19 – Is it time to truly feel the pain this time?

“Let’s see.”

Mia descended to the underground warehouse connected to her lab. She peered into the topless orc barrels. A sparkling purple liquid shimmered inside, like scattered dust.

“The quality seems decent.”

Mia smiled satisfactorily and checked the other orc barrels nearby.

“This should be enough for the experiment.”

Mia lightly waved the staff in her hand, lifting two orc barrels into the air. The barrels slid up the stairs as if on a slippery surface.

Creak, thud.

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After closing the underground warehouse door, the laboratory appeared busier than usual. One side had roots, as thick as human arms, hanging upside down.

The roots, resembling a face, had sunken cheeks, making sounds like ‘heuk, heok,’ while brown liquid dripped from what seemed to be the eye area. Due to the upside-down position, the liquid fell into the beaker placed underneath.

Various herbs and by-products were extracting toxins. The matured mixture filled the orc barrels.

Sizzling sound.

Mia poured the liquid from the orc barrel into a black bathtub in one corner of the laboratory.

Bubbling.

Like carbonation rising, the purple liquid surged and quickly calmed.

Mia floated an empty oak barrel with magic and sent it down to the warehouse. In the center of the laboratory, she looked at Lian, who was sitting on the cold table, and spoke.

“Now that the preparations are complete, let’s begin the experiment.”

It was a harder experiment than usual.

***

I often became a victim of experiments by mad scientists. It was not because I was particularly unlucky. It was because mad scientists conducted experiments in thousands, tens of thousands.

Due to the nature of the comedic world, where I returned to my original state a few days later, their experiments never succeeded.

Anyway, I became accustomed to all kinds of experiments, and before I knew it, I started treating experiments as midterms or quizzes that came around once in a while.

Zzzt.

Of course, at first, I felt fear when my skin melted or when blood poured out.

Zap!

But it didn’t hurt, and after some time, my body returned to normal. And the people who had been experimented on didn’t seem to care much either.

Whoomp.

As a result, I became less afraid, even when my organs and gaze faced each other, or when blood spewed out more than at a crime scene.

“…Lian, are you perhaps born with dragon bloodlines?”

“Well, is that possible?”

“Or were your parents orcs?”

“Wouldn’t that be a little too much of an insult?”

Tears streamed down my face, wondering if I was that ugly. Mia blinked her eyebrows, looked at my face closely, and nodded as if she understood something.

“Definitely not the child of an orc.”

“…?”

“Hmm, then how exactly did your body digest it so quickly for such a fast recovery?”

Mia’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. She cut my body, broke my bones, even sprinkled poison, and then took out a sewing needle and stuck it in my forearm.

Through the needle connected to a hose, blood began to be sucked and started to collect in a large container on the floor.

“Wow, even without separate equipment, the blood is flowing out.”

“Even though it looks like this, there is a delicate magic circle engraved on the needle.”

I looked closely at the needle she mentioned, but it was half-buried in my forearm, so it was not clear. Giving up on finding the magic circle on the needle, I admired the laboratory that resembled a fantasy world.

“I didn’t see that before. When did you bring this?”

Below, I marveled at a flask with a round, long neck. It was as tall as half a human body.

“…What does the body look like, exactly? I’ve certainly dissected the whole body, but I still can’t figure it out. Should I open the head after all?”

As I turned my gaze away from her harsh words, I suddenly saw a container brimming with blood, making a sloshing sound.

“Wow, how is the blood filling up so quickly?”

It’s not particularly surprising that blood similar to mine is coming out of my body. I’ve lived in a world where the blood that escapes naturally replenishes like breathing.

Empty.

Mia brought a larger container than the one receiving blood, and began collecting blood in it.

“If you start feeling anemic, let me know.”

“Yes.”

The words were no different from saying, “Let me know if you get tired of breathing.” However, finding it amusing to sit quietly and observe the surroundings, I nodded my head quietly.

Mia brought a few more containers afterward and filled them with blood, but my expression remained unchanged. Eventually, Mia removed the needle from her forearm.

“Ah… I didn’t think about this.”

Seeing the beautiful woman with a bewildered expression made me feel like I had committed some kind of sin. I glanced at Mia cautiously, like a dog that had messed up the house.

“Well, let’s try the next experiment.”

“Yes.”

Mia brought a withered root plant that made a ‘heeak’ sound.

“Lie down.”

At her words, I obediently lay on the experimental table. In an instant, my upper body split open, and the scar-covered belly was cut open by magic.

“Grrr…!”

The plant, shaking weakly, screamed as it entered my stomach.

“I wonder what will happen in this situation…”

Blocking the blood that Mia was spewing out with a familiar shield, I looked at the venomous plant stuck in my stomach. I made a face filled with pity as I stared at the root plant inside me.

“Poor thing.”

I know. They’re not just ordinary organs that assist in basic bodily functions. They are alive.

“Hieek, huk…”

“Jeseong… jeseoeung…”

“Kkuhuhuk, umma…”

The venomous plant lodged in my stomach suddenly began to cry. Mia’s expression turned to astonishment as the venomous plant, lacking proper consciousness, started crying.

Perhaps, inside there, such a conversation was taking place.

“What’s this? Is it a new recruit?”

“This guy has no spirit at all. Why doesn’t he even greet us?”

“Hey, try to keep it down. Let’s listen to what that guy is saying.”

“Hak, hak!! Virus? It’s a virus? Huh? Huh?”

Yes, it’s true. My organs are truly ‘alive.’ They possess consciousness and can even communicate in certain situations.

I discovered this fact when I was experimented on by a gloomy mad scientist.

With her bangs covering her eyes, the gloomy yet broad-minded mad scientist boldly cut into my belly, only to receive a barrage of curses from my organs, leading her to tearfully abandon the experiment.

Even in the midst of being kidnapped, I couldn’t help but console her as she cried pitifully. My organs somehow managed to seal the wound on their own. It was a shocking experience even for someone accustomed to the comedic world.

“Since then, if a timid or gloomy person opens my belly, the organs wake up.”

When another mad scientist cut into my belly, the creatures showed little reaction, but strangely, when timid or gloomy individuals did the same, they would go crazy.

‘A sample of strength and weakness.’

As I pondered, a venomous plant started wailing, shrinking and withering. Soon, it turned brown like wilted grass, shivered, and died.

“Oh… a kind friend is leaving like this.”

Unable to withstand the harsh society, a life passed away. Tears welled up inexplicably.

“What is this, what is this…”

Mia stared at my belly with a vacant expression, as if she had heard that all common knowledge in the world was a lie.

Jwooop.

My belly, contrary to usual, closed on its own. Perhaps it closed because it was cold.

“Why…? Why is this happening? It usually doesn’t heal like this?!”

Mia, with a bewildered expression, stabbed my side again. But this time, it didn’t heal immediately. Naturally, Mia was no match for the organs.

“Ah…”

Mia looked down at my body with empty eyes. Her expression was like that of a high school sophomore who just found out that what she had been studying diligently was not on the exam syllabus.

“Let’s do the final experiment.”

Mia, giving up on further understanding, proceeded with the last experiment she had prepared. She created wounds all over my body with a soulless expression, and magically sealed them.

It was said that a considerable amount of magic was used to immobilize me due to my extraordinary recovery speed. So, I was warned not to exert too much force on my body.

If you loosen your body with a burst of energy, whether the magic has been applied or not, the body will recover effortlessly.

“Go in there.”

“That is…”

“Artia’s poison, one of the most deadly poisons in this world. It’s a horrific poison that can’t even be stored without magical treatment.”

“Oh…”

Would entering there turn me into a skeleton? Sometimes, when exposed to a severe poison, one temporarily enters a bone-like state.

‘That’s a bit embarrassing.’

Those who haven’t experienced it would never know. It’s the kind of thing where bones, deeper than vital parts of the body, unseen by anyone else, are revealed to someone else.

But it was a role that couldn’t be endured even if it was embarrassing. I put my foot into the bathtub, blood streaming from the wound.

Splash!

Clothes and skin began to dissolve!

“Ouch!”

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I screamed and pulled my foot out. Mia looked at me with twinkling eyes and said,

“Did you finally feel real pain this time? Or perhaps a threat to your life…!”

“Oh, that. Well, I don’t have many clothes. It’s a bit inconvenient when they dissolve.”

…”

She stared at me again with eyes that seemed to have lost their soul. I awkwardly smiled in response to her intense gaze and looked away.

“…!”

Through the slightly open door of the lab, familiar eyes met mine. It was Noah’s pupils.

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