Chapter 74: A Room You Cannot Leave Unless You Do It (1)

A faint voice brushed past my ears.

“…ke…… …up………how long are you going to sleep…… wake the hell up……!”

It sounded desperate, urgent.

But an overwhelming fatigue pressed down on my entire body, making it impossible to stay conscious.

The voice reached me muffled, as if I were submerged underwater.

‘By the way… how long have I been in here?’

One day? Two? Three, four? Or even longer?

I had no idea.

Ever since entering Maslow’s Tower, my sense of time had been completely shattered.

The only certainty was that my body had long surpassed its limit.

My limbs felt like lead, my mind drunk and hazy.

Just as consciousness was about to slip away again.

“Hey! Stop sprawling there and wake the fuck up, you bastard!”

A sharp, piercing voice slammed into my eardrums.

SMACK! SLAP!

Stinging pain exploded across both cheeks.

I jolted awake.

“Gah!”

Shin Sodam was rubbing her reddened palm with a scowl.

“Did you embed steel rods in your face or something? Why the hell is it so hard? Ugh, that hurt…”

“What the—! Why—! Got a problem!?”

The moment our eyes met, she barked at me.

“You think I enjoy slapping people? Next time wake up nicely when I tell you to! Do you even know how many minutes I’ve been trying to wake you?”

She whipped her head away.

I looked around.

“Where…”

I was lying on a pink bed.

Two pillows side by side read YES and NO.

The sheets still held dryer-fresh warmth.

The faint scent of fabric softener and the soft embrace of the bedding made me want to collapse back into it.

Beyond the bed, translucent lace curtains draped around like a princess tent.

Hundreds of roses decorated the walls.

‘…No, on closer look, it’s wallpaper printed with hundreds of roses.’

Soft pink lighting bathed the room brightly, white frills fluttering everywhere.

In one corner stood a fully glass-walled shower.

About 26㎡ total.

Only two people inside: me and Shin Sodam.

No mistake.

I had seen pictures of this kind of place on internet forums.

A lodging with a very… specific purpose.

A love hotel.

Then Shin Sodam’s irritated voice rang out.

“Hey! You over there! Stop spacing out and come open this!”

She was standing in front of what looked like a red exit door.

I grabbed the handle and pulled with all my strength.

“……!”

It didn’t budge.

Like tugging on something perfectly welded shut.

I shoved with my shoulder—nothing, like pushing a boulder.

I kicked it hard—still nothing.

Shin Sodam sighed.

“As expected, no good.”

She pointed at a red magic stone embedded above the door.

“It’s a barrier. A really complicated one. Unless we deal with that, it’ll never open.”

“Then why make me try?”

“These kinds of barriers always need testing. Some can only be opened by men, some only by women. And…”

She bit her thumbnail, eyes restless.

“I wasn’t just sitting on my hands while you were snoring away on the bed! I tried everything! Even over 1000°C heat didn’t leave a scratch—what the hell am I supposed to do!?”

She grabbed the handle herself, pushed, pulled, kicked.

Of course, the door didn’t move an inch.

“Fuck this shit!”

Cursing, she stepped back.

“Hey. Read that.”

She pointed at a golden sign beside the door.

At the top was the familiar phrase.

[A Room You Cannot Leave Unless You Do It]

The exact text I’d seen before passing out.

So I hadn’t imagined it.

‘This is that old meme.’

The infamous “Room You Cannot Leave Unless You Do It.”

A cliché that appears often in subculture: the door only opens once a specific condition is met.

Never thought I’d see the joke IRL.

Below the title was a short explanation.

[A Room You Cannot Leave Unless You Do It]  

– If you do it, you can escape the Sexual Desire section.  

– If you don’t do it, you cannot escape the Sexual Desire section.

It didn’t specify what had to be done.

But.

‘Well, obviously that.’

The word that stood out most was Sexual Desire.

Since entering Maslow’s Tower, we had been tested by various desires.

Hunger, breathing, sleep, excretion—all instincts necessary for human survival.

‘Sexual desire is one of them.’

Shin Sodam spoke.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Do about what?”

“And why are you speaking informally?”

“You’re doing it too.”

“…”

She glared, brows furrowed.

Then snapped.

“Hey, how old are you?”

“Twenty-four this year.”

“Tch.”

She turned her head sharply.

“Who cares about age these days? Acting all high and mighty because you’re older is the most pathetic thing ever.”

As far as I knew, Shin Sodam was twenty this year.

She looked back at me.

“So what are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“Argh! Seriously! You saw that sign and have no thoughts? You just read it like a robot? Tell me what you think! I’m asking for your opinion! AAAAAH! You’re so frustrating!”

She hysterically ruffled her hair.

Red sparks crackled around her.

I looked at her and answered calmly.

“We look for another way. If there isn’t one, then we do what it says. If that’s the only way out.”

“W-W-W-What—!?”

Her eyes went wide, blinking blankly.

But only for a second.

“W-Who the hell said I’d do it with you!? Look at this guy! Way more overconfident than he looks! You? With me? With Shin Sodam? The Red Mage Tower Lord? In your dreams! The audacity!”

Her face turned crimson as she shrieked.

Then she jabbed frantically at the sign.

“You didn’t read the nameplate properly! The part at the bottom!”

“Bottom?”

I looked again. Tiny letters were written below.

[A Room You Cannot Leave Unless You Do It]

– If you do it, you can escape the Sexual Desire section.

– If you don’t do it, you cannot escape the Sexual Desire section.  

※ However, if only one person remains in the Sexual Desire section, the door will also open.

If only one person remains.

The meaning was clear.

Either fulfill the “mission” the Sexual Desire section demands and escape together.

Or kill the other person and escape alone.

Neither choice was easy.

Then rough breathing came from behind me.

“Haa…… haa…… haa……”

Shin Sodam was panting heavily, face flushed bright red.

Only now did I notice the beads of sweat rolling down her face.

Heavy breathing. Pouring sweat. Flushed cheeks and unfocused eyes.

I had thought she was just being hysterical, but something was clearly wrong.

She slapped her own cheeks.

“It keeps feeling hot…… my head’s getting fuzzy…… This room…… I can’t stay here even one more second……It feels like shit…… the longer I stay…… the worse it gets……  

I can’t……”

She started walking toward me.

One step. Another. Another.

Panting harshly as she approached.

“Haa…… haa…… ah…… haa……”

Cheeks flushed, breathing ragged.

Staring straight at me with clouded eyes!

‘No way…’

Every section we had passed through so far had one thing in common.

A specific desire became unbearably intense.

In the Breathing section, you desperately wanted to inhale.

In the Hunger section, you were starving to death.

In the Sleep section, you’d give up your life for five more minutes of sleep.

The Excretion section was the same.

Then Shin Sodam unclasped the buckle of the cloak draped over her shoulders.

“I can’t…… I can’t hold it anymore…… no more……”

Swish—

The cloak bearing the Red Mage Tower crest slid to the carpet.

What should I do? What is the optimal choice?

Even as I pondered, she kept closing the distance.

She was now within arm’s reach.

“Haa…… haa…… nngh……”

She covered her mouth with one hand, trying to steady her breathing.

Tears welled in her slightly reddened eyes.

“I’m sorry. I can’t control myself anymore……!”

Her gaze changed.

Like a starving wolf staring at a lamb.

“……!”

Danger.

The thought flashed through my mind instinctively.

Then, in a moist voice, she whispered.

“Please…… just die……”

“?”

Above her head, red mana rings began spinning.

FWOOM!

Oh.

This is actually life-threatening.