"Are you serious?"
"Well, not necessarily. After all, the impurities we expel when we go to the bathroom are also impurities. Still, apart from those, your body can't identify other impurities."
"I see. What do I have to do to improve this?"
"People usually train to improve it, but with normal training alone, it will take years to get a grade higher than 'C'."
"I don't have years to waste here. I have family out there. They must be worried that I've disappeared."
"I understand, but don't worry. From the moment you entered my school, you chose the fastest way to improve your body."
"Really?"
"Yes. You've even been through the first improvement process."
"Hm? What are you talking about? Did you do something to my body while I was passed out?"
"Yes, but don't say that in front of other people. They might get the wrong idea."
"Okay, but what did you do with my body?"
"I didn't do anything much. I just gave you some medicine to speed up your recovery process."
"That's it? What about the improvement process you talked about?"
"This medicine was the final part of this process. The beginning of it was when you ate the black pill."
"That poison was made to improve my body?"
"Hahaha, yes."
"Hmm, I see. How was the result? Did you get enough impurities out of my body?"
"Just look around you."
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I can't do that at the moment."
"That's true. You haven't been able to see it yet because you can't move your body. Let me get a mirror."
The red-haired man left the room and returned with a relatively large mirror in his hands after a while. He then positioned the mirror so that Rohan could see around his body and said, "There. Now you should be able to see them."
Rohan then looked into the mirror, saw his body, and opened his eyes wide.
He said, "What's that black stuff around my body?"
Rohan's body and surroundings were covered in a large amount of black substance, which made it look as if someone had dropped buckets of paint on them.
The red-haired man said, "That's the impurities that came out of your body during the first process."
"What?! Are you telling me that all this was inside my body?!"
"Hahaha, disturbing, isn't it?"
"Tell me about it. I'm glad you managed to get it out of me. I don't even know how to thank you."
"Pft, hahaha."
"Hm? What? Why are you laughing?"
"Hahaha, it's just that I never thought anyone would thank me after eating the black pill."
"Well, you really deserved to die for offering that to someone to eat, but now that I've seen the result, I understand your motive. It's worth going through that suffering to save yourself years of training."
"Hahaha, it's good that you think that, after all, your path of suffering has just begun."
"Hmm? What are you talking about?"
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything. Just don't think anything unnecessary after you've understood what you've gotten yourself into. After all, there's no escape."
"..."
"Well, apart from your doubt. You seem to have the idea that these impurities around you are all the impurities in your body, don't you?"
"Of course. Have you seen the amount of black liquid around me? There's no way there's more of it inside me."
"That's where you're wrong. Indeed, most of the impurities have left your body, but a good part of them is still inside you."
"That's hard to believe, but I don't see why you would lie about it. How do you intend to get the rest of the impurities out of me?"
"Isn't that obvious? The same way I just got those out."
"... Are you saying that I'm going to have to go through this near-death sensation once again?"
"No. Of course not. You'll have to go through it five more times."
"What?! Five times?!"
"Yes, but don't worry. The pain you'll feel in those future processes won't be the same as the pain you felt earlier."
"Good."
"It will be much worse."
"What?! Why?! ARG!" Rohan felt enormous pain throughout his body as he tried to move when he heard what the red-haired man said.
"Look at that. You can already move your body a little. Looks like the next process isn't that far away."
"Don't change the subject! Answer me! Why are the next trials going to be worse?!"
"Calm down. I was just about to explain."
The red-haired man then rested the bottom of the mirror on Rohan's legs, holding the top with one hand.
He asked, "Can you see yourself?"
Rohan said, "Yes."
"Okay."
He stretched the other hand that was holding his long pipe over Rohan's body and said, "Pay attention. These are the places where almost all the rest of the impurities are."
"Okay."
The red-haired man rested the end of his pipe on Rohan's forehead, which made him feel a slightly warm sensation on his forehead.
Then he said, "Brain."
He then moved his pipe to the middle of Rohan's chest, which made him feel the same warm sensation there.
The red-haired man said, "Heart."
He flicked his pipe a few more times and said, "Lungs. Liver. Kidneys."
Rohan said, "Are the impurities in those organs?"
"Most of what's left is."
"But why only those organs? Aren't there impurities in the others?"
"The impurities in the other organs were already removed during the first process."
"I see, but from what you've said, I'll have to go through five more processes. Probably one for each of those organs you just mentioned, right?"
"It's good that you understand things quickly. Yes, it's exactly as you just said."
"That's what I thought, but why not do the processes all at once? After all, this last process was something that affected my whole body, so it should probably be possible to do something similar with the next processes, shouldn't it?"
"Yes, it really is possible, but unfortunately it's not feasible."
"Why not?"
"Because no human body could withstand the pain caused by all these processes simultaneously, and I say that from experience."
"... I see, but is there a special reason why the impurities in these organs weren't removed along with the others?"
"Yes, there is, and it's quite simple. It has to do with the function of each of them."
"The function?"
"Yes. In fact, some of the impurities that existed in these organs were also removed during the first process. Still, because of their function, they accumulated a lot more impurities than the other organs, which made other processes necessary for each of them."
"For example, the kidneys filter every type of liquid that exists in our body. You can already imagine the enormous amount of impurities it absorbs every day."
"The liver eliminates the toxic substances in our body, so it also accumulates a large amount of impurities."
"The lungs receive all the impurities you absorb when you breathe."
"The heart pumps blood throughout the body, causing all blood to pass through it multiple times. As a result, impurities that the kidneys cannot remove from the blood gradually accumulate in the heart."
"The brain receives impurities from any stimulant. Such as drugs, tobacco, and caffeine."
Rohan then said, "I see, that makes sense, but I have a question."
"Go ahead."
"You said I'd have to go through a process for each of these organs, right?"
"Yes."
"Why should I feel more pain in these processes? After all, the process that left me in my current state was all over my body. It doesn't make sense for a process that only affects one organ to hurt more."
"It will hurt more because, as well as removing the impurities from those organs, I will rebuild them, making them expel any new impurities."
"Rebuild them?! Are you serious?! Isn't that dangerous?!"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I have gone through the process, and as you can see, I'm alive and well."
"Hm, I see, but isn't there an option where you don't have to rebuild my organs?"
"Well, there is that possibility. In that case, you would feel pain similar to that of the first process in all five procedures, but the bad part is that you would have to go back from time to time to redo these processes again, including the first process."
"Hm, at least it's one more option I have. After all, depending on the pain of these five treatments, it might be better to keep repeating the processes."
"Yes, most of the people who have passed through here in the past have chosen this method."
"Really? Well, in that case, I'll choose it too. If the majority chose it, it's certainly worth it."
"It's a shame, but that won't be possible."
"Hm? Why?"
"I've already decided that the best method for you is organ reconstruction."
"And who gave you the right to decide that?!"
"You, when you decided to join my school."
"... Fine, but how do you plan to reconstruct my organs? Are you going to have to cut open my body or something?"
"No, I won't need to do that."
"How do you plan to do that then?"
"It's not hard to imagine. Think carefully about the word reconstruction."
"What about it?"
"If you plan to rebuild, let's say, a house. What's the first step in that process?"
"I don't know. I didn't work on building sites in the world I came from."
"... Well, in that case, let me tell you. The first step is to demolish the old house."
"Demolish? But in my case, the house would be my organs ... Wait a minute! You want to destroy my organs?!"