Chapter 113: In the Darkness

The next moment my consciousness returned was in the midst of pitch-black darkness.

Opening and closing my eyes repeatedly, I confirmed, for the time being, that I couldn’t see anything.

My limbs… seemed to be bound.

Without understanding the reason, I desperately moved both arms.

Surprisingly, the bindings loosened easily.

After untying the ropes around my arms, it was time for my legs.

They were tightly bound. It took a bit of effort, but I managed to free them as well and calmly surveyed my surroundings.

The setting gave the impression of a windowless room in an underground space.

It seemed like a place originally used for power management, filled with mysterious machines covered in buttons.

There was only one entrance, a sturdy iron door, securely locked.

“Damn, what the hell happened…”

And then, in that moment,

“Grrr…”

A sound reached my ears. The first concern that crossed my mind was, naturally, zombies.

Remaining vigilant, I shifted my attention towards the source of the sound.

“Ah…”

In the corner of the room, there lay a man resembling a rag. I recognized the man’s face.

“Old man!”

It was the elderly person with whom I had shared water earlier, appearing to be a homeless old man.

“G-g-g…”

The old man’s face was soaked in sweat.

“That voice… you are that kind young lad from earlier.”

Apparently, he recognized me just by my voice.

Considering I was covered in full-body armor back then, I was fortunate he was such an observant old man.

“What happened? Or rather, do you understand our current situation?”

By then, I had also come to the realization that I had been drugged.

But I didn’t understand the reason. Was I mistaken for someone with malicious intent?

No, if that were the case, Kouichi would vouch for my identity.

“What a mess. Did they catch you too? It seems like there’s no God or Buddha in this world.”

“What do you mean?”

Ignoring my question, the old man continued,

“Good grief. They told me there was a better place for a talk. Damn. Once a person goes crazy, it seems it’s only downhill from there.”

At that point, I noticed something strange.

In the faint light, the old man’s figure appeared blurry, and it felt like something crucial was missing.

“Hey, old man, what happened to your legs?”

The man with a homeless appearance had his right leg amputated, clearly a consequence of human actions, as indicated by the messy bandages around the wound.

“Oh… this? I got… eaten.”

“Eaten?”

Confusion set in. Zombies weren’t supposed to be this well-mannered.

“No way.”

“Yeah, just as you imagine. Seems they’re pretty hungry for meat around here.”

My head throbbed like in a night plagued by feverish nightmares.

“I saw my chopped-off leg being boiled in a big pot. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Completely! I wished they’d just killed me instead. They don’t like the taste of us if it’s past the ‘best before’ date.”

If I hadn’t developed resistance to gore from those zombies during the last five months, I might have passed out.

“Ha…Ha…Ha…!?”

Heart pounding. Breath coming fast.

The room became dimmer, and in that moment, the old man’s appearance wasn’t someone else’s—it was a glimpse into my future.

Just thinking about it made my vision distort.

The already dark and suffocating room now felt incredibly ominous.

In any case, I needed to extinguish the candle.

Revealing any vulnerability, even for an instant, seemed dangerous.

The old man had already fallen silent, perhaps thinking there was nothing more to say, or he had lost consciousness again.

In the darkness, I murmured, “Still, my hands and feet are not completely useless.”

It was almost as if I were trying to reassure myself.

Perhaps now, with the restraints removed by some stroke of fate, when those guys came for their ‘preserved food,’ it would be my last chance.

――

About an hour later, the door opened.

The soundproofing of the room was apparently flawless; not a single footstep could be heard from outside before the door suddenly opened.

“…!”

Two burly figures came into view before me.

Quietly, I slipped behind and pounced on one of them. Swiftly, I wrapped my arm around his neck.

“Huh? You fool!”

The man was taken aback and tumbled backward.

(Good! Time to exert some force… with the intention to eliminate. I’ve never taken a life, but it’s okay. I’m accustomed to dealing with zombies. I can handle it.)

However, I was naive. The man I grabbed retaliated with more strength than I had anticipated.

“You… idiot!”

He forcefully kicked the ground, slamming me—clinging to his back—against the wall.

“Gah…!”

I experienced a shock so intense that breathing became difficult, and the restraints on my arms loosened.

(This seems dangerous… I, at this rate…)

Although I thought so in my head, my entire body couldn’t muster any strength.

“Hey! Shut this guy up quickly!”

“Yeah!”

Then, something resembling a spray can was thrust in front of my eyes, and with a hiss, something sprayed.

At that moment, intense pain shot through my eyeballs.

“Guaaaahhh!”

I screamed as much as I could, clutching both eyes and I writhed on the floor like a dying cockroach.

Even if I wanted to wipe it away with the sleeves of my clothes, it was already too late. Tears were overflowing uncontrollably, and my face was burning with heat.

“Damn it!”

A dull additional pain in my abdomen. The man who had escaped my restraints apparently kicked me in frustration.

“Hey! Weren’t you supposed to be tied up?”

“That creepy otaku guy probably intentionally loosened it. It’s obvious.”

“That brat… next time I see him, I’ll pluck out his eyeballs!”

“More importantly, tie him up again! Make sure it never comes loose!”

By the time I was re-tied with ropes, I had completely lost the will to resist.

What had been sprayed on me was probably some self-defense pepper spray.

The only hope I had at that moment was for the pain to subside.

“What should we do? Should we deal with him first…?”

“Nah, let’s leave him there. Having the energy to fight back means he’ll live longer. In that case, it’s better to cook the other guy who was almost dead.”

“Ugh.”

One of the men spat.

“Oh well. I guess we’ll endure with the old man’s stinky meat.”

“Yeah…”

And then, I watched helplessly as the homeless-looking old man was dragged away.

The door closed.

The light that had illuminated the room disappeared, and darkness and silence descended.

I waited. I stayed in that spot, continuing to wait.

And as it went, half a day should have passed. The old man didn’t come back.