#18 Forfeiting Humanity (4)
I laid Kim Jaeho down and scanned the surroundings, dagger in hand. But it seemed everyone here had already died by his hand. Silence reigned all around—stifling silence.
I moved slowly. Many doors were locked. I unlocked them one by one.
Partly to search for any possible survivors, but also to find any documents left behind.
I discovered the "Laboratory" and the "Materials Room."
The lab reeked of blood, thick and indelible even after scrubbing with disinfectants. My brow furrowed involuntarily at the stench.
A small chair, an operating table, and the horrific surgical tools scattered around it. What had happened in here was all too obvious.
The lab was still better off, comparatively.
The materials room was truly nightmarish.
The materials room—well, it was like a warehouse displaying parts extracted from the lab. I hated even calling it that, but according to the labels those bastards had attached, that's what it was.
The moment I saw the so-called "parts" they'd lined up like products on display, my reason fled.
They were so small. Tiny, like those of children not even ten years old. I couldn't string together words.
They died too easily.
"Tell me about it."
Way too merciful for scum who deserved far worse than having their heads exploded.
I incinerated every part in there. The flames I summoned with mana left not even ash behind—clean and thorough.
All I could hope was that the children used to make these parts had gone to a better place.
The next room was empty. So was the one after.
Finally, in the third room I reached, I found what I was looking for.
The "Archives," as it was labeled, was impeccably neat. Unlike the other rooms lined with horrors, this one contained only paper documents.
The fact that everything was handwritten spoke to their obsession.
Well, in this world, there are Awakeners who can access all electronic records at a glance.
I pulled out a random sheet and examined it.
This is...
"The information those bastards accumulated over decades. Records literally written in human blood and flesh."
Ray could memorize everything in an instant. My plan was to copy all the documents here through him.
Maybe I'd find a way to treat the children who'd been experimented on...
Master, look at this document.
At Ray's call, I looked up from mechanically flipping pages.
Children's registration info.
The paper listed personal details of children who'd passed through this place: names, ages, birthdates. Some even had registration numbers.
With this, I could reunite them with their families.
But the moment I saw the notes below, I ground my teeth.
"Sold 'em off, this one."
Some had sold their own family children for cash—worse than beasts.
"We'll pay that one's parents a special visit."
I asked Ray to store the children's info. As I sifted through more documents...
This child.
My hand stopped again at Ray's words. I knew without him finishing.
Five years ago. There, I spotted a familiar face—much younger, but unmistakable.
"Holy shit."
It was Kim Jaeho. The name field was blank, but that sullen face confirmed it. Most details were unknown, except his birth year—starkly recorded.
And that birth year was a shock.
"Sixteen?"
Kim Jaeho younger than Han Seohyun by a year? Ray chuckled as I froze in shock.
Didn't you always yell at Han Seohyun to treat this kid like an older brother?
"Of course I thought Kim Jaeho was older! A body like that at sixteen?"
He slouched daily, but the guy towered over 185cm, with a face fierce enough to look much older than seventeen.
Oh no. The hierarchy's all messed up.
The kid'll flip if he finds out.
"We'll bury this."
Bury it?!
"Yeah, we're burying it."
As Ray and I bickered, sorting documents, I sensed movement outside. I wiped the grin off my face instantly. Ray did too. Anyone wandering here now was surely "our enemy."
I stood, gripping my dagger.
A survivor?
Dagger ready, I kicked the door open, aiming to stab whoever was lurking outside.
But when I saw who it was, all tension drained from my body. Nothing but terrified kids.
"What the—"
The moment I relaxed...
The kids charged me.
"Wait! Hold on!"
I yelled, but they kept coming, attacking relentlessly. Small fists, but packed with fierce mana. One kid's fist was literally hammer-hard.
"Ngh."
Don't underestimate kids. These were physically enhanced Awakeners, talents awakened far too young.
Their mana battered me mercilessly. Unable to fight back, I curled up and took the beating. Skin tore, bones creaked.
Idiot! Blast mana to shove them off!
'What if they get hurt?'
They'd suffered locked in here their whole lives. I didn't want to inflict even a scratch.
You planning to die taking this?!
I racked my brain for a way to push them back without harm.
A voice rang out.
"Stop."
Kim Jaeho clutched his gut, bloodied and massive. His intimidating form halted the kids at once.
Thud.
Something dropped—a hammer.
So it wasn't just like a hammer; they were actually hammering me. No wonder it hurt so much.
Kim Jaeho walked slowly toward us. The kids glanced between us, backing away gradually.
"Don't hit that guy."
"Why?"
"He's a good person."
I sighed at his lame assurance.
Real convincing.
Still, hearing Kim Jaeho call me a "good person" was touching. Meant those months of nonsense with him weren't entirely wasted.
I staggered to my feet. The kids scattered like iron filings repelled by a magnet as I moved.
Cute, but not joyful—they feared me that much.
"Yeah. This uncle—ahem—might not be good, but he won't hurt you. He's here to rescue you."
The kids paused at my words, exchanging glances.
"Hard to believe, I know. But all I want is to get you out of this hellhole."
I counted: ten kids. Average age around eight. The oldest barely ten, all tiny.
"You all of them?"
Instead of answering, they eyed each other warily. One piped up from the group.
"You came to rescue us?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Why?"
"You're gonna take us somewhere else, right?"
I blinked.
"Well, if you wanna stay, I won't stop you."
I shrugged dramatically, glancing around.
"But you don't really wanna stay here, do you? If you want out, I'll help."
"That's not what I asked! Are you taking us to another horrible place?!"
Desperation etched the kid's face. I couldn't know the full horrors they'd endured here—probably never would.
But I understood, somewhat.
Having endured a hellish orphanage myself, desperate to escape.
Hating this hell, but fearing another awaited outside.
"No. I'm taking you to my home. And let me tell you, it's pretty great."
Your drab, crumbling ruin with no wallpaper?
'Still got character, doesn't it?'
The one that gives intruders nightmares?
'Exactly—makes it cooler.'
I waved my hand.
"Wanna come to my place?"
No matter how much they pondered, they were just kids. Children need adults to care for them.
Which made the humans here worse than trash.
They'd exploited these kids' desperate needs in the worst way.
More kids than expected, in worse shape than I'd thought.
But when they took my outstretched hand...
That was reason enough to take them with me.
An orphanage had been raided.
The news shocked everyone.
Even more shocking: all the children under its care had vanished without a trace—no bodies left behind.
This spread to all, but some facts stayed under wraps.
It all came to light via an anonymous "tip."
That the orphanage was a horrific site kidnapping kids for modification experiments to force Awakenings.
Do Chae-hee bit her lip, surveying the traces. Corpses piled everywhere—rivers and mountains of them.
"Even if horrific human experiments happened here, this is a massacre."
Do Chae-hee nodded at Park Cheol-wan's words.
"Damn it."
She'd had no idea such a facility existed in Korea. Kidnapping children, altering bodies to forcibly awaken them. A crime unfolding right under her nose.
She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them, asking Park Cheol-wan,
"Still no ID on the tipster?"
"Yeah, untraceable burner phone or whatever. But I think whoever called did this."
Do Chae-hee nodded in agreement.
"You think Beltsmets really did this?"
"Maybe not, but if they did, they've got some showmanship. Reporting their own crime and leaving their signature."
The word Weltschmerz scrawled in blood on the corpses matched the auction site mark perfectly.
"But why would that bastard do this?"
The auction motive was easy: money.
But this?
News reports held truth: children had been here. And those children had vanished without trace.
"What do they plan to do with the kids they took?"
Park Cheol-wan fidgeted with his cigarette.
"Hate to voice the worst-case, but..."
"What?"
"If not selling them off again, maybe brainwashing them for their own use."
The plausibility made Do Chae-hee clench her fist.