Restricted Viewing #3
Rohan entrusted his body to the bed and closed his eyes.
Finding that presence tucked away in a corner of his consciousness wasn't difficult at all.
The moment he grasped the alien lump lying quietly like a book within a book, a stream appeared before his eyes.
Restricted Viewing Video #3
(Authorized Personnel Only)
Videos or books that always showed profound, hard-to-interpret things full of meaning.
But Rohan focused his mind as much as possible, determined not to miss any information.
Because those fragments could eventually come together to paint a clear picture.
Let's go.
What would it show this time?
He worried about potential issues with his physical condition, but anticipation bubbled up too.
────.
The pitch-black world speckled with darkness turned pure white.
Vivid colors swirled in, gathering to form the world.
I can see it.
Just like before, he was borrowing someone's eyes.
Rohan began scrutinizing the background details that came into view.
Whose perspective is this?
A cigarette on the table. An ashtray on the verge of becoming a cactus.
The drooping hair obscuring the vision suggested a woman, and it ruled out the man from last time.
A hand moving to pick up a pen.
The shape of the nails and fingers confirmed it—she was a woman.
The cigarette and hair color... Is this the woman the family head met last time?
The woman who had been with what he presumed was his childhood self.
Her face was hidden, but he could guess from the other details.
"Sssup... ."
The woman habitually put the cigarette in her mouth and began filling the paper with elegant handwriting.
Rohan took in the words she was writing.
Commencing Experiment No. ■■■
Rohan could tell.
To fulfill a researcher's duty in this experiment, this woman was set on writing a personal preface pouring out her emotions.
It carried a small wish that someone in the future might read it.
For young Rowell, nearly freezing to death on the streets, the flame was a symbol of comfort and peace.
For Jenny, who lost her family to fire, the flame was terror and disaster.
What is fire to us? This irregularly flickering form evokes diverse impressions and meanings for each individual.
"Hoo... ."
Thick smoke leaked from her lips, drifting toward the ceiling.
We have learned that fire can become a symbol of peace for current humanity. And we are convinced it will be terror for the monsters threatening humanity.
···
···
To punish those who betrayed humanity, we need a fire that burns everything. The day a flame befitting the ideology of purifying the world arrives...
!?
It flashed clearly in Rohan's mind.
The title "humanity's betrayer" that followed Omega's name.
"Hoo... ."
The woman exhaled, finishing her emotional scribbles.
Thud!
The notebook closed. Her hands trembled violently as she set down the pen and cigarette.
A curse slipped from her lips, the mouth that had spat out the cigarette.
"Fuck... ."
A delicate voice, but words that were anything but.
This woman, who had appeared calm and crude in front of the family head, was now gripped by extreme anxiety and fear.
Recalling some moment from the past.
What the hell?
The background Rohan was seeing turned pitch black. Now he was even borrowing the woman's imagination.
Sharing something she had directly seen and experienced.
Abyss City 5.0 Version PV: "Humanity's Betrayers"
Rohan stared blankly at the notification window.
Abyss City version 5? The one I was playing was version 2.
No time to sort his thoughts.
The video played.
The location was a fog-shrouded canyon.
Eerie. Not a single person in sight.
─ Woooom.
A massive whale emitted a horn-like sound, belly flat against the earth.
Void Whale... .
The monster that destroyed the Southern Ruins. Rohan had never seen it in person.
But it was familiar from official illustrations and scattered story appearances.
Even so, I didn't expect it to be this big.
"Whale" didn't even seem adequate.
He wondered if the Creator had bestowed life upon a mountain range.
What was that thing, anyway? Was it really okay to classify it as a mere monster?
─ Groooan.
Just its existence melted the surroundings black.
It moved using the world transformed into an unknown liquid as footing.
─ Grooo.
Suddenly, the Void Whale opened its maw.
Void Whales specialized in creating dimensional rifts in their mouths to spew monsters.
Rohan sensed this was a crucial scene and widened his eyes.
Spitting out monsters here? But there's nothing around?
But it defied expectations.
Something more shocking than monsters emerged from the Void Whale's mouth.
Humans.
Bursting through the dimensional rift created by the Void Whale.
A group of humans walked out.
...?
Rohan couldn't process the scene for a moment.
Dimensional rifts were exits for monsters.
They closed after spitting monsters and repelled humans, so they couldn't be used as entrances.
The shock didn't let up.
Incredibly, there were familiar faces in the group.
Omega and Hex stood among them.
Omega lacked the burn scars from the uninhabited island encounter, but his inhuman body felt similar.
Hex was exactly as in the illustrations.
Rohan's thoughts deepened.
PV title: "Humanity's Betrayers"... .
Beyond the rift in the Void Whale's mouth.
What lay there?
If he could just confirm that, the itching curiosity gnawing at his mind would vanish completely.
But the Void Whale had already submerged into the melted ground and vanished.
"... ."
Rohan's eyes opened.
Glancing at his phone, about five minutes had passed.
As expected, viewing restricted content fatigued not just his body but his mind too.
The bed felt too comfortable.
He forced himself upright, thinking he'd sleep the whole day if he drifted off now, and checked the new messages from Sion and Clara.
···
···
They said afternoon was planned, but it ended quicker than expected.
Rohan arrived at the luxurious mansion—Sion's house.
He'd bought high-end tissue paper as a housewarming gift.
He'd considered a diffuser but didn't know their preferred scents, and his condition wasn't up for leisurely shopping.
Ding-dong!
He rang the bell. Silence. No answer.
Ding-dong!
Still nothing.
What? They seem to be home?
They'd definitely said they'd wait in their messages.
He thought about calling but figured they might be moving stuff inside, so Rohan pulled out his card key.
He had access to Sion's mansion—card key and fingerprint registered.
He'd initially refused, saying it was fine, but accepted after her "just in case" examples.
Beep!
The gate opened.
The inner doorknob turned smoothly too.
"Sion? Clara?"
Rohan called their names as he placed his shoes in the entryway and stepped inside.
The fatigue doubled with every passing second. This wasn't normal.
Without focusing, his eyelids drooped, luring him into sleep.
"Rohan. You're here?"
"O-Onii-chan... !"
They emerged from a room.
Rohan gaped at Sion and Clara.
They weren't wearing the negligees bought at the shopping mall yesterday? No—they were.
Sion strode confidently into the living room.
Clara shuffled stiffly behind her, half-hiding, her steps creaking.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Both of you, put on proper clothes!"
"It's my house, so it's fine, isn't it?"
"... ."
Sion kept a straight face, but her ears were flushed red.
Clara's eyes were already spinning.
Rohan felt the pent-up sexual frustration since arriving in Academy City surging strongly.
He mentally sang the national anthem through to suppress it.
The desires he'd ignored by overworking his body and expending stamina had ballooned enormously.
"If you'd rung the bell, we'd have changed. But there wasn't time."
"... I rang it several times."
Sion replied mechanically, as if she'd been waiting.
"Then the bell must be broken. We didn't hear it. I'll get it fixed tomorrow."
"Y-Yeah... ! Broken... ! It's broken!"
Rohan burst into hollow laughter at Clara chiming in with her dizzy face.
Better to just say it straight.
"I'm a healthy guy too, you know. This is tough on me."
"... !"
Sion's eyes widened, her lips twitching.
Clara reacted the same.
"We'll be careful."
"Y-Yeah... S-Sorry... !"
Looking satisfied, as if mission accomplished, they retreated to change.
"Ha."
Rohan set down the tissue paper and let out a long breath.
···
···
Sion had prepared a room for Rohan in the mansion.
A sign to come over anytime—basic furniture and a bed included.
Rohan felt burdened but couldn't hide his sleepiness.
After a quick tour, he lay on the bed without even blankets, saying he'd nap briefly.
"Wake me in 30 minutes," he requested before closing his eyes.
The girls finished discussing their strategy recap and shopping lists—exactly 30 minutes.
They came to wake Rohan.
"... Rare sight."
"Y-Yeah."
"That tired?"
"If it's his usual routine... he probably came straight after training... ."
Sion and Clara judged the deeply sleeping Rohan as an unusual occurrence.
He didn't stir even from their open conversation.
"... ."
Bad thoughts clouded the girls' minds, now facing their affections head-on.
But stealing was wrong.
For their first time, they harbored a fantasy of Rohan taking the lead once their feelings aligned.
"S-Sis... !"
"Hm?"
Clara, startled by something, pointed at Rohan's lower body.
A natural physiological response.
A massive rod stood erect—so huge it might have torn less stretchy pants.
Ferocious presence.
"As we said, he's a healthy guy, so it's natural... natural... a natural bodily phenomenon... n-nothing to be surprised about... ."
Sion muttered excuses but couldn't hide her fluster.
Should they leave the room?
If Rohan woke now, it'd be super awkward.
"... ."
But.
Curiosity sometimes invites trouble.
The girls moved silently without a word.
They began observing Rohan's lower body closely.
An intense scent wafted. Thick enough to fill the room.
Hard to describe, but addictive.
Thus, Sion and Clara drew closer, boldly inspecting.
At the distance where his unique heat was felt, they exhaled two breaths.
Rohan's body reacted.
Pent-up desires over a long period.
His vibrant body chose nocturnal emission to release them.
"Ah... ?"
"!"
Sticky fluid burst through the thin knit pants like a fountain.
Pure white, hot liquid splattered onto Sion and Clara.