Chapter 33 …
It had been an hour earlier.
“They refused the morning meal.”
Calisten was blindfolded and dragged somewhere by the person in charge of Building Z. Since this was a common occurrence whenever experiments were held, he didn’t resist.
“Wasn’t A-702 supposed to be assigned to me?”
Calisten’s voice lowered with anger, but he tried to restrain it. If getting upset could bring Aselia back, he would have shouted. But this was not a place where anger worked. And scolding the researchers—especially the arrogant deputy director, who was practically the brains behind the operations—would have been counterproductive.
So, he controlled his emotions and spoke.
“If A-702 isn’t assigned to me, I won’t participate in the experiment.”
—Smack!
The deputy director slapped him hard across the face. The blindfold covering his eyes was knocked off, falling to the floor. Blood welled up from the scratch on his cheek and trickled down to his chin.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I’m asking nicely.”
Calisten stared straight into the deputy director’s eyes as he spoke. The deputy director, in turn, looked at him coldly and said:
“Awaken. Then I’ll listen to anything you say.”
“Have you forgotten that the condition for my cooperation in awakening was assigning Aselia, A-702, to me?”
—Smack! Smack-smack! Smack! Thwack! Smack!
The deputy director mercilessly struck Calisten’s face with her fists. He merely turned his head, seeming barely affected.
“Say it again.”
“Assign A-702 back to me.”
“Kneel.”
Calisten, with his mouth cut and firmly shut, realized what she meant. Ignoring the blood trickling from his lips, he knelt. The chains binding his wrists clinked behind him.
“Ask again.”
“I’m asking.”
The deputy director frowned, clearly displeased, and gestured. One of the researchers handed her a handkerchief. Calisten exhaled softly as the handkerchief picked up the traces of his flesh and blood left under her nails.
“Free his arms.”
“Yes, Deputy Director.”
A researcher released the bindings on Calisten’s arms.
Calisten didn’t feel humiliated. There was no time for that. Seeing someone else step into the morning meal slot, he had been shocked.
‘I—I don’t know. I only heard it changed this morning.’
‘Then where did Aselia go?’
‘P-please! I really don’t know!’
Recalling the panicked retreat of an A-class subject, Calisten frowned with displeasure.
This was nothing to him. But not being able to see Aselia was everything.
‘I just want you to stay unharmed.’
Because that was Aselia’s wish, he agreed to participate in the experiment as long as she remained his assigned subject. Aselia was strange—so warm to him.
‘I really like you, Cal.’
Even her habit of smiling when their eyes met.
‘Calisten.’
She was someone who made him dream of tomorrow.
A day without Aselia was impossible for Calisten.
After having such a foreboding dream, now she didn’t show up.
‘I’ll be back soon.’
“Liar.”
“What did you say?”
Lost in thought, thinking of Aselia, Calisten made eye contact with the deputy director preparing the injection.
“Extend your arm.”
He did so.
“Ugh, irritating.”
She roughly tried to insert the needle into his arm, but it broke and didn’t penetrate.
“Being strong but ignorant is really annoying.”
Calisten silently watched her irritable reaction. Another researcher fetched an intact syringe.
“You do it.”
“Yes, Deputy Director.”
The researcher again tried to insert the needle into Calisten’s wrist. But it broke with a snap.
—Thwack!
“Release your magic.”
The deputy director struck Calisten’s shoulder with her fist. When threatened, he instinctively strengthened his body with magic.
Calisten consciously relaxed. Another researcher quickly thrust a new syringe forward.
“Give it here.”
“Yes, Deputy Director.”
The deputy director then plunged the needle into Calisten’s wrist. With a sharp ‘pop,’ it pierced the flesh, stopping when it could go no further.
“I told you to relax, didn’t I?”
Calisten sighed and loosened further. She drove the syringe deeper and injected the full contents.
“What’s in this?”
“Curious?”
“Yes.”
Calisten vaguely knew, having heard a researcher list the drugs before to scare him. But the contents could have changed.
“Since you’ve behaved obediently, I’ll tell you.”
The deputy director wiped the blood from his cheek and playfully smeared it on his lips.
“This contains a drug that induces awakening. And also a confessional agent.”
“Anything else?”
“Hallucinogen and stimulant.”
“Why would that be necessary?”
She liked his fierce gaze. Even now, speaking his mind in this state annoyed yet pleased her.
“To awaken, you must be completely defenseless.”
“….”
“Both body and mind.”
She stepped back.
“Share the screen.”
“Yes, Deputy Director.”
The opaque display behind her brightened with a beep.
“What the—!”
It showed a large room containing an XX-class subject. Calisten’s room was smaller than the one on the screen. It had been downsized because of his rebellious behavior; normally, it should have been larger.
“The one who saved your life from that ice-filled tank was A-702.”
“Wasn’t that a dream?”
“Did you wish it was?”
Calisten had believed it a dream, unsure where reality ended and illusion began, especially after receiving the drugs.
“XX-321 killed a researcher and was locked in that room.”
“….”
“Aren’t you curious what they did before killing him?”
Calisten understood immediately what XX-321 had done.
“A-702 is a man. A man…”
“The dead researcher was also a man. And died horribly, stripped of his clothes.”
A Z-building researcher watching the deputy director thought her meticulous. XX-321 had harassed and killed a researcher despite having one more official warning left. This was the justification for using Z-999, a subject who could be burned alive for research purposes.
“If you don’t save them, that child will die miserably there.”
“Why are you doing this?!”
Calisten grabbed the deputy director by the collar, standing up.
“Ugh…!”
His body trembled violently under the effects of the awakening drug and the hallucinogen.
“This wall can only be broken with magic.”
“Insane!”
“Break it with your magic and save your friend.”
The deputy director’s gaze was full of contempt as she ordered him. Calisten struck the wall behind her with his hands.
—Clang! Clang! Clang-Clang! Clang! Thwack!
He hit relentlessly, but the wall only scratched—it remained intact.
At that moment…
‘Riiip!’ Aselia’s clothes were torn by XX-321, who laughed while observing.
‘Want me to tell you why you became XX-class?’
‘D-don’t…’
Seeing her terrified face, Calisten felt his chest sink.
‘Behave, and you might survive. You could even enjoy the next two weeks, right?’
When XX-321 grabbed her neck, Calisten lost full control.
All he remembered was:
—Bang! Bang-bang-bang! Bang! Bang-bang!
Magic surged uncontrollably through his body with his anger.
“Aaahhh!”
The scream of XX-321 pierced his ears.
The fire only engulfed XX-321, yet smoke filled the room.
Seeing Calisten’s red eyes, Aselia unconsciously felt relief.
“Cal.”
“Aselia. Come here.”
Even as he reached out, she couldn’t grasp his hand, her legs weakened by fear. Tears flowed despite the choking smoke—tears of relief at seeing Calisten.
“Hhhngh!”
As she collapsed, crying, Calisten instinctively moved toward her.
“Aselia.”
“Sniff… Cal, ugh…”
—Fshhhh!
At that moment, researchers rushed in, spraying extinguishers on XX-321 and Calisten.
“Aselia!”
Gasping from the spray, she looked at Calisten approaching her.
