Chapter 309
“Ugh… hhh, ugh…”
The sobs didn’t easily subside. Uijae cried for a long time, his forehead pressed against the glass container, gasping and sobbing silently. He couldn’t make a sound, nor could he release his emotions by striking anything. He gritted his teeth, holding it all in. Breathing was difficult. The taste of blood lingered in his mouth.
Countless thoughts swirled in his mind.
Because I wasn’t there.
Because I was late.
Because of those words, “wait for me.”
Lee Sa-young had no reason to endure this kind of pain. He… he should’ve just...
‘He should’ve been happy.’
He should have been happy, without knowing this kind of pain or darkness. He should have just been happy. Forget about promises, forget about those meaningless promises, and just...
Then, he felt a presence in the glass container. He quickly lifted his head. Perhaps it was just a momentary lapse, but it was now struggling again. Uijae glanced at the machinery next to the screen. He found the red button, which seemed to be the most frequently used.
‘There must be a reason it’s used so often.’
Uijae pressed the button firmly. The pipes connected beneath the container vibrated, and the violet poison was slowly sucked out. Done. Uijae let out a small sigh of relief. Through the sticky violet liquid clinging to the glass, he saw its form. It was weakly scratching at the glass. It seemed to be desperately trying to convey something to someone beyond the glass.
“……”
Uijae didn’t turn his head, absorbing its appearance with his eyes. Its body, with no intact part. Its strangely distorted skin, melted flesh. The pitiful, desperate movements.
The empty glass container began to fill with liquid again. This time, it was a transparent, sky-blue liquid. The new liquid filled only halfway and stopped. It seemed to be a restorative fluid, as the decayed skin slowly began to heal.
It coughed, shuddering. The mixture of dark red blood and violet liquid splattered out… After a few more coughs, it seemed to collapse, exhausted. Thankfully, it was still breathing lightly.
Was this going to repeat? Endlessly, again and again.
Until they reached the result they wanted.
Uijae’s stomach churned. For a moment, Lee Sa-young’s image overlapped with the sight before him. The sight of the boy, with no intact part of his body, gasping inside the glass container. His fearful eyes staring at the liquid rising from the bottom. Struggling to live…
“Ugh…”
Uijae swallowed the rising nausea. He lifted the white cloth and slightly raised his mask. He roughly wiped his wet face, his shoulders trembling intermittently. He couldn’t stop crying.
To think humans would overcome the end times?
What about the people sacrificed for that?
What about the people suffering…
It was nothing but selfish greed. No one should ever be treated like this. This must never happen again. Uijae stared at the thing trapped in the glass container. It must have once been human too.
Should I release it?
His hand moved faster than he thought. Uijae lightly knocked on the glass. The thing, which had been lying motionless in the healing liquid, turned its head toward the sound. It seemed its vision hadn’t fully returned yet, and its gaze wandered aimlessly. Uijae quietly asked.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“……”
It seemed to think for a moment before slowly nodding. Uijae looked at its decayed and grotesque skin. Even under the bandages, the same kind of rotting skin was visible. Every time he changed the bandages, the boy would flinch, as if in pain, or perhaps because he didn’t want to show it…
“Do you want to get out of here?”
“……”
“Do you want to escape?”
It didn’t respond. Uijae spoke again.
“I can let you out. I’ll take you to the doctor. The doctor can treat you.”
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net, it has been stolen.
It turned its head away. Why? Even though it was enduring all this pain, what was the reason it wanted to stay? Uijae asked, frustrated.
“…Why do you want to stay? Are you scared of retribution?”
“……”
It slowly turned its head back. Its decayed mouth moved. A horrible, hoarse voice emerged.
“Become stronger…”
“……”
“I must… protect.”
“……”
“The child… don’t worry about it…”
“But…”
“The time... has come. No cameras…”
It seemed as though it had said everything it needed to say, and its eyes closed. It was as if it had turned into a solid, immovable object, unwilling to move any further. Uijae took a step back. As it had said, there was no more time to hesitate. Moving towards the door, Uijae glanced back one last time at the dark laboratory.
If someone had asked Lee Sa-young, trapped in there, what would he have done?
Would he have escaped, or stayed?
‘…….’
As Uijae exited through the iron door, the bright smile of the boy still hanging on the bars appeared in his mind. Uijae forced his churning stomach to calm. The sturdy, tightly packed iron bars bent easily, without any significant effort. Uijae nodded.
“…Let’s go.”
“Wow, you’re really strong…”
The boy cautiously followed him, looking around as he slipped out from behind the bars. Uijae put the white cloth he had been holding over the boy’s head. The boy struggled.
“What, what’s this?”
“Just keep it on so you don’t get caught.”
Uijae threw the boy over his shoulder and started running. The sounds of hurried footsteps grew louder. It seemed the service was almost over. It was already the time he was supposed to meet with Gyugyu. Uijae burst through the back door he had been given earlier and sprinted outside. He jumped over the stone wall blocking his path, and a black van was waiting for him. The passenger window slowly rolled down.
Gyugyu, sitting in the driver’s seat with his arm resting on the steering wheel, raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, what’s that~? Could it be… a surprise gift for me?”
“A person.”
“Wow, it’s my first time receiving a person as a gift. How exciting.”
“We built a prison underground and locked up mutated people. The ones who came here to pray, they take them in, promising treatment, but they use them for experiments.”
“I know that… Ah, don’t tell me you brought one of them out~?”
“Yeah.”
Ha-ha, Gyugyu laughed briefly and clapped his hands.
“Wow~ I don’t know what kind of guts you have, but that’s really impressive~ You didn’t even think about getting caught, did you~?”
“Stop mocking and just open the door.”
“Wait, J. What was the reason we infiltrated today? To check the internal structure and assess the atmosphere, right?”
“I know.”
“You know? What do you know? If you bring a subject out like this, even the dumbest people will figure out that someone’s infiltrated, right~?”
“Should I take it back?”
“I didn’t know you were so good at turning people into trash. What’s the name of that friend of yours?”
The boy, still hanging on Uijae’s shoulder, answered.
“…Kang Seon-yul.”
“Right, how did he end up there~?”
“Mother said there was a place that could treat mutations, so she took me there…”
“Yeah, so?”
“They said if you prayed, they would treat you… so I prayed… and they said I was chosen… then they took me to… this strange place….”
The boy, still trembling, sniffled. Gyugyu, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, opened the back door.
“You were chosen, huh~? You got treatment too? Do you remember everything?”
Seon-yul sniffled and nodded. Uijae sat him down in the back seat and removed the white cloth. The mutated appearance was revealed. Gyugyu, who had been examining the boy carefully, grinned.
“Well, I guess we can take him to the civil servant guy~… Looks like his memory’s still intact. Hmm, the problem is the cleanup, right?”
Uijae buckled his seatbelt in the passenger seat.
“Don’t worry about that.”
“If you’ve got something to rely on, why not share it with me?”
“I don’t.”
“Then?”
Uijae slammed the passenger door shut. The reflection of the emotionless black mask in the window was all that could be seen.
“No need for an explanation… if we just get rid of everything.”
A cold killing intent surged from his body. Gyugyu, leaning with his arms on the steering wheel, grinned.
“Ah… should we flip this place over right now? Seriously?”
Uijae quickly suppressed his killing intent. He rested his temple against the glass and closed his eyes.
“…I was joking.”
“Joking? Why does that sound so ominous?”
“…It’ll be fine, probably.”
The words of the thing trapped in the glass container. They didn’t seem like a lie.
Uijae decided to trust it.
***
The dark laboratory was brightly lit now, unlike before. Ha Yeong, dressed in protective gear, was standing in front of the glass container, frantically inputting something on the screen. At that moment, hurried footsteps approached.
“Ha Yeong! One of the subjects has disappeared!”
“Huh? What did you say? How did this happen…?”
Ha Yeong lifted her head in irritation, but then tilted it in confusion.
“…Huh? What disappeared?”
“The most recent one, Subject #47. The kid. Judging by the bent bars, it seems they escaped on their own…”
“Ah… what was it? Wait, I think I remember…”
Ha Yeong frowned, then her eyes widened in realization.
“Got it! The one we experimented on recently? The one whose leg returned to normal? What, was he that strong? Did you check the CCTV?”
“When the experiment was going on, the CCTV wasn’t working…”
“Right… tch, I told them to increase the power supply earlier... I’ll have to make a request again.”
Ha Yeong crossed her arms, thinking for a moment, then turned to the thing standing behind the screen.
“You, didn’t you see anything? Didn’t you sense anyone coming?”
The thing, standing still, opened its mouth.
“I ate…”
“What? Ate?”
“Ran away…”
“Ah, I see?”
Ha Yeong scoffed and gestured toward the panicking researcher.
“Yeah, sure. Go check.”
“But… the kid’s mother requested a visit. What should we do?”
“Make up something. The great prophet will handle it with one word.”
“……”
“You did well~ If any other runaway subjects show up, just melt them down or swallow them….”
The thing silently stared at Ha Yeong’s head, which was focused on the screen. Its crumpled fingertips twitched, but it couldn’t move any further.