Chapter 4: Chapter 3

“Hi?”

All I had to do was deliver food to him.

He would have been able to get his own dinner plate by himself, but at first he didn’t know why he had to give it an A grade.

The reason is—

“Ugh… .”

It was because of the drug that induces arousal. After injecting the stimulants, subjects undergo various experiments.

It’s something I’ve been through before, but the experiments the Z-Class experience will be more than I can imagine.

Most of the Z-Class after the test are in a state where they can barely keep their eyes open.

They couldn’t move arms or legs easily, and even if they resisted during the experiments, they would be treated like Z-999.

Kalisten in front of me.

He had restraints tied around his neck, his arms tied behind his back, and he was chained to the wall with restraints at his waist as well.

“Are you alright?” [t1v: pfft wat]

He was glaring at me with a drugged stare.

Black hair and red eyes.

It was a frightening impression, like a black jaguar in front of him. Still I need to pull out my death flag.

The reason he killed the original sickly Aselia in the story, was because he didn’t smile. Then I have to smile until he gets tired of it and treat him well.

Then at least he won’t kill me for the reason you executed me in the original.

“Get out.”

“Then who will feed you?”

I came to this room for the first time today. Because no one manages one Z grade for a long time.

Because we change charges about once every two weeks.

That means I have two weeks left to save my life.

My body trembled.

I know he’s the one who’s going to murder me. The red eyes that I thought would be beautiful when I read about them had a dangerous light. It’s like a wild beast looking at a herbivore just before it devours it.

All of my senses were shivering as if I had been doused in ice water.

“I-I’m sorry.”

He glared with a fierce ferocity as I sat down nearby. Then I wiped his face with the handkerchief I brought.

“What are you doing?”

“There’s blood on you, I’m wiping it off.”

Kalisten frowned and turned his head away. I wiped his face again with the water I had received, but his scowl even grimmer with the temperature of the water.

“Stop it.”

“There was a lot of blood. There’s a cut on your face.”

Even though he said he didn’t like it, he became calm when I touched him. So I didn’t know if he really hated this behavior it was hard to gage because most of the subjects here were sold into slavery as children.

But there were also some nobles. They were people who rebelled or comitted treason and had been reduced to slavery.

“If you’re really uncomfortable, I’ll stop.”

Having said that, I looked into his eyes for a moment. Then he licked his lips with an indecipherable expression. His lips were also chapped and bloodied. He must have bitten them hard during the experiment.

I continued to wipe his face and gently wiped his lips.

“Ugh… .”

“Sorry!”

A scab fell off his lips, and he frowned as if in pain.

“Go.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Go away.”

“I still have to feed you… .”

I sighed heavily. There were bloodstains all over the clothes. He was more resistant than the other subjects.

It’s actually a big deal Kalisten is so quiet.

“There’s no good in being nice to me.”

The voice was really low.

When people are 18 they test psychics here. Because the moment you awaken, growth stops.

That’s why experimenting starts at the age of 18, when most of your growth is over. It was a gamble by the researchers who didn’t know how subjects would manifest but they were careful not to awaken people too early.

“It’s because I like you.”

He looked at me in utter disbelief. But compared to his attitude when he first saw me it was softer.

“And we’ve met before.”

“… .”

“You saved me.”

“When?”

Although I read the book roughly this is the part I remembered. Aselia in the original does not know this until her death.

But I knew it because it came from a scene where Kalisten kills Aselia and she recalls a memory.

“Before, when you were in an experiment, I entered the wrong room while running errands.”

“… .”

“If you hadn’t brought the researchers’ attention back then, I would have died.”

Indeed, it was true. In the original story, Aselia ran an errand to the wrong room during one of his experiments. Slaves did a lot of chores, but if you even accidentally peeked at a test subject’s experiment, you were automatically discarded.

Kalisten drew their attention first before the researchers found her out.

He was the one who saved me, but he was also the one who killed me.

“You dislike me doing this?”