NSPS-254 After the Door Locks, the Husband Is Left With Only Imagination

NSPS-254 Editorial notes

This is the sixth real submission, 西園寺れお. The series originally relied on the husband's eyewitness account and post-event narration, but this installment adds a lock: the wife is not just passed around, she is kept in a room, and time itself begins to participate.

Being able to see sometimes even creates boundaries; when the door closes, the husband can only fill in with sound and imagination. The people inside haven't left, and she hasn't come out. For every minute that passes, the wife's identity feels like she has been left outside the door for an extra minute.

The existing material doesn't provide much independent plot, so I won't fabricate any. I keep it because "cannot see" here feels more oppressive than a magic mirror: a magic mirror at least delivers a visual, while a locked door only delivers uncertainty.

The green hat in this piece occurs in the waiting. The husband knows the events are continuing, but doesn't know when the wife starts to adapt, when she loses control, or when she stops only thinking about returning. Imagination automatically chooses the version that hurts him the most, and that is what sets this one apart from the other works in the series.