I'm a Scum Who Doesn't Even Deserve to Be a Slave

(POV Selene)

A heavy silence cloaked the entire place, leaving the laboratory shrouded in the eerie glow of the full moon. A crisp breeze whispered through the air, brushing against everything in its path.

But calling this place a laboratory felt... inadequate. It was more fitting to call it a castle, draped in envelop of flickering light that pulsed in tandem with an unseen force.

A beautiful girl, clad in a gothic dress, walked forward, trailed by flames that devoured the carpet beneath her steps. The crackling of fire filled the empty halls, a constant, unrelenting symphony.

Gray stone walls lined the corridor, their cold presence pressing in from both sides. She occasionally glanced at the wooden doors standing solemnly along the way, each topped with a gentle arch.

Beyond those doors lay nothing but suffocating darkness. Yet, in her gleaming eyes, no illusion could deceive her. What she saw was pure suffering, unfiltered agony haunting every inch of this forsaken place.

Smoke slithered along the ruined carpet, creeping under doors, slowly seeping into the rooms. Faint groans of pain reverb from within, barely audible yet impossible to ignore.

Yes, they were the subjects of cruel experiments, victims who had endured unspeakable torment.

And yet… why didn't she save them?

Let that remain a mystery.

At the end of the corridor, towering pillars stood in perfect symmetry, encircling a statue at the heart of the grand hall. Stained glass windows, bathed in vivid colors, adorned the circular chamber, casting haunting shadows upon the floor. High above, a vast dome stretched into the darkness, embellished with intricate mosaics and countless celestial carvings, an artistic tribute to divine beauty and the splendor of the gods.

The mosaics depicted scenes of judgment, where the wrath of the divine fell upon those deemed unworthy, condemning them to an abyss of endless despair.

But now, many of the columns were fractured, the once-glorious murals reduced to mere fragments of their former selves. What was once sacred now stood in disgrace, tainted by an air of desolation.

The girl descended three steps onto the sunken platform below. She moved past rows of curved pews, each half-destroyed, their broken forms arranged in a fractured ring around the central statue.

Beneath the statue, a modest altar stood, radiating an eerie tranquility. A mystical aura clung to it, an almost sacred presence. Yet, to her, it evoked something far less divine—pain, nausea, unease… an overwhelming sense of wrongness.

Fragments of stone crumbled from the statue's peak. And in its place, she saw not a figure of grace or perfection, but something utterly vile. Something inherently wretched, an existence defined by pure, unrelenting malice.

No words of reverence could describe it. Only curses.

"Selene Valtéria Mourveil."

The voice cut through the silence like a blade, sharp enough to slice through one's very soul.

The girl, Selene tilted her head upward, her gaze locking onto the presence that had called her name.

Before her stood something beyond mortal comprehension, a being that did not belong to this plane of existence. And yet, she faced it without fear.

Crunch—

Crunch—

It reached down, grasping a fragment of the shattered statue, and crushed it between its unseen teeth.

A desecration. A blasphemy so profound that no living being would dare imagine it.

Selene remained still, watching in silence.

"Order of The Divine Paladin will soon arrive. This place will be surrounded."

Her expression shifted. A rare flicker of shock crossed her usually composed face, her fingers trembling ever so slightly at the weight of those words.

She exhaled sharply before speaking.

"... Are we going to fight them?"

Crack!

A sharp snap reverberate through the chamber as the formless creature scraped its claws against the statue, chipping away at what little remained.

"No."

She could not see its true form, but she understood the meaning behind its every gesture.

Its 'finger' or what passed for one, extended toward her.

She knew what it meant.

"I have found what I sought. Our contract is over, Contractor of Divine Sufferer Lamentum."

Whoosh—

Thick wings unfurled, stretching wide. An unseen tremor rippled through the air, brushing against the very fabric of reality. An unfathomable energy, untouchable and expanded through the chamber, threading itself into the space between existence and nothingness.

The world fell into silence.

Selene's brows knitted together. A deep frown darkened her features.

Her expression did not improve.

Without another word, she turned away and walked out of the chamber alone.

***

(POV Evan)

What does it feel like to pass out?

Tbh, this was my first time experiencing it. Hard to describe, but if nothing else, at least the exhaustion was gone.

In fact… this might have been the best sleep I've ever had.

Maybe it was the accumulation of mental and physical strain from Evan Mayer's parallel existence?

Either way, I didn't feel any mental side effects. But Evan's body? Yeah, no. His body was straight-up shutting down.

Still, let me rest just a little longer~

Sizzling—

Sizzling—

...Huh? What's that smell?

Sniff—

Sniff—

…Burning flesh?

A few moments later, realization kicked in.

Panic settled onto my face.

"FUCK! FUCK! HOLY SHIT, THAT'S HOT!"

I scrambled upright, slapping at my backside, only to realize half my damn clothes had already been burned to hell.

It was at that moment that I truly processed my current situation.

"... "

I stared blankly at the only available path forward a corridor engulfed in roaring flames, the fire licking hungrily at the stone itself.

This was insane.

That fire was literally eating through solid brick.

"...Well, at least my ass is still in the right place."

Now I had two new problems to deal with: finding some decent clothes and figuring out a way out of this place. For now, I could make do with a tattered, dust-covered cloth lying next to the research table. First problem solved.

Next was finding an escape route. Getting through the burning corridor was practically impossible, so I had no choice but to look for an alternative path. If I wasn't mistaken, that girl had moved a brick at the edge of the room earlier, hadn't she?

Evan rushed toward the open sky, hoping to get a better view of his surroundings, but the place seemed to be cloaked in an invisible shroud of black mist. He lowered his gaze, and only then did it hit him... .he was on an incredibly high floor.

"Wait... is this a freaking castle?! They're doing these messed-up experiments out in the open? Are they not afraid of some self-righteous hero barging in to stop them?"

The thought was so absurd that he almost laughed. Was this even illegal? If this were a novel, manga, or anime, the kingdom's military or some hero's party would have stormed in by now.

As the thick mist gradually revealed its true nature, the once-hidden scenery unfolded under the silver glow of the moon. Evan blinked, then stiffened.

"… W-What the hell?!"

What kind of nightmare was this?

How could he not be shocked?

The ground below was littered with massive ice pillars jutting out at odd angles. Torn-apart human limbs were scattered everywhere. Hundreds of corpses lay frozen, trampled, or grotesquely mutilated. Some were crushed beyond recognition, their organs splattered across the battlefield.

"Ugh…"

A wave of nausea rolled over him. Wherever he looked, the castle grounds were encased in ice. Judging by the victims' clothing, the attack must have been sudden. There were only a few weapons strewn about, meaning the guards at the entrance had likely been wiped out in an instant.

A sudden realization struck Evan like a bolt of lightning.

If he pieced things together, the scenario probably went like this: This castle, which housed the Project Vessel experiments, was hidden in some remote, shrouded location. Then, a group of intruders "Contractor" slaunched a surprise assault, resulting in this massacre.

And as a consequence… he, or rather, the previous owner of this body, had somehow escaped from torture just before his transmigration.

…Was that it?

He couldn't think of a better explanation.

Who the hell was behind this massacre?

Was it that beautiful girl?

Maybe. Or maybe she had accomplices.

Wait... she did say something to him before, didn't she?

"Hm… If I remember correctly, she said that I now 'belong to the Contractor'?"

An avalanche of bad possibilities crashed into his mind. No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one conclusion:

He had just escaped a lion's den… only to walk straight into a wolf's lair.

"…"

Evan Mayer, you poor bastard.

What the hell do these people want from me? Justice? Yeah, right. Do they have good intentions? Absolutely not. They must be after me.

"Damn it, it's not like I'm that handsome…"

Evan grumbled as he touched his gaunt, malnourished face.

Ahem. At least someone wants me, I guess.

Right now, he could only wish for the good old days of being a nobody. He'd had enough of being the center of attention, especially when it came at the cost of his life.

At this point, there was only one thing he needed to think about:

How the hell was he going to survive in this world?

A world filled with mages and set in a medieval era had its own appeal…

"But that only applies to nobles! Meanwhile, I'm not even qualified to be a damn slave…"

Evan collapsed onto the stone floor, rolling around in exaggerated despair.

He was nothing more than a no, even calling himself a guinea pig was too generous. He wasn't even worth pitying!

"Oh, Great Buddha! Oh, Revered Father! Whoever's listening, please help me!"

He repeated the plea like a broken record. Whether his brain had short-circuited during the transmigration or if this was just his usual behavior was up for debate.

After a while, Evan hugged his knees, sit in silence for a moment, then finally stood up and dusted himself off.

"…"

"…How long have you been there?"

A voice? no, a presence snapped him back to reality.

Perched atop the open wooden door leading to the burning corridor, a crow gazed at him with piercing crimson eyes.

"Go to the Immaculate Saint Flanderson Cathedral and seek The Forsaken. The Chained Prophets shall read your fate. At precisely 3 AM, make an offering in the garden—a sacrifice of four steamed loaves from Romante Street. Then, and only then, shall we welcome you… to the other side of this world."

"Hah? What the—?!"

BOOM!

A small explosion shattered the crow into bits before Evan could even process what was happening. Luckily, it wasn't strong enough to cause any real damage. But the impact this encounter left on his mind? That was an entirely different matter.