Chapter 4: Voluntarily Forced【P3】
Sayoko
“Bribery? Nooo.” She whips her head around, scanning the room. “Think of it as a charitable donation for my voluntary participation. But hey, if your conscience is against fueling an addiction, can’t blame you. Even my family—”
“I can live with these terms.”
“Alright then, it’s a deal! Hey, Rin—over here!”
She points at my face like a ringmaster introducing the main attraction. “Next one is on her, and make it a bottle!”
Rin rolls her eyes, retrieving a frosted blue bottle from beneath the counter. Ice drops into a glass with a clatter before the chilled water pours in.
Like a goblin watching a chest fill with gold coins, Kirishima stares at the reflections dancing in the stream of clear liquid.
The fresh drink slides forward, clinking against the empty glass as the bottle follows.
Rin punches a command into the register and looks up at me expectantly.
I offer her a slow, polite nod.
Her eyes pause on me, then shift between my unblinking eyes and the hunched figure next to me. The confusion in them thickening by the second.
Kirishima’s smug grin remains untainted by the display. She simply looks at us, eyes darting between mine and Rin like an impending seizure.
Like chess pieces awaiting a player’s hand, we freeze.
"..."
"..."
"..."
“Pay?” The smile on her face twitches at the corners.
“Yes. I pay.”
"..."
"..."
Rin clears her throat, taking a step back from the counter to polish a clean glass.
The grin slowly vanishes from the goblin’s face as her eyes track down to my idle hands. “First-years... you don’t actually know how the payment system works here, do you?”
My lips pull into a small pout. “If you are implying a microscopic discrepancy in my regional mapping, then I suppose your hypothesis is not entirely inaccurate.”
She lets out a groan, slapping a hand against her forehead. “Why do I always get the weird ones... Your student ID card. Do you have it on you? Get it out.”
Unzipping my backpack, I search the front pocket and slide a card out between two fingers. “I suppose you are referring to this item.”
The sly grin returns to her face.
“Yes, that one!” She points to a small terminal on the counter. “Just hold it against the scanner... right there.”
Plastic meets plastic.
Ping.
Rin tilts into a mechanical bow and holds up a slip of thermal paper—I raise a flat hand to decline.
Beside me, a low chuckle rumbles. Her shoulders shake before she completely loses control, slamming a hand onto the counter as she erupts into unapologetic laughter.
“Pffft—hahaha!” She wipes a tear from her eye. “Do you even know how much these imported bottles cost on a first-year budget?!”
“…”
“Oh, man. I hope you didn’t plan on making any big purchases for the next few days!”
“Yes. Financial transactions. Hilarious. For the information—”
“Luckily, it doesn’t look like you need much to eat anyway—pffft.”
…
Her amusement falters against the lack of participants, the laughter slowly fizzling into a faint sigh. She lifts the glass and takes a sip, burying the remaining smirk.
“The information.”
“Right...”
She clears her throat and grabs the bottle, brushing past me. “Let’s go to the rooftop for a bit.”
With a quick nod to Rin, she scuttles up the stairs at the end of the room. I follow suit.
“Of course,” I mutter. “Goblins cannot fly.”
Click.
Renji
Eyelids like lead.
I try to shift my weight, but my shoulders refuse to budge, my legs aching like a dented sheet of metal.
W-where... am I?
My eyes finally open.
The suffocating aqua fabric traps me inside a tiny cubicle, magnifying the silence. I stare down at the bandages wrapping my arms.
What is this?
Memory fails.
My clearest thoughts stop at the festive music in the central square—everything after is a blank. The timeline resembles a book with a dozen pages ripped out of the middle.
How did I get here?
I try to sit up, but a groan slips out instead as my temples throb with a vicious hammering.
Swish.
The curtain slides open.
“Is everything alright in here?” A man stands in the gap, a white lab coat slung over casual clothes.
I wince, pressing a hand to my forehead. “I just... where is this?”
He offers a small smile. “The district medical team brought you straight up here. This is Taiseigahara Central Hospital. I am taking care of you today.”
“Hospital...”
My chest tightens.
A blurry image of a panicked face flashes in my mind. “Wait. Is my friend here? Is he alright?”
“Your friend is fine, don’t worry. His injuries were light enough to keep him at the local medical station.”
“I see.”
A wave of relief washes over me, but the undertow leaves behind a flood of unanswered questions.
“You took a pretty nasty hit.” He checks a tablet, tapping the screen. “But your wounds are treated and the initial tests look fine. Just rest up while we wait for the final results.”
"..."
With a brief nod, he reaches for the curtain.
I force my arm to rise. “Wait!”
He pauses, looking over his shoulder.
“Is there a phone? I want to call my family.”
“Sorry. The RemoteLines Center does not relay calls to the outside from here except under very rare conditions. You will have to go to the center in person later.”
“Oh.”
Swish.
The curtain seals, locking me back inside the cloth box.
I roll onto my side and let out a sigh.
Stupid school.
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Discover what happens next in: Chapter 5: Abundant Scarcity【P1】
Written by Limited_Infinity. Extras, official publishing platforms and updates are publicly available only on the Patreon page “_Limited_Infinity_”
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