Chapter 58: New friends
"Damn!"
Hector grimaced and clenched his teeth to the limit, clutching his head as he dropped to his knees.
A corrupting aura surged over him, distorting the atmosphere.
"Wow! That really is the prototype!" the old man nearby laughed, quickly backing away from Hector, even though they had already been far apart.
The blonde girl stared intently at Hector, as if observing something thrilling.
"Interesting!" She curled her lips into a grin and stepped back, dodging the pressure that struck her with metallic force.
All the privileged prisoners were focused on Hector, excitement flashing in their eyes.
"Fuck! I need to stop this before it's too late!" Hector held his head in agony, retreating to a corner of the wall in a desperate attempt to control his movements.
His limbs trembled violently with every pulse of aura that danced across his skin.
"Try it!" Hector bit his lip against the pain, struggling to withstand the tension and frenzy overwhelming his mind.
This was a battle.
Over time, his efforts had some effect, but he didn't realize that what he was hoping for might just be wishful thinking.
This was only the beginning.
"Sigh…" He forced out a ragged breath, his heartbeat slowly beginning to settle…
"It's like I'm trying to control myself against an overpowering urge—and I can barely do anything!"
Hector let the throbbing wind lash his throat once more before slowly opening his exhausted eyes.
And immediately, his expression twisted in panic.
"What the hell? Right now… I look like some lunatic patient!"
Before his eyes were countless strange sights:
Ghosts. The corpse of a woman. A baby. A man. And many other things he couldn't explain in simple words.
Space surrounded him, then changed into something else. From color to air!
Like hell itself!
"..."
For a moment, silence. Hector looked around, filled with fear and tension.
"W-What's wrong with my eyes?"
He refused to accept what he was seeing… Simply, it was too horrible, too terrifying. Then, a strong and putrid stench suddenly rushed up his nose, forcing him to cover it. Yet the moment he lifted his hand from the ground, he instantly lost control of his body.
He collapsed against the prison bars beside him.
"My hand?... It's gone?"
No—it was still there, but for a few seconds, it had completely vanished.
Hector looked ahead again after checking the hand that had just disappeared.
"What kind of illusion is this?" he muttered in confusion, slowly crawling to the wall and leaning against it to stand.
But he almost fell again as a strange presence suddenly formed beside him.
A hollow face! Just behind the prison bars, right across from him!
Its head twisted upside-down, it stared at him with huge, pitch-black eyes… endlessly deep.
Silence.
It just stared at him blankly, even as he struggled on the floor. Then, its mouth opened vertically—blood seeping from the split.
And from the terror of that face, a chilling, delicate sound echoed from its leaking mouth—like that of a child.
"That is your fault!"
Gradually, Hector's face grew pale, deathly white. But instead of trembling or screaming, he felt a vast emptiness take over his mind…
His lungs struggled for air. His heartbeat nearly stopped.
And finally, he lost all sense of himself and slowly collapsed.
***
"Damn! I really feel like I want to die... Reason? I don't know! This sensation is so strange—like it digs into my mind and keeps gnawing, bit by bit!"
"An empty distance in my heart! Honestly, the death of that child wasn't my fault... but somehow, it truly feels like it was!"
"I don't want to think about it! That's enough for me."
"I just deeply long for that endless sleep."
"Every time I wake up and think about her, I simply can't bear it anymore."
...
A white haze gradually clouded his vision.
"..."
Hector slowly struggled to sit up, then suddenly pressed the side of his head, wincing in discomfort.
"I seriously can't tell the difference between what's real and what's a dream anymore." Hector gave a slight shake of his head, exhausted.
All in all, Hector's words rang true.
Just several hours earlier, he had encountered a terrifying ghost. It had kept lashing its curls at him. But now, everything seemed normal again.
"I think I finally understand the torment of the lunatic patients I once treated," he thought, scanning the cell with half-lidded eyes.
At last, his gaze fell on the blonde girl sitting quietly in the corner beside him.
"Did something happen to me while I was unconscious?" Hector asked, his voice tinged with weariness.
But before the blonde girl could respond, the old man in the cell to the left let out a mocking laugh.
"Hah! You've lost your virgin ass."
"The jailer came in here!"
"Really?" One side of Hector's face twitched at the remark... But he didn't believe the old man. Just seeing his leering grin was enough to dismiss any trust. Hector glanced again at the blonde girl, hoping for a real response.
Even though there was no real need for her to answer, he still wanted to verify... even if the question felt pointless, because he was certain he hadn't been hurt or violated.
The spot where he had lain remained untouched—clear evidence.
No movement. No trace of anyone. So why did he still ask?
Honestly, he just wanted to speak with her... Hector was smitten.
And his words had worked, but he quickly turned pale after the blonde girl's next comment.
A sudden throbbing ache surged through his lower back.
"That old man was telling the truth."
The blonde girl smiled faintly, her voice cheerful as she looked at Hector.
However, a few seconds later, he was finally able to breathe more easily.
"I meant the old man's words after that…"
Then a few seconds later.
She sighed, her eyes drifting outward, filled with sadness at their pitiful fate.
"But don't worry. The jailer only gave you a capsule to suppress your symptoms. All inmates go through this; if not, they end up committing suicide... And they wouldn't let us die that easily, because we're valuable products."
…
Hector glanced at the blonde girl for a while before nodding and saying.
''I see.''