Experimental Subject

Although I wasn't sure what he was trying to convey, I still tried to listen intently. After all, I still had much to do, so I gathered the courage to ask the mysterious man how to leave this place.

"Is there a way for me to leave here?"

"Of course!"

The mysterious person pulled out a short sword with a white hilt from behind, holding it at eye level with two fingers from the other hand spread apart.

"Open!"

Following the incantation of the mysterious man, a gate similar to the Void's spatial tear opened but it was white.

"Can I go home through it?"

"Hold on, if you go through now, you'll die instantly!"

Realizing my body was still full of holes caused by the previously mutated plants, I desperately touched each wound.

"What should I do now? Will I be stuck here forever?"

"Stay calm! If you're so impulsive, I'm deeply concerned about the future of your world!"

The mysterious man finished speaking and opened his palm towards me. In the endless silence of the Void, I suddenly heard the ticking sound of a clock.

"Reset!"

The holes on my body gradually filled back with flesh, clearly a time-reversing ability from the science fiction movies I often watch.

Even though I was still lingering with numerous different questions afterwards, the man did not answer anything. He just silently walked on the sea surface towards an endless deep red horizon.

Before stepping through the rift and leaving, I tried calling out to him one last time.

"Are you a god?"

The mysterious man suddenly stopped, removed his hood revealing snow-white hair. He looked back at me with a pair of melancholy eyes, one white and the other red.

The tattoo of incomprehensible characters on his face wasn't scary at all but instead made him look noble like a god, despite appearing only a few years older than me.

"Good luck!" the mysterious man replied with a smile, pulling his hood over his head before moving on.

It's unclear what he had gone through, but deep within those profound eyes, I could sense a life of hardship filled with countless pains that a mere human could endure.

As soon as I stepped through the white gate, I was immediately brought back to the present. Other Void Keepers, and the military had set up a perimeter around me.

A bone-piercing pain, like hundreds of spears running through my body along my spine, combined with a suffocating feeling, made me collapse, my heart painfully starting to beat again after a long period of inactivity.

The other Void Keepers surrounded me, and Simon quickly approached, but the alarm from his and the surrounding Void Keepers' watches forced Simon to step back again, for some reason everyone looked at me with horror. Eventually, I passed out without knowing when.

[ Loading... ]

A strange notification suddenly appeared before my eyes amidst the endless darkness.

[ Do you agree to activate Admin access? ]

[ Yes ] [ No ]

"What the hell is this? Why is there a notification popping up in front of me?"

I flailed my hands through the notification screen but couldn't touch it, it seemed to be like the three-dimensional images simulated in the VR games I had played.

Well, I pressed 'Yes' to see what would happen, thinking this was just a strange dream after playing too many games lately.

[ Access Granted! ]

[ Information ] [ Inventory ] [ Store ] [ Other options... ]

The new set of options that appeared looked just like an RPG game, which surprised me with the reality of this dream. It was as if someone had programmed my dream into a game.

I clicked on "Inventory".

An image of an inventory grid filled with empty squares appeared before me, with a USD icon in the bottom right corner, next to it was 75 USD, equivalent to the amount of money I actually had in real life.

Well, I knew I had 75 USD, so it made sense for the dream to reflect that, people often say dreams reflect who are.

"The store is probably useless in a dream, so let's check the information to see how the dream reflects what kind of person I am."

After selecting "Information", a bunch of text appeared with description boxes that confused me.

[ Name: Sebastian Robbins ]

[ Age: 18 ]

[ Occupation: None ]

Of course, what else would I have, at least it didn't add a description of me being a game-loving weeaboo, which was lucky.

While still fumbling through this strange game dream, I was awakened by a voice calling my name.

"Sebastian Robbins!"

...

I was shocked awake to find myself in a room flooded with red light, my body tightly bound to a cold metal chair.

The whispering and murmuring around the strange room began to rise.

"It's the second case." 

"The second case, 100%." 

"Seems like he just came back from behind the crack, right?"...

"Knock... knock!" someone tapped on the microphone, causing a blaring sound: "Quiet down, everyone."

I've seen enough movies to know this is an interrogation room, and the owner of that sound seems to be on the other side of the one-way glass in front of me.

"Hello, do you understand what we are saying?"

"I do!"

"Oh, like the first case, still able to retain consciousness!"

"Why am I being detained like this?"

"You have been taught about The Void at school, haven't you, Sebastian?"

"Yes!"

"Do you know what the erosion threshold limit for a normal person and a Void Keeper is?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's 5% for a normal person and 20% for Keepers!" I answer.

"Very good, knowledge still intact."

"Then why am I locked up here?"

"As you mentioned, the threshold limit that humans is 5%, here being Void Keepers, can withstand is 20%. If it exceeds this limit, the Void Keepers become insane and begin the invasion process. After the invasion process ends, they transform into a real monster."

It seems like I've realized what they are trying to convey to me, about my erosion rate being quite high. Do they want to recruit me into the Void Keeper organization?

"Your current erosion rate is at 100%, the Clock'o Keeper could not measure more than expected but we believe you've far exceeded the 100% threshold."

"100%?"

"Correct, and now we are discussing, Sebastian. Either you are to be eliminated or become an experiment for the Void Keeper organization. You will be recognized as a victim of the Void disaster, and your family will be compensated and supported financially by the government."

"What? Wait, where do you get the authority to do such a thing?"

"We have the authority and can force you to choose one of the two options. You should know that the Void Keeper organization has powers that surpass even the governments of countries, equal and even far beyond the United Nations."

"No, wait, I'm still human, aren't I?"

"You are too dangerous to be free in society, Sebastian. We are very sorry!"

Just having returned from the dead, those people now want to put me on the operating table and kill me once again. I can't let the help of that mysterious person be in vain; after all, having returned, at least I should lose my virginity rather than becoming a ghostly groom.

I tried to struggle but couldn't escape from the damn carbon fibers tightening me to the chair.

It seems like their facility is having some electrical issues causing the lights around to flicker, and the microphone accidentally turned on allows me to hear that crazy bunch still arguing over whether to eliminate me or keep me for experimentation. Outside, the sound of someone's footsteps is getting closer, seemingly the footsteps of a pair of high boots, and the person wearing them is a woman.

A moment later, the arguing stopped abruptly along with the stabilization of the electric lights, and the microphone was turned off right after. In the end, I couldn't do anything inside this empty room.

I bowed my head, silently waiting for my fate to be decided by people I had never even met before. After some time, the steel door swung open, and people in black vests and sunglasses quickly entered.

"Sebastian..."

If I was to be captured for experimentation, I would rather die.

"...you're free to go!"

"What?"

The people in black vests didn't reply but silently untied me, then escorted me outside to meet the people who had wanted to kill me earlier.

"What happened?"

"There's someone waiting for you in the next room, we don't want any more questions."

Their suddenly compliant attitude made me uneasy about who would be waiting for me in the next room. I hesitated to go, but the door then automatically opened as if inviting me inside. A terrifying aura emanated from within the room, similar to the murderous intent of the mysterious person I had faced, overwhelming me with fear.

I had no choice but to enter or go back to the operating table for those mad scientists.

I braced myself and stepped through the steel door into the white room, bravely facing the challenge awaiting me.