1st Person (Junichiro)
“Urgh…… pain” [Junichiro]
As I awoke, I found myself lying on the cold, hard floor once more. Hello, cold hard floor that gives me pain every day.
I immediately noticed that I wasn’t paralyzed anymore, and started to clench and unclench my fist.
“Was it all a dream, I guess not…” [Junichiro]
Looking around, I noted that the walls around me were white, with a heavy metal door right in front of me. The number ‘56’ was displayed on a crude metal sign, hanging right above the door.
As I peeped through the small bars on the heavy door, I can only see a long white corridor.
I tried banging on the door, but steel is steel, how the hell do I even break it. If I continued my actions, I could potentially achieve the state of what most worlds should know as [Broken Arms]. Which was definitely not something I needed.
Although, the pain from breaking my arms might help alleviate part of the headache that the ring is giving me.
That’s right; the ring with the six needles is still stuck on my head. It constantly gives me a minor headache that was barely bearable, but when I even start to think of plucking it out, the pain it gives was intense.
This would probably be something a Masochist would kill for?
I focused my train of thoughts on something else before something bad happens.
Now to think of it, where the hell was everyone?
Inaba?
Masaru?
Mana?
Before I could continue, the steel door opened with a clunk, and the one whom opened it were as expected, the masked men.
「אה, אתה ער כבר, כצפוי מהגוף המשופר של דרקון השחור」[Masked man]
As usual, I was not able to understand anything of what the masked man is saying in his lingo. On hearing it again, it does give somewhat of an English-like feel, but………
No, rather than that, I should pay attention to their movements.
Although I had put myself on guard, but the masked man seemed to worry more about whatever was behind him, than me. It seems there were other masked men behind him too. Another 2 masked men entered the room, and I crawled backwards, towards the wall to distance myself from them.
And then another one came in, or so I thought, but I became unable to look away from his face.
That was because he was not wearing a mask and showing his bare face.
Realizing that he wasn’t Japanese in a single glance, he was a white-skinned old man with a finely chiseled face. His hair was hidden inside his hood, but it was probably completely white, and his eyes were blue. His age looks easily above 60. And he also had a proud white beard to top it off.
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Could it be that this old man was the leader of those masked men? Wait, they aren’t going to start calling him a living god or something, right?
As I sent him a doubtful gaze, that geezer (since he made me face such hardships, I’ll call him geezer) looked at me with suspicious eyes.
At that moment, I was attacked by an intense headache.
“Uuwaaaaahh!!!” [Junichiro]
To have your head break must be something like this.
No, I really had thought that it might have broken.
Pain strong enough to think you are about to die, but what was actually giving me pain was the ‘will’ of somebody else that kept on resounding inside of my head.
It hurts ——— hurts ——— pain ——— death —— [ring]
Inside of my head, a different train of thought started rampaging on its own.
The cause of the pain was, without a doubt, this train of thought, and I understood that the source was this geezer in front of me intuitively.
As I fell on the hard floor I looked towards the geezer with teary eyes. Not with anger, but purely of begging in an unsightly manner.
—— no-resistance ——— submission [ring]
Right before I could faint, the aching stopped, and at the moment, I realized what the ring was for.
Mind control…
—— stand [ring]
With the effect of the headache still remaining, I was unable to stand immediately when the thought came into my head.
—— stand [ring]
Once again, the headache slowly started to come back. I forced myself to stand up unsteadily. It was a feeling worse than vomiting, but it was better than being attacked by that headache again.
With a horrid cough, I stood up and faced the geezer.
「ההגבלות נראית בסדר גמור.」[Geezer]
The geezer, like all the others, said words that I was unable to understand.
“.....” [Junichiro]
I just stood there, unable to give any sort of reaction.
The geezer could send me thoughts, but it was a vague image that could not be put into words.
I was unable to understand their purpose.
But that said, I don’t think I want to have a smooth communication with them even if words could be said.
—— Walk
As the thought was relayed, the geezer turned back and started walking.
Unable to resist, with staggering steps, all I could do was follow the back of the old man.
As I crossed the door, I saw the tunnel continuing in darkness. As if ominously predicting that compared to the hell that lay in my future, it might be much better to just commit suicide right now.