Kai stirred, eyes sluggishly blinking open. The sterile light burned as it filtered through the cracked slats of the tin ceiling, but it was better than the dark. Better than the pit. Better than dying.
"Welcome back," the voice was familiar. Clinical. Detached. "I'm afraid something came up, so I had to take payment. But don't worry—the other one is fine." A pause, maybe waiting for anger. Maybe not caring either way.
Kai didn't respond. Not with words.
Instead, he tilted his head down slowly, jaw clenching as his vision adjusted. His body was partially wrapped in strips of gauze and stained cloth, makeshift but… effective. The throbbing in his chest had dulled from agony to manageable stabs of fire. The blackened skin over his ribs—where the hot tongs had touched—was wrapped tightly. Some kind of herbal salve or paste was pressed to it, now dry and cracked at the edges. His forearm, once flayed open and raw, was tightly bound as well. His shoulder still ached with each breath, but the skin no longer wept pus or blood.
He breathed in.
It hurt.
But it hurt less.
And that meant something.
His eyes drifted downward instinctively, taking stock. He tensed when he noticed a fresh scar, just above his right pelvis. A thin, raised line, still pink and healing. Precise. Surgical. His lips parted slightly—an instinctual reaction—before he shut his mouth again and looked away.
He knew what it meant.
Something came up… so I had to take payment.
Kai didn't ask what organ was missing. He didn't want to know if it was a kidney or something else carved from him in his sleep. Didn't want to hear the list of what could be sold from his body while he was unconscious.
He felt hollow—but alive.
Everything was covered now. Bandaged. Secured. Stitched where it mattered. His breathing was shallow but free. For the first time in days—weeks?—he wasn't actively bleeding. That should've been a comfort.
It wasn't.
It just confirmed he was still a product. A body worth parting out. Still not his own.
But Kai didn't let it show.
He sat up slowly, movements mechanical. Not in resistance. Just acceptance. He didn't speak, didn't wince. His body hurt, but it was background noise now. Survival muted everything else.
The doctor—a gangly man with gloves too tight for his bony fingers—rummaged around in a crate.
"I'll give you a set of clothes and some advice," he said without looking back. "Avoid the Azura Center. A lot of people use slaves to fight and rise in levels. It's all about killing your way up to the penthouses and taking control of a floor. But nobody touches the Legion. They live on the 350th. No one challenges them. They're unnaturally strong."
Kai blinked. Legion. The word echoed.
"This city's a capital," the man went on. "Not just for criminal activity, but for the free world. No walls. No borders. The Legion's presence keeps it in check. Everyone here wants strength or freedom—or both. But you? You'll end up a training dummy unless you figure out where to land. I suggest finding a faction."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Faction? I don't know any," he said hoarsely. His voice cracked, dusted with weakness and disbelief. "I just saw someone get—curbstomped. He's probably still lying there!"
He gestured weakly, arm trembling as he pointed toward the wall, like it could show the scene he had escaped from.
The doctor grunted. "Then welcome to the Lawless City."
He lit a cigarette. Inside. The smoke curled upward as if dismissing Kai's objection.
"There are a lot of factions," he continued. "The Red Circle Cartel, but you won't last a day there. They chew up people like you. Then there's the Cleaners. Real elite. Spirit Guardian required just to audition. Good luck with that."
He exhaled a lazy stream of smoke, unfazed.
"The Russians are tough, too. People say they train child soldiers. That's not true. They just don't throw the kids out once they get rescued. But if you can't speak Russian, don't bother."
Kai said nothing. Just stared.
The doctor smirked. "New factions pop up every week. Last Tuesday, a bunch of junkies stormed Cartel HQ demanding free product. Hundreds of them. Cartel responded with a flamethrower. Burned the whole batch."
He chuckled. "Funny, right? Killing your own customers."
Kai's expression didn't change.
"Anyway," the doctor went on, "if you're not into gangs or gunslingers, I suggest joining the Church."
"The… Church?"
"They're a weapons and drug faction," he said matter-of-factly. "Real religious about it, too. Say every bullet is a blessing. You'll fit in if you know how to lie with conviction."
Kai shifted uncomfortably, finally speaking again.
"So my options are: join a drug cartel, get burned alive for being broke, or worship a god with a bullet for a halo?"
The doctor grinned through his smoke. "That about sums it up."
Kai let out a shallow breath. The burn in his chest flared, but he ignored it.
"Then I'll find something else," he muttered. "Something that doesn't require being someone's dog. I have a few more questions if you don't mind"
"Go ahead" he allows.
Kai stared at the floor for a second, then asked quietly:
"…If I stay unaffiliated, how long before someone tries to collar me?"
The doctor didn't even blink. "Two days. Maybe three, if you stay in the shadows and don't talk to anyone. You look too patched up now—means you survived something. That makes people curious. And curiosity here? Leads to chains."
Kai shifted on the cot, voice low. "Where should I never sleep?"
The doctor gave a short laugh, humorless. "Anywhere with open doors and friendly faces. If someone offers a bed in this city, it's not for free. Alley corners are safer than someone's couch. At least the gutter doesn't smile before it swallows you."
Kai's lips pressed into a thin line. His next question came out quieter.
"…Is there any faction that doesn't expect loyalty?"
The doctor paused. The cigarette burned to the filter in his fingers, smoke curling around his knuckles. His eyes didn't move.
He didn't answer that one.
Instead, he turned slightly and muttered, "Don't keep that pack of smokes summoned. It's never-ending, right? You can use that to bargain. Hell, if I knew you had it, I wouldn't've touched your kidney."
He looked over his shoulder, eyes suddenly sharper.
"Summon it only when you know no one's watching."
"what should I do next?" Kai asked in summoning his soul item
The doctor didn't respond. Just handed over a bundled set of patched-up clothes—grey, dusty, bloodstained, but wearable.
Kai took them.
And for the first time since waking up, he stood