《I‘m the Only Stabilizer for the Yandere Male Lead in the BL Novel》 Chapter 0.1 The sky was very clear that day. The sky at the laboratory was mostly filled with gray dark clouds, or it was mostly cloudy just before it started raining. Maybe that¡¯s why I admired the blue sky because it was so beautiful, and then looked at Kalisten, who mesmerized me with a handsome smile under it. Bright red eyes and jet-black hair. A sharp and sophisticated nose that God could not make twice, and a shoulder that was wide open at right angles with a muscular upper body. Even though he was wearing a shabby lab coat, he shined unlike the other lab subjects. But then what could I do? He was Kalisten, the maniac male protagonist in a devastating waste 19-gold BL novel called {And Everyone Was Silent}. Kalisten was a madman who would destroy the Arsene Institute, where Espers were trained, and murder everyone there. Of course, that included me as well. It was the first time I had seen him smile so close. I got goosebumps, but somehow I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off of him. I was afraid, but I thought it would be impossible to say it in the future if I could not muster up the courage now. ¡°Kalisten.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± His low voice rang in my ears. His voice was perfect. Just like his straight shoulders at right angles, so excellent. ¡°I¡ª I like you!¡± ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°I like you!¡± Seeing Kalisten¡¯s bewildered expression for the first time, my heart raced. When he asks what an absurd lie this is¡ªwhat will I say? He stood there like that, still not sure what to say. Kalisten licked his lips and hesitated repeatedly. Then he continued talking as if he had decided something. ¡°I¡¯m a man.¡± Yes, I am a man right now¡­ ! Unknowingly, I fiddled with the necklace hanging from my neck. ¡°I like you more because you¡¯re a man!¡± But I couldn¡¯t withdraw my confession. I stood in front of him, looking straight into his eyes. Then a blaze of exquisite vitality filled his eyes. It wasn¡¯t a clouded emotion like anger, but a beauty sparkling with hope. ¡°I mean it!¡± Chapter 1 One of the brightest jewels in the mud. That was the passage from my favorite book, and the person I wanted to be. But somehow, I took possession of the book I hated the most, not the book I liked the most. The name of the book I possessed was a devastating trash-bin waste 19-gold BL novel titled ¡°And Everyone Was Silent.¡± It would have been nice if I had possessed something like an extra or a researcher who would pass quietly but I am too unlucky. If I had possessed myself as a researcher, I would not have come back after taking an access card on the first day of possession. But what I possessed is a sickly weak beast who dies while being mistreated. And I heard I was a ¡°su*.¡± [*bottom] ¡°You¡¯re a woman¡­.?¡± For some reason, when I took the silvery-white crystal necklace I was wearing off, I returned to being a woman. If you wear it, you¡¯re a man, if you don¡¯t, you¡¯re a woman. Since I was originally a woman, I felt fortunate. The problem is¡­. The problem was that this was a lab and research insitute that only housed male psychics. I looked at myself in the mirror. Short platinum hair, pitiful eyes, and a pale yellow complexion, that seemed to advertise I was sickly and weak. The Arsene Institute where I am located was an open secret, a hidden facility near the capital of the Empire of Vestia. In this novel, there are people with superpowers called Espers, who were born through experiments. I didn¡¯t know why or how Espers were born, but they only came out through this lab. Since they were slaves that had been sold to Arsene Labs from infancy I wasn¡¯t sure if they had no feelings because of how they were raised or inherently or because they had awakened into Psychics. If you awakened to Psychic here, you could go outside. But no one believed the nonsensical hope, ¡®If you go out and pledge your allegiance to the imperial family you can live like a human being.¡¯ I knew the end of this terrible novel. So, as soon as possible, I had to awaken Kalisten, the insane murderer of this ¡°And Everyone Silenced¡± and find a way to live before he went berserk. Kalisten was another protagonist of the novel. After destroying the Arsene Research Center, he drags Aselia, the weakling, with him. Kalisten who directly kills Aselia in the lab full of corpses. Unlike other test subjects, he does it directly, personally¡ª himself. Why you ask? He just wanted to. Aselia was the one who brought him food. And it was irritating that he never smiled at him. ¡®Smile. Then I won¡¯t kill you.¡¯ Aselia suffered so much, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to grin and begged Kalisten for his life. And Kalisten, who did not like him, eventually executed him. Then, like a madman, feeling a great loss that Aselia died, he committed suicide. Yup, I¡¯ve been sucked into a book without hopes and dreams. ¨C Beep I hurriedly put down my clothes at the sound of the door opening and stood right there. ¡°Experiment Subject A-702.¡± ¡°Awake A-702.¡± The researchers who came to check my condition were writing something familiar. ¡°What about medicine?¡± ¡°Took it yesterday. Sleep time is the same as before.¡± A researcher standing behind the middle manager checking my status, drily reporting. I always go throughthis in the morning. Because I was one of the test subjects. However, unlike other Esper candidates, I was of a disposable grade. After the inspection was done, there were more tasks. ¡°Go to the next room.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The door closed again with a ¡®beep¡¯ sound. Finally I was completely alone. The tension that I couldn¡¯t adapt to ran down and my legs eventually loosened. Fortunately, it was a laboratory that produced psychics, so all of them were in solitary confinement. It was a precaution so they couldn¡¯t get close and start a rebellion. After imprisoning the higher level Espers in solitary confinement, people like me who lacked abilities were used as slave labor to manage them and feed them. Chapter 2 It sucked that I wasn¡¯t paid but I also thought it was fortunate that I wasn¡¯t a person with the abilities that could awaken into a talented Psychic. Espers are super talented. So they could use powers that transcend humans. But behind the scenes, it had to live with terrible side effects. They could not escape this demonic laboratory for the rest of their lives. They relied on the stabilizers provided by the lab. Without it, the Esper¡¯s abilities run wild and their hearts explode from their overwhelming powers. That¡¯s why Espers couldn¡¯t leave the lab until death. If higher abilities manifested, they had to take charge of the dirty work for the imperial family. And if the abilities did not manifest or were vaguely expressed, upon awakening they would die. So it was even better to do chores as I was classified as hopeless from the onset. Because people needed a ¡®stimulus¡¯ to awaken Psychics. ¨C Beep! At 9 o¡¯clock, the doors opened all at once. It was time for personnel on the same floor to work. Since the travel time was set, I quickly put on my shoes and moved to the place I had to go. The place I went to was were I received the meal for the Esper I needed to take care of. I looked around and saw people with the same clothes as me. No eye contact, no vitality. Even when their eyes met briefly, they were hollow. I lowered my gaze to my toes and stood in line to receive my food. This was the saddest part. ¡°Next.¡± ¡°A-702 recieved designated food.¡± ¡°Next¡± ¡°A-508 recieved designated food.¡± ¡°Next¡­ .¡± You would have thought it would be a given that we eat before we deliver meals to the Espers, but you¡¯re wrong. My class is the lowest. So, we had to share among ourselves what the experiment subjects who were most likely to manifest as Psychic ate ??and left behind. At first it was outrageous and humiliating. However, when I realized this world was in a novel I knew, it felt like food didn¡¯t even matter. I looked at the food on the plate. In fact, I didn¡¯t envy Espers. It is only food eaten for survival, with almost no taste, and most of the nutrients were provided through pills. Today it was cold porridge, sweet potato salad, stiff bread and dried out bacon. I looked at it indifferently, remembered that it had to be delivered on time, and went upstairs. My Psychic is Z-999. I am A, he is Z. The lower the alphabet, the greater the size of the ability to be manifested. The number behind it is a measure of the amount of power that will appear upon awakening. Even if one was a Psychic, it was important what kind of ability he had. The higher the number attached to the back was like a confirmation that a useful ability would or was already manifested. I hurried and stood in front of the door. Other Class As stood in a line on both sides waiting for the door to open, holding trays. ¨C Beep! Eventually, the doors opened in unison, and we all walked into our Esper¡¯s room. Z-999. He is the person who will awaken with the power of fire destroy this laboratory without leaving a trace. It was Kalisten Eldras. ¡°Hi?¡± First I had to pull out my dead flag. He kills me because I didn¡¯t smile. Then shouldn¡¯t I show him my smile until he gets sick of it? Chapter 3 ¡°Hi?¡± All I had to do was deliver food to him. He would have been able to get his own dinner plate by himself, but at first he didn¡¯t know why he had to give it an A grade. The reason is¡ª ¡°Ugh¡­ .¡± It was because of the drug that induces arousal. After injecting the stimulants, subjects undergo various experiments. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve been through before, but the experiments the Z-Class experience will be more than I can imagine. Most of the Z-Class after the test are in a state where they can barely keep their eyes open. They couldn¡¯t move arms or legs easily, and even if they resisted during the experiments, they would be treated like Z-999. Kalisten in front of me. He had restraints tied around his neck, his arms tied behind his back, and he was chained to the wall with restraints at his waist as well. ¡°Are you alright?¡± [t1v: pfft wat] He was glaring at me with a drugged stare. Black hair and red eyes. It was a frightening impression, like a black jaguar in front of him. Still I need to pull out my death flag. The reason he killed the original sickly Aselia in the story, was because he didn¡¯t smile. Then I have to smile until he gets tired of it and treat him well. Then at least he won¡¯t kill me for the reason you executed me in the original. ¡°Get out.¡± ¡°Then who will feed you?¡± I came to this room for the first time today. Because no one manages one Z grade for a long time. Because we change charges about once every two weeks. That means I have two weeks left to save my life. My body trembled. I know he¡¯s the one who¡¯s going to murder me. The red eyes that I thought would be beautiful when I read about them had a dangerous light. It¡¯s like a wild beast looking at a herbivore just before it devours it. All of my senses were shivering as if I had been doused in ice water. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry.¡± He glared with a fierce ferocity as I sat down nearby. Then I wiped his face with the handkerchief I brought. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°There¡¯s blood on you, I¡¯m wiping it off.¡± Kalisten frowned and turned his head away. I wiped his face again with the water I had received, but his scowl even grimmer with the temperature of the water. ¡°Stop it.¡± ¡°There was a lot of blood. There¡¯s a cut on your face.¡± Even though he said he didn¡¯t like it, he became calm when I touched him. So I didn¡¯t know if he really hated this behavior it was hard to gage because most of the subjects here were sold into slavery as children. But there were also some nobles. They were people who rebelled or comitted treason and had been reduced to slavery. ¡°If you¡¯re really uncomfortable, I¡¯ll stop.¡± Having said that, I looked into his eyes for a moment. Then he licked his lips with an indecipherable expression. His lips were also chapped and bloodied. He must have bitten them hard during the experiment. I continued to wipe his face and gently wiped his lips. ¡°Ugh¡­ .¡± ¡°Sorry!¡± A scab fell off his lips, and he frowned as if in pain. ¡°Go.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Go away.¡± ¡°I still have to feed you¡­ .¡± I sighed heavily. There were bloodstains all over the clothes. He was more resistant than the other subjects. It¡¯s actually a big deal Kalisten is so quiet. ¡°There¡¯s no good in being nice to me.¡± The voice was really low. When people are 18 they test psychics here. Because the moment you awaken, growth stops. That¡¯s why experimenting starts at the age of 18, when most of your growth is over. It was a gamble by the researchers who didn¡¯t know how subjects would manifest but they were careful not to awaken people too early. ¡°It¡¯s because I like you.¡± He looked at me in utter disbelief. But compared to his attitude when he first saw me it was softer. ¡°And we¡¯ve met before.¡± ¡°¡­ .¡± ¡°You saved me.¡± ¡°When?¡± Although I read the book roughly this is the part I remembered. Aselia in the original does not know this until her death. But I knew it because it came from a scene where Kalisten kills Aselia and she recalls a memory. ¡°Before, when you were in an experiment, I entered the wrong room while running errands.¡± ¡°¡­ .¡± ¡°If you hadn¡¯t brought the researchers¡¯ attention back then, I would have died.¡± Indeed, it was true. In the original story, Aselia ran an errand to the wrong room during one of his experiments. Slaves did a lot of chores, but if you even accidentally peeked at a test subject¡¯s experiment, you were automatically discarded. Kalisten drew their attention first before the researchers found her out. He was the one who saved me, but he was also the one who killed me. ¡°You dislike me doing this?¡± Chapter 4 He didn¡¯t answer, his face was blank. I picked up the plate that had been set down on the floor. Even when I got up from the floor, his body was really big. By how big I am now, with a grown man¡¯s body, he still seemed to have had an extra head of height. His shoulders were perfectly square with muscular arms, and his thick neck perfectly matched his face. Even the shabby uniform looked like a splendidly beautiful optical illusion everytime he breathed. I smiled when his eyes met mine. Then he frowned and glared. I have two weeks left to ensure my life. Who cared if he looked at me and frowned? So I smiled brighter and kept meeting his eyes. Then I picked up a spoon and stirred the thin watery porridge on the tray. As it was bland porridge without anything, there was no smell. They could have at least put a little bit of salt. I stirred it moderately, but it was lukewarm enough that I didn¡¯t need to cool it down. ¡°Ah.¡± He looked straight at me without opening his mouth. Oh, is it because you think there are some drugs in the food? Then at that moment¡ª A bizarre ¡®croaking¡¯ growl resounded from my stomach. He opened his eyes wide and looked at me with puzzlement. How embarrassing, my face was burning. It was hot upto my ears. ¡°H-hurry open your mouth¡ª quickly.¡± ¡°How do I know what¡¯s in there?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± He beckoned me to try it, so I had no choice but to put it in my mouth first. Wow. It really doesn¡¯t taste like anything. It is probably better to eat rice with water than this. Of course, the food made for gastrointestinal exercise couldn¡¯t be delicious. ¡°Look, didn¡¯t I tell you? I didn¡¯t put anything in.¡± Finally he opened his mouth. I couldn¡¯t use the spoon I used, so I used the extra spoon I brought. Once you enter this cell, you can¡¯t open the door from the inside until a certain amount of time has passed. I had brought one more spoon and fork in advance. ¡°Ugh¡­ .¡± He took a bite of porridge, and he seemed to feel the same way. ¡°You have to eat it all. Understand?¡± As I watched the furrows between his eyebrows and forehead deepen, I pressed on it unconsciously*. [t1v: it¡¯s a Korean thing to stop people from frowning, idk if others do it] ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I was afraid it would be wrinkled.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t you take it off?¡± ¡°Hehe.¡± Clearly, earlier I was so scared I was numb, but perhaps because he was tied up, that fear was slowly melting away. ¡°Whooo,¡± I sighed and held out the crumbled bread. ¡°How do I know what¡¯s in there?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± I ate some first, then handed it to him, and he took it and ate it. The bread was torn into small pieces and topped with dried bacon. ¡°The meat smells fishy.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat it.¡± ¡°Ah oh, I see.¡± So I put it back down. ¡°If you leave food, I might get scolded.¡± It will be my fault if he leaves food behind. Because these garbage-like foods were unexpectedly precisely calculated with nutrients. ¡°That¡¯s not my problem.¡± ¡°Right.¡± He spoke coldly, but I had no choice but to offer him the bread. ¡°Put it away.¡± ¡°Can you just eat this?¡± Because he turned his head as if he was repulsed, I tried serving him the sweet potato salad instead. ¡°Ah~¡± ¡°I hate sweet potatoes the most.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± There was no such setting in the original. I think he ate as much as he was served, though. ¡°Feed me that.¡± ¡°You said this doesn¡¯t taste good.¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t.¡± He said that, so I scooped out a porridge and gave it to him, and as he frowned he ate it. In the end, he ate all the porridge, but he didn¡¯t look very good. I looked over the leftover food, worried that I would be punished if I went out like this. ¡°That.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be scolded, you take care of it.¡± Maybe it¡¯s impossible to pull out the dead flag? For a second I thought that maybe he was venting out his anger, but I thought¡ª ¡°D-did you do this because you¡¯re afraid I¡¯ll be hungry?¡± ¡°No.¡± My heart leaped even before he denied it. Kalisten responded favorably to my smile! If then¡ª In order not to die like in the original, wouldn¡¯t the two have to avoid each other? What if I made it painfully awkward to be around me? So you won¡¯t kill me for not smiling? If so, wouldn¡¯t it be okay if I showed interest first? ¡°I like you.¡± I was a cornered rat. I could do anything to live. Chapter 5 How long have I been in this r-rated-only-for-19-years-old-and-above-wretched-BL-novel called ¡°And Everyone Was Silent¡±? Well, it has been about a year since I have possessed this body. In my previous life, I was an ¡®ordinary graduate student¡¯¡ªpfft¡ªWho the hell says that? If the juvenile detention center is where boys go wrong, graduate school is where university students go wrong. If I asked myself what I regretted the most in my past life, I would say without hesitation that I decided to go to graduate school. The reason I died in the first place was because of graduate school. I had work as a teacher, student, researcher, and even conducted the research of other high-ranking people unrelated to me. It might have been a little better if I hadn¡¯t had to work as a teaching assistant. But my family wasn¡¯t well off. After spending a few days as a teaching assistant and living in a laboratory, I thought I would be fine. My record was to stay up to three nights, so would I die if I stayed there for two more nights? But I really died when I did it. I recall my last day my vision coming and going like a computer on the verge of breaking down. I was dazed. It was as if I was under water when someone spoke to me. Besides, every time I took a step, the floor shook. I had nothing to eat, but my stomach felt nauseous. I thought I was going to die if I didn¡¯t fall asleep right away, but when I tried to sleep during the occasional break, I only got a headache and couldn¡¯t nap. Then, finally, in the laboratory, I hugged a blanket and eventually fell asleep¡­ and well, here I am. Of all things, I managed to get stuck in a novel with no hopes or dreams. ¡°I like you.¡± A cornered rat can bite a cat. I was a cornered mouse, so I could say these things to him, who was a black leopard. Bright red eyes were staring straight at me. It was as if time had stopped, everything froze. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I like you.¡± ¡°¡­ .¡± His mouth was flat, without any expression, but his bright eyes did not blink at all. So I was even more scared. I knew I couldn¡¯t avoid his stare, so I steeled myself and looked straight back. A wild beast pounces in for the kill the moment you break eye contact. ¡°So I would like to get along with you.¡± Even after a year had passed, I had often forgotten that I have a man¡¯s body when I don this necklace. ¡°Uh¡­ .¡± When he didn¡¯t answer, his face became even more frightening. If I said I confessed by mistake I could tell he would break off his chains and twist my neck. ¡°Get out now,¡± he growled, his expression distorting in displeasure. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me? Get out.¡± The atmosphere was strange, so I got up with the tray. Luckily or unfortunately, just in time, the Z-class mealtime was over and the door to the cell opened. I didn¡¯t have the courage to look back, so I ran outside. Why¡ª did you hate my confession that much? Hadn¡¯t Kalisten showed interest in Aselia? ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Ah! A-702!¡± As the researcher looked down, inspecting me, I got nervous and called out my number. Because if they spoke first, I had to say my number. ¡°Why is there so much food left over?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ .¡± He looked at room Z-999 from which I came out and then looked back at me. ¡°That¡¯s it again.¡± ¡°Sorry¡­ Ouch!¡± I fell to the floor along with the tray crashing. I got hit in the face. I knew it would be better if I stayed still, so I quickly picked up the food on the tray and stood up. It was fortunate. Because Kalisten ate all of the porridge, food didn¡¯t splatter on the researcher¡¯s clothes. ¡°Why didn¡¯t Z-999 eat all of this?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve sinn¡ª ugh¡­ !¡± This time it took me a while to get up because I was hit so hard I heard a pop. I couldn¡¯t hear the researcher¡¯s voice due to the tinnitus. ¡°Do it right next time.¡± ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± My body was trembling, and my face throbbed so badly. The researcher continued to inspect others down the row. When the brown haired researcher turned his head and was far, I looked up and found Kalisten¡¯s eyes on me. It looked like the doors hadn¡¯t been closed yet. Because he was looking at me as if surprised, I smiled involuntarily. Maybe he wasn¡¯t so heartless but clumsy? He looked like he was worried. So when I mouthed I was okay, he turned his head away. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve been to graduate school. This is nothing. *** Chapter 6 I spent my whole life as a researcher in my previous life, and now I work in a lab doing odd jobs and running errands. Life was a real mystery. My task this week was washing the equipment. My work was done when the lab tools were washed clean and laid out on the shelf. Looking at the transparent beakers, flasks, and cylinders, I felt a strange nostalgia. ¡°How can you do it so well, A-702?¡± I was confident when it came to washing experiment devices. I did it so much in my first life, I ended up developing eczema on my hands. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ve done mine quickly so I will help you too.¡± ¡°Haha, no. I will do mine.¡± Most children here generally endured life like hopeless, vacant dolls, but some did not. Like A-888 that¡¯s talking to me right now. He was originally from an aristocratic family, but he had adapted well to this place. Rumor was that he was the illegitimate son of a duke, who gladly sent him to make him a psychic, but he may actually have sent him away to dispose of him. Unfortunately, we don¡¯t call each other by first names. So we didn¡¯t know each other¡¯s names and addressed each other by our assigned numbers. As I recalled the look in Kalisten¡¯s eyes earlier, I had a strange feeling. I thought he was an emotionless psychopath, but maybe he was simply an uninformed person, ignorant of how to deal with non-hostiles. ¡°Ugh¡­ !¡± ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± It looked like someone had left a scalpel blade on the appliance in a container, when you weren¡¯t supposed to. Blood was dripping from my hands, and it was stinging because of the detergent. ¡°I¡¯ll do yours.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not a big cut.¡± Having said that, I endured the stinging and put my hand back into the water. ¡°Ugh¡­ .¡± ¡°Leave it. I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m fine.¡± A-888 was particularly friendly towards me. Maybe it was simply because he didn¡¯t have many other people to talk to, but he was naturally a sociable person. He is doing this because of the last time I helped him. ¡°Help me next time.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± When A-888 was injured before and couldn¡¯t clean, I had done it for him. It stung. I put my hand in the water and continued to move without thinking, and the wound started to hurt less. After he washed the dishes, I dried them meticulously until they were squeaky and stacked them up. ¡°Excuse me, number A-702.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I wondered if I could tell him. But my curiosity won. ¡°I am Aselia. How about you?¡± ¡°Felix.¡± Felix looked at me with a smile, which dazed me for a moment. He had white hair and mysterious green eyes. How could you not know his name? ¡°Actually, I came here looking for someone.¡± I had to make sure again that there was no one around. It was just the two of us, and no one was nearby. My heart was pounding because of the tension. Felix. I heard the name and realized it. He was not just the illegitimate son of a duke. He was Felix Magnolia, the Duke¡¯s son, who would become the next Duke. He would be leaving the institute next week. He was the one who picked up Kalisten¡¯s body after he awakened and he committed suicide, and brought it to another research center he had. ¡°Who are you looking for?¡± Felix smiled spread slowly, making me unconciously back away. The Duke¡¯s illegitimate son was not a real Esper. However, Felix in ¡°And Everyone Was Silent¡± was different from other Espers and is able to leave the lab. Because his father, the Duke, was the director of this institute. ¡°Yes, there is someone I want to kill.¡± I wondered how much he wanted to kill the Duke, to pretend to be a test subject and enter here. And could he tell me something so important? What if I tell another researcher? ¡°W-why would you tell me such a thing?¡± ¡°Well.¡± His approaching footsteps felt too big and close, so I stepped back. But I was very easy to catch. ¡°Ugh¡­ .¡± He grabbed my injured hand and pressed down on my cut. Then, the blood that had barely stopped was running again. He stood so close my head almost touched his shoulder and spoke softly in my ear. ¡°Why would I tell you that?¡± ¡°Oh, i-it hurts¡­ .¡± As Felix squeezed my hand, more blood began to flow than when I was initially injured. The blood dripped down my hand and on the floor. ¡°The person I¡¯m looking for has blonde hair and calm eyes. Just like you.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°And they smell as good as you.¡± When he said that with a twisted smile, I forgot that I was trying to pull my hand out of his grasp. Chapter 7 ¡°I came here because I want to kill someone.¡± Terrifyingly, Felix said that with a menacing laugh. His white hair and dark green eyes gleaming. He looked completely different from the A-888 I had known before. Maybe because he knew he was [t1v: the to-be?] Duke of Magnolia. I knew he had entered the Arsene Lab. But I had no idea that he had entered as an A-class. In fact, the infiltration was mentioned very briefly. I didn¡¯t even know if he had found and killed the person he was looking for. ¡°Their blood smells good, just like yours.¡± Blood trickled from the tip of my finger and ran down the back of my hand. It dripped down to the floor out in a round pool. ¡°Why, w-would you say that¡­ .¡± ¡°Right.¡± He grinned and took my hand he was holding. Then he brought it close to his face, as if sniffing my scent. Fear seized me and I yanked my hand away. ¡°Don¡¯t play around.¡± ¡°Ha ha ha.¡± He smiled and I stepped back a little relieved to be freed. ¨C Beep! ¡°A-702, A-888.¡± A researcher who I would have normally felt afraid of, now felt very welcomed. ¡°Yes! A-702!¡± ¡°Yes, A-888.¡± ¡°Once you¡¯re done, move on to the next lab.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Yes.¡± My hand tingled but I put it in the back of my mind. I had so many tasks to do that a full day¡¯s time would not be enough to complete them all. Soon it would be lunch time. Felix didn¡¯t do anything weird again after that, so I felt lucky. ¡°A-702 has received the designated meal.¡± ¡°Next.¡± ¡°A-100 has received the designated meal.¡± ¡°Next¡­ .¡± When it was time to meet Kalisten again I felt some anticipation. ¡°You, there, number A-702.¡± ¡°Yes! A-702!¡± I stood up straight, with my shoulders back, at the researcher¡¯s call. Then he gave me a key. ¡°You will need it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I was not grateful, but if I didn¡¯t say thank you when I received something, retaliation could follow. Unconsciously, my eyes were drawn to the cell where Kalisten was. Maybe Kalisten is not a bad person. Maybe it¡¯s just the way he expresses himself is not good. I was trying so hard to be positive and think the best of him. Considering that I had 14 days left, I only had to be important enough to prevent him from killing me. ¨C Beep! The doors opened in unison, and I recognized he was in a more miserable state than before. Walking forward in unison, I also entered the designated space in line. Z-999, Kalisten woke up to the sound of me entering. This time he had a gag device in his mouth. The key I received before entering must have been necessary for this. On the tray were a few pills, corn soup, a rock hard baguette, an apple jam that was about to dry out, and bacon that was suspiciously oily even for pork. ¡°Hi?¡± He said he killed Aselia because she didn¡¯t laugh, so now I was going to smile every time we met. I greeted him with a smile, and he stared at me coldly. I set the plate down nearby and inserted the key I had received into the key hole next to his mouth. Turning it, the device fell to the floor with a ¡®click.¡¯ ¡°You.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Your cheek.¡± He must have been upset that I was slapped across the face because of him. ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m used to this kind of work.¡± I thought he was worried since his expression changed subtly, so I added that trying to minimize it. Who was worrying about who? He seemed to have no idea what he looked like now. Kalisten¡¯s appearance was disastrous. His whole body was bound, and it seemed that the ¡®stimulus¡¯ given in the morning test was physical pain. ¡°Excuse me, Z-999.¡± ¡°¡­ .¡± ¡°Can I wipe your face?¡± He glared at me again. Then, after he looked down, I felt as if the panther had given me permission, so I smiled and poured a little water on the dry cloth I was carrying. ¡°Why do you get in trouble if I don¡¯t eat?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ that¡¯s just the rule. It¡¯s my fault if you¡¯re hurt.¡± ¡°Do the people who hurt me the most say that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in pain, Z-999.¡± As Kalisten looked at me so intensely I suddenly panicked and almost avoided his gaze. I had thought about it before, but Kalisten seemed to be very good at talking with his eyes. If he was displeased or angry. ¡°You know, Z-999, I hope you don¡¯t get hurt.¡± ¡°Nonsense.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s nonsense, so you can disregard it.¡± Then I wiped the dried blood from his face. There were thick bloodstains near the ears, and it seemed that the healing psychic had roughly healed them. He was quiet so I could wash his face. I was unnerved by his bright red eyes following my every move, but I still pretended not to see him and continued to clean him up. Chapter 8 of his grasp. ¡°Now you can eat.¡± His eyes had softened considerably from the glare he donnedbefore, so he was worth looking at. So I looked into his eyes and smiled. ¡°Move.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± It must have been uncomfortable that I was too close. So I went back half a step. I knelt down and held the tray. Then, I stirred the corn soup and scooped it out and fed him. He signed loudly and ate it reluctantly as if he couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°Ugh¡­ ¡± ¡°Is it hot?¡± ¡°¡­ Uh.¡± So I blew on the next spoonful. He looked at me as if he was baffled at my actions but still ate it calmly this time. When Z-Class subjects got in trouble their hands were tied behind their backs, so there wasn¡¯t much he could do. ¡°You.¡± ¡°My name is Aselia.¡± ¡°A-702.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you always get in trouble if I leave food behind?¡± ¡°Yes, you do not need to worry about it. It happened a lot in the previous rooms too¡­ .¡± ¡°Do you go to other rooms?¡± I nodded, and he looked strange. An expression of great displeasure. ¡°I did not know.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know.¡± His apologetic voice was so good, so I automatically asked, distracted by it. Come to think of it, I think he ate everything he was given in the novel. However, if I only serve meals without making eye contact with him because I am afraid as in the original story, I will be brutally murdered. ¡°So, are you going to eat well from now on?¡± He didn¡¯t answer and met my eyes. I reflexively laughed and he frowned openly. I couldn¡¯t give in. 14 days left. I have to grin. As if to confirm, I served him the soup, and he ate it, like a despondent cat. Upon consuming all of the soup, I spread apple jam on top of the crumbly baguette. After applying it carefully, I handed it over to him, and he looked extremely disgusted. ¡°Do you hate apple jam?¡± ¡°¡­ .¡± Because his eyebrows had furrowed, I was about to gently pulled back the food. Then he noticed my cheek, took a deep breath and ate it. The bread was so leathery and tough, it was difficult to tear it apart. And in the mouth it sounded like chewing rubber. Of course, he looked offended by the food. I placed bacon on top of the last remaining piece of baguette. He seemed to hate the smell of oil the most. With a desperate expression on his face that he couldn¡¯t possibly do it, he looked at me as if appealing. So I smiled, acquising and said it was alright. But he spotted my cheek again. My face was still sore, but the swelling should have gone down by now. Reluctantly, he bit into it. ¡°Ugh¡­ .¡± ¡°It tastes awful?¡± Without answering, he forced himself to chew it. Bread that was so stiff that it hurt the jaw and meat that is closer to condensed oil. Kalisten managed to endure his rising desire to vomit. Chewing it all up and swallowing it down. ¡°Thank you, Z-999.¡± Now the only thing left to do was for him to take the pills. This was the most difficult part. I don¡¯t know how there are pills similar to those in my previous modern world, but what they gave me seemed to be a mixture of vitamins, sleeping pills, and the unique stabilizer that can only be found in this world. Kalisten was now at the beginning of his first awakening. So maybe they¡¯re stabilizing him in advance. Awakening was possible up to the 3rd level, with a number of stages within. I heard that the 1st awakening consisted of 5 stages. ¡°Excuse me, Z-999.¡± ¡°¡­ .¡± ¡°I think it would be best to eat only this one of these. This is a sleep aid, this is a sedative¡­ . If you eat this because you haven¡¯t woken up yet, you¡¯ll feel dizzy and tired. And never eat this,¡± I explained, as I showed him to what appeared to be pentothal sodium. [t1v: anesthetic agent] ¡°This is a confession.¡± He was looking at me blankly. ¡°You.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You smell strange.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Hypnotized, he looked at me like a possessed drunken man, and then leaned his head on my shoulder. ¡°Oh¡­ .¡± Even though Kalisten¡¯s arms were tied behind him, I couldn¡¯t move because of the way he gazed at me. It was like a herbivore being stalked by a predator. ¡°What scent is this?¡± Suddenly, the wound on my hand was tingling just like when I was with Felix. Chapter 9 ¡°What kind of scent is this?¡± I looked up in embarrassment that Kalisten was burying his face in my neck, and our eyes met. His bright red eyes looked like a beast, so my body began to tense up in anxiety. ¡®The person I want to kill smells like your blood.¡¯ I felt like I could hear Felix, so I hesitated and backed away without realizing it. Kalisten¡¯s eyes, which seemed to have lost their fondness for a moment, started to flutter with madness. ¨C Beep! The moment he was about to approached me. The door opened. ¡°Ah¡­ .¡± His eyes returned as if he had been awakened by the tinnitus of the alarm, and he even looked somewhat perplexed and embarrassed. ¡°¡­ go.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Get out.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ yes¡­ . See you in the evening.¡± Watching him while I bowed my head, I grabbed the plate. Seeing that his ears have turned red for some reason, it may be that he¡¯s so mortified to be so close to others. I had to go out with a plate and line up again. Kalisten kept his head down, so low it looked like he would never raise his head again. ¡°Number A-702.¡± ¡°Yes! A-702!¡± The researcher glanced at my plate and scowled seeing Kalisten had eaten everything. Come to think of it, he wasn¡¯t the researcher who always inspected us. The original researcher had brown hair, but the person standing here today had red hair. ¡°Damn it, that bastard. Did you work up an appetite after killing people?¡± It was clear that he had raised his voice deliberately for Kalisten to hear. Confused, I lowered my gaze to his feet. Then the researcher patted my shoulder and said, ¡°Be careful of that bastard. He¡¯s someone who only laughs when he kills people.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ . T-thank¡­ thank you¡­ .¡± The researcher smiled crookedly and went to inspect the others¡¯ plates. The blood on Kalisten. It occured to me it might be the blood of the researcher who slapped me across the face. I lifted my head, then felt Kalisten looking at me and looked down again. I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to make eye contact. *** Everything was awful at the lab, but there was one favorable point in the shower facilities. Each shower was private with its own partition, so we were able to wash completely independently. I had to take a shower with my necklace on so I should not stand out as much as possible. And while it¡¯s important to keep my identity hidden, I also didn¡¯t want to see the naked bodies of men outside. Maybe if Kalisten wasn¡¯t so mutinous I would have ran into him in the shower. Surprisingly, the first ones to shower were Grade A. It¡¯s because we listen well and don¡¯t fight back. On the contrary, the higher the rank, the stronger people¡¯s rebellions grew and the more violent they often were. Water dripped from a blue sphere above my head. Just like the sunflower shower head I saw in my last life. After waiting for a while, cold water trickled down. ¡°¡­ .¡± After checking that the door of my compartment behind me was sealed, I took the necklace off for a while and set it aside. This original body returned, and one couldn¡¯t help but be confident while looking in the mirror. Even though she was a little shabby and haggard now, with just some clean clothes and grooming, she was beautiful enough to make anyone look back twice. [t1v: body disassociation hence 3rd POV] I applied soap to the hair that ran down my shoulders. I didn¡¯t expect shampoo here. Fortunately, there¡¯s soap. I gathered all my hair to the front and washed it as if I was washing clothes. Then I washed, and the unbearable cold water made me whimper. When I was a man, my hair was short and taken care of. However, when I was a woman, her hair was long enough that it came down to her buttocks because there was no one cut her hair. When I took off the necklace, my voice changed too, so I avoided raising my voice. That¡¯s why I had to bite my lips while shivering. The ice cold water hit my head, chest and dripped to my toes, freezing my feet. My body trembled and my teeth were chattering even though my jaw was clenched, but I couldn¡¯t help it because I hated not washing. Sometimes I felt like I was getting used to washing with cold water since I did it every day. But I still look forward to the hot water that came out about once a week. Higher grades always have hot water. ¡°Huh¡­ .¡± After washing everything, I shut off the water. Squeezed out my hair and put the necklace back on. My hair got shorter again, and it was difficult to walk because my body was shaking. I had to wipe my body with a towel and leave. Clothes are given out when you go out the exit. When I closed the door, everyone was still showering, and there were groans and whines of pain here and there. As I looked back at a cry, I bumped into something. ¡°Ugh¡­ !¡± I fell squarely on my butt wheel with a thud and pain shot up my tailbone. But soon it all faded away. Unconsciously, I lifted my head to see who I bumped into. A man with bright red hair and blue eyes. He was looking down at me, expressionless, and I saw the grade and number written on his shoulder. Number Z-898. He had already manifested Esper powers. Mentioned several times in the original novel. ¡°Ah, I¡­ so-sorry¡­ .¡± He stared at me and placed a large towel over my head. For a moment, my vision went dark, and I was terrified at the thought of being hit. Then I noticed the weight of my necklace held together with strong magnets was missing. I hurriedly found it, put it on and removed the towel. He was nowhere to be found. ¡°Ah¡­ .¡± He must have seen that I was a woman.