Young Master's PoV: Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day

Chapter 175 - 175: The Nine Hand [II]

"This!" I exclaimed.

The door creaked open with a low metallic groan that echoed through the room beyond — making it feel less like a door being opened and more like a tomb being disturbed.

The air that spilled out was colder. Thicker. Like something old and damp and rotting.

Juliana froze.

Even I — knowing what to expect — felt the subtle coil of unease wrap itself around my throat.

Rexerd's secret lab was… wrong.

It wasn't just messy or chaotic — it was simply wrong.

Everything here felt like it had been twisted out of shape, like some unseen force had warped the air itself.

The floor was clean. Too clean. As if blood had been scrubbed from it too many times.

Every surface gleamed with a sickly sheen under dim, green-glassed alchemical lamps bolted into the ceiling.

The soft light cast flickering shadows across a series of glass containment pods that lined both walls.

Those glass containment pods were actually tall, cylindrical tanks of reinforced crystal, filled with a viscous blue liquid.

And inside them floated… creatures.

Some half-formed. Some half-dead.

…Some even half-human.

Some were missing skin.

Others had too many limbs.

One twitched violently as if caught mid-seizure when the door opened… like it could still feel fear for the man who was going to enter the lab.

The man who made it this way — made it a cluster of fused faces writhing beneath its translucent flesh.

It was a disturbing sight — not just that particular creature but all of them. It made my stomach churn and I had to physically stop myself from retching.

Then, I stepped in.

Juliana followed me, half-dazed, covering her mouth.

Thank goodness. It seemed like I wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable here.

And moreover, there was still something that could make even unnerve this homicidal bitch. That was actually very rare.

I walked forward, my steps echoing against the steel tiles as I passed the pods one by one.

"These…" she began, voice still hoarse from before. "Just what the hell is this place? And are these… are these people?"

Okay, more than just unnerved.

She sounded shaky.

Was this too much for her?

At this point in the story, Juliana was unhinged, but she wasn't a full-blown lunatic.

Maybe I was pushing her a bit here.

I glanced at her over my shoulder and stilled for a second.

Beyond the fear and disgust in her eye, beyond the revulsion and horror… I clearly saw curiosity and fascination.

Okay, yeah. Nevermind. She was still a deranged psycho. She'd be fine.

I sighed and focused forward, answering her quietly in the next moment. "They are people. Well, mostly. I don't know if you can even call them that anymore. They were prisoners. Vagrants. A few unlucky Hunters who were declared 'missing in action,' or some low-ranked Awakened girls who were his past victims. This is Rexerd's secret lab, the place where he re

Something older.

Something softer.

And then it vanished — buried beneath that well-practiced façade of detached elegance.

Just like that, her mask was back on.

"Sure," she murmured, her tone clipped but controlled.

I didn't respond.

There was no need to. The message had landed.

I reached the door and pulled out a golden key. I held it up so she could see it before placing it against the frame.

A keyhole magically appeared into existence on the door's surface.

"But I can answer one of your questions," I said. "How I got here? It's this."

"A key?" she asked.

I nodded, slipped it in the keyhole, and turned it.

The door creaked open — not into the chamber outside, but into my bedroom.

"It's called the Key of Order," I said. "A hidden academy relic. It can teleport you to any room within the Academy. You just need a door. Neat, right?"

She nodded, despite herself, eyes wide with quiet amazement.

"Anyway," I said, stepping aside and holding the door open for her, "go get your wounds treated. That arm of yours is broken — it should be treated immediately. Take my Ace badge, it should be on the console table in the foyer. Also, don't parade around with that shirt. Put it in a bag — you'll find one on the table too."