episode_0139

Time passed by again and again, years passed by. As a child, I became an adult, but our situation did not change.

The daily training was now so easy that I could do it with my eyes closed. It has become possible to accurately target and attack a human’s vital points with a single strike, even in the darkness, which is no different from closing one’s eyes.

And the most important thing is that after training and training my dark magic every day, I surpassed a certain level.

At some point, everyone’s black magic, including mine, began to become clearly visible. The amount of black magic they have, the trajectory of black magic, and even the weaknesses of black magic.

I have already surpassed the level of warlocks who restrain us. Even now, if I put my mind to it, I could break free of the restraints that limit my actions and deal with them.

…But that shouldn’t be the case. Let’s aim for perfect timing. They haven’t figured out my level yet. It was partly because I hid my power on purpose, but their level was lower than I thought.

Waiting isn’t difficult. Because I have done it countless times over the past few years and have endured it over and over again.

Just as they had hoped, it turned into a doll. I followed orders, pretending not to even think about it, and produced a result they were satisfied with.

And finally. The day of the decisive battle has arrived. Why were the warlocks so busy? They were heading somewhere in a hurry.

From what I heard… they’ve found someone who will be the vessel for that damn demon god or something. In any case, it was said that there were not many warlocks left in this building whose location was unknown.

He brings out the black magic slowly and without anyone noticing. I create a dummy with the same dark magic as the dark magic I showed them.

It wasn’t that difficult because I’ve been thinking about it and running simulations every day for the past few years. It took less than 5 minutes to overwrite the brainwashing and behavioral restrictions placed on me.

“········”

It’s freedom. My vision became clear, and I could move my body as I wanted. Is this the first feeling of liberation I have had in so many years?

I felt like I had tears in my eyes, but now is not the time to shed tears.

I slowly look outside the iron window where I am trapped. There is only one warlock wandering around the caged room. The level… is enough for me to handle.

First of all, as that warlock approaches me, I pretend not to know anything and cover the pile with my body. And now that the guy passed in front of me.

Creates a dark sphere using black magic. Since it was a skill I had used countless times before, bending it like a key was easier than eating cold porridge.

Without making a sound, I put my hand out of the iron window, hooked it to the lock, and turned it. The iron bars are opened with ridiculous ease, and the door of the prison that was imprisoning me is opened.

“Ha… It’s so annoying. These bastards are all assholes, so why do they have to do this…”

Silencing the sound of his footsteps, he slowly approaches the back of the warlock who is sighing and complaining. Even though I came right behind him, he didn’t seem to even notice me.

My heart is pounding like crazy. It feels like sweat is flowing from the hand that is tightly holding the Dark Spear. How many years have I been waiting for this moment?

Past days come to mind. Every day, we were tortured, experimented on, and forcibly thrown into a hellish life.

Then, miraculously, my heart stopped pounding and my head felt as if it had become cold. My hands don’t shake anymore.

“···Die.”

Deep!

In pitch black darkness. The blade of anger that had been sharpened over and over again in the darkness for years pierced the man’s heart precisely.

He couldn’t have imagined it. They had no idea that the blade they had forged to use as a weapon would end up stabbing them.

The warlock fell to the floor without making a single sound. It felt incredibly exhilarating and refreshing, but it wasn’t over yet.

I learn from them and slowly move forward with the steps I was forced to learn. Holding a cold blade in my hand, with a heart colder than the blade.

***

“Kkeok, keuheook…”

“I wanted to kill you with my own hands.”

“Uh…how…”

“···Ha. Are you in pain? Compared to the pain and sorrow we experienced due to your actions, it won’t even be one-thousandth of that.”

He easily dealt with countless warlocks, and finally, the warlock who experimented on us. I stabbed that son of a bitch in all his vital parts and killed him.

The revenge ended neatly. Although I was a little out of breath, I didn’t suffer any injuries.

···It’s over now. It’s all over…

It’s only now that I feel it. I feel relieved to be able to escape this place where there was countless deaths and suffering.

It is refreshing to see the warlocks, who felt like an insurmountable wall, fall to the ground dead, forming a river of blood.

“···Let’s go out.”

I’m going to take everyone who has suffered just like me… and go out together.

When I reached the room full of bars I had escaped from, I looked through them with a smile.

“·······Ah.”

I had no choice but to sit there.

Inside the cage. All of my comrades who had been through hardships and hardships with me for years… were all dead.

And… he wasn’t killed. Immediately after the death of the warlock who conducted the experiment, all brainwashing and black magic were lifted. They committed suicide.

Days when I lived like a doll. The pain and despair caused by the torture, brainwashing, and experiments they experienced there came flooding back to them all at once, so even though they had come to their senses, they could not endure it.

···why. Only now… everything is finished.

All the chains and restrictions that bound us have disappeared.

I left the room in a daze and slowly walked around the shabby building. I don’t feel like I can hear any sound, and it’s heartbreaking.

···I became alone. Now… what on earth should I hope for, aspire to, and live for?

I look at the dark sphere in my hand. A sharp blade covered in blood and looking hideous.

···Would it be better for me to feel more comfortable? Since it has been stabbed, cut, and struck countless times, it will not have difficulty killing itself. Because they were like that too.

Let’s die. There’s nothing left for me… nothing.

So he tried to stab my heart with the dark spear.

-Ugh!!!

-Please save me… Please save me…!

-Wow…

Stop-

Until I heard the cries of children coming from somewhere in the distance.

That can’t be… In this space, those who have been brainwashed can scream as they please…

···for a moment. If they are children who have just been captured before being brainwashed.

As soon as I reached that thought, I threw away the Dark Spear and started running in the direction from which the sound was coming.

Among the tightly closed doors, the sounds of children could be heard through the small cracks in the open doors. Judging from the warlock who fell right in front of me, it looks like he was killed by me before I could even lock it.

····please. Please tell me I wasn’t hallucinating.

Slowly, I open the door with hands trembling even more than when I committed the murder. A door opens with the sound of old hinges.

“Hiss…”

“Please save me…”

“Ugh… I don’t want to die…”

It wasn’t an auditory hallucination. The children were hugging each other and sobbing softly when they saw me enter the room.

thank god. I’m really… glad. Because they don’t have a terrible time like me, like us… I was able to find it before then…

“···Guys. No, everyone… are you okay. I came to save you.”

“Ugh, huh… Is it true?”

“Yes. I…no matter what happens, I will not harm you.”

Even if I risk everything. If necessary, I want to protect these children, even if it means risking my life.

They break down the door of the iron cage where the children are trapped and take them out one by one. Even the children who were wary at first slowly opened their hearts.

“Thank you for saving me, brother…”

“What is your name?”

“····Are you talking about me?”

While holding the children’s hands, I slowly walked out of the building. I stopped at a question from a child.

Who am I… What was my name…

I am experiment number 8. My memories from childhood were vague and I couldn’t recall them well.

-Venice. That mom and dad love each other. Just know that.

And at that moment, a scene that I had never thought of before struck my head. This voice… It felt like I was hearing it for the first time, but it was so familiar that it brought tears to my eyes.

But… I couldn’t cry. I had children to protect, and I had to always be a strong older brother in front of them.

“····Venice. My name is… Venice.”

“Venice Oppa. Thank you!”

“Venice bro!”

Even though they went through the terrible experience of losing their parents right in front of their eyes, these children only show me infinitely bright and brilliant smiles.

I… made a promise. I definitely want to protect this brilliant smile.

Slowly, very slowly… the kids and I leave the shabby building. I look back for a moment.

It was such a small and shabby building. The space where I and we were trapped for several years.

There are no more regrets. I turn around, hold the children’s hands, and slowly walk through the snowy field where a blizzard rages.

An abandoned orphanage in a village where we were lucky enough to arrive. We were able to live a new life there.

And as my eyes get farther and farther away, I look down at myself and the children smiling hahaha.

“···It was uncomfortable to look at, wasn’t it? It wasn’t a memory I wanted to show to anyone.”

“······.”

Without realizing it, a single tear fell. I can’t believe I lived such a terrible and painful life.

And a sense of guilt rises. Your life has been so intense and you have crossed the line of fire to survive. Could it be that I stole it?

Could it be that I did the same thing as the black magicians who took your life away?

“···I can’t believe you think like that. I’m touched, right?”

Sseuuk-

“But. You don’t have to. Because you… made it possible for me to dream of the life I had longed for.”

He wipes my flowing tears and smiles. When I look up at him blankly, he holds my hand and talks to me.

“I would have acted like that too. And the children will live happily ever after. Even the terrible warlocks… now we’ve caught them all.”

“But, but…”

“Snap! And… I had the opportunity to serve a young lady who was worthy of my humble life. That was enough for me.”

How can he be such a pure and good person? I feel like I am being diminished by his goodness.

“Even if you don’t need to do that.”

You are me, and I am you.

“If I am good… Likewise, you too must be good. So don’t feel too guilty. Because I and we are not disappearing!”

Now he looks down at me with a sly smile like always, rather than his deep, dark expression like before.

“Thank you. And… Thank you for your continued support.”

As I shook his hand, all the memories and emotions he had began to pile up inside my body.

And once again, we all returned to the original dark space.

“You too… You’ve had a difficult life.”

“Well, that’s right. It seems like we are all destined to live a difficult life.”

“···Maybe.”

“Sleep! Anyway, hurry up and hit the next one!”

“Um… okay. Let’s finish it quickly.”

At a time when ‘I’ was having a conversation, one last ‘I’ began to walk out.