"Fear is one greatest motivator."
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I braced myself to confront the reality from which I'd no means of getting away. "Would I really die if I exceeded the time limit? Considering the tremendous abilities of the "items" made available by the game, it seems truly possible. The ones who drove me into this kind of game are most probably powerful enough to be omniscient and omnipotent. Who knows, I might've actually ended up in a game that's meant to entertain the gods. Therefore, if I don't follow by their rules and clear the game, I might really die just as the content on the newly added window mentioned." In the end, I had no choice but to brave dangers in order to find out about the conquest methods one by one and clear the missions.
I had gotten inside a fearful game and felt quite scared about it, however, time wouldn't wait for me to come to terms with my present situation, so the only choice left was to adapt to my new reality.
I tapped on the game window and loaded [Items Shop] once again.
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[Lv.1 Scouter 880 USD]
[Sleep-inducing Spray 2200 USD]
[Omnipotent Key 5280 USD]
[Camera 880 USD]
[Foreign Car 440000 USD]
[Domestic Car 70400 USD]
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I had no intention to recklessly purchase several items all at once this time around. First of all, I seriously pondered over the necessity of purchasing items for the conquest, and finally decided against buying [Sleep-inducing Spray] and [Camera] for the time being. I wasn't planning to use them anytime soon, and I could always purchase them later whenever I felt the need to do so.
Next, I focused my attention on "Omnipotent Key." I could naturally make a good use of it in the conquest mission, but if by any chance using "omnipotent key" to sneak into the target's place was enough to be deemed as going beyond the bounds of rules and the police came running inside again, it'd be wasting $5280 for nothing.
I was concerned about the odd limitation on the number of times [Omnipotent Key] could be used. The number of times it could be used was oddly set to 6, but usually a strategic item like that shouldn't have any such limitation. It was very likely a way to restrict the abuse of a convenient item like that.
Judging by the previous experience, the compulsion power seemed to only activate when trying to assault the female target, and opening the door with the key was presumably all right. If that was really the case, it was meaningless to set limitation for [Omnipotent Key] in the first place. It could be very well called a useless item if you could use it to intrude the target's place, but were not allowed to assault her.
"However, its ability to open all kinds of doors is still quite attractive as it could be used effectively in those times when I need to infiltrate or escape from some place." As I thought about the pros of [Omnipotent Key], I found it hard to ignore the merits of having it with me, and decided to purchase it again.
[Omnipotent Key: Would you like to purchase it with 5280 USD?]
I hesitated a bit looking at the amount I was going to spend, but eventually I tapped on the window as I heaved a deep sigh. After making the confirmation to purchase the key, I operated game windows, opened [Money in possession], and loaded "Omnipotent Key."
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[Omnipotent Key]:
[Can open all kinds of doors.]
[Stand before the door you wish to open and tap on its item window to use it.]
[Can be used: 5 times]
#The number of times it can be used would not change even after purchasing the key again.
#The number of times the key can be used is possible to be restored to the maximum limit by purchasing it again after leveling up.
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I wanted to confirm the number of times it could be used now, and just as I expected, it had decreased from 6 to 5 times. It appeared safe to assume that all the important values in this game wouldn't be restored even after using "load" to return to a time in the past.
Having purchased an item, I immediately updated the "save point." I had no intention to let the same thing happen again and lose everything I purchased after spending so much money to buy them.
Putting the matter of "items" aside for now, it was an issue of nigh importance to come up with a method to conquer Sakurai. There wasn't that much information available to me after all. I mean she did seem to be enjoying extramarital affairs, keeping her husband totally clueless, but how was I supposed to make any use of it?
"There's just too little information to decide how to deal with her. Conquest or not, it seems possible to get laid with her if I can get close to her. But even if it's so, it doesn't seem like a practical method to suddenly start flirting with Sakurai in order to approach her. In the end, I'm lacking enough information. With the information I have at the moment, not only I wouldn't be able to conquer her but it would be also a pure waste of time to plan out strategies based on it." I analyzed the situation and determined to go to Sakurai's place.
I wanted to get some useful information by exploring her apartment. For the purpose of approaching her, I had to know some of her normal hobbies; that unusual hobby of going to clubhouses wasn't something I could talk about with her after all. Moreover, I needed to make certain whether simply trespassing the target's place would be enough to trigger the mobilization of the police. Although I was pretty sure that wasn't the case, if I could get 100% confirmation of my deduction, I wouldn't have to worry about any risk in the future when using [Omnipotent Key].
Hence, I planned to cautiously sneak into her place in her absence. I rolled up the curtains of the window and concentrated my attention outside. After opening the curtains I could see the entrance of her apartment as it was right opposite to the place I lived; this was also the reason that I was aware of the time she used to come out for disposing garbage.
"I've to look for the chance when she leaves her place to sneak in and start my investigation." I thought to myself.
It was a little past 11:30. I felt tired and quite bored just looking at outside, and earnestly missed my PC. "Damn it! It would've been so much better if I could use the PC. It doesn't seem like she'd be leaving her place in the morning. Oh, now that I think about it, she was lying down in front of the TV wearing only hot pants and T-shirt. That implies she has no plans of going anywhere anytime soon."
Coming to the conclusion that it was pointless to keep on watching outside, I thought of going to the convenience store to take care of my hunger; all the stuff I bought earlier had disappeared after I used [Load] to return to the past. So I went to the convenience store again and bought a lunch box to eat at my place. I kept my eyes outside as I finished the lunch, and time continued to pass without any sign of her going out. "Don't tell me she already went outside while I was off to the convenience store?" I wondered.
According to what I'd heard, females took quite a time to get prepared when going outside, and especially, when going out for a long time; I was also hoping to sneak into her place during one of those times when she would be off for good several hours. Therefore, I wished for her to be still inside her apartment, or else I'd have ended up missing a good chance vainly waiting for her to come out. I was starting to feel irritated at the fact that I could do nothing but look on outside when I finally noticed some movement. It saw Sakurai walking out of the entrance wearing tight jeans and blouse, and she'd even put on make-up.
Anyone could guess that she was planning to go out looking at the way she was dressed up. As per the information provided by the scouter she had extramarital affairs with many men, and no matter how you looked at it she seemed to be going out to meet her lover while keeping it a secret from her husband. I realized that this might be a chance to carry out my plan and quickly head toward the apartment building. Considering the possibility that her husband or someone else might have come while I was off to the convenience store and could be inside the apartment, I rang the doorbell first to avoid getting myself into any sort of messy situation. It was important to be as careful as possible so I didn't lose my patience and rang the doorbell several times, but eventually got no response at all. In other words, it was safe to sneak in.
[Would you like to use Omnipotent Key?]
I loaded the item window of "Omnipotent Key" and tapped on it. The door unlocked and I was able to get in without any issue. I took off my shoes and looked around the living room as I entered inside. Just as I expected, the police weren't mobilized for trespassing someone's place. The compulsion power didn't act in a manner that would invalidate the meaning of Omnipotent Key's existence.
It could be said with certainty now that the strange phenomena of the police coming running inside occurred because I tried to assault Sakurai. I put down all the worries and looked around the place. There was a TV set up in front of the couch, and some furniture was placed here and there. I didn't find anything strange about the place itself.
I walked over to the table and found several mails lying on it. When I checked them, they turned out to be demand notes to loan money, and notifications concerning loan default. "Does this have any connection with the money she has been spending in the clubhouses she visits without letting her husband know?" I wondered as I looked at the mails.
There were two other rooms in the apartment, a bedroom and a study. I saw a bed, dressing table and closet as I entered the bedroom. When I casually opened the closet, I found a lot of her clothes hanging inside. But don't know why I couldn't find her husband's clothes. "Because they store their clothes in separate places? Or maybe they're not living under the safe roof? Judging by the information scouter provided that they don't get along, my hypothesis seem to be plausible." I left the bedroom and head toward the study. It was possibly being used by the husband as I found a lot of things that were supposed to be used by men. However, everything inside the study was nothing out of the ordinary, and didn't help me get any useful information.
The only thing I found strange was that it didn't seem like anyone had been inside for quite a while as the books that probably belonged to the husband were covered in a lot of dust. On comparing the study with the bedroom that was completely clean, one could come to the conclusion that so much dirt had accumulated in the room because it was intentionally left unclean.
My earlier hypothesis about the married couple living apart truly seemed to be the case here.
I thought of looking inside the bathroom. There was only one toothbrush in there, and everything inside it from jumper to shampoo was made for female use. Looking at the sight before me, I felt my hypothesis getting closer and closer to the truth.
As for the kitchen, except for a very big refrigerator there was nothing that could be perceived as noteworthy, and I so returned to the living room again. In the large-sized wedding photo placed in front of the TV, Sakurai and her husband were smiling happily. "Seeing them so happy really makes one wonder just what happened between the two of them that they ended up living apart. Well, it's quite likely due to her cheating on him though."
*Piriririri*
I was lost in thoughts when I heard the unlocking sound of the door. I ran inside the bedroom feeling surprised and at once closed the door behind me. "Man, she came back a lot earlier than I'd expected. How should I deal with this troublesome situation? She'd find out about me if she comes here in the bedroom." I was trying to think of a way to avoid the worst outcome when the closet caught my eye. I quickly opened the closet and hid inside, earnestly praying in my heart for her to leave the apartment again.
I heard the sound of the bedroom door opening. It was most possibly Sakurai who had entered the room. My heart was in my mouth as I could have gotten found out any second.
"So you were walking around looking for my place?"
"Yeah, it was hard to find the exact location."
" You could've just called me up to ask for directions instead of roaming around here and there."
"We men gotta maintain our pride, you know."
"Yeah right, like you didn't have to call me in the end."
"More importantly, you sure that your husband won't be coming home?"
"Yeah, he won't. Just stop worrying about those things and come here, give me a kiss. I've been feeling so horny for quite a while now. Ufu!"
"Now that's what I like about you!"
As soon as their conversation came to an end, I started hearing sucking sounds. "They must be kissing right now. But seriously, of all things that could've happened they had to kiss in my presence, huh. Does this mean they'll soon start doing "it" on the bed?"
I simply had no words for Sakurai who must've been doing the same thing with many men out there. Suddenly, I recalled the existence of X-ray camera. "Even if Sakurai and her husband are living apart, wouldn't she be at a considerable disadvantage if she was photographed having an extramarital affair? If the photograph got public, she wouldn't be able to get any consolation money when she file a divorce suit in the future, so it'd be just the right thing to threaten her." Several thoughts about using the dangerous situation in my favor crossed my mind.
"If I use that photograph to get her to listen to me, I might be really able to try out that certain something that has always been on my mind. There's even a possibility that the camera is made available in the [Items Shop] to be used precisely in such a way."
I made up mind and loaded [Items Shop].
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[Lv.1 Scouter 880 USD]
[Sleep-inducing Spray 2200 USD]
[Omnipotent Key 5280 USD]
[Camera 880 USD]
[Foreign Car 440000 USD]
[Domestic Car 70400 USD]
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[Camera: Would you like to purchase it with 880 USD?]