Meanwhile, while Baek Seon-woo was cleanly clearing out the evildoers, an injured Awakened was kneeling in the Villain manager's office inside the underground fighting arena. His whole body trembled as he begged the villains to spare his life.
“Hoo... How should we deal with that bastard? He is so badly injured that we will not be able to put him in the arena anymore. That means he has no value as a fighting dog now, does it not?”
“P-Please spare me. Sob.”
“Can we even call that bastard an Awakened anymore? He has become so completely crippled that he cannot enter the arena at all, and his body is already soaked in drugs... Tsk, tsk—! No matter how I think about it, he is completely worthless now. So how should we dispose of him?”
“H-Hey, you were the ones who forced the drugs into me. And you were the ones who kept forcing me into the arena too...”
“What? You bastard... Say that again.”
“N-No... I mean... Ngh—! What I mean is, if you would just spare me...”
“If that bastard had been a woman, we could at least have used her as a sex slave to cater to the perverted old men's desires. But that bastard is completely useless either way. Tch~ Tsk—!”
THWACK—!
“Kugh—! Aaaah—!”
With a look of disgust on his face, the man who appeared to be the arena manager powerfully kicked the injured part of the male Awakened, who had been dragged there by force and was trembling in fear. Clicking his tongue, he regarded him with a look of revulsion.
“Tsk, tsk—!”
“Aaaah—! P-Please spare me—! No, spare me! Fuck! I still did everything you told me to do, did I not?! Whenever you told me to fight, I fought, and I fought like a dog in the underground arena to survive here! Did I not? Even now, I can follow whatever you say. If you just spare my life, I will do whatever you tell me! So spare me, you sons of bitches!”
“Huh~! Look at this bastard? Do you think there is anything left for us to make a completely crippled bastard like you do? Does it not make sense to only give jobs to people worth keeping alive? Right, boys?”
“That is right, Boss—!”
“Fuck 'Boss'! You bastard! I told you not to call me Boss here and to call me Manager, did I not?”
“M-My apologies, Boss... !!! Ah, no, Manager.”
“Haa~ Forget it. Still, where can we use this cripple? His body is completely ruined, so he is useless. Hmm...”
After looking the terrified, battered Awakened up and down for a long time, the man seemed to think of a good idea. He clapped his hands and smiled.
“Ah-ha~! I think I know a good way to deal with this. Hey—! Is that thing of yours big?”
“!!! Pardon?”
“You know, the thing dangling in the middle of your body.”
“What... do you mean?”
“You said you would do whatever I told you if I spared you, right?”
“T-That is right.”
“Then do you want to work as a gigolo for old hags? If it is big enough down there, I think you could manage it.”
“...”
“Why? You could never do that, even if it meant dying? Heh-heh. Then again, I do not think I could do it either. Pleasing old hags is more difficult than you would think.”
“... I-I will do it.”
“What?”
“I-If you only spare me, I will even work as the gigolo you just mentioned. So... please...”
“You will? You will be a gigolo? Wow~ This is a complete lunatic. You are one truly crazy bastard! Ha-ha—! Then again, what would a man not do to live? Hahaha—!”
The leader laughed loudly for a long while as though he were mocking him, filling the manager's office. Then, after looking at the injured Awakened with an utterly pitiful expression and shaking his head, he crooked a finger at his subordinates and opened his mouth.
“Hey, we are going to cut that bastard's belly open right now, so hand him over to Doctor Park.”
“!!! T-That is not what you said!”
THWACK—!
“Keurgh—! Ngh—!”
The man kicked him with all his strength once more for protesting that this was not what had been said. With the corners of his lips raised in a sneer, he lightly slapped his cheek.
SMACK—!
“!!!”
“Wow~ What a bastard with no pride as a man? What? You said you would even be a gigolo?”
“...”
“Even without you, there are young, healthy-looking bastards who owe our organization money, lined up and ready to go. You bastard—! What kind of gigolo do you think a bastard whose body is completely crippled can be? If you fail to satisfy the ladies, are you going to take responsibility? You crazy bastard—!”
“H-How... From the beginning, you... You planned this from the start...”
“Your body may be crippled, but there must still be a few usable things left, like your eyes and some of the organs inside you, right? Hey—! Take him to Doctor Park immediately and tell him to slice that belly open nice and clean!”
“Yes, Boss—! Ah, no, Manager.”
“Haa~ That 'Boss' business... Fine~! Just call me whatever you are comfortable with.”
“Aaaah—! Let go—! Let me go! You sons of bitches! You said you would spare me! You said you would spare me if I just did as I was told!”
“Hey, hey—! I will spare you. I said I will not kill you, did I not? I am exceptionally good at keeping promises, after all.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yes, you punk! I think we can take one kidney, an appropriately sized piece of your liver, and one of your eyes, so do not worry too much. Hey—! But there is something I am curious about?”
“What?”
“Did you not have some debts before we dragged you here?”
“!!! W-What are you talking about? When did I ever borrow money? I do not owe you people anything!”
“Your family still owes us for the drugs they took from us, do they not? And have you not considered the cost of feeding and housing you here? Besides, if Awakened with crippled bodies like you were to die, we have to bear the risk of cleaning up afterward too. At this point, we are practically doing charity work, are we not?”
“Where is the logic in such absurd bullshit—! You forced my family to take drugs! I already paid that all off by fighting like a dog in the arena! And you locked me in a place like this prison and tossed me a few pieces of bread, yet you talk about feeding and housing me! This makes no sense!”
“Still, we should collect what we are owed properly, should we not? Once we cut you open, sew you up, and send you to the laboratory, we can make you take the brunt of the experiments and roughly settle the rest of your debt.”
“!!! E-Experiments?! You sons of bitches!”
Not content with mocking and toying with him, they now said they would take his organs and dispose of him as an experimental subject. Enraged, the Awakened shouted and tried to resist, but with his already severely injured body, he could not even put up a fight against them.
“Good grief~! You pathetic bastard. You should have been born into a good family. Then you would not have been drugged, nor would you be playing the fighting dog in here. Well~! Is it not your sin that you were born into such a fucked-up family? Still, you did Awaken, so you managed to hold on longer in this arena than most. Heh-heh.”
“You sons of bitches—!”
“Boys, what are you doing? Hurry up and take him to Doctor Park. Tell him to take his eye and kidney, cut out a suitable piece of his liver, then stitch him up.”
“Yes, Boss—!”
“This is not right! Why should I die?! You planned this from the beginning! You sons of bitches!”
“Hey! You could survive if you are lucky in the laboratory, you know? Who knows? They might inject you with an enhancement drug, and you could be reborn much stronger than you are now. Ha-ha—! Though I do not know whether you have enough value as an experimental subject to survive that long. Hey—! What are you doing? Hurry up and get that thing out of here!”
“We will remove him immediately! Boss.”
The men who appeared to be the manager's subordinates then grabbed the injured Awakened and began dragging him away.
“Let go—! You sons of bitches! I cannot die like this! Let me go!”
“Hey, hey—! Just quietly accept your fate. Like the Boss said, you might survive in the laboratory if you are lucky. And you might even get stronger. What a wonderful opportunity, huh? Heh-heh.”
“You crazy bastards! Let go! Let me go!”
CRASH—!
‘!!!’
“What was that sound? It seems to have come from outside.”
“Y-Yes, Boss. I will go outside and take a look.”
BANG—!
‘!!!’
“W-What was that?”
A hole suddenly opened in the firmly shut steel door, and blood began spurting like a fountain from one organization member's head. Then, with a resounding CRASH, the door to the manager's office was smashed open.
“!!! W-What the hell is going on? Even an Awakened cannot easily break that door... And what is all that smoke behind it? What the hell is happening outside?”
“Now that you have met this troubled world~♬ What is your hope~♪”
“And who the hell is that crazy bastard singing?”
At the sight of me smashing through the thick steel door and walking in while singing, a cigarette clamped between my lips, they stared in bewilderment. But I ignored all their gazes, stood before the injured Awakened, whose face was already a mess of tears and snot, and sang.
“What is your hope~♬”
“H-How is the situation going right now? And that bastard looks completely insane?”
“You think so too, Boss? That bastard must be completely out of his mind.”
“Where the hell did he come from?”
“What is your hope~♬”
‘What the hell is this?’
The injured Awakened was extremely flustered at the sight of me suddenly asking about his hope through song in front of him. But I paid no heed and kept repeating the same line.
“What is your hope~♬”
“What hope could I possibly... !!! Ah—! Could it be?”
Only then, as though he had finally understood the meaning of why I kept repeating that line before him, the Awakened barely moved his trembling lips and opened his mouth with a desperate look in his eyes.
“I-I want to live. Please save me! Save me! That is my hope!”
“All right.”
CLICK—!
“What the hell are those bastards babbling about?”
BANG—!
‘!!!’
“Keurgh—!”
With the gunshot, a hole opened in the head of the man beside the leader. He could not even properly let out a cry, and blood spouted from his head as he collapsed limply onto the floor like a deflated balloon. Smiling, I exhaled cigarette smoke and spoke to the injured Awakened.
“Your hope has been received.”