Where the hell did that bastard Bill send me?
It all seemed to be a lie. The man Kang Sihyun met at Ratbutton was undoubtedly planning to use him as a test subject, and while cursing inwardly, he hurriedly moved his feet.
Luckily, the man did not immediately follow Kang Sihyun. It seemed to be the first time he had seen a test subject escape, or perhaps he hadn't grasped the situation yet, as a puzzled voice came, prompting Kang Sihyun to run even faster. He had to escape as far as possible while the man was still disoriented.
By the time he reached the end of the long corridor, a voice that sounded like a scream echoed through the corridor.
"Hey, hey...! My precious test subjects!"
At the irate voice, Kang Sihyun frowned.
See? He was definitely planning to use me as a test subject.
If the boy next to him hadn't clung on and had just stood there, it would have been horrifying to think what might have happened. Just by looking at the man's appearance from earlier, Kang Sihyun could guess that the experiment he would perform was not ordinary, and for the first time, he felt grateful to the boy who had come with him.
It would have been a disaster without him.
So, at least until they left the building, he resolved to take good care of him, but that resolve was soon stifled by frustration. It was because the boy's stamina was terribly poor.
How could he nearly collapse in less than 10 minutes!
"Pant, pant! Subject One, Subject One!"
Even as he gasped for breath, as if he might fall backward at any moment, the boy kept calling out to Kang Sihyun endlessly. Because of this, Kang Sihyun, unable to give up, emerged from the long straight corridor and ran up the stairs, checking for anyone following him. It was a relief when he saw no chasing shadow.
The sound of various animals howling echoed from behind him. Soon, the sound of dozens of footsteps followed, and curses rose up. It seemed that the bizarre man had definitely released some monsters.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
It was the first time in his life that he had sworn the same curse so many times.
Having faced several deaths and various deadly crises, he thought he wouldn't fear much anymore, but the thought of possibly dying as a test subject was quite shocking to him, making his heart beat as if it would burst.
"Ah, Subject One..."
"Hold on! If you collapse here, it's the end for both of us!"
Kang Sihyun yelled as he lifted the collapsing boy. However, it wasn't long before the boy clutched his heart and fell to the ground.
It seemed like he was pushing himself too much.
If he was going to faint, he should have done it earlier.
As the boy collapsed, Kang Sihyun naturally stopped walking and watched the boy with shaky eyes. His mind went blank. The howling of the beasts continued behind him, and the fallen boy showed no signs of getting up.
This is insane.
He wasted time agonizing over what to do next. A creature with sturdy legs soon caught up with Kang Sihyun and threatened his life. It was over.
Kang Sihyun regretted not leaving the boy behind from the start as he watched the drooling creature. The beast looked like a wolf with three eyes.
Yeah, might as well gain the experience of dying as a test subject, having lived through various lives.
It was at that moment that Kang Sihyun closed his eyes.
"Run!"
A familiar voice rang out, and someone grabbed Kang Sihyun's arm. Then, just as he had done with the fallen boy, the person held his arm tightly and sprinted forward.
Whoosh!
His body was quickly pulled forward. Kang Sihyun, without realizing it, pushed off the ground and looked at the person leading him.
"Go, go faster!"
The person who urgently shouted was a face he knew well.
Subject Twelve.
He had come to save him.
"How did you."
In an utterly perplexing situation, Subject Twelve's face contorted with pain as if to say, just run. The beast was still hot on Kang Sihyun's heels.
Right. Whatever it takes, just get out of this situation.
Finally freed from the panic, Kang Sihyun felt his mind clear as he ran faster. His long strides hit the cement, then the parched earth, and finally the mud. After running for more than 30 minutes, the sound of the beast's howls no longer reached his ears. After another 10 minutes, Kang Sihyun, together with Subject Twelve, sat down on the ground.
"Ha, ha..."
His heart felt like it would explode.
Catching his breath and grimacing as his heart thumped painfully, Kang Sihyun looked at Subject Twelve.
"How did you,
get here?"
The bell had split the children into two groups.
The Ratbutton group and the coal mine group.
Subject Twelve was from the latter.
Having been sent to the coal mine, he wondered how Subject Twelve had managed to follow and save him, so when he asked, Subject Twelve barely moved his lips.
"You, went to Ratbutton."
"What?"
"You went to Ratbutton, so, so I followed."
"Not going to the coal mine?"
The boy nodded. Kang Sihyun chuckled at Subject Twelve's audacious action.
To think he had ignored Bell's orders and followed him to Ratbutton.
Whether it was timidity or sheer guts, Kang Sihyun wasn't sure. No single-celled organism would act this way, he thought, laughing for a long while before messing up his hair.
"We're screwed, totally screwed."
He had deliberately inflicted wounds and ignored him to keep him away from himself, to ensure he could live a better life, but he had never imagined he would make such a choice.
Perhaps he hadn't been harsh enough.
Even if he thought it was enough, he should have been more cruel, said worse things, to completely detach any emotional attachment from him, but he had underestimated Subject Twelve. And he had underestimated his own feelings for Haru.
He had truly despised him, and that should have been enough for Haru's nature to detach, but realizing this wasn't the case meant that Haru had approached him.
Unknowingly, he had given him a chance.
That's why he had ignored Bell's orders and followed him.
Ultimately, he had driven him into a dead end.
Now they were both as good as dead.
"Why did you do that, you idiot."
Kang Sihyun murmured in lament. If he had been alone, he could have died in peace, but now he couldn't even do that with this burden added. One neck would have been enough; why did it have to involve both of their necks.
No, if he considered the neck bitten off and the boy collapsed on the ground, it was four of them.
Bell's four subordinates had ended up as traveling companions.
Subject Twelve seemed aware of this too, his expression gloomy. Kang Sihyun was confused whether to consider this fortunate or unfortunate. The fact that his expression was dark meant that at least he hadn't saved him thoughtlessly, without knowing anything; but conversely, knowing everything and still saving him felt terribly foolish. The somber-faced Subject Twelve quietly opened his mouth.
"Master, might, might kill us."
"He's definitely going to kill us, not just might."
At Kang Sihyun's definitive statement, Subject Twelve's shoulders flinched.
"Yeah, probably?"
"Most likely. Did all the other kids die this way too?"
"I don't, don't know. I came in late."
Ah.
Subject Twelve, it was.
Kang Sihyun belatedly realized the likely time Subject Twelve had joined and sighed.
It didn't matter.
How the other kids had died wasn't really important.
What mattered was how they were going to survive. Kang Sihyun tilted his head back, wondering whether to flee into the forest, and racked his brain. According to the information shared by the kids on their way here, there were plenty of hungry wolves in the forest, but an enraged Bell might be no less dangerous than wolves. Unable to think of a proper escape route, he grimaced and drooled. It was then that an unbelievable remark reached his ears.
"...huh?"
"What?"
Caught up in his thoughts, Kang Sihyun strained to catch the faintly heard voice and turned to look at the boy. The boy with red eyes was clenching his fist as he stared at Kang Sihyun. He repeated the words he had just said.
"If master is going to kill us, shouldn't we kill him first?"
The timid face with which he spoke made it hard to believe he could say something so chilling. And at the same time.
It made some sense.
No, to ensure survival, that was the only way.
Killing a person was a terrible act, but maybe it was okay if it was someone like Bell.
Kang Sihyun silently stared at the boy, his mouth tightly closed.
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