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.

you, bring me a

the people in the room. Lifting my head slightly, I spotted

"...yes!"

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

came back with a mirror. Taking the mirror, the old man

you can't understand what I'm saying, I'll just show

mirror around, my

can't be...is that

"huagh...guhhhg..."

a horror movie. With no hair on my head and burn marks all over my face. The clear white skin that I used to have was no longer there as my face was now dyed red

I looked horrendous.

once again blank. I had many questions that I wanted to ask, but as if something was stuck in my throat, only hoarse sounds escaped from

"hgugha...haefa"

was then that I slowly started to

Monolith ring that I had taken from professor Thibaut a couple of months back,

was to teleport

even though I successfully managed

happened. Having teleported directly in their headquarters,

to fork out the money needed to heal you quickly, so it might take a bit for you

reaction, the

real quick" Lowering his head slightly, the old man introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, my name is Joseph Sharp

"!"

old man mentioned his name, my mind instantly cleared up. Cold sweat trickled

out my other subjects, I'll be seeing you in a bit. By then,

Joseph Sharp.

couple of other famous

super

that felt no emotions nor

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

"You."

out of my thoughts, Joseph called

"Yes!"

a small dose of

"...how much?"

I guess 2mg would be enough for now," replied Joseph,

"Understood."

assistant leave, Joseph smiled. My eyes soon interlocked

see you soon, test subject

his way out of

me out of

"ghuuuaa!!!"

escaped from my mouth. It was almost instinctive. Even though I survived, I was

that Joseph was referring to was the liquid that they used to create the super soldiers. It was a liquid that eroded someone's mind, essentially turning them

"ghuu!!"

every bit of strength that I had in my body, I tried to get out of the binds that were locking me,

mana had been blocked. Regardless of how much I struggled, the

I was truly powerless.

I felt no pain, it didn't

"Shut up."

glared

silent whilst I'm doing

at the top, the assistant put a strange blue liquid inside of it. Squeezing the bottom of the syringe, a droplet of blue liquid fell down the body of the

"Perfect."

back to me. Opening my eyes wide, I struggled

'No! Anything but that!'

"Ughhh! guauhhhah!"

it's not

moved the syringe in my

"hmmm...hmmm!"

good

shoulder, I knew that the assistant

—Squeeq!

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

'No...help.'

"ghh..."

***

—Fffwhheeu! —Fffwhheeu!

Joseph's brows

"Hmm, another failure."

window, Joseph took out a

037 failure...300mg seems to be too much for a single dose," Joseph

Yet another failure.