「 Starting the neural alignment system. Processing data. Test Subject ID: Kim Jin-Soo - Online. Processing data. Loading general stats…」

I felt a chill run down my spine and I knew something was wrong. Lee Seung-gi seemed to feel it too.

—Jin, did you hear that? —he asked, his voice tinged with concern.

I nodded, my eyes scanning the narrow subway for signs of answers. People were yelling, cursing, and fighting among themselves. The air was thick with confusion and fear. 

"Had they all heard the voice?"

—What the hell is going on?! —someone shouted.

I felt a knot form in my stomach. This didn't feel like a reality show or a joke. Something was definitely wrong.

—Who speaks to me? —another voice roared— Was that you, you piece of trash?!"

People were lashing out, their emotions were getting out of control. It was chaos.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus.

—It sounds like an artificially created female voice —I said in my measured, calm words—. We have to find out what's going on.

Suddenly, blinding light flooded the subway, and I felt a surge of panic. Was this some kind of attack? Were we under attack?

But when the light faded, I found myself in a great underground cavern. The walls were made of roughly hewn stone, and the ceiling stretched an impossible height above us. The cavern was bigger than anything he had seen before.

As I took in my surroundings, I noticed four doors scattered throughout the cavern. They seemed to have been carved out of the rock by some intelligent being. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

—Jin, look! —Lee Seung-gi's voice broke through my thoughts and I then turned to see what he was pointing at.

A creature stood in front of us, its body covered in tattered black robes. His face was a grotesque mass of flesh and blood, with eyes that glowed like obsidian. Horns protruded from its forehead, and its wings were leathery and ragged. It was like something out of a nightmare.

「 It is pleasant to be able to savor the aroma of life. Centuries have passed since the last time. Can you understand me, mortals? 」

The creature's voice wasn't close to what I'd heard in my head, but that wasn't a reason to rule out the possible connection this thing had to the voice.

When the other passengers heard that the creature spoke fluent Korean, they probably thought it was some guy with a lot of free time wearing a fancy dress suit.

—I want the name of the owner of all this! I'm going to file a complaint right away! Now, give me the name of your boss!

「 Please refrain from interruptions. You all will be able to satisfy their doubts later, now we need to process the corresponding conditioning. 」

—And shit! I want your boss's name right now! And don't you dare test my patience, because I will press charges against you too!

—So the subway we got on was actually a facade? Wow, it's amazing that all this time we have been on this stage...

—I have a work meeting... Please, can I go now?

It really didn't make a lot of sense to the resolution that people were drawing from all of this. They seemed to have forgotten about the injured and bleeding people, also that they themselves had suffered some kind of blow when the subway stopped abruptly. Also, it was too risky to submit strangers to a show without their own signature or consent. This was all too absurd to take such minor details into account, not to mention that except for me… and maybe Lee Seung-gi, there was no one else with the mental capacity to notice these things.

—Jin, this place is dangerous… —Lee Seung-gi said in a low, nervous tone.

—Huh, did you just find out? —I answered, looking carefully at the creature— It's obvious that these people seem to want to blind themselves and not want to accept reality. That thing, I feel something extremely unpleasant from it.

「Their voices are shrill. My ears.... Silence. 」

Suddenly, the creature raised a finger and pointed its black fingernail at the man who wanted to file his lawsuit. The demon's finger was painted red and in a second, a fine line like a needle cut through the air in the direction of the man. People had noticed this and when the eyes of all of us fell on the subject, we could see smoke coming out of his chest, followed by a river of blood that simulated the opening of a barrel of red wine.

The man, who until now was openly complaining, fell face down on the ground without emitting the smallest moan.

「You guys and your natural ability to bring out your savagery is something I should not be subjected to. 」

Something in the environment told me that that scream was missing, echoing throughout the room, a heartrending cry or a howl of terror was necessary.

「 For the next interruption, there will be two debtors and four who must help pay the debt. 」

But the fear was so strong that no one dared to breathe out of place for not wanting to alter the demon's orders.

「Thank you for adapting. Alright, let me start with the explanation. The Trial of the Initiate is simple: each of you must fulfill certain requirements in a pre-arranged measure of time. Those who meet the requirements will receive a reward. Those who don't, will die. So that the task does not become so tedious, think of it as a video game. Complete the quest that I, the NPC, have given you and claim the reward for your efforts. 」

At that moment and without letting me evaluate the demon's instructions, a black box with white letters appeared in my eyes. It was like an illusion done too well, so when I tried to test it by moving my hand over it, I could see that it wasn't really something tangible, but was inside my reticules.

「Name: Sebastian Rosemont (Kim Jin-Soo)

Strength: 1.3

 

Agility: 0.7

Vitality: 0.10 (+1 –> 1.0)

Intelligence: 7.2

Skills: 2」

[• The all-seeing eye.

Description: You possess the ability to read the statistics of others.

[• Color Thief.

Description: You have the ability to distinguish the danger levels of a living being or an area.

「 Status: Open wound on the forehead, light bleeding. 」