It was dark—really dark. The air was thick with a foul stench that made me gag.
"Ugh! Huh? W-where am I?" I looked around, finding myself in an unfamiliar, damp, and cold place. The walls were rough, and the dim light barely allowed me to make out my surroundings.
"What happened? Wasn't I—?"
"Oh, looks like you're finally awake."
"Huh?" I turned my head toward the voice, my heart racing.
A blond-haired man with golden eyes stood beside me, and next to him was a girl with similar characteristics . The man appeared to be around my age, while the girl seemed a bit younger. They both had an air of familiarity, yet something about them felt off.
"Man, you've been sleeping for two days straight. At first, I thought about waking you up, but it seemed a bit rude since you didn't even know me."
"Where are my manners? My name is Shone, and this is my little sister, Emily. What's your name, friend?"
The man seemed friendly—too friendly, in fact, which made me wary. But if I wanted to know where I was, I had no choice but to play along.
"I… My name is Alan."
"Oh, Alan, what a nice name! Say, I'm quite curious about you. Mind if I ask some questions?"
"Well… that's fine as long as it's not too personal. But first, I need to know—what is this place?"
"Oh right, you just woke up. This, my friend, is the Domain of the long-lived Vampire Queen Lilith. Right now, we're on the lowest floor, where she keeps her prisoners and makes them work for her."
That's right—the strange man in the corridor dragged me here. Though I can't remember his face... And Ellen! Damn, that bitch still has Ellen. I need to get her back.
"So, I'm curious—how did you end up in this place? Not many have the chance to encounter Lilith, you know?" Shone asked, his tone laced with curiosity.
Well, I guess there's no harm in telling him. I started to recount the events—the pink mist that teleported me here, the game Lilith forced me to play, where I lost, and how I ended up as her prisoner.
"Pfft… Hahaha, so even you lost, huh?"
"What's so funny about that?" I asked, irritation creeping into my voice.
"Oh, no, I'm not looking down on you or anything. It's just… I lost as well. My true desire was greed. What was yours, friend?"
"Mine was—"
"Oh, I think I went a bit too personal there. Don't mind me, haha."
"..."
"Well, I think that's enough introductions for now. We can get to know each other more as time goes on."
Krinnngggggg!
A screeching bell echoed through the place, the sound unbearable for a normal human.
"Ah, it's time for work. Well, it's a good time to give you a tour of the place."
Two guards approached from the other side, clad in strange, dark armor that reflected no light. One of them entered while the other stayed outside.
"Alright, prisoners 87 and 88, and the newly arrived prisoner 404. Looks like you're finally awake. More manpower, eh?"
"That's right, sir. The more, the better, as they say."
"Looks like you've made a new friend, huh, Shone? Good for you."
"That's right, sir. I couldn't be happier."
"Enough! Stop wasting time!" the outside guard shouted angrily.
"Yeah, yeah, just let me talk a little, would you? It's not like we do this every day," the other guard replied lazily.
The guard began escorting us to our so-called stations. Each prisoner is assigned to a group of four members, selected randomly. I was stationed at Station G.
"Now listen here, 404. You're new, so you need to abide by the rules. You come to your station every day at 9 and work until 8. You're not allowed to go anywhere else during your station time. Waste the materials here, and there will be consequences. Afterward, you return to your cell while the guards escort you. Understand?"
"Y-yes, but what exactly should I do?"
"Huh, you don't know that? Man, what a pain." The guard shouted angrily.
"Well, whatever. Just ask your stationed group members. They'll explain it to you."
After that, I was escorted to my station. As I suspected, I had to be a miner—to mine dust crystals. More importantly, I was a refiner, meaning I needed to refine the crystals into usable substances. Though it was easier than mining, the main problem was the heat. It soared up to 80 to 90 degrees Celsius, which was insane. I heard that many people had died from the scorching heat—heatstroke being the main cause.
"Hey, 404, don't refine that one. That one's dead."
"Okay, sir 34."
It's been a month since my prisoner life began.
That's 34. He's the oldest here and the wisest in this station. He's helped me tremendously, I admit, but he's also the laziest. He doesn't work at all, just gives out orders and takes all the credit for the hard work we do!
"Just you wait, you piece of shit. When I escape, I'll make you regret ever being born."
"404, quiet! He might hear you."
That's 58—the only person in this hell who's like an angel. She's so kind, with beautiful white hair, smooth white skin, and green emerald eyes. Anyone could fall for her at first sight. In fact, she's been my crush for some time now. I wonder why she's here in the first place, but seeing Lilith, I can understand—no one can escape her clutches.
"Stop being such a pussy, 404. Be a real man like me. Let's race and see who can finish first. The loser owes the winner. How about that?"
And that's 77—the hothead in the group and possibly the most honest and naive one. But still, he's also a piece of shit, always saying outrageous things. Because of him, we've gotten into trouble and even had to do overtime five times this month!
"Come on, 404! Let's start with the big one."
"I think you shouldn't do that, 77. Remember, you lost to 404 last time. You still owe him your meal, remember?"
"Of course I do! Do you think I'm a coward like the guys from Station F? I was just trying to make 404 a real man!"
"Still, I don't think you should bet—"
Addressing someone by code numbers is weird, but it's the rule—unless you're alone or in the cell, then you can use real names.
"HEY, AL—404! Over here!"
"Huh?"
Shone? What's he doing here?
"Hey, what are you still doing here?"
"What do you mean?"
"Today is half-time, remember? We promised to give you a full tour, didn't we?" Emily, behind him, nodded affirmatively.
"Oh, yeah, I do. Let me finish this last batch, and I'll come."
"Why be so diligent all the time? Anyway, we'll be waiting over by the cell. Don't be too late."
"Man, what a day!"
As I started to refine my last batch, I felt a familiar sensation—someone was pinching my clothes, drawing my attention.
"58, what's wrong?"
"Umm, are you friends with them?"
"Friends with who? Numbers 87 and 88?"
"Yeah."
"I mean, we're in the same cell, and we've known each other for some time now. So, you could say we're friends, but we're not as close as you might think. Why? Is there something wrong with being friends with them?"
"Bad rumors, man," 77 replied in an unconcerned manner.
"Bad rumors?"
"Though I don't know the full story because I wasn't there at the time, from what I've heard, those two killed their cellmate last time!"
"H-huh?! Killed their cellmate? B-but isn't killing prohibited here?
"That's the rule, but with time comes power, and with power, you can bend the rules, man. That's a fact."
"B-but they're not that kind of people. Though they look really suspicious, they're nice people. I've known them for some time now.
"Well, that's on you, buddy—whether you believe the rumors or not. More or less, I tend to believe them. Rumors don't start from nothing. There's some mystery here in this case as even the guards don't want to speak in this matter. Mr. 34 and 58 were there at the time as well."
"H-huh? 58?"
58 nodded, agreeing with 77.
"That's true, 404. The last cellmate was my best friend. She died in front of my eyes!"
"B-but there's no way…"
What I thought was just a normal cell life seemed to be more than meets the eye.