Unwelcome Company in the Polytechnic Building
"...What the hell is this?"
Joyeon had subdued three boar monsters. The one leading the pack had been finished off by a massive harpoon that came flying out of the sky. The harpoon's penetrating power was so great that it had gone straight through the boar's head and embedded itself in the ground.
—Master. It's coming from a building. An attack fired from the upper floors of the building beside us.
'A building?'
Following Ron's words, Joyeon looked up at the structure labeled "College of Engineering."
'...What is that? A cannon?'
Joyeon could see a long barrel sticking out of a window, still trailing smoke.
[Lost soul detected within 'Aura of Death'.]
The translucent soul visible only to Joyeon's "Eyes of the Soul" slowly faded from the dead boar's body.
['Soul Harvest' activated.]
'Huh? Soul Harvest? What was that again?'
Before Joyeon could even recall the skill's effect, the Aura of Death spread across the ground rippled like liquid and instantly engulfed the dead boar. Less than a second later, it returned to normal.
[Harvest complete.]
Only a small notification window remained, announcing that the boar's soul had been reaped.
Queeeek!
[Fear amplified by the death of kin.]
[Status ailment: Panic added.]
[Will to fight completely lost.]
The remaining two boars, having witnessed their companion's sudden death, suffered intensified status ailments from Joyeon's Aura of Death LV1 and began fleeing in a frenzy.
"Aah..."
Joyeon let out a disappointed sigh. He still had so many things he wanted to try, but his test subjects were getting away.
"Whoa~ Lucky day? Looks like some dumb pigs got caught."
"We can finally have some pork ribs. Last time we only hooked monsters we couldn't even eat."
A group of rough-looking men emerged from the first-floor entrance of the engineering building.
...Deactivate Aura.
Joyeon hurriedly dispelled the aura when he saw the men about to step into it.
[Deactivating Aura of Death LV1.]
Some of the men checked the dead boar while others approached Tiasia, the prison, and Joyeon.
"Hey~ This kid's pretty lucky. If those pigs hadn't stopped, it would've been a traffic accident."
"You're telling me."
The men casually spoke down to Joyeon and roughly patted his head.
—May I kill them?
—Master, I recommend a painful torture.
—I believe keeping them alive and suffering for a long time would be preferable.
—How dare they touch Master's hair...!
The skeletons watching from their graves were furious at the men's treatment of Joyeon.
Meanwhile, Joyeon thought, 'Well, I guess touching someone's head isn't that big a deal.'
—Master, even if you forgive them, it is unwise to let such insolent people go unpunished.
'Calm down. If you come out now, it'll be a disaster. You saw what just happened—the boar died from a single harpoon. There might be more of those. We don't even know how many people are here.'
Surprisingly calm, Joyeon assessed the situation and suppressed the skeletons.
"Huh? What's this? Shackles?"
The men noticed the restraints on Joyeon's legs.
"Is this brat a slave?"
"That woman too?"
"Whoa~ There's another woman keeping slaves besides us?"
'Besides us?'
Joyeon grew interested at the unexpected remark.
"What do you people want?"
Tiasia's voice came from behind. Joyeon turned to look at her.
"Pretty lady. Where'd you come from?"
"Touching someone else's hunting tools without permission isn't very nice~"
"...Scum like you..."
Tiasia was also thinking of killing the men, just like the skeletons.
'Tiasia!'
She flinched slightly, as if she had received Joyeon's thought, and turned to look at him. Their eyes met, and Joyeon gave a small shake of his head.
Understanding his intent, Tiasia furrowed her brows and unclenched her fists.
"Who are you people? What is this place?"
She asked the questions Joyeon was curious about.
"Hmm~? Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking who we are~?"
"......"
Grind.
'I can hear her teeth grinding from here.'
"My name is Tiasia. I saw black smoke rising nearby and came to check if there were people here."
"So our pretty lady's name is Tiasia~? A mage?"
Crack...!
'Lara's compatibility with them is the worst. Every word they say gets on her nerves.'
"That is correct. I believe I've told you everything I need to."
"Not yet~? You haven't told us what your relationship is with that guy. He's a modern human, right? The pretty lady's slave?"
snap.
When the man referred to Joyeon as a "slave," something inside Tiasia snapped.
"Kill—"
"I am Lady Tiasia's slave!"
Joyeon spoke up first, lying on Tiasia's behalf since she couldn't bring herself to call him her slave. He then sent her a look, signaling her to play along.
Though clearly displeased, Tiasia followed his lead.
"...Haa. That is correct. So please refrain from treating him carelessly. He is... my slave, not someone you can do as you please with."
"Oh my~ Of course not, lady~ We wouldn't dare touch what's yours. We just want to get along with you~"
The man who had been acting overly familiar placed a hand on Tiasia's shoulder.
Grind.
'Lara's teeth are going to break at this rate.'
"You see, we're pretty close with mages~ We've got one living with us! And I think we'd get along great with you. We keep slaves too, after all."
"...That will never happen."
"Ahaha! You'll understand after spending a few days here. How about it?"
"......"
Tiasia looked at Joyeon. He nodded without hesitation. He was actually finding the situation amusing.
"...I will accept your offer to stay here for now."
"Great~! Welcome aboard!"
Tiasia, Joyeon, and the people who had been imprisoned were led inside the engineering building.
****
Once inside, the three people who had been caged were taken away by others already waiting. Tiasia and Joyeon were led straight to the elevator and taken upstairs.
'The electricity is still working. How is that possible?'
While Joyeon was pondering the trivial question—
Ding!
The elevator stopped on the fifth floor.
"Slave kid gets off here."
Thud.
"Urgh."
The man shoved Joyeon from behind, causing him to stumble forward.
"What do you think you're doing...?"
Tiasia wanted nothing more than to smash the head of the man who had pushed Joyeon, but she could only grind her teeth and glare, unwilling to ruin her master's plan to learn more about this place.
"Slaves should stay with slaves. We'll treat the lady as our guest, so don't worry~"
The elevator doors began to close.
'Jack, May. Can you stick with Lara?'
—As long as we don't go outside, it should be fine.
—I think we can manage inside a building like this.
'Good. If Lara looks like she's about to explode, stop her.'
—Understood.
—Yes.
Jack and May moved to Tiasia's side as the elevator doors shut.
Joyeon stood up, dusted himself off, and looked around. Long corridors stretched left and right from the lobby, with iron doors at regular intervals. In the central lobby sat a man.
'...Is a university building supposed to look this bleak?'
The building's exterior had already suggested it, but inside it was excessively simple, ruthlessly efficient, and brutally sturdy.
"Hey, why aren't you coming over here already?"
The man in the center of the lobby called out to Joyeon with an annoyed expression, a pistol in his hand.
'A real pistol? How does he have a gun?'
Feeling slightly threatened, Joyeon dragged his iron ball and walked toward the man.
"Who are you? Where'd you come from?"
The man cut straight to the point. Still, Joyeon had enough sense to answer promptly.
"I'm a newly arrived slave."
"Well, obviously. Open your status window."
"Excuse me?"
"Your status window. Open it. Can't you hear me? Or do you not even know what a status window is?"
The man aimed his pistol at Joyeon's chest and threatened him.
'Ah, that's going to be a problem.'
Joyeon's status window was far more extravagant than it had been a few months ago. Showing it would immediately reveal he wasn't a slave.
—Master, there are human presences beyond the iron doors, but nowhere else.
—We can eliminate him before he sees us. Just give the order.
Cal and Ron were ready to kill the man.
'...Do I really have to?'
"Why's this brat spacing out again? You wanna die?"
Watching the man press the gun harder against his chest, Joyeon slowly raised his hands.
"...Status..."
Bang!
A loud noise suddenly echoed from the corridor.
"Ah, shit. Not again."
Frowning at the sudden noise, the man walked toward the source.
Bang! Bang!
Something was repeatedly pounding on an empty iron door.
The man approached the door and kicked it.
Crash!
"Shut up and stay still!!"
"M-Mister Baeksoo! The bugs... there are too many bugs...!"
A woman's hoarse, barely audible voice came from inside.
"What do you want me to do about it?! If you don't want to live with bugs, go to the 19th floor! I'll even send you there!"
"N-No... Please... Just the bugs..."
Crash!
"Aah! What's so scary about some damn bugs?! Shut up already!"
Unable to stand the woman's voice any longer, the man shouted and began looking around.
'...? What's he looking for?'
Then his eyes met Joyeon's.
"Hey, you! Get in there and make that damn voice stop."
"...What?"
"Go in there and shut her up!"
At the man's senseless command, Joyeon dragged his iron ball over.
"Um... I just need to make her stop talking?"
The man nodded and inserted a key into the door's keyhole.
'At least I don't have to open my status window now. Lucky me?'
—Master.
Cal suddenly called out to Joyeon.
'Why? There's no need to ambush him anymore.'
—It's not that...
Creak...
When the man opened the door, a stomach-churning stench poured out. A woman who looked like she hadn't washed in at least a month tried to rush outside.
Thud!
"Where do you think you're going?!"
"Aah!"
The man kicked the woman in the stomach and shoved her back inside.
Thud!
She collapsed backward.
Joyeon's gaze fell on the woman—and then on what was beside her head.
Skitter skitter skitter skitter.
"What... seriously?"
—Those are no ordinary bugs. They would be classified as monsters in our world.
Jet-black cockroaches the size of an adult man's palm—something you'd expect to see abroad—had turned one corner of the room pitch black.