Ch.30Chapter 30 – The Laboratory

The research lab corridor was dark. Perhaps they were reusing an old building to save money, as the paint-peeled walls were full of cracks and covered in mold.

Most of the fluorescent lights were off rather than on. Occasionally, a few bulbs on their last legs would flicker rapidly, disorienting the eyes.

Shin Jaehyuk walked through the center of the dark corridor with a frown.

“What kind of research could they possibly be doing in such a gloomy place?”

He definitely sensed this was an important location for the Black Death Faction, but surprisingly, there were no people in the building. He hadn’t encountered a single guard or researcher yet.

Could the ten or so workers and the old researcher he had spotted while hiding in the container be the entire staff of this research facility? It might actually be the case.

‘Security is too lax.’

Most doors were unlocked and open, and the CCTV cameras mounted in the corners of the ceiling were merely dummies.

Was it simply to save money? Or was this a recently established facility?

“No, it feels more like they’re trying to conceal this place as much as possible…”

There was a meticulous intent to leave no witnesses or material evidence whatsoever. As if hiding not just from outsiders, but even from their own organization members. Probably only the Black Death Faction’s chairman, a few executives, and the lackeys working here knew the secret of this research facility.

As Shin Jaehyuk moved forward, searching for traces of secret experiments, he finally found something suspicious.

“This one’s locked.”

He discovered the first door with a lock. It required an ID card to open.

“Damn, I should have searched that fat guy I knocked out earlier.”

But going back to that room would waste too much time. He might also run into organization members on the way back.

Instead, Shin Jaehyuk took out some kind of mechanical device from his bag. He had originally brought it to disable the port’s security system.

“Using this here… life works in mysterious ways.”

Muttering nonsense, Jaehyuk connected wires to the door lock.

With a refreshing beep, the door opened. Jaehyuk carefully looked around before slowly entering.

Inside, it was pitch dark. He felt along the wall for the switch and turned it on.

Click. The bulbs lit up brightly, illuminating the room.

“..!”

It was an operating room. Unlike the other rooms, this one seemed frequently used. The surgical tools were spotlessly clean without a speck of dust, and all the fluorescent lights were new.

In the center of the room was an operating table large enough for one person. Above it was a surgical light, and the chair had thick belts attached to restrain arms, legs, waist, and neck. The belts were tattered, torn and frayed as if someone had thrashed about violently during surgery.

Judging by the still-wet blood covering the floor, the last operation had ended not long ago.

‘This level of coagulation… about 30 minutes ago.

But this much blood… what kind of surgery happened here?’

Blood was pooled everywhere, covering almost the entire floor. It was excessive. If it came from one person, it would be close to a lethal amount.

Whatever experiments they conducted here, it was certainly not surgery meant to save lives.

Shin Jaehyuk began searching the operating room. He was looking for clues about what had happened here.

“!”

Though he found no definitive evidence like surgical records, he did discover something.

A large trash bin hidden behind the operating table. Inside were chunks of flesh. Liver, stomach, intestines, heart…

“Ugh…”

Human organs? No, that wasn’t all. Jaehyuk used a scalpel to sift through the trash bin.

Under the human organs lay something else, hidden from view. Chunks of flesh soaked in green blood. It was a demon corpse, dead with its mouth open. One of the corpses he had seen in the container. The inside of its abdomen, split open and exposed from the outside, was completely empty.

It was disgusting to look at. Shin Jaehyuk closed the trash bin lid. The stench of blood and corpses seeped through the gaps. The fishy blood smell mixed with an eerie current, filling his lungs. Unpleasant thoughts flooded his mind.

The circumstantial evidence pointed to a truth too ominous. Though he didn’t want to believe it, all evidence pointed to one possibility.

—The Black Death Faction was conducting research using demon corpses and human bodies.

“Research using demons and humans,”

Wasn’t that like a black magician?

***

After leaving the operating room, Shin Jaehyuk explored the research facility more swiftly than before. No security devices, no guards. His steps moved without hesitation through every room. His increased pace reflected his growing anxiety.

It was certain that some suspicious and ominous conspiracy lurked here. Perhaps it was connected to black magicians. If they truly were black magicians, they needed to be killed as soon as possible. Shin Jaehyuk believed all black magicians were potential traitors.

Most of the maze-like interconnected rooms were empty. But the paladin meticulously searched every corner of even seemingly ordinary rooms. Almost obsessively. He knew from experience the dangers that unchecked black magicians could pose.

“Unnecessarily spacious… ah!”

Finally, Shin Jaehyuk found another door with a lock. It was the same type of door lock as the one on the operating room. He unlocked it using the same method.

Beyond the door was a narrow corridor with particularly unpleasant air. Like hotel rooms, or rather like prison cells, doors were lined up in a row, leading to unknown places. But again, there was no one here.

Shin Jaehyuk approached the first door. It had a glass window at face height, a file folder below it, and a rectangular opening that could only be opened from one side even further down. A lock above the doorknob prevented the door from being opened from the inside. Unlike the electronic locks he’d seen so far, this one required a physical key.

Shin Jaehyuk peered through the glass window. It was a small single room. Whether the light was deliberately turned off or the bulb had died, the room was dark. Squinting, he could barely make out the interior with the corridor light.

A small, gloomy room reminiscent of a prison cell. On the food tray by the door, leftover food was rotting with flies buzzing around. In one corner was a chamber pot, full of waste as if it hadn’t been cleaned for days.

‘What is this?’

And in the opposite corner was some dark shape. A human-sized silhouette. A motionless mass leaning against the corner where two walls met. The part that appeared to be shoulders moved very slowly up and down, like a beast in deep sleep.

“Whatever it is, better not to disturb it…”

Shin Jaehyuk quietly moved away from the first door. It seemed unwise to interfere, risking an incident. Better to look for other clues than risk causing a commotion. He quietly approached the next door.

He looked through the window of the second door. It looked much like the first room. But the room was empty, which was the only difference from the first.

‘An empty room…’

Finding nothing of value, he moved directly to the third door. This time something was different.

The room’s layout was identical to the others, but thanks to the corridor light positioned right above the door, the dark interior was faintly visible.

There was a human figure in the center of the room. A shape mounting something, moving its body. It wasn’t clear what it was doing.

Shin Jaehyuk pressed close to the door to see what the figure was doing.

Accidentally, his knee hit the door with a loud bang.

‘Oops.’

The figure inside heard the sound and jerked upright.

“A person..?”

It was a naked man. His body was filthy as if he hadn’t bathed for days, and his eyes were cloudy. There were stitched scars on his stomach and chest. As the man who had been lying face down got up, Jaehyuk could see what was beneath him.

“—.”

It was a demon corpse. It looked like a bulldog but had eight legs. White, sticky fluid was flowing from its rear end, which was facing the door.

Guessing the nature of the fluid, Shin Jaehyuk’s gaze naturally moved to between the man’s thighs. From his rigid member pointing skyward, viscous semen dripped down.

“Ah, fuck my eyes.”

KIEEEEEEEEEEEK—!!!!!

The man inside ran toward the door like a madman—

BANG!

The unidentified man headbutted the door, creating a loud noise. Blood flowed from his head from the impact. It must have hurt, but he ignored the pain and continued to pound on the door with his fists. He looked desperate to get at the person outside.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

He seemed intent on breaking down the door, but it was too sturdy and didn’t budge.

‘Startled me.’

Shin Jaehyuk took a step back. The crazed being on the other side wasn’t scary, but it was certainly disturbing. He carefully observed that face crazed with lust. A strange energy swirled in those eyes yearning for pleasure. It was an energy familiar to Jaehyuk…

Lowering his gaze to avoid the unsettling face reflected in the glass, he noticed the file folder. It was taped to the front of the door for easy access. Jaehyuk took out the file inside and read it. It was a research journal.

===

[Experiment Number] 035.

[Experiment Date] 03.11.

[Test Subject] No. 008

[Species] Imp

[Parts] Lungs, liver, heart, stomach, testicles (presumed part. Imps don’t have genitalia, so why do testicles exist? Further research needed.)

[Characteristics] Weak physical abilities. No special abilities. Significantly decreased intelligence. Excessive sexual desire manifested.

…

===

The scrawled handwriting made Jaehyuk’s head spin. It was full of incomprehensible content.

‘Experiment? Species? What the—’

CRASH!

Suddenly, a door was violently flung open. Not one of the rooms where the test subjects were confined. It was the door through which Shin Jaehyuk had entered.

A gangster appeared, kicking the door open. He had heard the loud noise made by the man in the room and came to investigate.

‘Oh no!’

“Dongpal! I told you to organize the materials, are you hiding here jerking off ag-ain?”

The gangster turned his head and his eyes met Shin Jaehyuk’s. Jaehyuk froze, still in the posture of flipping through the documents.

‘Shit!’

Shin Jaehyuk desperately lunged toward him.

He had to cover his mouth!

But it was already too late.

“INTRUDER!!!”

The powerful shout echoed through the research facility corridor. The massive warning spread like wildfire. Jaehyuk’s mace arrived too late, striking the man’s vocal cords.

“Kek, kek-!”

The gangster, hit in the throat by the mace like a hammer, stumbled backward in surprise.

But Shin Jaehyuk was even more surprised.

‘How is he still standing? I meant to break his neck. For a moment, it felt soft—’

“Damn it, that hurts…”

The man spoke while nursing his bleeding throat.

“That’s not normal strength. Brother, you’re an awakened one, aren’t you? Pretty skilled too. Who sent you? The Red Dragon Faction? How did they find out about this place?”

Shin Jaehyuk didn’t bother to answer and charged at him. The opponent was cunningly trying to buy time until his comrades arrived. He needed to take him down and escape before then.

His body, enhanced with holy power, dashed through the narrow corridor. With his heightened combat senses, he noticed the opponent drawing a sashimi knife from his waistband.

“A mace in such a narrow space! How stupid—”

A mace is advantageous for crushing multiple enemies in open spaces. In such a narrow corridor, swinging it risked getting it stuck in the wall, slowing down movements.

In contrast, the enemy held a short-bladed sashimi knife. A weapon easy to swing or thrust in tight spaces.

Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t have been unaware of this fact.

The gangster smiled viciously as he thrust the knife. It was aimed at the abdomen. He intended to stab it into Jaehyuk’s stomach as he charged forward.

That plan worked as intended.

SQUELCH!

Strike! The gangster smiled at the sensation of the blade piercing flesh. The feeling of a knife cutting through intestines. He couldn’t be mistaken. He had felt this sensation many times before. He was certain he had succeeded in cutting the intestines. Now the guy would clutch his stomach and collapse—

“Hu, huh! Hu-?”

WHAM!

A fist struck the gangster’s jaw as he was distracted by his sense of victory. Rolling his eyes back, the gangster collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Shin Jaehyuk pulled the sashimi knife from his abdomen without even a groan. As holy power concentrated on the wound, the bleeding stopped immediately and new flesh grew. The injury was healed without a trace.

“Worthless bastard.”

Flesh sacrifice for bone gain.

Sacrificing flesh to take bone.

This was a tactic Shin Jaehyuk frequently employed. He could regenerate flesh. His overwhelming holy power, embarrassingly superior compared to other clergy, made this crude tactic possible. As a result, he could take only the opponent’s bones.

Dismissing the fallen man, he rushed out the door without hesitation.

A large room full of tables. Ahead, doors on the left and right. Which way to go? Should he escape through the opposite door if someone enters?

Just then, doors opened.

Both doors, simultaneously.

“Here! An intruder!”

“Pildu! Are you okay?!”

“You bastard! What did you do to our brother?”

“Our youngest Dongpal is missing too—is that your doing?!”

Black Death Faction members poured in from both doors.

‘Damn…’

Things had gotten complicated.