The man's legs gave out the moment he heard Rian's voice; he nearly collapsed on the spot. It was all because of the horrific "results" he had witnessed downstairs.
The man with the striking mustache reflexively recalled the hell he had just witnessed.
***
Having just escaped the lab where Noah and her group were being held, the man encountered a woman in casual attire on his way to the main laboratory.
'Oh! Hello! Excuse me, but how do I get to Bucheon Station?'
She clearly wasn't a researcher or a test subject. That meant she was an intruder.
'Is she a lunatic? Get rid of her!'
Normally, he would have subdued her for information, but time was of the essence, so he ordered her death. The order produced a gruesome result.
'Eek! Why are you doing this!'
The moment they attacked with Black Magic and swords, the woman screamed and swung the small bag she was holding.
*Crunch!*
The person struck by the bag died with a snapped neck. The wind generated by the swing—no different from a sword strike—sent researchers flying into the wall, where they breathed their last.
Realizing the situation was spiraling into absurdity, the man quickly fled with a few researchers. The screams of those who couldn't escape echoed behind him.
When he finally reached the laboratory, the first thing he saw was a swarm of finger-sized people wielding toothpick-like swords, shouting, 'War! Victory! Ooh!'
They clung to the researchers, stabbing here and there with their blades. If the Gag Filter had been active, it would have been nothing more than a tickle, but cruelly, this was a dark fantasy world.
One such creature wouldn't be a problem, but a thousand were. Swarming like ants, they mercilessly slashed the researchers' bodies with sharp blades.
Though they were no different from toothpicks, they were sharpened blades; it took only an instant for the researchers to be covered in blood.
Next was a dog.
'Grrr! Woof woof woof woof!'
The fierce-looking dog was strangely wearing a leash, which trailed behind it as if the owner had dropped it.
With eyes wide, the dog chased down a researcher and tore into their backside. In a Gag World, it would have ended with a 'Yikes!' and a flight through the air, but here, the flesh was ripped clean off.
*Boom! Bang! Kaboom!*
A man with orange hair that defied gravity, spiking upwards, ran at terrifying speed, ruthlessly smashing through walls and devices that blocked his path.
'Hahahaha! Nothing shall stop me!'
Even more bizarre was the fire blazing in his pupils. Running with a refreshing expression, devoid of any malicious intent, the man was a freak of nature.
'Caw - caw -...'
A bird with grotesquely large eyes and pinprick pupils let out an unsettling cry and defecated white droppings onto the researchers' heads.
The researcher hit by the droppings suddenly tripped, as if their luck had plummeted, and fell, cracking the back of their head on a desk corner. Staggering, they were struck by the gravity-defying man and sent flying.
Usually, being hit by such a passionate man would result in becoming a star in the sky, but in this dark fantasy world, it was replaced by being splattered against a wall and censored.
'Argh! Die!'
All the researchers here were skilled Black Mages, so they immediately tried to take down their opponent with Black Magic. Their attacks were drawn to a single point, as if sucked into a black hole.
There stood a man with lace fluttering on his sleeves and eyes that glittered strangely, as if dozens of jewels were embedded in them. The greasy-looking man clasped his hands behind his head and thrust his hips to the side.
n
'Hmph, move-move~'
Thrusting his hips in a way that was infuriatingly unpleasant, he easily dodged all the attacks and winked.
'If you want to hit my heart, you'll have to try... a little harder~'
n
The Black Mages who witnessed this completely lost their reason, spamming magic until their Demonic Energy backfired from rage, causing them to collapse and foam at the mouth.
'Oh! This looks useful!'
Elsewhere, a 2-meter-tall man, his body so muscular it brought to mind an orc, smiled contentedly as he pulled out a glass capsule and began doing squats.
'Ah... this isn't enough!'
He immediately grabbed a passing researcher, shoved them into the capsule, and began working his thighs. Whenever he felt a bit of relief, he brought more researchers and shoved them in.
The problem was that he wasn't just putting researchers in. He was grabbing other bizarre test subjects passing by and shoving them into the glass capsule as well.
n
In a Gag World, the people crammed into the capsule would just look like a rush-hour subway train without suffering any harm, but here... the sound of bones breaking and screams echoed as their bodies were crushed.
It was a hell that would have horrified even those who had committed all manner of cruel experiments.
'Tsk! This has become troublesome. Still... quite an interesting result. How does one achieve this?'
Even in that hell, the mustachioed man was surprisingly unfazed. The result he was trying to create was far more terrifying than those monsters.
'First, I must clear out the test subjects and investigate. If things continue like this, we'll run out of manpower.'
Since the result they were trying to create was the ultimate weapon, they had naturally prepared for such a situation. That was also why he could remain composed.
The reason he was watching the researchers die despite knowing how to solve the problem was to disrupt the power axis within the laboratory.
Even if this situation were resolved, the dead researchers wouldn't return, so the three-way power axis would collapse. This meant his own power would grow.
However, if too many researchers died, the research speed would decrease, so the man decided it was time to wrap things up.
He used a magic tool. Instantly, his presence vanished.
'It was definitely that way.'
He moved immediately to activate the emergency device. Before long, he arrived in front of a room tucked away in the corner of the lab. He was about to open the door but hesitated.
'Wait a minute. Why hasn't anyone activated the emergency device?'
No matter how chaotic the situation was, it made no sense that not one of the many researchers had managed to press the emergency device. Just as that thought crossed his mind—
'Aaaaargh! Sa, save... gurgle...!'
'...!'
A horrific scream began to echo from inside. It was a familiar voice—the chief researcher's.
'Don't tell me... they didn't fail to activate the emergency device, but... couldn't?'
The position of chief researcher was not one just anyone could hold. It meant they were a fairly strong Black Mage, even if not quite on the man's level. As the chief researcher's scream rang out, the man's pupils began to tremble.
'Even so, the emergency device must be activated.'
With a grim expression, he activated all the magic tools he possessed and layered several protective spells over his body.
'I'll go in as quickly as possible and...'
He visualized the plan in his head several times, then clicked the door open.
*Creeeeeak...*
The door opened like a scene from a horror movie.
The first thing he saw was the face of a round, middle-aged man with white permed hair and small glasses. The man was a cyborg, with half his face made of machinery. The mustachioed man froze, having never seen a cyborg in his life.
The cyborg—no, the mad scientist—tilted his head while holding a drill, looking down at a corpse with a split-open stomach and mangled organs.
'Hmm, why do they die? I don't understand.'
Tilting his head as if completely unable to comprehend, the mad scientist clicked his tongue and said,
'Eh, I guess I'll have to find a new test subject.'
The man picked up the corpse on the desk carelessly and tossed it behind him. The body landed with a wet thud on a pile of already-dead corpses.
'Now, then, a new test subject—...Oh? What luck!'
The man smiled brightly and stared directly at the mustachioed man.
'A test subject walks right in! I'm lucky today!'
The man's eyes glistened with madness. The mustachioed man had met countless insane researchers, but he had never seen a lunatic like that.
He stepped back without realizing it.
'Now, now, now.'
The mad scientist pulled a remote control from inside his clothes and pressed the buttons repeatedly. The floor split open with a *whir*, and a mechanical hand lunged at the man.
*Clang!*
The pre-cast magic deflected the mechanical hand. As he felt relief, one layer of his defensive magic shattered.
'W-what?!'
A barrier that could block at least three 5th-circle spells had shattered from deflecting one strange hand; the man's eyes churned like a storm-tossed sea.
*Cling! Clang! Cling! Cling! Cling!*
The hand, which had approached in an instant, indiscriminately smashed through his barriers.
'Hee-hee-hee!'
At the mad scientist's maniacal laughter, the man felt like he might faint.
***
Thanks to the magic tool he had used beforehand, he had been dragged onto the desk but managed to escape.
'Ooh-hoo-hoo, won't you have some fun with me?'
Along the way, he had been attacked by a cross-dresser and lost consciousness, only to be caught by the mad scientist again, and had barely escaped.
...After that, he had shaken off horrors that defied description and barely managed to arrive here.
In such a situation, the voice of a stranger was enough to terrify him. Trembling, he carefully looked back.
'H-huff...!'
A flash of light filled the eyes of the man who had been dying in darkness.
'It was still here after all!'
The essential material needed to create the combat weapon, the Spirit King of Darkness, was attached to some human's body. His face was filled with ecstasy.
'Yes! With that, I can recreate the combat weapon in no time!'
Because he failed to recognize the father(?) of the bizarre beings he feared so much, he made a foolish choice.