The basement possessed a different kind of horror from the hotel.
Unlike the monsters upstairs, these vengeful spirits had egos.
They could think.
They were also far more cruel.
And every single one of them was genuinely committed to killing me.
Each spirit even came with its own event.
Naturally, I was thrilled beyond words.
As a result—
my hammer’s durability reached zero and it left my side forever.
Hammer.
Thank you for your service!
I wiped the sweat running down my chin.
Then stared happily at the room marked ‘Laboratory 44.’
There had been several crises.
But I made it.
I opened the door without hesitation.
[For smooth story progression, you will synchronize with the relevant person.]
[3 seconds until synchronization.]
[2 seconds.]
[1 second.]
Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, my body collapsed.
I lost consciousness.
[Beginning story.]
***
《Researcher’s Diary》
【Today, a noble boy entered.
Someone of the kind of status I believed I would never encounter in my lifetime.
I couldn’t understand why a boy with that position had been chosen as an experimental subject.
Today, I finally learned why.
This overflowing magic!
Never in my life did I imagine I would meet a human possessing this much magic.
Why did the gods give power like this to a mere human?
Can a human truly possess such power?
I couldn’t contain my excitement.
I accidentally cheered in front of the boy.
To possess an inexhaustible supply of magic yet be incapable of using it!
There could not possibly be a more perfect experimental subject.
With power like this, perhaps it isn’t strange that his father envies him.
Even though the man had obtained everything in this world—
he repeatedly displayed jealousy and madness toward the boy.
Even the times I personally witnessed it are too many to count on one hand.
What happens when I’m not watching……
(The writing afterward has been aggressively erased.)
Whatever relationship exists between father and son is none of my concern.
I only need to shut up and do my work.】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【Through that father and son, I learned that people who possess much burn most intensely for what they cannot possess.
The man obtained everything.
Except one thing—
infinite magical power capable of moving the world.
Watching him taught me for the first time how hideous a parent’s jealousy toward his own child could be.
Still—
that did not give me any reason to save the boy.
I was extremely satisfied with my work.】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【Laboratory 44.
The room where the boy would live from now on.
Anyone who entered a laboratory became terrified.
The boy did not.
What extraordinary mental strength!
Even while we deliberately subjected him to extreme torture, the boy never lost consciousness.
Instead, he cried out only for his mother and ―, begging that those two remain safe.
All pointless.】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【The laboratory becomes extremely dirty after experiments.
Sometimes the smell of blood becomes unbearable.
Laboratory 44, where that boy stays, is particularly bad.
Much worse than the other laboratories.
I was technically responsible for the boy.
But colleagues driven mad by his magical power kept visiting to torment him.
Because I never stopped them, Laboratory 44 was always littered with blood and flesh.
Even the boy, who once fought so desperately, gradually stopped moving as though he had given up on everything.
His entire body was covered in needle marks.
Unknown wounds festered and ruptured.
Still, the boy said nothing.
Occasionally, he screamed loudly.
That happened only when his father appeared.
Then again—
I wouldn’t want a father like that either.】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【We succeeded in turning one human into a demon.
I was so happy that I extracted even more magic than usual.
My original job was merely extracting magic.
But after spending time here, I developed an interest in human dissection too.
How exhilarating it is to dissect humans while they suffer.
Even their screams sound like music.
The moment I reached Laboratory 44 after finishing work, the boy began screaming.
His voice cracked until he coughed blood.
Even then he shouted at me.
Roughly translated, he was once again asking where the same two people were.
Doesn’t that human ever get tired?
Go ahead.
Scream until your throat bursts.
It’s not going to bring your dead mother and ― back to life.】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【I cannot understand the boy at all.
He says he doesn’t care what happens to him as long as those two survive.
It makes him look like a hypocrite.
How can anyone think like that?
Isn’t it better for someone else to suffer than for me to suffer?
Seeing him behave that way only makes me want to torment him more.
Even when I increase the cruelty beyond usual, the boy grits his teeth until his gums collapse and endures it.
Watching that reaction makes me want to become even crueler.】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【The man said to the boy,
‘You’re trying very hard. There is nothing you can do. You possess all that magical power, yet your body cannot bear it and you cannot use it. A failure like you cannot even die when you choose.’
Those words were cruel enough to hurt even me.
(Obviously, that is a lie.)
The only reason I remember every word is because the ugliness of human inferiority complexes always feels new no matter how often I see them.
Even after hearing it—
the boy insists he’ll save those two.
Looking like that?
When it’s already too late?】
《Researcher’s Diary》
【The time has come.
For the first time since being imprisoned in the laboratory, the boy left it.
It would also be his last.】
【The day to summon the Demon God has arrived.
My somewhat entertaining experiment is finally over.
The day my talent will be acknowledged is near.
We stood the boy before the blood-filled magic circle.
He was remarkably persistent.
Even now, he kept searching for those same people.
None of us listened to his cries.
At the center of the magic circle gathered the black mage and every noble family allied with him.
Humans corrupted by greed and desire.
I—
we—
are different from them.】
【The boy became the black mage’s most precious sacrifice.
With his own son’s magical power, the man would soon obtain an immortal body.
The man personally shoved his son toward the center of the magic circle.
The conversation between them was somewhat amusing.
(The conversation is written below.)
‘Where are Mother and ―? If you can simply confirm whether those two are alive, I’ll do anything. Please……!’
‘They are mixed in there.’
‘You…… you……!’
(The boy screamed.)
‘You don’t deserve to be called a parent!’
(The man laughed at the boy.)
‘How strange. I have never once been your father, nor have I ever been that woman’s husband.’
‘……You bastard!’
‘Stop whining. Once you go in there, you’ll meet the people you were searching for.’
……Humans.】
【The man coldly gagged the boy.
He kept struggling even though nothing would change.
The black mage activated the summoning circle with the boy directly before him.
The circle activated.
Screams loud enough to tear eardrums apart spread across the island—
spread—
spr—
ead.】
【My head hurts.
My head hurts!
It hurts!
It hurts!
It hurts!】
【I said I’m doing it! So shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!】
《Diary of Corrupted XX. Weather: Cloudy. Annoyed.》
【The humans’ screams look as though they are devouring the boy.
His face collapses into despair.
I feel a little sorr?
y?
for?
him??】
【‘I offer all of this to you!’
The black mage threw both arms toward the sky and shouted.
What a ridiculous performance.
……Wait.
Is that wrong?】
【The man laughed openly as the boy collapsed.
I should make sure I never become that kind of father.
Huh?
We can’t become parents anymore!】
【In an instant, demons and demonic beasts flooded the island.
In the end, not a single one of the boy’s wishes came true.
What did the boy wish for?
That idiot wanted not only his mother and ―—
but everyone to live.】
【……This is bad.
The boy is acting strange.】
【No.
I’m the strange one.】
【S-S-Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save m-me.
Save me.
Save me.
S-Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me.
Save me……
】
[Connection is unstable.]
[Perspective will shift to the boy.]
In the end—
the boy’s desperate wish for everyone to live—
his plea for everything to stop with him—
was not granted.
We didn’t do anything wrong.
Mother and ―.
I begged so much.
We didn’t do anything wrong.
I apologized until my hands might as well have become feet.
So why are we the ones who die?
‘Why do I have to die?’
It’s unfair.
Unfair.
Unfair.
Unfair.
Unfair.
Unfair.
Unfair!
‘It’s unfair……!’
The boy lifted his head.
His pupils stretched vertically.
A cruel world ruled by the law of the strong.
The boy helplessly watched a merciless reality controlled entirely by power.
The screams stopped.
The roars of demonic beasts tore through the sky.
Blood vessels spread through the whites of the boy’s eyes.
As rage rose—
it felt as though his blood flowed backward.
Bloody tears ran down his temples.
He had begged pitifully.
Desperately.
Like an animal.
Yet not a single thing followed his wishes.
Everyone changed.
Everyone except the hateful humans responsible for this.
They had exploited magic the boy had never been able to use properly.
They had tried summoning a Demon God into his body to fulfill their own wishes.
The blood of those sacrificed to his father’s disgusting greed flowed enough to create rivers.
The original light inside the boy’s eyes disappeared.
They steadily clouded.
His screaming voice lowered like an echo from a deep cavern—
then stopped unnaturally.
The black mage didn’t even glance toward him.
Everyone stared at the sky.
The souls of the island gathered toward the summoning circle—
toward the boy who had lost his reason.
Then they began invading his body indiscriminately.
It was the ritual meant to summon the Demon God into him.
What happened next was something neither the man—
nor the black mage—
nor any of their collaborators had predicted.
[The boy dominates the Demon God’s immense power.]
[However, he ultimately goes berserk.]
He didn’t want this to end according to the man’s wishes.
Somehow—
he wanted to crush them.
The boy’s overflowing magic synchronized with his overwhelming rage and surged violently.
His magic was enormous enough to suppress even the Demon God.
But the boy had lost reason to that intense rage.
He could not control the rampaging magic or the demonic energy relentlessly invading his body.
And so—
he went berserk.
Even with reason gone—
the voices of suffering humans still pierced his ears.
―Let us escape……
―Kill me.
Kill me.
Kill me.
Kill me.
―Please let me die as myself!
―Kill me!
The boy, reduced to instinct, responded to those voices.
He raised one hand.
Magic and demonic energy spread outward from him.
Violent wind spiraled around his body.
The more power he used—
the more the ominous aura expanded.
Eventually it engulfed the entire island.
Bloody tears poured endlessly from between the boy’s closed eyes.
His power passed over the suffering humans so quickly that they had no time to feel pain.
Slice.
Slash.
The horrifying sound of flesh splitting never stopped.
A moment later—
blood-soaked silence descended over the island.
The smell of death covered it like waves.
The only ones left alive were the boy—
and those responsible for the atrocity.
Black energy flickered.
The boy’s blood-red eyes had gone empty.
His body was crumbling.
No one moved.
Flash.
The boy’s eyes opened.
Those split pupils turned toward the surviving humans.
Overwhelmed by that power—
the black mage hurriedly dropped to his knees.
He worshipped him.
‘At last, you have descended, my one and only god! I offered all these sacrifices for you! Please, please grant me……!’
The black mage never finished.
The boy’s skeletal hand rested against his head.
Overcome with emotion, the black mage clasped his hands and looked up at the boy.
Then his entire body stiffened.
Grief.
Rage.
Both burned inside those glowing eyes.
That was not his god.
‘S-Summoning…… failed? No. No! Impossible! This demonic energy! The Demon God was definitely summoned, then why……?!’
The boy silently gestured.
From the blood filling the summoning circle—
human hands began emerging one after another.
They seized the black mage.
Dragged him downward.
‘L-Let go! The Demon God! Where is the Demon God……?! I can’t die like this……!’
The black mage was helplessly dragged below.
His horrifying screams then echoed up from beneath the earth.
‘Aaaaaagh!’
The boy’s inhuman eyes moved toward the remaining people.
They collapsed where they stood.
Too terrified to flee.
Unable even to move.
Only strangled breaths escaped them.
The boy’s gaze finally locked directly onto his father.
That day—
for the first time—
the Emperor of the Balone Empire learned what fear was.
Despite crossing countless battlefields—
he had never experienced anything like it.
A fear so intense it felt as though he would suffocate.
Pressure crushed around his heart.
The Emperor could not move.
His heart pounded violently, screaming danger.
He had never experienced fear like this in his entire life.
To survive—
he begged like a dog.
Exactly like the countless people who had once knelt before him.
‘I-It was all for you! You know that, don’t you?! I’m your father! I would never do anything that harmed my own child!’
The geometric lines hiding the man’s face disappeared one by one.
Slowly—
clearly—
his true face was revealed.
The man’s face as he sweated and smiled awkwardly was unfamiliar.
Ordinary.
Far too ordinary.
And because of that—
the boy’s rage grew even greater.
GRIND.
His teeth clenched hard.
He stared at the disgusting man.
Then bit through the gag.
It tore like paper and fell.
‘Mother and ―?’
He didn’t want to believe it.
He wanted to deny that those two were truly dead.
‘A-Alive! They’re alive!’
The man avoided his gaze and chewed his lips.
There was no need to expose the lie.
It was obvious.
The boy had lost everything.
Tears fell down his cheeks.
The man saw them and softened his eyes, trying to evoke sympathy.
‘N-Now let’s go home. It’s all over! Everything I failed to give you until now—your father will compensate you for all of it.’
Not one word of apology left his mouth.
[No voice reached the boy’s ears.]
The boy slowly closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
They had been given countless chances.
They were the ones who had thrown every one away.
The boy’s hand covered his father’s cheek.
The Emperor’s mouth tore open so violently that his sudden hope became almost laughable.
‘Aaaaaaaaagh!’
Like the black mage—
he too was dragged downward.
Into that dark, terrifying, cold underground.
Everyone responsible died horribly by the boy’s hands.
[The rampage begins to subside.]
[He gains complete control over his power.]
When everything ended—
the boy stood alone.
Covered in blood.
Exhausted.
Tears streamed endlessly down his face.
He cried silently.
Even after everything was over—
the boy remained sad.
He was alone on this enormous island.
He could never return to his family.
Could never return to his homeland.
Eventually—
he collapsed.
He had failed to keep the promise that he would protect them.
Nothing remained in his hands.
He was no longer even human.
The power and immortality he had never once desired—
had become his.
Even though he had never wanted to kill anyone—
he was now no different from a murderer who had slaughtered countless humans.
[The boy remains alone on the enormous island.]
Footsteps approached.
Bushes moved.
Someone emerged.
A hand carefully stroked the fragile back of the boy curled on the ground in despair.
[The demons imprisoned underground approach the boy.]
At the unexpected presence—
the boy raised the face he had buried against the ground.
He wasn’t alone.
Children trapped in the same circumstances remained with him.
[The stench of countless corpses reaches the heavens.]
The gloomy clouds surrounding the island rumbled.
Lightning flashed inside the gray sky.
Then bolts crashed viciously across the island.
BOOOOM!
As though that was merely the beginning—
thunder and lightning tore through the island like the end of the world.
The group stared blankly.
Resigned.
As though simply watching a war.
Then—
a solemn voice sounded from the heavens.
A voice they had never heard.
Divine.
Androgynous.
‘The weight of sin is not light.’
The voice seemed to pronounce divine punishment.
It blamed the boy.
[Divine punishment descends.]
[They are imprisoned on the island.]
‘I shall punish you.’
No one reached out to those who needed help.
[Abandoned by God.]
Not even God.
God abandoned them.
Comments (0)