What the Hell Happened to My Body? (1)
What the hell just happened to my body?
Once again, I can't see a thing. They had covered my eyes and mouth, and were holding down my arms and legs. The last traces of human warmth let go of me, replaced by cold metal. I was back where I started. Even with my eyes covered and my sense of direction shattered, I could tell.
"So... what are your orders this time?"
"He said there's no need to hold back anymore. Just do it."
"All of a sudden? What happened to keeping him sane?"
I heard the voice of the man who had been forcing the drug down my throat while my eyes were covered. Unlike the one who had dropped me into the pit, this guy had escaped without a scratch.
"Not like I was planning to go easy anyway."
"...I already knew you'd pumped him full of the drug."
"So what? The job changed, didn't it? Doesn't matter now."
"The order still matters."
Two people were talking inside this room, but from the presences I could feel, there were at least five more besides them. The door was open, and the others seemed to be moving around doing something, though without sight I couldn't be sure... but it was probably Hallow. They were preparing it.
More importantly, where did they get shackles this size? The handcuffs were adjustable, so that made sense, but the ones on my ankles felt like solid, one-piece metal. Finding a perfect fit for my thin wrists and ankles must have been difficult.
...Ah. So that's it.
"Are you from the Area 4 remnants?"
"What?"
My words came out muffled by the round object stuffed in my mouth, but they understood I was speaking. Curious, they removed it.
"...I asked if you're from the Area 4 remnants."
"Remnants, huh..."
The existence of shackles that large, combined with the strange concrete building I'd seen earlier, told me everything. This place looked like a cultivation facility—or what used to be one. The kind without any machinery, wiring, or circuits, designed for easy escape and quick setup. And the ones being cultivated were obviously ability users. No one outside Area 4 had ever been caught doing this.
Probably because I'd been exposed in the media. The more an ability physically mutates the host during cultivation, the easier the process becomes. Someone with rapid Regeneration like me must have been a first for them. And since the target was in Area 4, I was the perfect mark. The goal of this cultivation was me.
"Yeah, we're remnants." He grabbed the collar of my half-unbuttoned shirt and hissed quietly beside my face. "That damn bastard destroyed my organization and turned me into a remnant."
With a shove, he let go. Then they forced another round object back into my mouth. Worried about me biting my tongue, even though I couldn't achieve the level of over-regeneration I wanted anyway. No need to correct them.
Now what? From the looks of it, there was no way to contact anyone, and Ganema hadn't been watching me. His usual line of sight was in the opposite direction from where I was, so there was no chance of accidental discovery. I had never told anyone I was going out to receive a blessing, so only Mari and Seven even knew I had left the house. But Seven would be busy with his own matters and wouldn't have time to worry about me.
The number of people here was a problem, but even more so was the possibility that Mari had been taken hostage—
Tap.
"Ugh!?"
What was that? Something had poked my stomach. Not piercing or drawing blood—just a testing prod. More importantly, where had my shirt gone? My wrists had stayed bound the whole time, and the fabric wasn't the kind that could be torn. And now I couldn't sense any presences at all. Not just presences—sound, the metallic smell, even the faint light that had been visible through the blindfold had vanished. My senses had been cut off, leaving only touch to focus on.
That guy who had been relaying messages to the telekinetic must have shut down my senses. A firm grip closed around my chest. It wasn't like there was nothing there, so he didn't need to squeeze hard, yet he did. Or maybe my heightened sensitivity just made it feel that way.
"Mmph..."
The stimulation reached not only my chest but my heart and lungs. My heartbeat quickened, and I drew deeper breaths. My stomach seemed to shrink, something rising inside it, while my skin prickled as if my body were trying to contract. All this from simply blocking the other senses? That didn't make sense.
Right... Hallow. They were definitely feeding me that drug now. Even without taste, I could feel the foreign texture in my mouth. When I'd moved my tongue earlier, the object blocking my mouth had several holes. Now I understood—they were for administering Hallow.
To stop this strange sensation, I tried to move my tongue and block the holes. But my mouth was already full, making it hard to maneuver. I flailed my tongue around, only succeeding in clumping the powder together with saliva. I tried to swallow everything and close my mouth, but my head just shook uselessly.
This time, not randomly—calmly...!
A spark shot through my head. Not a literal one, of course. There were no exposed wires, and no reason to use electricity in a place without them just to torture a regenerator. So this was simply intense stimulation.
I'd already passed out once after being force-fed too much Hallow. If I blacked out again now, I'd lose my chance. From what I remembered, there were several types of abilities that could deaden the senses like this. This one had shut down sight, smell, taste, and hearing—four out of five—while maintaining it for about thirty seconds. Against average ability users, it would take three people working together, or four or five if they were well-coordinated, lasting fifty to seventy seconds. If these guys fell short of that average, the effect would wear off sooner.
I had to aim for that moment. But if I passed out again, I'd miss it. First, I needed to stop the Hallow pouring into my mouth. I pressed my tongue to the floor of my mouth, extended it, pressed it against my cheek to shift the powder sideways, lifted it to the roof of my mouth, then rolled it in the opposite direction, moving it bit by bit. The tongue's muscular structure and the moisture in my mouth made the powder clump, so progress was slow. Occasionally some slipped down my throat, which was unpleasant, but it helped clear the holes enough for my tongue to cover them all.
I'd blocked every opening the drug could enter through my mouth. Now I just had to endure and buy time. Even with only touch, escape was possible. But if I fell into that pit during the process, it would take forever to get out. Without sight, if hearing or smell returned, my chances would drop sharply. If taste came back first, that would be unfortunate...
Urgh...!
The hand that had been gripping my chest now seized my wrist. Realizing I'd blocked the drug with my tongue, they pinned my face in place and shoved deeper into my throat. My tongue couldn't stop it—the powder and everything else were forced back.
"Ereeeh—"
The strange sound escaped me. My vision flickered. My mouth felt warm. A foul smell hit me.
"Th... is... you..."
My voice was slowly returning. Fifty-two seconds. Either all six people besides the telekinetic, or five of them, were ability users who could block senses—or supporters for them. I didn't know how many more were outside the torture room, but if the effect was already fading, then at least the relevant ability users were all accounted for here.
Flash!
My sight returned. I thought I saw light, but what I actually saw was something right above my face.
"Why did the block wear off so quickly? Even heroes or composite ability users don't recover this fast... Could it be dangerous—"
"His tongue work was something else. That's even better."
I'd assumed I was still suspended in the air like before with the handcuffs, but somehow I was lying down now. My limbs were spread, my head tilted back. My mouth was hot. And something was inside it.
This foreign sensation wasn't a drug. I turned my eyes and saw what looked like a person's leg. There was leg hair, but strangely, the pants and underwear were pulled down to where the shoes were. Some man was currently forcing his penis into my mouth.
Realizing the situation, I thrashed.
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
"Even after waking up, he still—!"
But I couldn't move. Had they not been feeding me Hallow this whole time? The sensation had definitely been Hallow. So they'd switched to shoving their dick in instead? Then when had this guy's penis ended up in my mouth?
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to bite down with all my strength.
"Oh... oh! This feels even tighter!"
"Mmmph!"
Apparently liking it, the hands that had been holding my wrists moved to my throat instead. The foreign sensation in my mouth was now matched by the pressure on my neck. Then it pushed even deeper.
"Hey, how many minutes has it been?"
"A little over a minute."
"Twice in one minute... I can't even call myself premature at this point."
A finger traced around my navel. Rough yet soft—it was a hand coated in Hallow.
"Well, at least this side's even quicker than me."
I forced myself to swallow the sticky semen lodged deep in my throat.