By Zephyria “Ugh…. Haa, ugh….”
The sobs didn’t subside easily. Eui-jae pressed his forehead against the glass tube and wept for a long time, panting. He couldn’t even make a loud noise, nor could he vent his emotions by striking something. He gritted his teeth and held back the sounds. It was hard to breathe. He tasted a metallic taste of blood in his mouth.
Countless thoughts swirled around chaotically.
Because I wasn’t there.
Because I was late.
Because of that promise to wait.
Lee Sa-young has no reason to endure this pain. That kid, that kid should have just….
‘Should have been happy.’
Without knowing this pain, this dark side, he should have just been happy. He should have forgotten about promises, ignored such vague promises, and just….
Then, he felt movement inside the glass tube. He quickly raised his head. Whether it had only lost consciousness for a moment, it was getting up and struggling again. Eui-jae examined the machinery next to the screen. And he found the red button that seemed to have been used the most.
‘…There must be a reason why it’s used so much.’
Eui-jae pressed the button firmly. Woooong…. The pipe connected below the tube vibrated, and the purple Poison was slowly sucked out. That’s it. Eui-jae let out a small sigh of relief. The figure was reflected beyond the viscous purple liquid clinging to the wall of the glass tube. It was scratching weakly at the glass. As if trying to convey something to the person beyond the glass, desperately.
“……”
Cha Eui-jae didn’t turn his head, taking in its entire appearance. The body with not a single intact spot. The strangely distorted flesh and melted skin. The pitifully struggling gestures.
The empty glass tube began to fill with liquid again. This time, it was a transparent sky-blue liquid. The new liquid stopped after filling only half of the glass tube. It seemed to be a recovery fluid for treatment, as the festering skin submerged in the liquid was slowly recovering.
It coughed, coughed, and trembled. Dark red blood and purple liquid mixed and splattered out…. It coughed a few times, then slumped down as if exhausted. Fortunately, it was breathing faintly.
Is this what I have to repeat? Endlessly, continuously.
Until they reach the desired result.
His stomach churns. In an instant, Lee Sa-young’s figure overlapped. A boy with no intact spot, panting inside the glass tube. Looking at the liquid rising from the bottom with fearful eyes. Struggling to live….
“Ugh….”
Eui-jae swallowed the rising nausea. He lifted the white cloth and slightly raised the bottom of the mask. He roughly rubbed his wet face. His shoulders heaved intermittently. He couldn’t stop crying.
Overcoming Doomsday with human power?
What about the people who are sacrificed because of it?
The people who suffer….
It’s just selfish greed. No one should be treated like this. This shouldn’t happen anymore. Eui-jae stared blankly at it trapped in the glass tube. This user must have been human originally.
Should I let it out?
His hand moved faster than he thought. Eui-jae lightly knocked on the glass. The thing, submerged in the treatment liquid and slumped, turned its head towards the sound. Its gaze was directed at the empty air, as if its eyesight hadn’t recovered yet. Eui-jae quietly asked.
“Can you understand what I’m saying?”
“……”
It didn’t react for a moment, as if thinking, then slowly nodded. Eui-jae looked at the festering and scarred skin. The boy’s skin under the bandages must have been festering like this too. Every time he simply changed the bandages, the boy would curl his fingertips, as if it hurt, or as if he didn’t want to show it….
“Do you want to get out of here?”
“……”
“Do you want to escape?”
It didn’t answer. Eui-jae said again.
“I can let you out. I’ll take you to Doctor. Doctor can cure you.”
It turned its head away. Why? What is the reason for wanting to stay even while enduring this pain? Eui-jae asked accusingly.
“…Why do you want to stay? Are you afraid of retaliation?”
“……”
It slowly turned its head again. Its festering mouth twitched. A terribly hoarse voice flowed out.
“…Get stronger….”
“……”
“Must protect…. ”
“……”
“The child…. Don’t worry… You can go.”
“But….”
“Time… is up. No camera….”
It closed its eyes as if it had finished speaking. It was as firm as if it wouldn’t move even if dragged away by force. Eui-jae took a step back. As it said, there was no more time to hesitate. Approaching the door, Eui-jae turned his head one last time and stared at the dark laboratory.
If he had asked Lee Sa-young trapped by others.
Would he have run away, or stayed?
‘…….’
As he stepped out through the iron door, a bright smile appeared on the face of the boy who was still hanging on the iron bars. Eui-jae tried to calm his churning stomach. The solid and dense iron bars bent easily without much force. Eui-jae gestured with his head.
“…Come out, let’s go.”
“Wow, you’re really strong….”
The boy carefully came out of the iron bars, looking around. Eui-jae returned the iron bars to their original state, then covered the boy with the white cloth he had been wearing. The boy struggled.
“Wh, what is this!”
“You have to cover it up so you don’t get caught.”
Eui-jae slung the boy over his shoulder and started running. The bustling sounds of people increased. It seemed the service was about to end. It was already time to meet Gyu-Gyu. Eui-jae kicked open the back door he had been told about in advance and ran out. As he jumped over the stone wall blocking the way, a black van was waiting for him. The passenger window of the van slid down.
Gyu-Gyu, sitting in the driver’s seat with his arm on the steering wheel, raised his eyebrows.
“Oh, what could that be~? Perhaps… a surprise gift for me?”
“A person.”
“Wow, it’s my first time receiving a person as a gift, I’m so excited.”
“They’ve built a prison underground and locked up mutated people. They take people who come to pray, take them away saying they’ll treat them, and use them for experiments.”
“I know that…. Ah, don’t tell me you took one of them~?”
“Yeah.”
Haha, Gyu-Gyu laughed briefly and clapped his hands.
“Wow~ I don’t know what kind of guts you have, but you’re so amazing~ You’re the type who doesn’t think about what will happen when you get caught~”
“Don’t be sarcastic, just open the door.”
“Wait, J. What was our reason for infiltrating today? It was to check the internal structure and atmosphere, right?”
“I know.”
“What do you know? If you bring an experimental subject like this, wouldn’t even the dumbest guys know someone infiltrated~?”
“Then should I take him back?”
“I didn’t know you were so good at turning people into trash. Hey friend, what’s your name?”
The boy, dangling on Eui-jae’s shoulder, answered.
“…Ga, Kang Sun-yul.”
“Okay, how did you end up there~?”
“M, Mom said, there’s a place that treats Mutation, let’s go together….”
“Uh-huh, and then?”
“Th, they said if you pray, they’ll treat you… I prayed… they said I was chosen… they took me to a, strange place…. Ugh….”
The body hanging on his shoulder trembled. Sun-yul sniffled. Gyu-Gyu tapped the steering wheel with his index finger, then opened the back door of the van.
“You were chosen, huh~? You got treatment too? Do you remember everything?”
Sun-yul sniffled and nodded. Eui-jae sat Sun-yul in the back seat and took off the white cloth. His whitened, mutated appearance was revealed. Gyu-Gyu, who was carefully examining the boy, smiled wryly.
“Well, I guess I can take him to the civil servant Hyung~…. His memory seems clear too. Hmm, the aftermath is the problem?”
Eui-jae got into the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt.
“Don’t worry about that.”
“If you have something to rely on, why don’t you share it with me?”
“I don’t.”
“Then?”
Eui-jae slammed the passenger door shut. A black mask with no expression was reflected in the window.
“There’s no need to explain…. Just get rid of them all.”
A chilling aura rose from his body. Gyu-Gyu, who had been leaning forward with his arms on the steering wheel, smiled wryly.
“Ah…. Are we going to flip everything over right now? Seriously?”
Eui-jae soon collected his murderous intent. He leaned his temple against the window and closed his eyes.
“…I’m kidding.”
“What kind of joke is that so brutal?”
“…It’ll be okay, probably.”
What it trapped in the glass tube had said. It didn’t seem like a lie.
Eui-jae decided to trust him.
Unlike before, the dark laboratory was brightly lit. Ga-young, wearing a protective suit, was standing in front of the glass tube, busily typing something on the screen. Then, hurried footsteps approached.
“Ga-young-nim! One of the experimental subjects has disappeared!”
“Huh? What? How are you managing….”
Ga-young raised her head annoyedly. But soon, she tilted her head as if puzzled.
“…Huh? But what disappeared?”
“Number 47, the one who came in most recently. The little kid. Judging from the traces of the bent iron bars, it seems he escaped on his own….”
“Ah…. What was it? Wait, I think I remember….”
Ga-young frowned, then widened her eyes.
“I remember! You mean the one we experimented on most recently? The one whose leg returned to normal. What, was he that strong? Did you check the CCTV?”
“Th, the CCTV doesn’t work when we’re experimenting upstairs….”
“That’s right…. Tsk tsk, I told you to increase the power consumption earlier…. I’ll have to suggest it again.”
Ga-young crossed her arms and pondered, then asked it standing tall beyond the screen.
“Hey, didn’t you see anything? Didn’t you feel anyone coming?”
It, which had been standing still, opened its mouth.
“Ate….”
“What? You ate him?”
“Escaped… so….”
“Ah, is that so? I thought so.”
Ga-young snorted and gestured to the flustered researcher.
“That’s what he said. Go.”
“H, but… his mother requested a visit. What should I do?”
“Make something up~ All you have to do is have the great Seer say a word.”
“……”
“You did well too~ In the future, if there are any kids who run away, melt them all or swallow them….”
It stared blankly at the top of Ga-young’s head, who was focused on the screen. Its crushed fingertips twitched, but didn’t move any further.