First Motel Visit
Whether Song Yura understood that the mere suggestion of going to a motel was already a sucker punch, she kept floundering, slathering extra seasoning onto her own words.
"Ah, as I mentioned earlier... the only thing I can offer you right now is, well, my body. A-and yesterday, watching you, Master, it was obvious you're interested in women."
"......"
"Hah! Was that too rude to say? I-I'm sorry. A-and more than anything—"
"What."
I had every intention of turning Song Yura down. Of course I was interested in women — I was a red-blooded man in my twenties. And yesterday, she hadn't been the only one who hadn't properly enjoyed herself. I had been the same. I'd had to take her for the first time wound tight as a tripwire, every nerve strained toward the possibility that someone might walk in on us.
Still. It had been so good it barely made sense.
Sex. I had no intention of denying the physical pleasure that act delivered. I could even understand, in my own way, why people called it one of the three great human desires — and why so many of them wrecked their lives over it.
Even so, I did not want to take Song Yura up on her offer. Accepting it felt like putting a hairline crack in a tower I had spent far too much care building. So no matter what she said, I was going to refuse her coldly and step back.
"I-I want to do it! That's why!"
"What are you even—"
I looked at her with an expression that said I was getting dizzy. She must have read that wrong too, because her eyes welled up as she pressed on.
"I-I made all these excuses, but... in the end I'm just a filthy slut who wants to do it with Master! P-please let me serve you!"
That was when it happened.
Five minutes remaining until checkout.
The message spilled out of the little speaker mounted in our room, and I discovered for the first time in my life that a human face could actually burn.
They heard that. They definitely heard that.
"Let's just get out of here."
I pressed a hand to my forehead and reached out with the other to fix Song Yura's wrecked clothes — and then, God only knew what was going through her head, she clamped down on my wrist, mashed my palm against her chest, and shouted.
"I-I want to go! To a motel!"
"Whoa... you've got some nerve, huh?"
In that instant, through fingers I had been honing more delicately than ever to pass the Second Gate, the soft, yielding give of Song Yura's breast came through perfectly clear. And I answered before I could stop myself.
"Fine."
"Th-then we're going, right? To a motel!"
"I said fine."
Irritated, I tugged her bra back into place over her chest, pulled her T-shirt down, and even fastened the button on her pants.
I eased the door open as carefully as I could. Even so, searing stares slid toward us — not just from the lobby, but from other rooms where doors had cracked open a sliver. Worse, the counter that had held two or three people when we came in now had a cluster of more than five packed behind it.
"Have a good time, sir."
Another little send-off of encouragement. It was dizzying enough that cold sweat ran down my back. Having gotten even a small taste of what true public humiliation felt like, I snuck a glance at Song Yura walking beside me, her arm hooked through mine, smiling.
What the hell is this?
I didn't know enough about women to make a clean call. Did ordinary women turn this devoted toward the man who took their first time? Or did they all carry some latent instinct to become a slave?
Not a chance.
Even I, as ignorant as I was about women, could tell this was a strange development. A special one. Which meant, in the end, that Song Yura was the one who was strange. Special. The way she tormented me had simply changed direction a little.
"Still. It doesn't feel that bad, does it?"
Yeah.
"So honest. That's your charm as an Awakener — and the same thing that strikes more terror into people than anyone else alive."
I realized I had roughly an hour and a half left before Introduction to Mechanical Engineering let out, and nodded to myself. That was more than enough time to enjoy Song Yura. Yesterday it had taken me about ten minutes to finish the first time.
At least five rounds, easy.
I knew perfectly well that the average man couldn't go five times in a row. I might not have known women, but I knew men. With the System's help, though, I was already past ordinary, and five times wasn't anything difficult.
"I looked up motels nearby, and this one supposedly has the best facilities."
She was walking with her arm linked through mine and she'd already searched that up with her free hand?
"Don't you dare underestimate a woman's research skills! There's a reason women run high society, you know. Ahem!"
I had no idea why Karina sounded so proud of that.
It was a motel with the kind of design young people would go for.
"You can buy cosplay cheap, they've got all kinds of toys stocked, and the bath facilities are supposed to be good. Seems decent all around."
Interesting enough, but none of the services particularly pulled at me.
"More than anything, it's unmanned, so there's nobody at the counter."
"Let's go in."
"Yes, Master!"
Song Yura smiled like she'd known that would get me, slipped inside, and paid with her own card faster than anyone else could have moved.
A small hatch clicked open once the payment went through, and we could take the key card for our room. Looking at a system like that, you really did understand how far modern civilization had come. The magic I'd seen through the Tutorial could transcend the laws of nature, sure — but only a handful of people could ever wield it. Most of the time, it was human hands doing the work in its place.
"Room 401... let's go up to the fourth floor."
A chime sounded. When we stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor, the light mounted above the room we'd just rented for a few hours was already blinking.
I'll give them this — the service is clean.
I had never set foot in a place like this. Every little detail was new.
"Wow, this is actually so cool. I've never been to a place like this either, Master."
There was no way she could have known what I was thinking. Watching her chatter away like she did anyway, bright and excited, settled something in my chest — just a little. If I had come alone I might have been wound tight, or run into some small difficulty. Instead she had handled all of it, and all I had to do was enjoy myself.
...Not bad.
In the end, I opened the door to Room 401 with Song Yura wearing a looser expression than before, and we stepped inside.
The key card had barely slid home before lights flicked on all over the room and the bathroom vent spun up with a low drone. After a moment the sound dropped off, but still.
It was a decent size, and clean. A soft, spotless bed big enough for two people to roll around on, a TV and a computer, and a bathroom attached.
Even this is much better and bigger than our place.
The thought rose on its own, and with it came Han Suhui, who would be studying hard at school around now. I wanted to make her happy as soon as I possibly could. I wanted to hand her a better life.
In that sense, working off some stress through Song Yura — and making her a little more obedient in the process — didn't seem like a bad idea at all.
And there's something I need to check.
How far did the word all in Demonic Energy actually reach? And was that influence the reason Song Yura had changed this much? I intended to find out.
"Sometimes you really do seem like a complete idiot. And then you're thorough as ever. Also, you're far more at home with malice than goodwill."
"Karina can only hope humans don't make foolish choices."
"And..."
Karina didn't finish the rest, but I could tell she was hanging a certain amount of expectation on Song Yura. As things stood, Song Yura might well become a decent failsafe after Han Suhui.
That will never happen.
Even if I somehow grew an attachment to Song Yura that hadn't been there before — I might throw my life away for Han Suhui. For Song Yura, that would never, ever happen. My head would not allow it. Even if she became a hostage or a tool meant to be used against me, I was the kind of man who would judge letting himself be used a stupid choice, and abandon Song Yura instead.
I know myself well enough.
While I muttered that inwardly, Song Yura had tossed her handbag aside and was looking over various menus.
"Holy crap. This motel makes its own food? It's like a Japanese love hotel. And Master — they sell all kinds of cosplay here cheap. Want anything? If you do, I'll order it right now."
"......"
I quietly scanned the menu she held out. Honestly, what man wouldn't be curious about what a motel menu had on it? School blazers, maid outfits, cheerleader uniforms, police costumes — every kind of cosplay you could name. My mouth fell open a little in spite of myself.
Way beyond anything I imagined.
The fact that I had instantly pictured Song Yura in those outfits was embarrassing enough on its own. And it wasn't just the clothes. They were selling all kinds of adult toys as well. The room came stocked with a basic bathroom kit and two condoms, and if that wasn't enough you could order more from the motel itself.
There was no need. After yesterday's first time, I had already bought plenty of condoms at the convenience store.
"Say whatever you want — in the end, Awakener, you're still a man. You've had a taste of a woman and popped a cherry. There's no stopping that."
"There are carnivores who've never tasted meat. There is no such thing as a carnivore who learns the taste of meat and then holds back."
True.
It had been a little uncomfortable, but I could not forget the sensation of spreading Song Yura's legs and pushing into that small hole of hers. Were all women's bodies that soft, that fragrant?
Song Yura looked completely unbothered. I, on the other hand, was already a wreck just holding back the urge to strip every scrap of clothing off her and soil that soft skin until there was nothing left clean.
"I don't need the cosplay. I'm not knowledgeable enough about women to jump into that kind of thing already."
"Yes..."
"So you — my slave, who I can do whatever I want with — are going to teach me what a woman is. I told you yesterday."
"A-anything. Please just tell me what to do. I'll do... anything."
Her obedient declaration sent an ugly satisfaction welling up from somewhere deep in my chest. Call it the dark side of being human. The knowledge that you could dominate someone and do whatever you pleased was a terrifying idea — and it delivered a satisfaction that was purely of the mind. Because it meant trampling the other person's human rights underfoot and treating them as nothing.
But... Song Yura was a woman it was acceptable to do that to.
"Then from now on, no matter what I do, you take it quietly. That's your job."
"Yes, Master."
The word Master was starting to stick in my ear. More than that, it drew a clean line through whatever this was between us, and I liked that.
Yes. Song Yura was a slave.
At first I had been about to order her to strip naked on the spot. Then I changed my mind. For some reason, I wanted to peel the clothes off a woman who wouldn't resist, one layer at a time, with my own hands. First I wanted to see the breasts that had stolen my eyes since the cafe, so I gave the order.
"Arms up."
In that instant—
"Pfft."
"Pffft!"
Song Yura and Karina both burst out laughing. I realized too late that I had used the exact phrase I always used with Han Suhui, and squeezed my eyes shut against a wave of mortification.
"...Raise both hands."
By the time I tried to recover, it was already too late.