novelraw Chapter 5 : The World I Created (5)
Chapter 5 : The World I Created (5)
Chapter 5 - The World I Created (5)
Six days flew by like an arrow.
Perhaps because the awaited event was his own execution, the passage of time felt as brief as an instant. It was a cruelly fast six days.
For the past few days, the guards had come to beat him day in and day out. He never had a moment to be bored.
“We're the only ones who come to visit you, aren't we? What do you say, aren't you grateful enough to cry? You reactionary, Lee Taebaek.”
Lee Taebaek savored the texture of his resentment.
'Thank you for showing no mercy.'
Lee Taebaek ground his teeth and eagerly awaited that day. The day of his execution.
An early, dusky morning, before the dawn had fully broken.
Lee Taebaek, who had been tossing and turning restlessly in bed, finally sat up quietly. It was because he felt a persistent gaze stabbing him in the back.
There was no need to guess who it was. It had to be his prison neighbor.
“It's your execution day. How do you feel?”
“Unless you're going to die in my place, don't ask.”
“Hahahahaha!”
As there was obviously no clock in the prison, Lee Taebaek's sense of time was paralyzed. He realized the time had come by the sound of approaching footsteps.
Lee Taebaek's eyes widened.
His blood ran cold. Perhaps sensing his anxiety, Kang Hyunseong lowered his voice.
“Lee Taebaek, you said it yourself. That when you were in Siesta's assassination squad, you underwent so much torture training you got sick of it. Think of today as the day you see the fruits of that labor.”
“......”
“Let's see each other again, alive.”
At Kang Hyunseong's sincere encouragement, Lee Taebaek forced a relaxed expression and gave him a thumbs-up.
“I'll try to last for 6 minutes. Just get here within that time.”
It's goodbye to this godforsaken Neuro-prison. Whether the plan succeeds or fails, he would not be coming back here.
......
Led by the guards, he walked toward the execution chamber. His steps toward the chamber were heavy.
Clank, clank.
This was because two or three extra layers of shackles had been placed on his ankles, in case the death row inmate tried to escape midway.
“I'm telling you one more time, don't forget your manners. This isn't an order. It's a request. Please. Y-You get it, right?”
I guess today really is the day.
To see the guards who had relentlessly beaten him act so servile.
“Stop bothering a man on his way to die, tsk.”
Lee Taebaek's expression soured. Their faces turned pale as they made an absurd excuse.
“Our sly wives and cute kids are waiting for us! We might be bad, but what sin have they committed?!”
If Lee Taebaek were to cause a scene right before the execution, they could be held responsible.
“The sin of having the wrong parents.”
“Hey! Lee Taebaek!”
As Lee Taebaek brushed past their shoulders and walked ahead, they hurriedly followed.
The execution chamber was reminiscent of an opera house. There was a stage in the center, and in the middle of it stood an electric chair.
The attire of the spectators was even more of a sight to behold. Every one of them was dressed up in fancy tuxedos or dresses. They were also wearing animal masks; he could see fox and rabbit masks among them.
Lee Taebaek let out a dry laugh and shot the guards a cold glance.
“Your sly wives and cute kids. Are those them?”
“......”
Just then, a person in a fox mask who had spotted Lee Taebaek made a fuss. She nagged the person in the rabbit mask sitting next to her.
“Can't I buy that death row inmate? If he looked like that, you should have at least given me a heads-up!”
“That's impossible. He messed with none other than the Seoul branch of the Siesta Group.”
“Siesta......”
At the rabbit's words, the fox woman flinched. But she soon shook her head from side to side.
“Before we proceed with the execution, we will hear the sinner's final confession. Death row inmate Lee Taebaek, step forward.”
A guard brought a microphone to Lee Taebaek's lips. He was clearly tense. Not that Taebaek cared.
“Ah, ah. Mic check. One two, one two.”
Lee Taebaek's goal was to buy even a little bit of time. To delay the execution time by even a few seconds.
“To all you bitches and bastards of Lake City.”
Lee Taebaek began to speak. His voice was sweet and captivating.
“I have committed a grave sin. I killed the regular soldiers from Seoul who came to subdue me. Thinking back on it now, I have nothing but regrets. Hah, truly.”
The two pairs of eyes belonging to the guards standing on either side widened in surprise. They must have expected him to cause a scene, but his attitude and tone were surprisingly polite.
But as they say in Korea, you have to hear someone out to the very end.
“Megacorps.”
A suffocating silence fell over the hall.
“...Whether it was Siesta or the city's regular army, I should have killed every last one of them! Those fucking megacorp bastards!”
“Y-Y-Y-You crazy bastard!”
The deathly pale guards grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. They forced his body down, seating him in the chair.
Thump.
It was a crude wooden chair, hard to believe it was the execution method of a city at the forefront of science.
Nevertheless, its ability to restrain was, as expected of something from the Neuro-prison, absolutely perfect. He couldn't move an inch. A stinging sensation ran up the central nervous system clustered in his spine.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
His heart hammered against his ribs as if to break them. It was the fear of facing death. And that unknowable terror made Lee Taebaek do something impulsive.
“You dogs of the city government! I'll wipe out all of you, and the megacorps pulling the strings behind the scenes!”
In the instant that Lee Taebaek squeezed out his final, desperate struggle, the guards pulled down the control lever.
KRR-CHK!
KRACK! KRAKA-THOOOM!
......
Two million volts of electricity surged through his muscles. It was enough to clearly reveal everything hidden beneath the skin.
His skeleton and internal organs were rendered transparent. Where the current passed, his flesh melted into a reddish pulp.
The smell of burning flesh grew thick. Around that point, the body would become flimsy like a sponge and finally collapse.
It only takes one minute. A mere 60 seconds for a single life to be devoured by the electric chair.
And yet.
Four minutes and twenty seconds had passed since the execution began.
KRACK! KRA-KOW! KRAKA-THOOOM!
He was still alive. Even as his skin charred black, he held on with sheer tenacity, gripping tightly to the thread of his life.
“Wh-What the! W-W-Why won't he die!”
“It's already been five minutes, how is he still alive! It's not like his body is made of rubber!”
Flashes of light sparked incessantly in the execution chamber. At the foot of the chair, pools of blood in concentric circles gave off a bloody mist.
CRACK!
A powerful, lightning-shaped energy struck his blackened consciousness. Life returned to his clouded focus.
“Hnngh...”
Lee Taebaek had quite literally died and come back to life.
'There's no time to wallow in the sentiment of having survived.'
He immediately enhanced 'Faith' to restore his broken body, mending the torn muscle fibers that had lost their elasticity.
At the same time, he enhanced 'Life.' This was to scrape together what little stamina he had left from the very bottom.
'With the counteracting Nerf, I'll drop the electrical power by half.'
Lee Taebaek managed to perform these delicate adjustments with a consciousness that was flickering on the verge of extinction.
'Gyaaaaaaaaaaaagh!'
This was Lee Taebaek, who until a week ago, had been a game developer. That same man was now fighting against causalgia, the most vicious pain a human can feel.
“Th-this bastard. Why won't he die!”
“Just die! Please, just die!”
“Crank up the output. Let's send him off for good!”
Lee Taebaek felt a surge of irritation.
Far from being worried, they seemed completely fixated on killing him. They looked ready to pull the revolvers from their belts and put a bullet in his temple at any moment.
This is fucked up. I have to say something.
To the guards, to the spectators in their animal masks as if at a school talent show, and to the megacorps giggling behind them all. To every single one of them, Lee Taebaek roared.
“You sons of whores aaaaaaah!”
He roared, spittle flying from his lips. As if his fury reached the very ceiling, the high-hanging chandelier swayed.
“I swear, I will hunt down every last one of you, behead you, and put your heads on display for the citizens of Lake City! Do you think you can live forever sucking the lifeblood of the people! You dogs and pigs of the megacorps!”
There was a powerful echo to his shout. The concepts he had recently acquired were directly influencing his personality.
A mere death row inmate was rebuking the renowned officials of the Lake City government. Ordinarily, they would have flown into a rage and pointed their fingers accusingly at Lee Taebaek.
However, the atmosphere among the spectators had strangely shifted. How should one put it... it had become solemn.
“The national motto of Lake City is Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!“
“......”
“But look at you bastards! Do you uphold even one of these principles?!”
“......”
“If you've got mouths, then say something!“
“......”
“Dogs... pigs... bastards......”
Lee Taebaek coughed, his breath coming out in a shrill gasp. It felt as if his throat had been fried; blood, not saliva, burst from his lips.
Just then, all the lights went out. It was a blackout. The sudden plunge into darkness sent the spectators into a commotion.
“Aaaaaah! What's happening!”
“Wh-What's going on!”
The rabbit mask nervously asked a nearby bodyguard. The bodyguard replied nonchalantly.
“Uh, th-that is… it seems the electric chair ran continuously for several minutes and caused a power failure.”
“I-I see. Quickly, use the emergency line to call the control center and resume... wait a minute......”
Suddenly cutting himself off, the rabbit mask turned his head. The outline of a large, dark mass came into view.
Within the shadows, a pair of bloodshot eyes gleamed. Faced with that murderous gaze, the rabbit mask froze like stone.
“Wh-Who the hell are you?!”
“Me?”
A blunt reply came back. Along with it, an outstretched hand enveloped the rabbit mask's entire head.
“Kuaaaargh!”
“I'm a friend of the guy getting the electric treatment over there, you fucking bastard.“
“Kegh– what, bullshit—.”
The rabbit mask was lifted into the air. He grabbed at the brutish forearm, his legs flailing.
FLASH!
The lights in the hall came back on at that very moment. Having just adjusted to the darkness, the judge winced reflexively.
“Keuk, y-y-you are!”
Through the narrow sliver of vision not obscured by the fingers, he recognized who it was. His face turned pale.
CRUNCH!
A wet, crushing sound spread through the air. The headless body crumpled pathetically, like a puppet with its strings cut.
“If you've seen the face of the Resistance, you have to die.”
Kang Hyunseong muttered, wiping the filth that had splattered onto his face. He then threw an urgent glance toward the electric chair.
Lee Taebaek was there, a complete wreck. He was in a terrible state, yet had somehow managed to stay alive.
“You damn bastard… You said you'd be here within 6 minutes...”
Lee Taebaek, trembling as if on the verge of death, still managed a hearty laugh.
So that guy, he was for real.
Just before, Kang Hyunseong had heard him. To the very, very end, Lee Taebaek had resisted the megacorps and cried out for freedom.
“That's impossible, even as an act.”
The last dregs of his floating suspicion vanished. Instead, his eyes filled with reverence as he gazed at Lee Taebaek.
It was a fighting spirit. Even while being fried alive by electricity, Lee Taebaek had embodied the spirit of resistance.
“What, the reason you wanted to stop by the execution chamber was because of that living corpse?”
A woman who brushed past him spoke nonchalantly. The skin beneath her glasses was etched with fatigue.
“I'll introduce you properly later, but his name is Lee Taebaek. He's my prison buddy.”
“A buddy? I thought you meant a man, but it's a woman? Kang Hyunseong, are you cheating on Miss Mok-ryeon? I knew you were that kind of guy, but I didn't think you'd actually do it.”
“What are you talking about, Yoo Da-hee! That's a rugged man!”
The woman named Yoo Da-hee narrowed her eyes. Through a hole in his prison uniform, a glimpse of bare skin could be seen.
“Hmm. On second glance, you might be right...”
“Da-hee, what do you think of him?”
“I'll give him points for guts. I think the Commander-in-Chief will especially like him. He's a collector of crazy bastards, after all.”
“Right.”
Kang Hyunseong nodded with a satisfied look before schooling his expression. There was work to be done before the rescue.
“What's the plan, Battalion Commander Kang Hyunseong.”
“Eliminate them all. Not a single one gets away.”
Kang Hyunseong fastened his pure white coat. White was the color that symbolized the Resistance's spirit.
“Ah, but leave those two guards alive. Taebaek has some things he'll want to discuss with those bastards separately.”
The two split off in opposite directions, kicking off the floor as if pushing it away.
Gunshots and screams immediately followed in a high-pitched harmony. On their fluttering white coats, the Roman numeral IX was engraved.
......
Right after the ordeal was over, a status window appeared.
[Achieved 'Sudden Quest - A Desperate Struggle with the Electric Chair'.]
[You have acquired 2,214 EXP.]
[Taebaek's level has increased from 1 to 2.]
[Name: Lee Taebaek]
Level: 2(↑1)
Life: 8(↑3) Spirit: 9(↑4) Strength: 7(↑2)
Agility: 6(↑1) Magic: 6(↑1) Faith: 7(↑2)
It was for just a moment.
[A 10% EXP Bonus Event has occurred.]
[You have acquired an additional 914 EXP.]
'An EXP bonus event without any warning?'
The sudden quest was one thing, but there was absolutely no prior information about an EXP event.
“Ugh, ughhh… goddammit… I was fried alive. I'm not touching fried chicken for a while, fuck.”
As silence fell around him, Taebaek lifted his eyes. It seemed the situation had already concluded while he was checking his rewards.