By Zephyria Bright white light painfully stabbed at his eyes. Eui-jae frowned. The room he was tied up in was a narrow white room. Narrow enough to be compared to the side room of the Hanover Soup Restaurant. The man firmly secured the chains to the wall, then grabbed Eui-jae’s hair tightly. Eui-jae tried not to strain his neck and was dragged along obediently.
‘These crazy brats have such bad manners…’
Once I escape, I’ll grab your head first. Did my annoyance show on my face? The man tapped his cheek with the back of his hand.
“Look at that expression…. Behave yourself, you crazy brat. Huh?”
‘Yeah, right.’
“Be good if you don’t want to see your sister screwed over.”
They take Yoon Ga-eul hostage for Cha Eui-jae, and Yoon Ga-eul for Cha Eui-jae. Cost-effective blackmail. I need to learn from this. Eui-jae nodded obediently. The man poked his side with the muzzle of his gun and left the room. The door is on the left. The iron bars in front, I don’t know what they did, but I can’t see outside. The man’s voice was heard.
“Don’t touch the guy in that room until further instructions.”
“…Wasn’t it Ga-young?”
“No. Leave him alone for now. It’s Hyung’s order.”
“Ah, yes. I understand….”
Thank goodness. I don’t have to smash everything as soon as I come in.
It seems they intend to keep him alive for now. As a pawn to control and coax Ga-eul. Eui-jae fiddled with the collar and sat on the floor. It’s a good thing he’s tall, or he wouldn’t have been able to sit down because of the chains.
‘It seemed quite spacious.’
Ga-eul probably headed to the center of this Shield. The precious ones are mostly in such places. What kind of conversation will they have when they meet? Doomsday stories? Eui-jae snorted. Prometheus couldn’t possibly know more than Yoon Ga-eul. They probably dragged her there to get information about Doomsday….
Why are they so obsessed with preventing Doomsday with human power?
It’s too…
‘Too organized’
At that moment, he felt someone approaching from the iron bars again. Eui-jae lowered his head and closed his eyes.
“A new test subject? A pretty decent one came in. Did you give him the drug?”
Two people. The rustling sound of gowns meant they were probably the researchers who were outside. Eui-jae quietly listened with his eyes closed. Flap, the sound of paper turning.
“Let’s see…. Did you scan his face?”
“Not yet.”
“Hey, you should have done that first.”
“You can do it now. It doesn’t seem like he’s a high-ranking one.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it’s a face I’ve never seen before. He must have been crawling around on the ground, picking up scraps.”
“Will it recognize him with his eyes closed?”
“I don’t know. Let’s try it.”
Click, the sound of a camera shutter.
‘As expected.’
You can’t see out from inside the iron bars, but you can see in from the outside. One of them said in a mocking voice.
“Oh, it worked, it worked. Ah~ I knew it, a D-class scrub.”
“Name, Cha Eui-jae, D-class…. What, nothing special. I thought there was something special since they brought him in with a leash. Can I use him as a test subject?”
“No. They said don’t touch him.”
“Does he have any special ability? There’s nothing special in the data.”
“No. But it’s an order from above.”
“Too bad. We need to fill it up because there’s a lot of consumption.”
Eui-jae twitched his fingers. They found out his name and rank with just his face. Not even a high rank, just a common D-class Awakened. There’s only one way this is possible.
‘The Awakened Management Bureau database….’
“What about the drug?”
“We gave it to him, but it’s a small amount.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to soak him in it completely? Just in case.”
“It doesn’t seem like a very aggressive individual…. Let’s leave him alone for now. It’ll be troublesome for us if he becomes an idiot.”
“Aww, I was going to experiment with something decent for once.”
The voices of their conversation faded away. Eui-jae slowly opened his eyes. The Awakened Management Bureau’s database is strictly managed as a national secret. Each Awakened is the nation’s power. Even Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo, a specialist in infiltration, could barely manipulate the database after separating Jung-bin.
But they found out the Hunters’ information with just one photo. Even Cha Eui-jae’s shell information.
Eui-jae leaned his head against the hard wall.
‘Come to think of it, even if they’re drugged….’
It’s impossible for civilians to easily kidnap Awakened. Especially if they’re Awakened who can’t control their power because they’re drugged. There must have been an accomplice. And that accomplice is….
‘Another Awakened.’
A chill ran down his spine. There’s a traitor selling out fellow Awakened. And, judging from the fact that they’re using the Awakened Management Bureau’s database at will….
‘…Someone related to the Awakened Management Bureau?’
Ugh, Eui-jae groaned and rubbed his face roughly with both hands. He came to find out Prometheus’s base and purpose, but it seemed like he had found an even bigger root.
‘No, it’s better this way.’
Thud, thud, thud…. Eui-jae kept hitting the back of his head against the wall. Maybe it’s because he’s been thinking a lot for the first time in a while, but his head strangely throbbed.
Eui-jae closed his eyes. The lights were so bright that even with his eyes closed, the other side of his eyelids was bright. Will the lights ever go off? Are they just going to leave them on? He blankly stared at the bright ceiling. It was dazzling. The absence of darkness is a bigger problem than he thought. Because he can’t sleep properly.
Humans, and living things, need to sleep. If they don’t sleep properly, their brains slowly erode. Their mental strength crumbles. Little by little. The most painful thing in the West Sea Rift was that.
Night does not come in the Destroyed world.
Trapped in an endless white night, guarding against Monsters that could pop out anytime, anywhere. With the sharp senses of an Awakened. Yes, the West Sea Rift was the perfect environment to go crazy. He doesn’t even know when he last slept deeply. They, Cha Eui-jae, just endured. Foolishly.
People became more sensitive as time went on. Even colleagues who never lost their smiles slowly lost them. Small arguments often turned into big fights, and eventually, they saw blood….
Damn it. Eui-jae bit his tongue hard for no reason. Being trapped in this narrow, bright room and thinking about the West Sea Rift was the worst. Let’s think about something else, something else.
The question that suddenly came to mind was.
‘Was Lee Sa-young trapped in a place like this too?’
He opened his eyes wide and looked around. A narrow, white room, a white light that never goes out, the silence where he could hear even his own breathing and heartbeat. Lee Sa-young was alone in a place like this. Lee Sa-young, the foolish man who chose the worst path. Just to wait for Cha Eui-jae.
Eui-jae clenched and unclenched his fists. His calloused hands were pale. The scars that remained like fine lines on his palms lingered in his vision like afterimages.
“……”
Damn it.
Eui-jae buried his face in his palms.
Right now, immediately.
He missed Lee Sa-young so much.
‘These are the people you’ll be living with from now on. You should say hello, right?’
A cold hand nudged his back. Sa-young lost his balance and staggered, barely steadying himself with his crutches. Sa-young glared to the side. His blurry vision could only distinguish between light and dark, so he could only guess that the white figure was Ga-young. Ga-young widened her eyes as if asking why, then curved her lips into a smile.
‘Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s still hard to walk, right~? I lacked consideration.’
‘……’
‘This one is~ um, let’s call him Number 4. Since you can’t say your name. Is that okay?’
‘……’
‘Number 4! He’s a valuable talent who survived so hard even though he was poisoned by a Monster’s Poison. Let’s all work together to help Number 4 get healthy!’
Wow, applause erupted. Noisy. He wanted to cover his ears. He already missed the quiet hospital room. A cold hand touched Sa-young’s shoulder. Goosebumps rose on his neck. Unpleasant. He heard the sound of a many-legged insect busily moving its feet. It seemed to be a spider….
‘I’ll show you your room first. You’ll be living there from now on.’
Ga-young led Sa-young without a care. The long, white path continued. He was getting out of breath. Sa-young soon stopped, panting. He supported himself with his crutches and caught his breath. Ga-young didn’t worry about him. She didn’t even come close. She just waited for him to come from afar.
‘Come quickly.’
Damn it.
Sa-young gritted his teeth and started moving his crutches again. Huff, huff, rough breaths poured out. He tasted blood in his mouth. His shaggy bangs were wet with sweat. Just as he barely reached Ga-young, he heard the sound of a door opening. Ga-young whispered in a laughing voice.
‘You’ve come well. This is where you’ll be staying.’
‘……’
The room was all white. So white that even Lee Sa-young’s terrible eyesight couldn’t help but recognize it. The floor, the walls, the ceiling. A cold, spider-like hand pushed Sa-young’s back. Thud, Sa-young fell into the room with his crutches. He struggled to lift his head. Clang,
The door closed.