“Wait, just a moment. Master! Master!”
The cry, almost a scream, echoed through the room, but there was no one to help the seemingly frail boy. Kang Sihyun watched with horrified eyes as Bell dragged the boy, whom he had tried to attack without understanding the situation, by his hair. He had heard that Number 12 had a strong sense of possession, but he had not expected this extent.
Is that not madness?
He tried to intervene too late but his body wouldn't move. Whether it was the fear marked into the body of Number 1 or something else, Sihyun’s feet trembled as he stared blankly at the door that slammed shut. The room into which the boy was dragged was silent as death. No one worried about the boy who was taken away, nor did they criticize Bell's violent actions or question the situation. The only one confused was Sihyun.
Was it always like this?
Sihyun felt a chill about the room that should have held thirteen people but now only had seven. At the same time, he felt somewhat relieved.
It was indeed a wise decision to push away Number 12 back then. Otherwise, who would say that Number 12 wouldn't have been dragged out by that hand later?
As he calmed his pounding heart, the door opened again. Sihyun gulped as Bell, with blood on his face, approached him.
What was Number 1’s personality like?
Given his repeated escapes, he must have been very stubborn. Sihyun felt he shouldn't be frightened in this situation, so he lifted his head.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Bell stroked Sihyun’s cheek and smiled slyly. Sihyun shuddered and wanted to step back but suppressed the urge.
“What about the kid who was dragged away?”
“You should answer first.”
After a moment’s hesitation, to gauge what would be more characteristic of Number 1—stubbornness or acquiescence—Sihyun chose the former.
“What about the kid who was dragged away?”
Bell’s lips curled up when asked the same question again. It seemed he had judged this to be the correct answer. With a slap, Sihyun's head turned to the left. A burning pain spread across his cheek, and Sihyun blinked a beat too late as he realized Bell had hit him. The throbbing pain made him aware of the fact.
“You shouldn’t misbehave, Number 1. If you do…”
That must mean he would become violent.
Sihyun touched his tingling cheek and then dropped his hand, replying that he wasn’t hurt. Only then did Bell show a satisfied smile and sit Sihyun down. He expected further probing or concern, but it seemed that Bell was content to let the matter go with just a slap.
Was he unusually harsh with punishments only when someone tried to escape?
As he pondered this, he sensed a fervent gaze somewhere.
Could it be?
Hoping so, he slightly rolled his eyes and saw Number 12 staring intently at him, or more precisely, at his swollen cheek. As Sihyun moved his gaze from his cheek and caught the boy’s eye, the boy looked startled as if caught stealing, then mouthed something.
Does it hurt a lot?
Reading his lips, Sihyun pondered and chose to ignore it. He didn’t want to nod or shake his head to catch Bell’s attention. At that, the boy visibly drooped, his body shrinking as if he had done something terrible. Feeling pricked by his conscience, Sihyun slightly turned his body so that Haru would not enter his field of vision.
If he didn’t see him, he might feel a bit better.
Ignoring the persistent gaze, Bell suddenly sat down on the floor and ran his hand through his hair.
“We’ve just wasted time because of that useless fellow. Everyone went to Ratbutton today.”
“Ra, Ratbutton?”
One of the boys in the room asked in surprise.
What is Ratbutton?
Although Bell had remained calm when dragging the boy away, his face turned pale at the mention of Ratbutton. What exactly was Ratbutton that it scared Sihyun so much? Following Bell's command, Sihyun moved with the other children, cloaked in robes, and soon discovered what he was curious about.
Roar!
Inside a building filled with cages, imprisoned beasts howled.
Ratbutton was a monster breeding ground.
“I’m crazy. To think I’ve come back to Ratbutton. I’m going to die, surely I will…”
The boy walking ahead muttered as if he were insane. Sihyun, having faced a few Irregulars before, did not find the monsters as frightening.
Were they like the monsters from the Harunen world?
The creatures certainly didn't look like ordinary animals. But since they were not Irregulars, he guessed as the children walked down the corridor and knocked on a door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Three knocks were followed by a voice echoing through the corridor, telling them to come in. It was a thick male voice.
Gulp.
The boy in front of Sihyun swallowed his saliva. Just opening a door was making him this nervous, indicating that whatever lay beyond the door was the reason the children feared Ratbutton.
Was there someone even nastier than Bell?
That was all he could guess. The boy, shivering, reached out a trembling hand to the doorknob and squeezed his eyes shut, shaking like a leaf.
“Ah!”
Bang!
With a scream, the boy opened the door.
Screech!
Immediately, a piercing shriek was heard, and the boy who had opened the door collapsed to the floor.
“Gurk, gack!”
The boy made a strange noise and vomited blood. The incident happened so suddenly that Sihyun, who had been unable to react, turned his stiff neck belatedly to look at the boy lying on the floor.
A creature, resembling a lizard, clung to the boy’s neck. It was the size of an adult man’s palm and was voraciously tearing at the boy's neck while looking at Sihyun. It was a chilling scene.
“Ugh, uh…”
Another boy, who had come with them, seemed about to burst into tears, his face contorted with delayed terror as he fell to the floor.
What is this?
Even Sihyun, who had often dealt with Irregulars, found it hard not to panic in such a situation. It was unexpected for such a monster to suddenly appear. There was no sign of the creature outside the door.
Sihyun suddenly remembered what Bell had told him before they left his place.
“Number 1, you know you must always put the other kids in front when entering Ratbutton. I’ve told the kids too, but you have to be able to trust those bastards. If they try to put you in front, you might as well turn back.”
The man had said so, adjusting his glasses. At the time, Sihyun had thought it strange that he was so insistently advising who should go first, almost as if he was showing favoritism, but now that he was actually at Ratbutton, he realized that Bell’s actions were not mere fussiness.
He had expected this.
Such an event would occur.
That was why the boy in front of him had been so excessively frightened.
Now that his questions were resolved, his gaze settled. Indeed, this was something more frightening than getting hit by Bell. Getting hit by Bell might let you live, but getting your neck torn open by a monster would not.
What kind of place is this?
Still not fully understanding this world, Sihyun furrowed his brows as he realized the boy on the floor had died. The other boy, even though his friend had died, was caught in a panic and took no action.
What should I do?
Should I take him and leave?
As he was pondering, a voice from outside the door called out to him again, with a tone that seemed more irritated than before, prompting Sihyun to finally lift his head and, hesitating, he grabbed the bewildered boy’s arm and started to move.
Into the room they went, and a figure sitting on a chair awaited Sihyun.
“......”
Barely suppressing a scream, Sihyun stared at the being in front of him with shaky eyes. The eyeballs were bulging, the feet were not human, and a sharply shaped tail was aggressively thumping the floor. Taking in every grotesquely formed part of the body, Sihyun hesitated. The owner of the voice, possessing a body that seemed a mix of monster and human, grinned.
“Are you the new test subject?”
As the man spoke, revealing his pale teeth and extending his hand towards Sihyun, a bizarre thrill ran from Sihyun’s toes. Unconsciously, he stepped back and then gripped the dazed boy’s arm tightly.
A test subject?
He didn’t know what it meant, but it wasn’t a welcome word.
“I don’t want to, I don’t want to die, Number 1, Number 1!”
The dazed boy, muttering like a madman, suddenly gripped Sihyun’s arm tightly.
Damn.
Sensing the oddity in the boy’s attitude, Sihyun decided it was do-or-die, and together with the bewildered boy, they dashed out the door.
Thank you for reading this far! You can access more chapters from HERE by joining my Patreon community. You'll gain exclusive early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.
As a member of my Patreon community, here is what you'll get:
For $5
- Early access to 100s of chapters before they go public.
- You also get access to all the novels I'm translating, you can find them here HERE.
- You Get Ad-free Chapters.
For $10
- You get to suggest a Novel for me to translate.
For $20
- You get to recommend a Novel and I will immediately start translating it.
Plus, you can Cancel your membership at any time.
Don't let this amazing opportunity slip through your fingers!
