Ch.93Hypnos 3

I boarded the elevator.

I gestured to the hesitant woman to follow me.

But she hesitated to join me in the lift.

“Don’t worry. I’m on your side.”

I reassured her with a somewhat tired voice.

She bit her lip at the words “on your side.”

Then reluctantly stepped into the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, I immediately pressed the button for the first floor.

Being a high-speed elevator, it took some time before it started moving.

Meanwhile, classical music played through the speakers.

But I couldn’t appreciate the melody.

My mind was overflowing with countless thoughts.

Especially since standing right beside me was the person I had wanted to see my entire life.

I glanced at her.

She had grown weak from being confined in the glass tube for so long.

Her once muscular body had thinned, and her skin was pale.

But her senses seemed intact as she raised her head when she felt my gaze.

I took out a potion from my jacket’s inner pocket.

And placed it in her hand when our eyes met.

“What is this…?”

She carefully asked, looking at the glass bottle containing a black liquid.

“It’s a potion. Drink it now in advance.”

Jisoo squinted her eyes, studying my expression.

Then, as if sensing my sincerity, she slowly took the suspicious black liquid into her mouth.

Still trusting as ever.

As if I couldn’t have put something in it…

Of course, it’s just an ordinary Black Russian.

Besides, with her higher strength stat than mine, the effect would be even better for her.

The elevator begins to move.

Is this finally our escape?

The lift rises slowly, as if preparing for a leap.

But…

Soon the machine stopped working, as if controlled by someone.

Even worse…

The peaceful classical music began to crackle with bizarre noise.

Before long, the music cut off completely.

“—.”

Low-quality static began to emit from the stopped speaker.

Like the sound of a radio.

Soon, I heard a voice I never wanted to hear again.

The voice of the second-in-command of this research facility.

“Unni.”

My heart sank as if caught stealing.

I looked up at the speaker with a pale face.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

I couldn’t answer that question.

I just clenched my teeth to stop my trembling lips.

How did Misha know about this situation?

Was she monitoring the lab from outside too?

“Where are you taking that test subject? Do you two know each other?”

Even through the speaker, I could feel the madness in Misha’s voice.

She seemed more curious about my relationship with Jisoo than about me poisoning her colleagues.

Jisoo also stared at me, following her question.

“None of your business.”

I spoke in a cold voice toward the empty air.

The speaker fell silent for a moment.

“Why are you suddenly acting like this with me? What did I do wrong to you, unni?”

You did many things wrong.

Perhaps your very existence is wrong.

“I’ll come to you. Let’s talk then. Wait in the elevator until then.”

The speaker went silent.

Classical music began to flow from the speakers again.

As if nothing had happened.

Thanks to that, I could immediately come to my senses.

Every facility here follows her orders.

There’s no time to stand around stupidly.

I need to hurry out before the other exits are closed too.

The emergency stairs in the main lobby.

That’s now the only way out.

I pressed the elevator open button.

But Misha must have blocked it, as the button didn’t respond at all.

I even tried to force the elevator doors open with all my strength.

But my thin fingers were useless.

I needed the strength of someone stronger than me.

“Please help me.”

“How…?”

Jisoo looked at me with a bewildered face.

I pointed to the empty potion bottle she was holding.

“The potion you just drank should have restored your strength by now.”

Jisoo stared down at her own hands.

Outwardly, she still looked as emaciated as when trapped in the glass tube.

“Clench your fist and imagine making the blood flowing through your body hot.”

Jisoo frowned at my detailed advice.

With no other way to escape, she tightly clenched her fist as I said.

Soon.

A red current began to flow in her hand.

Finally, flames erupted from her hand, wrapping around her arm.

“You knew about my ability?”

Jisoo looked at me with a surprised expression.

I didn’t answer her question.

Instead,

I asked her like an NPC.

“Now swing.”

“…”

Jisoo rushed toward the door, swinging flames.

And threw her fist without hesitation.

Just like in those days when we went on adventures together.

“—!”

The sturdy metal door crumpled like paper.

Soon the control room appeared again.

Loud emergency alarms were ringing everywhere.

Probably the alert Misha had triggered.

The siren sound urged us on.

To escape from this place quickly.

As if responding, I grabbed her hand.

Leading the way, I said to her:

“Follow me!”

We ran through numerous glass tubes.

Soon the entrance to Lab 2 came into view.

The moment I saw the scene there, I stopped in my tracks.

Jisoo asked about my frozen state.

“Why did you suddenly stop?”

“I can’t see…”

I muttered with trembling lips.

“See what?”

I pointed at the exit with shaking fingers.

04, who should have been lying in front of the entrance, was nowhere to be seen.

My heart pounded frantically.

That’s impossible… There should have been at least 5 minutes left before the drug wore off…

Clutching my chest, I approached the entrance.

When I looked down the corridor of Lab 2, my body completely froze.

Because all the rankers had gathered in front of Lab 1, which we needed to pass through.

04, 06, 08, 09—all of them.

They glared at me with murderous intent, breathing heavily.

How on earth…

“Bartender… what’s going on here?”

The rankers spoke one after another.

They didn’t look normal—their faces were very haggard and they seemed weak.

“What did you feed us…”

09 flashed her bloodshot eyes.

She approached me slowly, holding a dagger.

A dagger…

Perhaps because of the memory of being stabbed mercilessly by her,

my whole body trembled.

I’m going to die.

Surely I’ll die just like before!

I instinctively stepped back.

As if announcing the start of a fight, the speaker hanging from the research facility’s ceiling twitched.

“Hey guys, it’s me. Misha.”

All the rankers simultaneously stopped at the sound of the speaker.

Thanks to that, I could once again distance myself from her.

“There seems to be a problem with the potion you all drank today.”

“What?”

06 and 09 showed the most anger.

They glared at me with eyes full of rage.

“You all fell asleep simultaneously after drinking that potion.”

04 and 08, who had trusted me the most, looked surprised.

The boy and girl looked at me with eyes full of betrayal.

“While everyone was asleep, it seems a fox sneaked into the lab.”

The rankers all focused on me at once.

Like looking at a beast that had entered their home.

“It seems the creature is trying to steal our ‘food’.”

My lower eyelids trembled at the word “food.”

I turned my stiff neck to look at Jisoo, who had been called “food.”

Jisoo was taking deep breaths, trying to regulate her breathing.

They’re going to eat her…?

“It might be difficult because of the debuff, but we need to catch the intruder, right?”

Misha’s characteristically energetic voice filled the research facility.

She finally revealed her true colors.

Despite their poor condition, the rankers all prepared to attack.

They are geniuses at hunting humans.

They will try to catch me by any means.

This is certainly a terrifying situation.

But…

Is it because Jisoo is standing beside me?

Or is it because of my anger toward Counters?

My body became surprisingly calm.

I feel like we can safely escape through those fearsome rankers.

“Jisoo.”

“Yes.”

Despite me calling her by name, she answered without surprise.

Truly the composure befitting a genius hunter.

“Can you use your flame ability?”

“Thanks to you.”

I took out four small potions from my jacket pocket.

And placed each one between my fingers.

<Spiritus Molotov>

Rank: ☆☆☆☆☆ (Artifact)

Effect: Creates an eternally burning flame at the point of impact.

Information: A firebomb made with Spiritus, the highest proof alcohol. Recommended for throwing only, as consumption will result in death.

“When I create flames, control them to clear a path for us.”

It’s an ambiguous instruction.

But she would have understood perfectly.

After all, this was our escape method we often used whenever we failed raids in the past.

“Here we go.”

I skillfully flicked my fingers.

Soon, the small glass bottles flew toward the rankers.

They staggered due to Hypnos’s debuff.

The rankers quickly moved away, afraid of getting hurt even by the small glass bottles.

Thanks to that, a long gap formed in the center.

Just as planned.

“—!”

Flames erupted from the broken glass bottles that fell to the floor.

At that moment, I shouted to Jisoo:

“Now!”

Jisoo extended her hand toward the blazing flames.

As she waved her hand like a conductor, the flames began to move slightly.

Gradually, the flames parted to the sides, creating a long corridor.

Like the miracle of Moses, a path opened up.

“Run now!”

We ran together through the flames.

Due to the intense fire, the rankers couldn’t break through to catch us.

When we reached Lab 1, Jisoo threw a punch as I had taught her.

The door crumbled helplessly before her fist.

But I couldn’t rejoice at the open exit.

09 had come out with a gravity rod from her room.

“Where do you think you’re running, you rat…!”

When she stuck the rod into the ground, the intense flames gathered toward it.

With the path cleared, the rankers all rushed at me.

However, they could never reach me.

Because intense electricity struck between me and the rankers.

“Electric Eel!”

Thanks to my pre-arranged opening, the glass wall of Lab 1 opened.

The electric boy who had been trapped inside escaped.

Instead of escaping immediately, he had waited for me.

The words I had written with my breath remained on the glass wall he had come out of.

‘I’ll save you.’

“How dare you, mere food!”

This time it was the muscular 06 who stepped forward.

He chased after us, breaking through the boy’s electric current.

The bald man intended to pounce on me.

But his body also never reached me.

Because.

Someone who had awakened from a long sleep collided directly with his body.

A normal human would have burst upon collision with 06.

However, no matter how strong and hard muscles are, how could they be harder than crystal?

A man whose most of the body had turned into crystal stood firm and received his bulk.

06’s shoulder trembled upon collision.

The bald man gritted his teeth in frustration.

“You trash…”

While he confronted the crystal man, the boy emitted electric current again to block the approach of other rankers.

“Thank you… everyone.”

I spoke softly to the people of Lab 1.

I don’t call them test subjects.

They are not patients.

They are people like us, perfectly normal.

The Electric Eel boy turned his head slightly to stare at me.

His once eerie gaze now felt normal.

Instead, the boy raised the corner of his mouth into a smile when he saw me.

As if saying thank you.

The crystal man was the same.

Unlike what Misha had said about him going berserk when he woke up, he was different.

He engaged in battle very calmly.