The Author's POV

Pain.

An immeasurable amount of pain engulfed my entire being.

Slipping in and out of my consciousness I felt my whole body burn. Every part of my body was engulfed by flames.

At some point, I had lost track of time. Perhaps only minutes and seconds had passed, but for me, who was being burnt alive, such moments felt like an eternity.

Before long, my body hit something hard and cold. But, being in the state I was in, my mind wasn't able to process what was happening around me.

Instinctively, I just rolled around, trying to get rid of the flames engulfing me.

"Ah...ah..."

Whilst slipping in and out of my consciousness, mustering every bit of my last strength, I swallowed something that I had put inside of my mouth beforehand.

After that, despite all of my struggles to remain conscious, the world turned dark.

***

"Have you got anything?"

"No, his facial features are too deformed. We can't get a proper read on his identity."

'What's going on? Who's talking?'

Awakening my somber mind was the sound of two people conversing. Though I tried to focus my mind on what they were saying, my mind was too muddleheaded to be able to comprehend anything. In fact, I found it hard to even think properly at the moment as everything felt dull and slow.

"Hmmm, what about after we heal him?"

"That's possible, but it may take a couple of months for him to fully heal from these injuries. Almost half of his body is burnt. Perhaps if we use a high-grade potion, but..."

"No, we definitely can't do that. It'll be a waste of money. We can just wait a couple of months. Anything else?"

"For now no. All we know is that he suddenly appeared in the hall with third-degree burns all over his body. I'm more surprised by the fact that he's still alive."

"Were there any items on him?"

"No. Given the state he was in, there's a high chance that all the items he had got destroyed. From the looks of things, he must've survived some sort of explosion. He had no clothes on him when he appeared, and even the ring he had on him was badly damaged."

"...I see, alright, you may leave."

"Understood, call me if you need anything, professor."

Minutes after the conversation ended, slowly opening my eyes, I was met with an unfamiliar white ceiling. A bright white light entered my vision constricting my pupils slightly.

Turning my head slightly, I found myself laying atop a cold metal table with wires attached all over my body. My body was numb.

"Oh, you've regained consciousness?"

A voice suddenly called out for me.

Turning my head towards where the voice came from, an old man with a white lab coat appeared in front of me. With an amused smile, he studied me from top to bottom.

"How peculiar..."

He muttered.

Under his observant eyes, I felt like a lab mouse. Insignificant.

'Who are you? Where am I?'

"Ghaaa..fhhiuuu"

The words that I wanted to speak did not come out. Instead, a zombie-like sound escaped from my lips.

"Ah, I wouldn't recommend you to speak right now."

The old man said whilst a chuckle escaped from his lips.

'Where am I?'

"Huaagh..."

Unable to comprehend what he was saying, I once again spoke. The same zombie-like sound escaped from my lips.

"Tsk. What is it with you patients? Whenever I say something, you end up doing the exact opposite of what I tell you to do"

The old man grumbled.

bring

room. Lifting my

"...yes!"

being, he was most likely his assistant. The assistant quickly rushed

long after, the attendant came back with a mirror. Taking the mirror,

I'll just show you the

the mirror around, my

be...is that

"huagh...guhhhg..."

on the mirror was something that you would only see in a horror movie. With no hair on my head and burn marks all over my face. The clear white skin that I used to

I looked horrendous.

that I wanted to ask, but as if something was stuck

"hgugha...haefa"

I slowly started to recall what had

taking out the Monolith ring that I had taken from professor Thibaut a couple of

was to teleport

the only way I could survive. Unfortunately, even though I successfully managed to teleport myself to the Monolith, by the time I had managed to activate the ring, the flames

it wasn't hard for me to understand what had happened. Having teleported directly in their

higher-ups aren't willing to fork out

reaction, the old man

"Nice to meet you, my name

"!"

moment the old man mentioned his name, my mind instantly cleared

be a good boy and stay here. I'm going to check out my other subjects, I'll be seeing

Joseph Sharp.

He along, with a couple of other famous scientists was responsible for an extremely important project in the

super soldiers

purpose was to serve the Monolith and accomplish any task they were given. They were soldiers that felt no emotions nor pain,

responsible for many tragedies. They were so strong that they almost resulted in Kevin's death multiple times throughout

"You."

out of my thoughts, Joseph called out to the

"Yes!"

a small

"...how much?"

don't know. Given his state, I guess 2mg would be enough for

"Understood."

Joseph smiled. My eyes

I'll see you soon, test subject

joyfully whistled his way out of the

out

"ghuuuaa!!!"

desperate scream escaped from my mouth. It was almost instinctive. Even though I survived, I was now in a place worse

used to create the super soldiers. It was a liquid that eroded someone's mind, essentially turning them into brainless puppets. From

"ghuu!!"

I tried to get out of

how much

I was truly powerless.

as the air was knocked out of me. Though I felt no pain, it didn't take me long to realize

"Shut up."

assistant glared

whilst I'm doing

strange blue liquid inside of

"Perfect."

his attention back to me. Opening my eyes wide, I struggled even more fiercely

'No! Anything but that!'

"Ughhh! guauhhhah!"

it's not going to

out of my suffering, the assistant slowly moved the syringe in my direction.

"hmmm...hmmm!"

now, be a good boy and take

shoulder, I knew that the assistant had already put the syringe inside

—Squeeq!

injected all of the liquid inside of my body, my mind numbed and I once again

'No...help.'

"ghh..."

***

—Fffwhheeu! —Fffwhheeu!

Joseph's brows suddenly

"Hmm, another failure."

Joseph took out

be too much for a single dose," Joseph muttered, scratching the back of his

Yet another failure.