The two who exited the door exchanged glances before quietly walking down the hallway. there were no other people in the hallway because hunters are rarely confine in their hospital guild because they have healers.
"What do you think guild leader?"
Seo who was walking alongside Lee Jo ha asked, while Lee Jo ha kept walking and soon opened her mouth.
"We can't hand him over to the hunter organization since we know they'll just use him or even worse, and we can't talk about the lab facility either since there's a high chance it can expose his existence so we have to investigate on our own for now."
When the original leader died, all the loyal ones were removed and replaced with corrupted ones, the hunter association, which used to be a trustworthy nation's agency, became corrupted.It's also not a good idea to discuss it with the other guilds, since they may try to make things worse and bringing Haru Yoshida to them mostly their most nemesis guild the baem Guild.
"When will we interrogate him?" Seo asked while they continued to walk through the long hallway.
"We saw how he acted,he needs some space so don't put any pressure on him. We'll also need a artifact or mental skill if we have to interrogate him, so for now, it's better to investigate and keep it hidden in public."
Haru Yoshida is a crucial piece of evidence concerning that lab, but he might not tell the truth, and it's a good idea to be skeptical of an unfamiliar person.
While calmly listening, Seo Shin directed his gaze to the guild leader.
"Are you thinking that there will be more labs like that?" Seo eyes turn much colder than they are as he spoke slowly when he predicted the guild leader's concern.
Lee Jo ha flinched but soon turn serious at Seo's terrifying statement and her most inner concern and worries.
"....who knows"
The public can be significantly impacted by even one facility, but if they were made aware of multiple facilities that are engaging in human experimentation in who knows what capacity, the public would undoubtedly feel uneasy and afraid of their own country, which could have disastrous impacts mostly to guils like them.
Seo only just had a cold glimmer in his eyes as Lee Jo ha roughed up her undone hair at the mere thought of it.
"In any case, if we can get him to open up to us, it would be great... you weren't disrespectful or harsh to him earlier on my way here, right?"
Seo Shin, who had been staring straight down the corridor, averted his gaze and remained silent.
"S-seo? You weren't right? ..."
**********************************************
While I was relaxing and eating grapes bought by the private nurse, I was watching this thing called television. It was fascinating to watch a man in a black suit wielding a grappling hook gun as he climbed the buildings with it. I couldn't recall his name since I wasn't paying that much attention.
Soon later, I averted my gaze to the wall, one of the butterflies flew through the walls, landing on the bridge of my nose. I could sense the butterflies' locations but losing contact if they traveled too far to my location just like a device called a phone connecting to the wifi that i just found out few hours ago.
"Ho?"
I can't stop myself from gasping at the information this butterfly has brought me.it's a long stream of information that I need. I secretly sent out two small batches of butterflies to gather more information about the outside world and current events since I lack knowledge in the outside world.
"Good job"
I complimented it in response the butterfly flapped its wings even more in tip of my nose, as if it were delighted, and goes through my hospital garments and to one of my stomach scars.This butterflies lives in my body, mostly in my scars so it can never be removed. I'm sure the saja guild attempted to heal me with healers, but it didn't work.
I picked another piece of grapes and was about to eat it while contemplating my next plans, when..
[C̶̨̙̠̙̰̝̹͙̫͒̆̓̈́̂͌͠͝á̷̼̼̩͛̐͐͝ṇ̷̢̨̲̼͙̝̮͇̇̒̓̍ ̵̡̎ÿ̶̧̟̃̈́̈͘͝ọ̷̢̡̖͚͍͛̑̉͜ù̴̢̧͇̮̹̦͇͙̜͊̉̈́ ̶̢͍͓̲̟̦̳̟͉̤͝h̷̢̳̙̫͓̥͔̱̤̓ē̴̢̖̦͇̼͎͇̄̈̒̓̍͛͘ȧ̴͎̼̘̣̫̼̞̝̖̞r̷̥̘͈͊͑́͑͗̉̔̍̚͝ ̷̡̻̭̫̟̍̾͑̏̉͛m̵͉̲̿ȩ̴̜͐̍͐͛̏͐͂͘?̷̨̨̞̪͓͚̰̪̾̑̑́̕͝͝ͅ]
As I heard a strange voice, I threw my grapes away, jumped out of bed and prepared myself for combat.I had already prepared my butterflies as I cautiously searched and investigated the entire room for the source of the voice.
[Dₒ yₒᵤ ₕₑₐᵣ ₘₑ?]
"Do I hear you?..."
I responded to the muffled voice asking whether I could hear him but my vision soon became fuzzy, and I felt my body lose balance, collapsing to the ground and losing consciousness.
I felt a cold liquid caressing and wetting my back, when I opened my eyes, everything is dark except for the bright huge floating crystal ball on the top of the dark space.
'What is that?'I can't help but raise my upper body in surprise.
pit,pat
As I stood up, I can feel the water drip down to my short hair and clothes.when I glance around all I see is flooded water and darkness, the only source of light is the big crystal ball at the top and the falling particle lights it produces.
"Finally, I managed to pull you here"
Hearing the same voice behind me before I got here, I turned to face the source of the voice and saw a man's silhouette standing 6 feet away from me, if other would have experience this they might fainted already.
"Adonis, You should've informed me that you can do this" i spoke as I could feel water around my feet, its really damp in here. It's odd that I don't feel as cold as I would expect,
"I apologize, I only learned this when I was regaining my strength." The silhouette man answered me while scratching his head.
His voice is quiet and gentle voice that calmed me down, making me want to listen to it again. I take another look at him and despite the fact that I can't see him, I get the impression that he's smiling while speaking.
I move closer to the silhouetted man, who hasn't even explained how this place came to be in this condition. As we were only two steps apart, I noticed how much his appearance had altered as well.
"You got taller?" I definitely noticed that he has gotten taller before I have left here.
"Really?"
He chuckles softly and covers his nape with his palm, looking embarrassed. providing warmth in spite of the frigid place.
"Tell me what happened"
i spoke as i eagerly waiting for his reply, I don't have time and can't waste much time now that I've been awakened. also, I have no idea what occurred to my body when I lost consciousness.
'It's probably on the floor in the hospital room' I sigh while I feel headache coming in.
"several things happened here when you awakened" he seems to contemplating before speaking and putted his hands in his chin,
"Additionally, I'm unsure of what occurred too, but when you woke up, the place suddenly became severely flooded, and that Ball appeared above."
He pointed at the crystal ball at the top and explained that he was also unaware of what occurred while he was here.
"My awakening must have some unexpected effects." He agreed with me by nodding his head. If that was genuinely my awakening, it made sense because I emerged from my consciousness and entered reality. We both spent a considerable amount of time here while I was unconscious in reality. I'm not sure how long, but considering how we spent time together, I'm sure it's lengthy.
it feels like my body was a home as well as my mind of unsual creatures like him, but this time its different.
"What about the butterflies?"
I changed the subject for the time being because he was also clueless.He grabbed his chin again and hesitated to speak what he was going to say
"About that.....I filled the void left by compelling them to emerge and use" He explained softly while rubbing his chin
"....you completed them?" My eyes widen as I slowly realized he was the one who enable the butterflies to be used in its full capacity unlike in the past.
"thats correct"He chortled as if he were happy and proud as if he made a big achievement while puffing out his chest like a proud kid.
"I just gave up part of the power I've been cultivating but i can get it back so don't mind about it."
as if reading my mind.He continued, encouraging me not to worry about any negative effects, like similar to what occurred in this place.
But i can now see why my butterflies haven't performed for me correctly all these years, they're not complete but He solves the issue without difficulty in my place, leaving me to ponder how powerful he truly is if he's completed.
"Haru" He called out my name making my ears perked up as he cut out my thoughts.
"Hm?"
His silhouette body shook as if it were about to lose its shape. it was a fascinating sight to see, but it quickly returned to normal.
" I'll give you the strength to help in your revenge, but I also need something in return." He slowly raised his hand as if offering a irresistible power to me.
'A strength?' I cast him an odd glance as he extended his hand in front of me, I opened my mouth as I stared at him
"let me hear it" despite spending a long period of time while I was unconscious, I was still skeptical about him and his true motives
"Alright.." adonis answered with a sigh as he explains the deal to me, After hearing the deal, my greed began to show as I smiled happily at him trying to suppress my greediness.
"Haru, think carefully since it's harder than it seem-"
"I'll take it"
"wait-"
"It's not too difficult and the strength you'll give me will be incredibly helpful in my combat." I immediately answered with no hesitation while I look determined to get that 'strength'
handling high rank hunters will be a little breeze for me if I did get it.
Yes, hunters, guilds and dungeons filled with monsters woth different kinds of difficulties exist in this world. The hunters' rankings are S, A,B,C,D,F, with S rank being the highest and F rank being the lowest.
"Sigh, alright but I did warn you."
He face-palmed and sighed as he warned me about it, I nodded and motioned for him to continue.
"I can give it to you right away since you agreed to it, but you may have some mild headaches also weakening for couple days as a result of the overwhelming information and power is that okay?"
He conveyed his concern with the strength extraction process.As he reached out his hands while hesitating, the voice was quite genuine and stated his fears.when,
"sure-"
Oooongggg
I can't help but express my bewilderment, When the enormous crystal ball begins to lose its light and returns to its former glow repeatedly like a broken light.
"It seems like I won't be able to keep you here much longer, we must hurry" adonis spoke It was now a gloomy voice, as if he were a sad child, but he was still offering his hand, so I took a few steps closer and gave him a look that what should I do.
"please take my hand"
His voice is much lighter now as if he was never upset. I take another look at him,he's mostly just like a shadow, so I can only rely on his voice since I can't see his face, I warily placed my hand on the shadow like hand.
'Warm....'
As I placed my hands on him, I noticed that his hands are warm. this is different from what I expected or am I just imagining it?
shaaaaaa
The water shook and waved as we stood in the center, a gold light started to glow at our hands. I shut my eyes as the strange power began to flow through me. It was a soothing, warm sensation letting the light take control of me, i closed my eyes and lost my consciousness slowly.