Before long, the rhythmic thud-thud-thud of a knife chopping vegetables echoed from the kitchen.
Reginald didn't have to wait long before the little girl, Rika, came trotting out carrying steaming hot dishes.
Although she was young, her movements were nimble.
It was clear that children from poor families grew up way too fast.
"Big Brother, it's time to eat!" Rika chirped obediently as she set down the plates.
Reginald glanced toward the kitchen but didn't see Ririka.
He asked casually, "Where's your mom? Isn't she eating with us?"
"Mom said she smells like grease and smoke, so she went to take a bath. She told us to start without her," Rika explained, handing him a pair of chopsticks.
"A... a bath?!"
The chopsticks in Reginald's hand nearly clattered onto the table.
A single man and a single woman, alone in a room, and one of them is taking a shower... This plot isn't heading in a wholesome direction!
But then, he glanced at Rika, who was sitting opposite him and preparing to dig in and his racing heart instantly calmed down.
'Phew... Calm the fuck down, Reginald. There's still a kid here.'
Rika was the ultimate "firewall."
With her around, even if Ririka had any wild ideas, she couldn't possibly try anything improper in front of her own child.
Click.
The bathroom door opened as Ririka walked out.
She had clearly just had a quick rinse.
Her hair was still damp, draping heavily over her shoulders.
From the hot bath, her originally fair skin glowed with an alluring, flushed pink, and her body exuded a natural, sweet fragrance that even cheap shower gel couldn't mask.
The visual impact of that moment forced Reginald to suck in a sharp breath.
'Mary! Mary! Form is emptiness! Emptiness is form!'
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Ririka said softly, tucking a stray, wet strand of hair behind her ear with a hint of shyness.
She sat down right next to Rika.
Reginald didn't dare to look at her, forcing himself to stare intently at the white rice in his bowl like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
'Thank god Rika is here...'
However, just when he thought everything was under control, Rika across from him suddenly displayed a terrifying speed at devouring her food.
Like a little tiger that hadn't eaten in three days, she shoveled the rice into her mouth at Mach speed.
"I'm full!"
Rika pushed her bowl away, hopped off her chair, and wiped her mouth on her sleeve.
"Mom, I'm going to play at Lily's house next door! I'll sleep over there tonight and come back tomorrow morning!"
Before Reginald's brain could even process the betrayal, the girl shot toward the door like a gust of wind.
"Tomorrow morning... Wait! Rika! You can't just—" Reginald's face went pale, and he reached out a hand to stop her.
Bang!
The main door slammed shut heavily.
Click!
That was the sound of the lock engaging.
To Reginald, it sounded exactly like the gates of hell slamming shut.
The entire tavern instantly fell into a deathly, suffocating silence.
Reginald stiffly turned his neck, like a rusted robot, to look at Ririka.
She had her head down, unconsciously poking the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks.
Her cheeks were as red as ripe tomatoes, and even the tips of her ears were burning.
Alarm bells screamed in Reginald's skull, 'A trap! This is definitely a damn trap!'
'That little brat... the speed at which she ate just now was definitely rehearsed! And that door-locking motion? She's way too skilled at that!'
"Um... Ririka-san, I'm full too."
He needs to get the hell out of here fast!
Reginald employed the eating speed of a starving Marine on the sea, downing the rice in his bowl in two massive gulps without even chewing.
He slammed down his bowl and chopsticks, not even daring to look up at Ririka.
"Thank you for the meal! It's getting late, I should be heading back. I have morning drills tomorrow!"
With that, he shot up from his seat and bolted for the door.
'As long as I can get out! As long as I can break through that door! I'll be safe!'
However, just as his fingers were about to graze the doorknob...
A fragrant breeze washed over him.
A pair of warm, soft arms wrapped tightly around his waist from behind.
Immediately after, a scorching hot, delicate body pressed flush against his back.
"Don't go..." Ririka's voice trembled, tinged with quiet sobs, her hot breath fanning the back of his sensitive neck.
"Reginald... please don't go..."
Reginald's mind went completely blank.
But to his horror, he discovered—he couldn't move!
Not psychologically unable to move, but physically!
It was as if every muscle in his body had been hit with a paralysis spell!
'What the hell is going on?! Why can't I move?!'
'System! Is this your doing?!'
Reginald roared in his mind, 'To stop me from going home, you're using your System Authority to lock my body?! You're despicable! You're shameless!!'
In his mind, the System's voice replied, sounding weirdly defensive and exasperated.
[Warning: The System has not applied any control over the host.]
[Diagnosis of Host's current state: Excessive dopamine secretion due to intense stimulation from the opposite sex, causing the cerebral cortex to enter a shutdown state. In layman's terms—your body is being too honest!]
'Bullshit! How could I be a lecher?! I'm completely devoted to Mary... Mmph...'
Reginald's rebuttal was cut short, utterly shattered by the even softer sensation pressing against him.
Ririka's hands were no longer content with just hugging him as they had begun to unbutton his shirt with trembling fingers.
"Tonight... you're mine..."
Before his last shred of sanity snapped, Reginald let out a final, grief-stricken cry in his heart.
'Rika! You little traitor! I'm tearing up your homework tomorrow!!'
...
The next morning.
The chirping of birds outside the window was full of life and joy.
Inside, the room was as silent as a crime scene.
Reginald was awake.
He lay flat on his back, hands folded over his abdomen in a serene "ready for burial" pose.
His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the wood grain on the ceiling.
And what a pair of eyes they were—pupils dilated, utterly devoid of light, with two dark, heavy circles hanging beneath his sunken eye sockets.
It was as if all his vitality had been sucked out overnight, leaving only a withered husk.
The chaotic memories of last night—the torn clothes, the shaking world, and Ririka's tireless demands... all of it had now dissolved into meaningless white noise in his brain.
Reginald didn't move a muscle.
It wasn't that he didn't want to move, but that he felt the part of his body below the waist no longer belonged to him.
It was as if his soul had left his body and was floating in mid-air, coldly observing this filthy flesh.
Beside him, Ririka let out a satisfied murmur, her arm subconsciously draping over Reginald's chest.
Her complexion was rosy and radiant, like a rose that had been thoroughly watered.
The contrast at this moment was brutally cruel.
Reginald remained expressionless, not even blinking.
But.
Whoosh—
Two streams of clear tears, like a bursting dam, gushed from his vacant eyes.
They flowed down his pale cheeks, converging into two small rivers that silently trickled into his ears.
There was no sound of crying.
No expression.
Only tears of seemingly endless regret, soaking a large patch on the pillow.
He raised a trembling hand, the photo of Mary peeking out from between his fingers, and held it in front of his dead-fish eyes.
Mary in the photo: (^_^) with a smile as bright as a flower.
Reginald behind the photo: (O_O) Face streaming with silent tears.
Silence spoke louder than words.
If one had to add a subtitle to this scene, it would be the shattered cry in Reginald's heart.
'I was so foolish... truly...'
'I only knew she was a widow... but I didn't know... she's that kind of widow...'
...
Ten minutes later.
Reginald, looking like a fugitive who had just committed a heinous crime, burst out of the tavern in disheveled clothes and sprinted all the way back to the Naval Base.
He dove into the bathroom, turned the cold water on full blast, and frantically scrubbed his body.
"I'm unclean... I'm unclean..."
Reginald wept inwardly as he scrubbed his skin raw.
This wasn't just a physical betrayal, it was a devastating blow to his conviction to return home!
"A scumbag like me must be punished!"
"System! Start the special training! I don't care what mode, just give me something that will make me suffer!"
The cold, mechanical voice sounded:
[Ding! The host's strong desire for atonement has been detected.]
[ "Saint's Redemption" module activated.]
[Calculating the host's "Sin Value" from last night... Calculation complete.]
[Recommended gravity multiplier: 6x.]
Reginald froze, and the bar of soap in his hand slipped to the floor with a wet thud.
"How much? 6x?"
As a transmigrator, he was of course familiar with gravity training.
It was a special training method the System provided him.
In the past, he had always trained at two times gravity.
An ordinary human could barely handle 2x, while elite Marines with strong bodies could manage 3-4x.
Starting at 6x right off the bat? Was it trying to crush him into a meat patty?
"Wait... System, I want to die, but not like this. Why set it to 6x? Isn't that a bit random?"
The System replied coldly, [The multiplier is anchored to the number of "High-Intensity Sex" the host engaged in last night. Each betrayal corresponds to one multiple of gravity for atonement.]
Reginald's eyes widened, his face turn red.
"Are you saying... last night I... 6 times?!"
"Cut the crap! I blacked out last night! I'm a human being, not a harem protagonist! How could I possibly go 6 times in one night?!" Reginald retorted in shame and anger.
"You're slandering me! It must be a System malfunction!"
The System didn't argue.
It simply pulled up a log report with a flat, emotionless voice.
[Retrieving bio-feedback records:]
[First time: 22:45, Location: Bedroom bed...]
[Second time: 23:30, Location: Bedroom floor...]
[Third time: 00:15, Location: Dining room table...]
"Stop!!! Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!!"
Reginald clamped his hands tightly over his ears, so mortified he felt like he was about to explode on the spot.
'The mental images are too vivid!'
'So last night wasn't just a mistake but damn sex marathon! What the hell is with the table? Ririka seemed so quiet, what on earth did we do last night?!'
[Fourth time...]
"Enough! I admit it! I admit it, alright?!" Reginald roared in despair. "6x it is! I deserve this!"
[Command confirmed. 6x gravity, activating.]
BOOM—!
The next second, Reginald felt as if a full-grown Sea King had just sat on his shoulders.
His knees instantly buckled, and with a sickening crack, he knelt on the slippery floor, his internal organs feeling like they had been displaced.
"Ugh, ahhhh..."
Reginald let out a blood-curdling scream, but even so, he gritted his teeth and tried to stand up, trembling violently.
"This pain... compared to what I owe Mary... is nothing!"
...
Ten minutes later, at the base's training ground.
Adjutant Lucas was passing by with a thermos and was stunned by the scene before him.
He saw Lieutenant Commander Reginald, bare-chested, veins bulging all over his body, his face contorted in agony.
With every step he took, the ground cracked under the immense pressure.
But he was constantly roaring incomprehensible numbers.
"One!... This is for the bedroom!"
"Two!... This is for the floor!"
"Three!... That damnTABLE!!"
Lucas quickly opened his notebook, his pen flying across the page, his eyes gleaming with a fanatical light:
[Observation Journal: Year X, Month X, Day X.]
[After the Commander returned last night, he seems to have received some kind of divine motivation and has begun terrifying aura farming training.]
[The locations he's shouting—Bedroom, Floor, Table... does this mean that on any battlefield, regardless of terrain, the enemy must be utterly crushed?]
[Especially that number '6'! Is the Commander's goal to surpass the limits of the 'Rokushiki'?]
[As expected of Lieutenant Commander Reginald. The appearance of that woman has completely awakened his dormant ambition!]