Chapter 52 : Secret (1)

I had thought that after the users regained their power, there would be no more atrocious experiments violating human rights.

So, I believed that the friends I lost contact with after they became users were living safely somewhere.

It was a complete miscalculation.

“This is.”

Inside a tank filled with an unidentifiable liquid, body parts from various species floated aimlessly, creating bubbles.

From specific parts like legs, arms, or ears, to severed genitals, gouged-out organs, and brains – though their purpose was unknown – were

occasionally visible.

A nauseating smell arose, suggesting that some parts in poor condition were already decaying.

It was less intense than the smell emanating from the zombies outside, but equally repulsive.

Above all, the sight of tissues meticulously dissected, presumably for experimentation, sent shivers down my entire body.

It meant that if I hadn’t been lucky, I, too, who had been sold on the black market, could have met such a fate.

“…Why did the government send me to a place used for such purposes?”

The task we received from the government was literally to prevent zombies from escaping the research facility, thereby completely blocking

the spread of the zombification disease.

It sounds very difficult, but it was just a matter of preventing zombies, which even novice users around level 10-20 could cut down a few of,

from leaving the vicinity of this lab.

This level of problem could have been solved simply by dispatching an armed military force.

As long as they didn’t get close and avoided contact, the chance of transmission was close to 0%.

If they couldn’t trust the military, they could have simply employed pro-government users who would obediently keep their mouths shut

regardless of what they saw here.

Even if their level was objectively far below ours, they weren’t incapable of handling even this much.

Besides those, there were countless other ways to deal with this research facility and the zombies inside.

So why, among all those methods, did they choose to dispatch the three of us, three threatening ranker users who would undoubtedly be

enraged upon discovering the reality of this lab?

Did they perhaps think we wouldn’t notice that flimsy secret wall?

‘Dealing with the person who ordered such a thing would be natural, but… someone within the government intends to drive a wedge between

us and the government.’

Users harbor an immense aversion to human experimentation.

More accurately, it’s an aversion stemming from extreme fear.

This was because many users who stayed cooped up at home, never venturing outside, feared being kidnapped and sold to research

institutions through human trafficking.

In the past, after the news spread that users’ bodies held significant research value, the rate of kidnapping among violent crimes surged

dramatically nationwide.

The fact that police had failed to apprehend criminals and rescue victims further amplified the fear among users daily.

Sending three individuals with such vivid memories, especially the nation’s top combatants, to a place like this without any prior warning

clearly indicated a deliberate intention.

Although I spoke with conviction, it was, of course, merely speculation based on the current situation.

If someone overheard my guess and refuted it as baseless conjecture, I wouldn’t have much to say.

However, if there was one thing I trusted, it was that since my body changed, these intuitions were rarely wrong.

“…Should I try contacting Captain Kim?”

He was the only government official whose private contact information I knew.

However, he was ultimately a military insider.

As someone loyal to the nation, it was unlikely he would side with me.

Nor would he leak the information I needed.

From what I’d seen, he was a flexible man, but infinitely loyal when it came to his duties.

The only remaining option, then, was the incredibly crude method of finding out the truth by investigating myself.

…Just as I was about to sigh, rubbing my head due to the sudden onset of annoyance, I stopped walking and sharpened my senses, which had

dulled due to distracting thoughts.

“…Are there still zombies left?”

A faint presence caught by my senses.

It was so weak it was hard to even detect, seemingly not a typical zombie.

A normal zombie couldn’t have such a minimal presence.

‘Is it a living creature? I hear breathing.’

It was impossible for a zombie, which moves despite cessation of life functions, to breathe normally.

It was surprising that a survivor existed amidst this chaos, but hearing the weak gasps, as if they could expire at any moment, I quickly flew

towards the direction of the presence.

Inside a room blocked by a giant hatch, behind a coated glass wall presumably allowing viewing only from the outside in, a severely thin

person was leaning against the wall, gasping for breath.

It seemed this wasn’t an employee of the lab as I had hoped, but a test subject, a user captured for human experimentation here.

Being a victim trapped and experimented on, rather than someone who worked here, I likely wouldn’t get the information I wanted from her,

but saving a person came first, so I used <Blink> to pass through the wall.

Just like when breaking through the secret wall earlier, recklessly smashing the door could scatter debris inside and injure her.

To the poor child who showed no reaction even as I approached closely, likely due to extreme exhaustion, I offered a greeting readily.

“Hello?”

She was stick-thin, her stomach nearly plastered to her back.

I put her to sleep with magic and then cast a few simple buff spells on her.

I couldn’t make her feel full, but I could at least restore some of her energy.

This would probably buy some time.

I used <Message> to contact Yelim, who was supposed to be handling the zombies outside.

-Yelim, did you take care of everything outside?

-It’s been done for a while now. Why aren’t you out yet, Oppa? For a building this size, even if there were many zombies, they should have

been dealt with long ago.

-I found an interesting space. I’m sending someone your way. Her condition is quite poor, but since she’s a user with a different body

structure from humans, take her with Unni to the contact number I sent you before.

-Hey, suddenly like this without any explanation…

-Didn’t you agree to do as I say? Or do you want that ‘punishment’ you mentioned?

Ever since she and her sister started living under my roof, she had insisted that if she didn’t listen, I could punish her.

I didn’t understand why she’d make such a request, especially since it wasn’t like her sister who crossed lines deserving punishment, but I

decided to go along with her wishes.

-…Hey? Was I too harsh?

But since there was no reply for a long while after I mentioned the ‘punishment’, just as I was about to regret perhaps being too harsh, a late

response came back.

-I want to receive it…

-What?

-Ah, it’s nothing! So, are you going to stay down there, Oppa?

-There’s a bit more I need to check here. I’ll stay here a little longer and follow you. Go on ahead.

Having finished the communication, I looked at the computer in front of me.

It seemed they were attacked in the middle of research, as there were numerous devices left unattended without any passwords or security

measures.

It was time to find out what happened here, who the victims were, and finally, the purpose behind all of this.