Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Even If I Cut Off Your Limbs, Will Your Expression Stay the Same?
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It all happened in an instant.
With just one word from her, everything around me changed.
"This is..."
An unknown place.
It was an open space, completely flat all around.
How did this happen...? She's supposed to be powerless...
I couldn't wrap my head around what was happening to me right now.
The cold wind blowing in.
The feel of the dirt beneath my feet.
This wasn't some illusion or Space Separation trick.
My body had really been moved somewhere else.
"You look pretty shocked."
Kim Dain approached me with a calm expression.
She walked toward me with the utmost confidence, like someone whose every plan had succeeded perfectly.
"You're supposed to be powerless..."
"Ha."
A laugh that sounded utterly ridiculous.
No, it was a sneer.
"I've always thought this, but you civil servants are so damn simple-minded."
She burst into even more intense laughter, as if something hilarious had just occurred.
"Haha... This is really funny..."
She clutched her stomach and kept laughing, like someone consumed by madness.
Was it her demeanor or the chill wind blowing around us? My body froze solid.
What do I do...?
"Ha... That's enough of that. Time to get to the point..."
She stopped laughing and slowly walked toward me.
-Thud, thud
She soon stood right in front of me.
At this distance...
Her crazed expression unnerved me a bit, but she was still just a woman.
A woman much smaller and weaker than me physically.
I could probably overpower her, but the problem was...
She seems to have some kind of ability after all.
Of course, it was possible someone else had teleported me here using their power, not hers.
But this was the top prison in the country—would they really not know if she had an ability?
Her attitude was the real issue, though.
She looked far too self-assured.
I'd seen that look a few times back when I was a regular guard.
It only appeared on people with thoughts, plans, and an ace up their sleeve.
I couldn't act rashly.
Should I test the waters a bit? Might it work?
My mind was a whirlwind, unable to decide on a course of action.
That's when it happened.
-Slash
"Gah... Ack..."
Sudden, excruciating pain exploded near my abdomen.
"I can hear the gears turning in your head from here. Who do you think you're fooling?"
When I looked at the source of the agony, I was stunned.
A considerable amount of blood was already pouring out.
Guh... Ngh... Calm down... It's not that deep.
I was startled by the sudden pain and blood, but it wasn't fatal.
"What's your goal? There has to be a reason you dragged me all the way here."
I couldn't afford to waste any more time now.
I had to try something, anything.
"Heh... You're a weird one. I went easy on you, but there's a hole in your gut and not a single tear?"
I'm on the verge of crying myself.
But right now, survival took priority.
No more stalling. I don't know how she'll react, so I need to end this while my body's still intact.
With that thought, I immediately swung my fist at her face.
Putting as much power as I could into it.
Aiming as close to her jaw as possible.
I threw the punch at her.
-Crack
"What...? You wanna fight?"
My choice was justified.
I didn't know how she'd react next.
And her build was much smaller than mine.
But it was blocked.
She stopped my fist dead with just her palm.
"Gaaaaah."
She gripped my wrist with crushing force.
The pain was unbelievable.
No way could a normal woman have that kind of strength.
"That was pretty fun, though. You're the first guy to fight back like this. Shame I have to kill you..."
Kill me...?
I looked at her face.
It was utterly sincere.
No doubt about it.
-Boom
"Guh...!"
She slammed my arm down to the ground while still holding my wrist.
"Don't worry. I'll give you a nice parting gift. I'm pretty good at that sort of thing."
"Wait...!"
I needed to buy time.
The one-hour visitation period would end soon.
Someone would notice and come to help for sure.
"What now...?"
"So you really do have an ability?"
"Heh..."
She snorted.
"That's all you have to say before you die? Has fear fried your brain? Most people beg for their lives."
"You're... ngh... kinda curious yourself..."
"Fine... I guess I can tell you. I'm specialized in presence-concealing magic."
"Presence-concealing?"
"Yeah. That's how I completely erased any trace of the magic I learned when I was first caught."
Her words didn't sound like lies.
No point in lying at this stage.
"So how strong are you?"
"Your questions have been weird from the start. If you're scheming something, give it up."
It hit right on the mark.
"I completely wiped our presence from that visitation room. No one there even noticed I used Teleport."
It wasn't nonsense.
She must have been able to erase presences that thoroughly to kill seven men without getting caught.
"Guh... ngh... Can you handle the consequences...?"
No choice now—I had to bluff and stall her.
If she'd really concealed our presences that well, it would take a while for anyone to track my location.
"What consequences?"
"From what I can tell, even with your ability, you're just some Underground 3rd Floor crook... Gaaah...!"
She stomped hard on my stomach with her foot.
"You sure know how to piss me off. Underground 3rd Floor is 'crooks'? You really don't know how the world works, do you?"
Of course I knew.
That starting from Underground 3rd Floor, it was a prison even hard to get into.
"...I do have an acquaintance on Underground 4th Floor, though..."
"...Acquaintance...?"
"Yeah... Someone way stronger than the likes of you... If you kill me, she'll come after you and kill you...?"
"What...? Pfft... Puhahaha...!"
She suddenly started laughing maniacally.
"Oh dear, scary me. Underground 4th Floor inmate is your 'acquaintance'? And she'll come kill me for a guy like you?"
"Yeah..."
"Aww... If you're gonna lie to fool someone, make it believable. Those bloodless, tearless 4th Floor freaks help each other out?"
Bloodless and tearless, huh.
Of course, it was a bluff.
I'd had that incident with Se-rin, and Seol seemed favorable toward me.
Ian had been oddly kind lately too.
But I wouldn't call any of them 'on my side.'
I figured it'd work since I'm a guard on Underground 4th Floor duty, but their reputation must be even worse than I thought.
"Oh, newbie, so you don't know? An Underground 4th Floor inmate escaped once. A year ago."
Not Seol, then.
"And to catch that one escapee, 27 guards died. Get it? Underground 4th Floor is full of people like that."
Hearing criminals praise other criminals made the women under my watch seem almost noble by comparison.
"Ha... Suddenly feeling shaky..."
Her behavior turned strange all of a sudden.
She started twisting her body while standing.
"Hah... I once saw an Underground 4th Floor inmate from afar...?"
Best to play along. Good chance to buy time.
My head was spinning from the pain, but I could hold out a bit longer.
"Her name was... Park Se-rin, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And once, she glared at me with pure killing intent...?"
"And?"
"I wet myself right there... Hah... Ungh..."
-Shhhh
A foul smell.
I realized anew that I'd tangled with a total psycho.
"Hah... Can't hold it... Gonna pee again..."
Standing there, she pissed herself, her face flushing red.
Yellow liquid trickled slowly down her pale thighs.
"Hah... This isn't the time. Anyway, that's the kind of people on 4th Floor. Now that I think about it, you pretending to know them pisses me off."
-Stab
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
She's out of her mind.
Certifiably insane.
She suddenly plunged her hand into my stomach.
"Guh... guh... haaa..."
This pain was beyond endurance.
She might've aimed to miss vital organs, but it hurt like hell anyway.
"You... guh... crazy... bitch..."
She pressed her hand against my stomach.
Heal
[Wound healed / Minor stamina recovery]
The pain vanished.
"What...?"
It felt like warm air was spreading even into my insides.
"Good news. Turns out prison life taught me basic Heal spells."
Her eyes were completely rolled back.
Were those really human eyes looking at another human?
"So... you're gonna let me live?"
"What? No, from now on, you're my hostage and my toy."
"Guhk..."
The wound had healed, but my stamina hadn't fully returned.
In that state, she clamped down hard on my throat.
"I'm curious, you know? If I cut off your arms and legs, reattach them, repeat it over and over... will there come a moment when you swear loyalty to me?"
"Guh... What the... hell..."
"Not lip-service loyalty, but true respect from the depths of your heart. Could you become my perfect slave?"
"That's... insane..."
"Hmm... Still defiant, huh? Whatever. First, I'll work off some sexual frustration, then start chopping limbs."
She grabbed my rock-hard lower half.
"Hey, relax your face. You're gonna spend the rest of your life with me. Keep making that expression, and I might just kill you."
Looked like I'd really fucked up big time.