Chronolust Temptation [18+] High S*xual Content
Ch.1 Entering the Tunnel

With a deep breath, Hayao shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling the familiar weight of his smartphone. Shigeru’s words rang in his ears—“Make it spooky and stuff.”

The tunnels, shrouded in ghost stories, offered to keep his mind off things. Screw it, he thought. He would go to the Kurotaki Tunnels, record the video on his phone, and maybe earn that favor from his old friend. Turning from the river, he set off toward the shadowed path leading to the tunnels, his heart thudding with a mix of nerves and resolve.

The walk to the tunnel was short but oppressive, the air growing cooler as the sun slowly sank below the horizon. The tunnel entrance loomed ahead, a gaping maw of cracked concrete, half-swallowed by tangled vines and overgrowth. A bit ahead, “No entrance” was written on a faded yellow triangular notice. 

Behind him, the sun was disappearing, and soon it would be twilight. Local legends spoke of restless spirits trapped within, their whispers lingering in the dark. Hayao’s fingers tightened around his smartphone, its screen casting a faint glow as he opened the camera app and pressed on the flashlight option.

This is just so dumb, he thought to himself. 

No fancy equipment—just him and his cheap phone, and the suffocating silence of the tunnels. He stepped inside, the temperature cooling, his shoes scraping against the damp, gritty floor. The air reeked of mold and something faintly metallic, like old blood, clinging to the back of his throat. His pulse raced, and he hit record, his voice low and shaky as he spoke for Shigeru’s video.

“This is… the Kurotaki Tunnels. It’s creepy as hell in here.” Shadows flickered at the edges of his vision, and a distant drip of water echoed like a pulse in the dark. Every instinct screamed to turn back, but he pressed deeper, driven by the need to prove himself—and to escape the burning image of Nanako’s smile, her boyish haircut framing her face, her charcoal-smudged fingers that he longed to touch.

His footsteps muffled, his breath loud in his ears. The faint light from his phone barely pierced the darkness, illuminating jagged cracks in the walls and puddles. 

His mind wandered, unbidden, to Nanako—her soft laugh, the way her skirt had ridden up ever-so-slightly that day in the classroom, the forbidden heat that had coiled in his gut. Just a little bit more, he had thought. He shook his head, trying to focus, but the tunnel’s atmosphere amplified his overactive imagination did not help things. 

What was he even doing here? Chasing ghosts for Shigeru’s stupid video? Or, just wasting time? The air grew heavier, the darkness thicker, and Hayao’s grip on his phone tightened, his thumb hovering over the stop button as the tunnel stretched endlessly before him.

His pulse raced, and he hit record, his voice low and shaky as he spoke for Shigeru’s video. “This is… the Kurotaki Tunnels. It’s creepy as hell in here.” Shadows flickered at the edges of his vision, and a distant drip of water echoed like a pulse in the dark. Every instinct screamed to turn back, but he pressed deeper, driven by the need to prove himself.

“Focus, Hayao,” he muttered to himself, angling his phone to capture the eerie surroundings. “Gotta make this good.”

Clearing his throat, he forced out more commentary, his voice trembling as it echoed off the damp walls. “So, uh, they say these tunnels were abandoned after some kind of accident… years ago,” he said, his words halting as he stepped carefully over a slick patch of floor. “People talk about hearing voices, or… seeing shadows that move on their own. It’s probably just rumors, but this place is—” 

His foot caught on something, and he stumbled forward, a sharp metallic clatter slicing through the silence. His phone nearly slipped from his grip, the light swinging wildly as he caught his balance, heart hammering in his chest. 

“Damn,” he hissed, swinging the phone’s light downward. 

There, half-buried in the grime and dust of the tunnel floor, was a small, round object, its surface tarnished and slick with dampness. It glinted faintly under the light, its edges rough with corrosion, looking out of place in the abandoned tunnel. The air felt heavier, the darkness closing in, as if the tunnel itself were holding its breath.

Hayao’s fingers twitched, his pulse loud in his ears, torn between the urge to investigate and the instinct to keep moving before the shadows grew any closer.

What should Hayao do?

1. Examine the metallic object

   Kneel down to inspect the grimy, mysterious item, trying to figure out what it is and why it’s here.

2. Continue down the tunnel

   Ignore the object and keep walking deeper into the Kurotaki Tunnels, focusing on recording Shigeru’s video.