After hearing the man's voice, my senses began to return.
I ignored his words; my only goal was Saka.
I opened the door, only to be met by a violent gust of wind from below.
I stepped back, grabbed the swordsman's corpse, and threw it in.
My suspicion was correct: it was an abyss. There was no other door.
I searched for an hour, looking for another way, but found nothing but the void.
I took a deep breath.
The adrenaline was fading, and my body felt heavier by the second.
"I'm going," I muttered. I leaped into the abyss.
I couldn't feel my limbs; it was pitch black, a darkness so thick I couldn't even see my own hands. Adrenaline surged again, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Suddenly, I felt an upward draft. Looking down, I saw a pale blueish-white light.
As the ground rushed toward me, a realization hit: I hadn't said goodbye to Nino, and Saka would die because I failed.
I closed my eyes as I hit the ground.
A man in a lab coat stepped forward.
"Open your eyes. You aren't dead."
I opened my eyes to find a man in his thirties, average height, but with the most atrocious sense of style I had ever seen. I looked at him and said:
"You seriously need to reconsider your life choices… starting with your wardrobe."
"Why?" he replied, puzzled.
"Your taste in clothes is horrific. A white coat, black shirt, green pants, and blue shoes? Everything about you is TERRIBLE, even your haircut."
He puffed out his chest:
"Hah! You simply don't understand fashion."
"What? I don't understand fashion?"
We bickered for a moment over who dressed better before falling silent. He looked at me and said:
"Now that we're done with this pointless debate, I'm taking you to the lab."
I realized then that he was the sadistic freak. I backed away.
"Were you the one talking through the walls?"
"Bingo. Yes, it was me."
He reached out to grab me, but I shoved his hand away. He began to whine.
"Hah? You're rejecting me?
When I want something, I take it.
Come here and keep your mouth shut."
My temper flared.
"Get lost, or I'll wipe the floor with you…
Actually, the floor is white... let me rephrase: Get lost, or I'll stain the floor with you."
He stomped his foot in rage:
"You're a defective specimen. I'll have to restructure you myself."
He unleashed three human monsters—hulking brutes as wide as walls, each wielding an iron mace that gleamed under the cold blue-white lights.
"Damn... is the show still going?" I muttered, raising my rifle.
The first lunged. I fired a burst, but he swung his mace at the last second, the metal clashing with the bullets in a spray of sparks. I dived to the side, but the second brute swung vertically at my head. I ducked, feeling the cold air whistle through my hair as the mace shattered the floor.
"Go to hell!" I yelled, firing my silenced pistol into the third one's shoulder as he tried to flank me. He barely flinched; it was as if the bullet hadn't even entered his body.
The fight became a whirlwind. Every time I dodged one, another was there. I moved on pure instinct: a side-kick to create distance, a slide between legs to evade a strike, a shot to the knee to make one stagger. The pressure was mounting. My heart felt like it would explode. Then, I remembered the needle. My body ignited; the pain didn't vanish, but it retreated behind a tidal wave of raw power.
"Now... my turn."
I surged forward, caught the first brute's arm mid-swing, and twisted with everything I had until his bones snapped. I snatched his mace and swung it into his skull. The sound of the impact told me he was finished.
The second came from the right. I blocked his strike with the mace, sparks illuminating our faces. I shoved him back, drew my pistol, and emptied the clip into his chest. He collapsed silently.
The third charged like a falling meteor. I evaded by a hair's breadth and unleashed a full magazine into his chest before finishing him with a mace blow to the neck.
I stood amidst the corpses, gasping for air, blood leaking from my arm and side. In the distance, the stylist smiled coldly. I reloaded instantly.
"Well done, Tai," he sneered. "Let's see if you survive the next round."
He waved his hand, and three more monsters emerged.
"Enough games," I whispered. As they charged, I didn't aim at them. I aimed at the man.
I pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore through his head, painting the white wall red. He fell with eyes wide in shock. Instantly, the three monsters collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
I was still standing. My wounds burned, my chest heaving like a mountain of fire. "The path... is still ahead," I croaked before falling to my knees, clutching my blood-soaked side.
As I hovered between life and death, an inner voice echoed: "Get up. You aren't done yet. I know you. Move! Saka is still waiting."
A spark of defiance lit in my eyes. I stood up, my body battered—bleeding, broken, pierced—but I moved. I leaned against the wall and limped forward. I fell, and I stood again. Over and over, until I reached the madman's lab. I ransacked the place, looking for one thing: a cure. I found an adrenaline shot. I hesitated to use it on myself; I might need it for Saka.
I left the lab, saving the needle. I kept walking, realizing the twisted layout of this place made every journey feel like a half-day's march. I opened the final door. To avoid another abyss, I fired a shot into the darkness. It hit something with a strange thud. I stepped forward and fell into a pit. What a godforsaken place.
I stood up and realized I was treading on corpses—the failed experiments of that freak with the terrible taste. I slipped, sliding further down into the darkness. I drank the last of my water and tossed the bottle; it rolled away until it vanished into the deep.
(End of Chapter 21)