"Why do you want my phone?" Ise Kaiharu's expression stiffened, and he instinctively pulled his hand back.
For a college student his age, a phone was practically sacred. Handing it to a stranger felt like stripping naked in public.
"Don't be stingy. I've got an idea. I'll give it back when I'm done."
Ise clutched it to his chest. "You're an adult. Don't you have your own phone?"
"I..." Asa hesitated.
She had owned one until recently, but Yoru had turned it into a weapon and tossed it away.
"I lost it. If you want to get out of here alive, lend me yours."
"Huh?" Ise blinked. "What does my phone have to do with escaping? And why not ask your boyfriend?"
"Tsk. You're unbelievable." Asa rolled her eyes and gave him a thumbs down. "Timid guys are exhausting."
She turned. "Cael, do you still have your phone?"
"I do. You need it, Asa?"
"Good." She nodded, then looked at Kobeni. "What about Akai's?"
Kobeni covered her face, nearly in tears. "When I was thrown earlier, mine slipped out of my pocket. I still had a month left on the installments..."
Asa frowned. Sympathy would have to wait.
She looked at Cael again. "The people we killed, did any of them leave a usable phone?"
"No. I crushed all that trash into dust."
Left with no choice, Asa faced Ise again.
"My plan requires two phones. If you want out of this loop, lend me yours."
"At least explain the plan first," Ise protested. "We should discuss if it even makes sense."
Cael clicked his tongue. The guy was painfully slow.
"Dark Water."
In an instant, the phone shot from Ise's pocket as if pulled by an invisible force and landed cleanly in Cael's hand.
"Wha, what the hell?!"
"What's the problem?" Cael scoffed. "If Asa hadn't saved your ass, you'd be minced meat. Relax."
He held the screen to Ise's face to unlock it, then handed it to Asa. "Here."
"Leave the rest to me."
Ise covered his face. "Please don't check my gallery or browser history."
"Tsk. I'm not that bored."
Asa frowned while swiping across a wallpaper featuring a high school girl in a skimpy swimsuit, trying to find a payment app. The pale background made everything harder to see.
Behind her, Ise and Kobeni leaned in, curious.
Soon, Asa logged into her own account.
Balance: 45,332.48 Yen.
She looked up at Cael and smiled sweetly. "Cael, lend me some money."
Cael inhaled sharply. His mind raced.
Asa's ability allowed her to turn anything that belonged to her into a weapon. If used creatively, the results could be devastating. He already understood what she was planning.
"Don't say lend," he said casually. "What's mine is yours. Just tell me the amount."
Asa nodded and began calculating.
They had determined this looping space was confined to the fourth floor of a love hotel. The rooms appeared endless, but the numbers cycled from 401 to 415.
Fifteen rooms in total.
Each was roughly 35 square meters, barely half the size of the apartment she used to rent. That place cost her 300,000 Yen per year.
So buying one room should be around 150,000 Yen at most.
But these rooms were terrible. No kitchen, no refrigerator, no washing machine. Thin walls with awful soundproofing. Stale air and barely any plants.
After mentally applying several heavy discounts, Asa concluded one room was worth about 60,000 Yen.
Fifteen rooms meant 900,000 Yen.
"Transfer around 860,000 Yen," she said thoughtfully.
Cael did not argue. He scanned her code and transferred 900,000 Yen instead.
"We're not broke. Don't pinch every coin."
Her balance jumped to 940,000 Yen.
Kobeni stared at the number in disbelief. "So… what's your plan?"
Asa placed her hands on her hips, confidence returning.
"My power lets me turn anything I own into a weapon. So I'll buy the entire fourth floor and turn it into one. That should break the loop."
She glanced at Cael. "After that, leave the rest to him."
"Wait," Ise interrupted, looking horrified. "You think you can buy an entire hotel floor for 900,000 Yen?"
"So what?" Asa shot back. "And it's not over 900,000. It's exactly 900,000. That's generous."
Kobeni's mind nearly shut down.
Buy a whole floor for that price? In what era?
Ise stared at Asa as if questioning reality itself. Was this girl really his classmate?
"No, listen," he began. "First, this hotel is located in To—"
"Shut up."
Cael's voice cut him off cleanly.
He was done listening to pointless lectures.
Why complain about a bargain during a life or death situation? What kind of idiot argues economics inside a devil's stomach?
He pulled Asa into his arms and looked down at her with steady confidence.
"Asa, ignore him. You're right. Buy it."
She nodded firmly.
With Cael backing her, doubt vanished.
Asa opened the payment screen, then crouched and placed the phone flat on the floor. She closed her eyes and pressed her palm against the ground.
"I will use this 900,000 Yen to purchase the entire fourth floor of this love hotel."
"This is the Love Hotel Spear."
The money vanished from her balance.
The space warped violently. Darkness swallowed everything.
A long spear materialized in Asa's hand. At its tip, a crimson heart glowed brilliantly, casting light across the void.
That light revealed the grotesque face of the Eternal Devil writhing within the darkness.
It was furious.
"Asa Mitaka! Are you insane? For 900,000 Yen you think you can buy an entire hotel floor? You absolute idiot!"
The spear's red glow intensified.
And the loop trembled.