31. Base Defense

So far, I’ve killed a total of eighteen people.

In addition to the initial seventeen who came in, two more returned, and I managed to kill one more, bringing the total to eighteen.

Given that the rest haven’t returned yet, I assume they’ve all died out there somewhere.

The night streets are crawling with all sorts of monsters, so unless you’re incredibly lucky or highly skilled, surviving and returning is nearly impossible.

“Ughh…”

“Huff… Fuck. This hurts like hell.”

Come to think of it, I got shot in the arm.

It wasn’t a full penetration or a lodged bullet-just a graze-but it tore through my clothes and left blood dripping down.

It hurts like a bitch. The pain feels like being burned with fire. Of course it hurts-a chunk of flesh got torn off.

“Ughh…!!! P-please…!!”

“Stay still.”

I grabbed the last remaining gang member by the neck and used Blood Replenishment on him.

It’s a skill that transfuses blood to compensate for what’s missing, but it also has a slight healing effect.

‘Here…’

After replenishing the lost blood, I sprayed the Healing Potion I had prepared earlier onto the wound.

“Feels better.”

The wound healed rapidly. Potions really are the best.

Just then, the guy I had beaten earlier let out a scream.

“Please spare me!!! There’s a hostage here!!!!”

“Shut up!!”

“Gaaahhh…!!!!”

I punched the screaming bastard square in the face.

By the way, this is the guy who shot me.

So I can’t just kill him easily.

First, I sat him down on a chair-his legs must have given out from the blood loss, as he collapsed in an ugly heap.

*Ssskrrrt*

Then I tightly bound his limbs to the chair with duct tape I’d brought from the break room.

Not stopping there, I tied him up again with rope.

This bastard’s an Awakened, so tape alone wasn’t enough to feel secure.

“All set.”

The preliminary preparations are mostly done now.

From here, I just need to torment him until he obeys my words.

*Stab*

Regina’s Blade plunged into his thigh.

I could feel the thick muscle fibers snapping apart, and the blade slightly scraping against the hard femur bone-the sensation traveled up the handle and into my hand.

“Ggggrrrhhh!!!!! S-stop!!!!”

“Shut up.”

“Hng!!! Hngh!!!”

His screaming was getting too loud, so I gagged him with a towel. Now he can’t scream anymore. Can’t even bite his tongue.

“Haa…”

Wiping the sweat dripping from my forehead, I observed the gang member writhing in pain.

Eyes filled with terror. I could sense his will to survive. And also his intense hostility toward me.

‘Not yet. Just a little more…’

I pulled the blade from his thigh and stabbed it into the opposite one.

*Squelch!!!*

“Ughhh!!! Hng!!! Hngh!!!”

He threw his head back, letting out pained groans.

It’s fine. His ability is Self-Healing.

He can’t heal others, but he can heal his own wounds. So an injury like this will heal in no time.

He still has enough magic power left-his wounds will be fully healed soon.

*Crunch!*

“Gggrrrhhh!!!!!!”

“Hurts, doesn’t it? It should.”

I repeatedly pulled the blade out and stabbed it back into his thigh.

At the same time, I laughed while listening to his screams.

My life has already crossed the line. I’ve been killing people like eating meals over the past few days.

In just a week, I’ve become extremely accustomed to human slaughter.

Maybe because my mental fortitude is too strong to break, I still feel nothing.

I feel no guilt or remorse for destroying others.

Not even a shred of sympathy.

Because that’s how I’ve lived all this time.

It’s not that my emotions are numb. Or maybe they’ve withered away.

Still, I can confidently say I’m not a psychopath.

I feel anger, sadness, and even joy.

I’m just very strict with others.

Because I value myself the most. Because I can’t coexist with others who are beyond my control.

So, for my own benefit, I can break others as much as I want.

“Huff…”

Anyway, enough pointless talk. The reason I’m keeping this man alive and torturing him is simple.

[Torture Training: 89%]

I wanted to test out my newly acquired ability.

After sacrificing eighteen people, I finally received the ability I had been hoping for from the Hunting God. But its effect was slightly different from what I expected.

Maybe the ability’s effects change slightly based on the contractor’s traits…

‘It wasn’t mind control or anything…’

The name of the new ability is ‘Torture Training.’

A skill that tames a defeated target by inflicting pain. The target can be any living being capable of feeling pain.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work on beings that can’t feel pain, the already dead, or mechanical entities.

“Ughh…! Grrgh…”

“99 percent… Just a little more…”

“Hng…!!!!”

Soon, the training gauge reached 100%.

‘Got it.’

Now, this human has become my ‘hunting dog.’

Since my sacrifice score is still low, it seems I can only control up to three at the same time, but this much is enough.

‘Best of all, it doesn’t break until they die.’

Oh Haryeong’s mind control had no limit on the number of people and could instantly subjugate defeated targets. However, it would break if the brain was shocked.

But this one doesn’t break that way. The process of subjugation is harder, but once done, the bond is unbreakable.

“Hey, get up.”

“Ah… Aah…”

One thing Torture Training has in common with Oh Haryeong’s mind control is that the subject becomes incredibly stupid. In that regard, the Collar of Subjugation restraining Number 1 is definitely better.

“You’re Number 2 from now on. Got it?”

“Agh.”

“Good. Bring me that metal container over there.”

“Ughh…”

I ordered Number 2 to fetch the container holding the slime.

He staggered over, dragging the container.

His movements are sluggish and he can’t even respond properly, but he does what he’s told. I can use him as a farmhand later.

Or as bait.

“Alright… Let’s go.”

Since Number 2 was with me, I couldn’t open my Inventory, so I stuffed a bunch of guns into a bag and left the arcade.

I got a new slave, various weapons, and even a slime trash can.

On top of that, killing eighteen gangster villains earned me 450 points-I feel like I’m about to burst from satisfaction.

‘1,529 points… Jackpot.’

This much is pretty solid.

*Pitter-patter*

“It’s still raining…”

“Ugh…”

Carefully, Number 2 and I made our way home.

******

*Clang!*

“I’m back.”

“Uwaah!!!”

As I swung open the door to Room 402, Number 1, who had been dozing off, jumped up with a startled scream.

“Shh.”

“Ah, y-yes. But who’s that…?”

Number 1 asked about the idiot standing behind me with his mouth hanging open.

“This is Number 2. He’s your junior, so take care of him.”

“Ah… Yes.”

“The book?”

“Ah, I finished reading the spell book…”

“Yeah? What about meditation?”

“I-I was doing it… but…”

“You fell asleep during meditation? Want to die?”

“S-sorry…!!”

Well, it’s not like they can replace sleep with meditation like I can. It’s just a biological limitation.

“First, come up to the rooftop with me.”

“Ah… Yes.”

I took Number 1 up to the rooftop.

Just like yesterday, it was to feed them.

“W-wow.”

“How many can you eat?”

“Uh, I think I can handle all five.”

“Then finish them all. Especially copy that woman’s appearance.”

“Yes…”

I told them to copy Oh Haryeong’s appearance. Since her personality was hard to grasp, I figured it might come in handy someday.

“Guhhk… I can’t eat anymore…”

Number 1 rubbed their stomach after devouring all five corpses.

“Then get some rest for today. I’ll wake you up tomorrow.”

“Yes…!!”

“And you…”

I ordered Number 2, who was standing blankly behind us, to try reading a book.

“Ugh…”

“Hey, you’re holding it upside down.”

“Agh.”

“Fuck…”

He didn’t have enough intelligence left to read a book.

This won’t work. I can’t make him do anything that requires thinking. He follows physical orders well, but not being able to read is a huge drawback.

“You just sleep too… Ugh.”

I feel like I’ve just added another mouth to feed.

‘For physical labor, I’ll use him first…’

If he looks like he’s about to die from overuse, I can just discard him. Best of all, he has Self-Healing, so he’s great as a tank or test subject.

“Well then.”

I left Numbers 1 and 2 in Room 402 and returned to Room 401.

“Ugh…”

First, I need to wipe off the blood and rainwater on me and rest. I’ll just meditate until morning.

“Haaam…”

Today, I’ll just stay in my room and do nothing but meditate. I used up too much magic power yesterday, so I need to replenish it.

******

“Ugh…”

Sunday, 4:30 PM.

I’ve been meditating nonstop since morning. Sitting in one position for too long made my body stiff, but some stretching fixed it quickly.

“Let’s see…”

After loosening up, I checked out the pistols I looted yesterday.

All of them were identical Glocks. Did they bulk-order them? Maybe they really did.

‘Seven in total.’

I got 583 rounds of ammunition. That’s a decent amount. If I kill one person per bullet, that’s 583 people I can send to the grave. Amazing.

‘My current weapons…’

For now, I’ll keep all five Glocks loaded as emergency weapons and consider switching my melee weapon from the steel pipe to a machete.

‘A katana or dual-edged sword would be nice too…’

If the machete’s blade breaks, I can just switch. My main weapon is Regina’s Blade anyway, so it doesn’t matter much what I carry.

“Should I eat something…?”

I’ll have a late lunch/early dinner and keep meditating.

Time passes well, and my magic power recovers. Nice.

After that, I made kimchi fried rice and resumed meditating.

And so, Sunday passed without much incident.