Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Start of Daily Life
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After the kiss ended,
when Creep pulled her fingers out,
“Look at this. The first ring my darling ever gave me.”
There, grotesquely vivid teeth marks were embedded all over.
I, and the villains too, all stared at her with blank expressions. Only Creep alone was smiling.
“It hurts. But I’m happy.”
Was even the pain in the fingers I crushed a gift to her?
I’ve suffered at the hands of villains many times,
but I’ve rarely felt this level of helplessness.
Creep wasn’t smiling because she couldn’t feel pain.
Rather, truly and sincerely,
she was feeling a joy greater than the pain she felt.
“Good. I’ll give you the same gift. How about it?”
A mind so twisted it’s hard to comprehend—
that is her greatest weapon and greatest danger.
“Crow. Give me your finger too.”
Calling my three-letter hero codename exactly as it is,
Creep held out her hand.
Soon, her pale palm unfolded before my eyes. A palm smeared messily with dripping blood.
“Why are you trembling like that? Don’t want to give it?”
The villains gripped my arms and handed me over to Creep.
For that moment, it felt as though I had become an offering to a god. A human sacrifice meant for an enraged deity.
“…”
I desperately steadied my mind. My trembling body and spirit longed for firmness even amid fear.
“Scared?”
“…No.”
“Right? Ahh, I love it. So like you.”
There was no retreat.
No place to run.
I couldn’t bear how weak I felt, shrinking even a little before her.
“Don’t take your eyes off me. Got it?”
She—
deliberately adjusted her posture so I could see clearly,
“You know, that’s the most fun part. How much it actually hurts isn’t important. What’s hard is accepting that it’s about to hurt like hell.”
Then she slid my ring finger between her molars.
Back when I was playing hero, I got injured often. No matter how careful I was, wounds inevitably accumulated on my body.
Even if my recovery was exceptional thanks to my ability, it didn’t mean I couldn’t feel the pain, so I always stayed tense during battles.
If a body part were completely severed, or reduced to ashes without a trace, my power could never restore it.
“…Ghk.”
Still, I believed I had grown accustomed to the pain that inevitably followed fighting villains.
I never doubted it.
“Ugh, ngh—!”
But the brutal pain surging from the tip of my finger contained something incomparable.
Just as Creep said,
the warning signals repeating endlessly in my head made it feel as though the whole world was shaking.
“Aaaagh! Ngh…!”
Even when I tried to endure it, my voice burst out. It wasn’t something a sane person could suppress.
Teeth tearing into living flesh,
muscles being crushed under intense pressure.
That disgusting sensation spread through my entire body.
Malicious pain.
There was no end to it.
“Hah…”
There were no words like getting used to it,
no words like overcoming it.
“…I love you, darling. Let’s go to our room.”
There was only
misery.
That night, I didn’t sleep a single wink and spent it wide awake.
The lights in the common area never turned off at night, so beneath the bright illumination I felt the slow passage of time in its entirety as I decayed.
If you didn’t go into a room, you had to wear an eye mask or pull a blanket over your head to try to sleep. But I didn’t even have the luxury of briefly closing my eyes.
There was no telling when someone might pounce on me. Maybe Creep’s gang would quietly open the door and drag me inside.
“…Hhk, hhng!”
I never wanted to go back in there again.
The stinging pain in my finger and the newly carved wounds on my body screamed.
With my ability weakened, my healing speed was already slow, and there were so many injuries on top of that.
Still, if I could just get a good night’s sleep, surely everything would heal.
Surely…
“Haa, hah…”
Even breathing caused me pain.
But what tormented me most of all was, just as Creep said—
that today was only the first day.
That all of this happened in just a single day.
And that from now on,
I had no idea how long I would have to stay here.
“…It’s okay.”
To soothe myself, I kept repeating comforting words.
“It’ll be okay. I’m okay.”
No one here would comfort me,
so at the very least, I had to comfort myself.
“I’ll get out soon.”
Words with no certainty.
Desperate wishes, hopes.
Things like that.
“…They’ll come to rescue me.”
Without even that,
I couldn’t see any way to endure.
One by one, they wake up,
and in the order they rise, they come out into the common area.
Though they use different rooms, members of the same clique exchange friendly greetings and occupy a table.
Then those who come out later naturally sit where their close ones are. That’s how the day begins.
Some lightly wash up or even shower.
A few smoke first thing in the morning.
Someone brings out a cup of instant ramen and cooks it—no, soaks it.
There’s no boiling hot water inside the prison. Only lukewarm water exists.
The smell stimulates my nose. It’s already been two days since I’ve eaten anything.
The day before yesterday, I refused food myself because of my heavy mood.
Yesterday morning was ruined because of Acid; lunch and dinner were ruined because of Creep.
Still, there’s nothing I can do.
Just as I was after staying up all night,
I remain curled up quietly with a single towel over me.
[It is mealtime.]
Thankfully, the announcement for meal distribution echoes.
I have to eat this morning. If I don’t eat something, my healing will slow even further, and whatever strength I have left will drain completely.
My stamina is dropping. In stressful situations, I need to consume nutrients somehow.
“Hi. Good morning. Morning.”
But—
Creep doesn’t leave me alone.
“Darling, did you sleep well?”
Everyone lines up to receive their meals, but Creep squats right beside my bed, watching my reaction.
“Huh, you don’t look very well…”
She must know it’s because of her, yet she places a hand on my forehead with a worried expression. My body flinches, goosebumps rising instantly.
“I’ll get it for you instead. Okay?”
“W-wait…”
Before I can answer, she lightly jogs back to her gang. Without a word, they naturally let Creep go to the very front.
“Thanks, thanks! What’s today’s menu?”
“Ah, unnie. Same as always. Dry as hell boiled eggs, brick-like biscuits, cheap sausage.”
“I still like it~”
And there,
Creep says to the prison guard in charge of distribution:
“Excuse me, officers. My boyfriend’s really sick, so I’ll take his tray for him. That’s okay, right~?”
It’s not okay.
Please say no. Maintaining order is a guard’s duty.
But—
the answer she gives is:
“Go ahead.”
My tray is handed to Creep. She holds a Styrofoam tray in each hand and receives the food.
Two eggs, one biscuit, a bit of gravy to pour over the biscuit, and two American-style sausages.
“Thank you~”
Then she approaches me with excited steps and says:
“Now, let’s go eat in the room. If we eat here, it feels awkward with everyone watching.”
The four-person room Creep shares with three of her companions.
If I go in there, I won’t be able to leave freely.
“Not going? Go rest comfortably! If you lie here, it’s noisy and you won’t be able to sleep. Right?”
“…No.”
I try to endure somehow.
It’s fine if I skip another meal.
It’s not unbearable.
I can starve a few more days.
“Really?”
But—
as always—
what frightens me is…
“You really won’t come?”
the anxiety of not knowing how long this will continue.
“You have to eat well and rest well to leave here healthy, don’t you? Or not?”
Creep eventually goes back into the room.
The food assigned to me follows her inside.
“Hurry up~ Don’t make me wait. It’ll get cold.”
Creep sticks her head slightly out through the doorway and speaks with a bright smile.
One by one, villains who’ve received their trays return to their rooms or sit at tables.
But I become like a dog with a leash around its neck in Creep’s hands, not knowing what to do.
“Hurry~”
The door is about to close.
Without a keycard, you can’t freely enter those rooms.
Only the members of each room share a keycard.
“…”
If I miss this moment, I absolutely won’t be able to eat.
Still, it’s fine.
It’s fine…
“Did that bastard even eat anything since he got here?”
“Don’t mind it. Just do what unnie says.”
Everyone but me begins eating.
So the smell of food fills C Wing.
I’m probably the only one not eating anything.
Thud—
“…?”
Something drops behind my back.
A bag of potato chips,
in familiar packaging.
“If you’re going to eat, eat.”
I don’t need to look to know who threw it.
“Or throw it away. I can’t eat it—it tastes bad.”
Once again,
I received help from Scardi.