Chapter 28: Chapter 27
TL/ED: Hamsterminator
Jin has three weaknesses.
First is hunger,
second is money,
and the last is affection.
If we were to rank them, hunger is a given, so let’s leave that aside for now.
Even so, affection probably takes a half-step lead over money.
So, his top two weaknesses are hunger and affection.
And this is precisely where the church sneakily slipped in and exploited.
They give you food when you go (important), and offer warm words too.
The sense of emotional and physical abundance that Jin felt here was something he had never experienced back in Downtown.
On top of that, he could save money by getting a free meal?
This was exactly why Jin kept attending the church that didn’t suit him at all.
Nephetra? Netflix?
Honestly, he couldn’t even remember the name of the goddess.
All he lightly understood and brushed off was that she was one of the 12 gods who represented the glorious old days of light and roses, and that she symbolized mercy.
And that made sense.
Because the doctrine of mercy that the priest passionately spat out as he explained was way too disconnected from the current times.
No matter how open-minded Jin tried to be, it was impossible to genuinely agree with it, so he ended up letting it go in one ear and out the other.
To Jin, the Church of Mercy was simply a place to have a good meal and mingle with people a little, without a shred of belief. Nothing more, nothing less.
So waking up in a pitch-black basement was a bit of a shock.
“...What the hell.”
Wondering why his arms were raised, he lifted his head and saw his wrists bound by chains near the ceiling.
Could it be that the noble Goddess of Mercy enjoys bondage play?
Sorry, but that’s not really my thing.
Jin, blaspheming as easily as breathing, began to assess the situation.
Let’s see. He visited the church around early evening.
After filling his stomach as usual, he sat in the very back row of the prayer room, hiding behind others and listening to the boring sermon.
For some reason, he got sleepy today. His eyelids were feeling heavy.
Did he eat too many fries?
But it wasn’t just him- even the usually enthusiastic worshippers were nodding off, as if they’d all been invited to dreamland together.
Maybe they drugged the food with sleeping pills.
That was his last thought.
Then he woke up to this.
"This is ridiculous."
Jin let out a hollow laugh.
Looks like they really did pull something.
There’s no other explanation for this.
And right then, a square-shaped window popped up, as if to say, “You were right.”
「(Sudden!) There's No Such Thing as Free」─────────
Escape from the factory.
~Reward Perk XP 5,000
──────────────────
Jin frowned.
As if the unpleasant window itself wasn’t enough, now it was hitting him with cold, hard truth?
At first, Jin glared at the Status Window with dagger eyes, but soon, his gaze slowly softened.
“...Yeah. Nothing’s free.”
He already knew.
There’s no such thing as that.
Even if he got fooled, he just wanted to believe, just once.
So rather than betrayal, what he felt was more of a crushing disappointment.
Of course it turned out this way.
“This fucking world.”
Jin muttered as he glanced around.
The homeless people he had gotten to know over the past few days were hanging like slabs of meat in a butcher shop. Among them, he saw Jeff’s face, dressed in his usual weird patchwork rags.
Like the others, his head hung low. He was fast asleep, completely unaware of the world.
Hmm. So he got caught too. Thank god.
For a moment, Jin had doubted whether Jeff had approached him from the start just to lure him in. Now, realizing that wasn’t the case, Jin felt relieved that he could still hold on to a shred of faith in humanity.
“Hey.”
A strange voice brushed past his ear.
Jin turned his gaze toward the direction the sound came from.
“Yeah. Over here.”
About 10 meters diagonally away.
A middle-aged man slightly shifted his body to make his presence known.
He looked somewhat bony, yet his skinny and ragged body wore grimy clothes with stains and grease marks.
He definitely had the look of a homeless man, but Jin didn’t recognize his face at all.
Not from the church?
Thinking that, Jin spoke.
“Who are you?”
“Me? I’m your sunbae.”
“......? What’s that supposed to mean.”
“I got caught before you did. That makes me your sunbae.”
Hmm?
Jin narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
He knew there was a hierarchy even in drinking cold water, but...
Given that he was already captured, going on about who’s the sunbae or hubae now was like trying to argue hierarchy in a pool of sewage.
That guy isn't quite right in the head either.
Jin, oddly amused, let out a small laugh.
“Then don’t just talk big. As the sunbae, explain things in a way I can actually understand. What the hell is going on?”
The middle-aged man blinked at him and replied,
“Well. I don’t really know either.”
“What? Didn’t you say you were the sunbae?”
“I am. By like, an hour or so...?"
Goddamn. I knew it.
Jin let out a deep sigh.
What was he expecting from someone who clearly had a few screws loose?
Thinking that way, he suddenly felt wronged.
In these kinds of situations, shouldn’t there usually be a character in tatters who whispers, “This is where we are… and something terrible is happening…” before dying on the spot?
Can’t we just allow a bit of narrative convenience for once?
So I can hold their body in my arms and swear vengeance!
Huh? Is that too much to ask?
He grumbled inwardly for a moment, then made up his mind. He had no choice but to try figuring things out himself.
“Hey, mister, mister? Sunbae-?”
“Huh? What is it.”
“Did you also get dragged here after getting free food?”
“Me? I just woke up and found myself here.”
Yeah, I thought I didn’t recognize him.
Looks like the kidnapping method wasn’t always the same.
Nodding to himself, Jin asked again.
“You’re a Downtown resident, right?”
“...Downtown? Isn’t that Area 47? I came from Area 43. Regi Town.”
Wait a minute. That’s a twist.
He’s from a different district?
Nationwide kidnapping? Something like that?
While Jin was still trying to figure it out, the middle-aged man suddenly muttered to himself that he needed to pee. Bodily urges in a situation like this well, no helping it if he’s nervous.
Just as Jin was about to suggest he try letting out a little at a time.
Something brushed against his senses.
“Shh!”
Jin sharply hissed a warning and immediately closed his eyes.
Step.
Footsteps that had gotten closer without him knowing when.
From beyond a closed steel door came a human presence. Then a cold scraping sound, something being unlocked, slid across the floor, followed by the creak of old hinges as the door opened.
Three people entered.
They all wore robes long enough to drag on the floor, with deep hoods covering their faces.
Truly, an outfit that defied the times.
To Jin’s half-closed eyes, they looked like cosplayers trying to imitate medieval monks.
Soon, a low voice came from among them.
“How many in total?”
“Thirty-two.”
“...Thirty-two. Not quite enough."
"I'm sorry. This was the best we could do for now."
When one of them asked a question, the other two took turns responding.
One of the voices that apologized sounded very familiar.
May the embrace of the Mother protect you.
The face of the priest who always smiled warmly surfaced in Jin’s mind, and he involuntarily twitched his brow, but the robed figures, unaware, continued slowly approaching.
“The transaction is in less than ten days. There must be no shortage. Hurry up."
“Yes, sir.”
The reply came from right in front of him.
The next moment, Jin’s eyes snapped open.
Whoosh!
With explosive force anchored deep in his hips, his two legs shot up like missiles and wrapped around the neck of the monk who had been walking at the very back, like a snake.
“......!”
Lightning-fast.
At this speed, you could say he snatched him clean.
Crunch!
The face turned bright red as the man was forced onto his tiptoes-
His hands desperately tried to pry off the thighs crushing his neck, but it was all in vain.
Crack-
Cra-crack-
As Jin felt the breath cut off between his crossed thighs, he released his grip.
Clatter- the sound of shaking chains drew the attention of the two in front, who turned their heads.
“H-How!”
“...O, meticulous Servant of Darkness-!”
Our dear priest was flustered,
While the higher-ranked one behind him immediately began chanting a spell.
Not just getting respect for nothing, huh?!
Jin thought that as he slammed his bound arms down with all his might.
Boom!!
The chain tore straight out of the ceiling, stake and all. At the same time, Jin focused his mind.
His consciousness, paying the toll fee called mana, was sucked into the target point.
And in the next moment, with a shift in perspective, Jin's body appeared right behind the monk who had been chanting.
Still in the motion of slamming his arms down toward the ground.
Splat!!
The chain, swung like a whip, swept across the opponent’s skull.
Though it didn’t quite break the sound barrier, the destructive power behind it was enough to crush a human skull like tofu.
Wobble... thud!
The monk collapsed face-first onto the ground.
Then, as if it were a lie, the red pool that had been bubbling at his feet suddenly went calm and reverted to the solid concrete floor it had originally been.
Jin, not particularly eager to find out what the hell that was, immediately stirred up mana and unraveled the chain wrapped around his wrist.
Now, the only one left was our dear priest.
Flinching between the corpses that had appeared before and behind him, he tried to part his lips to say something under his hood.
Jin kicked the priest’s shin.
No need to use Blink.
The guy was right in front of him.
“Augh!”
As he collapsed to the floor, Jin grabbed the back of his head, hood and all, and slammed his palm into his face.
Smack!
A blow delivered with superhuman force.
To an ordinary person, it was no different from a divine strike.
And of course.
The priest’s face crumpled inward, and blood mixed with yellowed teeth poured out in chunks.
"Oh my. Priest-nim, stay with me, stay with me.”
Jin, feigning concern, slapped him again.
Smack!
Fight fire with fire.
The priest, whose mind had been knocked into oblivion by the first hit, regained consciousness with another.
He coughed and choked on a mouthful of blood.
“...Kh, kuhuhk.”
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“Y-You...you…”
“You what? Brother, brother. You were all smiles calling me that earlier. Don’t be like that now, it hurts my feelings.”
Saying that, Jin squatted down on the floor. As he naturally brought himself to eye level with the man, he tilted the priest’s head back by the back of his hair and asked,
“Where are we?”
A plain question, with no particular emotional sway.
But in the priest’s eyes, there was fear.
It was that same annoyingly handsome face that had been smiling like an idiot while eating free meals, maybe that made it even scarier.
“Tch, damn honorifics has become a habit..."
Clicking his tongue to himself, Jin switched up the question.
“Forget it. You kidnapped people, what the hell are you doing in this factory?”
“H-How…do you know it’s a factory…”
Even through his hazy consciousness, the priest couldn’t shake off the doubt, when the same question was repeated directly into his ear.
“What is this place for.”
“M-mutants… muta- tions……”
Mumbling in a half-lost state, the fake priest went limp. Honestly, his whole face had been smashed to pulp from the first hit. It was a miracle he lasted this long.
Finally, Jin released his grip and stood up.
“......”
Whether the middle-aged man looked at him with surprised eyes or not.
Jin’s hand, after patting down his chest, moved to his waistband, only to swipe through empty air. His nose wrinkled.
“...Shit.”
And then, as if he’d been waiting, he growled at the Status Window that popped up in the corner of his vision.
“Stop telling me to escape already. I gotta find the Gravis and my money too.”
With that, he cracked his neck with a few audible pops.
“Because I’m about to flip this whole place upside down. So raise the reward. Or get lost.”
A soft glint of madness shimmered in Jin’s eyes.
~~~
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