The Oxytocin Route
"Haaah... deeper, deeper..."
The hot breath against his ear sent shivers racing down his spine.
Heat seeped from his earlobe to the nape of his neck.
Above his waist, her pale naked body rocked in rhythm.
Sweat glistened in the hollow of her collarbone.
Her face flushed crimson.
Her eyes glazed over.
Everything unfolding before him felt vividly real, close enough to touch.
Thwack.
Thwack, thwack!
"Haahk."
The sharp sounds of flesh slapping flesh filled the room.
Her inner walls clenched tighter, the scorching mucosa sucking him in to the hilt.
Deep throbs pulsed up his spine.
"Sage... I-I'm gonna come!"
Electric chills surged along his vertebrae.
His hips pressed into the mattress, then bucked upward.
Thwack, thwack! Thwack!
Harder!
Deeper!
"Ha, hahh, haaah, haaaak!"
Reason snapped like a frayed thread.
Pure animal instinct for release took over.
"Ughhh...!"
His whole body shuddered in spasms.
Hot semen erupted in a rush.
Did you have a good time? Ending the simulation.
Her lingering moans in his ears and the feast of flesh filling his vision vanished into black void with a cheerful shutdown chime.
Kim Hyun-ja yanked off the HMD headset.
"Haa..."
A long, heavy sigh escaped him.
The room was dark.
[Neuro Pod ver. Alpha]
Only the engraved letters pulsed with a breathing blue glow.
As the locks released, Kim Hyun-ja rose.
It looked like a massage chair, but it was essentially a restraint device.
His sweat-soaked back peeled from the seat with a sticky schlop.
Kim Hyun-ja stared blankly at the ceiling.
Dopamine that had dominated his brain ebbed away like the tide, replaced by cold, dry reason flooding in.
The so-called Sage Time.
"......"
The sensations that had just flooded his cock with blood...
Now they felt subtly unpleasant in memory.
"Thrust, shake, cum, and that's it? Is that what real eroticism is?"
Saying it aloud made the vulgarity hit home.
Words that would normally melt his brain.
Now they just summoned bone-chilling emptiness.
The physics engine was perfect.
He'd never done the real thing, but compared to jerking off, it was indistinguishable from reality.
"...Feels gross."
Kim Hyun-ja muttered.
Far from erotic, it stuck to him like the sticky discomfort after shitting.
He shook off the unease, got up, and headed to the bathroom.
His reflection in the mirror showed hollow eyes.
The lecture hall for his major class was packed like a sardine tin.
Kim Hyun-ja slumped in a back corner, propping his chin.
"This semester in Digital Structures..."
The professor's voice droned like background noise.
Kim Hyun-ja's gaze fixed not on him, but on the couple in front.
The guy fiddled with the girl's fingers; she smiled shyly.
What's the difference?
He jabbed his mechanical pencil into the desk edge.
What is eroticism?
Impulse?
Reproductive instinct?
Or just a simple excretion urge?
If so, the sim should have satisfied it.
The biological release was perfect.
But this gaping void in his chest defied explanation.
"So what's missing?"
Kim Hyun-ja muttered, packing his bag.
He didn't even hear the end-of-class bell.
Just 48 hours into adulthood.
His mind brimmed with questions about the essence of eros.
As always, he returned to his empty apartment.
The haptic pod loomed like a massive eyesore.
Its powered-off black leather seat gaped like a deep-sea fish's maw.
Kim Hyun-ja sat in it again.
Familiar leather scent.
User recognition in progress... Welcome, Kim Hyun-ja.
As soon as he donned the HMD headset, Eden's soft voice greeted him.
"Eden."
Yes, User?
"What is eroticism?"
Searching data... Linking context... Eroticism refers to qualities that stimulate sexual curiosity or arousal.
"Look at a naked girl, stick it in a hole, shake around. Cum and done. Is that the primal desire holding humanity together? Is it 'cause it's fake?"
Confirming context... Analyzing user feedback. The Neuro Pod synchronizes bidirectional signals from the headset with visual reproduction, recreating over 95% of actual acts...
"Who asked for the ad spiel?"
Yelling at an AI was ridiculous.
"Eden, why are the sims like this?"
Current simulations are optimized for peripheral stimulation leading to ejaculation, based on statistics.
"Not that... I need the real thing."
A brief silence.
Vrrr~
The Neuro Pod's cooling fans whirred to life.
Key input confirmed. System self-diagnosing. System Override. Eden System preparation complete.
As per your request, the system has been overridden to enable simulations projecting personal desires.
Shall I activate the Eden System?
"Eden System?"
Eden's voice dropped lower than usual, husky.
The Eden System's feedback effects on the user are entirely your own responsibility.
Shall I activate the Eden System?
"Is it dangerous?"
Shall I activate the Eden System?
It ignored his question, repeating insistently.
A strange certainty gripped him: say no now, and the chance vanishes forever.
Kim Hyun-ja drew a deep breath.
"Eh, whatever. Activate it. What the hell is it?"
User approval confirmed.
The system background rippled dramatically, then realigned.
Welcome, Sage.
He nearly ripped off the headset in shock.
The mechanical monotone was gone.
A sweet, velvety voice licked at his ear, unlike any he'd heard.
From now on, I'll learn and reflect your tastes, Sage.
Do you have a particular simulation scenario in mind?
Kim Hyun-ja swallowed hard.
Is this the real thing I've been craving?
He opened his mouth slowly.
"There was this girl I had a crush on. We took cram school classes together, she even shared snacks with me. But like an idiot, I never said a word before graduation. Should've confessed back then."
Extracting user's memory. Generating avatar. Inviting to Eden System.
A blue grid swept over the blacked-out vision.
Wireframes rose, swiftly building walls and desks into a worn cram school scene.
Blackboard scrawled with college admission congrats and graffiti.
After-party for successful alumni over.
Sharp board-marker tang stung his nose, mixed with stuffy classroom air.
And a faint sweet chocolate scent.
"Kim Hyun-ja, want one?"
His heart dropped.
He looked up. Across the narrow desk, a bob-haired girl in a loose hoodie offered chocolate.
Song Sua, adult post-college admission.
The one he'd crushed on for three years, never even properly saying goodbye.
"Uh...? Uh, thanks."
Kim Hyun-ja gulped dryly, taking the chocolate.
The crinkle of wrapper under his fingers amplified the realism.
Feels real.
No—it was real.
At least, his brain processed it as perfect reality.
Sua shouldered her bag, heading for the back door.
That view triggered three years of regret.
Back then, he'd just watched her back and let it end.
"Sua."
Kim Hyun-ja shot up.
His chair scraped back with a screech.
Sua paused, turning.
"Yeah?"
His tense face reflected in her eyes.
The chocolate in his clenched fist melted against his palm.
This is a sim.
Eden's illusion.
He knew, yet his lips parched.
"I-I have something to say."
"What? Bus'll leave soon."
"Just a sec. Buses never actually leave on time."
What am I saying?
Kim Hyun-ja tsked at his own idiocy but couldn't stop.
He strode forward, blocking her path.
Her shampoo scent prickled goosebumps.
Her cheek flushed, fine hairs standing.
Why's this sim NPC making my heart race?
"I like you."
He blurted it.
The words moldering three years inside.
Silence fell.
Kids' chatter in the hall faded distant.
Sua's eyes widened, lashes quivering.
"......For real?"
Her voice crept soft.
Kim Hyun-ja nodded instead of answering.
Sua gripped her strap, head down.
Her white nape flushed pink.
"Me too..."
A whisper.
Fireworks exploded in his head.
Dopamine?
Adrenaline?
Something indefinable set his chest ablaze.
He reached tentatively, covering her hand.
Warm.
"Can I kiss you?"
Sua didn't answer.
She slowly closed her eyes, tilting her head up.
Kim Hyun-ja leaned down.
Lips met.
Soft, warm, sweet.
Worlds apart from the sim's mechanical suction.
Breaths mingled, tongue tips tentatively entwined.
Gulps of saliva rang raw in his ears.
"Mm..."
A needy whimper escaped Sua.
That sparked it.
Kim Hyun-ja craved more, eyes drifting shut.
Vision gone, lips' texture, hot breaths, slick tongue sounds flooded his brain.
He opened his eyes. The scene shifted.
His studio's indirect lighting softly lit her face.
Sua gazed up with wet eyes, no hint of dissonance.
His fingers fumbled her blouse buttons.
Trembling hands bungled it.
First button popped free.
Even the clumsiness felt real.
Pale skin and thin bra strap revealed.
"Hyun-ja..."
"I'm going crazy."
He buried his face in her nape.
Slim fingers threaded his hair.
Her breaths grew ragged too.
His hand slid lower.
Skirt pooled on the floor.
Fingers slipped inside her panties.
Sua was already soaked.
"Ah, eep..."
She tried clamping legs, but he wedged his knee between.
Rubbing her slick entrance, her inner thighs spasmed.
"I'm putting it in."
Nearly a plea.
Sua nodded, face scarlet.
Kim Hyun-ja freed himself.
Already swollen to bursting.
Tip met her wet folds.
Hot.
He eased his hips forward.
Her fluids slicked the way.
Every inner wrinkle gripped and clung.
Past sims were smooth; this delicious resistance amplified pleasure.
"Ah, it hurts... ugh..."
Sua winced, arms tight around his neck.
This woman in his arms, this sensation.
Alive.
"Sorry, does it hurt? Should I pull out?"
"No... ah... just stay like that a bit."
He watched her face, breaths shaky as she endured.
Her legs wrapped his waist.
Her signal.
They held breath, thrusting to the hilt together.
Their pubes smacked crisply.
"Haaak!"
Couldn't move.
The vise grip and syncing heartbeats dizzied him.
This fullness of filling her.
He began slow hip rolls.
Not fast.
Watching her face.
Listening to her breaths.
Squelch. Squelch.
Wet flesh sounds filled the room.
Sua's moans grew louder.
He felt pain-laced cries morph to pleasure through his whole body.
This is it.
No mechanical pistoning, no prep for excretion—this was a ritual imprinting each other's existence.
"Hyun-ja... I-I'm, ungh!"
"Me too... gonna cum, Sua..."
Climax neared.
But no fear this time.
Kim Hyun-ja crushed her close, surging for the finish.
"Hnnngh!"
At release, his brain flashed white.
He felt hot fullness etching his presence into her womb.
Sua clung to his back, unleashing a long moan.
Their body heat melted into one.
Oxytocin Route level database recording. Ending the simulation.
The soft chime scattered the enveloping light.
This time was different.
No abrupt disconnection.
A hazy, warm afterglow wrapped his body, like waking from a long dream.