Chapter 28: Amidst Freaks, Part 1

With each passing second, I felt the initial reason for my visit fade further and further away.

Everything intrigued me. I wanted to see more. To learn more about this mysterious place referred to as the Underworld. It was a childish curiosity, but that didn't stop me from occasionally looking for clarinadryl.

I merely adopted a passive approach to the matter. That's all there is to it.

Something weird entered my field of vision. A swarm of people traveling in a straight line, barely concealed by torn rugs. Their necks, wrists, and ankles were chained as they followed each other. Behind them stood a short man, a tiny mustache barely visible on his oval-faced shape. To keep such a slobby appearance, one would think he wasn't doing anything other than eating.

What drew me in was the whip he had in hand, or to be more exact, it was the way its popper kept scratching against the ground as he struggled to keep pace with the rest. He moved the whip, repeatedly striking it against the captive closest to him. As he got tired and gasped for air, he took a break, still grinning as he watched the bloody trail he left on someone's back.

Then it occurred to me. The Underworld was a place where anything might occur. I furrowed my brows, appalled by such a display of superiority. Not that it mattered. I was unable to offer any assistance.

I pursued, pretending to be one of the many inhabitants of the Underworld. As far as I could tell, no one was paying attention to me in particular. Without my knowledge, the atmosphere around me gradually darkened. Even the constant noises I've heard up until now diminished.

Something growled beside me. I could see its figure through the bars of the cage. Its size was substantially smaller than what I'd seen previously during the exam, yet it was still a monster. A furred beast with a humanoid body. It had a wolf's head and a sharp row of teeth, which the beast showed as it glared at me. Its claws seemed ready to shred through my flesh at any given moment. 

I only met its gaze with an apathetic one of my own.

Monsters weren't something I could show pity toward, even if they were enslaved. 

"Excuse me, sir," someone from behind said in an oddly pitched voice, rubbing his hands. I didn't like the eagerness in his eyes. "Do you have any interest in this beast?"

"No, I don't," I responded coldly, turning my back on the slave trader.

I merely adopted the demeanor that Ethan advised me to have.

He clicked his tongue as he grumbled, "Such a rude customer."

And you disgust me to no end. I wanted to tell him that much but knew that it would be better to keep my trap shut instead. That was the kind of place the Underworld was, and I was still learning the rules I had to play by.

But those thoughts became irrelevant as I delved deeper.

Under the light of a torch, their sunken cheekbones became even more pronounced. I doubted they were fed anything at all. They wore filthy clothing that couldn't hide their malnourishment. But it was their eyes that captured me. Empty pairs of gleaming jewels gazed back—straight through me—as if I wasn't a human at all, but an item.

It made me wonder.

Was that how Reyna and Connor saw me before?

Just an outer shell of a human being? Devoid of any purpose?

"Are you interested in them?" came out in a mechanical voice.

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From the corner of my eyes, I peered at the person beside me. He was a tad taller than I me and his jaw was entirely covered in sleek metal. Blue tubes shimmered from its edge and down his neck, which the cloak he wore couldn't completely seal.

"How did they get here?" I asked, trying to appear as confident as possible.

"Some of them were sold into slavery," he replied. "Others had no other choice but to become slaves because of their debts. And some, although rare, willingly chose to become slaves."

Life must be a lot easier when someone else thinks for you. Being told to go through the motions without any second thoughts, resembling more of a pet—

"—than a human."

"Are you going to purchase one?" asked the trader, ignoring my grumbles.

Although I would not want to be in their shoes, I couldn't help but envy their state of absentmindedness. Like a machine without feelings, only performing what it's taught.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to do that."

"Then you should get going."

I nodded my head, but just as I was ready to walk away, I took another peek at his augmented jaw.

I could tell he wasn't a hunter by the cavity filled with a glowing stone around the side of his neck. Because he couldn't use mana, I assumed his augmentations relied on fragments extracted from mana cores to function. Others referred to them as orbits, which were retrieved from monsters' corpses. Not from any kind of monsters, though...

"What happened to you?" I blurted out.

"This?" he asked as casually as his metallic adjustments permitted, laying a finger on his chin. "It was an accident."

I couldn't even conceive how much money he gained from selling slaves. Considering the orbit had to be changed whenever the mana ran out, just like a battery, I assumed he earned enough to maintain an augmented part. After all, it was a well-known fact only hunters could use their innate mana to sustain them until the augmentation was damaged beyond repair.

"It must've hurt a lot," I sympathized. I hoped to get him on my side. That way, he might spell out more about the Underworld.

I knew what I was doing was illogical, but in order to grasp the way things worked around me, I had to show some interest, and the man before me seemed somewhat reasonable. If I deemed the situation to be too risky for me to handle, I'll withdraw.

"Leave if you're not going to buy any slaves," barked the trader, as if he had enough of me. I knew there was no way he would entertain me further. "Go away while I'm still being polite."

I shook my head and took another stride, pretending not to be bothered by others' stares. Be it bystanders, slaves, or traders. It wasn't something I wanted to boast about, but I've seen my fair share of disturbing things even before coming into the Underworld.

What I've seen up until now amounted to nothing.

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