Bai Ya’s eyes snapped open, the tearing pain radiating from his scalp instantly bringing him to full alertness.
Someone was pulling his hair, and his body was being dragged along as a result. Bai Ya could confirm he was in such a state.
“Pain, pain, pain! Let go!”
Bai Ya wildly flailed his hands, striking the arm that was tugging his hair. Though he hit it several times, the arm still gripped his hair tightly, pulling his body forward.
After struggling for a while, the sound of an iron door sliding open rang in his ears.
“Hmph! How dare a mere slave resist! Take that.”
A strong thigh slammed into his waist, sending his body rolling across the floor several times before he crashed into the wall and finally stopped moving. The sharp pain and nausea curled Bai Ya into a fetal position.
“Ugh—”
Bai Ya forced himself to sit up, gagging. It was strange—he had just finished dinner not long ago, so why was he dry-heaving without bringing anything up?
“Who the hell kicked me… Where is this place?”
Leaning against the wall to stand, Bai Ya squinted in the dim light, barely able to make out that he was inside a stone room.
The man who had kicked him had left from somewhere nearby. Could there be a passage or something around here?
Bai Ya heard the sound of a lock clicking. Narrowing his eyes, he caught a pair of resentful eyes staring back at him and a row of iron bars.
“Behave yourself!”
A bearded man shook his fist to intimidate, then shouted in another direction, “You too!” before tucking a key into his belt and leaving.
Is this a prison…?
Bai Ya sank weakly to the floor. He felt exhausted—both physically and mentally.
The stone room was too quiet. To dull the pain in his body, Bai Ya began recalling the words spoken by the Creation Goddess Fia.
“Bai Ya-kun, I wrote a tragic novel with you as the protagonist~”
“Bai Ya-kun, if you help me revise the novel’s ending, I can let you return to your original world.”
“Bai Ya-kun, welcome to my failed work, [SLAVE].”
Most likely—ninety-nine percent sure—this was [SLAVE], an alternate world.
“What the hell!!!”
Unable to contain himself, Bai Ya shouted out his anger, the stone room echoing his outburst.
He wasn’t angry about coming to another world. In fact, he had already expected it and had prepared himself mentally long ago.
“It’s just changing a novel’s ending, so why am I in this situation? I’ve never even stolen a loli’s lollipop, yet I’m a prisoner now. Damn gods, I just wanted to be a background character!!!”
That was the main reason for his anger. Obviously, Bai Ya was furious at his misfortune.
After a long time of making no coherent sounds, Bai Ya stopped yelling and showed a thoroughly dejected expression.
“Newcomer, keep quiet.”
A weak voice came from the corner. Only then did Bai Ya notice the presence of others in the stone room. Following the voice, he barely recognized the figure curled up in the corner—a girl about ten years old.
Noticing Bai Ya’s gaze on her, the girl drew her body tighter and gave a bitter smile with her haggard face.
“…I hate you. Your eyes only hold confusion, no despair.”
After saying this, the girl buried her head in her arms, quietly repeating, “I don’t want to die.”
This was the first time Bai Ya had ever met someone so utterly hopeless. The despair radiating from the girl was overwhelmingly strong. She held no hope at all—absolutely certain she would die. How terrible must one’s situation be to lose all hope?
If this continues, she’ll be in real trouble.
Feeling somewhat troubled, Bai Ya moved beside the girl, sitting cross-legged. He reached out and patted her head, trying to comfort her soul.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die.”
The girl slowly lifted her head. Perhaps it was Bai Ya’s illusion, but her gaze looked like she was staring at a fool.
“With me, the best player, here, leading you to the perfect victory ending is no problem at all!”
Sensing the distrust in the girl’s eyes, Bai Ya forced a proud look and thumped his fist against his chest.
Strangely, his chest felt oddly soft.
The girl snorted and looked at Bai Ya with unfocused eyes. This sister knew nothing, repeatedly shattering herself with her naivety. Well, then it was time to make her understand the reality, to pull her into the abyss of despair.
She couldn’t blame herself for this, sister.
“…Naive sister, I don’t want to hurt you, but you will die. I will die. You are powerless. We will all die. There’s no escape.”
The girl shakily stretched out a hand to catch the moonlight seeping through the cracks in the stone. Tears slipped down her face.
“This is the preparation room for slaves, prisoners of war, and death row inmates. Outside this stone room is the arena. In two days, we will all be sent there to be killed by terrifying beasts or devoured by horrific monsters. This is our fate.”
“Uh, what did you say? Say it again.”
Suddenly, Bai Ya’s mind went blank and a headache struck him. There was critical information in what the girl had said.
“We will all die.”
Thinking Bai Ya still refused to accept reality, the girl repeated every word as he wished. Bai Ya suddenly clutched his head with one hand, his expression full of pain.
“No, not this line, the first sentence!”
“…Naive big sister.”
Seemingly sensing Bai Ya’s odd behavior and having a bad premonition, the girl cautiously spoke. Bai Ya’s pupils instantly dilated, terrifying the girl.
“Ah—!”
Memories flooded Bai Ya’s mind like a tidal wave. He immediately lost consciousness. The girl panicked and hurriedly moved to Bai Ya’s side, shaking his body hard.
“Big sister! Big sister! Hey! Guards! Guards! Cough cough cough! Guards!”
The girl shouted with all her might, but Bai Ya, unconscious, heard nothing.