The cold touch of black stone bricks awakened the black-haired young man lying on the ground.
A thin gray mist drifted around him as he struggled to his feet, dragging along his battered body while moving forward. Even though he couldn't see the road ahead, even though he had no idea when, or if, he would ever reach the end…
He still didn't stop walking.
People always said good people went to heaven after death, while bad people fell into hell.
For someone like him, whose hands were stained with blood…
'So this was hell?'
Ritsu blankly looked around. There was nothing.
All he could sense was the vast emptiness of the space surrounding him. Having read the Kojiki, he thought of Yomotsu Hirasaka from the tale of Izanagi, yet this place looked nothing like the descriptions in the book.
'Heh. What was the point in figuring out where this place was anyway?'
He couldn't leave, and he couldn't go back.
Ritsu simply sat down on the spot. Rather than continuing forward, he might as well spend eternity resting here. After being constantly busy within the Organization, now that he finally had some peace and quiet, he ought to enjoy it properly.
—
"Ritsu, get up. Keep moving forward. Don't stop."
Date's voice.
—
"Ritsu-ya, I'm watching you, you know~ No slacking off!"
Kenji's voice.
—
"Hey! Ritsu, get up already! Let's race and see who reaches the finish line first!"
Matsuda's voice.
—
"Ritsu, don't leave me behind alone… so try a little harder, okay?"
Zero's voice.
—
"Ritsu, need me to pull you up? Grab my hand."
Hiro's voice.
—
Ritsu widened his eyes at the five phantom-like figures appearing before him. He hurriedly scrambled to his feet, and as the silhouettes continued moving forward, he broke into a run after them.
Until finally, he grasped the hand tightly reaching for him.
...
A metallic scent spread through the air.
The black-haired young man slowly lifted his head. Due to severe blood loss, his face was deathly pale, his lips completely devoid of color.
The surroundings were pitch black, making it impossible to tell where he was.
But Ritsu understood one thing clearly.
He was still alive.
'Did Zero save him? Then where was this place? It didn't look like one of the Organization's hospitals.'
Click. Click. Click.
The sharp sound of high heels striking tile echoed through the darkness.
'A woman was approaching? Could it be Taylors?'
Ritsu was about to speak when all the lights around him suddenly turned on at once. The blinding white light overwhelmed eyes that had long adjusted to darkness, forcing him to shut them as he asked,
"…Is that Taylors?"
What answered him was an unfamiliar woman's voice. "You're awake."
A person's voice revealed their personality.
And from the sound of it, the approaching woman clearly wasn't Taylors, but a far more composed member of the Organization. It wasn't Chianti, Calvados, or Vermouth either.
Then who was it?
"Sir, all physical indicators are stable at the moment, and he's regained consciousness. Shall we begin?"
Begin?
What were they planning to do to him?
Frowning, Ritsu opened his eyes, only to discover he was inside a massive transparent glass chamber. Standing outside it was a woman he had never seen before.
She was tall, with silver hair tied neatly into a sharp ponytail. Two long strands of bangs framed her face in front. Her white blouse was paired with a black ribbon bow that didn't quite match her cool demeanor, while a dark blue high-waisted A-line skirt and black high heels easily pushed her height past 170 centimeters.
What surprised Ritsu most was that the woman had heterochromia, a rare condition. Her left eye was blue, while her right eye was nearly transparent in color, a shade he had never seen before.
Her expression was dull, almost like an emotionless machine. After speaking, she seemed to receive further instructions through her earpiece. Without hesitation, she walked to the control platform outside the glass chamber, entered a twelve-digit password, and pressed the green activation button.
"Who are you? What are you trying to do to me?"
His instincts screamed at him to stop her.
Ritsu struggled to escape the transparent chamber, only to realize all four of his limbs had been firmly restrained. Even his upper body remained bare. Looking down, he could see ECG-like electrode pads attached to his skin, along with the gunshot wound on the left side of his abdomen that was still bleeding.
"Nice to meet you, Macallan."
The silver-haired woman's sharp gaze swept over the restrained man inside the chamber as she calmly said,
"My codename is Curacao."
Curacao.
'So she was Rum's trusted subordinate, Curacao?'
He never would've imagined the rough mechanical voice from before belonged to a woman.
"What exactly are you trying to do? Let me out."
"My apologies, but that would go against Sir's orders. So please remain quiet and accept Sir's gift."
'Sir? Did she mean Rum?'
'And what "gift" was she talking about?'
Too many questions flooded his mind.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Ritsu realized the only thing he could do for now was wait and see what they intended to do to him.
Then suddenly, the electrode pads covering his body became burning hot.
It even felt as though something had pierced into his body, sending waves of sharp pain through him.
"Gh—!!"
The white light surrounding him seemed to collapse, gradually swallowed by darkness.
Enduring the pain, Ritsu forced his head up and looked outside the chamber. The surroundings had become pitch black, and he could no longer even see Curacao's figure.
Then, a gigantic mouth appeared before him.
A low, heavy voice echoed out from it, clearly machine-modified and very similar to Curacao's earlier tone.
"Curacao, are there any abnormalities in his physical indicators?"
"At present, only adrenaline secretion has increased. All other data remains normal. His condition differs from the previous test subjects. Sir, should we increase the dosage?"
"Yes. Raise it to 1.5 times."
'Dosage? Was the stabbing pain coming from injections?'
Grinding his teeth, Ritsu glared furiously at the enormous mouth before him. The man Curacao respectfully referred to as "Sir" was most likely the Organization's second-in-command.
Rum.
'Was he using him as some kind of test subject? But what kind of experiment was this?'
"Rum… what did you inject into me?"
"Macallan, it's an honor to hear my name from your lips. Enjoy the sensation of being enveloped by darkness. I will guide you into a new realm and remake you into a brand-new version of yourself, one that exists solely for my use."
"…Stop… this!"
It felt as though his heart had been engulfed in flames.
The burning agony made him writhe violently, but no matter how hard Ritsu struggled, he couldn't break free from his restraints. The suffocating pressure crushing his brain forced beast-like growls from his throat.
His jet-black hair gradually turned white.
His consciousness became consumed by killing intent.
Purple-red bloodstains slowly spread outward from his heart, horrifying to behold.
"Sir, all physical indicators are skyrocketing. At this rate, he may die. Should we stop?"
"No. Increase the dosage to double. If he cannot accept my gift, then he's nothing more than a useless house dog."
As expected, he truly was different.
All the effort spent arranging this situation had not been wasted.
But just as Curacao prepared to adjust the dosage, a countdown alarm suddenly echoed from the electronic door not far away.
She immediately turned toward it in alarm, only to be answered by an explosion.
BOOM—
The electronic door was blown apart instantly.
And standing at the entrance, was more than one person.