Chapter 4

From bugs to humans, every living being has a survival instinct.

If you’re about to starve, you crave food.

If you’re about to freeze, you crave warmth.

If you’re about to burn, you seek cooling relief. That’s the essence of life.

That’s why my escape plan went smoother than expected.

By slowly leaking the information I got from Mina into the prison and adding a bit of emotional manipulation, people started to come around one by one.

It didn’t take long for me to coax and persuade all 321 prisoners to join this escape operation.

And then… the cooperation of the most crucial person.

“Mina, your ability… it’s stealing people’s vision, right?”

“…How did you know?”

Mina looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’ve heard of someone with that ability, and you talked about seeing the outside situation.”

“…That’s right.”

“I—no, we—need that ability. If your power combines with a Telepathy User, we can take revenge on this research institute and escape.”

Three rare and highly useful Telepathy Users.

And finally… a large number of test subjects who can participate in combat.

To be honest, almost two-thirds of them were non-combatants, but even they could be useful if they utilized their abilities well.

There was even someone whose ability only worked on a single finger but could cut through iron bars.

“…Uncle, you’re more amazing than I thought.”

“Well, these people just needed someone to take the lead.”

The lead.

That was the most important part.

With numbers on our side and being ability users, organizing a rebellion wouldn’t be a problem if we united well.

According to the periodic reconnaissance Mina did using her ability, the number of researchers and cleaning staff wasn’t greater than the number of prisoners.

The problem was that unless you were a hothead immune to lethargy, you’d be dragged around like an elephant in chains, powerless.

With the cleaning squad armed with guns, capable of easily subduing most ability users, and not knowing the situation outside the prison, it was hard to act.

Without knowing the layout of the research institute, even if we escaped the prison, we wouldn’t know how to get out.

In that sense, I once again realized the overpowered nature of Seeker’s ability.

The ability to steal someone’s vision just by looking at them, and once stolen, it could be used over a considerable distance, was incredibly versatile.

Especially when combined with other mental-type abilities, it could create insane synergy.

“…My head hurts.”

“Good job.”

Mina, who had been using her brain like crazy all day, collapsed onto the bed.

She had to maintain eye contact with the researcher for just a moment and then keep her ability active, so it was only natural.

Mina had pushed her vision-stealing to the limit today.

And then, the Telepathy User shared Mina’s vision through mental synchronization.

In that state, she bit her finger to draw blood and used it to draw a map of the research institute on the pillow.

Tomorrow, she’ll steal the vision of a guard and confirm the areas they patrol. Once that’s done, the rough map will be complete.

It’s a shame we can’t hear conversations, but… it’s better than nothing.

With just vision, we can gather plenty of information.

“…You’re really amazing. To come up with such a plan…”

“If you want to survive, you have to squeeze out every idea. If the environment were better and we had more resources… I could’ve come up with an even better plan.”

“Even now, it’s impressive. You’re going to be a big deal.”

“I’m just an ordinary citizen.”

“Ordinary citizens don’t take the lead or come up with plans like this.”

…This is all thanks to the power of original work knowledge.

Knowing how Seeker used her ability in the original work made this idea possible.

Luckily, having a Telepathy User among the prisoners was also fortunate.

I wonder if Quaker in the original work also pieced together an escape strategy like this.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I sadly pushed the familiar taste of energy drink sludge into my mouth.

It’s disgustingly bad, but if I don’t eat this, I’ll starve.

“Well… let’s just say I got lucky.”

“No need to be humble. You’re an impressive man. Once we get out of here… your name might soon be on everyone’s lips.”

“Infamous as a criminal, I guess.”

Since we’re escaping from a government-run research institute, they’ll probably label us as fugitives and make a big fuss.

So, after taking over the research institute and gathering the supplies we need, we’ll have to hide in the underworld, away from the government’s reach.

If possible, we should even publicize it to completely screw them over.

No matter how messed up this world is, a scandal of this scale would be fatal to those in high places.

“What’s the point of that in a world where power comes before the law?”

Good point.

I laughed while looking at the bowl floating above my palm.

———————

“Number 81! Number 50! Number 235!”

Three again today.

Why three?

Is it because they can only handle three at a time, or is there another purpose?

Questions kept popping up in my head, but right now, continuing the plan is more important than solving them.

I glanced at the number 11 on my chest and watched the three being dragged away.

One had a face full of despair,

another was filled with hatred,

and the last… just stared at me with burning eyes.

…I’ll make sure to get my revenge.

Then, Seeker pretended to collapse onto the bed and rolled on the floor.

“What’s this?”

“Looks like she’s too weak and just rolled over.”

“Let’s go. Let’s finish this quickly and get some rest…”

“Ah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe it’s because I haven’t slept much, but my eyes feel a bit sore.”

The guards chatted as they disappeared outside the prison with the researcher.

Such carefree guys.

They have no idea we’re stealing their vision and gathering information.

Well, Seeker’s ability is extremely rare, and how would they know we’re preparing a mass rebellion?

We’re using the Telepathy User’s power for actual communication.

“Mina, did it work?”

“…Yes.”

Mina climbed back onto the bed and crouched in silence.

I hope we’ve definitely located the armory this time.

The top priority is to raid the armory when their guard is weakest.

Once we get our hands on guns, subduing the researchers will be a piece of cake, and we can even take on the cleaning squad.

No matter how skilled they are as ability users and soldiers, if we pour on the firepower, we can handle everyone except the Security Chief.

…The Security Chief is the wildcard.

I recalled the Security Chief who subdued a man who had taken a researcher hostage not long ago.

His size and presumed physical enhancement ability make him a formidable opponent.

Given the research institute’s layout, finding wide passages is difficult, so depending on the situation, we could either be the rats in the trap or the Security Chief could be.

To prevent that, we must find the armory.

And…

I flipped the bowl floating above my palm.

It stuck to my hand as if magnetized.

I flipped my hand again, attaching the rim of the bowl to my palm instead of the base.

Then, I started generating both gravity and repulsion forces.

Pulling with gravity, pushing with repulsion.

When the two forces reached a perfect balance, the bowl stuck vertically to my palm without moving.

I aimed my palm toward the pillow.

After finalizing the aim, I removed the gravitational force holding the bowl.

“…This should be usable somehow.”

I pulled the bowl out of the pillowcase and thought.

[We’ve found the armory!]

Found it.

The final piece of the puzzle.

—————-

“Hey, doesn’t the prison atmosphere feel a bit off lately?”

“Those bugs aren’t going to change.”

“But it’s still unsettling.”

“Stop chatting and let’s finish this quickly. We’ve got a lot of experiments to do today.”

“Understood, Researcher Kim Haeyoung.”

The researcher and guards quietly crossed the hallway and arrived at the prison door.

As always, they unlocked the door with a card key and entered the prison.

The quiet, gloomy atmosphere enveloped them, and the three frowned.

‘This smell always gives me a headache.’

With almost no ventilation in the massive prison, the stench of unwashed test subjects and filth assaulted their noses.

Researcher Kim Haeyoung walked ahead without even glancing at them.

He was eager to finish the job quickly.

The guards, feeling the same, didn’t notice.

The murderous intent in the test subjects’ eyes.

“Number 11, Number 145, Number 269.”

‘Finally, they’re going to experiment on that one.’

The test subject the Research Institute Head had emphasized as an important sample.

A young man with striking white hair and brown skin.

The test subject personally brought in by the Research Institute Head would finally contribute to the great research today.

“Come out!”

The iron bars opened.

“Quickly… Ahhh!”

At that moment, the guards clutched their heads and staggered.

A telepathic bomb filled with intense emotions.

As the wave of hatred incapacitated the guards, Number 11 dashed across the cell.

“W-what the—”

The suddenly lone guard was knocked out cold by Number 11’s full-force punch. His head hit the floor, and a pool of blood began to form, but that wasn’t their concern.

Compared to the crimes they committed, this was a merciful death.

After confirming the researcher’s death, Number 11 pressed the guard’s head with a repulsion-enhanced foot and snatched the assault rifle.

A somewhat unfamiliar form of rifle he had never handled before.

But pulling the trigger would still fire bullets.

Two gunshots pierced the guard’s head.

After confirming the three were completely silent, Number 11 shot the CCTV and declared:

“Now begins the time of revenge.”