Chapter 4: Chapter 3

My head throbbed with pain as I walked over to the woman or rather her corpse lying slumped on the ground ass up, arms splayed. The closer I got to her, the harder my head throbbed, and it felt as if a dam threatened to break and flood me whole.

That wasn't the only thing that increased with proximity however.

I covered my nose as the stench of rot assaulted my senses and looked down at the corpse. Her head had a hole the size of a bowling ball in it, and the inside of it looked as if it had melted and rotten instantly, from the inside out, into a puddle of death.

Do dead bodies rot this quickly? Or was she a special case?

Was she already rotten on the inside?

The answer, I knew even without considering it, was no.

It was obvious. Whatever it was that I shot through her, caused...this.

Do I have enzymes in my...whatever that is, that digests things at superspeed?

I looked between my hand and her head, and gulped involuntarily.

I did that.

I did THAT.

A question battered at my thoughts.

How?

It just didn't make any sense.

My arm turned into...a gun?

And fired something?

How does that even happen?

And then it disappeared into motes of light.

Am I some type of supersoldier?

I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear even as I resisted the urge to gag from the smell.

After all, what hot blooded young man doesn't want to be a supersoldier?

It's awesome!

I cheered, and slipped on the blood pooling below my feet, slamming into a tank behind me as it rang out like a gong.

"Atatata!" I rubbed my head, and tried to get back up when I spotted a trail of gore extending out from her head, some distance away.

I followed it with my eyes as it led me to something embedded in the floor. Squatting down close, I examined the shard of bone?

No. While it had the dry texture of bone, its surface had a metallic lustre, glinting like faint starlight, the same motes of light wafting off of it.

I reached out to touch it, and no sooner had my finger made contact, it cut into my skin, a drop of blood dripping onto the shard.

Sharp!

It was deceptively sharp!

But that wasn't all.

Under my scornful gaze, the shard began to visibly disintegrate into a thin mist and disappeared, leaving behind no trace of it, no dust, no ash. As if it had never existed in the first place.

I rubbed my temples as the headaches slowly grew worse.

Am I hallucinating?

My head throbbed and I felt deeply disoriented as I noticed something else just then. The circuitry on my arm had stopped glowing. Looking further down, I found the same for the rest. The circuitry was ...gone?

No. It....was merely switched off.

The magic circuits were- wait.

Magic circuits?

Homunculus?

Designation/Fate?

What am I thinking? Where did that-ugh!

A sharp piercing pain hit me and I fell to my knees, breathing heavily, gasping for breath.

Like something had snapped inside of my head, information flooded into my mind, stampeding across my consciousness in a jumbled, garbled mess.

Magic theories, mana transfer experiments, mystic code creation, spells, charms, meta math and calculations.

My head spun and I collapsed to the floor from the sheer overwhelming amount of data pulsing through my head, unable to make sense of any of it.

It felt like I was trying to watch a thousand videos at the same time, all played at different speeds while an examiner shoots questions at you faster than you can think to answer them.

I could barely parse a word or two for every million that zipped past me and I could feel even more were on the way.

No. I couldn't wait till this had passed. More people could be here any moment and once they see what I have done to her...

And then, like the sudden silence after a lightning strike, it all stopped, my mind settled, and my ears rang with a steady tone.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I finally managed to get my bearings back and the pain subsided, replaced by an almost childlike joy at the new knowledge I had just managed to obtain. I was tempted to just sit here and learn more, my innate curiosity clawing at me desperately, but I knew better.

Yeah. Let's get out of here first. I can sort through all that information later.

With great effort, I diverted my attention from the information filling my head and grit my teeth.

Summoning all of my willpower to bear, I heaved myself off the ground and back to my feet, slowly stumbling from tank to tank till I returned to the woman's corpse.

More and more data continued to pour in - tactics, troop movements, territory management, bounded fields, cooperative spellcasting- and it only cemented the idea in my head.

I hadn't just been reincarnated, I had been isekai'd to a fantasy world.

Today was a very bad day for my sense of reality. It was like the world was hell bent on turning my understanding of it topsy turvy.

Yet, I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the novelty of it all.

Not just a second chance at life but one with magic? Could I ask for more?

I laughed softly at the irony as I looked over the dead woman with a cold, analytical gaze before I began to strip her of her clothes.

If I am to escape, I'd rather not do it in my birthday suit.

Thankfully, while she was a woman, the uniform had a pair of pants that fit me, if only by the thinness of my bony visage.

Strapping the belt against my hip, I put on the slightly bloodstained top and extracted the earpiece from her head. Wiping the rotten mass from it, I put it in my ear.

Disgusting as it was, I'd rather have an in on their comms and know their next move. Information is power, and I need all that I can get.

Adjusting it a little bit the buzzing noise slowly turned into a stream of voices and then further into one cohesive stream.

"Row 23-3 check. All clear. Moving to Row 23-4." A voice came in through the earpiece alarming me. I looked around and noticed a nameplate on the tanks.

The nearest one was 23-5-7.

In the distance, I could see a torch light scouring the lines.

Shit.

I need to get out of here.

I stood back up and quickly tiptoed away, row after row.

Not long after a panicked shout sounded out on the earpiece, warning of an intruder.

And now they know.

Great.

I shook my head and continued on my way.

Hands to the wall, follow to the right. I muttered to myself quietly as I traced a path to the closest wall and then along it. It was a simple maze solving algorithm that worked in all non-liminal spaces and coincidentally, it was also helpful in finding your way out of places. Something my grandfather taught me one summer after I got lost in a book fair.

Sweet memories. I smiled. I missed him.

Following the algorithm, I continued on and lo and behold, not five minutes later, weaving through the tanks and pillars that made up this football stadium sized lab, I avoided the many peiple searching through the rows till I spotted the door.

There was just one problem.

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Guards. Two of them, posted by the door. Of course there are. They're blocking the door because they want to stop me from escaping this place.

Tch!

I looked around and thought for a moment.

How do I get them to go away?

I don't have anything to throw and make a noise or distract them.

And I certainly can't fight the two of them.

While I did a little bit of kickboxing, I was no fighter. Especially 1v2 and at a size and muscle disadvantage.

But I had an idea.

Skulking behind the nearest tank, out of sight and earshot, I checked the label on the bottom.

59-8-4.

Hmm...this will do.

I cleared my throat, pressed the mic button on the earpiece and made my best impression of a woman's voice.

"Row 14-8 check. Moving to Row 14-wait! Intruder alert. Intruder on Row 14-9. In pursuit, requesting backup!"

"Hold pursuit. Backup is on it's way." A voice replied from the other end and I saw one of the guards dash away at blinding speed, the circuits on his skin glowing bright as he pushed off against the floor with a boom.

It gave me pause for a moment.

If they can all do that, then I can't even fight one like I had planned.

Still, my odds are better now. And these people don't look too smart.

If I stay here, I'm going to get caught, no question. But if I risk it.....

There is a chance.

Just then, I noticed the blood on my collar, dripping down and staining the pristine uniform.

And an idea struck.

Yes. This is a better idea.

Turning the corner around the tank I was hiding behind, I made my way over to the door, limping, grabbing my neck with a dull look in my eyes and blood smeared over my throat.

As I got closer the guard flashed a light at me, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm injured. The intruder got to me." I said in a hoarse voice.

The guard looked at me carefully for a moment, and turned up his nose from the stench.

I had to physically stop myself from breaking character as a deep sense of terror washed over me.

Then, he gave me a small nod and stepped aside, giving me right of way.

I nodded back and limped out, head down as a smile broke through my facade.

Escape, success!

Once I was far enough out of the room, and up two flights of stairs and past a few corridors, and I hadn't spotted any more people, I finally let myself relax. I was still careful, but I finally heaved a sigh of relief. Step one of my escape, getting out of the lab, was successful.

Now for step two, getting out of this facility.

I began to walk with a skip in my step, till I came to a wide solar, a glass roof letting drizzle in beautiful streams of light over a small garden and a pagoda with a picnic setup.

For a solid minute, I was frozen in place captivated by the beauty of the place, listening to the sweet chirping bird song from the orchard some ways from me.

I didn't know if it was because it was truly so captivating or because it was this body's senses had never felt it before, all of those sensations, the music, the sweet scent of flowers, the trickling of a stream, it all sent me into a trance.

"It's beautiful." I couldn't help but comment, before I regained my bearings.

"Now where is the way out?" I muttered, scanning the surroundings.

"Oh it's just that way, the door to the right." A voice answered.

"So that's where-Wait a fucking minute." I turned around to see a tall, beautiful man smiling softly behind me.

My heart froze over as I jumped back, getting ready to fight, when he just raised a hand and stopped me.

"Who are you?" I asked coldly, as I scanned the surrounding for any others.

"Hm?" The man raised an eyebrow, with a playful smile, "Shouldn't I be asking that question, mister intruder?"

A shiver ran down my spine.

He knew!

I got ready to run, and began to look for something to stall him, but he just laughed.

"Relax. How about we talk about it, over drinks?"

He waved his hands, and imperceptibly, tge world shifted around us. Before I knew it, I found myself standing before a plush velvet couch in a professional looking saloon, and the beautiful man sat down opposite me, pointing at the sofa beside me.

"Have a seat. Drinks?"

And before I could reply, I was already sitting down.

This time I didn't even bother to ask how as any thoughts of fighting were crushed in my mind.

After all, how do you fight against someone that can warp reality? Certainly not with your bare hands.

"Yes." I sighed in defeat, "I'll have a drink. I need one, in fact."

"I thought you might say that." He swiped his hand and a martini glass appeared in his hand.

"Vodka martini, shaken not stirred." He said with a cheeky grin.

A subtle powerplay to let me know that he knew.

He knew everything about me.

But I refused to give him the pleasure.

Taking the glass from him, I raised it in a cheer.

"I always wondered what it tasted like." I took a sip, putting on my best poker face.

"Eh, well, it's nothing special." I added with a bit of snark, a cold and calculative look flashing through my eyes.

I may not be able to fight back, but I won't play by his rules of it's the last thing I do. Small as it may be, it will be my resistance. For even a cornered mouse will fight like a man possessed.

Do your worst, bitch.

___________________

MC escapes the lab and falls right into a trap.

Also, some info dumping.

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And the previous chapters too.

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Bye~

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