Did anyone respond to her?
Of course not.
The laser grid continued its cleaning task, and amidst the heart-wrenching screams, Noah’s body was sliced into a pile of square chunks of flesh.
The area was swept again four or five times before the laser grid disappeared at the end of the corridor.
A heap of meat and bone fragments scattered on the ground, no longer showing any signs of life.
[“Dear… you… you really don’t remember me…!?”]
Noah finally understood what it meant to be tortured to death.
Every piece of her flesh felt like it had been sawed a thousand times, a thousand times and a thousand more.
She even felt as though every joint was being gnawed by corpse worms, with a sour, swollen sensation seeping into her very marrow.
Cold sweat soaked through her robe.
Noah lay weakly on the ground, gasping for breath.
After a long while, she raised her head again and focused her gaze.
She found herself back in the same room.
The same scene, the same position, even the pain she endured was so similar.
Noah finally confirmed the thought in her mind: she possessed an ability akin to Death Return.
As long as she died, she would return to this initial room, and everything she had gone through would start over… as if… time had flowed backward…
But… how could this be possible?
Noah still couldn’t believe this was real, because she knew a principle about time: Time Shows No Favor to Anyone.
So, if this ability truly existed, it was definitely not a gift from the Spirit of Time…
Dragging her exhausted body, Noah came to the door again.
She looked up and noticed a groove at the top of the door—this should be where the laser appeared.
Noah thought for a moment, then turned back and picked up a metal ruler from a shelf in the room.
The tip of the ruler was sharp, and the handle was wrapped in a layer of plastic.
She lifted it and lightly shook it near the top of the door.
No reaction.
It seemed the mechanism only sensed human bodies.
Noah nodded.
She held the ruler at an angle and shoved its sharp tip straight into the groove at the top of the door, then pushed upward with force.
Sparks flew and the sound of electricity crackled inside the door.
The screen and the keypad in the room all went dark.
Noah pulled the ruler out with effort.
She carefully tested the laser trap on the door with her finger and, finding no response, nodded in satisfaction.
The more precise the machinery, the easier it is to break down.
Noah suddenly recalled that saying.
After making all preparations, Noah gripped the ruler and fled the room.
She didn’t dare stop for a moment, knowing that as soon as she stepped out, the laser grid would seal the path behind her.
Amid the shrill alarm, Noah sprinted at full speed.
She reached the main door as fast as possible and unlocked the keypad.
Noah knew this corridor was full of dangers, even infrared detectors on the floor.
She observed the surrounding traps while advancing slowly.
With extreme caution, Noah never triggered any infrared or similar mechanisms.
She safely reached the end of the corridor and, with even more care, headed toward a branching path on the other side.
One thing struck Noah as strange.
Two hours had passed since the alarm ended, yet she hadn’t seen a single staff member.
She studied the dim lights on the ceiling of the corridor, then peered deeper ahead.
Noah found this eerie silence baffling.
Was this an abandoned research institute?
No…
The facilities here were very complete and showed no signs of age or dust, proving that people had been here recently…
So why…
After turning through several more corridors, she still hadn’t encountered anyone.
Just as she began to suspect the place was empty, Noah finally heard another person’s voice.
“Ah! Someone! Is someone coming?!”
A clear voice suddenly came from a nearby room.
Noah was startled at first, but after confirming that someone was indeed calling out to her, she went to the door of the source.
The door was open.
A young woman was patting the wall, trying to get Noah’s attention.
The girl had blonde hair and blue eyes, wore a purple robe, and when she saw Noah actually approach, she waved frantically and shouted.
“Oh my god! I wasn’t hearing things! There really is someone! Please, beautiful lady, I beg you, get me out of here!”
“Who are you?”
Noah knew that if this room was like her own, the girl couldn’t get out, so she wasn’t worried about being harmed.
“What is this place?”
Ouruola looked a bit surprised.
She sized up Noah and asked in return, “What is this place? You actually don’t know what this place is?”
Seeing that the other person wasn’t cooperating, Noah picked up the ruler and turned to leave.
The girl quickly called her back.
“Hey! Don’t go! Let’s talk it out! I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you, okay?!”
“Bluffing…”
Noah sneered first, then turned back and continued, “Where exactly is this?”
The girl in front clearly knew something about this place, and she seemed to need something from Noah.
Noah thought, ‘I should squeeze some information out of her.’
“Fine… you’re the boss out there…”
Ouruola sighed, then looked up at this sunless place.
“This is the research institute of the Truth Organization. It’s specially used to store the failures of the God-Making Project.”
Noah was somewhat shocked by this answer.
She didn’t know what the Truth Organization was, but the God-Making Project was obviously impossible.
Not only impossible, but it was the most serious act of blasphemy.
Noah began to suspect that this so-called Truth Organization had been wiped out by the gods’ wrath.
“If it’s a research institute, then why is there no one here?”
Noah asked, puzzled.
Ouruola paused for a moment, then continued to explain, “You don’t know this, but the Truth Organization has entered an all-out war with the End Organization. The Truth was never as strong as the End, so those crazy higher-ups in the Truth dragged all the researchers back to headquarters. In short, aside from failures like us, you probably won’t even find a lab rat here.”
‘End Organization… another term I don’t know…’
Noah thought about it.
So, this Truth Organization hadn’t been eliminated by the gods, or perhaps the gods didn’t consider their actions a violation of divine taboo?
Noah had a preliminary understanding of the Truth Organization, but she wasn’t particularly concerned.
She turned back to look deeper into the corridor.
“I want to know how to get out of here. Do you understand what I mean?”
This place was full of traps and had almost no resources for survival.
If she didn’t escape quickly, she’d be trapped and die of starvation sooner or later.
Hearing Noah’s request, Ouruola hesitated visibly, but she nodded.
“Okay, I can lead the way, but I’m very curious about how you got here. As an exchange, it doesn’t hurt to tell me, right?”