100. [Academy] (13)
100. [Academy] (13)
What happens if a person can't see anything and can't hear anything?
From what I know, they say you can't last very long.
I know that the amount of time a person can endure in a space without sound or light is 45 minutes.
I don't know if this is true or false, but my fragmented memories recall it as 45 minutes.
There are no exact research results, but they said that if the brain doesn't receive any stimulation from sound or light, it gets bored and anxious.
In the end, the brain supposedly makes you see hallucinations or hear auditory hallucinations to give itself stimulation because it's bored.
While I was watching Abe, who was locked in the first room of the [Human Zoo] where there is neither light nor sound, Narim entered the room.
"Narim. Thank you for bringing food all the way here."
"It's fine. I don't really do anything other than cook, anyway."
"Is there anything you need or anything you'd like to ask for?"
"Uh... by any chance, would it be okay if I went out?"
"Going out? Sure. Just make sure to tell Amber before you go."
"R-really!? Thank you!"
Narim bowed to me repeatedly.
Narim is a pure human who hasn't suffered [Erosion], but she has already blended into the life of our [Colony]. Just like Erina.
No, actually, she's doing even better than Erina.
The other day, when Gwen threw up Narim's food, Narim grabbed Gwen's head and told her to lick up everything she vomited, which even gave me goosebumps.
I looked at Abe while eating the tonkatsu Narim had made.
It was a perfect dish, with crispy fried batter, tender and flavorful human meat, and a sauce made from brains and brain fluid.
Actually, I was a little envious of Narim's unique ability.
However, Narim's unique ability isn't one where food pops out like magic! It's an ability where the unique ability naturally infuses into the food while she cooks it herself.
In short, it means she has to cook it herself.
Even though I like delicious food, I would never cook at home.
So, I decided to just leave Narim as Narim.
Because I know that even if I gained that unique ability, I would never cook.
==
I watched right in front of me as Abe became more and more anxious as time passed.
To maintain her sanity in a space without any sound, Abe tried to break the silence by moving her body as much as possible and talking to herself.
But that didn't last long.
Abe lay down on the bed and stared into the void.
Then, she slowly began to self-harm.
Since she can't feel any stimulation, it seems she's trying to get stimulation by self-harming.
But that self-harm wasn't out of giving up.
It was self-harm to steel her resolve to maintain her sanity in this place.
'She's truly amazing. How is that the mentality of a 20-year-old woman?'
I know this is a sexist thing to say, but honestly, in this situation, a normal woman's mind would have already broken.
She hadn't been provided with food or drink for 4 days, and then I took away her sight and hearing.
And yet, to endure, she is scratching the skin of her other hand with her own hand until it bleeds.
'Is her mind stronger because she has [Mana]? Or are all the women here just mentally tough? Or is Abe exceptionally strong-willed?'
An hour had already passed.
Even so, Abe was maintaining her sanity.
'I should feed her something soon...'
Abe hasn't eaten anything for 4 days.
Humans can usually die if they don't drink or eat for about a week.
I will never kill Abe, who handles spirits.
But the problem is that it seems Abe will keep holding on in her current state.
'Should I think of another method? For now, I have to go to the [Academy] tomorrow, so I should go to sleep.'
It's not good to lie down right after eating something, but that only applies to humans with normal stomachs and normal esophagi.
I'm not a human body to begin with; my whole body is a [Creature], and it's closer to imitating a human, so I don't have a separate stomach.
If I eat something, the cells throughout my body just absorb the nutrients.
==
Lea started to get worried about Abe.
She thought she would give up quickly and her mind would break, but it seemed like she would die before her mind broke.
From Lea's perspective, she was the first human in the [Human Zoo], so she couldn't just let her die.
She had no choice but to decide to make Abe submit using a different method.
Step. Step.
Lea enters the room.
Abe's eyes slowly opened as soon as she heard footsteps, having heard nothing until now.
However, because it was a room with no light yet, Abe just looked around.
Thinking it was just auditory hallucinations again, the moment Abe tried to maintain her sanity by scratching her arm...
Grab.
She was restrained by Lea.
Only then did Abe realize that the sound she had just heard wasn't an auditory hallucination, and she immediately pulled out her staff.
She tried to use magic immediately, but Abe's body, having not eaten or drunk anything for 6 days, was in a state too weak to even move [Mana].
Even the staff fell to the floor because she had no strength in her hands.
"Who... are... you...!"
"It's okay. You don't have to be so hostile."
The woman's voice, heard for the first time in 6 days, felt like salvation from a goddess, but she knew who the owner of this voice was.
"Le...a...!!!"
Even though her voice was cracked from not drinking water for 6 days, to the point where she could taste blood, Abe showed strong hostility toward Lea, who had locked her in this place.
"That's amazing. I didn't know you would hold out this long. So now, I'm going to use a different method instead of this one."
"Wha...t... are... you... trying... to... do... Mmphㅡ!!!"
Abe's mouth was suddenly blocked by something.
Abe panicked and fumbled at her face with her hands.
Something covered her entire face.
Abe tried to peel off what was covering her face, but with hands that hadn't eaten or drunk anything for 6 days, she couldn't do anything.
"First, I'm going to control everything. Walking, seeing, hearing, drinking, eating, breathing, everything."
With the [Creature] wrapping around her entire head, whereas before Abe moved her hands to peel off the [Creature], now she moved her hands to survive.
Abe had prepared herself for death after being locked in here. No, she had known from a long time ago, while fighting [Monster]s, that a day would come when she would have to face death.
And she knew that with this kidnapping, that death had arrived.
But even though she knew that, the fear of death, which she had never experienced before, rushed in all at once.
She moved her body greatly to breathe, inflating and deflating her lungs, but she couldn't breathe.
Abe's hands began to move more violently.
Clearly, Abe's body, which hadn't consumed anything for 6 days, had no energy left to move, but as death approached, a transcendent power appeared.
But she couldn't change anything with that power.
"ㅡㅡ!"
As she moved her hands frantically to breathe, her fingernails started to tear off and flip backward.
But the [Creature] didn't budge; it was just being provided with delicious blood.
Abe couldn't feel the pain even though all her fingernails had flipped backward.
"ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ!!!"
The [Creature] that was on her head grew, and it began to restrain Abe's hands and feet.
Her arms were folded and stuck to her upper body, and her legs were also folded, restrained to the point where she couldn't move a single finger or toe.
In a situation where she couldn't even move her body as she pleased, after 3 minutes passed without being able to breathe, Abe's body began to convulse violently.
Her lungs, thinking the reason she was suffocating was because something was wrong with her airway, induced coughing.
But both breath and cough were completely blocked by the [Creature] that prevented anything from passing through.
Just as her mind was becoming hazy from not receiving oxygen and her brain cells were about to be damaged, as per Lea's command, it made a hole in Abe's nose.
Hooooooo!
Abe gasped for air in a panic at the sudden influx of oxygen.
Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!
The amount of oxygen was woefully insufficient to inhale only through her nose after not breathing for 3 minutes, but just by being able to breathe oxygen, Abe just focused on breathing hard.
==
Abe's life changed in an instant once again.
Her whole body was restrained, and she couldn't do anything as she wanted.
Even breathing.
The [Creature] that restrained Abe's body would block her nose when Abe slept.
If the only breathing hole was blocked and she couldn't breathe, Abe had no choice but to wake up from her sleep.
Abe, who had been holding on by self-harming her own arms, now felt like she was going to go crazy because she couldn't even breathe or sleep as she wanted.
Seeing, hearing, breathing.
It was so painful that all the things that humans should naturally be able to do were blocked by something else.
There was one time that Abe started to wait for.
It was the time she spent with Lea.
With her whole body restrained by the [Creature], she couldn't feel touch, couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything at all, but when Lea returned, it changed.
Everything is released, leaving only minimal restraints.
Even though her vision isn't cleared, she can feel human skin, hear a voice, eat warm and delicious food, and sleep comfortably for a while while feeling Lea's touch.
She knows that all of this is Lea's scheme.
But even though she knows that, from some point on, Abe had started to want Lea to come quickly and to stay by her side for even a little longer.