Cha Eui-jae shoved his hands into his pockets and glanced around. This appeared to be so kind of research facility, and the place he had entered seed to be the lobby connected to the entrance and hallway. And from the lobby onward, there were dead bodies everywhere.
The white lab coats they wore were so thoroughly soaked in dark red blood that their original color was hard to discern. Cha Eui-jae looked up at the ceiling. The stark white incandescent light flickered ominously. The space was eerily silent, devoid of even breathing sounds or the thumping of a heartbeat. White walls and red blood.
"I don't want to die!"
Soone's desperate scream echoed. A stabbing headache ca over him. Cha Eui-jae bit his tongue out of habit. As the sharp pain spread, he finally regained so composure. There was no ti to be idle.
Cha Eui-jae glanced at a corpse that had collapsed against the wall with its head against it. Judging by the vertical scratches on the wall, it seed the person had clawed at it in unbearable pain.
When he flipped the body over, the face, wide-eyed, was drenched in blood. Cold black eyes scanned the entire body. At first, he thought Seo Min-gi had killed them all. But on second thought...
'No external injuries...'
He had never seen Seo Min-gi fight, but handling a large number of people without leaving any visible injuries would be impossible without so special ability. Didn't he claim to be a specialist in stealth and infiltration, not assassination?
There were no external injuries, yet there was an abnormal amount of bleeding. Corpses that had died vomiting blood, and the dark red color of the blood...
It looked strangely familiar. Unconsciously, Cha Eui-jae touched his own neck.
Yes, it was similar to the symptoms when he was poisoned by Lee Sa-young. The sweet scent lingering in the air was familiar too. It was always the scent that tickled his nose when Lee Sa-young was nearby.
Seo Min-gi must have known there was a guest inside. Despite that, he only said, "It might be a ss inside." This likely ant he judged the guest wouldn't be a threat to Cha Eui-jae.
Cha Eui-jae chuckled and then examined the face of the corpse after touching its neck. There was still warmth, and rigor mortis had not set in. It was clear the person hadn't been dead for long.
'He must still be inside.'
If he continued, he would surely encounter him. Cha Eui-jae planted the blood-stained soles of his sneakers on the floor and started walking.
Pursuing Protheus were the Pado Guild, Seowon Guild, and the Awakened Managent Bureau. Lee Sa-young, who was a test subject of Protheus. It was likely Lee Sa-young who had turned this place into a ss and brutally killed the researchers.
'Is it because of his grudge against Protheus?'
As he walked down the long corridor, avoiding corpses and puddles of blood, his thoughts began to center around Lee Sa-young.
Seo Min-gi had firmly stated that no one survived Protheus' experints. Nam Woo-jin had said that Lee Sa-young was a forr test subject of Protheus. One of them had to be lying.
'Judging by the state of the interior, it seems Nam Woo-jin was right...'
No ordinary grudge would lead soone to kill every single person like this.
At that mont, a bright light shone from a half-open door. Cha Eui-jae peeked inside, extending his head. It looked like a monitoring room with multiple large monitors. The monitors displayed prison-like spaces devoid of people.
This place too was in disarray, with the floor and walls disturbed by researchers struggling in pain, but the items and docunts on the desks were unusually tidy. It was as if they were prepared for soone. Cha Eui-jae picked up a blue file. The file was labeled:
[#707 Experint Record]
"..."
He carefully opened the file and began reading through it page by page. The subject of the file, 707, was a survivor who had been rescued after being caught in a rift. Researchers injected his body with enhancent drugs, transfused him with the blood of Awakeners, transplanted monster flesh, and conducted nurous experints. And,
[Failed.]
[Failed.]
[Failed.]
[Failed.]
[Failed.]
"..."
The last page stated that it was decided to dispose of him as there was no longer any value in continuing the experints. The final phrase of the record was:
[Let us hold gratitude in our hearts for all those who sacrifice to prevent the end.]
Cha Eui-jae clenched his fist instinctively. He gritted his teeth. Crack, the plastic file crumpled in his grasp like paper. Kidnapping a survivor who barely escaped from a rift, using them as a test subject, and then disposing of them when the experints failed. Anxiety surged within him. He picked up another file and quickly skimd through it.
Failure, failure, failure, disposal, let us hold gratitude in our hearts for all those who sacrifice to prevent the end. Failure, failure, failure, disposal, let us hold gratitude in our hearts for all those who sacrifice to prevent the end. Failure, failure, failure... end. Gratitude. End.
Bang!
The desk split in half from his punch. His shoulders, which had been heaving up and down, gradually settled. Cha Eui-jae stopped himself from slapping his cheek, halting at the cold touch of his mask.
He had questioned it from the beginning. Why was Protheus trying to artificially create Awakeners? Were they resentful for not being chosen by the system?
If that had been their motive, they wouldn't have been so threatening. Those driven by selfish desires tend to scatter ironically because of their greed.
But these people were far from such desires. They believed they were striving to prevent the end. They believed that small sacrifices were unavoidable, like fanatics. They were neither researchers nor scientists. They were a group of mad zealots.
Artificially creating Awakeners to prevent the end? How foolish...
Suddenly, a faint groan was heard. Cha Eui-jae lifted his head sharply. The human voice ca from beyond a door on one side of the monitoring room. There had been no sign of any survivors. Cha Eui-jae hurriedly opened the door.
"Ugh, aah!"
Inside, a man in a white lab coat was crouching and trembling. He began banging his head against the wall, covering his mouth.
"Please save , please save , please save ..."
'Where did he suddenly co from?'
There were countless questions, but Cha Eui-jae's body moved instinctively to help the survivor. He quickly scanned the man's condition to check if he could communicate...
But only for a mont, Cha Eui-jae withdrew the hand he had extended towards the man. The card key around the man's neck indicated he was part of the research facility.
'He's from Protheus...'
Failure, failure, failure, let us hold gratitude in our hearts for all those who sacrifice to prevent the end.
Cha Eui-jae, with his hands in his jeans pockets, leaned forward slightly to look down at the researcher. The man, noticing that the presence before him wasn't a threat, gradually stopped banging his head against the wall. Squinting his eyes, the man saw the black mask filling his view.
The man's eyes filled with a strange sense of joy.
"Th-that mask, you're J, right? J, it is you, isn't it? I heard stories that you were alive. How did you get here, no, no!"
The man crawled on his knees and clung to Cha Eui-jae's leg. His hands were trembling pathetically.
"Please, please save . A madman wrecked the research facility and killed innocent people...!"
"..."
Cha Eui-jae did not respond. The man bit his lips anxiously and then suddenly looked up. The eyes that had been filled with joy now shone oddly.
"I-I had so much I wanted to say to you, J. I-I'm a big fan of yours. I wanted to ask about the inside of the West Sea Rift. We received a revelation that it was touching the end, and everyone, everyone..."
"What? What are you talking about..."
It was the mont when Cha Eui-jae's eyes widened.
"Aaagh! Ugh!"
The researcher clutched his throat and scread, then vomited blood. Dark red blood. The researcher reached out with a trembling hand.
"Please, J, save, save ...!"
"No."
Thud, thud, the sound of footsteps approached from the darkness. A languid voice whispered.
"You got the words wrong."
"Save, save..."
"At the very least, you should say sorry, I was wrong..."
"Sorry, so... Ugh..."
The researcher, who had been writhing and scratching the floor, gradually stopped moving. Coughing up blood instead of uttering last words, his body slumped down. From the darkness, the languid voice murmured.
"I killed them all, but there was still soone alive."
"..."
"Sorry about that... Are you okay?"
From the darkness, a hand appeared with only the fingertips stained black. As the hand touched the researcher's head, a chilling sound ensued, and the corpse began to lt into a black liquid.
"It looks like Hong Ye-seong put a gas mask function into your mask. Lucky."
The corpse had already turned into a black puddle, which soon disappeared into the hand. The hand, having completed its task, vanished back into the darkness.
Cha Eui-jae gave a short reply.
"Get your facts straight. You left him alive on purpose. Just him."
"..."
A short laugh echoed from the darkness. The voice, mixed with laughter, whispered.
"You're so quick with this kind of insight. No other insight though."
"..."
"Well, yes. I thought you might be curious, Hyung."
"..."
"Though, in hindsight, it was a mistake to keep him alive. He just spouted nonsense until the end."
From the darkness, black boots erged.
"So... after coming all this way."
A long black coat reached halfway down long legs and calves. A hand in the coat pocket, disheveled curly hair, and shining eyes underneath. Long eyelashes blinked slowly. Full lips parted.
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
Purple eyes narrowed slightly.
"J."
As if smiling.
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