Kurokawa's place is now in front of us.

I am not going to lie. It feels somewhat odd being invited here. Throughout many resets, I have never gotten a chance to venture inside Kurokawa's house officially.

Actually, make that all of the houses in this world...

Similar to Han's place, I would need to find a way to sneak in like some thieves to know what was going on. And when I got into these locations, I would frantically try to keep myself hidden like a rat. The girls were weirdly attentive when it came to their safe space. Not that I did not understand them, though. My heart feels the same at my squiggly-made house.

Haaaah... Things sure change fast these days...

Orange tiles laminate the roof, a white wall wraps the outside area, and one small garden on the other side of said wall; one would expect our bookworm's location to be the most distinguished in the neighborhood since she is one of the main heroines, but it is not. The fact that she would sooner or later be by Han's side and his mansion already had many rooms to accommodate many supposedly captured targets implied the game never needed to make the outside appearance of this place anything special. Of course, I am only talking about the outward look of it. The inside would be furnished with...stuff. Good and bad alike.

Alas, to me, it is a special place. This house is where Kurokawa lives. That in and of itself is already a valuable thing. Not to mention, the garden would become her mother's final resting place. She is not under six feet yet. And I hope that will never come true.

By the way, after tonight, I should return to my place to see if any changes have occurred. There have been many physical developments in my appearance. It is logical to think my house is different in one way or another, too. What if the squiggly lines are now defined? What if I actually got a bed? That would be awesome!

Still, first thing goes first. My concentration is placed on Kuro at the moment.

"If no one has an issue with our plan, let's go in. You should all start paying attention since I don't know if that person is home yet." Taking the lead, Kurokawa inserts a key into the door, making a faint clicking sound. "If she is home, we can finish everything by this evening. If she is not, we will be waiting for a while. Also, here is a foreword: there is a little bit of an uncomfortable odor inside this house, which will take some time to get used to. How long it takes depends on the person. However, if you can get through the hall, it should not be that bad anymore."

Hearing Kuro's warnings, Laura and Rachel furrow their eyebrows while Han has a perplexed Look on his face. Personally, it is not weird for them to have such expressions. You would not expect the owner to say something like that after they invited you to their house. The reality is unconventional, even by another world's standard. Wait! I got it in reverse. It should be abnormal even with the eroge's game standard!

"Uhm... Kurokawa... Please excuse me if this sounds rude, but I don't quite understand..." The handsome guy scratches his head. Although I am merely a master on record only, I am glad to see him think about what he is saying and how it can affect others. It seems he did learn something after our brief discussion on the skytrain. If he keeps this up, he should not be killed as fast by the others in the future.

I think...

Opening the door with her good hand, Kurokawa turns her head slightly and replies: "It's what I said. I'm not proud to say this, but the place smells foul, especially near the first room. Honestly, don't worry. You'll get it soon enough."

"Is it really that bad?" I can hear his mumbles close to my face.

And then, the door opens. Just like it used to be in my memories, the inside of this house is dark and cold, without any illumination. Thanks to the lighting coming in from outside, we can somewhat see a long corridor stretching seemingly to infinity. At the end of which is a staircase leading to Kuro's room. There is nothing abnormal about it, maybe with the exception of decorations like pictures and paintings. The place has the bare necessities for a house, nothing more.

Unlike Han's mansion, which has warmth under the hands of Rachel, Kurokawa's house lacks something hard to put into words. I am not saying it looks terrible or worn down since Kurokawa takes good care of it, all on her own, no less, but it gives me no heart, no soul. It does not convey the emotions one would think coming back from a long trip and does not make one long for it. To Kuro, it has always been her house, not her home. I guess that shows.

However, the looks and feels of this place are not what she warned us earlier.

Immediately upon opening, everyone except for the bookworm and me is ambushed by what Kuro described as an uncomfortable odor.

There are... no words for me to use to describe such a thing. It has transcended my limited vocabulary to an unprecedented degree and punctured the fabric of the space-time continuum, traveling to a higher dimension. The stench is a mixture of many components. Some might call it the scent of blood, but it is not that. Simply put, it smells like rotting meat mixed with damped socks and old cheese coupled with something else, but I cannot tell what that would be. It is metallic, sour, and for unknown goddamn reasons, spicy. I need to gag just by breathing in its pungent yet nostalgic aroma.

Truthfully, at this moment, I finally regret having a nose.

Hold on... Why does it feel nostalgic? Is this not the first time I got a nose?

Sadly, before thinking any further, a sound cuts my train of thought.

"Ack! Ack! Cough!" Desperately trying to keep his nostrils and throat from getting bombarded by the neverending stench, the protagonist coughs violently. I can actually see tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "How... what...is this smell?!"

Poor guy. Well, there is a first for everything. Unless he wants to stay outside for the rest of this mission, he must get through this somehow. Of course, even if he wants to stay out of this event, the answer is still no. I will ask Rachel to grab him if he tries to run. We need his Deus ex Machina aura to do this thing.

"This is unbelievable." Says the class rep with a paling face, pinching her nostrils as hard as humanly possible. Her serious voice becomes a bit funny because of it. "I can not imagine how you're living in such a condition. This is too much for one to bear."

While lowering her body to the floor to remove her shoes, Kurokawa responds to Laura calmly as if nothing is wrong in the air: "Everyone, please remove your shoes before entering the hallway. Also, to answer your question, Laura: Like everything in this world, you get used to it after a while. Or perhaps it was ingrained in my body since my conception to not care in the first place."

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome. That is what humans are known for the most. Yet, for some reason, while I agree with what the bookworm is saying, I can not help thinking there is a deeper meaning under her words.

"Welp, Wawa, I gotta say that I'm impressed." Covering her nose and walking inside, Rachel says. Her words may be a little sarcastic, but the tone of Blondie's voice is not. She is genuine. "Keeping such a smell from your clothes and hair is a monumental achievement! Trust me, this kind of smell does not come off easy. If something similar were to attach to my clothes, I would throw them away. As someone who also has to do housework, you gotta tell me your secrets!"

Rather than sarcasm, I can actually feel the enthusiasm in Rachel's voice. It is as though a new door full of possibilities was opened to Blondie. Truthfully, I did not know a smell could kickstart a comradery between household girls. A bad one at that, too! I swear these girls bond over the strangest of things. Who would have known they were always at each others' throats, looking at this scene unfolding before my face!

(I have new a Illustration coming in peeps!)