"H-E-V-I-X!"
The man with the mustache smiled faintly.
"Sir, you should try this."
Karl stared at him.
The man stepped closer and grabbed the driver by the arm.
"Do you know why I brought you here?"
Karl tried to pull away.
"I don’t want to go inside."
The man ignored him and dragged him toward the entrance.
Karl had no choice but to follow.
Before the entrance stood a large board.
I am entering Hevix Vortex willingly and with full awareness. If anything happens to me, I accept complete responsibility.
Below the statement was a biometric fingerprint scanner.
The man placed his finger on it.
Karl hesitated.
His hand trembled slightly before he finally pressed his finger against the scanner.
A screen lit up.
"The final destination of despair."
A heavy door opened.
Fsssh!
A freezing current rushed toward them.
Karl stepped inside and immediately felt the temperature drop.
The floor ahead was covered with a strange layer of ice, forming a smooth path like an enormous ice slide.
Several people stood around the area, controlling different zones. Each guard carried an electric weapon.
One of them approached with two drinks.
"Drink this."
"Yes."
Karl and the other man took the drinks.
Gulp. Gulp.
Karl swallowed.
"Ah..."
The strange liquid burned slightly as it went down.
The guards quickly pushed the two men deeper into the facility.
One guard laughed.
"Forget your boring life. It’s time to experience another kind of pleasure."
The two men disappeared through another door.
Karl looked around.
"What happened to this world?"
His vision began to change.
"My body feels strange, Sir..."
The walls appeared gray and reddish.
The voices around him became distorted.
Nothing seemed to make sense anymore.
Then—
Cccchhcccc!
Mmmhheeee!
Uuuccchh!
Strange sounds came from the darkness.
A bizarre man approached while shouting meaningless words and swinging a stick.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Karl stared at him.
The man’s skin had turned strangely blue.
Another large man charged forward with a baseball bat, moving at nearly twice their speed.
"What is happening here?"
Karl stepped back.
"If I had known this place was like this, I never would have come!"
Before he could say anything else, Karl suddenly grabbed his head.
"Ahhh!"
"My head!"
Everything around him seemed to spin.
He collapsed to the floor.
Above them, Zacula sat calmly with one hand against his cheek.
"Disgusting..."
He watched the scene below.
" These people are displaying some very unusual behavior "
Then—
Lee started laughing.
He kept laughing without stopping.
He removed his coat and walked toward the man holding the baseball bat.
"Fun... fun... fun..."
"Ha ha ha ha!"
The large man swung the bat.
Bang!
The bat struck Lee.
Lee didn’t react the way a normal person would.
He simply kept laughing.
The man attacked again.
Lee grabbed him and fought back with surprising strength.
He struck the bat aside and continued attacking until the weapon broke.
Karl wasn’t doing any better.
A woman attacked him repeatedly.
Karl fought back with trained movements, using his legs and fists to push her away.
The fight became more chaotic with every second.
Several more men and women rushed toward them.
They attacked from every direction.
Zacula finally covered his eyes.
"Enough."
He stood up.
A moment later, he descended into the area where the chaos was happening.
He looked around.
Despite everything that had happened, he couldn’t see any blood on their bodies.
Zacula stepped toward the nearest attacker.
He struck.
The attack connected.
Nothing happened.
He attacked again.
Still nothing.
Zacula scratched one of them with his sharp nails.
No effect.
The strange people immediately attacked him in return.
One grabbed his arm.
Another seized his shoulder.
Several surrounded him at once.
Zacula looked at them.
"why isn’t anything happening to their bodies?"
Then—
BOOM!
The entire glass section shook.
Ice broke loose from above and crashed onto the floor.
A red wave of light spread through the area.
Everyone was thrown backward.
Several people slammed into the glass walls.
Cracks spread across the glass.
The guards outside froze.
"What was that?"
One guard rushed toward the observation window.
His eyes widened.
He turned to another guard.
"Brother... we’ve worked here for years. Have you ever seen someone turn into a monster like that?"
The other guard shook his head.
"I’ve seen strange behavior here before. But this..."
He swallowed.
"I’ve never seen anything like this."
The electrical systems began flickering.
The voltage rose and dropped repeatedly.
Then the entire Hevix Vortex facility shook again.
CRASH!
Part of the vortex system broke apart.
Zacula looked around at the transformed people.
"These disgusting creatures are getting on my nerves."
One guard panicked.
"How did it break?"
"We need to leave!"
Another guard grabbed his arm.
"That monster doesn’t look normal!"
Before they could escape, Zacula appeared directly in front of them.
"What happened?"
The guards froze.
"You were doing a fine job guarding this place a moment ago."
Both men immediately began apologizing.
"Please forgive us!"
"We didn’t know this would happen!"
"We’ll never work in a place like this again!"
"Please don’t hurt us!"
Zacula stared at them.
Then the transformed people began moving toward the guards.
The guards screamed and ran.
"Run!"
"Get away from us!"
Zacula stepped aside.
The creatures followed the two guards instead.
The guards stumbled backward as several figures attacked them.
Their screams echoed through the facility.
Then—
Aaaaaah!
The struggle continued for several seconds.
One by one, the creatures suddenly became weak.
Their movements slowed.
Several collapsed onto the floor.
The lights throughout the facility began turning off.
Zacula walked toward the remaining man.
"Answer every question I ask."
His sharp nails appeared.
He caught the man and lifted his glowing red eyes toward him.
The injured guard trembled.
Zacula pressed a hand against his face.
"Who runs this place?"
The guard struggled to speak.
"S-Sir..."
Zacula waited.
"Listen carefully..."
The man finally began explaining.
"Let me tell you..."
A short while later, Zacula walked out of the facility with a large bag over his shoulder.
A crooked smile appeared on his face.
Behind him, the last remaining lights of Hevix Vortex switched off.
He walked toward an exit sign and disappeared outside.
He had collected enough for several days.
But after what he had seen inside—
Hevix was no longer just another source of his collection.
"This poison deserves more attention from now on."
6:30 AM.
A television played quietly in a small room.
"Breaking news!
The existence of Hevix Vortex has been exposed.
Authorities discovered numerous people inside the facility, along with evidence of illegal Hevix use.
A note and signature connected to Unknown Z were also found.
This time, a guard’s phone contained video evidence that was later released.
The guard admitted that wealthy users paid extremely high prices for the drug and described what happened after consuming it."
The report continued.
"Police have arrested two guards and several other people connected to the facility."
The television showed footage of the arrests.
Inside the station, an officer stood in front of the two guards.
"Who gave you the orders?"
"I don’t know, sir."
The officer slammed his hand against the table.
"Don’t lie."
The guard lowered his head.
The officer stared at him.
"I’m asking again."
His voice became colder.
"Who is your boss?"