"Just tell us where do you put the core of the Zombie King and we will give you a painless death."

The voice of a mature man with bulky figure said to him sternly but he didn't have the slightest interest in what he was saying.

'My final outcome is still death so what's the different. These guys really don't know how to negotiate.'

The individuals in front of him, who parade themselves in the path of justice, chivalry and salvation, they were considered as the heroes of humanity.

But what about him?

Due to his ability, the humanity managed to create a vaccine for the zombie virus mutation. Due to him, they managed to discover high ranking zombies.

He also the one who killed the zombie King and this caused him to lose one arm.

But what did they called him?

The traitor of humanity. That was what they labelled him as and maybe that would be how the future generation going to refer to him as.

Isn't it laughable?

History is written by the winner, that was what they said. But does such history, accurate?

Nobody wanted to answer such question.

Maybe at the end, only God would be the only one who truly know what had happened.

If God really exist, that is.

He looked at the heavy grey cloud on the sky. It made him feel better, thinking that at least the nature was grieving for his downfall and death.

"Sigh, stop being stubborn. Shouldn't you think that you have done enough atrocities? This is the only opportunity you have to help humanity."

"Pftt hahahahahaha." What kind of bullshit.

He couldn't help but laughed. It was one of the most absurd things he had heard after a long time.

Help humanity? Him? Haven't he done more than enough?

"What's so funny! This bastard really-"

"Stop it. He is beyond saving. If you don't want to tell us where the core is, then we have no choice but to derive it from your memory. Sarah start your ability."

The man only looked at the group of 'heroes' in front of him. He was one of them in the past. But somehow he suddenly became their enemy.

The irony.

He kept on smiling deprecatingly. Blood was soaking his entire body, leaving only his black haired and black iris remained gleaming under the sky.

He was kneeling on the ground with swords and arrows protruding from his back, stomach and guts. His body also riddled with bullet holes.

It wasn't a pleasant sight especially when a deprecating smile was plastered on his scarred face.

Normal human should have long died but he didn't as if God wanted to torture him more.

"I'm sorry," a woman said to him in a low voice before he started to feel an excruciating headache.

His smile became wider the more pain he felt. This makes the people around him to feel goosebumps. Their instinct was telling them to run but they persisted and remained.

"Erghh I can't....extract, it's too hard. I-"

"Well of course you can't. You're only a level 6 mental ability user while I'm at least a level 9 and guess what, I already ate the zombie King core. I'm curious how that will affect me even though you guys managed to defeat me."

He could feel the core already finished being absorbed and his body started to feel hot, as if something going to explode from the inside.

"You! How can you-"

"Captain we need to run!"

"You bastard-"

The situation suddenly turned 180° and nobody expected such thing to happen including the man who was the center of all of it.

'Well, shouldn't I at least drag my fellow former teammates along with me to hell?'

-BANG!

A huge explosion occur. A mushroom shaped smoke cloud appeared within seconds, towering as high as 300 meters into the air with the radius covering around 5km wide.

There was a huge bright light, blinding everyone outside of the radius. The screams of people instantly vanished as if they were sucked into a vacuum space.

The man who thought he might go to hell instead felt weird why he didn't feel the pain he expected to feel.

Instead he felt as if he was floating inside a body of water before falling asleep. At least he managed to get a painless death, was what he thought.

.
.
.
.
.

Chirp chirp chirp swish rustle

 

'Hmm, is that the sound of heaven or am I in the afterlife?'

Suddenly, he felt something warm on his skin. It feels like a warm, wet towel with someone's hand holding his right arm and using the towel on his skin. It feels comfortable, but his body feels heavy as if he have not been moving for a long time.

'Do I still have the same sensory ability even after I die? I thought, when people die, they can't feel anything anymore.'

Later, he felt something sharp pricked his hand and a cold liquid started to enter his body. He didn't sense any killing intent from whoever was doing this to him at the moment. After struggling for quite a while, he opened his eyes.

"Ughh...." an almost inaudible groan escaped his mouth. He squinted his eyes the moment he opened them, and after a moment, he could already adjust to the lighting around him.

Slowly blinking, what came into his line of sight was a blank white ceiling and a young man standing beside him.

The window were huge but it was covered with metal bars like those windows in prisons. Bright sunlight shone into the room through the window.

-Clang!!!!

A loud sound suddenly came from his side where he saw a metal tray had fallen to the ground with a white wet towel. A young man, presumably in his mid-20s, wearing something that looked like a butler suit, looked at him with a shocked expression before he regained his calm and smiled at him. While looking at his smiling face, he noticed that the butler pushed one of the buttons on his bedside.

"Are you feeling any pain or discomfort, young master?" He asked politely.

Since he still can't move much and his voice doesn't seem to work either, he just have to use his facial expressions to try to express himself. He moved his head and make a confused expression since he hope this kind-looking guy can explain something to him.

"Oh sorry I forgot to tell you that you can use sign language to communicate with me," the young man made a sign language using his hands, meaning the same thing that he said.

'Such dedication, to even learned sign language,' is what he thought until a sudden revelation strike him.

I can understand the sign language?!

He was confident that he had already really died, but suddenly he was here at a place that looked like a hospital room, understanding sign language that he never learned. 

Wait, what language is this man even using?

The room looked like a hotel suite at a first glance but upon observing, the bed he was lying on obviously a hospital bed with IV drips connected to both his hands.

Sensing that he might be confused, the young man explained, "You have been in a coma for three years, young master, and this is the first time you wake up. I have already notified the doctor and healers. They will arrive as quickly as they can."

I was in a coma?

Didn't my body obviously destroyed beyond repaired, not even a speck of my ash was left. How could I even survived when I became the center of an explosion?!

Wait.

He called me.....young master? And he mentioned doctor and healers?

Healers?

Am I even in the same world? Parallel world?

Seeing him frowning, the young man didn't say anything but still continue smiling amicably.

A few moments later, a middle-aged man wearing a white coat comes in with four other people wearing something that looks like a mixture of priest's clothes and nurse's clothes while wearing masks where only their eyes are visible.

"Please give a proper check on young master."

The young man, who told me that his name is Vincent Moran, said to the middle-aged man, who he assumed is a doctor, and the other four could be his assistants, younger doctors, or nurses.

"Young master, I need to ask you a few questions to determine your conditions, so you just have to nod or shake your head. Can you do that much, young master? Or you can do a sign language," he asked me carefully while the other four people were already ready to jot down everything.

He just nodded his head slightly in response.

"Do you feel uncomfortable?"

He shook his head.

"Do you feel something weird in your body?"

That was when he suddenly realized that his current body does feel weird.

He had long black straight hair before, but he didn't see any of his hair while lying here as if it has been cut really short. He also realize that this body seems younger, thinner, and weaker than the body he remembered.

If he was in a coma for three years, it could become weaker and thinner, but how come it also becomes younger? Since he did feel weird about so many things, he just nodded his head.

"Can you move your body?"

He quickly shook his head.

"Later, we will give you a muscle relaxation potion and a few healers will massage your muscles, especially your arms and legs. We will also come up with a rehabilitation plan for you later on after discussing it with your family."

Hearing the word 'family' he automatically shook his head.

'My family, I already killed all of them before I fled and I felt no regret or remorse because that's what they truly deserved.'

"What's wrong, young master? Do you want to discuss it with your family yourself? Some of the staff already reported your condition to your grandparents," Vincent explained it to me.

'Wait a minute? Did I really somehow.....'

Looking at my face which looked confused the more the people talked, the doctor decided to let him rest, "I think that is enough for today. We will give the potion later, and we'll do the massage tomorrow. The young master should rest more. The food for lunch will also be given later, and some healers might monitor the young master during every meal to make sure his digestive system is fine. Vincent, please take care of the young master. "

They quickly went out of the room after they finished checking my pulse and taking my blood samples, and now it's just me and Vincent left in the room. Vincent then adjusted the bed height, and now instead of lying, he was leaning on the bed.

It feels more comfortable this way, and he subconsciously let out a smile slightly to thank him.

"You're welcome, young master," he said happily.

Knock knock

"Sir Vincent, this is the potion. Give it to young master Ares as prescribed in the note," said the healer before quickly leaving.

He looked at it with interest because it didn't look like any other medicine he'd seen before. Vincent was currently holding something that looked like a glass test tube containing a bluish liquid.

He could see a small post it note stuck to it. Seeing his curious gaze, Vincent showed the potion to him, including the note.

'What language is this writing? Wait, what language did these people speak just now? It's not English, Korean, Mandarin, or any language that I've ever heard of before. Their faces appeared to be European, but I'm not sure because Vincent appears to be a mix of Eastern Asian and European descent.'

Seeing my confused expression, Vincent quickly explained, "The prescription said that you have to take this after waking up in the morning and before going to sleep at night, thus two times a day. You have to relax for an hour upon consuming it, and heavy movement is not recommended during this one hour. "

'It seems like I can understand the language perfectly. Have I reincarnated into another body?'

He decided to think about everything later because after consuming the potion, his body felt lighter and a warm and refreshing feeling started enveloping his whole body, starting from my stomach area. It might be the effect of the potion. He fall asleep within seconds while enjoying the pleasant sensation.

That was why he didn't know he would have another visitor coming into his ward.

Knock knock

"Mat-matriarch!"

"Lower down your voice, Vincent. So how is he?"

"He looks fine, but he seems confused when the doctor is here. However, he still cooperate with the doctor and consumed everything that was given to him," Vincent reported it.

"I heard that it might take some time for him to be able to move."

"The doctor estimated that the young master would be able to move his upper body tomorrow, but it might take around two weeks for him to be able to walk and run normally. The doctor has already prepared a rehabilitation plan for one week for young master Ares and he is waiting for you to confirm it as the legal guardian of the patient."

"That's good then. I will go now and meet the doctor. Make sure you don't leave his side at all."

"I will protect the young master to my best ability," Vincent said, bowing 90 degrees.

"Let's go Garan."

Clack!

The door was closed again and the silence continued to envelop the room.

"Vanya, are there any rats lurking around?"

"....."

"Make sure no information about the young master leaks out. Kill any rats that you identify. "

"..."

The room returned quiet and tranquil. Vincent stared at the red haired youth laying defenseless on the bed.

"Young master, you should rest comfortably," Vincent said while tucking the blanket neatly before exiting the ward room.

At that moment, a few shadowy figures were moving swiftly, lurking around the hospital grounds, and in front of them, a few people could be seen pleading for their lives.

"Please, let us live. We can sign a mana contract stating that we won't leak anything related to the Targael," a skinny guy begging while his other two colleagues were shivering, not due to the cold of the night but due to being scared.

"We can even sign a slave contract so please don't kill us!" Another man begged desperately.

"Slavery is illegal," the voice said coldly.

"We-we can serve young master Ares and be loyal to him for the rest of our life. So please," the skinny man said with snot sticking on his face and he didn't even care about it since his life might be gone soon.

"Late. You shouldn't intend to do this kind of thing in the first place. And you're not worthy to even utter our young master's name."

-Zapp!

The head of the skinny man that was begging just now rolled onto the ground while his face seemed shocked and in despair. The other two people were also quickly handled.

"Rotten hearted people like these guys are still useless even as corpses. We can't even feed their corpses to the young lady's pet lest it going to have a stomachache. Just throw their body inside the dungeons for the monsters to feast over them," the female voice said to the other men standing beside her.

The men in black suit swiftly cleaned the area and the tranquil night continued as if nothing had happened.