Chapter 402: Virtual Reality Technology (Patreon)

"Hey, hey, hey... isn't this a bit too much?" Kurumi could hardly bear to look at the wretched state Takina was in.

Kazami Kazuki's attention wasn't on her at all. The more combat experience Jhin revealed, the more it hurt her. Heaven only knew how many things he never should have had to learn he'd picked up just to survive, during all the time she hadn't been at his side.

Nymph pulled up a projected screen showing a breakdown of Takina's physical data, along with a progress bar that kept climbing. "Her mental threshold is almost reached, too. One or two more hits and she'll probably pass out."

The words had barely left her mouth when the Takina on the screen crumpled to the ground. Jhin bent down, scooped her up, and prepared to leave the test site.

"Kazuki, about that device we mentioned earlier..."

"Oh, that thing? Is the prototype finished?"

"It's already passed the basic tests. Once it clears the safety test, it can be put into use."

"What interesting thing are you two talking about?" Kurumi cut in out of curiosity. The two of them turned their gazes on her in perfect unison, and she nervously swallowed. "Why are you just staring at me without saying anything?"

"I think the right candidate for the safety test is standing right here, don't you?"

"Indeed."

"You're not planning some illegal human experiment, are you? I'm not cooperating with that."

Kurumi began to inch toward the exit. Nymph flashed behind her and clamped a helmet that looked like a black cooking pot onto her head. With a tap of her fingertip in the empty air, Kurumi toppled backward like a robot with its power cut.

A soft experiment pod rose slowly from the floor and caught her securely. Nymph entered data into the pod's control panel, then joined Kazami Kazuki in watching Kurumi's condition and responses through the projected screen.

Ten minutes later, Nymph ended the test. Kurumi ripped off the helmet at once and sat up, her eyes glistening with a shimmering flush of desire, and cursed the two of them out: "Are you two sick or something?! Using some weird tech to give me a wet dream, damn it! I'm so f*ing done, are you stupid or what?!!"

"Do you really think that was a dream?" Kazami Kazuki shot a teasing glance at the damp hem of Kurumi's clothes, then nodded in great satisfaction. "Safety test passed. There was a little leakage, but it's within our estimates. Completely isolating the body from the nervous system would be too dangerous."

"Wait, are you trying to say that was virtual reality?"

"Exactly. My little brother doesn't really approve of developing this kind of technology, and he leans toward AR, augmented reality. But for internal company use, he won't interfere."

Kurumi took the towel Nymph handed her and wiped her chilly crotch, then changed her underwear while she was at it. She tossed the towel into the pod and snapped at them, "If the safety test had failed, would my consciousness have stayed in that virtual space forever?"

"Of course not. The safety issue we're talking about concerns the five senses. The sensory stimulation from the virtual space seems to feed back into the body a bit too strongly."

"Hold on!" Kurumi's calves were trembling. She stared with wide eyes and asked in disbelief, "Are you saying that if there'd been a safety accident just now, I might've died of pleasure?"

"Hmm... Going by the script built from the dream we extracted from my little brother's subconscious, then yes, that would have been the ending."

"Don't ask me for experiments like this ever again. I'd rather really die on Jhin's belly than die of dehydration from some fake garbage like this." With that parting line, Kurumi fled the experiment control center.

Smiling, Kazami Kazuki turned her gaze to the monitor, where Takina still lay on the bed, unconscious. In truth, Kazuki was the one who liked DA and Lycoris the least. When Jhin was a child, Heath Oslo had kidnapped him and tried to raise him into an assassin. The moment she learned of DA's existence, she had resolved to destroy it completely.

But Jhin's later contact with Chisato had made her set that thought aside for now. At least Lycoris didn't disgust her as much. Looked at another way, what if she could poach the entire Lycoris division and turn it into a special unit belonging solely to Synapse Technology, dedicated to protecting him?

That would be an excellent option. But considering how much Jhin's charm had grown since he returned from his business trip, Kazami Kazuki could only scale the idea down from poaching the whole division to poaching a few elites.

As luck would have it, two promising girls happened to be right under her nose. It was like being handed a pillow just as she was getting sleepy.

Takina slowly opened her eyes, and the familiar, white, grid-paneled ceiling came into view. She propped herself up on the edge of the bed and sat up. Instinctively expecting to pull at a wound, she clutched her upper arm in advance, but she felt none of the searing pain she'd expected.

Strange... Did I just dream all of that?

She threw back the blanket. Her tattered Lycoris uniform made her pretty face flush. In battle she could ignore the matter of showing too much skin, but after waking up, a girl's instinctive shyness had her wrapping herself up tightly at once.

"Takina, I heard you woke up. Put on this new uniform. We'll be waiting in the lounge." Jhin pushed open the door, set the same-model uniform Nymph had prepared in advance beside her bed, then turned and left.

"Okay."

Takina had already worked it out: this must be the special method Chisato had mentioned. She lifted her right arm, which should have been covered in bruises, and looked at it. The snow-white skin showed no trace of injury at all.

What an incredible method. Could it be some kind of high-tech medical tool?

She wasn't a scientist, so after thinking it over briefly, she began to change. When a pair of black boxer briefs turned up in her hands, she stopped and tilted her little head in confusion. "Do I have to change into these as well?"

Trusting that the Store Manager must have his reasons, Takina put them on anyway. The looseness and breathability made her bright eyes go wide. "They're so comfortable!"

Her admiration for Jhin grew even more.

What you wear in battle matters, too. Clothes that feel relaxed would undoubtedly let her perform better!

Takina noted that she'd learned something new again, and headed to the lounge with a smile in her eyes.

At that moment, Chisato was hugging one of Jhin's arms and complaining loudly. "Makina is so mean! She kept shooting at my butt, and I almost threw out my back several times!"

"Yeah, yeah. Then keep working hard tomorrow, too."

"Jhin-nii, you're so perfunctory~! Oh, Takina! How was your training today?"

Takina bowed respectfully to Jhin. "Store Manager! Thank you so much for your guidance today. I'll work even harder tomorrow!"

"Chisato, take a look at her."

Chisato puffed her cheeks into a round little dumpling. "As I thought, Jhin-nii likes serious girls like Takina, doesn't he?"