt as embarrassing as the first time. Perhaps because she was touched repeatedly, the time it took to climax seemed to shorten too.

It was surprising even to herself that she had become accustomed to such things. But the most surprising thing was the reality of being dropped in this jungle and the world where monsters threatened lives.

What was so problematic about her body becoming a bit lewd? She consciously and unconsciously ignored the fear that she might have to live with this body for life. Roderick had said the ridiculous thing that the infection wouldn’t be resolved until he died, but she pretended not to hear it.

She just felt sorry for him having to do troublesome things he didn’t want because of a bothersome woman. She just hoped he wouldn’t throw her in front of monsters saying he didn’t want to do this anymore.

“At least make some plausible sounds to get in the mood.”

So when Roderick spoke, she also relaxed the strength in her lips that she had been determined to keep tightly shut and never open. She opened her eyes that had been tightly closed until the end and no longer covered her face.

She entrusted her body to him like someone who truly enjoyed that moment. Then her vision really turned white in the blink of an eye and the gauge dropped completely.

“Ah, hh, good, mmh. A little more……”

Once, words had slipped out without her knowing. His fingers that had been stirring inside her stopped with a thud.

“How infuriating that you’re enjoying yourself alone.”

He furrowed his brow and clicked his tongue. He seemed properly offended. Otherwise he wouldn’t have used his hands so violently to send her off.

Anaïs confirmed that her lower part that had gotten much wetter than usual and greatly regretted it. And from then on, she was careful never to say it felt good again.

Roderick also no longer threw tantrums saying he was pissed off. Instead his expression was strange. Sullen like someone who didn’t like something.

“Did I do something to make you angry?”

When Anaïs asked worriedly, he answered it was nothing. Then one day, perhaps because he was finally frustrated, he complained to her.

“Why do you bite your lips until they bleed trying to hold back sounds? Is it because you’re foolish?”

What would happen if she just made those sounds? Was it because of shame? Roderick said he didn’t understand her.

But the one who didn’t understand was her. Hadn’t she held back because he said he got pissed off?

“Who told you to stupidly hold back all the sounds? Just…… no. Do whatever you want. Let out the sounds that come naturally.”

Anaïs was confused about which beat to follow. But since he told her to let them out naturally, from then on she no longer bit her lips until they bled trying to hold back. Fortunately, Roderick didn’t change his words again and get angry.

That way, they were smoothly lowering the gauge with hand play every night while heading toward the castle said to be in the center, when one day came.

Roderick naturally entered some cave as if he had been there before. The entrance was hidden by grass that hung down long like a ghost’s hair, so it was a place only those who knew could find.

“There’s something that can only be found here. It’ll be useful later when we go to the castle, so search well.”

“What should I look for?”

Because Roderick had never talked about items this way, Anaïs became more nervous for no reason. It seemed like there was some good weapon.

As she tensely couldn’t even swallow her saliva and just stared at his lips, he finally slowly opened his mouth.

“Chocolate.”

For something he had spoken of as if it were significant, it was quite a cute word. No, before that, it was surprising that there was chocolate in a place like this. She had been thinking it would be nice to eat something sweet.

“If I find it, I can eat one, right?”

Though he had said it was used for trading. Anaïs, who had asked slyly, soon regretted the words she had uttered. His eyes clearly showed his thoughts of whether she couldn’t even endure that much, whether a grown adult wanted to eat chocolate.

“Just one……”

“……”

“…… I understand. I’ll store it well.”

Anaïs retracted what she had said with an awkward expression.

The cave had quite a large area, and the two decided to split up to search for chocolate. It was practically the first time Anaïs had been away from his side for 24 hours. Anaïs gripped the crowbar in her hand tightly, worried about what would happen if she encountered a monster while he was far away.

When she went quite deep into the cave, she felt a chill. In the quiet and eerie atmosphere, she became frightened and slowly advanced one step at a time.

How far had she gone like that? She discovered a treasure chest with a smooth surface that didn’t match the rough and pointed cave walls. A treasure chest, not a wooden box.

“That’s it.”

She ran over, confident that it would contain chocolate. Contrary to her expectations, when she opened the lid, only a single note came out. There was no chocolate anywhere. Anaïs was greatly disappointed but also curious. She immediately read the note.

Be careful not to get eaten by monsters. Your corpse, eaten and discarded by monsters, will soon resurrect as a monster and you’ll never be able to return.

It was written in a mocking tone. She had hoped that if she followed Roderick well without being abandoned, she might be able to finish this game and return home. She felt foolish for having expected that.