Chapter 19

“I’m locked up in prison?” The memories of my confinement came flooding back, and the video seemed to defy all logic.

Time itself appeared to be warped, accelerated to an incredible pace. I struggled to wrap my head around it, the speed so fast it was almost incomprehensible. Panic set in as I frantically clicked on the screen, desperate to regain control.

And then, a message flashed before my eyes: [Current playback speed: X500]. The words seemed to mock me, a cruel reminder of my helplessness in the face of this frenetic, runaway game.

As I sat there, my gaze drifted aimlessly for a moment before my fingers instinctively reached out to press the pause button. The video on the screen froze, suspending time within the digital realm.

My avatar, an eerily accurate representation of myself, stood motionless within the cold, unforgiving walls of the prison.

My curiosity piqued, I experimented with the playback speed, adjusting it to span an astonishing range – from a sluggish 1 to a blistering 10,000. The sheer scope of this feature left me intrigued, and I couldn’t help but wonder about its potential applications.

A sudden realization dawned on me, and I murmured to myself, “ ... Ah! Even if I end the game, the avatar continues on my behalf.” The thought sent a shiver down my spine, as if I had stumbled upon a hidden truth.

Eager to test the limits of this technology, I pressed the rewind button, and the video on the screen began to unravel, threads of time weaving backward into the fabric of the past.

However, my avatar’s actions remained unchanged, stubbornly adhering to a predetermined script. It was then that I understood the true nature of this feature – a replay function, designed to relive moments, not alter them.

Next, I decided to test the mute button, and as I pressed it, the sudden absence of sound was jarring.

But then, a voice pierced the silence – the guard’s yelling voice, a harsh, guttural sound that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Takahashi Aiko! Keep cleaning without stopping!” The words echoed through my mind, a haunting reminder of the unforgiving world within the screen.

A low, guttural sound escaped my lips, a mixture of confusion and surprise. “Huh?” I muttered, my brow furrowed in puzzlement.

The words that had caught my attention were Japanese, a language I had never consciously studied or learned.

Yet, as I listened to them, I felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if the sounds and syllables were somehow ingrained in my mind. It was as if I had been born with the ability to understand Japanese, and the words flowed into my consciousness with ease.

A memory flashed through my mind, a recollection of my time inside the adult video. I had navigated that virtual world with ease, conversing with the characters and understanding their language without any difficulty.

It was only now, in retrospect, that I realized the significance of that experience. I had never studied Japanese, yet I had somehow acquired the ability to comprehend it.