Chapter 5: Test of Pain

Chapter 5: Test of Pain

Alex's eyes snapped open, and panic surged through him immediately. His body felt like it was locked in place, every muscle stiff and unresponsive. The sensation was alien—nothing like the occasional restlessness he'd experienced before. His body felt... wrong. Immobilized. It took him a moment to realize that his arms were tied down, strapped to a cold metal table. He wasn't in a comforting position, but in a clinical, experimental one. Like some kind of lab rat.

What the hell?

He tried to move, but his limbs felt too heavy, too numb. A strange coldness crept through him, and it only got worse when he noticed the long tube running from his arm, filled with a strange liquid. The liquid was flowing into his veins, and he could feel its effects immediately. He could feel the liquid spreading through his body, almost like it was crawling under his skin. It was cold, too cold.

This isn't good. What the hell did they do to me this time?

His body felt completely out of his control, but his mind was still sharp. He cursed to himself, gritting his teeth as he tried to process everything. He was stuck. And right now, he was pretty damn sure that the only thing keeping him from completely losing it was his Resilience skill.

[DING! Host has been unconscious for 4 days without physical activity.]

Great. Just what I needed—some damn notification.

[System Activation: 30%]

Strength: 0.9

Current Status:

Name: Alex Summers

Age: 10

Gender: Male

Species: Half-Human/[Classified]

Strength: 0.9

Intelligence: [Locked]

Unlock Criteria: Learn how to read and write

Charm: [Locked]

Unlock Criteria: Make someone willingly call you good-looking

Agility: [Locked]

Unlock Criteria: Run.....more

Skills:

[Resilience]

Grade: S

Description: Can withstand pain or trauma with reduced impact.

[Bite]

Grade: E

Description: A skill gained after an aggressive bite. Increases strength temporarily. (Note: Painful and effective.)

Well, it looks like I'm stuck in this mess for now. At least I can handle some pain. This 'Resilience' thing better live up to its name.

Also a new skill? It seems so I gain it after biting that bastard's hand.

Alex's head swam as the liquid continued to flow into his veins. He was feeling colder by the second, but the good thing about Resilience was that it dulled the pain. His body may have felt like it was being crushed, but in his mind, it was just another annoying distraction. He couldn't feel the full brunt of the agony most people would have, so he wasn't about to break anytime soon.

Still, he could sense something else—something in the air, or maybe it was just his heightened awareness, but it felt like they were testing him.

If you want to test me, you better be prepared. I've been through worse.

Before he could think about his next move, a voice broke his focus. The man who had been standing over him—completely indifferent to his suffering—muttered under his breath as he fiddled with some device on his wrist.

"Let's see just how much you can handle, little one."

Alex didn't have time to brace himself before the man pushed a button on the device, and an agonizing surge of electricity coursed through his body. His muscles seized, his vision blurred, and every nerve screamed. But underneath it all, Alex could feel his Resilience kicking in.

The pain was still there, raw and burning, but it felt distant, muted. Almost like he was watching someone else go through the ordeal.

You think you can break me with this?

Minutes dragged on like hours, but Alex didn't give the man the satisfaction of seeing him squirm. His mind stayed calm, assessing the situation, calculating his next move. He could feel the electricity running through him, but it didn't break him. His body was weak, but it was still strong enough to endure.

After what felt like forever, the man deactivated the device, and the pain suddenly ceased. Alex took a sharp breath, his body trembling with the aftershocks. But even then, the pain was barely a fraction of what it should have been. His Resilience had done its job.

"Not bad. You might last longer than we thought." The man gave an indifferent nod as he checked some readings on his wristpad.

The guards entered the room, their heavy footsteps echoing. Without any word of warning, they unstrapped Alex from the table and dragged him off the metallic surface with rough hands, tossing him like a ragdoll. His legs barely held him as they dragged him down the sterile hallways. Everything felt a little disjointed as the world spun around him.

Finally, they threw him into a small, dimly lit cell at the end of the hall. The door slammed shut behind him, the metallic clang reverberating in the quiet space.

The cell was grim—bare, unwelcoming, with only a thin mattress on the floor. But what caught his attention was the group of people inside. They were like him—beaten, broken, and far too familiar. Their eyes were dull, lost in a haze of despair. They were all trapped, all victims of the same twisted experiment.

But one person stood out from the others.

A girl. His age. Sitting in the corner, eyes blankly staring into the distance, her form so still it was almost unnatural.

Alex froze as his gaze met hers. His heart skipped a beat. The recognition hit him like a bolt of lightning, but his face didn't betray a single flicker of emotion. His face was a stone mask, emotionless as always, but inside, his mind screamed.

No way... is that her?

Her. The girl from the game. One of the main characters. The one who had been through all of this, the one who was tied to everything that went wrong.

But here she was. Real. Not just some character in a game.

Alex stood frozen in place for a moment, the realization slowly sinking in. The girl, the situation, everything—it felt like it was all spiraling out of control.

And then, without a word, without a single expression to give away his shock, he walked further into the cell, eyes still fixed on her. The girl's face remained emotionless, just like his. But her presence was enough to make his heart race.

This isn't good. Not good at all.

And the door slammed shut behind him, locking him in with the rest of the forgotten souls.