The facility was almost the size of a soccer field.

The dome that covered the ceiling was packed with magical inscriptions, and I could barely sense any life inside.

Based on my current knowledge, I couldn’t even begin to guess the purpose of this place.

Feeling somewhat expectant, I followed Baek Ahrin as we walked through the facility, only to find a large rectangular bed placed conspicuously in the center.

“?”

The sight was so unexpected that I couldn’t make sense of it at first.

I briefly froze, my mind going blank, but quickly regained my composure and scanned the surroundings.

To be precise, the bed wasn’t the only thing in the room.

Next to it, there was a small wooden cabinet and a mini fridge.

And that was it.

“Come, come, this way.”

Just as I was about to observe the contents of the cabinet, Baek Ahrin took my hand and led me toward the bed.

The bed was enormous.

The standard dorm bed already seemed huge compared to my build, but this one looked easily four times bigger than that.

To exaggerate a bit, ten Lee Hayuls could lie side by side on this bed and still have room to spare. It was gigantic.

I tilted my head and tugged on Baek Ahrin’s arm a little.

[What is this?]
[Why a bed?]
[What kind of place is this?]

The Confession Necklace immediately conveyed my thoughts. Baek Ahrin glanced at the necklace before shrugging her shoulders.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Because...”

We had arrived right in front of the bed.

“You’re about to experience it firsthand... heave-ho.”

[What?]

Baek Ahrin pulled on my hand, giving me a light push toward the bed.

It wasn’t enough to throw me; it was just a gentle shove.

There was no hostility or ill intent behind the action.

Since I wasn’t on guard, I was easily pushed onto the bed.

My knees buckled, and I plopped down onto the soft surface.

“Good. Now scoot in a little more.”

[???]

The soft sensation of the bed immediately registered against my body. Before I could react, Baek Ahrin gave me another shove, making me lie down fully.

“Ugh…”

In no time, I found myself sprawled out on the enormous bed.

Baek Ahrin, after pushing me down, took off her denim jacket, casually hanging it on the side of the cabinet, then flopped down beside me.

“Wow, this is really soft. It’s definitely a luxury bed... Is it comfortable?”

[Yeah.] [It’s... fine.]

“Here, have some water.”

[Thanks.]

There was a bit of distance between us.

Baek Ahrin asked how I was feeling as she checked the bed, and I nodded, feeling somewhat unsure.

I fiddled with the water bottle she handed me for a moment before unscrewing the cap and taking a small sip.

Cool water flowed into my parched mouth.

“......”

After swallowing the water, I paused to think.

I still hadn’t fully analyzed the magic inscriptions on the ceiling, but now that I was lying here, many thoughts began to cross my mind.

Among them were some inappropriate and embarrassing ones I couldn’t share with anyone.

The large bed, the isolated room...

The atmosphere practically encouraged such thoughts.

But it was absurd to think like that, and I immediately shot down those ridiculous ideas.

There was no reason for Baek Ahrin to behave that way.

Even though I didn’t fully understand her as a person, it was only logical.

How long had we even known each other? Even after knowing someone for a year or two, you might not truly understand them.

It was a foolish thought. So foolish, in fact, that my face flushed with embarrassment at the idea.

I buried my face in the pillow in front of me.

‘Phew, it’s soft…’

The unexpected softness momentarily caught me off guard.

Now that I thought about it, the bed supporting my body was unusually soft. Baek Ahrin wasn’t kidding when she said it was luxurious.

“If you’re tired, you can just lie there and listen. Just relax.”

[What?]

Baek Ahrin noticed my behavior, chuckled softly, and began tapping away at her smartwatch.

Listen? What was she talking about?

As I tilted my head in confusion, I felt it.

— Hummm...

My body trembled slightly.

It wasn’t a sound. It was a vibration.

I looked up at the dome above us.

The magical inscriptions embedded in the ceiling were starting to activate, infused with mana.

I hadn’t bothered to decipher them earlier, but now that they were operational, I couldn’t help but analyze them.

There were no offensive spells. And there weren’t many defensive ones either.

There was little in terms of security or maintenance magic.

The magic was mainly split into two categories…

As soon as I interpreted that, a heavy sound echoed.

— Thud!

“......!”

A deep, resonant sound reverberated through the room.

The vibrations seemed to amplify, bouncing off the walls, creating a powerful sensation.

It was as if the sound was hammering against my eardrums.

But strangely, it didn’t hurt.

The magic was responsible.

‘...That sound?’

I recognized it, though not often.

I didn’t know the exact name, but I knew it was produced by an instrument.

— Thud! Thud! Thud!

The rhythmic pounding felt like the prelude to a performance.

— ♪...

And as if to confirm that, a symphony of instruments began to join in, one after another.

All kinds of sounds filled the air, with various instruments tickling my ears and tapping at my eardrums.

The music was intense, resonant, and filled the entire space.

With so little in the room aside from the bed, cabinet, and fridge, the music easily spread throughout the large, open area.

“......”

I absentmindedly rubbed my ears.

Ever since my senses had been heightened, I often found myself startled by unexpected loud noises.

I knew how to sharpen my senses, but handling them was always my responsibility.

Ordinary sounds could be overwhelming when amplified through enhanced hearing.

Such sounds would often feel like they were pounding inside my skull, causing pain.

But not this time.

The music, though powerful and resonant, didn’t hurt at all.

‘Magic.’

One of the two types of magic embedded in the ceiling.

It was a type of magic I hadn’t studied deeply—a spell that intricately manipulated sound.

‘Ah.’

That’s when it clicked.

A vast, but empty space.

A lone bed.

A spell that finely controlled sound.

‘This facility is for this.’

It was a concert hall.

A place designed to experience magically enhanced music. It had been designed and built for this exact purpose from the start.

— Tap, tap.

At that moment, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Still absorbed in the music, I turned my head to see Baek Ahrin giggling.

“I told you it would be fine, didn’t I?”

Despite the music, her voice rang out clearly.

She spoke with a tone that assumed I was already enjoying myself.

I couldn’t deny it. The music echoing in my ears was pleasant.

I nodded absentmindedly, and Baek Ahrin, seeing my response, smiled contentedly as she manipulated the holographic display.

“Your sensory ability collects information from within a certain range. Anything beyond that range, you can’t detect... right?”

She was repeating what I had already explained to her before.

Baek Ahrin continued to adjust the hologram.

“I’m not sure if you’ll like this too.”

— Hummm...

Mana surged again from the ceiling.

The other half of the magic inscriptions, which had been dormant, began to activate.

The mana gathered, and a new spell was cast.

“......”

The ceiling, which had been pitch-black, suddenly lit up.

Bright yellow lights appeared, along with soft blue glows and shimmering red dots.

But the most numerous were white and blue lights.

Countless white lights dotted the black ceiling.

At first, they appeared one by one… then ten… and before long, hundreds, then thousands.

A seemingly endless stream of lights filled the ceiling, creating a river of white in some areas.

The black ceiling was now covered with a multitude of glowing dots.

‘The sky.’

The magic had created an illusion of space, recreating the night sky.

...

For a while, I was dazed.

The beautiful sounds of the instruments filled my ears, while the ceiling displayed a starry night sky, revealing the vastness of space.

‘The sky.’

A place I could never fully grasp with my own senses.

Even with my spatial awareness, I couldn’t encompass the vastness of the sky.

My Observation Power might allow me to pull in the information from the sky if I tried hard enough.

I couldn’t do it now, but someday it would be possible.

But before I could even attempt that, my mind was filled with images of the universe.

“How is it?”

I felt something tickling my hand. Curious, I turned my Observation Power toward it and saw Baek Ahrin gently brushing her fingers against my palm.

She was lying beside me, looking at me with a soft expression.

Her neatly tied hair had come undone, now spread out across the bed, catching the starlight from the magical sky above.

“I put a lot of effort into finding and reserving this place... Do you like it?”

‘......’

I took a moment to think.

The sky wasn’t something my eyes could capture.

This wasn’t the sky seen by my own eyes.

I wanted to see the sky with my own eyes.

The information gathered through Observation Power could never fully satisfy that desire.

The necklace clicked.

[I like it.]

Had I come here on my own, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much.

Realizing that made me painfully aware of how childish I really was.

There was no joy in petting my own head.

But when someone who cared for me did it, it warmed my heart and made me smile.

In my state of tastelessness, eating food on my own felt unpleasant.

But when someone who cherished me fed me, it felt good, even without the taste.

Wrapping myself in a blanket or hugging a large stuffed animal never brought much satisfaction.

But when I was held by someone who loved me, I felt indescribably warm and happy.

‘Does Baek Ahrin...’

Care for me?

Does she value me?

Does she love me?

I deepened my Observation Power, peering beyond the mask she wore.

As always, there was that expressionless face.

A cold face devoid of any emotion.

‘I don’t know.’

In the first timeline, Baek Ahrin had stayed by the player’s side until their death, a strong and reliable ally.

In the eighth timeline, she betrayed the player during a critical battle with the Tower Lord of Frost.

She was a character who hid secrets I never fully uncovered in the original story.

It was a mystery.

I couldn’t be sure of anything. I was too inexperienced in dealing with people, too naive to make any solid assumptions.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Baek Ahrin smiled warmly.

Though her face remained cold beneath the surface, her mask radiated satisfaction, as if she were genuinely happy.

It confused me greatly.

Her true face was so cold, yet her mask smiled so brightly.

Why hadn’t she betrayed me in the first timeline, yet stabbed me in the back in the eighth?

Would she betray me again in this reality?

Was she only treating me kindly now to lower my guard?

And…

What was the faint emotion I sensed from her, as if she was desperately longing for something?

‘I don’t know.’

Questions and confusion.

‘But...’

I squeezed the hand I was holding a little tighter. It was cold, yet by now, it felt soft and familiar.

So far, Baek Ahrin had consistently acted with care and consideration toward me.

Even if there was something selfish behind it, I hoped that, deep down, she truly cared for me.

‘I hope she doesn’t betray me.’

If someone who treated me so well were to stab me in the back... I couldn’t bear to imagine how painful that would be.

If she wanted something, I would do my best to give it to her, as long as she didn’t betray me.

“I’ve already booked this place until tomorrow. Feel free to sleep here if you get tired.”

Then, she paused for a moment before smirking mischievously.

“Don’t worry. I’ll only hold your hand while you sleep.”

She teased me as she shook the hand she was holding.

‘...If you’re tired, sleep…’

Hearing those words made me feel drowsy, like a conditioned response.

The soft bed and the blanket that had somehow made its way up to my chin urged me to sleep.

The music in my ears sounded like a lullaby.

And Baek Ahrin lay beside me.

If I were to consider the eighth timeline, I wouldn’t have felt safe... but within the walls of Shioram Academy, I was absolutely secure. There was no sense of threat.

Besides, my wariness toward Baek Ahrin had diminished greatly.

My body felt heavy, and my consciousness began to drift.

“Oh... oh? Are you really going to sleep?”

My hand felt idle. Instead of gripping tightly, I let go of my awareness.

I sank into unconsciousness.

There were no nightmares.

...

“...He really fell asleep.”

No sooner had she told him to sleep than his breathing became soft and steady as he drifted off into dreamland.

Baek Ahrin, still lying on the bed, blinked and turned her head.

There, she saw Lee Hayul, fast asleep.

His face looked so innocent and peaceful.

On a whim, she reached out, intending to poke his cheek, but her hand was caught.

She looked down and saw her hand being held tightly by Lee Hayul.

Far from showing any wariness, it was as if he was clinging to her, asking her not to leave.

His guard was lowering far faster than she had expected, to the point where even she was surprised.

Hadn’t he been clearly afraid of her at first?

Though that fear had gradually faded, Lee Hayul still seemed to harbor some fundamental distrust of her.

Because of that, she had expected it to be incredibly difficult to break down his defenses…

‘Ah, that’s right.’

She suddenly remembered Lee Hayul’s reaction when he first saw the bed.

At first, his face had been full of doubt and confusion, but at some point, he had frozen, his face turning bright red like a tomato.

His reaction had been so innocent and transparent that she could easily guess what he had been thinking.

With a strange expression, Baek Ahrin opened the cabinet next to the bed and reached inside.

Her hand found a box, which she pulled out and examined.

“It’s true that this facility can be used for that purpose, too.”

The box contained basic contraceptives, a standard provision for this type of establishment.

There were certainly people who used this place for such purposes.

...

______________

[Player Assistance System: Affection Level] Lee Hayul → Baek Ahrin ●●●●●●○○○○(63▷68/100) 「Affection」 「Curiosity」 「Confusion」

...

[You have not satisfied the conditions to break the 'Curse of Silence.'] [You have not satisfied the conditions to break the 'Curse of Loneliness.']

...

[Savior Assistance System: Hostility Detection] [The system shows extreme resistance to Frost!]

...

[Reading the emotions of the Savior...]

[Player Assistance System: Emotional Reading] ▶Current State 「Salvation」 : The Savior rescues those in danger. ...

[Player Assistance System: Affection Level] Lee Hayul → Baek Ahrin ●●●●●●○○○○(68/100) 「Affection」 「Curiosity」 「Confusion」

...

[System Adjustment in Progress...]

[Savior Assistance System: Quest Generation] [Main Quest 'Tower of Frost' is now linked...] [Generating Quest 'Baek Ahrin']

...

[Savior Assistance System: Salvation Mode] [When the Savior performs acts of salvation, the system will fully support the Savior.]