I was truly terrified. They said that no one who entered the room ever left. A room that was never silent, filled with screams of despair.
Sure enough. The moment the door opened, an intensely pungent smell filled my nose. Pieces of human bodies were scattered about. Some were fresh; others were swarmed by insects.
I wanted to vomit. Should I run? Forget it. From what I knew, running would only get me killed for sure. My only hope was that a miracle would save me.
"Kekekek... They say you have great adaptability, but it's a shame you're defective and can't use qi." Interesting," said the snake-eyed demon in a soft tone that sent chills down my spine.
With an enthusiastic expression, the man pulled out a blood-caked box. Its contents were spotless, as if cared for daily. Knives, saws, scissors, and many other sharp objects gleamed under the dim torchlight.
"We will test your worth. We'll see if you're still useful without qi," the man said, directing a small knife toward my stomach.
Slowly, he made an incision from my chest to my navel. The knife was so sharp that I only felt a tickling sensation before it truly split my stomach open.
I wanted to struggle. But the chains gripping my hands were too tight. Blood dripped, soaking the floor.
"That's enough for today. We'll see if you can survive tomorrow." Kekekekek," the man said, wiping his knife and placing it gently back into the box.
"Aaaarrgghhh! AAAARRRGGHHHH!" The delayed pain made everything even more sadistic. Even more terrifying was that my skin seemed to reconnect and regenerate right before my eyes, accompanied by unceasing pain.
My body trembled. I screamed day and night until my throat was dry. Even my tears stopped falling.
Kriiiieeeekkk...
The sound of the door opening on rusty hinges added to the terror of that place.
"Oho! You are indeed interesting, boy. But not impressive enough yet," said the Snake-Eyed Demon the next morning.
He held a knife in his hand. He gently sliced the vein in my wrist and inserted a clear liquid through the cut. He gripped my cheeks and forced me to swallow the poison until it was gone.
"Kekekek... Let's see later whether you will become a sharp sword or a broken one," he said, leaving me to grimace and roll around in unimaginable pain.
My neck burned. It felt as if my organs were melting. But then they reformed as if nothing had happened. Only to melt again. Day after day, I endured this endless pain.
I didn't know how much time had passed. The pain that healed only made the suffering repeat endlessly.
Hunger. It wasn't just my stomach that hurt. My body's abnormal regeneration and adaptation made the hunger even more torturous; it was as if every inch of my body were chewing on itself.
I truly couldn't take it anymore. "Maybe this is my limit," I thought before losing consciousness.
Now, my consciousness was in an empty void. There was nothing except a figure of a man with a dignified stature standing before me. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but I couldn't hear or understand him.
Brukk!
The door to the room collapsed after being broken down from the outside.
"Surrender, Snake-Eyed Demon! Die obediently!" the squad leader, a silver-haired man, shouted.
"What are you doing? How could this be?" the Snake-Eyed Demon answered.
"It seems your foolish brain doesn't understand the situation you're facing. Then die and follow your gang," said the man, drawing his sword.
"I won't allow it! Abyss Viper Barrage!" A qi formed into a giant serpent and rushed toward the hero.
The hero remained calm. With a precise, smooth movement, he swung his sword. "Moonlight Slash!"
The sword looked elegant as it slashed with a finesse that could cut through dimensions, making time slow down.
"I...I..." The Snake-Eyed Demon didn't get to finish his sentence because his body was already split in two.
"Save that child," the silver-haired man told his five squad members.
One of the men with red hair stepped forward and drew his sword to cut the chains on my wrists.
Still trapped outside my consciousness, I didn't know what was happening. With a precise slash, he cut the chains.
Shockingly...
I, the child he had saved, ran and attacked him wildly. He didn't have time to respond. He thought my attack might pierce his chest, while my consciousness remained in the void, where a man was trying to guide me.
The sight was terrifying. I had become a fearsome wild beast.
I had red eyes, impossible-for-a-human movements, and insane speed.
The red-haired man repeatedly slashed my body, but the wounds healed instantly.
"Monster," the man said before an unexpected movement from my body grabbed his chest.
"Maybe I will die," the red-haired man said.
In that sudden event, no one had time to respond. Then something surprising happened, making them breathe a sigh of relief.
It turned out that my unconscious body had only taken the rice ball stored in the red-haired man's clothes and devoured it voraciously. Tears fell, and my eye color returned to normal.
Bruk!
This time, my body completely collapsed. Meanwhile, my consciousness was still trapped with that man, and I knew nothing about what had happened or what I had done.
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