Ethics Filter Testing

"Then, I'll go wash up yo."

"See ya."

I saw Alto off. By the way, I properly paid for Alto's shower usage at the inn. Of course I did, otherwise people could just bring anyone in.

This inn has pretty nice rooms with private showers. The game really pays attention to that kind of flavor detail.

…

Wait a minute.

Right now, I'm sitting on the inn's firm bed. Waiting. For a girl to finish her shower.

Well, there's a lot of banging and crashing — sounds like she's washing vigorously.

No, calm down. Alto-chan is a cute girl, but on the inside she's my coworker. Be cool, be cool.

Besides, I didn't bring her here for that purpose.

… Maybe I'll organize my inventory.

After sorting through inventory items for a while, Alto came out after her shower.

… Whoa, her hair is even glossier now.

"Damn it! Skipping the bath scene is too cruel yo!"

"Huh?"

"Hm? Whatever yo. Anyway, it's Tria-chan's turn to wash up yo."

"Oh, okay."

So now it was my turn.

… Wait!? Hold on, right now I'm Tria-chan! Can I really just shower like this!?

I-if I undress, I'll be naked!?

… But I do want to shower. I worked up a sweat hunting Lizardmen. Right? Yeah. Okay, h-here I go!

The moment I put my hands on my clothes to undress, my vision whited out.

Ahh, feeling so refreshed.

This was definitely the feeling of being freshly washed and dried. Sniff sniff, armpits don't smell either. Sniff sniff. Haah.

Coming out of the shower room, Alto-chan was sitting on the bed waiting.

"Damn it! Skipping the bath scene is too cruel!!"

"Yo?"

"Hm? Wait, huh?"

It didn't take long to remember the words: "ethics filter" or "child safety".

"Hold on? Did I actually take a long shower?"

"About 5 minutes yo. Lots of banging around — sounded pretty hectic yo."

"Felt like 5 seconds to me."

"So your consciousness got skipped yo?"

Right. There's no way it took 5 minutes. Even including the hesitation before undressing, 30 seconds max, maybe a minute.

"Well, VR that lets you smell things without even being neurally connected — once you think about what kind of tech that is yo… consciousness skipping is nothing at this point yo."

"Seriously. Also… I was just on my phone, you know?"

"Right yo. VR without even an HMD yo… Oh, right. I was in such a rush that I forgot you didn't have any gear when I told you to hurry yo."

"Ehhh, as an engineer I don't want to accept this… Can 'technology' even explain this?"

Just with a phone, this situation? Impossible. Physically impossible. Should be. But it's actually happening.

Is this a dream? I pinched my cheek… Doesn't hurt much, but oh right, this is in-game.

"No wait, the sensation replication is insane. I can actually feel my cheek when I touch it."

"Oh. Come to think of it, it's been way too long since I've walked on my own feet yo."

"Aren't you too much of a homebody? Oh wait, you're in customer service, right? Sorry."

"It's fine yo, don't worry. That one was on me yo."

Rough job, after all.

Anyway, putting that aside — after smell, now touch too. Sight and hearing go without saying… but does this mean taste works too?

Now I really want to visit the guild cafeteria.

Just then, someone gave a small tug on my clothes.

"Yo yo. Hey, Tria-chan?"

"Hm? What's up, Alto?"

"… Can I touch your boobs a little?"

"!? Y-you! What are you saying!"

"N-no yo! Not in a dirty way yo! It's, you know, to test what level the safety features go to yo! Reluctantly yo!"

"Oh. Is that it? Okay, got it. Go ahead."

"W-wait, my heart's racing yo! It's racing yo! Kyaaa!"

So I puffed out my chest — and Alto's hand hit something flat about 1 cm away. An invisible wall where nothing should be.

"T-that's flat beyond flat yo. It's literally a wall yo!"

"It really is a wall though. So this is the ethics filter wall, huh."

"Grrr. What about my own — gah! No good!! Even my own are off-limits!? Even though they're this flat!?"

Alto was trying to grope her own chest and kept hitting an invisible wall.

Terrifying, this ethics filter… Ah.

"Hey Alto. I just realized something."

"What yo?"

"If we level up more, won't the filter removal option show up?"

Yes. This VR (or whatever it is) function was just unlocked at Lv 30.

So while I don't know at what level, there's a possibility that eventually this ethics filter will be lifted and an adult world will be unlocked!!

"That's it yo!!!! As expected of Tria, you're a genius yo!"

"Oh, but even if that unlocks, I'm not doing anything with you. Absolutely not."

"Getting weird during work would be a problem, so of course yo. That'd be awkward yo."

The way you say that makes it sound like you have experience, coworker.

"… Come to think of it, Penpen said she was almost sold to the pleasure district, right?"

"…!! So there IS a pleasure district yo!?"

"Meaning there… perhaps!"

"We can do what we can do yo!! … Oh, but Tria. We're girls yo. Can girls even play at this world's pleasure district? I know there are those kinds of shops in real life, but yo."

That needs investigating.

"We don't even know where the pleasure district is. We should ask Penpen… no, the merchant lending Penpen money."

"Yo! Let's have Penpen guide us yo! Is her equipment done yet yo?"

"Dunno, but let's meet up with Penpen for now… Oh, and let's eat at the guild cafeteria too."

"Food! I want meat yo, meat! Wait!? Is taste being replicated too yo? But there wasn't any taste calibration yo? … Did they pull from a database yo?"

"Testing time! We'll think about security issues later. Let's eat till our stomachs burst!"

"Roger yo!! Hooray for testing!"

We dashed toward the guild.